Oliver and Emily Jozwiak

Catching up!!!

2013-07-17T20:26:00.003-05:00

Ah, sorry!! Where has the time gone?! I'm looking at these photos today and they seem so old now :)

Anyway, Oliver graduated kindergarten at the beginning of June. He has progressed so much in this past year and is more than excited to be a first grader. During the summer break he is going to camp two days a week like he did last year and he will be going to soccer camp at the end of July. His reading has come on in leaps and bounds and he can read a lot of things without help now.

Emily is still at preschool two mornings a week. She recently moved rooms and we're hoping the peer pressure helps with the potty training (it eventually did with Oliver when he moved to this room!). She has taken to the new teachers very well and they all say that she is very chatty and happy. She is absolutely convinced that she is going to kindergarten on the bus in September so we'll see how that pans out when the first day of school arrives! I can't believe it's a full two years until she will!!

Both kids are doing well at swimming. Oliver is learning the butterfly at the moment which I remember being so difficult but he is coming on well. Emily still seems to prefer floating rather than actually moving in the water but slowly she is getting it. She certainly knows what to do, it's just a case of putting it into action!!!

Summer was slow to arrive but we are right in it now with some super hot temps. I know it's the same in the UK so I am grateful for my air con!!!

We are in the midst of preparing for Oliver's 6th birthday. He's decided on a bounce house party again - maybe the last time?

Lots of pics - the videos were not loading for me again so sorry they are missing!! And I probably missed a lot of news but that's my fault for not keeping up to date :)

Hanging around!

Putting on a show at the Maple Grove Town Green

First BBQ of the year

Salt jar craft!

Mother's Day :)

Oliver likes to exercise with us :)

Red Hat caps must be worn in bed apparently!

Sprinkler time!

Looking all grown up in her PJs from the girls dept - no more toddler :(

While brother is away, she likes to play with the trains!

Learning to cashier

One of Oliver's great pieces of artwork

Exploring (the woods, not our noses Emily!)

Mummy and daughter xx

Taking purple baby for a ride!

Enjoying an ice cream

Oliver manages to stay a little cleaner than his sister

Oliver at his kindergarten music show

Sporting her new shoes!

Out for a walk!

She took herself for a nap this day - a rare occurrence!

Oliver doing his sister's hair

Yep, he can climb well :)

My kindergarten graduate

Not feeling well :(

Mummy came back from Chicago with toys!

Doing a show with friends!

Ploughing through the 1st grade workbook

"I don't want my picture taken"

First and last day of kindergarten

Chicago Hello Kitty!

Thanks Mum!

Another summer show!

Riding the plastic dinosaur - as you do

And wearing a bucket on your head!

Oliver needed a haircut...

.....here he is halfway through!

Post haircut treats

Another impromptu nap

Oliver gets to wear flippers during some of his swim lessons now. He thinks they really speed him up!

Finished the puzzle!

Aw xxx

Elm Creek Park

Hanging with the cousins!

Ice cream!!!!!

Emily getting on board the fitness train too!

Oliver now likes to climb trees (and give his mother a heart attack)

Techno whiz kid

Tuesday in Maple Grove - scorching!

Scoop just turned 7 - the kids choose her new collar and toy

Taco Night!!!

Easter and more :)

2013-05-02T09:09:00.000-05:00

Happy May everyone!!! We greeted May yesterday with more snow but thankfully it didn't amount to much. We had some warm temperatures over the weekend which was nice and hopefully things will look up from now on. It has been a long, hard winter!

Emily had her first visit to the dentist a few weeks ago and did very well indeed. No fear of the moving chair or the dentist whatsoever! Oliver went on the same day and was told he had two very loose teeth and his big molars were starting to grow in the back. Since then one of the teeth has fallen out and the other one is very close. Now, I was very nervous about the whole tooth under the pillow thing (I was certain I would wake him up!) so Oliver decided to decorate a box for his tooth and leave it outside his bedroom door. A much better idea!! He was rewarded with a dollar from the tooth fairy (or "only one" as he put it!). I kept the first tooth in a safe place and he found it the other day so I had to invent a story about the tooth fairy leaving it for me because it was a very special tooth!! Gosh, the things we have to do as parents!

The kids had a visit from the Easter bunny too although we tried not to go overboard!! Grandpa and Grandma hosted an egg hunt in their basement too which was fun as always :)

A few weeks ago I entered a 5k and there was also a kids fun run before it so Jon and Oliver did that together. Oliver was so excited but he fell over halfway through and couldn't run again :( He did make it to the finish line but he was very, very sad about the fall. I think I have convinced him to try again another time though! The good news was that his school had the most runners and won $1000 - and two teachers shaved their heads!!

Oliver's school hosted a Family Fun Night a few weeks ago. We had some fun for an hour and then I volunteered for the second hour. We bid on a couple of baskets of games: one for a girl and one for a boy. I learned a couple of days later than we won a basket but I didn't know which one until I went to pick it up. It was the one for a boy! You should have seen Oliver's face - he really wanted it because of one Angry Birds puzzle in it!

Emily had her school photos taken the other week and I went to pick them up yesterday. Not too much of a smile this time - probably because big brother wasn't there with her - but she looks cute anyway! No picture of it in here but I will try to post it next time.

Swimming is going very well for both kids. They were assessed last week and both will be going up a level for the summer session. They will probably stay in these levels for a little while due to age but it's lovely to see them progressing.

Can you believe that school is done the first week of June? It's a crazy long summer break over here but Oliver is signed up for 2 days a week of summer camp and soccer camp for a few weeks later in the summer. Emily will carry on going to preschool twice a week like she does now. Unbelievable that I will have a first grader on my hands very soon.

Patiently waiting for cookies to bake

Pony!!

Mummy's new swiffer was so exciting that I got two helpers!

Frozen yoghurt treat for being good!

I explained to Oliver how bad Lunchables were so we have started making our own :)

I don't allow painting at home very often but I was obviously feeling generous on this day!

The first round of melting snow before we got more......

Oliver showing us his muscles!

Easter baskets from the bunny!

Happy Easter!

The most popular chair at Grandpa's house!

Emily and purple baby trying out the dentist's chair

Big girl!

Video of Oliver trying out his joke for school joke day!

Getting ready to race!

At the start line with Daddy

The race in full (including my trying to encourage Oliver to run!)

New shirts from Nanna!

Emily got pinkeye :(

And cut her own hair!

Taking a rare nap!

I'm not sure this how you are supposed to play Elefun

The prize basket!!

Oliver is quite a budding little artist - here is something he did at school

The tooth has gone!

Crazy April snowstorm!

The Peanut Butter song!

Another flower picture!

First outing to a playground this year!

Apparently 70+ degrees is too much for Scoop!

And another flower picture for Mummy's office

Lemonade making play date this week!

The tooth fairy box!

Emily is 3!

2013-03-25T08:31:00.002-05:00

100 days of kindergarten

Hi everyone!!! Well, my baby turned 3 last week. I can hardly believe that 3 years have passed. Her celebrations have been going on all weekend I think! On Thursday we went to the Mall of America and went on some rides there and grabbed some lunch. In the evening we went out for dinner. On Friday we had some friends come over to play and yesterday we had the family over for pizza and more fun :) She was very lucky and got lots of super presents. And she just loves having Happy Birthday sung to her although she didn't really care to eat any cake (strange girl!!).

Since the last time I posted we have been pretty busy. Emily, Oliver and I were all sick over a 2 week period right after the last post. Emily had a double ear infection and was put on antibiotics and then she developed an allergic reaction to them so we know now that she can never have those again. The poor thing was covered head to toe in a rash :(

Oliver got his chance to be "Star of the Week" at kindergarten. He got to take some special toys into school and talk to his friends about them. And he got to bring home Ted E. Bear and look after him over a few days. It is only 2 full months until kindergarten is over for the summer break and I will have a 1st grader on my hands!!!

We have had birthday parties to go to pretty much every weekend which has been super fun! Oliver decides after every one that he is going to the same thing for his birthday party. I'm not sure what the final decision will be but I keep reminding him that we have lots of time to decide! Oliver and Mikayla also got to see Disney on Ice with Grandma and Grandpa one evening.

Two weeks ago we went on a short break to the Great Wolf Lodge water park in Wisconsin. This is the same park we went to when the Curry family visited a couple of years ago. The kids loved it!! Loads of swimming, story time in the evenings, tasty food and (most importantly perhaps) movies to watch in the car to and from the park!!

Spring is finally showing signs of coming. This winter has been long and tough but we are looking forward to some warmer temps and more outdoor time! We need it so Emily can ride her brand new bike which we got at the weekend :)

My little helper!

My handsome guy!

Not her best look!

Hanging out with her friend Breck

Ted E Bear watching TV

She discovered she liked eating raw mushrooms

Big kids at Disney on Ice

Ted E Bear sporting some trendy sunglasses

New swimsuits for the water park trip

Sidewalk chalk!!

Easter Egg hunt in a few feet of snow :)

Fun party at a train store!

