Science Museum and Nana and Poppy

Well hello to all of you! I am afraid our weekend passed and now that it is the work week (for us, yes, I realize this is all backwards for all of you), I have a bit of time for catch up...on the girls that is! :-)

Sometimes we set up the slide to go into the turtle pool so the girls can slide down it and have fun but it doesn't take as much water as the big pool.  So these pics are the girls doing their "tah dahs" for us.  They have really perfected them since the Olympics.

Then we went down to visit Nana and Poppy, which means checking out the new coo coo clock.  The girls were a little obsessed with it.  In fact, yesterday K got a worried look on her face and told me, "I think when we left Nana's house, the coo coo clock cooked (said coooooked)".  I think she was trying to say that it was cooing without us but not wanting an hour long discussion on why we can't go see it right now, I just nodded my head and agreed.

M and I decided to take advantage of the free child care and went out on a date.  It was a nice evening.

The next day we took the girls to the Science Museum.  They loved this projection of a pond.

Did I mention they loved it?  The biggest bonus of having opposite weekends from everyone else is that there aren't a million people everywhere we go so we get the opportunity to let the girls enjoy themselves without constantly shewing them off so other kids can have their turn.

This is for my Dad...they did enjoy one thing with flying!  :)

The heart of the brontosaurus.

BEFORE t-rex came roaring onto the screen at the back of the cave and scared the life out of Em.

AFTER t-rex came roaring onto the screen at the back of the cave and scared the life out of Em. She literally didn't let Dad set her down for almost an hour after that. Here we were just watching a video on sound. We tried to do all the calm things but it was to no avail.

Trying out her wings.  :-)  So sweet!

Shopping...all the healthy stuff first.

It's actually a game.  K has a scanner in her hand and has to follow instructions on what to buy.

Em still wasn't leaving Dad, but at least her inner clown was back.

Finally, she started to play again when we took them back to the pond and submarine play area.

The extreme climbing that my girls do is all genetic from Dad.  Leave it to K to be the one who finds her way to the top of the submarine, happy as a clam to sit up there alone.

This wall was cool.  As the kids walked in front of it, it created a void where they stood...

But it also kept "dropping" balls and it would drop them around the voids...

...as you can see the pile up on Em's head.

Everyone keeps asking me if these are her new glasses.  No.  They are new frames for the glasses she broke but her new glasses will be completely different.  You will have no trouble determining if they are new.  They are large and purple and not nearly this cute.  We still do not have them because it is incredibly difficult to make bifocal lenses at this strength.  They have tried and failed twice already and now we are just hoping it is possible.  Recall that the specialist thought we had a shot at correcting her eye crossing issues with bifocals, thus avoiding the looming eye surgery (which, apparently, she should have already had).

We always thank you for your prayers and for those who like specific requests, we are trying to make this the last attempt at potty training but since Em takes so long to learn anything, this has been a two steps forward, two steps back, two steps forward, one step back kind of progress.  We need endurance for the training.  We can't quit and Em can't quit.  And well, she's two and showing it.  :-)  On a personal level, pray that we would be content with where God has us right now and not wanting to be on to the next thing or the better thing but that we would wait for His timing on everything.

God Bless!!

Why hello!!  Greetings and salutations to you all!  I guess we can jump right into it since the pictures seem to do that for me.  :-)  On the home front, K's "rest time", which is one hour long and which she usually takes on either my bed or in the treehouse, has turned in to about a 50/50 shot at a nap.  She reads (outloud) for a good half hour before it is do or die time and I cross my fingers in hope.  She usually sleeps when Dad is home and doesn't when I am alone.  So yes, when Dad is here, we get a break, but when I am alone, I do not.  Classic!

On the potty training front, Em peed on the potty for the first time in our almost two week long serious attempt at potty training.  (Yes, that is long and yes I have been told by many a professional she may not be able to do it yet, but I am nothing if not a little stubborn at times.  Don't get me wrong, I am not going to get bent out of shape if it fails but I always want to give her the chance to prove them all wrong.  And so with long-suffering we try.).

Anyway, yesterday, after five morning pees in her pants (and not once did mom even raise her voice, yes, I am patting myself on the back), she took the sixth pair of training pants and voluntarily put them in the laundry...laundry I had just pulled out of the dryer.  After redoing half that load, I was ready to be done but decided to just try one more day.

I had promised her a party if she could just pee on the potty once.  The conversation went like this...Me: Emmy, do you want a cookie? Em: Yeah.  Me: Then pee pee on the potty and we will have cookies and I'll sing you a song and we will have a grand old party! After a moment of processing, Em: Me have a candle?  Me: Ok, yes, I can find you a candle.  This put a huge smile on her face and then, as an afterthought she said, "And den I will be fwee (3)!" I then had to clarify the difference between a party and a birthday party but it was very cute!

We sang a million songs and read some books (all of which K has helped me with since I promised her a cookie too) and then finally she did it!  She was so proud of herself, but not as proud as mommy was.

This is blurry because she leaned it to see the candle closer and I was reaching for her to stop what I knew was coming when her forehead got a little warmer than she wanted.  She wouldn't go near the candle after that until I helped her blow it out.  Ha!  Such is life!

Oh, and then I left her with Dad while I went to a baby shower and she went again! Then he caught her about to go number two, gave her the ipad and let her watch PBS until she went.  I guess she looked up at Daddy and said, "I dwopped it!"  SO, nothing for two weeks and two pee and a poo in one day - just like Em!!  I don't know if she will remember any of it tomorrow, but it's a start and that is all we can ask for these days.

Oh, yeah, the above mentioned baby shower.  There were a million people at this one but I stuck to more familiar faces...

We were trying out the self-portrait mode - not a normal fixture on these types of cameras - and I thought it was pretty easy considering the weight of the camera (although it is my small lens because the big one is at the shop).

Oh, and the pregnant one...

I just have to post this cause J won't appreciate it.  :p  It is one of those games where you have to walk with a quarter between your knees and drop it in a bottle...she did accomplish the goal, which is more than I can say for myself.

Sharing a plate.  K had chocolate strawberries for supper and A had chicken nuggets.  We were sporting the health food.

I think the idea was that Z fed the baby water, K fed it food and I am not sure what A was doing, but I had no choice but to document the three of them playing with - and SHARING!! - a single toy.  And you thought miracles didn't happen!

Well, here we are...the orange feet and the white feet...just in case you didn't believe me about Em's skin.  :)

Awww, Daddy!

The girls are at that stage where they don't understand why Daddy has to work so much and I get lots of questions all day long about Daddy and work and "when he comes home".  In their reality, Daddy leaves for three or four days straight and comes home for three or four days straight.  He may as well be a traveling Dad, which is very hard on them.  Anyway, so when he is home, they usually take full advantage of his time and attention!  Dad often thinks many of the toys we have are "pointless" as they "never play with them".  But that's just because when Dad is home, he is the toy.  What he doesn't realize is that they play with all their toys the entire time he is gone.  :-)

Well, I better head to bed!  Let me leave you with a passage though.  I found this story in Mark 5 and decided that our exact story is in the Bible too: "Then the leader of a local synagogue arrived...when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him, "My daughter is dying...please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live." Just then messengers arrived and said, "Your daughter is dead.  There's no use troubling the teacher now." But Jesus overheard them and said to the man, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." ...the crowds laughed at him...Jesus took the girl's father and mother and three disciples into the room.  Holding her hand, he said to her, "Little girl, get up!" And the girl stood up and walked around.  They were overwhelmed and totally amazed."

God Bless!