Family Museum

Get ready for another picture overload.

This past week, thanks to an awesome friend and her fantastic thinking, we got a year pass to the family museum. Oh man, do my kids think I'm the coolest mom ever now! We told the kids a week in advance that we would go, as a family, on Saturday. It was like we were going to Disneyland. Friday night Liam told me "I'm so excited! I hope I can sleep!"

The family museum is awesome! There are a ton of exhibits for the kids to learn and play with. And every time I've been there they have extra stuff for the kids to do (like the bird masks pictured at the bottom.). Every Friday they do a story time where they read a book and throw stuff off a balcony that goes along with the story. It's extra cool. Anyways...now that you know how cool the family museum is, here are some pictures from our Saturday trip.

Tony and Emma making it "rain"

Liam making clouds

Emma getting ready to stand in a tornado

Seriously? My kids are the coolest. Look at that kids form. He's going to be a pro rock climber one day :)

She's three and rock climbing like she was born to do it.

He's 31 and rock climbing on a child's wall like...well, that's all.

Liam in a giant heart

Tony and Emma looking at blood slides

playing the xylophones is a family affair

This kids a pro at hitting things with sticks

Hanging the laundry out to dry

Washing blocks

Emma's bird mask

Liam's bird mask

Fun times at the family museum. If anyone ever wanted to come visit we'd let you go there...:)

Just Fox

On Mondays and Wednesdays Liam and Emma go to school so I'm left with just Fox. It's kind of odd being a one child parent again for a couple of hours every week. I forget just how much entertaining you have to do with one kid. So here's what we've been doing to trying to keep ourselves busy.

Playing with the baby in the mirror

Okay, I realize that at some point this turned into a bad 80's photo shoot, but he's just so darn cute.

We also go for short walks up and down our sidewalk

and hold onto poles.

sit on things

point at things

and play with sticks

until next time.

Proof

Proof that my kids are the coolest. (Sorry this one is side ways. I flipped it, but for some reason it still ended up sideways.) Emma was learning about the letter G, so while Liam did his homework I printed this out for Emma and told her to color it. This is what I came back to.

I think she felt bad that all of the grapes didn't have faces, so she drew them in for them. hehehe.

Remember this post, where I told you about Fox's teasing tendencies. Well here is proof that I don't make this stuff up (okay well at least not most of it).

He can say Mama, I've heard him many times, he just thinks it funny to drive his mother insane.

Baseball

I have the unfulfilled dream of one day printing out my blog. I want my kids to be able to read it and now what was happening when they were little and what types of things their Ma was going through. Lately I've been remembering a lot of my childhood experiences and since I didn't write them down then, I figure I might as well do it now. Because one day I'm probably going to be old, (well, maybe) and I'll forget them then.

I have only been to one professional-ish baseball game in my life. It was just what I thought it was going to be- boring as all get out. I was around 9 or 10 I think and it was to watch the Salt Lake baseball team the Bee's...wahoo...

I remember one afternoon my Mom coming to me and my younger brother Tommy and saying, "I want you guys to pick out some clothes and put them in a bag."

Our obvious answer, "Why?"

She was being all secretive and just told us to do it.

For some reason in my pre-teen mind I remember thinking, 'she is asking us to get some clothes so that she can give them away to some kids that are homeless or need some extra help, to teach us a lesson about giving.'

So me, being the awesome, most caring and giving person ever, got the worst clothes that I had. I ended up with some old, hole-y shirt, and a pair of sparkly black spandex shorts.

She then loaded us into the van and drove us up to our cousins house where we spent the night, and the next morning, clad in my tight, sparkly shorts, we went to the stadium and watched the extremely boring baseball game with my uncle and cousin.

All I can remember from that game is 1. That it was boring. 2. We sat on plastic seats that kept burning the snot out of my legs because of my extremely short, tight, sparkly pants.

My mother/my self had inadvertently taught me one of the best lessons on giving that I have ever received. When you give, give your best, because that's what you would want to receive. And that way you'll never end up with sparkly spandex shorts at a boring baseball game.

