July 29, 2010

Popcorn Pals

We had Evan and Andrew for the day yesterday. It was really fun... we miss having them around as much as we did during the school year.  They are darling boys, so well behaved and just slide in as part of our family. It's great. :)  

After naps yesterday we made popcorn and filled these cute little holders I had bought.  They weren't half as excited about them as I was but that's okay!

Look at ME!

Norah can now sit up by herself and as you can see... she's mighty proud.  This was her first bath by all alone. I've joined her since she was born so it was exciting (not having to get all wet) but sad too as she is growing so fast. I know I say this over and over but I cannot believe that she is almost 8 months old.  This has been the fastest 8 months of my life.  

She provides me with pure joy. I smile just thinking about her and have to stop to remind myself to thank her for being so easy going.  She has the personality I wish I had!!! :) Happy all the time, goes with the flow and takes quite a bit to get fussy!

I love you Norah Grace!

Family Chores

I've been toying around with the idea of chores for Braden and Olivia for quite some time. I've looked at different charts, reward systems, etc.  Steve and I have talked about the different philosophies of doing chores because you are part of a family as opposed to doing them for money and we finally came up with a place to start.

Last weekend was our first "Family Chore" day.  We chose one thing that we could do as a family on Saturday morning.  Olivia, mommy and Norah (who sat so patiently in her exersaucer) cleaned the downstairs bathroom and daddy and Braden cleaned the upstairs bathroom.  

It went really well!  Olivia and I had a blast dancing to music, scrubbing down the toilet and floor.  Steve had a harder time convincing Braden that it was "fun" but everything got done in the end.  

I'm so excited about this.  The kids are very helpful during the week with throwing things down the laundry shoot, letting Magnus out, feeding him and removing dishes from the table.  I think if we are able to continue doing our Saturday morning chores we may start some type of allowance this fall.  We'll see.  I love that they are helping us and that they will realize that being part of a family means chipping in on the household chores.

I am pondering what to have us do this week.  I want to find two things that won't take too long, that the kids can be actively involved in and that will genuinely help us out.  Right now I'm thinking maybe vacuuming, sweeping and dusting the first floor and bedrooms.  :)



July 18, 2010

Norah's First...

cold! :(
She is super congested (you can see the watery eyes and stuffy nose) but is doing her best to show us all her smiles and share her happiness.  Poor Norah!

Braden's Weekend

Olivia went up to Steve's parents for a special weekend while Steve played in an alumni golf outing.  Braden, Norah and I stayed home to get ourselves organized and for some much needed bonding between Braden and I.  I told him it was, "Braden weekend" and we could do whatever he wanted! 
We started Friday night with a sleep over in my bed.  It was super sweet cuddling with him although he snores like an old man! :)  The morning had us making waffles and then we packed up for a trip to the zoo.  

Braden had fun picking our route, our pace and just being the center of attention.  

The highlight was the dinosaur exhibit which is at the zoo right now. We went and saw a similar one at the Brookfield Zoo last year.  They are life size (or close to it) dinos who make noises and move.  It was fun to learn some new facts and Braden was able to guess each time if the dino was a plant or meat eater by their teeth... smart boy!

He was a VERY good boy and although disappointed that I wouldn't buy him something from the dino store (it's ridiculously expensive) we moved on and enjoyed the rest of our time at the zoo.

On the way out we stopped at the gold mining station and bought a bag of rocks (again a total rip-off but he loved it).  He poured them into a sieve and washed away the dirt to expose some pretty colored gems to take home.

He worked very hard to find each and every gem... no matter how small!

Our lunch date took us to Alterra and then home for naps.  We went to Dunham sports afterwards to buy a fishing pole for Braden to use at the Olson Lake home and later this summer at Uncle Steve's in Duluth.  He picked out some buoys and lures as well - such fun. I had NO idea what I was doing in this aisle. Thankfully someone from the store was able to help us out.  

The last errand was to the grocery store for the items to make Pesto Noodles for dinner.  Braden LOVES pesto so we got all the fixings (along with a few other needed things).  

After dinner we snuggled on the chair to watch, "Alvin and the Chipmunks... the Squequel."  It was really cute. 

Just as we were going to head up to bed we saw fireflies out the window.  The two of us ran outside to try to catch them.  I haven't had that much fun in a while and I certainly don't remember them being that hard to catch. Braden caught two and I caught one.  What fun being a kid can be. :)

Today ... well I'm not sure what's in store. I have to go consult my little social planner.  

Fun at the Lake

The Olson family bought a lake home this summer and we have been greatly benefiting from it.  We went out Friday morning and stayed ALL day.  It was perfect.  The wind was blowing, the water temp was inviting and the sun was kissing everyone's cheeks.  Olivia it turns out is a little water baby (as long as it doesn't get on her face) and played in a tube most of the day.  Braden got in a few times but had the most fun fishing from the dock.  Norah was a trooper and took two naps, ate her lunch and even floated in a baby float.  She continues to be so easy going - I'm a lucky mommy.

We were joined by Wanda and Meghan(and her darling little boy Landen), two of our team mates from school as well as Sara and Ava.  Thank you Kristin for an awesome day.  I didn't take any pictures except for this one of Olivia who is naked in her car seat and was asleep before we left the driveway on the way home. Braden is asleep behind her. I think the lake house is the perfect place to tucker all the kids out. :)

My favorite chef!

We've been pumping out the zucchini bread lately... yummmmm!
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