busy, busy

This a busy week for us. We are getting ready to go on a couple of vacations and I am having to pack for both of them over the next couple of days. Josh and I are going to Chicago for a medical conference. Josh will be in seminars and I will get several days in a row to just do whatever I want. =) I am so excited! The kids will be home with grandparents. But in the midst of packing and cleaning, etc... I had to stop to take several hours yesterday to research extra high baby gates. It became of utmost importance when we caught Isaac skillfully stacking toys on top of each other to build a tower that he could climb on to get over our current baby gate. He had his upper body completely over the gate and was well on his way to getting the rest of his body over the gate. We have 2 flights of stairs. One of them is a wooden staircase that ends into a slate floor. scary. So I found a gate that is made for large dogs and cats to keep them contained that people also use for kids. It should work well to prevent Isaac from killing himself. I had it rush shipped. The reason it is so important is that with the exception of the gate to keep Isaac in the playroom, he is completely uncontainable. But he is not old enough to roam free. The other day I had him in his high chair munching on cereal in the living room. I was in the kitchen for a couple minutes doing the dishes. I heard Isaac grunting, so I ran in to check on him. He was hanging completely out of his high chair by his fingertips from the side of the tray. And he had been strapped in with a 5 point harness belt! He's seriously a Houdini! And he's organized about it, hence the fact that he is using tools to plan his escape from the playroom. So we need a high, secure gate that will keep Isaac safe so that I can take a shower or go pee every once in a while. =) I have 3 kids, but this one is keeping me on my toes.

Easter 2010

We had a very low-key easter this year. Josh was on call, so we just hung out at home and enjoyed time together. The kids got easter baskets and found easter eggs and had some special time to do our Resurrection eggs to reinforce the meaning of Easter and talk about Jesus and what he means to our lives. We grilled out a delicious dinner and then let the kids enjoy their chocolate bunnies. There really is nothing more that needs to be said. You can see in the pictures how much they enjoyed themsleves. After they ate their bunnies, we tucked them all into bed with their chocolate candy-induced comas. =)

This is a picture of the hair bow that Liz made for Lilah this year for Easter. I just had to put a picture of it because it is so cute and Lilah LOVED it. Liz is Lilah's hair bow stocker. We buy all our bows from Liz because their adorable and durable. If anyone wants her info. for hairbows, just let me know and I'll get it to you. =)

Mad Hatters and Misc. fun

We've been having playgroups on Fridays with the Side By Side Detroit chapter for the past few weeks. It's been a lot of fun and we're looking forward to having some more warm weather so we can do more outside. But last Friday, in an attempt to spice up playgroup since we were just having it at my house again, we had a Mad Hatter's Tea Party for all the un-birthdays and the real birthdays of a couple kids in the group. It was a little wild, as to be expected, and the kids had a blast! =)

Last week Seth was on spring break, so Liz and I took advantage of the only nice day that week and hauled the kids to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a lot of fun. We had a picnic at the zoo and shortly after this picture was taken, a couple geese wandered to our picnic site and warned us with their honking and aggressive wing flapping that it was time for us to leave so they could eat our food. We grabbed the kids and ran for cover while the geese ate everything the kids dropped and then finished off Lilah's sandwich on the table. When they were finished, they walked away and let us go back to collect our stuff. Isaac was terrified and I'm afraid that he's now going to have a complex every time he sees a goose at my parents' house (there are LOTS of them there). It was crazy, but funny in hindsight. =)

This picture is me and Lilah striking a pose. We did showers and Lilah insisted on having a towel on her head like mommy. =) (Please excuse the lack of make-up and general unattractiveness, I had just gotten out of the shower)

Seth's Big Birthday Weekend

We had a great weekend this past week. Seth turned 5 years old on Wednesday, so we've kind of been celebrating his birthday all week. =) He was SOOOOOOO excited about turning 5 this year. We spent his actual birthday with Liz and Katie and the kids always love hanging out with them. Then Josh's mom took the kids to McDonalds for dinner that night. We actually had Seth's birthday celebration this weekend when my parents could come in. So we had a picnic on Saturday with the Neufeldts (which was miserably cold). We ate fast and then Liz very kindly opened up her home to us so that we could do Seth's Wall-E cake and gifts in a warm house (which was less than a mile away). The weather report said 65 degrees and sunny for Saturday, which it was NOT! After we finished with the coldest party in history, we headed to one of the hotels with an indoor waterpark up here. It was a little bit smaller one, which was perfect because the kids could really enjoy pretty much everything there. They're not quite ready for the HUGE water parks yet. We stayed in the hotel that night and swam and had a blast. Seth wants to live in a hotel now. =) We swam a little more on Sunday morning and then went to se How To Train Your Dragon on IMAX in 3D. It was so good! Great movie! I might have actually enjoyed it more than the kids. haha... But I am a Newman and we are known for have a ridiculously long-running love for cartoons, well into adult-hood and old age. I think I probably get into the kids' movies more than they do all the time, especially now that Disney has gotten more skilled at adding sarcastic, clean, adult humor  to their films. =) Anyways, we had a great weekend and have been just getting stuff done around the house and resting the past couple days. Happy Birthday Seth! We love you and all the joy and excitement you bring to our lives!

Desperation

Josh went upstairs to check on the kids, who were sleeping, on Friday night. Seth and Lilah were in a bed together because my parents were in town and were staying in Lilah's room. This is how we found Seth. In case you can't quite tell what you're looking at, that is a mesh laundry basket on his upper body. Seth is a good sleeper and Lilah is renowned for staying up late and pestering Seth when he's trying to go to sleep. We can only assume that the "cage"around his body was his last, desperate attempt to get her to leave him alone. =)

prayers from the heart

So every time we eat a meal, Seth wants to pray before we eat. And the reason he wants to pray is to show off the prayer they say at preschool every day before snack. It goes like this:
"Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you for everything.
You may eat,
Bon appetite!"

So on Friday night, Josh tucked the kids into bed and prayed with them. Seth prayed his own prayer and then Josh asked Lilah if she would like to pray. She closed her eyes and said,
"Thank you for the birds that sleep,
Thank you for everything.
You may sleep,
Bon appa sleep!"

We're not sure whether to give her points for creativity or take points away for laziness. =) But Josh was laughing so hard, he had to leave the room. haha....