Montana

We visited beautiful Big Sky, Montana with my side of the family last week. What an amazing place. Around every corner a new beautiful Mountain view. It was close enough to Yellowstone that we did a couple day trips to see the sights there. It did not disappoint. We saw some awesome geysers, cool mud pots, a gorgeous waterfall and a bison from about 5 feet away. 😳 It was next to the wooden walkway that you are not allowed to step off of. It remained docile, but hearing the reports of the 9 year old girl who got thrown by one in the news today was definitely a gut check. We also saw lots of bison from the car including a family with one youngish member and a tiny baby. So cute!
I did some night photography with my dad. It was really fun and I learned some new things. We didn't have a tripod available, so most of the pictures are shaky with the long exposures. I'm posting my favorite one here anyway because it was a cool experience and I love the image. Next time I go to the mountains I'm bringing a tripod even with limited luggage room. The stars were amazing up there.

That's the house we stayed in in the background. This was pretty much our view from the back deck, but there wasn't room to get a picture of everyone there.

My favorite picture of the stars from the night my dad and I did night photography. See the Big Dipper?

Old Faithful

It was really cool to see Bison. I wish we had seen some elk or moose, too.

Mom and Dad in Yellowstone

My crew at Yellowstone

 Ethan enjoyed a little walk with Daddy and Grandpa.

 I think Grandpa enjoyed it as much as he did.

 So many people to walk with! Grandma and Ethan are really enjoying this moment.

 My parents and older 2 nephews.

 Waterfall in Yellowstone

 My family in front of the waterfall and nephew photobomber. 😂

 What's a hike for a gymnast without a handstand?

 I love Ryan's relationship with his cousins. 💗

More walking, this time with big sister, Lily. The hat system we used this day worked really well, but looks a little funny. The blue hat on top was too floppy and kept getting blown up or down on his face. The hat underneath would be fine even though it didn't have as wide a brim it would have at least protected his eyes, but it didn't have a strap and the wind was fierce. So we tied the blue one down over the khaki one with the stiffer brim. It reminds me a bit of Crocodile Dundee.

Sneak peek

I sent this picture to Lily this morning.

While she was away at camp my mom came over and we painted Lily's room. She picked the color last year when we were painting Ethan's room. I am pretty sure she will like the color, but I wanted to do a whole room make over. I'm thinking of it as her birthday present, a teenage room for a new teenager. All she wanted back in March was a book, a preorder book due in September at that. Lily is not a big fan of change, so I've gone back on forth on pulling the trigger. I've kind of felt her out for what she likes furniture-wise, but when we were at the store yesterday Jay and I both second guessed the color selection. He came up with a great idea though. It's all Ikea furniture, so we bought what I wanted to put in there in white (like she and I discussed), but we won't put it together. That way if she freaks out and wants it back the way it was we can just put things back the way they were. If she likes the white we have it and can put it together right away. And we have pictures of the same furniture in gray (which Jay and I both like best), so if she likes that we can exchange all the white furniture for gray. Problem solved. New problem...I forgot to get the shelf for her trophies. It was one of those ask the associate pieces and I totally forgot. Ugh. It will all come together in the end. This way she gets some say as well. I'm excited for her to see it on Saturday.

Our Little Koala

Ethan has earned the nickname of Koala or Cutie Koala for the way he holds on tight and cuddles, especially after naps. One day Ryan got him up from his nap and said, "He's like a little koala!" and it stuck. I love it because it perfectly describes his clinging cuddly nature when he wakes up and it's completely his. As we know Lily does not like shared endearments. 😐😉 Of course, when I saw this diaper I loved it.

Reviving My Little Place on the Internet

I somehow accidentally opened my blog the other day. Ethan may have had something to do with it. I read a couple posts. The feelings of nostalgia were so sweet. I missed my kids being those ages. I missed having my blog to capture moments. I missed blogging in general and the little blog community I was in. For these reasons and because of my distaste for Facebook(okay maybe it's more of a love/ hate relationship with Facebook) I'm going to start posting my memories here instead. I am also going to try to move my Facebook posts here, but I imagine that will be a long tedious journey that will take me years to complete. For now I'm starting fresh with today.

It is pretty nice in there ;-)

Lily's friend came over yesterday. They went in the newly redecorated powder room to wash their hands for a snack. Here is the conversation I overheard...