How many train tables?!

Emily's bed at the water park

My lovely little family

Story time

Cheese :)

Food delivered by train!

Colouring time before bed

And Oliver got his face painted!

This is Oliver Racoon. Oliver was disappointed because he wanted to see Wiley Wolf!

Souvenirs to take home

Purple baby got to come to the last Kids in Motion class!

Emily getting her certificate

The rather nasty rash :(

We ensure purple baby is safe at all times

Oliver's turn!

Oliver's home made Angry Birds costume!

Angry Birds chalk of course!

My birthday girl

Look how she's grown!

Big brother was so desperate to help!

Colouring pages bigger than her!

Deep in though with this one!

The gift haul!

Snow White castle

Tigger is so much fun!

This one's a keeper!

Princess songs and stories

Train ride!

The look on Emily's face is priceless!

The ferris wheel

Mummy and Daddy didn't like the wheel so much....

Carousel!

The beauty station at the American Girl store

I want this one!

Scooby Doo and new Hello Kitty PJs!

Ready to sleep after a fun filled birthday!

So many princesses!

And she adores this My Little Pony

February update!

2013-02-13T10:18:00.000-06:00


Middle 2!

Hi everyone and sorry for the delay in posting! For those that don't know, I am currently studying for my Personal Trainer's certificate and I spend any free moments I can with my head buried in the manual! I hope that I can get through it in the next few weeks before I schedule the exam.

Anyway, things are going great with the kids. You will see some new swimming photos here. Emily now goes in the pool by herself which is a fantastic milestone for the parents who now don't have to get cold on a Wednesday evening!! She had no problem settling into that routine and seems to love the independence. Emily was poorly last week so missed her assessment but she should be moving up a level next session and Oliver will be for sure - into Middle 3!

Kindergarten is still proving popular with Oliver. We are trying to work on his reading which is hard going but patience never was my strong point! I have his parent/teacher conference tomorrow evening so I will be able to have a better understanding of where he's at and what we need to work on. He went off to school very excited today as they are having their Valentine's party! Emily also loves to go to school and in particular seems to enjoy any art time they have. I've said it before but it looks like the love of art definitely skipped a generation on my side of the family ;)

A few weeks ago we went to see Sesame Street Live thanks so some free tickets I got from a friend at work. We really don't watch the show on TV but both kids now who Elmo is (what kid doesn't?!) and they really had a great time!

Weather = cold. I'll say no more. We are ready for spring.

And it seems like it's birthday party season: 2 last Saturday, one this Saturday and one the following week. Sugar highs all around!!! And only a few short week until my baby turns 3. How??!!!

Oliver's den

Chilling!

Love this photo!

Little Miss Independent Swimmer!

Oliver is this many pumpkins tall!

Elmo!

Check out my goggles!

Waiting for the school bus - Emily is always in line too :)

Not listening to the teacher. Posing for mum!

Indoor beach party at the local Nature Center

Hunting for shells

Checking out a snake and turtle

They made the hats ;)

Puppet show time!

Oliver waited in line very patiently to get his arm painted!

Testing out the binoculars

My geeks in glasses!

Just a normal morning in our house

Ready for one of Minnesota's extremely cold mornings

Superbowl party with friends!

Trampoline birthday party!

Mmmm pizza!!

And the next birthday party at a local gym

Stretching!

My little chefs ready to help bake brownies!

Christmas and New Year 2012

2013-01-02T14:33:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone and happy 2013!!! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season :)

We had a lot of fun and both kids were excited for Christmas (Oliver more so of course!). They got a crazy amount of gifts (thank you cards will be out soon I promise!) so I need to have a bit of a clear out one of these days! Christmas does stress me out a little but it is so great to see the kids all excited and having so much fun :)

We spent New Year's Eve with some friends and the kids did well staying there until 10pm. Oliver passed out in the car but Emily stayed awake until we got home. No chance of a lie in though as Oliver got up at 6:30am! Back to school today thankfully - Oliver in particular needed it!

Of course it's freezing cold here. We had a 10 inch snowstorm a couple of weeks before Christmas so the winter has set in. Both kids enjoy sledding down the snowpile in the middle of our road. Emily has no fear at all. I even caught Oliver trying to ride his trike down it - thankfully I caught that before we needed a trip to the emergency room.....

Emily and I went to Oliver's winter party at kindergarten on the last day of term. He didn't know we were there until he came back into his classroom after the school sing along!! I think he was in shock! Today he asked me if I would be there again and he wants me to go in as a secret reader which is something they do each Friday. I will have to try and make it work one week :)

Swimming lessons start again tonight. Both kids have moved up a class so Oliver is now in Middle 2 and Emily is in Baby 4. I am very happy about this - in Baby 4 the parent gets phased out of the pool so my days getting freezing cold are numbered!! And if all goes well a trip to Applebees afterwards for dinner: Oliver has to complete a reading calendar for school each month and when he turns it in he gets a card for a free kids meal. He is so excited to use it so fingers and toes crossed for good behaviour!

My next task - potty training Emily. Ugh. Santa brought her some Hello Kitty underwear in the hope that it would encourage her! The timing is almost right as she sits on the potty a lot (pretending) and knows all about what goes on. We just need to work on her knowing when to go!! Anyway, enough info on that - I'll keep you posted on progress :)

Right - time for pics. I am having issues with videos again. Every time I cut and paste one over it puts the same one 3 times!! So I'm sorry you only have one - this is Oliver and some of his classmates singing to the mums who came to school to help with the party :) *I just published it and the wrong video was on it again so no videos - sorry :( I can email them to people if you are interested!

Hoodies!

She likes nothing more than to climb into the big bath!

Sledding down the snowpile

A winter walk

Me and my boy :)

Oliver with another Angry Birds creation


Me and my baby :)

Being silly!

And another one being silly!

Guitar lessons with daddy

So tired

Playing babies - Emily is sitting on hers

Hosting a play date that involved a craft - I am mad I'm sure

Emily is so desperate to ride the school bus - this is the closest she can get right now!

Mad bed hair!

Oliver, Mikayla, Emily and James in their little den they made and Grandpa and Grandma's house on Christmas Eve

Cheese :)

Santa's been!

Stockings :)

Scoop on her Christmas present

Vacuuming with a back pack - the only way to go!

Daddy helping Oliver set up his new Leappad Explorer

Lego helicopter!

Emily with her princess castle that sings - she loves it!

Oliver's favourite new game - kids version of Monopoly with an actual cash machine!

Hanging out with purple baby!

Trying out the new apron and hat set

Playing in the snow - doesn't Emily look impressed?

Oliver's snow angel

Bedtime :)

Hair salon for brothers and babies!

New Years Eve. It looks calm - it was not. It was loud. Very loud.

Karaoke!!

It's beginning to look a lot like winter!

2012-12-10T11:52:00.000-06:00


Accepting his certificate from Kids in Motion

Hiya!! Just a quick update as I know it has been a while!

I am spending the day at home with Emily today after our first major snowstorm yesterday - somewhere around 10 inches of snow fell. Jon was unable to get his car through the snow this morning so he ended up taking mine which meant I couldn't get Emily to school. Oh well, at least Oliver's school bus came!! It's just too bad it's so very cold outside so we can't enjoy it that much!

Oliver especially is getting very excited for Christmas now. He takes the Elf on the Shelf quite seriously!! They both love playing the Christmas music CD and dancing round like crazy things - Emily can sing along to Jingle Bell Rock quite well!

Sorry, not much news this time but we are keeping busy with day to day stuff! And for some reason by videos will not embed properly which is disappointing :( Next time round there will be Christmas pics and hopefully some videos! Have a very merry Christmas everyone :)

Ready to play the bee game!


Static hair!

Enjoying the swings before the snow

The rather annoying light up train that falls down a lot!

Bedtime stories :)

So sleepy

The first minor snowfall

Snow angel!

Watching messages from Santa

Cheese :)


Our tree

Angry Birds umbrella!

Making ice cream cone Christmas trees!

Playing in the band with friends

Emily setting up a tea party

The morning after the storm

Halloween :)

2012-11-14T14:00:00.000-06:00

Drawing with your toes - as you do!

Hi everyone! Is it really the middle of November already??!! Eeek!! Thanksgiving is creeping up on us (that means mummy gets to work A LOT!) and then Christmas so I suppose I should get through that present buying list!

We had a fun Halloween over here - not too cold!!! Emily and Oliver both borrowed costumes from friends which was fantastic - Emily spent some of the time as Ariel and the rest as Scooby Doo and Oliver was, of course, an Angry Bird! A lot of trick or treating was done in the neighbourhood and this year Oliver went to every house because he wasn't scared!! I'm pretty sure Emily has never been scared of anything :) At our house we gave away the best part of 4 huge bags of candy (about 100 pieces in each bag) but we did have enough left over to send to our friends in New York whose house was severely damaged in Hurricane Sandy. The kids even donated some extra candy from their own boxes which was lovely.

