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Piggy Tails and Hula Hoops

Today I had Cameron and Claire again.  It was a pretty lazy day filled with mac and cheeze, toy monkeys, zrbts, and veggie straws.  When she left, the mom said something about doing Claire's hair so I attempted pig-tails:

When the mom came home she was pleasantly surprised.  I think these were Claire's very first piggy tails, I felt a bit guilty but was glad I got to take part in the experience.

One of my favorite things about Claire is how easy she is to put down for a nap.  I let her pick out a paci from a little pink, plastic treasure chest and just the freedom of being able to choose which paci she gets, (the one with the bear or the pink polka-dots?) fills her with a happiness that causes her eyes to squint and her feet to spasm.  I turn on her music and close her shades and she dives hard into the mattress, like taking a nap is one of the most exciting parts of the day.  I drape her blanket over her and give her her sheep pillow and she says "Thank you, Mommy."  My heart melts as I tell her to have good sleepies.

The best part of the day with Cameron was his attempt at Wii Hula hoop:

Oh my goodness, I love that baby butt.

Day with Lucy

Today (Father's Day) my parents went across the state so I got to spend all day with Lucy.  Other than a fairly shocking moment when she licked my naked baby butt as I was trying to climb into the tub, we had a pretty lazy day.

Rescue Attempt.

Bell and I tried to save this turtle but he was clinging to the road pretty well.  Luckily we drove past it again that day and saw another woman saving him.

Stir Fry

Made this for Bella and Aidan:

They complained there wasn't enough and asked for it again the next day.

Score one for the cat man.

In a House with a Blue Door.

Dean sent me this picture from England:



This is a reference to my favorite chick flick (there are very few), Notting Hill.

I miss hims.

Emily.

She was always such a pretty girl.

Nobody like her in the world.

A little piece of heavenly that no one else could stand.

I see her in my dreams at night.

I see her when I close my eyes.

I just can't seem to shake, Emily.

I've been around a lot of very cute little girls named Emily lately. This one in particular has been such a sunshine in my life:

She, like Claire is 1 and a half.  I have been beyond blessed with little ones around this age in my life lately.  They just warm my heart with everything they do at this age.  My favorite thing about her is her joy.  She gets so happy by the simplest things.  She calls Cheerios "Cho's" and whenever I gave her a handful she would say "thank you! Cho's...happy?" and I would say "Cho's make you happy?" and she would yell "Yes!"  This is the purest form of happiness.  Joy found in Cheerios.  She also calls pizza "paaahtaaah" which is unbelieveably adorable.

Mash and Noodles

The kids have been on a Mash craze. Apparantly I will have 5 kids, live in a house and marry Dean :)

I also finally convinced them to try Noodles and Company and it is now their favorite restaurant.  Lots of noodles in our future :)



Grand Rapids Arts Festival

(actual date - June 4, 2011)

Although there was plenty to see and experience at the art festival, my favorite part was coming across these dumpsters:

My Day with Claire

(actual date - May 30)

Today I nannied for the family I have every Monday.  Cameron (4) had camp today so I got to hang out with Claire (1 and a half) by myself.  This is my very favorite age.  I love when toddlers are just starting to talk and walk, learn their numbers, colors and animal sounds, and better yet they haven't started their terrible two's yet.

She has the biggets cheeks I've ever seen and is such a sweetheart.  She also has a habit of calling me mommy.  At first I attempted to correct her everytime but when I sneezed and she looked at me and said "Bless you, Mommy"  there was no correcting her.

First Day at the Club

(actual date - May 26, 2011)

Today was the first day Bella, Aidan and I got to go to the pool.  Aidan and his friend, Hayden really thought they were hott stuff with their sunglasses so I thought I'd add to the size of their heads and do a photo op.

First Day of Summer/Rockford Fair

Yesterday was Bella (11) and Aidan (10)'s first day of summer.  We spent it drinking tea, playing Life, Sorry, watching a little Casey Anthony and attending the carnival in Rockford.

The carnival was a great way to kick off summer and especially to spend time with friends, Scott and Charity.  Bella was payed a dollar for not screaming the entire time on the boat ride and we also spent an hour explaining centrifical force to Aidan before he very unwillingly rode a standing up, spinning ride.  He very much enjoyed it and wanted to do it over and over again.

And on the way home we experienced this gem of a conversation:

Me - I think she's just shy.
Bella - I'm not shy.
Aidan - I'm a little shy.
Bella - Shy...that's a weird word, shy....what does shy mean?
Me - did you say it too much?
Bella - yeah

Switching.

link to previous posts: http://nannidiaries.tumblr.com/