(Side note: To any of my family that may have paid for the tickets for me to go to the baseball game/taken me to the baseball game (thanks Uncle Dave), I really did have fun. We made our own fun, and it was....an experience. But, man, it help solidify the fact in my mind that baseball is the worst sport ever. :))

And the bad mom award of the day goes to....

me. It's true. Today, at least.

I started to get on edge today when some of the kids' friends were here after school. Liam and Emma just can't manage to keep their hands off of them. They constantly are trying to wrestle, or sit, or karate fight their friends. I just don't get it. So yes, they were sent to their rooms twice within the half an hour that their friends where here.

When their friends left I had a talk with Liam and Emma explaining personal boundaries and why we don't sit/kick/punch our friends. After I threatened the kids to play nicely, or else. Liam ran and grabbed a handful of computer paper. Being already frustrated from the earlier events and having told Liam a million times not to use the computer paper, I let loose. Yelling things like "NO! I've told you a million times! You have a book you can color in!"

His poor little face crumpled and with the saddest cry I have ever heard he said, "I just wanted to make a valentine."

So hand me the award. I deserve it.

I tried to scrape up some of my dignity by letting him use some of my scrapbook paper.

On a lighter, yet still horrible mom note-

Earlier this week I was taking out the garbage to which Emma exclaimed "Yay!! New clean garbage bag!! No more stinky garbage!" Followed by some sort of jovial jig.

I guess it had been too long since I had last taken out the garbage.

No kid should be that excited about garbage being taken out.

A few minutes later I was talking with Emma and asked her what her name was.

"Emma."

"Emma what? What's your last name?"

"Emma Leederhoisen."

Ah, yes. That'll be great if she ever gets lost.

I'd like to thank the academy...

HOPE

It's -2 right now, at 10:53 am in Davenport Iowa. I saw that this morning it was -28 with the windchill. That's depressing but...

This morning I looked out my window and saw a bird sitting on the fence; a kind of bird that I haven't seen all winter. I'm pretty sure it's a sign. Spring is coming! Oh, please, oh please let it be true!

Snow Days

Yesterday we dressed the kids in all their snow gear and took them to the park to play. He are some pictures...

This is not a picture from the park...

but it is a cool picture that Tony took while DRIVING home (crazy boy)

Liam swinging

Emma buried.

Liam after being buried

(I would have taken a picture of him being buried, but it just looked like a pile of snow :))

Awesome under dog skills hu?

Storm of the Century ;)

Okay get ready for a picture overload.

Here are a few pictures of the storm that hit us yesterday, last night and into this morning. Don't worry, Tony made it home safe last night, so all is well :). It snowed quite a bit but I can't tell you exactly how much because of all the wind. The drifts are crazy! In some places there are only a few inches on the ground and in others it goes up well over my head. Liam's school was cancelled today, and Tony says that only a handful of people showed up to work.

Picture from my upper window. Notice the car in the bottom left corner. Yes, that is a snow drift going over the car :)

Once the wind died down we bundled everyone up and headed outside. Liam and Emma loved it.

This kid, not so much.

I got to stay out for about 10 minutes and then had to take Mr. Whiney Pants inside.

The two oldest stayed out

He was much happier once he got food and could put his arms down again.

Sorry about all the smudges. The pictures were taken through my glass door after the darn kids threw snow balls at the window.

Emma thought it was fun to eat the snow

Even after her mom told her not to

oh, my little eating snow bunny rabbit

Liam carrying a large block of ice/snow...I don't know, don't ask me. He carried it up and over the hill (which is taller than I am) and then when I told him he couldn't eat it, he threw it.

Our front door

Hey look I found the steps! (to the dismay of my poor aching arms)

Dang these are in the wrong spot...pretend like these are at the beginning. These are pictures from this morning.

Notice the almost covered car once again :)

King of the mountain!!

And finally here is a video of the action.

Oh, yeah, it snowed in my house...cool hu?

Now see aren't you glad you got to see all those awesome pictures? And a video!? I am the best blogger ever!! :)