Neglected

I realize I have neglected this blog yet again, but it has been for several reasons.  I've been working hard on Spoons, Spades & Stitches...I've been getting some awesome reviews & giveaways lined up (if you aren't already a follower of SS&S, you should check it out!).  I have also been super duper busy.  Earlier this week we had a funeral to attend and I took both kids to mass for the first time by myself.  It went much better than I had expected...Will fell asleep about 15 minutes in and Julianna fell asleep on Aunt Erin's lap just after communion...ok, so I had some help.  And this week is full of doctor's appointments.  I had one yesterday, another today, Julianna had one today and Will has one on Friday...sheesh!

Julianna's appointment didn't go quite how we had expected, but I'm not sure how much of it I want to share yet (I know that's so unlike me!  I share everything!).  It was an emotionally taxing day.  but you know what makes everything better?  These kids!

This tutu is a hint for one of the giveaways this weekend on SS&S :o)

His foot had just been removed from his mouth...seriously it was in his mouth!

Whatcha Doin'?

She just looks so grown up anymore!

My First Award

I got my first blog award today :o)  Thank you so much to Liz from "From Chalkboards to Strollers"!  I was so excited that Liz chose me!

The rules for accepting the award:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

And here's my 15:

1. Melissa from "These are the Stories that will Write our Book"
2. Abbie from "The Craziness That is my Life"
3. Danielle from "The Happenings of the Harper Household"
4. Jennifer from "The Martin Family Blog"
5. Mallory from "Diamonds & Pearls"
6. Heather from "3 Under 3"
7. Shannon from "Webbisodes"
8. Tracy from "Hall of Fame Moms"
9. Amy from "Life with the Wahls"
10. Kelly from "Miller Times"
11. Mama Hen from "Mama's Little Chick"
12. Jill from "Meet the Dubiens"
13. Melanie from "Going Green with Noah"
14. Beverly from "The L Family Blog"
15. Jackie from "3 Little Ones"

Some of these blogs I follow from here and some I follow from Spoons, Spades & Stitches...but they are all awesome blogs!

Treats

Today was Trick-or-Treating at our campground.  Yes, it's early, but the campground really has nothing to offer come the end of October.  Julianna totally got the concept this year.  Instead of "trick or treat" she would say "please", take her peice of candy & then say "thank you".  It was too cute!

My little pirate

And check out Will with his Grandpa Snyder...William Joseph & William Joseph.

Julianna-isms

Julianna can say the most unusual and seriously funny things.  So today, it's all about my toddler's talk...and I'm totally writing it just how it sounds, so good luck reading it!

"inna"
I wanna go inna da house.  I put it inna da tawset.  William (oh yes, she calls him William) go inna his tarseat.

Oh mommy you so siyee.  You mate me laugh youd youd youd.

I tolor with my chotolate chip crayon.

I a bid girl.  No more do do Dora's.

Mommy you hair is metty metty metty. (gotta love the honesty)

I hummy...please I have em ems? (a no from mommy) Please I have chotolate chip? (another no from mommy) Please I have sayad? (seriously, her next question...a big YES from mommy!)

I love my little girl and I love how well she is communicating now!  She has exceded her age vocabulary wise, but we're still working on clarity.  She's such a talker!

A Confession

I totally still have "when I grow up" dreams for myself.  I know it may be silly, but I still have my list of all the things I want to be/do when I grow up.  My list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter and in fact seems to be getting longer almost every day!

Every time I see something I love I think "Hey, I can do that!" and it gets added to my list.  So what are some current things on my list of "when I grow up"?

• I want to open another Etsy shop and make things I love...baby stuff...girlie stuff...boy stuff...anything!
• I want to be an awesome photographer...guess I should start learning how to use my camera better.
• I want to go back to teaching...but not to the kids...heehee.
• I want to be a world traveler...does Canada & Mexico count?
• I want to be fantastic chef...you know the kind that doesn't make dinner from the freezer...and no, I don't do it very often.
• I want to be a cake baker...I am a sucker for gorgeous cakes!
• I want to work with babies...everyone's a sucker for babies!
• I want to be an artist...art supplies make me want to be creative, but totally intimidate me and make me feel pressured to be creative.

I feel just like a kindergartner telling her teacher what she wants to be "when she grows up".  But what tops my list is...I want to be an awesome mom...always working on this one.

Do you have a confession?  It can be big or small...add it to our list!

Lovin' the Grandparents

My kids love going to their grandparents' houses and thank goodness too!They have to spend quite a bit of time with them sometimes.  This past weekend I had some sciatica issues and ended up on some pretty strong meds (knocked me out in 15 minutes!).  So the kids got to spend time with their grandparents.  Sunday I went with the kids to my parents house.  Julianna loves grandpa's grapes!

Will doesn't get quite so excited.

And neither one was a fan of the scarecrow.

Yesterday, they got to spend the day with Joe's mom & dad.  Julianna gets very excited to go to Grandma's house (both grandparents' houses are Grandma's house...grandpa's apparently don't count...lol).  Julianna cried when they left our house because she wanted a "jamma party" at grandma's house.  I love how close my kids are to their grandparents!

Butterflies & Cereal

Yesterday, Julianna & I went to a botanical garden & butterfly house.  She had so much fun.

She walked around the butterfly house with their brochure and would look at it and then look around, just like a little scientist looking for a specific species.

Emma & Ellie got to experience butterflies right on their heads.

The kids all loved going on the short trail walk afterwards.

Then yesterday evening, Will got his first taste of rice cereal.  I put off starting cereal longer than I did with Julianna by about a month or so, and I'm glad I did!  He was much less messy than she was.  The cereal actually all stayed in his mouth!

I don't think he really liked it though...haha!

Big sister Julianna of course had to help and she did wonderful!

Fairs & Mohawks

Yesterday, we took Julianna to the county fair (it was free admissions before noon!). 

We thought she would love all the animals.  We were wrong.  She could have cared less about any of the animals.  Correction...she could have cared less about any of the live animals.  She LOVED the carousel horses.  Haha!  I knew we wouldn't be able to get away with not letting her ride the horsies.  She loved riding all of the other rides just as much. 

She had even more fun once her cousins got there and Ian rode with her.

Will didn't go with us, instead he enjoyed the AC with his Grandma K & cousin Mia (it was so stinkin' hot yesterday).  On a completely unrelated note (hey, it's my blog I can jump topics whenever I want), Will seems to only be growing hair on the very top of his head.  We laugh and call it his military haircut.  But the other night he told me...remember we have great conversations...he wanted to look a little more rock.  I obliged and this was the result...

He was totally rockin' a baby mohawk!  The funniest part was that I did this while it was wet and it stayed that way overnight and all day the next day!