Lily's friend: Ooooo...it's like a hidden bathroom.  [this is because the bathroom is behind our front door]
Lily: It's a whole new color.
Friend: Yeah, it's all white in here.
Lily: Yeah, it's like heaven in here!
Friend: Yeaaaah!
Lily: My mom says it's gray.  (then they both laugh)

Wish List 2011

This year I tried doing our wish list another way, but it seems best to keep it online since it seems to be ever changing. I will try to add links where I think they will be helpful. As always these are just ideas. Do not feel limited, but perhaps inspired :-)

Lily

LalaLoopsy dolls

2 small pillow pets (unicorn and dolphin)

Ariel toy that has a tail that you can use in the bathtub

Princess Sled

Nintendo DS Lite (pink)

Playmobile schoolhouse

Hello Kitty PJs (size 5)

Hello Kitty tights and leggings

Pink flower booster seat

Pet Dog- color white

A picture of Lily and Cadence

New rocking horse

Princess play Castle

Princess dress up trunk

Hello Kitty Car Real

Hello Kitty Bracelet

Pink jewelry box with ballet slippers and ballerina (found at Bed, Bath and Beyond)

Playdoh

Discovery Kids pottery wheel

Digital camera (Discovery Kids is the brand she saw)

Cash Register (Discovery kids is the brand she noticed)

Pop the Pig game

Animal Planet Air Swimmers eXtreme flying remote control clownfish

Hungry, Hungry Hippos game

Squinkies- Ariel and Hello Kitty

Magic Fairy Dora

Leapster Explorer games

Ryan

A bunch of Lego sets (Star Wars-- AT-AT Walker, Imperial Star Destroyer, Death Star, Alien conquest: tripod invader and mother ship)

Video games (for Wii-- Star Wars III, Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues or for DS- Lego Indiana Jones)

A few toys

Playmobile- pirates

Slippers size 1

Medium weight jacket size 8

Angry Birds shirt

Hess Truck

Ipod touch

Bigger bike (~20 inch)

Nerf bullets

Ravens stuff
Hedbanz game

Animal Planet Air Swimmers eXtreme flying remote control shark

 

Jen

Soft, cozy blanket to wrap up in on the sofa (preferably in a neutral color)

Warm fuzzy slippers

Kitchen island

Nice warm button up sweater in a neutral color

Wow Hits 2012 CD

Favorite chocolates= Dove milk chocolate

socks
banana stand -similar to this
sweater drying rack like this or this

Jay

Gift Cards (Panera, Dunkin Donuts, Qdoba)

Bodum Bistro Coffee Bean grinder

Whole bean coffee (dark blends ;)

Favorite chocolate= Lindt

Bailey’s Irish Cream

Transformers 3 DVD (yes, really)

Movie tickets to Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol movie (Regal Cinema)

Zach

Bike helmet size medium

Ipod Touch

Nintendo DS Game: Pokemon Black

Puzzles

‘Nook Simple Touch’ e-reader Accessories (cover, light, Barnes & Nobles giftcards to purchase ebooks, etc)

Wii Game: Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures

Nerf “whistling” football

Old Navy Boys Jersey-lined Ripstop Cargo pants (size 14)

Family

Aquarium Season tickets

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie

Creationary Lego game

Loopz game
Blokus

That's So Lily

We were sitting at the dinner table. Ryan and Lily had come straight from playing a game together. They had built imaginary things with straws, ribbon and cardboard tubes. Ryan had built a fireman's backpack complete with breathing apparatus. Lily had two red straws with the bendy parts partially bent stuck behind her ears and tucked under a green ribbon that was tied with a bow around her head. I wish I had gotten a picture. She looked so cute. Jay said to her, "You look like Cindy Lou Who." She looked back at him kind of puzzled and he explained he was talking about the straws and bow on her head. "Oh!" she said, "No, these are guns." Yep, that's my Lily.

Excited Kids; So much fun!

