Storytime at Boyne Mountain

We went to Boyne Mountain with our friends Julie, Erik, Blake and Megan.  We stayed in a suite right on the Mountain and had a GRAND time!  

We got there on a Thursday evening, and after unpacking and eating dinner we went downstairs to storytime with Fritz the Dog!

Here is Blake, Megan & Emily waiting for Fritz the Dog for storytime!

At first they weren't so sure about Fritz so they stood back.

Blake had warmed up and loved Fritz, this is about as close as Emily got to Fritz.

Enjoying the story ...

Here I am sitting with Megan.

Painting at Play Group

Emily loved this painting project at Peace play group.  One week we made cut out dough shapes and then the next week we painted them.  I was amazed at how well Emily did with the painting, she is getting really good at detail.

Emily started out with the blue paint.

Here is the final project, I wanted her to stand next to her painted pieces, and this is a close as she got.

Lots of kids at play group, boy were they quiet when they were painting.  

Josh's 5th B-day Party

This year Linda decided to do Joshua's Birthday party about a month late and had his party in January.  I liked the idea seeing his Birthday is so close to Christmas, it's hard to have a true celebration.

Luckily the weather was good and drove to Macomb Township for the party, it makes a long day when you drive both ways before and after the party.  Emily was a trooper with no nap, and loved the party.

Josh getting ready to blow out his candles!  He likes to turn his head to the side in pictures, so cute!

He was so happy opening his presents.  His favorite was the Alvin & Chipmunks CD and the game we got him.  :)

Older brother Caleb read the cards to Joshua.

Emily loves hats and glasses, in fact we can't leave the house without her 3 pairs of sunglasses!

Joshua, I will race  you!

A pinata!  Luckily Emily was the youngest and didn't catch on until all the candy was almost gone, I was happy that we only came home with 2 pieces of candy, and one bouncy ball.

It was a hot wheels party!

Dancing to the Saline Fiddlers at Church

A couple of weeks ago we went to church for a potluck dinner with all of the small groups and then they had some of the Saline Fiddlers play.  Emily  had a great time dancing with her friends Blake and Megan.

When they started kissing on the floor we decided it was time to leave.  ha ha

Emily couldn't get close enough.  When they broke out their instruments at the beginning she said, "I want to play the guitar!"  She loves music!

Here is a couple of videos of them dancing, you can see that Emily is typically the ring leader and Blake is about 7 months older than Emily.  They are so cute together.

Cousins

On Saturday we went over to my parents, Linda had a scrapbooking event and I went and made cards.  I am way behind in Thank You cards and so I made a whole bunch on Saturday.

Emily loved playing with her cousins Joshua & Caleb, they took the cushions off the couches, and were jumping on them and making forts!  I should have taken more pictures and some video, they were just adorable!  Emily has to do whatever Caleb & Joshua do, she doesn't act like 2.5, and has no fear!

The men were real troopers and Grandpa & Uncle Steve took the boys and Emily to Best Buy to purchase a new TV.  The TV was so large that Uncle Steve had to leave Grandpa and Caleb at Best Buy and then go back and pick them up after bringing the TV to my parents house.  It was quite the ordeal, but they are very happy with their new TV.  Just in time for the Superbowl!  

Bible Study at Peace

Jim and I are part of a bible study at our church called Home Builders.  It's a small group that meets twice a month, and the kids play while we study the bible.  Right now we are talking about parenting, and it was so great on Tuesday.  The focus is on our children having three strong relationships - 1.  with God  2.  with their Parents  3.  with Others.  Instead of focusing on experiences and doing a lot, the focus is on having three strong relationships.  I loved it.

The kids had a blast too, they hung out with our neighbor Jennah (babysitter) and the older kids created this array of food with play-doh!  Wow are they creative!

Pictured below is Claire, Nathan, Blake, Kira, Kevin, Diane & Emily, and Matthew.  (We had a rather small group on Tuesday).


J

Emily To Go

Emily was at our friends house during the funeral preparation and they said something about the kids being in a bag and carrying them around?  I didn't think much of it, but now every time I get home from shopping Emily crawls into the bag and wants to be carried around.  She is so funny in her bag, when she ducks down to hide sometimes you can hardly tell she is in the bag.  It's such a cute game.  After Jim carried her around for a while, she had to eat her dinner, sitting in the bag!  So here is a picture of my Emily To Go!