I was very pleased to get some lovely school photos of both the kids from Emily's school. It makes up for the really bad one that Oliver had taken at Kindergarten! Sadly I missed the photo retake day so his picture will be in the yearbook but I'm sure we'll have a good giggle at it!!

We had some family photos taken a couple of weekends ago so I am excited to see how they turned it. It was a very chilly morning! So watch this space (or watch your mail for a Christmas card).

School continues to go well for both kids - I have my first parent/teacher conference for Oliver on Monday so I'm looking forward to hearing good things about him ;) Next week he has the whole week off because of Thanksgiving - there seems to be no time between the school holidays sometimes!!

We have had our first snowfall but nothing much to speak of (it has gone now). I am still predicting snow for Thanksgiving despite the forecast saying otherwise. I'm only saying this because I'll be working outside and it would just be typical :)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all even if you don't celebrate it!!!

The pumpkin Emily chose at school

Devil child!

Butter wouldn't melt child....

Cuddling her baby xx

One of Oliver's many art projects

Sleepy Scooby Doo!

Emily's school pic

Cute kids together

Such a wonderful smile :)

My princess and a bird!

One day Emily will get a say in the pumpkin decorating.....

Oliver's Halloween window display

All ready to go!

Time to get some loot!!

Gleason's Gymnastics - foam pit!

A future in the sport??!

Balancing

Jumping over things!

Emily's beloved new penguin hat and gloves

Dressed up for family pics

And my handsome boy

Playing peekaboo with Daddy

What else would you do with a cardboard box?

Ha!!

Emily enjoying her lemonade

Tired out boys!

Bath time!

Autumn

2012-10-22T14:05:00.000-05:00

Autumn is well and truly here - the dramatic temperature changes and the associated coughs and colds! Poor Emily had a terrible cough last week and suffered particularly at night. The rest of us have just been a little under the weather. Hopefully we're near the end of it all now!

This past weekend we did get to enjoy some great weather at the Minnetonka Orchards with some friends. The kids had a fab time. What with that, dinner with friends, a birthday party and all the regular things we have to get done on a weekend it was a busy busy time!! And my first weekend off for 2 weeks so it was nice to spend some time with the family.

Oliver only had school one day last week thanks to the annual teacher's conferences. Things are still going well and I see lots of progress in many ways. He is such a little artist and always has some little project on the go!! The days off did work out well though as I managed to get sibling photos taken at Emily's school. I am hoping they turn out better than Oliver's kindergarten photos (I am hoping for a retake on them!!).

Emily's teachers at school today told me how much her speech has progressed with them. She has been pretty quiet there up to now but she is learning how to express herself better every day. She managed to get through two changes of shirt in just 2 hours today thanks to hand washing alone!!

Halloween is the next big thing for us. Plenty of Halloween activities on the agenda and I probably need to figure out a second costume for Oliver's school party as the Angry Birds one is just to big for him to take!! The question is will it snow before then? Watch this space :)


Oliver's Angry Birds picture

The first really chilly morning at the bus stop

Hanging out with my boy on a day off school!

Must be a comfy way to sit!

Oliver's joy at his Amazon parcel arriving

One project - homemade hats!

Emily enjoying a cookie decorating playdate

Oliver's ghost impression!

Getting a haircut at Daddy's hair salon

The finished article :)

Hello Kitty - a picture he drew for Emily :)

Emily is the perfect advertisement of how NOT to act at the dinner table

Dog walking part 1!

Watching the puppet show at the Nature Center

Oliver choosing a puppet

Out for a short hike!

One of his favourite puppets!

Dog walk part 2!

Bedtime stories :)

Checking out the corn maze!

Jumping off the hay pile

Cutie!

Not too sure about the tractor

Oliver's face painting

He liked the tractor though!

Off on a ride on the Apple Express!

Emily really wanted to ride but when I took her photo she just said "no"!

Aw, Celia and Emily just being cute :)

Nanna's Visit

2012-10-03T14:22:00.003-05:00

Today is the last day of Nanna's visit to Minnesota. She has been here for the last ten days and, as always, the time has flown by. We have packed a lot into the past week and enjoyed some wonderful weather - tomorrow it all goes downhill so it seems she is taking it with her!!

We visited the Minnetonka Orchards last Tuesday and the Arboretum on Friday - both beautiful days and the fall colours were fantastic. Nanna got to see Oliver take the school bus a few times and drop Emily off at preschool. She also saw swimming lessons and the Kids in Motion class they do every Thursday. At the weekend we went to the Twin Cities corn maze which is only a 5 minute drive away. The kids got off to a shaky (whiny) start but it all turned out OK in the end! Even Emily got to go down the big, big slide with Daddy (see the video!) and she went on a pony ride for the first time. She rode a pony called Cupcake and she can't stop talking about it when Nanna shows her the video!

Mum very kindly looked after the kids overnight on Saturday so Jon and I could spend the evening downtown. We saw a comedy show and drank far too much beer but it was a lot of fun!

The past couple of days have been a bit more relaxed and we have made the most of the weather and tried to play outside as much as possible. The kids are loving the leaves which are fast covering the entire lawn!!

In other news, Oliver has become an eating machine and is hungry ALL THE TIME! I know - I dreamed of this day when he was 2! I just have to remember this when I see Emily leaving meal after meal ;) It's not like she is wasting away - she is just being a toddler :) He is doing great at kindergarten and shares lots of information about it without being prompted. His teacher is very musical and he is always singing to us!!

Emily has "performed" for us on the potty. A complete and unrepeated fluke. If you even suggest it to her now you are probably asking for a tantrum. Ah well. One day :) Nanna is amazed at her ability to operate an iPhone!! She is a character - you just never know what to expect from her. Makes for an interesting life ;)

I have lots of pictures from before and during the visit. Here goes.....

Tired Oliver after school

Muscles!

A happy moment

Swinging - and actually happy together. The swing is often a sharing nightmare!

Oliver designed his own Angry Birds game

See how big I am now Mummy?!

Oliver's Timberwolves impression!

Mummy after her crazy 5k mud run!

On Grandpa's boat

Oliver driving

And Emily's turn

Chips!! Emily loves pickle chips!!

Handsome boy

Uncle Jason teaching Oliver guitar

A sneak preview of Halloween costumes!

My pretty princess!

Ha ha!! Reading Oliver's books!!

Coat trying on time - this one is still a tad big....

Oliver loves this jacket that his cousins gave him - especially the hood!

And this was Rowan's superman shirt which comes complete with a cape!

England tracksuit from Nanna!

Cheese :)

Needing a little help from Nanna!

Growing every day

Just one of several pictures on the train

And another....

At the Arboretum

Oliver loved all the "secret" paths!

And the eco play area :)

Checking out pictures on Nanna's phone

Hayride - Oliver really didn't want to go but changed his mind and loved it. I love how Emily is hanging on to her brother :)

Making the alphabet out of leaves!

Emily is happy just to run in them!

Just enough room for Emily in bed!

Hmm - pictures are out of order. Oh well. Peekaboo!

Emily will catch up her brother if he doesn't watch out :)

Milestones!

2012-09-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

It has been a momentous few weeks for Oliver: turning 5, getting his first soccer trophy and starting kindergarten!! Wow. And as it's his first day at school today I finally get chance to sit down and update the blog!!!

Oliver had a great Angry Birds themed birthday. Well, everything except for the bouncy castle which had to be Scooby Doo because they don't have a Angry Birds one!! This pleased Emily no end though and she said "Booby Doo" constantly for hours. Days even. We had lots of friends over to play and share in the birthday fun. Oliver was spoiled rotten of course. On his actual birthday we had a family day. It was the last day of soccer camp so Jon came along to watch as well. Then we went to get some amazing cake at a local coffee shop. In the afternoon Jon and Oliver went to see Madagascar 3 at the movies while Emily stayed home for a nap. Oliver wanted to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for his birthday dinner so that rounded off the day.

A couple of days later it was the soccer camp picnic and trophy presentation. Oliver was very proud to get his first ever sports trophy and he is interested in playing more soccer next year. He would like to try (American) football too but he is a little young yet.

So today is the first day of kindergarten. Oliver will be going full days, every other day. It's a little complicated! He goes every Monday and Wednesday and then every other Friday. It will be so much simpler next year! He was very keen to ride the school bus so off he went this morning. I was thankful that my neighbour's son was there with him (he's in 1st grade) but he won't be on the bus this afternoon so I can only hope that he makes it home safely!! We like his teacher very much - she has been teaching kindergarten for over 30 years - and she seems like a lot of fun.

Poor Emily - it seems like she has been on the sidelines a little!! Her school days have switched this week so she matches Oliver going on Monday and Wednesday. We are a little rushed in the morning getting her there because of Oliver's bus time but we made it only 3 minutes late today. I'm guessing in the winter it will take a little longer! She was very upset to see her brother leave on the bus this morning which made me sadder than Oliver actually going!

