2.for.1

When in doubt, combine two songs...by Meredith (to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat):

"Row, row, row your boat. Gently down the stream.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow?"

recipe.swap

Ok, friends (all 8 of you that read), if you want to be in on a recipe swap, click here. One of the girls (who is on my blog list) is putting together a slew of recipes that are quick, easy, and tasty! Yum! The catch is that you have to sign up this week....

p.s. I'll post again soon. I've got some fun zoo pictures to put up. Sneak peek:

finding.who?

A conversation between Claire and Meredith this evening while looking at a craft project book...

Meredith: Wow! Look at this, Claire! That is so Nemo!

Claire: Neat-0, Meredith, not Nemo!

Meredith: Yeah...Nemo!

...she's not getting it :)

no.go

claire + dentist chair + different hygienist than last time = another appointment next month with the same hygienist we had last time

father's.day.2008

Let me start by saying that Josh is a great husband! I was going to do a post about him for his birthday, but I ran out of time. I decided I would just do one big post about him for Father's Day instead. As you can see, I'm still a day late, but it's been a busy weekend, and I know he'll forgive me :)

Josh is such a great dad. He truly loves spending time with our girls, and they love to use him as their personal jungle-gym. He wrestles with them, swims with them, lets them "help" him in the garden and with the house, and loves them to pieces.

Josh is also a super-hard worker. He has spent countless hours working on our new house to make it perfect for our family. While he's not always the fastest worker, his quality is unmatched. Once a job is complete, it truly looks fantastic and is nothing but a job well done. Thank you for all of your hard work so far and for all of the hard work that is yet to come!

Happy Father's Day, Josh! I love you and our girls absolutely adore you. I asked each of them what they loved about you, and this is how they responded....

Claire: I love that Daddy wrestles with me and takes me for rides on his shoulders.

Meredith: I love that Daddy loves me.

Amelia: Obviously, she didn't really respond, but I know her answer: I love that Daddy can put me to sleep unlike any other.

Here are some pictures of Josh's "Daddyhood" over the years:

This is Josh giving Claire her very first manicure.

Josh and Claire while we vacationed in the UP.

Josh introducing Claire to Meredith.

Josh and Meredith snoozing after a crazy Thanksgiving Day 2007.

Josh and the girls in front of our 2007 Christmas tree just before Josh cut it down.

Josh and Meredith during Christmas '07 at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Josh and Claire working on the house.

Josh holding Amelia for the first time. (On a side note, whenever Meredith sees pictures like this, she always exclaims, "Daddy is a doctor!")

Josh pushing Meredith on the swing out front.

Josh and the girls "pretending" to sleep. Obviously, Amelia needs to work on her pretending skills.

soccer.mom

I'm officially a "soccer mom". We signed Claire up for soccer through our local parks and rec. It meets twice a week for most of the summer. They practice all summer to play one game at the end of the season. Last night they learned how to kick the ball, pass the pall, stop the ball, and dribble. She's a little timid, but I think that will change once she gets the hang of it. She's in a 5-7 year old class, and I'm pretty sure she's the youngest. She made a new friend on her team last night, and she can't wait to see her again on Thursday! So cute. The whole fam made it to the practice (fun for Daddy!), and we even took a picture of Meredith trying to keep the sun out of her eyes!

Run-in with the Law...Twice

First of all, click HERE before you read my post. It will set the mood.

That's right, I was pulled over TWICE tonight...within the same hour to boot. Here's how it all went down:



1. I took the girls to the lake to spend the night with my parents.



2. I told my mom that I would stay until Claire and Meredith fell asleep.



3. Meredith was being extremely difficult at bedtime and would not go to sleep...seriously.



4. I decided to take Meredith for a little drive to put her to sleep. (On a side note, I think I've done this maybe once with one of the kids....something I NEVER do.)



5. We're on our way to the little grocery store when I see a police car.



6. As soon as I turn, I see the police car pull over to WAIT for me to pass him!



7. I know what's coming now. Bright lights, license, registration, handcuffs...ok no handcuffs.



8. "Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?" Of course, I know why. I have a headlight out, and I'm normally not even out at this time, but my 3 year old won't go to sleep. I thought I might drive her around to put her to sleep. Your bright lights are NOT helping. (I didn't put that part in.) And I NEVER drive around to put my kids to sleep. (He's thinking: yeah right!) Oh, and my address isn't correct on my license because we just moved. Sorry.

8 1/2. "Mommy, what are all the bright lights? Who was that man? Why am I in my pajamas? Where is Amelia? Why am I not wearing shoes? What if Amelia gets hungry?" And probably a few more I'm not remembering.



9. The older cop who was in the car comes out and tells me that they are pulling EVERYONE over that is breaking any part of the law because they are doing training and are trying to cut down on drunk drivers. AND there are 13 cop cars out patrolling this area. They like to call it "saturation".



10. He also informs me that I'll probably get pulled over again.



11. Yep.



12. I take Meredith back to the cottage (still not sleeping), and lay her down. Thankfully, she falls right to sleep.



13. I pack Amelia up, and we head back home.



14. 1 mile later, we're sitting in front of another police car's flashing lights.



15. I flash my I've-already-been-pulled-over warning ticket.



16. You get to drive away much quicker the second time.



17. We pass another police car in town. We get the cold shoulder this time.



18. I'm pretty sure they put a call out to avoid the white Honda Odyssey.

Lot 'o Stuff

So much fun stuff to post about today! Claire's birthday was a big hit last week. We had already celebrated with Josh's family on Memorial Day. So, my parents came over for dinner on Claire's birthday, and Dave, Deanna, Mae, Kennedy, and Hayden also came over for cake and ice cream. The cake was a big winner with my birthday girl. She wanted a castle cake, and she absolutely loved it. After her raving comments, I thought about going into business :) However, I remembered that they were coming from my 5 year old, and I decided to stick with being a mom! So here is the fun story about the cake:

Claire had been telling me that she wanted a "castle cake" for a few weeks. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull this one off. I don't know how to draw a castle or make one for that matter. That's where Google comes in! I typed in "easy castle cake". Well, castle cakes sure came up, but they certainly didn't appear to be "easy". So, I took a little of this one and a little of that one, and I created my own design that seemed "easy enough" for me! It ended up being pretty easy, and all day long, Claire kept saying, "Mom, that is my most favorite, favorite cake ever!" So, I figured, even if it wasn't the perfect castle cake, my birthday girl loved it and that's all that mattered. Here are some pics of the cake and from the party:

Saturday, Josh was working outside planting our garden (more pics of that to come soon), and he found this massive snapping turtle. He said it wasn't so massive, but I thought it looked huge! He would hold a little stick up in front of its face, and it would totally "snap" at it with its mouth. I wouldn't have wanted my finger close to its mouth...I'm sure I would only have 9 digits instead of 10! Yikes!

Houston....we have a thumb-sucker! I'm guessing it's going to be a thumb, but right now it's the whole hand! I did catch a picture of the thumb actually in there. So cute! I have a video that I tried to post of it, but I'm slightly technically challenged, so you might not get the privilege of seeing it...sorry. I'll work on it. But here are some good pictures of the event as well as an adorable smile from my baby girl: