First Day of Summer Vacation!

 Well technically it is the first day of my summer vacation as Emme and Jack have been off since Monday. They got to spend some fun time with my sister Jeanine who did not send me any photos to put on the blog of their fun adventures! So today we hung at home and made some swirly crayons out of some old crayons that I had at school. Emme loved sorting them by hues and we baked them up and had a blast making a mess!

 Emme's Reese's Peanut Butter cup shaped crayons decorate her paper and my table pad! Yikes!

My sweet little Jackie and his big blue eyes. He is the sweetest baby ever. Hardly ever cries and is always so pleasant. He has been sucking away on his fingers and thumb. I think he might be teething already! Not even 5 months yet!

Busiest Saturday Ever

We started at Music Together class, stopped for our weekly Dunkin Donut treat and then headed home for a nap.

Next stop Uncle Christopher's to celebrate his birthday. Emme had a blast visiting family, playing with the cat, eating yummy cake and dressing up in Aunt Keri's shoes!

Finally we headed home and rushed over to the high school to catch the school bus over to Reis Park for Somers Annual Fourth of July (early) celebration. We caught the last bus and hiked to the field so fast. As soon as the fireworks began they were really loud and Emme started to whine she had to use the bathroom. I pulled up our blanket and headed to the "dirty potty" (Port a Potty) It was pitch black and I had Jack in the Baby Bjorn. What a sight! Here I am trying to get her on the potty in the dark with a 17lb monster hanging from my front and my butt propping open the door only to find out there is no toilet paper. I can't close the door and leave her alone in the potty in the dark while I check the others for paper. My bag is caught on my back tangled with the bjorn straps so I can't get to my wipes and there are huge bangs of fireworks going off. We had an awesome view. SO I had to wait until someone came over and I had them get some tissue. Now I have to try to wipe her not let Jack or her touch anything, get her off and out without getting slammed by the door. What an ordeal. At least when it was all over and the wipes came out with the sanitizer Emme had calmed down and we repositioned our blanket closer to the exit and were able to enjoy the rest of the show.

SO SO SO annoyed that Paul was away this weekend for his pool tournament. He missed a lot of fun stuff and we missed him a ton. But I am glad we were able to go to all the events and enjoy them without too much hassling or meltdowns.

Picasso in Training

How do you keep a straight face? Ok so I shouldn't have left her at the table while I fed Jack. I should have known her creative juices would have come forth and created a monster. The eerie silence should have told me turn around but I just couldn't. At least I was smart enough to have disrobed her prior to her watercolor adventure. Thank you Grammy and Papa for the nice gift. I never thought watercolors could be so vivid and beautiful on someone's face! Of course we were late to wherever we were supposed to be going to as usual.

Excellent Scorekeeping!

This past weekend Emme came and sat with me at the score table while I did some work. She wanted to write on some scribe sheets so I gave her some blanks. I think she did a great job as both a scribe and score keeper. Whoever was running this dog was super fast! Great job Emme with your zeros!

Fun Weekend

Even though we didn't Q for our ADCH, everyone had a great weekend. Jack rolled over for the first time, we ran some great runs with the dogs and Jack rode his first big boy swing. Many of my agility friends are planning their next trial but I am taking this return to agility slow. It is so hard to compete and take care of two little ones. My parents are a great help but it is still hard to manage all these things in your head and compete on top of it all. I am so lucky that Emme and Jack are so good or I would never even be able to get out of the house never mind hang out in a hot field all weekend. Hopefully we will be able to trial before the end of the summer.



Blackthorne Weekend

Jack and Papa Mike decked out in their Adidas Blues!

Roll

Roll

Roll

Roll Over- He did it a bunch of times. So proud! He definitely has enough weight behind him to move him over!

So we were going for our ADCH today and I had a great partner and Tom and I ran clean. I think we did awesome but our partners Larry and Ginger made a few errors and we were over time. I have never been so nervous in my life. I was glad to have run clean though. Even though we didn't Q I wouldn't mind pairing with them again. Still one leg to go for the ADCH!

Lazy Sunday

                                                        Planting the seeds in the little garden.



Here I go riding down the path.



After the planning and prepping for Jeanine's shower for the past few weeks, I needed to rest so Paul and Emme gardened all morning. Then he kept her busy riding her tricycle and playing outside. And finally he cooked me a delicious dinner so I was able to relax. As you can see from the picture above Jack got the memo that today was a a day of rest for mommy and he cooperated perfectly as usual. He is soooo good.

Jeanine's Baby Shower

 Today was Jeanine's Baby Shower. We had an awesome day. Jeanine and Kevin were showered with so many gifts and well wishes for their new baby girl due at the beginning of August. We chose the theme of Eric Carle and the party was held at Frankie and Johnnie's The Pine Restaurant. Now we just have to wait for Baby Mac to arrive!



Kiddie helpers

Baby cupcakes

 

The Very Hugry Caterpillar Cupcake Cake



Also a very Happy 4 month Birthday to Baby Jackie!!!!

Still Loving Her Brother

I am so lucky. Emme has adjusted so nicely to her brother's arrival. Potty training has been done for awhile now and she is really becoming more mature. She is so helpful although the terrible two whining phase has begun. I HATE WHINING! I think it is worse than nails on a chalkboard. It incenses me to the point where I just want to scream. Also Emme has some insatiable desire to rub, pet,kiss, hug and squeeze Jack's head like he is a puppy. She has no concern for his skull although his soft spot was closed extrememly early. I guess he knew what was coming. Aside from this the kids are happy together. Even the pups enjoy an extra face to lick!

The Dance Festival at school went superbly. We were the finale. It went so fast but the kids did a great job and so did we coordinating, yelling, practicing, yelling, making sure they were doing the right thing, yelling-- OK I did the yelling, Marianne and my mom did the rest. A HUGE THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALLISON MICKELSON for getting the kids to move and groove to Bruce Springsteen. We had to choose a song from specific composers and I chose Bruce since I had a ton of albums and like him but let me tell you after listening to more than two hundred tracks there was only one I found to be appropriate for school use- I'm a Rocker. Everything else was about drugs, sex, drinking, and rock and roll.

Twins

 

Can you see the resemblance??? Both sporting their Adidas Clima Cool gear and blue eyes to match!

Father's Day Project at Home Depot

After music class we headed to the free Home Depot Kids' Project Center to make a Father's Day project for Paul. Emme and I made a wooden valet for Paul to put all of his crap er I mean things in so they aren't all over the house! Now he won't be able to blame us for his stuff gone missing!

Emme and her project!



Happy June

Here is a pic of Emme and a sleeping Jack leaving for school. I can't wait for school to be over so I can spend all day with my kiddies.