Emily had her first trip to urgent care the other week after mummy had to grab her arm in the car park when she ran off from me. Apparently I jarred her elbow but by the time we saw the doctor it had fixed itself. Quite a common problem in young kids apparently but didn't make me feel any better about it! I can now say that I caused both of my kids first injuries which is nothing to be proud of :(

Tonight is also the start of new swimming lessons. Oliver becomes a "middle" because he is now 5. Emily has to do the same session for I think the 5th time because of her age. We did think about keeping her out of swimming for this session but I think it's important to keep going so we are going back. The lesson times are not good this session either and Oliver's doesn't even start until 7pm so I think he's going to be one tired 5 year old tonight.

Bike riding!

Play date fun!!

My little Snow White!

Having a chat with baby Owen

Snow White and Wonder Woman combined......

Checking out the new kindergarten calendar

Love my kiddos!!

Emily playing with her friends Nico and Ethan. I have probably said before that there is only a few weeks age difference between Nico and Emily :)

He's 5 :)

Now that's a bouncy castle

Friends hanging out!

Mmmm, cake!

Oliver requested the piece with the black bird on it :)

James checking out the bouncy castle

Balloons!

Showing me how tall he is on his birthday

One very lucky guy!

Emily has moved into a toddler seat in the car - she's happy!

Birthday boy at soccer camp

More tasty cake!

Yes, I was the only mother who didn't put her child in the team shirt. Oops.

More bouncing at the local farmer's market

Very proud of his trophy

Emily upset that I had to wash her PJs

Black bird blanket!

Bath time silliness

Taking a break :)

Kissing (or eating) baby's head

And time for baby to have a snack

Kindergarten playground!

Emily posing in her new shirt from Nanna

Someone has been eating Oreos

New kids pool - which has to be returned because it has a hole in it :(

But it was fun for a day

Nice shoes Oliver!!

Waiting for the bus

He wrote it all by himself :)

A little encouragement from his friend Marc :)

Sunshine and soccer!

2012-08-12T19:08:00.002-05:00

Just a quick pre birthday update for you all!!!

We are continuing to a have a fun summer in the crazy weather. It has cooled off a little in the past week which is very welcome. We can still have fun outside without sweating like mad!

Oliver has been going to soccer camp for the past couple of weeks and has two more weeks left. He loves it and took to it really well. I think he'll want to do it again next year. He was so pleased when he was put on the orange team (his favourite colour!). Summer camp also has 2 weeks left so things are winding down now. We are waiting to hear who Oliver will have for a kindergarten teacher and what his schedule will be. We should know very soon as the next open evening is the 29th August when he will meet his teacher and take all his supplies into school. Such an exciting time!!

Emily would also love to play soccer I think although she is a good "coach" in that she is always ready with Oliver's water cup when it's time for a break! Too bad she always throws it at him in her enthusiasm!! Her speech continues to improve every single day and she certainly has a lot to say! She is such an outgoing girl and I never have any worries about going to new places with her like I had with Oliver at the same age. She plays with anyone it seems and doesn't really give me a second look :)

Grandpa and Grandma treated us to a trip to Duluth a couple of weekends ago to ride on Thomas the Train! It was worth the journey up there as the kids had so much fun and there was lots to do apart from the train ride.

Oliver got his big birthday present from us today - a brand new bike! His old one was far too small for him so now he has a big bike with a proper brake and everything! He took to it really well and did lots of practicing today. Only a week to go until the big day and he is having his party on Saturday. I'm sure I will have lots more photos after the celebrations!!

Baking cakes

"I did something in there Mum......"

Cuties!

A sign of the times. Hanging out at the Apple Store.

First time wearing goggles at swimming

My handsome boy

At the docs - before shots

And Emily hanging out

After shots - brave boy!

Picnic before seeing Thomas

Emily and James

Looking at the old trains with Grandpa

Trolley ride!

Nice hat!

3 little train drivers

Sir Topham Hat!

Posing with Thomas (after Daddy got told off for standing too close!)

Here we go!!

Having a good time

Relaxing

An interesting eye mask

Soccer camp!

Bear on a head!

Loving soccer!

My work friend Erik gave the kids a copy of Rio - their new favourite film!

Ready to go shopping with mummy

Playing on mummy and daddy's bed

Having such fun at the park - smile Emily!

Love :)

Testing out some goggles at a play date

First sno cone!

Resting on the grass while Oliver plays soccer

Pictures with mummy!

I just HAD to buy this outfit - Princess of Minnesota :)

My friend Carolyn teaching Emily all about life and stuff

She's amazed!!

Make your own kid's pizzas!

It was a little rainy this afternoon so here is the family hanging out in the garage!

Feeling the heat!

2012-07-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Tired out after a busy morning!

Phew! It's been a hot one over here for a few weeks. Definitely appreciating the air conditioning and the swimming pool!!!

Oliver is having a wonderful time at summer camp. Last week he went on his first field trip on the school bus to play mini golf. He was excited to tell us that he had to go on the bus two times!!! I am so proud of how well he has taken to it. The chit chat about what he's done is non stop in the car on the way home :) In a couple of weeks he will start a soccer course which is a couple of mornings a week. Let's hope he takes to that just as well.

He reached the milestone of 14 nights in a row dry so he was able to get some new (and much coveted) Angry Birds underpants!! So much excitement over underwear :)

Next week we will be off to the docs for Oliver's pre-kindergarten and 5 year old medical. I think 4 shots are on the cards and he knows to expect it. We have bought Angry Birds band aids to soften the blow!! Anything to try and make it easier. He is very much into being big and brave so hopefully he will remember that.

Emily is also enjoying her time at school and is loving the water play. The teachers say she really loves to do art as well. Maybe she picked up the artistic gene that missed my generation :) Her vocabulary is expanding on a daily basis and she has no trouble copying a word you say (so watch out!). But along with the developments comes the tantrums and boy does she know how to throw one :) The good thing is that second time around you have a better idea of how to handle them! She is such a little character - much braver than Oliver and willing to try anything and get into all sorts of scrapes. Oliver will do his best to stop her like the protective big brother he is!! That doesn't go down too well with Emily as you can imagine.

Anyway, here are the latest pics for you :)

Popsicle break!

The kids singingThe Popsicle Song (see video below!)

Naked Emily :)

How big is this yoyo??!

Chilling

Mummy told me off.....

Awwww xxx

Lightning!!! She loves him as much as Oliver :)

Eating bears on the beach :)

Bedtime stories with Daddy

Pool time

Taking a nap with doggy

She looks so happy to take her baby for a walk....

First time eating corn from the cob

New fun cup!

Bad hair day

Grapes!

Dancing!

Ice cream :)

First smore

Smores with Grandma Colleen!

The hat really adds to the look....

Cheese!!

Another new Angry Birds shirt :)

Picnic with Mikayla

New underwear!

We were all having a rough day....

He spiked up his sweaty hair!

Maple Grove Days

First pony ride

Driving the fire truck

It's a good look Ems....

Summertime :)

2012-06-21T14:24:00.002-05:00

We've had a lot of outdoor time since I last blogged: playgrounds, lakes, the zoo, friend's houses, splash pad......so much fun to be had when the weather is nice!

Oliver finished preschool and very excitedly began summer camp last Thursday. He is there right now and is very enthusiastic to go every Tuesday and Thursday. He seemed a little apprehensive when I left him on the first day but that wasn't surprising to me. However, when I picked him up at the end of the day he couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had - phew! He didn't have any concept of how long he had been there as he thought we were heading home for Emily's nap. He was shocked when I explained it was nearly dinner time :) All good signs that we don't need to worry about him going to all day kindergarten.

We also took the training wheels off Oliver's bike last week. To be honest, they weren't really doing much as they had got so bent from Oliver pretending to fall off so many times! Most of the time he was balancing on three wheels. So we took them off and within about 5 minutes he was riding around the back garden with very few problems. He will be getting a new bike for his birthday as his current one is very small for him and it doesn't have proper brakes. Then we will be able to let him loose on the trails rather than just the grass.

Emily is still getting used to Oliver not being at the same school as her. She stops at Oliver's old room every time expecting to see him! But she is getting on great in her own room although I did find her in a time out there one day last week - apparently she tried to go outside! She is getting more vocal with her teachers and her vocabulary is increasing day by day. It is still difficult for people who don't see her a lot to understand what she says but we generally get it!

The time came for Emily to get a big girl bed so I found a cheapish second hand one which we picked up at the weekend. She took to it straight away although we have had to put the security device on the door like we did with Oliver as she got out the other evening while Jon was in the basement! We had it up against the wall but last night at around 2am she woke up and decided that kicking the wall was a fun game - right next to our bedroom! So I have moved the bed today to the centre of the room. I was a little nervous about her having no wall either side but she didn't fall out last night when Jon moved her bed away from the wall so hopefully it will be fine. Now our crib will be going to a friend who is expecting a baby in a couple of months :)

Here are the latest pictures for you!

Oliver driving at Como Zoo

Both kids on the Aladdin ride

And on the train!

Emily driving the fire truck.....

