Christmas: Visit With Friends

Oldies... I know.

At the end of January, we were in Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas, and we used it as a good excuse to meet up with friends we hadn't seen for some time.  We visited friends in Wausau, WI, and friends from the Twin Cities were able to meet with us as well.  We had a grand time catching up and eating brunch together, and it was fun to watch the kids interact. 

Julia being the oldest still wasn't too keen on sharing... her toys OR her sister.  Ha.  Raven was just happy to hang out and have someone hold her.  :)

erin

Seed Update

Woohoo!  Our seeds have taken off and Julia and I check on them regularly.  In just a few short weeks we'll be able to move them outside and watch them bloom into large plants with fruit.  Yay!

We planted... pickling cucumbers, snap peas, green beans, ground cherries, two types of peppers, and heirloom tomatoes.  We are excited for canning and food dehydrating later this summer.  Julia likes to point out to me that there is water in the tray (and then stick her fingers in it and then try to wipe it on me giggling all the while).  She smells her plans and gets a kick out of the fact that they are growing.  Through various hand gestures and rambunctious rambling, it is obvious that she *gets* what we've done and remembers planting the dirt plugs and seeds, and yesterday she asked me if she could plant her little chickies from her Chick Basket in the plant starter as well.  Too funny.

erin

My Beautiful Girls

Are any other words needed to describe them...?

Playdate Fun & Easter Crafts

Today we had our playdate and good friends over to play and to make Easter crafts.

 

First we started off by making "Chick Baskets"... pom poms with beaks and eyes glued into egg cartons... so fun!  (Pom poms are becoming increasingly difficult to find, it seems!)

We also made a Good Friday craft... the three crosses on the hill with flowers, etc.  We had a lot of fun (me and Melissa, after the kids gave up!) poking flowers into our half-sphere florist's foam and the crosses are made of popsicle sticks.  I wish I had a picture of Melissa's... her ribbon on her cross was so cool!  We made an extra Good Friday craft to take to daycare tomorrow.

erin

A Little Walk

I took the girlies for a little walk to Central Park (Town Square) and back, and I let Julia walk a bit in the "big" areas... i.e, the big park and the Molengracht.  We had a lot of fun and it included picking up sticks and throwing them... picking up leaves and throwing them... attempting to touch the tulip buds and being scolded by mommy... taking a long stick and acting like it is a walking stick (HILARIOUS), and a bunch of other fun-ness.

Raven hung out and either played with her toys or took a nap while Julia flitted around.  What a fun evening!

We came home and rode our bike a bit and then hit the swing until daddy came home... and then it was bath time!  All clean and ready for a new day! 

erin

Cousins

Adam's sister, Claire, had a baby with her husband, Dan... his name is Dex and he was born January 25th.  We celebrated Christmas with Adam's family at the end of January (the 30th), and we were able to meet Dex at that time.  Yay for new babies!

Even though they are all looking off in different directions (or asleep... ha!), we still were able to get some cute "cousin pictures" of the three "Draeger" grandchildren.  And... I know, it's been two months since this picture was taken, but I still wanted to share it (yes, still going through my hundreds and hundreds of pictures). 

It might be some time again before we have a chance to see Dex in person, but through pictures on Facebook and otherwise, we know he's becoming quite the cutie.  It will be great fun for these kids to have cousins close in age.

erin

I Want to Win a Layer Cake!

http://adventuresindressmaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/giveaway-and-great-new-sponsor.html

I came across this fun blog and of course it adds fuel to my creative side.  :)  If I posted a link on my blog, I had another chance at winning a free giveaway... a layer cake from Fat Quarter Shop - a great online store!

Here's hoping I win!  :)

Almost There

Well, it took flu-like symptoms to stop my 31 Day Exercise Challenge.  For the second time in three months, I had the "flu" yesterday.  Not sure if it was the flu, but the symptoms were similar and it landed me in bed for a big portion of the day.  My poor kids.  Even though it was quite gorgeous out yesterday, we spent the day inside and Julia even spent a lot of time playing by herself with books and toys so I could 'rest'.  Boo.  I feel terrible about it, but there wasn't much to be done about it.  Thankfully Daddy took the girls for a walk last night to get them some fresh air.  Yay!

(I totally plan on heading back to the gym on Monday, in case anyone was worrying if that meant that I was stopping altogether... I'm not!)

Today I'm feeling TONS better and even ate breakfast... YAY!

This weekend should be fun...!  Tonight we are going to watch Adam's new band (or duo or group or whatever it should be called), Another Side of Jane.  They are playing in Knoxville at Swamp Fox, so we are meeting some friends for dinner and then watching them play.  Yay for a family-friendly venue, so I can take the girls with me.

Tomorrow we head to Cedar Rapids for a long-awaited game day... haven't been to one in quite some time and truly looking forward to it! 

And, Sunday will be full of church (I sing again, yay!) and family time. 

Should be a great weekend!  I hope you have a great weekend too!

Erin

First Swing Experience

Raven had her first swing experience at daycare yesterday... I'm so glad I got to see it!  :)  She really seemed to be enjoying it (but was even more excited to see me... ha!).  Looking forward to a fun summer where BOTH of my girls can enjoy the outdoors... having a baby in September turned out to be a pretty awesome thing that way!  :)

erin

6 Months

Today Raven had her 6 month check up.  :)

She is:

Height: 27 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz (75th percentile)

Head: 16.5 inches (40th percentile)

She is doing well.  We've introduced some fruit and veggies.  The pears were good but the sweet potatoes came back up.

She is still rolling over, but not a rolling log yet.  She is more and more vocal.  :)  She typically sleeps about 9 hours at night straight, though we've had a few 10 - 12 hour nights.  Looking forward to more of those!

All in all it was a good appointment today and of course Julia was a good big sister while we were there.  :)

erin