Weekend...

This past weekend was a crazy one...filled to the brim with family time...thus a few skipped days on the blog! It was MEA weekend around here...so my sister and her family came to spend the long weekend. Hopefully this week I will get back into my blogging groove! In the mean time, I have updated the blogs I read on my sidebar...check them out! Enjoy...

End of September...

This little family gathering took place towards the end of September, for a birthday. Keep in mind we live in northern Minnesota...crazy nice weather we had all fall...nice enough that these pictures were not our last afternoon spent at the beach!

 As James independence evolves so does his clothing choices! Some days he likes to be in control a little with what he wears...and lately he loves his "little man accessories" as we call them. So some days we find him with a tie, a bow tie or suspenders...I think he looks pretty cute! On this day he found his tie and insisted on wearing it with his swim shorts...we let Elsie dress herself and explore her independence and creativity through dressing herself and we will do the same with James.

 Love this picture...

 Someday this just won't be quite so cute...but there is something so perfectly adorable about a 3 year old with a swim suit wedgie...

 The gang...all gathered together on the bench under the big tree.

 Sisters...I feel so blessed to have a whole gaggle of sisters! We all have great times together. Just a few years ago I regarded half of the girls as "my little sisters"...now that they are older, they are my friends. I love the evenings when the girls all come over after my kids are sleeping and we sit up way too late talking. We always have plans to watch a movie...but we talk for a couple hours before we start the movie, talk during the movie, and talk after it is over. Love every one of my sisters...we have a bond like no other...we "get" each other!

 Elsie and Emma...the honorary sisters...these two already have that unique sister's bond going on!

 My parents...there is something about this picture I love...

 In Elsie's mind, no one can do things quite as well as Emma...therefore, Auntie Emma had to put Elsie's hair in a very high pony.

 Perfect...

 Papa wayne and Colter took James on a little walk around the park...I had high hopes of him falling asleep...but he did not.

 Who knew rocks could be such a comfortable place to lay?!

We had a great family afternoon at the beach to celebrate Lisa and Marissa's birthdays...after the beach we ate a hearty homemade gluten/ dairy free pizza...then headed up town to the local bowling ally for a little more birthday celebration!

Reaching...

I love the new independent stage James is now entering...but I also find myself hating it just as much {if not more} than I love it! He is changing and growing up so much...he really is more of a toddler than a baby. {sad} His new favorite thing is carrying any little chair or stool he can find over to the counter so he can reach a whole new world.  

When he stands up on the stool in the bathroom, and reaches with all his might, he can turn on the faucet in the sink! Imagine how proud I am when I hear water running...haha!

I have a lot more pictures of his "reaching capabilities"...since this is what he does best several times a day.

And when he is standing up on a chair in the Kitchen...he can help himself to whatever he might find in the drawers. Mostly he just enjoys tossing everything out of the drawers and onto the floor...Love watching my boy discover new things everyday...

For the Love of Tape...

Elsie love to give gifts...from a very young age we have always told Elsie whose Birthday is next...and included her in on picking out the perfect gift. Now Elsie practically has the birthday order memorized...and she dreams and plans for days ahead of time what gift we should buy. Beginning on the 3rd of July we have Birthday's to celebrate about every 2-3 weeks until the end of Sept...then 3 more back to back in November. So I guess since Elsie loves gift giving, she was born into the right family!  

 James is still a bit young...but it won't be long and we will have to make a point to teach him the beauty of giving. I love watching the anticipation and excitement that Elsie has when giving someone a gift...I don't ever want my children to feel jealous when they are not the ones receiving...I am completely against that crazy idea that some people have about "give the sibling a gift on the other child's birthday so they don't left out"...if you have to give a gift to keep the non-birthday kid happy, then ya kinda messed up somewhere along the line on teaching contentment and a giving nature. Just my opinion!

 Now that Elsie is older she not only likes to help pick out the perfect gift...she likes to wrap the gifts all by herself. I get her the paper, scissors and tape...and she does the rest. I love watching her carefully fold the corners...and use lots and lots of tape! Good thing we buy the big packages of 4 rolls of tape at the dollar store!

 My independent, gift giving girl! Elsie's birthday is next on the calender...just a few more weeks left of her being 3 years old...where has the time gone!?

Friday Phone Dump...

Friday again...this week literally flew by! We had a week full of craft projects that kept us quite busy...when both the sewing machine and the mod podge are pulled out in the same week, it is a good week in my opinion!

1. My black shiny high heels...I wore them on our 1 1/2 block walk to church last Sunday...I paid for it later with a sore back. Someday I will learn...maybe. {Elsie is learning from my great shoe habits and wore her plastic dress-up shoes to church!}

 2. Elsie has decided that she is too big to ride in the baby jogger on our walk to Church...but we still must bring the double stroller because, in her words, "Do you really expect my poor baby to not ride? Come on, now!" Daddy caved in and proudly pushed James and a doll all the way to church...

 3. Going home...Jon walks fast...and I can hardly keep up with my heels...I must have looked like quite a site running along to keep up!

 4. Clothing dilemmas! Jon has no fashions sense at all...and Elsie would say I looked great in any funky get-up...so I have to take full length pictures of myself and text them to my mom to get her opinion on what I should wear. If she doesn't respond I have to text them to some of my sisters. What did I do before texting?  

 5. The kids and I went up to the local $ store and bought a couple packages of giant crayons...after got home we got busy shredding the crayons with a carrot peeler. We then melted the shredded crayons between wax paper using the iron. A fun and easy little craft project.

