Playdate with friends from HS

Most days are all about the kids, today it was about the mommy's too.  Linda and I got together with some friends from High School and it was so nice to catch up and see everyone's children.  Linda and I got together with Jennifer Myers (top left), Anne White (top middle), Kim Kantz (top right), and then on the bottom it's Me, Linda Gifford, and Allyson Paplawsky (bottom right).  

We tried to get a picture with all of the children, but with toddlers it's hard to get them to sit still and of course some didn't want to be apart from their mom too.  In the kids picture  - top row is Caleb Gifford (7), Emily Heiss (2), Joshua Gifford (4), center row - Sydney White (2.5), Ben Paplawsky (5), Ashley Kantz (5), standing in orange Thomas Paplawsky (2), and bottom is Davis Myers (19 months), not pictured is Madison Kantz (3.5).  With all of these children it was a lot of fun, new friendships were made and I am sure it is something we will have to do again.

Timbertown with the Cousins

We had so much fun at Timbertown yesterday, well at least until Caleb hit his head on one of the wooden rails.  Emily was SO excited when we pulled up, she was telling Caleb and Joshua about it and squealing with delight.  They went down the slides, climbed, walked on the tight rope and just had a grand time!  I couldn't believe Emily can walk across this tight rope/rubber thing all by herself, she has great coordination.  Other children that were much older that were at the park had trouble doing it, and Emily just walked right across.  The first picture is of Emily, then her cousin Caleb, Joshua is in the third picture, and the last picture is of my parents with my twin sister Linda (isn't her hair cut cute!).

Full day with the family

We had another great day with the family.   We started the morning out at Manchester Bakery visiting our cousin (who owns the bakery) and her new baby Elana.  She was so adorable, Emily wasn't so sure about me holding another baby, and so Emily had to sit on my lap too!  Then we spent some time at grandma's house, we looked at the steers and then played with toys inside.  Some of her toys are from when her kids were little, and they are still enjoyed today (i.e. wooden blocks).  

After Emily's nap today we headed over to the Treehouse in Chelsea.  The kids had tons of fun, Caleb helped Emily climb to the top and they all went down the slides at the same time.  Emily went down all the slides by herself, she was so excited.  At the end the kids were hot and sweaty and could hardly move.  I have a feeling Caleb might be sore tomorrow from lifting Emily up to help her get up the climbing part of the treehouse.

More Cousin Time at the Farm

My twin sister Linda and her boys Caleb (7) and Joshua (4) came to stay at my parents for a few days.  School is out for the summer so we get to spend more time with them - Yeah!  Emily just loves playing with her cousins.  

First we enjoyed the beautiful sunshine this afternoon, we played in the sand pile at Grandma & Grandpa's, and then finished with some baseball.  Emily was in charge of picking up the balls and putting them into the bucket after we finished a round of hitting.    Both Caleb and Joshua hit a couple of my pitches, and when I didn't have a good pitch they told me so.  :)  By mistake I had a little blooper pitch that grazed Joshua's finger, but he was all right after Mommy kissed it and made it better.  I think Emily kissed it for him too.

After dinner all the kids had baths and got into their PJ's.  Emily enjoyed watching the boys play the Cow game on the Wii and kept requesting it when they switched to the Tank game.  She is helping Caleb in the above picture, although Caleb said she wasn't much help, but Emily sure thought her job of hugging him was important!  Emily loves to give her cousins LOTS of hugs and kisses, probably more than what they want.

At the end Caleb read devotions out of the Bible, he just turned 7 and can read the NIV version of the Bible - what a smart kid.  

Jungle Java

As I was sitting at Jungle Java today chatting with some old friend who I used to work with (11 years ago) my one friend Danielle W. said, the one thing I would have done differently is kept a better journal of all the cute things my kids have said over the years.  Danielle's kids are not old, but older than most of the kids in our group, and what she said struck a nerve with me.  Originally I started keeping this blog to keep family and friends far away up to date with cute pictures of Emily, but it's turned into a lot more.  It's a great way to write things down and kept track of what Emily is doing, and hopefully Emily can look back on this when she is older and cherish all of the great memories.  

Above is a cute picture of Emily being silly at Jungle Java - we met up with my friends Bridget (Mason 18 months), Carrie (Luke 22 months), Sherri (Sean 5 - Kyle 7 not present), Danielle W. (Palmer 4 - Parker 7 not present & Spencer 9 not present), Danielle F. (Angelina 3 & Julia 22 months).  I always love getting together with these girlfriends because we are all so different and we have such great conversations about life, I always learn something new or see a different perspective on things.

BBQ with the Cabble's

Our good friends the Cabble's - Julie, Erik, Blake and Megan were out of town for about a week.  We missed them, Emily loves playing with Blake and everywhere we went last week Emily would say "Blake too!"  We were at Timbertown and every car that drove in, it was "Blake here!"  

We enjoyed a BBQ at our house and then played outside and went for a walk to our neighbors.  Scott was on the tractor and of course Blake was interested in going to see it, so we did.  The kids also got to feed the horses apples and sit on the tractor.  At our house Blake, Megan and Emily enjoyed our swing set and sand box which is made out of a big tractor wheel!  After playing outside we did a bath and the kids had  mini popsicles for a treat.  It was a lot of fun.

FYI - Blake borrowed one of Emily's sweatshirts  - that is why they are both in pink!  :)

Caleb's Baseball Game

Surprise!  Saturday Jim and I decided last minute that we would make the trek to Caleb's baseball game an hour and a half away.  When Emily got up from her nap I changed her close and we jumped into the car.  We got to Linda and Steve's a little before dinner, the kids enjoyed sitting together at the small picnic table with Emily sandwiched between the two boys.  Emily didn't eat much because it's just too much fun sitting next to Caleb and Joshua!  

Caleb's team came from behind to win in the last inning, and he did a great job with 2 hits!  Emily, Joshua and Dad enjoyed having suckers and reading some books on the sideline in between all of the action!