fun, busy week

We are wrapping up a very fun and busy week. I left on Sunday for my parents' house with the kids so that we could meet up with our good friends, the Rosses. I told Seth and Lilah that we were going to go to Nina and Papa's house to see Brenna and Ava two days before we left. Seth was awake and waking up Lilah every morning at 6am until we saw them because he was so excited. It was like Christmas at our house! Erin and the girls came in and we all had so much fun. The kids bounced on the moon bounce, rode bikes, drove the power wheels Jeep, made sand castles and splashed in the lake, picked apples, played on the swingset, and played with toys. In the evening we let them each make their own individual pizza with their own toppings, which they thought was pretty fun. We sat on the deck and ate our pizza and watched the sun set over the lake. The we went down to the patio and roasted marshmallows for smores, popped popcorn on the fire and ate popscicles. Needless to say, the kids were a disaster. At one point we found little Lila hugging a pizza to her chest. =) We're glad we ate outside. Since it was clearly a bath night for all the kiddos, we let them play in the hot tub for a little while before bed. They thought the lights, bubbles, and waterfall were pretty exciting. Erin and I were on the edge of our seats the whole time because my Lilah seemed determine to drown herself. She could touch in the hot tub, but kept going under and just loved it. She'd be drowning under the surface with a smile on her face the whole time and then when we could pull her up she'd just be giggling. Lilah is wild and that's just all there is to it. I am terrified of the teenage years I think. We put the kids to bed and enjoyed some grown-up, mommy conversation for a while. lol... The next morning we all got up and had waffles and played some more before the Rosses had to head home. The kids had so much fun and Erin and I are already planning some more get togethers. Anybody want to meet us at Cedar Point sometime soon??? =) We spent a couple more days at mom and dad's because Josh was busy with a presentation. Now we are home and looking forward to a fun weekend as a family with Josh. I got my house put back together today and did several loads of laundry to get ready for our next big adventure next week. We are going to Rochester, NY to visit my brother's family and to see my newest niece, Emalyn Rose. We are very excited about the visit because we are all missing the Newman cousins a whole bunch. I can't wait to give all my nieces and nephew big hugs! And we're really looking forward to catching up with Ben and Sarah as well. I hear Lilah awake from her nap asking permission to come downstairs. Time to go!

Diva

Last night I went to a Children's Place outlet with my friend, Liz, and stocked up on clothes for the kids at super cheap prices. yay! I got a cute little dress with sparkly butterflies and kind of a chic, bohemian style for Lilah. So she found it in the bag this morning and insisted on wearing it right away. She loves it. I helped her put it on and we fixed her hair and she accessorized with jewelry. Then she walks into the living room and says, "Mom, I'm all dressed and pretty now. Will you turn on my music so I can dance?" (She is referring to the On Demand Beyonce music videos that she likes to dance and sing to). I obliged because I thought it was cute and watched my 2 year old in her sparkly dress "drop it like it's hot" for the next 5 minutes to Beyonce. I think I have a diva on my hands. ???

How do I explain that?

So the other day we were at a McDonald's playplace with my parents and the kids were playing. Seth was running around and making this horrid, loud, screeching, siren noise. I went over to him and told him to stop making that loud siren noise. He said, "Mom! It's not a siren!" So I said I don't care what it is, just stop because it was an irritating noise for everyone in the playplace. Seth responded loudly by saying in front of EVERYONE else in the playplace, "Mom! I can't stop! It's my mating call!" I don't even want to know what the grandfather with his 4 year old grandaughter thought of this announcement. In an additional note, one day earlier we were at a restaurant and Isaac was "talking" loudly and making lots of noise. Seth asked then if that was Isaac's mating call. I should have known at that point that it was on Seth's mind and would turn into an embarrassing moment sooner or later. As a backstory for this incident, my brother started working with Seth several months ago to make obnoxious noises and call it his mating call. He even trained Seth to hoot specifically at women when they walked into a room. In the past, it never manifasted itself beyond Dan and Seth hooting at Aunt Lauren. But now it's getting embarrassing. Thank you Uncle Dan! I will add this to the long list of awful and inappropriate things one of my brothers has taught my children.