The Many Faces of Erin

My sweet little Erin is just a pixie! She is bright, intelligent, high spirited, caring, energetic, fun loving, my shepard, an artist, a dancer ("crazy dance!" lalalaa) and just a blessing from God! I love my mini-me! While waiting for laundry I thought I would share some pictures of Erin taken in the last two months. Enjoy!

God Whispers....

Did you ever have the feeling that you should do something but not quite sure why? Some people call it good luck and others may call it intuition. Me? I think it is God "talking" to me, trying to influence me, but still giving me the choice to listen or not to listen. This evening I listened and I am so grateful!

Today was a snow day for daddy and we all were thrilled! Josh was here to shovel the driveway TWICE and he wrote our Christmas letter (thank you sweetheart). Since we got our first real snow fall of the year with 4 inches of accumulation, Josh took the girls sledding. Eric and I didn't go as I am just recovering from the flu and he is fighting a cold and slight ear infection. We are both doing well, but it wasn't worth getting worse over and it was time for Eric's nap. Also, it was nice that the girls were able to do something fun with their daddy and sledding is one of Josh's favorite things to do with them in the winter (right now at least).

After dinner Emma said that her tummy was hurting and didn't want to finish her rice BUT she had room for ice cream. A part of me was concerned that she may have the beginning of the flu (the first whisper from God) but another part of me thought if she finished her rice and still ate her ice cream she probably isn't that bad. Well, she ate all her rice and her ice cream and we got ready for bed. Another whisper.... I told Josh that we needed to make sure that we had the waterproof mattress pads on the girls' beds. And another whisper... for the first time I had Emma sleep on the bottom bunk with Erin "just in case". The girls went to sleep and Josh and I talked through our few remaining Christmas presents to buy and went to bed. And another whisper but this felt more like a nudge...."Josh, did you check on the kids before coming to bed?" He had. Five minutes later God whispered to me again...."I think I am going to check on them one more time. I want to make sure Eric is warm enough and that the girls are okay." Muffles from Josh as he is trying to get at least 6 hours of sleep while his wife keeps talking to him. I got an extra blanket for Eric and as soon as I opened the door to the girls room I knew Emma had vomited. The poor thing was still sleeping and I will spare you the details but I put Erin in bed with Josh and Emma in the shower. She slept in the hall in a cocoon of towels and blankets while I cleaned up her room and the bathroom. Emma is soundly asleep and I am working on four new loads of laundry and making my rounds every 10 minutes. Thank you God for not letting me sleep and making me check on the girls!!

They did have a GREAT time today!

Eric vs Gingerbread House

Our house has been full of temptations lately. The Christmas tree with ornaments, the candy canes on the tree, the wrapped presents (which have not been touched yet) and then there is the Gingerbread House. Our Gingerbread House has lived on the kitchen counter for all to see but when Josh came home it made a brief appearance on the dining room table. That turned into overnight and the next morning while getting everyone dressed, Eric pulled a Josh. What I mean by that is, last year at Josh's parent's house there were two gingerbread houses that his sisters made and slowly and stealthily Josh started eating the house from the back so no one would notice. A few days later he was found and we all rolled with laughter. So, Eric started eating little pieces of the house and it wasn't until he was caught in the act that we realized what was going on. Of course, I grabbed my camera first and asked questions later. Eric's response was, "Noooooo!" But that is his response to everything even to, "Is Daddy smarter than Mommy?" Today the Gingerbread House met the wrecking crew and we now know why Eric didn't eat the house beforehand. It is rather hard, we keep a pair of pliers by it to break off pieces of the house but it isn't not too bad to eat. We have really enjoyed our house and will continue to "enjoy" for the days to come.