......and Oliver in the crane in charge of putting out the fires!

My big polar bear!

And my little one!

Oliver climbed all the way to the top of the "spider web" with a little help from Daddy!

Frozen yoghurt!

Oliver's cards for his preschool teachers

And the insides for Mr Darrin and Miss Marhea

Time for some water play in the garden!

Testing out the new sprinkler

All the evidence I needed that a new bed was required!

Last day at preschool!

Cooling off at Parker's Lake

Hunting for fish!

Someone didn't want to go home!

90 degress you say? Time for the pool!

Bathing beauty

The most fun for a big brother - pouring a bucket of water over your sister's head!

Name writing practice

Emily "borrowing" her brother's game

Oliver got to hang out with me for a morning while Emily was at school :)

Mummy, my muscles are *this* big!!

Monkey!

Where's Emily?

Time for a nap.....

Hard to see but her face is covered in mosquito bites :(( She has a new one today which has made one of her eyes swell up.

Fun with friends at the weekend

Watermelon!

Root beer floats!

Someone came to join me for my early morning workout session......

New bed!!

Father's Day at Buffalo Wild Wings

Ha ha!!

Splash pad!

The kids spent all morning filling their buckets and emptying them over their heads!

Hello Kitty bedding!!

Mummy testing out some hair clips

But Mummy's friend made them look a whole lot better!!

Story time with friends. Pay attention Emily!

Sorry for the delay!

2012-05-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

Ooops! Where did a whole month go?? Sorry about that!! Well, I can tell you that most of my spare time has been taken up doing the garden. We have pulled weeds, laid new mulch (115 bags of it!), transferred plants, made the horseshoe pit usable again (more weeding) and planted a few new flowers. The project is nearly all done - we just need to lay some new turf where there once was a tree and put some grass seed down on the bare patches and we should be good. At which point I will probably need to start weeding again!!! The weather has been very co-operative so the kids have enjoyed plenty of time outside and "helping" with the outdoor work.

Emily is well and truly settled in at school now. We rarely have tears at drop off although she does love to give me a sad face when I walk out of the door. But she is always happy when I pick her up and her teachers say she plays well with the other children and tries to talk to them although she still isn't very understandable :)

Oliver is into his last 3 weeks at preschool which I can barely believe. I am excited and nervous for the next stage of his life but I think he will do well. We had a introduction to kindergarten night a few weeks ago where he got to spend time in one of the classrooms while the parents had a chat with the principal. He loved it in there and was thrilled to see the playground! The one issue we had was with the school bus - he has always said he wanted to take the bus to school but when we took him to see the one they had there he got scared and Daddy had to carry him on board! He was fine once he was on there so hopefully just a little glitch. Whatever happens we always have the option of driving him to school!

The school photographer was in a few weeks ago and we got some great pics of the kids including one together which is further down the page. Emily did a wonderful job considering it was her first time. Too bad next time Oliver won't be there to help her out.

My friend Niki came into town for work and a visit on Friday so we had a lovely chilled out weekend with her. Oliver was, as always, excited to go to the airport although he couldn't understand why we didn't have our suitcases. Even at 4.5 years of age I find myself repeating the same thing over and over again and he still doesn't get it. Or maybe it's just getting worse than before ;) Oh, and the current obsession is Angry Birds which is slowly driving me insane. Maybe I mentioned that last time - I forget! Sigh. But if anyone out there needs birthday present ideas.......

More news next time I'm sure as Oliver starts his pre-kindergarten summer camp and Emily tackles preschool all by herself :)

Not having much fun at the hairdressers

Enjoying a well deserved drink in the sunshine

A stroll around the lake with friends (Oliver is underneath Emily!)

Oliver and Maya spent most of a play date in Oliver's room playing Angry Birds!

The top of the line is our house. The bottom of the line is New York. And Oliver drove there on his trike.

Emily is obsessed with Oliver's bike helmet

Oliver likes to be cosy - this is him at TV time one afternoon.

Practicing to be in a marching band like Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Matt

Playing nicely :)

Emily enjoying a cookie with her friend Brady

I'm still amazed that my iPhone got this action shot of Oliver throwing the ball to Evie

Ready to help out with dinner

My two beauties :)

Time to get the water table out!

Teddy Bear's picnic

Oliver with the Angry Birds story he wrote

Taking pictures of herself!!

Colouring by the front door - as you do

Mother's Day! And Mummy needs coffee!!!

New PJs :)

Cheese!!!

Just being silly!!

Looking very serious reading his encyclopedia

Ready for some sprinkler action!!

Emily's Hello Kitty ensemble was well received ;)

Niki is here!!!

Wearing a very very cute UK dress that Nanna Pan sent

And Niki brought over several UK things too!!!

New sand toys - say cheese (again!!)

They always have to copy each other hence beanbags, blankets and baby/bear

Trip to McDonalds after swimming last night

Road trip!

2012-04-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

Firstly, I apologise if the layout of this looks weird. Blogger has updated their site and I am trying to figure it out!!

We spent this past weekend visiting out friends Ryan and Kylynne in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It's about a 5 hour drive away so not too horrible for the kids. We had the DVD player set up in the car anyway so they were quite entertained. The kids had great fun playing with Mykah and Jaedyn and on Saturday we went to the Science Station which was in a local mall. It was a fairly small place but the kids managed to entertain themselves there for about 3 hours and we still had to drag them away!! There were lots of different things to do - Oliver said his favourite thing was the huge bin of Legos and the ramp where you could drive your Lego car! They were spoiled with a bacon and egg breakfast both mornings as well!! Fun times :)

Oliver is now registered for kindergarten! He was very excited to receive a placemat on which he can practice writing letters and numbers. We also have a list of things we need to buy for his first day so we'll make a fun trip out sometime to get that done. He has expressed an interest in going to soccer camp over the summer too so we'll probably register him for that. It's a couple of mornings a week for a month or so and will fit in nicely with his pre-kindergarten summer camp.

I finally discovered over the weekend that Emily has indeed been working on her two year molars. She definitely has one through on the top and the other one is almost there. I didn't get a chance to look on the bottom but it's good to know the end of teething is in sight!

News from me is that I have started a new position at Target as a Target Protection Specialist (posh name for security guard!). I'm excited to do something new and I have a few weeks of training ahead of me. And even better is that I can continue the hours I was doing which works perfectly!

I have added a few updated pictures from swimming lessons. They are both doing well although they will be staying in the same classes for the summer session. Oliver needs to work on floating on his back properly and Emily really just needs to keep doing more of the same! The only reason she can't move up is because she is too young. Hopefully next time!

I think that is all for now - we have the joy of taking Emily for a haircut this afternoon. Always a fun time (not.....)!

Mummy and Oliver being silly

Mummy hugs (and a butt squeeze!)

This is the way we wash our hair.....

Oliver swimming

She loves being in the water!

Looking very smart in a little outfit from Nanna

Off to the bank!

He's getting quite interested in the piano - the demo tunes anyway!

Checking out Oliver's preschool book

A fun placemat from kindergarten!

Snuggling with Casey (again!).

Riding her brother's trike. And Oliver rides hers.

Cute curls!

I keep going on about this but I am astounded that she can hold a pen so well

Dog walking time!

Hanging out by the yard where a little beagle puppy lives - she loves it!

Practicing some writing on the driveway

And she's out - for about 15 minutes anyway

Engrossed in a movie

Silly girl!

She took quite a liking to the air mattress

Mykah doing Emily's hair

Fun at the science station!

Silly mirror maze!

Trying to balance :)

So many Legos and a ramp to drive the cars down!

Determined to retrieve whatever was in the box

Building!

She took a liking to the dinosaur

It was all too much - for another 15 minutes or so

Snakes and ladders!

Heading home

Someone in desperate need of a haircut

Easter and 2 year stats

2012-04-09T13:21:00.009-05:00

The Easter bunny came to our house for a visit yesterday so the kids were very happy to get yet more toys and candy. Emily was excited to get another new baby and Oliver got an Angry Birds game and t-shirt. This game is his new obsession and is really quite annoying! You can tell he's growing up because he doesn't talk about Lightning McQueen as much!! Yesterday morning we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house for an easter egg hunt and some lunch. Fun times!

Two weeks ago I went to New York to meet Steph and Mark and celebrate her 40th birthday. It was fun but the place is totally exhausting! Always buzzing and so much to see. The weather was great so we walked everywhere - fabulous exercise!! Daddy stayed home with the kids while I was gone.

Emily has started school and is doing really well. She cries when we drop her off but she settles down quickly and has a great time. I usually find her with her head in a book when I go to pick her up! Oliver's parent teacher conference was last week and I was so pleased to hear how well he is doing. He has come on in leaps and bounds since the last conference in December and I was happy to hear his teachers say he is more than ready for kindergarten. He will finish at preschool in early June and then start the summer camp the following week. I have to register him for Kindergarten this Thursday - eek!