 6. Daddy and Elsie made a "car" by duct taping a tote and a box together. They even cut little door flaps out on the box. This has kept the kids busy all week. Gotta love the creative things kids can come up with, using just a box!

 7. Yesterday afternoon I made a little fabric holster for a toy gun. Elsie is dressing up as Annie Okley for Halloween...so we needed a holster! James loves the little holster...I think I will be making more! If anyone knows of a good tutorial let me know...

 8. My big project for the week is making Glittered High Heels! I went to the Salvation Army and bought a pair of old shoes for $3...now I am following a tutorial on Pinterest to make them Sparkly shoes!

 9. Almost done...tonight I am waiting for the 2nd coat to dry so I can do some touch up's...can't wait to try them out!

 10. My house...I feel like I always have to choose, either a clean house or craft time. Can't have both. This week I chose craft time during the day and major pick-up time at night. It is amazing the damage two little kids can do!

I am linking up with Life Rearranged again this week...check it out...



Goin' Home...

While we were on our little vacation we visited a couple parks...in the misty rain, I might add! We had a little picnic one afternoon...at Elsie's request! We has grand plans to go the Zoo...but the misty rain kept us away. Next year. We went shopping...because if you drive a hour north of the farm you will find great shopping with almost every great store! We went to the Apple Orchard to get lots of apples to bring home and can. And we visited with Jon's grandma.  

I don't know what I was thinking...but I did not take a single picture while we were visiting Jon's Grandma! She lives in a little tiny apartment...filled to the brim with all her sewing and craft things. Not the most ideal place for very busy boy to be...so most of our visit found Jon and I taking turns trying to keep James from destroying her apartment in 10 minutes flat!

Our last stop before arriving back at home was the Mall of America! Elsie has been talking about wanting to go the MOA for almost a year...and she was beyond excited when we told her where we were headed!

I think the mall was way larger than Elsie was expecting! We walked through all the rides...we found some kids rides and asked if she wanted to go on one...but she declined. Someday she will be ready...until then I don't mind her wanting to feel nice and safe with mommy and daddy!

The American Girl store was the place Elsie really, really wanted to go to. She does not have any American Girl dolls {and probably never will!} but she loves to drool over the catalogs! This store was like a magical place for little girls...I think Elsie could have spent a very long time in that store!

I will be honest...I love shopping...but the MOA really is a bit too big! It feels like you have to walk miles and miles and fight crowds of people just to get to the other side of the mall!

We told Elsie she could pick out whatever she wanted from the MOA gift store. She walked around the store for quite some time trying to decide between a little pink shot glass or a little vinyl purse. She finally picked the little purse...and postcard. {and a postcard for the aunties...because we can't forget about them!}

We live in a small town...so this was the first time Elsie had ever been on an escalator. She was a pro! I still freeze for a minute before I jump on...and just walked on like she uses an escalator daily!

Every time Jon would bring the stroller on an escalator James would sit in complete silence just watching! It was very cute!

Elsie literally skipped her way through the mall...she was in a complete state of bliss! She kept saying, "I have waited my whole life to come here!" Mind you, she is only three!

The parking ramp was a new experience also...we live a sheltered life of 2 lane roads and parking wherever we please!

Next time we are headed to Ikea...love that store.

Busy Boy...

James is never still for long. He finds enjoyment out of almost everything. He had more fun with the rocking chair at the Farm house ...he crawled under it and through it like it was jungle gym or something! As frustrating as his busyness can be at times...I hope he never loses his sense of adventure and his inquisitive mind.

Finding Things to Do...

Like I said my previous post, we were almost in Iowa. And let me tell you, we were in the middle of nowhere with not much to do! One day Jon decided to do a little yard work. Jon is the kind of guy who loves to keep busy and doesn't mind hard work! The kids love to "help" daddy while we works...

I thought this was so cute...Jon was walking around a tree trimming off some branches...and James took it upon himself to start picking the fallen branches up and put them in the little trailer. Children learn best by example...and James was just following what his daddy was doing and helping out!

When we weren't outside we were most likely inside...doing what you do on vacation...eating junk and watching tv! We all got a healthy dose of iCarly, Shake it Up and whatever other singing tween shows happened to be on. I now remember why we cancelled our Dish Network...kids and tv do not make a healthy mix!

I am my children's favorite toy. They really don't need blocks, barbies or any such toy. They just need me to lay on the floor...I can be an airplane, a balance beam, a sick patient, a tumble mat, a person at a salon...you name it!

The kids did plenty of dancing and wild play...

Another fun place to play...the very steep stairs! I am not sure why kids are so attracted to stairs.

More than once I would be in the kitchen making dinner and I would hear giggling coming from upstairs...it was cute to hear them playing together...but I really didn't like James crawling those steps!! He did fall down the one little step going out of one of the bedrooms...and he left his mark! Just maybe there is now a little bloody spot on the carpet from a certain little guy's tongue...oops...sorry Grandpa S.! Think of it as a little reminder of James!

Love this picture...Before we left on our trip, Elsie called auntie Lisa and asked to borrow her vintage suitcase. He clothes all fit in the suitcase perfectly...and she thought it was so fun to have a little mirror in her suitcase...and a special pocket under the mirror for undies! James had a cute little vintage suitcase, too. I am now on the hunt for our own set of vintage luggage...preferably with retro flowers or something super funky!

We had a fun little vacation...even if there not much to do! We all enjoyed just being together...