O Christmas Tree...How Lovely Are Thy Branches

We put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving...see earlier post for details. Since then, the tree has been under attack and under watchful eyes. Last year, Eric was only seven months and not into too much trouble so our tree was safe but I knew this year things would be a bit different. Eric is a good little boy, but he is still a little boy of nineteen months. I knew that putting glass balls on the tree would NOT be a good idea so we have limited ornaments and all but a few chosen ones are non-breakable. Did your children ever have a good idea or want to do something that you thought might not be a good idea but then thought, "What the heck! Let's give it a try."? I had one of those moments with candy canes on the tree. Emma really really wanted to put some up on the tree and even though I knew it would be a bit of a temptation for Eric I said, "What the heck! Sure Emma! However, let's keep them up high so Eric doesn't get them down and eat them whenever he wants." Both Emma and Erin were thrilled to oblige and we have the band of candy canes at the top of the tree. Unfortunately, it was too much of a temptation for Eric and he DID try to get a candy cane and the whole tree tipped over! Thankfully he wasn't hurt since we have a very light fake tree and the red chair in the background caught most of the tree. Eric was scared and came running to me promising to me in his babbling voice that he would never do that again. Our angel wasn't put back up on top (her wings were too heavy anyways) but we did leave the candy canes up and Eric has kept his word and has NOT touched the tree since. Now, we will see about the wrapped presents I just put under there yesterday.

Emma's Big Present

For Emma's fifth birthday, Josh wanted to get her a new bike. For those of you who don't know, Josh is very knowledgeable about bikes and could tell you the weight, in grams, of each of his bike parts. That being said, he really wanted to get Emma a good bike and one that wouldn't weigh MORE than her so she could learn to ride without training wheels before he deploys next fall. Since we often go into the bike store, it was easy to get Emma to pick out her own bike without her knowing it. When Josh's parents were in town we bought her bike with Oma and Apa's help and gave it to her for an early birthday present. She is really good at riding her bike already and we all look forward to riding this summer.

Emma is a thumb sucker and always has been; we even have a sonogram picture with her thumb in her mouth. Emma has been working at trying to stop this and even has us tape her thumb at night so she doesn't suck her thumb (check out her thumb on the birthday morning picture). She wants to make sure that she keeps her big girl bike because big girls do NOT suck their thumbs. I am proud of my little big girl! Happy Birthday Emma!!!

Last Day of Preschool

Today was also the last day of preschool for the semester. So, last night Josh, Emma, Erin and I made treats for her class and I must admit that it was so much fun. I have also included a few pictures from preschool including one of Emma and her "boyfriend" AJ. Emma and Erin really like AJ and talk about him frequently. Apparently, AJ thinks highly of Emma because when I met his father I introduced myself as Emma's mom and he replied, "Oh! AJ talks about Emma all of the time." And if a DAD remembers then you know it has happened a lot. :-) Josh wasn't too thrilled to hear that Emma has a boyfriend and asked my not to encourage this as she is ONLY 5! But girls are girls and we might as well enjoy the innocence while we can.

Good Morning Birthday Girl

I always like to take pictures of my babies on the morning of their birthdays. Here are a few pictures of Emma today on her 5th birthday. It is amazing to think that five years ago today I became a mom, Emma was born, Josh was in Iraq, I ended my teaching career, and began to learn about a love so deep and strong that only other parents could understand. I am grateful to God for the blessing of my sweet little Emma.

Daddy's Home

Josh just got back from the field today. Which is army speak for he was gone for 10 days while they did training exercises on the far reaches of post, slept on bunk beds in rather cold rooms. It is good training for everyone, but it is always hard to have them gone especially around the holidays. Poor Josh started it off being sick with strep the first three or four days but thanks to super medics he was able to stay out there and work. He got back this morning but had to work a full day so we decided to meet at the food court on post for lunch. The children were thrilled to see daddy and it was nice to be a complete family again! I sure did miss him!

I have included a few pictures from when Josh's parents and grandmother came to visit during Thanksgiving weekend. We were able to visit Josh at work and get a few pictures in his office. Everyone had a nice and relaxing visit.

Change Me Mama!

My little man is really starting to communicate in a way that I can understand what he actually wants. He tries to lift me up when I am seated when he wants me to go into another room. He has even grabbed my hand to take me to the 'nack closet (we keep all of our food in one pantry and the snack basket is in there). Today he pushed me away from the kitchen counter and had me follow him down the hall to his room because he had closed the door and wanted to get in to play.

The pictures above are from the other day when I was making dinner. Eric had been trying to get my attention but I was almost done prepping the food for the oven and asked him if he would, "wait a minute for mommy to finish?" He left the kitchen so I thought he understood me, however he came back with a diaper and laid on the floor so that I would change him. Of course, I grabbed my camera first (which I keep in the kitchen because most things happen in the kitchen) and then he let me know what I was in for by patting his bottom and saying, "Poo Poo!" Needless to say, he got his diaper changed right away.