We have started night time potty training for Oliver. The first night was Friday and we had two sets of wet sheets but since then he has been dry. We get him up when we go to bed and then again in the middle of the night. I am leaving it longer each night before I wake him in the early hours so hopefully he will get used to the longer period of time staying dry. I feel like I have a little baby again having the wake up calls *yawn* :))

Emily has been for her two year check at the doctor's today. She now weighs 31.8lbs (96th percentile) and is 35.25ins tall (83rd percentile). So she is still a big girl but doing just perfectly. And we fully expected shots today but apparently she needs no more until age 5!!! Of course Oliver reminded the doctor that he was almost 5 and he would need 3 shots but he was going to be big and brave :))

Playing in the tent together

Steph and Mark in NYC

My mum went to New York and all we got were these lousy t-shirts......

Easter Egg Hunt number 1!

Errr - what am I doing exactly??

Yep, there were even eggs hidden up there!

All that hunting deserves a snack!

New Tinkerbell cup!

And a new Cars cup for Oliver

When a certain little girl decides to take her nappy off at bedtime and the cot gets soaked the babies then need a good wash and have to hang up to dry!

And this is the newly cleaned baby getting a well deserved (if not particularly healthy) meal

While Emily's asleep big brother will play with her toys....

A picture I got from school of Emily (she's on the left - I know the two girls look similar!)

Cheese :)

Hello Kitty PJs :)

Oliver, Emily and their friends at Sky Zone trampoline park to celebrate Nico's 2nd birthday (Nico is second from the right)

How many kids can you get in a photo booth?! And Emily making a fast exit!

You generally have to catch her by surprise to get a picture!

Daddy and Oliver

Heck yeah - I'm going to stuff this huge piece of cupcake into my mouth in one go.....

The Easter bunny came!!

He even brought new shoes and another new baby!

Oliver in his new Angry Birds shirt (and carrying Emily's baby and backpack....)

Emily in her cute dress she got for her birthday

Mikayla and Oliver playing on Grandma Sandy's iPad

She loves her new baby!

Egg hunting again!

Emily and James were having quite the conversation yesterday - mainly about ducks.

Birthday girl!

2012-03-23T14:25:00.010-05:00

Wow - our baby girl is 2! I can hardly believe it :) We had a chilled out morning on Wednesday opening presents and then had a party for her in the afternoon. Picture a lot of crazy kids running around like mad things followed by pizza, cake and more present opening! She was a very lucky girl and got lots of super gifts. Mummy and Daddy got her the trike you see above which she just loves but she probably loves her new babies and baby related toys even more! I think she has 5 different babies now along with a stroller, highchair, changing bag and accessories. What more could a girl want (or her big brother apparently!).

It has been a very big week for Emily as she started school on Tuesday. She will be going two mornings a week just like Oliver does. The first day she was tearful when I left her but did fine. On Thursday she cried a little when I left but when I picked her up she was happily reading a book and was right in the middle of the action!! I think she's going to love it and have so much fun.

This week we filled in all the paperwork for Oliver to go to a summer camp called Adventures Bound. It's aimed at children starting kindergarten in the fall and he said he really wanted to try this rather than staying at his school during the summer. So he will finish at Goddard on June 7th and then do this every Tuesday and Thursday during the summer break. It will be an all day thing so hopefully he will get used to that routine and he'll learn a little about what it's like to go to kindergarten. The only downside is that the camp will be at a different school to the one he will be going to but hopefully it won't confuse him too much!! He has been doing so well recently and is just full of questions and wanting to learn so much - we couldn't be more proud.

The weather has been just gorgeous. The huge pile of snow is long gone and we have been outside almost every day and needing sunscreen sometimes!! Crazy crazy weather but enjoying every minute!

Check out Oliver's singing and dancing videos - he wants to be a singer when he grows up (but only after he's been a firefighter).

Melting snow!!

BIG puddles!!

Some kids built a tunnel in the big pile of snow so Oliver took advantage

Emily got tired at a play date and snuggled with Casey - awww :))

My two monkeys!

Trying to figure out the remote

She likes to eat dirt apparently

Sunshine - yay!

Testing out the seesaw

Sitting on the toybox

New Hello Kitty sunglasses

Eating outside for the first time in 2012

They look like 2 old biddies sat there

Time for smores!

New butterfly tube to crawl through

Oliver snuggling up with Emily's bear

She's been eating dirt again and now playing with bubbles - lovely!

First day at school!

New castle to hide in!

Oliver trying out the "girl" glasses

Pizza time!

Yep, my own work again ;)

Slightly overwhelmed by the Happy Birthday thing!

But the cake tasted great!

New baby, new stroller - happy girl!

Testing the trike outside

Oliver mowing the lawn - one day this will be real!!

Emily got a new blanket to snuggle under at TV time!

Oliver and Emily ensuring all the babies are well cared for!

It snowed!

2012-03-05T18:44:00.011-06:00

Yes - we finally had a snowstorm!!! I'm not sure how much we got in the end but it was enough for Jon's car to get stuck - twice. Thanks to a helpful neighbour we were able to get the car back on our driveway and then Jon was able to clear the snow to get back in the garage. Fun times!!

The snow came last Tuesday night into Wednesday which just happened to be Mikayla's 4th birthday! Thankfully we were able to make it through the snow to her party and both kids had a lot of fun. We had dinner with the family that evening and then more birthday cake back at Grandpa and Grandma's house afterwards. Safe to say Oliver is more than eager to go to Mikayla's house for a play date because she got the biggest train set he had ever seen :)

Emily is most definitely showing her girlie side at the moment. Both kids still had Christmas money to spend so we went to Toys r Us last week and she chose a new doll. Just a simple one that doesn't do anything but she thinks it's the best thing ever. It pretty much goes everywhere with her and she takes baby to bed every night. I should count the number of times she says baby each day (along with no......).

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Mall of America with some friends and Oliver went on some of the rides at the theme park for the first time. He had a really great time and I was surprised that he even went on the ferris wheel! I think Emily would have gone on everything in a heartbeat but she is still a couple of inches too small for most of the rides. Still, we found a couple of things she could do and she was very patient.

Last weekend we went bowling - another thing Oliver really enjoyed doing. He got very excited waiting for his turn and was telling everyone when it was their turn to go! Emily got to play as well. She was having a rough morning but liked pushing the ball down the ramp!!

We received a letter last week from kindergarten asking if we were enrolling Oliver in school for September. It has been sent back saying yes as we still really hope that he'll be ready. Our feelings sway back and forth between yes and no on an almost daily basis. As parents we don't want to do the wrong thing but it's not like anyone has a crystal ball! Today for instance, he befriended a girl at a play area who he'd never met before and was happily playing with her for a while. He was quite sad when she had to leave!! That sort of confidence is something he wouldn't have displayed a year or even 6 months ago. And his interest in learning is definitely increasing day by day which is wonderful to see. Anyway, several months to go before we need to make a final decision so let's see :)

Emily and her Valentine's bear

Oliver and his bendy banana - made me laugh anyway!

On the carousel

On the train with Celia and Nya

Emily on one of the smaller rides - she doesn't seem impressed

And on the little bus!

Oliver waving from the ferris wheel!

Emily "walking" in the snow

Oliver showing us a leaf and a piece of snow he thinks is shaped like a leaf :)

We go to a play time most Wednesday mornings where Oliver is obsessed about building a box he can sit in!

Happy girl at breakfast time!

My lovely kids (one to remind them of later....)

Oliver with his friend Maya and her new baby sister, Corinne

Emily catching up on the Sunday news

Bowling!!

It's even fun for the little ones!!

It's a sign of the future. Jon has even had Oliver playing Mario Kart on the Wii. Help me!!

Happy breakfast part 2. Different day, same pajamas!!

Oliver's family portraits: Mummy, Oliver, Emily and Daddy

The new baby!

Cheese :))

The night before around 9pm - freezing rain

Less than 12 hours later - yes, it's the same bush!!

Jon's car stranded on the driveway. The white car belonging to the neighbour had a broken axle after he reversed it off his driveway - ouch.

Playing at Mikayla's party

Pizza time!

The birthday princess :)

When we got home the snowplough had been and made this rather large pile in the middle of the cul de sac

We built a snow fort - well, kind of!

Birthday celebration part 2!

Oliver on top of the big pile!

Celia and Oliver having "coffee" together

Emily looking very cool wearing the builder's hat backwards.

Oliver took this nice picture of mummy and Emily :)

Emily knocked Oliver's hat and this is where it ended up - he thought it was pretty funny!!

"Touchdown - ah ooohhh!!!!"

My funny Valentines

2012-02-17T08:50:00.010-06:00

We've been having lots of Valentine's Day fun over here. Cookie making, Valentine's mailbox colouring, school party and, of course, Valentine's exchanged at home. The Americans really do go a little bit crazy for this holiday!! Oliver in particular has enough candy to last a year but I want most of it gone before the next lot arrives at Easter so I suppose I will have a sugared up child for a couple of months ;)

It has continued to be crazy warm for the time of year so we've been outside a lot. Scoop loves it of course as she gets lots of walks!!