Ryan is having a great birthday so far. He opened a package yesterday that he thought was school supplies, but turned out to be Lego Star Wars for DS from his Aunt Bee and family. Not having a DS of his own did not stop the excitement. After some discussion about borrowing Zach's DS he said, and I quote, "This is the best! I couldn't have asked for anything more!" We were getting ready to head out the door so he brought  the game with him in the car just by itself. He read the directions and was just so excited to have it.
This morning he got to open his gift from our family. It was a blue DS. His chin nearly dropped to the floor. This time he said, "This is AWESOME! I couldn't ask for anything more!" Then he opened his gift from Grandmommy and Granddaddy, a Calvin and Hobbes collection, which generated more beaming smiles and exclamations of joy. This kid is so happy. It's like it's his birthday or something;-)
As Ryan was rejoicing about his gifts Lily hugged her new stuffed animal close and said with all the joy in the world for herself and her brother, "And I have my Hello Kitty!" You see, yesterday we went on a Grandparent sponsored trip to the State Fair. The kids had a blast, but that's another post. At the fair Ryan won a stuffed animal and he chose to get a Hello Kitty and give it to Lily. He said to me afterwards, "I'm really glad I got that prize for Lily. Even more than if I had gotten one for myself." It has quickly become of of her favorite things in the world. Lily even pulled a chair up next to hers at the table so Hello Kitty can sit next to her in the booster seat at meals.
All in all a good day so far. I think it has been nice for him to have the day off from school. Last year his birthday was the first day of school and for a while there we thought it was going to be the first day this year as well. he takes it all in stride and doesn't complain either way, but he seems to be having a really fun day today with the neighborhood kids.

Begging

Earlier today Lily asked me what begging is. I gave her a basic explanation and we both moved on. Okay, maybe just I moved on because a little while later She asked me for a snack. "Sure," I told her.

"What can I have?" she asked.
"What do you want?"
"Can I have a popcicle?"
"Yes, that's a great idea since it's so hot."
"Can I have ice cream?"
"If we have any."
"Can I have candy?"
"No."
"Please, please, please?!?!"
"No."
"That's begging."
"You're right. I don't respond to begging."
With a glint in her eye and a Cheshire Cat smile on her face, "Daddy does!"

Oh, boy. I'm in trouble with this one;-)

Chip Off the Old Block

Ryan (looking up from his handwriting book): Mom, how can I help? This is extra homework, so it can wait. Do you want me to help clean up the fort?

Me (thinking what a wonderful boy I have): I'll finish cleaning up the fort. If you really want to help putting out the trash would be the HUGEST help.

Ryan, in a corrective tone: Mo-om, that's not a word! You are using incorrect grammar. You should have said biggest.

Me ::giving Ryan the stink eye::

Ryan (innocently): Whaaat?! I get that from you.  ::smirk::


While he is wrong about hugest not being a word, he is right about getting that from me. So he gets points for making me laugh;-)

Walkie Talkies

The other day at my mom's house Lily asked for some "walkie talkies." After a few puzzled looks, words to the effect of "I have no idea what you are talking about" and a very frustrated sigh from Lily she finally said, "I'll show you."  She held my hand and guided me upstairs and pointed to the hutch in the living room. "The walkie talkies are gone!" Luckily my mom had followed us upstairs and recognized the spot Lily was pointing to was the place she usually keeps a bowl of Werther's Original candies. My mom extrapolated that because she calls the candies toffees and Lily must have heard talkies (the way my mom says toffee does sound quite a bit like talkie) and the first letter on the bag started with a W Lily must think the candies are called Walkie Talkies. So now we all call them Walkie Talkies;-)

Bonus story:
I heard Jay telling stories in a pirate voice. When I went to say goodnight to Lily as soon as she saw me she said, "Arrrrrg me parties!" So funny! Then when I said prayers with her she told me she had one for me and motioned for me to lean over so she could whisper it in my ear. She whispered, "Say thank you to God that Lily said, 'Arg me parties!' 'cause that makes me laugh and laugh and laugh." I love that girl :-D

Lily-isms

Todd Pie= Pod Tai

constructions= instructions

Breaktast = breakfast

scagetti = spaghetti

Coupon?

The Target coupon book came in the mail today. I was pulling some coupons out for things that we use and Lily asked, "What's that?" I told her it was a coupon book and you use the coupons in it to save money. She asked to help since I was done going through it so I turned it over to her. She pulled one out and said, "Here is a coupon, Mommy."
Then she turned the page and got really excited, "A three-pon!" It was for $3 off something. She pulled on another, "I need this one-pon." [$1 off] She turned the page again, "Woah! A fifty-pon! We totally need that one!" Yeah, that one was for $0.50 off.
Her great excitement for the fifty cent coupon made me chuckle and it makes me think of all those stories of kids trading 1 quarter for 3 pennies because they get more;-) It also reminds me of the time my brother traded several of our family's freshwater sinkers for 1 saltwater sinker because it was bigger. We used to fish in the reservoir near our house, so you can imagine my mom and dad's reaction to the contents of the tackle box after the trade.

