The Last Month in Pictures... Yet Again!

Wow - it's hard to believe that it's already the end of June. I'm not quite sure where the time goes but I do know that there isn't enough of it!!  This last month in no particular order...

Braden finished up with soccer

and started T-ball which he is truly enjoying!  Steve is helping out during the practices and is having fun as well.

We celebrated Fathers day on Saturday at Ravinia with my dad and on Sunday boating in Oshkosh with Steve's dad.  We are lucky to have such wonderful fathers who we see fairly often.  

Braden had some alone time up at Steve's parents and Olivia at mine.  It was a treasure for each of them being gone... but also being home and having some one on one mommy and daddy time.

My friend Meg and her three boys came to visit.  This is the only picture I took.  Hmm I wonder why I couldn't find time to take pictures with six kids running around! :)  She is one of my dearest friends and I leave my time with her so refreshed and happy.  I just wish we had more of it.

Olivia turned three!  She had a small friend party in the backyard during the day and then my mom and Emily came down that night for dinner.  One of the highlights... when you turn three at our house you get to chew gum!!

Many of our flowers are blooming. I learn more and more from my mom each year and am happy to say that I did a lot of the planting on my own.  I have yet to go and prune(it's on my "Short-term To Do List) but my pots and flower boxes are beautiful!

Our niece Nikki had a shower up at Steve's parents.  It is so fun to watch her go through this pregnancy and have her enjoy it as much as I have.  I cannot wait for her to experience labor, birth and the overwhelming love that comes the instant you meet your baby.  She doesn't know what she's having but we're guessing boy right now. Good luck Nikki! :)

Norah turned 6 months and started eating food!  She doesn't like cereal but loves carrots, pears, apple sauce, sweet potatoes, raspberries and banana.  I have to get my food processor out and start to make my own as I did with the other kids. I just haven't been able to find the time yet but will soon.  She remains my peanut.  

She is in the 50% and still has lovely thighs and a little belly but is about 2 lbs smaller than both Braden and Olivia.  She is the happiest baby around and is extremely easy-going.  I'm a lucky mommy.  Our favorite thing to do now is to sit up (supported by the boppy) and play with toys from her small toy basket.   She takes them all out, chews them and then goes on to the next one.  Such fun.

Braden finished up 4K.  This is he and his teacher, Mrs. Ashenberg, on the last day of school. I asked him last week when he and I were on a little date if he missed school or if it was kind of nice not to have it.  He smiled and said it was nice not to have it.  I agree... I love having lazy mornings, being able to march to our own drum and to play outside so much.  Hopefully we can change that around though come September!!

Steve, Norah and I traveled to San Diego.  My mom and Judy took turns watching Braden and Olivia.  We appreciate their time immensely.  It was very special to have that time with Steve and Norah.  We relaxed, swam, walked, ate great food, went on a harbor cruise and even toured Petco Park.    

The last month was filled with family, friends, and jam-packed with memories.  I am sad that June is gone but am looking forward to all the fun that July and August will bring.  

An Interview with Braden

How old are you? five
Where do you live? Jackson Park Blvd.
What do you like best about school? Recess
What have you learned this year? About Dinosaurs
Whose your mom? Mama Sarah
What do you like about your mom?  She makes me the best dinners and lunches. She plays with me. She takes care of me.
Whose your daddy? Daddy Steve
What do you like best about your dad? Everything
Who else is in your family? Magnus and Norah and Olivia
What do you love about your sisters? I like to play with them.  I like to watch TV with them and my friends and I like to sleep with them in tents when we are camping.
What are you good at? Doing summersaults.  I'm good at games. I like to fly my kite. I'm good at flying my kite and I'm good at playing soccer.
What do you want to do this summer?  Swimming in the pool, playing outside and tooting in mama's face - actually not that... playing with mama.  Did you write the tooting part?  Not really that part.
What's your favorite book? all of them are
How smart are you?  REALLY smart
What's your favorite food? Pizza and Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup
What's your favorite color?  Blue, Red and Orange
What's your favorite holiday? Easter and Christmas because you get presents and you get to eat chocolate.
Is there anything else that we should tell everyone? My name is Braden, my mama's name is Sarah, my sister's name is Norah and my other sister is Olivia. My dog's name is Magnus and my daddy's name is Steve. Ummm and that's it.