Oliver's podiatrist appointment went just fine - we were only there for 10 minutes!! Yes, his toes do curve inwards but it is more than likely genetic rather than anything to do with footwear so I was relieved we hadn't caused it! They don't tend to do anything about it until late teens because the bones are still growing unless the toes start going underneath each other. So, it's basically down to us to keep an eye on it.

Last week our neighbour invited us to have lunch at kindergarten with her son who started there last year. Marc and Oliver like to play together and it's nice to know he will be at the same school when Oliver starts. Oliver loved it - not overwhelmed at all. And he even said he would like it when mummy wasn't there :)

Emily continues to do well with her words. She can copy a lot of what we say. Last night she was super happy during dinner and afterwards which is one of the very rare occasions we can say that! Normally she just starts crying as soon as dinner is over and it's straight to bath and bed. It was refreshing!!!

This morning we are having some friends over and Oliver is waiting not so patiently to play!!! So I had better wrap up and get things ready!

That's my girl!

Playing at our friend Zackary's birthday party

Ready for pizza!!!

Superbowl time!!!

Oliver taking pictures on my phone :)

Where else would you play but in the big bucket?

Outside!! Distinct lack of snow!!

Looks like I caught her up to no good!

Blue frosting from a cupcake - yum.....

One year on......

Not such a wild difference with Oliver but still a little...

Emily and her swimming pal Luisella having a play date together. They were having fun, honestly!

Emily talking to Nanna on Skype and delicately nibbling her cheese and biscuits :)

Cookie decorating!

Mailbox colouring

Oliver sitting on the big stool like the grown ups

Cheeks :)))

She had a dirty nappy - so she undressed herself

Blowing kisses!

Oliver too!

Cheese :)) Ready for the school party!

Oliver in a new shirt from the boys section in Target. He's getting so big!

But he still loves his teddies and looking after them!

Little Miss Fashion!

The kids always go this crazy when Dynamite comes on the radio!

Emily loves Ni Hao Kai-Lan and makes a very good attempt at saying it too :)

Sledding!

2012-01-30T14:35:00.007-06:00

At the weekend the kids went sledding for the first time! We went to a park which we've been to a couple of times in the summer that has a big hill perfect for sledding. I wasn't sure how Oliver would do but after going down once with daddy he was just fine doing it "all by himself"!! He had a couple of crashes but nothing serious. Emily had a couple of goes with daddy too. She didn't seem scared or excited so obviously just took it in her stride. I had good intentions of sledding myself but once I got to the top of the hill I completely lost my nerve. What a wimp! Anyway, I got a couple of videos which shows how fast the hill was!!

We were all sick with colds last week so didn't get to do too much. Feeling much better now though!!

Oliver has an appointment at the podiatrist this week as we noticed one day last week that his big toes are curving inwards. This is probably due to shoes being too tight but we want to find out if it will correct itself or if he needs to wear special shoes because of it. I am glad we were able to get an appointment so quickly though.

Emily continues to chat away and does well at copying what you say. This weekend she managed to say sticker and several other words (can't remember what!). I'm sure we'll get to the stage soon where we won't be able to stop her!!

Oliver made a bed for Emily's baby

Making a snow angel....

.....the finished article

Playing in the snow

Oliver trying to build an icy igloo but it wasn't the right kind of snow!!

Emily hasn't quite got the hang of this shovelling thing

Hanging out with daddy

It looks like she's practicing with a birthing ball.....

Time to change the baby again!

She is most definitely a morning person - don't try to approach her or snap pictures after about 3pm.

Looking so much like daddy (again!)

This is Oliver pretending to be a cat (you guessed that right?)

Helping mummy shovel the driveway while Emily naps :)

Oliver taking pictures of us (hence the finger in the shot)

Oliver in his new Vikings shirt. We are hoping to take him to a game when the new season starts.

Emily loves Hello Kitty!

I just fell in love with this shirt and she looks so cute in it :)

James hanging out with the grownups in the basement at the weekend

Mikayla and Oliver playing Elefun

This is what happens when you don't put Emily in the stroller or a cart when you go shopping. She was fascinated by the lingerie section!

Daddy and the kids :)

Unseasonably warm!

2012-01-17T18:44:00.006-06:00

It has been a crazy warm January - up until now!! We have been playing at the park, going for walks, Oliver has been riding his bike, playing sidewalk chalk......It was even in the mid 50s F one day last week which was truly amazing. It is just so completely different from last year. We are being hit with some icy air right now which is a shock to the system but normal of course :)

Emily had a rough time last week. I was pretty sure it was down to teething although I wondered about an ear infection later in the week. Who knows? The good news is she is doing much much better now and has actually been happier than usual over the past couple of days. She is even coming up with new words quite frequently and loves to copy (see the bath time video I took tonight!). Maybe it was all a developmental week for her!! I have also got her signed up to start school two mornings a week just like Oliver. She will start the day before her birthday (coincidence - it just happens to be when the current swimming session ends!). What on earth will I do for two mornings a week with no kids? I'm sure I'll find something to do but I'll feel like I'm missing a limb!

Oliver and I went on a mummy/son date last weekend to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the movies. Probably the most annoying movie ever but Oliver did well for only his second time. He did ask to leave halfway through and said it was too long but we persevered and he enjoyed it I think. It's fun to finally be able to do these things with him. Maybe Monster Trucks will be next?!

Special smiles for daddy on his birthday!

And from Oliver :)

Emily dragged her changing mat out into the playroom, went back to get a nappy and then got her baby. Cute eh?!

Really not feeling very good mum :(

Oliver taking turns at looking after the baby. In this picture he was busy getting the baby out of his tummy :)

Posing with the chipmunks!

A perfect January day!

The baby swings are getting a little snug though Emily.....

A new and interesting way to ride a train!

Oliver took this picture of Emily in her new swimsuit - check out the length of those legs!!!

And posing for mummy :)

Enjoying a snack in the sunshine

Saying cheese :)

Oliver doing a "floor angel"!!

Emily checking out the animal display at Cabelas

She climbed straight up onto this camp bed and made herself at home!

Some of the kids posing in a tent!

Oliver doesn't look too impressed at sharing the bed with Emily ;)

Yoghurt for dessert tonight - yummy :)

Christmas and New Year

2012-01-02T16:37:00.015-06:00

Sorry it has been a very long time since my last update. December was just total craziness when it came to work - long hours and many shifts led to a very tired mama. Anyway, it's all done now and I have hardly any hours at work so it's all change and I finally have time to update!

Christmas was lovely - quiet really but we spent some nice time with family. On the Friday before Christmas we went to Sandy's daughter's house (Katie) so Ray and Sandy could spend time with the grandchildren and hand out their gifts. Much fun!!! After I was finished with work on Christmas Eve the kids got to open their new PJs from Santa and we set out the snacks and drink for Santa and the crew. Oliver was so very excited!!

Christmas Day began at 7am which wasn't bad (the normal time the kids get up!). There were so many presents under the tree - we were all very lucky. Oliver and Emily were both pretty keen to start opening them. I thought it would take all day to get that task done but Oliver had all of his things open by about 9:30!!! Then we Skyped with family in the UK and headed over to Ray and Sandy's for lunch. A few more presents left to open in the afternoon and that was pretty much that!!! Jon and I were lucky this year as well - Jon bought a kegerator for himself so that was my gift to him and he got me an iPhone 4 which I love :)

Jon has been on holiday between Christmas and New Year and heads back to work tomorrow. It has been nice to have a chilled out week together. On New Year's Eve we had some friends over until about 9pm and then I was done for at about 11pm - I did see in the new year just with New York and the East coast!!

Other than we took the kids to the Hollidazzle parade in downtown Minneapolis and we also saw the Macy's Christmas display which was OK but the same as the past 2 years at least!! I think Oliver enjoyed lunch "in the sky" more (they had a restaurant on the top floor!).

Weather wise we have been spoiled and there was no snow on the ground over the holidays. We finally had a little snowfall a couple of nights ago but, compared to last year, it has been extremely warm!!!

Life will be back to normal tomorrow: Oliver in school, Jon at work, kids going to swim lessons...... and I suppose restarting the workout routine. Happy New Year!!!

New Lightning McQueen PJs!!

A rare picture of me and the kids :)

Christmas Day!

Pretty Christmas dress!

This bag is as big as me :)

A new way to mow the lawn

The kegerator!

Emily the Builder

Santa Frog - a gift from Oliver's school

Taking a picture of herself on mummy's new phone

Ninja Oliver!!

Ray and Sandy with the grandkids: Alex and Anna on the left, Oliver, Emily, Isabelle, Mikayla, Blake, Madison and James

I think this is Emily's favourite gift - a Little Mommy doll which plays peekaboo!

All the bows had to go on daddy!

She knows how to switch on Oliver's hexbugs

Wiped out after a busy day

Oliver's new castle - he says this is his best gift but he plays with other things more!! Who knows, he loves everything!