Showin' the Love

Lily got these great window crayons from Grandma and Grandpa for Valentine's Day. She put them to good use today making a welcome home display for Ryan. Yes, that picture is from this afternoon and yes she is wearing her PJs. She has a fever and sore throat today, so we had a very relaxed PJ day.

This is what our finished creation looked like. Lily suggested she do the first letter and I do the second and that we switch back and forth for the whole sign. I started to say that wouldn't work because we would have to do all the letters backwards, but then I realized when I thought about the words we were using that most of her letters would end up being the same backwards and forwards. Wasn't that fortuitous?! I started out by doing one of her "e"s because I thought it was too hard to do backwards, but when we came to the second "e" that was hers she suggested that she could just do the upper case "E"--- brilliant! So that's what we did. As for that "N", well I started telling her about doing it backwards, but I stopped because "N"s can be confusing enough and I knew Ryan would know what it was supposed to be. That big heart on the top was Lily's idea, she decided everything about it and sent me for a stool so she could reach the perfect spot.

This is Ryan's reaction. I think he felt the love:-) Lily was so excited to do it and had so much fun with it. She even left "secret kisses" for Ryan. They are red ovals with her name written by them. I just love my kids. They are so awesome!

Lily-isms

She's outgrowing most of her cute little Lily specific mispronunciations and such, but some stick around to make me smile at all the special things that make her individual and unique.

Valen times Day- She was writing Valentine's Day cards in the other room. She ran and asked me...What letter says, "Eh"? When she figures out the answer she runs out. A few minutes later she runs back in and says, "how do you spell 'time'?"

High Sicle Musical  (1, 2 and 3 of course)

Princess Wii- Her Princess game for the Wii.  ie. "Mommy, will you play Princess Wii with me?"

Bikini bread = zucchini bread

bonus cute thing:
Tonight we said grace and Ryan started eating. Lily told him he couldn't eat yet? I reminded her that we said grace. She thought for a second and said, "We need to say 'Ah Pledge ma legiance' [The Pledge of Allegiance]  It's a special thing for Valentimes Day."

From Lily with Lof

Lily gave this paper to me two or three months ago. Of course I loved it and stored it away. After a while I thought about the fact that construction paper will fade and it won't last forever, so I scanned it. Once I scanned it I felt it was too precious to keep to myself. So now, I'm blogging it. She did this all by herself and surprised me. It was quite a surprise, too. She doesn't ever want to practice writing her letters and she really doesn't like to read any of the words at story time, except site words. I had a feeling she could do more than she was letting on, but I was so happy to see her taking an interest in writing. She did pretty well for stretch spelling and that's all they require in Kindergarten. She wrote her name at the top to indicate who it was from and she also wrote it on the back, but I didn't scan that. Then is says, "Momm I lof yoo." Which loosely translated means "Mommy, I love you. Love, Lily" So sweet. It's definitely among my favorite pieces of art at the moment.

Memories to be Tucked Away

• Today while Ryan was doing his homework Lily was playing pretend with Little People. He looked over at her and with a tilt of his head and the sweetest smile on his face said, "I love the way Lily plays."

• Lily came up to me and asked, "Mommy, how do Nemos kiss again?" I gave her a puzzled look and then as she stuck her little nose out as me and shook her little head back and forth I realized she meant Eskimo kisses. So I told her the proper term and she said, "Oh, okay." Pause "You be a Nemo and I'll be a Nemo and we'll do a kiss." LOL
• We went to pick out some gifts to send to a little girl in Kenya. Lily helped me pick out some hair things. She picked these beaded pony tail holders and some heart barrettes. I was good with the barrettes, but I tried to steer her away from the pony tail holders. They were just a little much in my opinion, but Lily really liked them. She held them in her hand and said in a kind of dreamy voice, "They are so pretty. They are like jewelry." I figured if she loves them that much Brenda might just like them, too.

