Jaunt up north

Whenever I talk to someone here they often say, "Oh we went up north." Or "My mom lives up north" or "Up north there is more shopping." So, this week we went north. Thanks to my brother- and sister-in-law I was able to go to the temple with a friend. The next day my sister-in-law and I buckled up the kids (in her new Toyota minivan!!!!!) and headed to COSI. The kids were great and loved it. My sister-in-law, who is 9 months pregnant was a real trooper as we followed the kids around. All in all it was a grand time. Emily loves blocks and what is more fun than blocks you can build "really so high, Mommy!"
I still love this fun thing. It was one of Emily's favorites.
Emily driving a helicopter.
Nathalie pressing buttons that emitted bodily function noises. She thought it was great...and tried to eat the buttons.

Nathalie loved this. Look at that cute smile.

It's been a while...

Dear Duck Friends,

Sorry we haven't been to see you in 3 months. In case you hadn't noticed, it's winter. I, for one, don't like going to a place with spraying water and mud everywhere when it's only 25 degrees out. But we were happy to visit you a few days ago and enjoy the sun with you. I hope you liked the homemade bread. Judging by how fast you gobbled it up, I think it was a hit. Hopefully we'll see you soon. In the meantime, enjoy your mostly frozen pond and wilted plants.
Yours truly,
Michelle

P.S. Next time, please don't bite my daughter's hand.

"Mommy! Let me down, let me down, let me down! Finally, yeesh."
Nathalie's sock after crawling through snow, mud, dirt, duck poop. We washed her snow outfit when we got home. Nathalie desperately wanted to be with her sister on the bridge but I was a mean Mommy and said no.

We always wear a hood because Emily complains that her hair gets cold.

"Yummy graham crackers ,Mommy."

"Mommy, sit down here and let's talk about something."

"Okay Em, what do you want to talk about?"

"The plane went really so high in the sky in the clouds and we flew to Granny's house. It went over there and over there."

"The ducks are swimming in the water and there is snow and ice."
"Really? Aren't they cold?"
"Yeah. Their feets are cold.They need socks."

(The movie works. I'm not sure why it's not showing a picture at first.)

Out and about...

The Norwegians say, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." They believe in the outdoors and even on cold, snowy winter days they get outside. Maybe it's my Norwegian heritage but I made a goal this winter to get outside every day. We've done it so far! There have been a couple days where we were only outside for 10 minutes. Most days we take walks and sometimes, if it's cold, we go to the children's room at the hospital to play outside of our house. Here was one such day. Nathalie right before she fell on her face at the hospital.

The fountain outside the hospital. Emily loves this fountain. It was a pretty darn cold walk on the way home.

Emily kept saying, "Peekaboo Mommy! I see you in the mirror!"

Why I like winter so much

Snow. When it snows I feel happy. Fall is my favorite season but winter and spring tie for second. I'm not really a summer person. So when it snowed for a week off and on, we had a blast at my house. I was in heaven, Matt played and played, Emily only ate snow and Nathalie came along for the ride. Although I do appreciate the warm day we had today, I love snow. (And I know the pictures aren't in order--I didn't take the time to figure it out tonight.) What Emily wears inside. Her "skirt" is actually one of my aprons.

Both girls love to read. After Nathalie goes to bed, Emily and I often read 10-15 books before bed. Surprisingly, a Sesame Street series on manners is Emily's current favorite.

This was after a walk, shoveling and sledding. I would have stayed out longer but the girls were becoming a little cold.

Emily's main food group.

What our road looked like.

Everything in the mouth

Nathalie is in the age where she puts everything in her mouth. Her favorite things are: any food I didn't sweep up, money, washcloths, tissues, noses, chapstick and ... vacuums. See for yourself. Random pole.

Putting her face in the water. She thinks it is so funny.

Learning how to "drink." She usually ends up choking. Also, notice the spray of water. Pretty cool, huh?

Sometimes it's hard to vacuum when this little person wants to eat the vacuum.

Snowldier

We've had enough snow for some people to make snowman. Emily particularly likes this one in our neighborhood. Yesterday the builders had removed it's face and hat, but left the gun. Emily was very concerned that "its face left." We talked about it a lot.

Tonight I didn't do the ironing.
I didn't vacuum the house.
I didn't make lasagna for the freezer.
I didn't work on a project for Emily.
I didn't clean the bathtub.
I didn't do all the dishes.
I didn't call the people I should have called.

I read for 1 1/2 hours. I feel remarkably refreshed! Thanks Mom, for being so wise!

When we're cooped up...

I think about this house and the fun things we could do with that much space. It is our dream house. 10 acres, several barns, a pond, trees...I love it in my dreams.

I think she likes it!

( I would insert the "Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit" poem here, but I don't think it's appropriate.) Thank goodness they didn't have that effect on Nathalie. They merely left her crying for more. Apparently she likes chili.

Will be posting soon....

Due to children.....our internet cable gives a very spotty connection. We'll be up and running again sometime next week, so expect pictures!

It's not working!

We have been sleep training N. for the last two weeks. After a week of successful full-night sleeping, we decided to move Emily back into the room with her. She'd been sleeping in our closet. That's where the trouble started!

We talked to Emily about being quiet when she went to sleep. The first night it went well....until 7am when Nathalie woke up. She usually wakes up at 8:30. So I got Nathalie and adjusted her schedule accordingly.

Monday night was alright....until 10:30 when Nathalie cried. I went in, took her to my room, calmed her down then placed her back in her crib in Emily's room. 30 minutes later she started crying again, so I moved Emily to my room while I let Nathalie cry. Emily ended up sleeping in our closet and Nathalie woke up a 3rd time Monday night.

Last night went alright....until Emily got her foot stuck in the side of her bed and yelled for us. Which woke Nathalie up, of course. Then, because Nathalie was awake, Emily climbed into her crib with her, at which point Matt came, took Emily out and calmed Nathalie down enough that (an hour later after cooing to herself!) she was able to fall asleep again. Because of that, Emily slept in our closet.

This morning, Matt stomped into our room and woke Emily up. Emily got up, went into her room and woke Nathalie up.

I'm done! I want the children OUT of my bedroom. Nathalie was sleeping fine until Emily started sleeping in that room again. How do I train her to sleep WITH Emily and how do I train Emily to stop bothering Nathalie?