Oliver really loves this huge heart cushion in Target

Emily's new rocking horse

And giving kisses to her big doggy

Sitting at the bar watching movies :)

I am teaching the kids well ;)

Welly socks from England!!

Oliver's drawing of us all - love!

3D glasses!

Celia and Oliver on New Year's Eve with Elefun nets on their heads!

Emily has been upgraded from the highchair to the head of the table - she loves it!! And Oliver gets to sit on one of the chairs without arms. Big kids all round!

In case you're confused - there is a duck and a lollipop ornament on the mini christmas tree!

Getting chilly!

2011-12-05T13:57:00.009-06:00

Winter has definitely set in. There is some snow on the ground and the temps are in the 20s - brrr!!! I think Oliver wants to play outside in the snow every day - I'm not so enthusiastic and I still need to buy myself some snow pants :) And he still insists on riding his bike when (if!) we take Scoop for a walk. He won't be able to for much longer that's for sure.

I've been very busy with work these past few weeks. Black Friday was utter craziness - never seen anything like it but so I glad I did work. What an experience! Things should calm down as soon as Christmas is over of course. I did have the pleasure of a day off this past weekend. It was nice just to hang out with the family and do normal weekend stuff - grocery shopping (!) and going out for coffee :)

We had a quiet family day on Thanksgiving and then went to Ray and Sandy's on the Friday. The kids had fun playing Just Dance on the Wii - I think this is a must every time we go over there now! Even Emily was joining in :)

Oliver is definitely excited about Christmas this year. All the lights, the decorations and the Christmas CDs we have really pump him up!! Emily just wants to take everything off the tree and I even caught her chomping on a candy cane through the wrapper (I knew it was too quiet!). It should be a great time when the big day comes around.

OK - photos!!!

Watching TV together

Taking Scoop for a walk - Emily had to shake all the trees!

Awwww :) Getting ready for bed.

The snowman we found in the basement! We forgot we bought it in the sale last year.

Thanksgiving dinner at the grandparent's place

I don't rate that dinner much Grandpa!!

But I'll take the hug :))

Decorating!!

In da hood!!

File boxes I found. Thought they would be useful for storage but the kids would rather sit/stand on them or carry them around *sigh*

Ready to head outside!

Play date at Wesley's house!

Emily wearing Mr Potato Head glasses as a necklace

Date at Caribou!!

What is this coffee stuff?

Mmmmmm!!!! (there is no coffee in there - promise!)

Hey, it's TV time again!!

Oliver with his snowman napkin holder he made at Home Depot - the other side is blue!

England Trip

2011-11-22T18:56:00.010-06:00

Finally I have 5 minutes to do the second blog entry for our trip to England!! It was a whirlwind 10 day trip - lots of travelling and lots of people to see. And also lots of people we couldn't see but there is only so much you can do in a short time. Anyway.....

We left late on November 1st and arrived in England on the Wednesday. Oliver slept for maybe 4 hours on the flight so he did pretty well. My sister met us at the airport (thanks sis!!) and we travelled 3 hours to her house in Taunton where we were staying the night. Oliver loved seeing his cousins Morgan and Rowan again and there were lots of new toys for him to play with :)

The next day my brother in law dropped us off at my friend Sarah's house near Bristol (about 45 mins away). I wasn't able to see Sarah and Carl on my last trip to England so it was wonderful to catch up with them and their two wonderful kids, Hettie and Joe. They were so welcoming to Oliver and I think he had a great time playing with them both.

On the Friday Mum and Michael picked us up and we made our way up north for my cousin Eleanor's wedding. It was about a 3.5hr drive to the hotel. Oliver was very excited to stay in the hotel and he was even more excited that there was a swimming pool :) Sadly someone had an accident in that swimming pool but I won't go into details (although I did manage to get him out before any contamination occurred, ha ha!!).

The wedding was on the Saturday at noon. It was a lovely ceremony despite Oliver having a meltdown and me having to take him outside. Too bad. But we were able to go back in for the end. It was a tad chilly, especially since Oliver had ripped holes in my tights so we were grateful to get back in the warm car and head back to the hotel for the reception. We grabbed a bunch of Oliver's cars and the kids were entertained by them waiting for the meal to start. And when we sat down Oliver had a parcel with some gifts which he was very pleased with!!

On the Sunday Mum dropped us off at my stepdad Graham's house where we spent the night. Oliver was very tired when we arrived and actually went for a nap but he livened up later and very much enjoyed seeing Graham and just having a relaxing time playing and watching TV! On the Monday we went for a lovely pub lunch together before getting a train down to Truro where my mum lives. Oliver was obviously very excited for his first ever train ride. He didn't stop talking the whole time and was rather surprised there were no seatbelts ;)

After a much needed night's rest we took the bus into Truro to look around the shops. This was Oliver's first bus ride as well (again, no seatbelts!!). He was even more excited when we came home and we rode on a double decker bus :) The following day we went to a local swimming pool and had a brief look at the sea (it was cold!). And on our last evening in Cornwall Mum and Michael treated us to an early Christmas with a tree, presents and a Christmas dinner. Oliver ate really well and even ate two brussels sprouts!!! He is a changed boy on the eating front since our visit two years ago.

On Thursday we met up with Steph and Graham for lunch and said goodbye to Mum and Michael before spending one more night in Taunton. Then it was time to head back to the airport and come home. It was hard to believe the trip passed by so quickly.

Daddy and Emily were at the airport to meet us on the Friday evening. We had missed them both very much. We came home to a newly decorated master bedroom and a start had been made on the bathroom too (you saw my update on this in the last blog entry!!!). Since then I have been busy working on that and I've been working a lot at Target. The madness of Black Friday will be upon us this week and then the crazy few weeks before Christmas. I'll be tired!!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who put us up in England, drove us around and made us feel so welcome. I'm sure Oliver will remember the trip for a long time and I'll be very excited to go with Jon and Emily next time too :)

The day we went away - she looks so sad :((

Play area at the airport. Oliver remembered this from our trip to New York in May

On the plane and ready to go!

Playing Hungry Hippos at Hettie and Joe's house

Joe, Oliver and Hettie reading at bedtime

Possibly the cutest photo ever :))

Oliver took a liking to the cute guide dogs at the services!!

The new Mr and Mrs Burley :)

Their wonderful wedding transport!

The boys were entertained by Oliver's cars!

One of the presents Oliver got from the newlyweds :)

Mum and Michael

A little blurry but Oliver enjoyed having a sparkler in the evening after the wedding - celebrating the occasion and Bonfire Night

Having a dance with Nanna

Deep in conversation with Grandad Graham

And very busy watching TV together!

Waiting for the train

On the train!

On a bus!!

The biggest cookie EVER

New top from Nanna - see how the pockets are shaped like little mittens :)

Oliver with the tree he decorated

It's Christmas!!!!!

And there are presents :)

Lightning McQueen!!!

I had a feeling Oliver would love this penguin game. Luckily it was able to fit in the suitcase and come back home!

Thomas was at a service station on our way back to the airport

It's like we were never gone - she's wearing the same shirt and everything!!

Oliver cuddling his new cozy polar bear - you put it in the microwave for a minute or so and it warms up :)

Brother and sister taking an afternoon stroll

The first snow of the season

A treat for the kids playing nicely and waiting patiently while I finished taking wallpaper off the bathroom wall!

Mmmmm - doughnut!!

Dancing at the wedding!

Graham playing silly games with Oliver!

A silly video the kids did for some friends in Canada :)

Halloween

2011-11-16T14:35:00.009-06:00

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been a while since my last post. We got back from England on Friday of last week and since then I have been recovering and tackling a wallpaper removal project in our bathroom :) Anyway, I am going to do two posts - one for Halloween and one for our UK trip.

For Halloween this year Oliver dressed up as Francesco from Cars 2 and Emily was Little Red Riding Hood (without the cape which she really didn't like!). They both went out trick or treating although Oliver got to go out a couple of times. He did much better again this year and wasn't as scared as he was last year. He pretty much chose which houses looked "OK" and which ones he didn't like!! They both got more than enough candy (as always) which prompted a big clean out of our treat cupboard because we still had stuff left from last year!

Two hat Emily!!

Oliver's favourite way to watch TV - under the blanket (no matter what the weather) and with several bears.

Silly!!

Uh, Emily, this is not my idea of grocery shopping

Oliver setting a bad example on the slide - tsk, tsk!

Painting at his friend Maya's birthday party

Waiting patiently for a cupcake!

Party time with friends :)

Playing at the Ridgedale Mall

Emily was a blur in real time too! She wanted to go on this slide over and over and over again....

Cutie :)

Not so cutie!!! Having problems getting the cape off ;)

She loves cars as much as her brother :)

Emily is obsessed with pulling the zip of her PJs down - I find her most mornings in her crib showing me her chest!

Francesco!

Another hat moment

Oliver at the cookie decorating party we hosted

Emily wasn't so happy to decorate her cookie!!

Pre-England haircut :)

Reading the Sunday newspaper

Enjoying their Halloween loot!