Role Reversal

Tonight we had a bit of role reversal in the house. I was finishing preparing dinner, and Caleb went to put the kids in their seats. . .instead, li'l guy got to sit in his old high chair and Abby sat in li'l guys booster seat. Wow. . .remember when his feet barely came down over the seat?? (and no, his pants aren't that short, they were just pulled up from when he slid down into the seat. . .)Abby's still a little short for the booster seat (takes after her momma) but she did enjoy sitting there.
Last weekend, we drove up to the suburbs to meet my very bestest friend in the whole wide world and her family. Shannon and Travis drove down from Tomah on Saturday and we met at a hotel in Elmhurst for the night. Shannon had called me a few months ago and said they wanted to meet us halfway for a weekend, and she had hotel points for two rooms! So, we had adjoining rooms (free!) AND the hotel had a big waterpark inside. The kids had a BLAST! I don't have any pics of the water part, but Shannon does, so when I get some of those, I'll post them.

Here's Miss Lydia (there is NO question this child belongs to Shannon. . .she is a little Mini Me of Shannon!!). She definitely had fun, but she wasn't as sure of us as her brother. Lydia will be 2 years old in February.

Here's a pic of Caleb and Abby right before we left. Li'l guy got to ride on the luggage cart and had a pretty fun time with that.
Then there were Caleb and Weston. Weston is about a year and a half older than li'l guy, but these two were like two peas in a pod the entire time. They'd go running back and forth between the rooms, and both had a GREAT time playing together in the water! Here they are just hangin' out. . .

And here they are dancing and running around. They were really funny together. They'd start saying "Shake your booty" and both of them would shake their little hind ends. It was VERY funny, and I really wish I would have had the video camera out. We had SUCH a good time, and we agreed we need to do that again sometime (soon I hope!).
Here's a picture of Abby doing what she does best. . .eating. She was too funny. Shannon was handing out plastic cups with Chex Mix in them, so Abby grabbed one and her juice, went into the other room, climbed up on the chair, and sat and enjoyed her food. This is pretty much how I found her.

It was a WONDERFUL weekend, and I'm so glad we were able to see Shannon and Travis. Since we had the connecting rooms, we put all the kids to bed in one room so we could stay up later and visit and play cards. It worked out so well! Of course, being the old marrieds that we are, we were still in our own rooms, in bed by about 11:00 I think (this getting old stuff is hard!).

We were also able to see Chris and Em on Friday night (Thanks for letting us stay there!!) and went out for breakfast with them Saturday morning. I didn't get a picture, but Em was sitting in their big arm chair, and Abby climbed up next to her to watch her DVD. Abby would just sit there watching, then look up at Em and smile, and go back to watching her DVD. Made me laugh.

Well, I hear Mom found another chef's hat for the kids. . .yeah!!! Also, Leann (one of the kids' sitters) sent me a picture of Abby with the chefs hat on, but it's on my phone and I haven't sent it to my e-mail yet. The kids are excited to see Grammy and Pappy next weekend, even if only for a short time. Oh, and cute story. . .li'l guy loves to read the Bible now every night before he goes to bed. One night last week, he picked up his Bible (The Big Picture one he has), opened to the first story and proceeded to read it to me. It went kind of like this: "God created Heavens and earth. Then the twinkle, twinkle little stars (with a little side-track to sing the song). Then Adam and Eve in the water (there's a picture of them in the water), and then there's the snake. And then God say not supposed to eat from tree. They not 'pose eat from tree. They get in trouble." The kids no Bible scholar, but I thought he did pretty well for a 2 1/2 year old. :) He does love books!

Waterfront Property. . .

The kitchen is finally put together. Just for the record, we have a new rule. . ."he who buys the toys. . .puts them together." The train table wasn't too bad, but this durn kitchen. . .I even broke a nail! Oh well, the kids are really enjoying it. When we get home from being out somewhere, li'l guy will say, "I wanna cook." He is enjoying the grill side the most (good call Grammy!) as he can flip his cheeseburger just like Daddy does. This picture below was from the first morning we had it set up. . .Abby was so excited she came out before she had clothes on. Sorry for the naked baby. . . I'm thinkin' the kids are definitely watching what Caleb and I do. Both kids like to pour coffee in the cups, then they'll put the cup in the little microwave. Hmmm, where'd they learn that? Oh, and did I mention this thing makes noises too?? Yeah, not only did I break a nail, but it's just one more toy that talks. That's ok though, once again, the kids really like it.
Here's li'l guy trying to see through the kitchen window. OH, and we are definitely on the lookout for another chef's hat. This only came with one, but both kids like to wear it. I thought I had a picture of Abby with it on too, but I guess not.
Then one morning I grabbed the camera, and li'l guy even came running, "Pictures! Cheeeeeeese." Then just as the picture was about to take, he took off. . .hence the picture below. Caleb really like's my parents' new camera, so I have a feeling that will be one of our next big purchases (long way down the road, but still). Our camera has been faithful for over 5 1/2 years, but those SLR (?? I'm not the techie of the family, but I think that's what it is) cameras are definitely nice! Especially with kids that don't sit still long. :)
So this crazy Spring-like weather in January? Not really a big fan. The one day was nice (I even got the flip flops out for a couple days) but then the rains came. . .and the rains came down and the floods came up. Grrrr. Hence, the Waterfront Property. Who knew we lived on a lake! :) Oh well. It did the same thing last year (not in January of course) and we're somewhat used to the little mosquito breeding grounds. The water is receding and we'll be back to normal in another day or two (barring any additional rain). Then again, if it stayed for awhile and we finally got some normal weather, maybe we could go ice skating??

Merry New Year!

Wow. . .where did the time go??? January 1, 2008??? Ugh. Time flies when you're having run, right? Right! So, for New Year's Eve, we just went out to dinner as a family and then came home and crashed! It was WONDERFUL!!!! We've been on the go for a while now, and it was nice to sit and do nothing, together. :) Here's a picture of Abby right before we left to get dinner. She was sitting on our bed and climbed over up against the pillows, pulled the blanket up and was ready to just watch some TV. It was cute. :)And of course, today was the big day. . .the Michigan game. Of course, Caleb took the kids right away this morning to get them dressed and ready for the game. . .then he came out to do his ceremonial (kind of) Playstation game (he likes to gear up for football games by playing his Playstation football game and making sure Michigan beats any team they go up against . . . so he set up and played Florida). Anyway, he walked away for a minute, I walked into the living room and this is what I saw. . .Abby looked like she was trying to play the game. The funnier part (and I wish I would have had the video camera out) was when the game started playing "Hail to the Victors" she started smiling and dancing. It was really cute!
After the Playstation, the pre-game ceremony included putting together the "Thomas the Tank Engine Table" (as li'l guy calls it whenever he talks about it). Li'l Caleb was so excited about this and he played with his trains alllllll day.
He even let Abby play with him (a little). She doesn't like to play with the trains so much as the table is right at her level. No, we haven't put the kitchen up yet as we're trying to figure out where to put it. The kids are definitely waiting for it though!!!
Well, it's been fun while it lasted, but the vacation is now ending and tomorrow it's back to work. Back to reality. Happy New Year!