Letter to Santa

Lily decided that she wanted to write a letter to Santa. [She's asking to put cookies out for Santa, too. I think she's getting these ideas from preschool because it's not something we talk about here. It's okay though when she asks we will tell her the truth just like we did with Ryan.] I was cooking dinner when she asked me to help her, so I asked Ryan if he would help her. He was sweet and helped his sister. He even helped her find an envelope and fold the paper so it would fit inside. She wanted to send her letter so badly. She wasn't sure how it would work...she had some Winnie the Pooh type ideas about the letter being carried to Santa by the wind. I convinced her that we should mail it and let the mailman take it. We missed the mailman the first day. I just didn't have the heart to keep putting her off, so I let her put it in the mailbox this morning before church. She was so excited she skipped to the mailbox giggling all the way. Quite possibly the cutest thing I've seen in months. She had a sparkly pink Santa hat on when she did it which just added to the cuteness. Such sweet memories! I love that girl!

Christmas *Idea* List

****important note: my hair dresser changed salons, so if you were planning on getting Angles gift certificates please get Mane Connection instead. Thank you.***

Every year at some point someone asks me what people in my family want for Christmas. I've been compiling a list by writing things down as people ask for them or dream out loud about having them. Some things I added because I think they would be enjoyed. Here is that list. These are only ideas, feel free to pick from the list or not.

Christmas Idea List 2010

Jay:

• Satellite radio subscription*
• Panera gift cards
• (Jay's Amazon wishlist)

Lily:

• Pink soccer ball
• “We did it” Dora doll
• Playmobile Schoolhouse
• Little girl doll (~18 inches) She really liked the Disney World ones that have Disney dress ups I  just looked for these to link them and it looks like they don't sell them anymore:-( So I showed her the American Girl dolls and she likes Felicity, Elizabeth, Kit and Ruthie the best. I'm sure she would be happy with any 18"doll though.
• Pixie Power playset
• Prince Eric Doll
• Little Mermaid Dress costume  
• This Year's Hess Truck
• a jumprope 
• Pillow pet 
• Pinkalicious and Goldilicious books

Jen:

• Presto Poplite hot air corn popper
• This super cute "Capture Life" necklace (if you get this please tell Jay so I don't end up with nonreturnable duplicates)
• Syrup dispenser
• Umbrella and mount for Flash photography
• Trigger transmitter 
• New cell phone
• Gift certificates for The Mane Connection on 924 in Bel Air
• All in one speakers for my Ipod nano that are easy to move around the house ----  (picture a boomboxish thing that has a nano port)
• Home Depot gift cards for paint- there are a few projects I want to do:-)
• a kitchen island
• 9 cube organizer shelves in cherry finish
• Cherry Bookcase http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49885937
• 2x other cherry shelves http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40085709
• Acrylic knitting needles- Any gauge is fine since I only have one set of circular ones at this point:-)

Ryan

• General Grievous’s Lego ship
• Lego anything
• playmobiles
• Anything Ravens
• lacrosse stick and ball
• Voyage of the Dawn Treader 3D movie tickets 
• This Year's Hess Truck

Zach

• Legoes -Star Wars sets
• Wii: Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros.
• Redwall books: "Triss", "Lord Brocktree", by Brian Jacques
• Warrior books: Any "Warrior series" books by Erin Hunter
• Sudoku puzzles
• Chemistry set - individual activity-in-a-box with an experiment to do
• Voyage of the Dawn Treader 3D movie tickets

Family:

• High School Musical 3 DVD
• Prince Caspian
• Toy Story 3 DVD
• Season Passes or tickets to the Maryland Zoo, Aquarium, Science Center or Port Discovery
• 4th Wii Controller w/ nunchuk
• Winter Wonderland Tickets

The Restaurant

Ryan and Lily are playing pretend this morning. They are cracking me up. Some things from the game that made me laugh:

They came to me and told me they wanted to order breakfast. I told them pancakes are $100. Ryan said, "No, they are $.25 because that's all Lily has."

"Mom, you know you don't get to keep the money forever, right?"

"Mom, are the pancakes ready yet? I'm going to pretend your name is Mom in the game, so I can call you by your real name, okay?"

Ryan to Lily, "This is a slow food restaurant, so we can sit and talk until our food is ready."  A slow food restaurant, that just cracks me up.

I love when they play nicely together:-)