Lighted Parade

Last night we went to Manhattan's Lighted Christmas Parade. First of all, who doesn't like a parade especially in a smaller town where you can still park along the street 10 minutes before the parade begins? I think all children LOVE parades and lastly how cool is an evening parade where all the floats have strings of lights?

This year we went with some friends to the parade. Thanks Jessie, Sammy and Bella! We enjoyed hanging out in the back of your van when it got too cold and drinking warm hot chocolate while eating cookies. The girls love getting the candy they throw out at parades. Not like we needed more since we still have Halloween candy left (which is great to use on Gingerbread Houses). The candy gathering does pose a problem when you are wearing gloves. Erin just took hers off despite my repeated attempts to put them back on. Poor Emma just did her best with her "big girl" gloves on...check out the picture above.

I also have fond memories of attending this parade with my gal pals from Ogden. Drake and Zack, I took the picture of the firetruck for you guys. I sure do miss that wonderful group of ladies and am grateful to have survived a deployment with them.

We also want to thank Aunt Shannon and Uncle Shaun for our fabulous thermoses. It kept our hot chocolate warm and the flip tops kept everyone clean and dry.

Bowling

The girls went bowling today with a few kids from their preschool class. It was at the bowling alley at K-State and they had a great time. The bumper guards were out so there were no gutter balls and they had a neat contraption that the kids put the ball up on to give it some velocity. Emma enjoyed bowling by herself including carrying the ball. Erin kind of liked it but was a great cheerleader.

Eric even had a chance to bowl/push the ball when he would get down from my hip. At one point I had to put him down and he didn't like it (see below). It really was nice to do something fun on a cold and blustery day.

Gingerbread House

Last year we started a new tradition of making gingerbread houses. Josh's sisters have been doing this for quite some time, they really enjoy it and have fond memories of making them together. Last year we bought our first kit and Josh and the girls decorated the house. It surely wouldn't have won any awards but they had such a good time making it that it was a blue ribbon winner to us! I got another kit this year so that I could make it with the children. There was a lot of sugar consumed but we had a blast!

I haven't gotten to the point where I bake my own gingerbread but I think that will be coming soon. This year they each did a different side of the gingerbread house (see below) if you know my girls then you already know which one did which side. Do you have any fun memories of making gingerbread houses?

Tinker Toes

"Do as I say, not as I do!" That was modeled in my home today thanks to me and an ever watching little guy. I am married to a techie guru and we have one of our computers hooked up to the television. It is great when watching movies on Netflix and it also means that all of our DVD's are played through it and the munchkins know about the buttons. The girls are really good about not messing with the computer, but Eric is just learning. Today when I walked by the TV, it was off but the computer was on. So, instead of turning on the TV, switching over to the computer input, finding the mouse to do a shutdown; I used my big toe to push the power button thus shutting it down in 2 seconds. Well, Eric watched me do this and I instantly knew I was going to regret that move. It only took until tonight for Eric to demonstrate his new found skill. The kids and I were watching Tinkerbell (Josh is in the field for 10 days) and when there was only about 7 minutes left in the movie, Eric walked by the TV, used his big toe and turned off the computer. He didn't even pause! I was honestly impressed at how fast he acquired this skill and he was pretty proud of himself too...I guess we have a "Tinker Toes" on our hands. (Sorry, the pun was too good to pass up.)

Decorating the Christmas Tree

I like decorating for Christmas, it's fun! It's even more fun with extended family to help and bring good cheer. This year we put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. I know it's a traditional time for some, but I am usually busy with family visiting and think after they left, "Hey! We should have put up our Christmas tree." This year I made sure we did it and we had a wonderful time.

Josh set the tree up with his "helpers", Gamma and I fluffed the tree, the girls helped to place the ornaments while Oma took pictures. I think it will be a nice tradition to do this together and make fun family memories.

Our tree looks a little sparse this year; we didn't put up the glass ball ornaments. Eric is one and a half and every time we passed a decorated Christmas tree Eric would stop, point and say, "Ball! Ball!" Really, why put Eric and ourselves through that this year? As long as we have lights on the tree and the ballerina ornament (one of three glass ones that did make it on the tree) the kids are happy.