The last month in pictures...

The past month has gotten away on me. I am trying hard to be more "present" at home which hasn't left much time for TV, Blogging or Email.  I figure there will be plenty of time to catch up on that this summer. :)

We went to a Bucks Playoff game with KT, Ben...

and of course Steve!  We had amazing seats but despite our cheering they lost. :(

We celebrated my mom's birthday in Appleton.

Where she had some snuggle time with Braden, Olivia and Norah. As you can also see from the picture, Braden has started up with soccer again!

We went to Chicago with Judy (her Christmas present) and did some touring around town...

Ate at a fabulous restaurant recommended by Sam and Em and then went and saw Stars on Ice.

Meanwhile, Sam and Em took on all three kids!  They went to the Nature Museum and got to touch some butterflies.

Braden had his third set of tubes put in - yes, with a starwars figure by his side. :)

This one breaks my heart. It's so hard to see your children at less than their best.

Olivia got her first haircut (with no underwear on... a story for another time)

We had family pictures taken... Olivia was less than smily so we are having hers retaken this weekend.  This picture made me realize that we perhaps needed to practice smiling for a camera. hehe

So we've been practicing... (and yes, that is an undershirt that she demanded was a shirt so she wore it to daycare!)

And practicing...

And I think she's got it down pat.

She also got new glasses as you can see which fit her a little bit better.

So it's been busy.  I realized I have no pictures of Norah but will post soon as she'll be 6 months!  WOW.  And the days continue to fly by. ;)

Beauty in my Backyard

May 14, 2008

April 30th, 2010

The two trees that you see in these pictures bring me such joy.  Not only are they absolutely gorgeous but they smell delicious.  They have bloomed quite early this year. Usually it's around Mother's day that they perform with perfect timing!  

You can also see from the two pictures what a difference a few years have made in terms of the tree growth!  WOW - we are going to have it pruned and thinned out somewhat to prolong it's life.  An Arborist came to our house yesterday and told me that he thinks the big crabapple is well over 50 years old.  I love the difference the landscaping and planting has made too!  Thanks mom and Steve.

  I love our backyard.  It's where we spend most of our time when the weather warms up and we now have neighbors with children on both sides of us - what fun.  I feel so lucky for everything in my life this morning.  Well - everything except for the lack of sleep. ;)

Olivia's Fashion Advice

Olivia would like to advise everyone to live boldly.  Don't worry about patterns, colors and matching.  Be adventurous and live life as colorfully as possible!  Here is her choice of outfits for you all to model yourselves after. :)  Let me know how that goes!

Clean Bill of Health

This is Braden on "goofy juice."  For the third time this poor boy has had to have ear tubes put in.  Tuesday he went into surgery due to moderate hearing loss and we're all hoping third time is the charm :)

Wednesday took us to Children's Hospital Rheumatology Clinic where they told us we could take Olivia off of her Naproxen!! Yahoo.  They said that her flexibility was almost normal and the inflammation just about gone so we are going to give it a try and check back in 8 weeks as opposed to our usual 6.

Olivia's is also doing a great job with her glasses. She is keeping them on almost all day every day although they continue to fall off of her nose so I'm planning on calling to see how they can help us with that today.  

YEAH!  This mommy is a happy mommy knowing that her munchkins are all healthy. :)

Special Mommy Time

Braden and I started our special mommy and me time today.  We are going to spend an hour together each Wednesday from about 2:30-3:30.  It is early release in Wauwatosa and we have this wonderful high school student who lives a few blocks away and she is willing to come over and watch the girls.

Braden and I headed out to the library and we worked on letter identification and sounds.  I had so much fun planning it all out last night and gathering materials. I planned way too much (super typical of me!) but was able to go with the flow and let Braden kind of guide our time together.

We giggled, smiled, and held hands on the way back out to the car.  It was really special and I can't wait for next week.

This time serves two purposes.  First it helps Braden as this is an area that hasn't really clicked yet for some reason and second it gives us some special bonding time with no distractions.

I'm planning on continuing this summer and think I'll either alternate weeks with Braden/Olivia OR have her come twice a week for an hour for each of them.