Tag Archive | Tammy

Happy Happy Easter!!

March 30-31

This was a rather busy weekend for our family… first off… HAPPY EASTER everyone! And in the same breath – Happy Birthday Uncle James! The 30th was my brother’s birthday… so of course yours truly had to get in a call to him and his wife Holly that night… but first… the day of the 30th…

Dressed in their Easter gifts from Gammie

With Nana and Baba settled in for the morning it was finally time to do the yearly dying of the eggs. This year was amazingly… brief. But the results were colourful and pretty.

Getting at it

So pretty on our Easter table

Even Echo got in on the dying… once we took all her clothes off of course!

Busy baby

Ken and Emanuel had some special Daddy/Son time playing PS3.

Gaming together

The evening was the main source of excitement – Grandma and Grandpa Mike were in town for an over nighter on their way to Route 66 and 3 weeks of travels.

Grandma!

So there were presents to check out… And the pool to swim in (they really DO need those lessons this summer!)…

Thank you Tammy and family for the belated Christmas present!

Pool time

Venturing out

With Mommy… in need of a new suit I think

And then back to the room for snacks…

Noms

We were there well past 10… our 3rd late night of the week. Ouch!

In their dresses with their new teddies… one is white, the other off white

Boys and their toys… mini Fat Sheep

I have a series of her in the mirror… they will be in an overflow entry!

Sunday the 31st was Easter Sunday. Another jam packed day of course. First though, with all that tulle and matching dresses and the boys all in plaid it was time for PICTURES!!!

Pretty Baby

All my babies in a row

Just my girls

With the traditional Easter Hats

And then, back to Grandma and Grandpa Mike’s hotel room for some more cuddle time while we watched tv, visited and played around until 11 am and check out.

All in their Easter duds

Playing with Grandpa Mike’s watch

After check out we went to the nearby McDonalds for lunch. And then it was time to say good bye and see them off on their first leg of their journey – Mall of America.

At McDonalds

Yum!

Two tables of course

Me and my Mommy

We returned home in time for the Johnson family festivities… so pictures with the cousin first…

Proud grandparents

Then baskets and a wardrobe change for Echo (and eventually Trinity)! The Easter Bunny was generous this year.

Bunny related chaos

Outfit #2

With lots to eat there was plenty of room around the table.

DINNER

And lots of time to play.

Playing in the 3 seasons porch

Our first Easter in Minnesota was a BUSY weekend..,. but an amazing one all the same!

…and best of all we were all together

This entry was posted on 02/04/2013, in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Wednesday and Thursday in Recap Mode

Well two days in one this time. Wednesday did not prove to be a get up and go sort of day. The twins and myself all seemed to be slightly under the weather so I had a couple naps, they sneezed their way through the day and the rest of the family sort of bumbled along. Rainy weather certainly assisted in the dark moods. We were unable to get Ken freed up in time to head downtown to check out some hair options for Emanuel and when we called the salon in Walmart they were already booked up, and we found out later, closed on Thursday so Emanuel was a little disappointed. 

We made up for it with workbook stuff, talking about coins with the twins, and of course… some cartoon time. Naps for everyone pretty much in the afternoon (minus Ken) and some more quiet time until Ken could be freed up to leave the house ended our day of non-activity. Then it was a family drive to Walmart to pick up a few items. Mom has all the makings for two matching pillowcase dresses so once she has had a break from sewing (that costume was a one night thing) she and Trinity are going to work together to make some new dresses. 

Creative stacking while counting

After supper it was time for Ken and I to take the girls to Bedtime Story Time at the local library… in their pj’s of course. There was a rather large group and a craft and then cookies AND milk! Echo was babbling away and Trinity, though shy, had fun. We plan on going next week… the week after we will be out of town but at the end of the month the story time group is joining the High Tea party to make fascinators! So I think we shall have to try and make it to that! The girls each have some dresses to choose from and I DO have my Lolita dress I could wear… with Ken as our escort… well it would be an experience and a half. 

Well that was Echo’s first real experience of a story time and it was definitely a success. One of the older girls at the group told Trinity that she had a VERY cute sister. I saw a friend of my mom’s though I did not get a chance to talk to her. The girls fit right in! 

Crafting

Cookies AND milk

Our Thursday was a bit of a crafty day… at least for Gavin, who created rings out of pipecleaners to share with everyone.

Creative boy

The weather was perfect for the twins to head out to the pool and splash around…

Fun in the sun

While Emanuel, Trinity and I took a walk to run a couple errands (Echo napped). 

He loves our smaller group walks

Running

And then ALL of us went to the nearby park to play with the kids there and run around. I mean we DID do school work but what is so much more memorable are the wonderful together moments we had that day… and while I (and Ken) were still rather worn out and frustrated with things… well… we got out, saw some sunshine and let the kids make some new friends…

Time to spin....

Walking

Sliding

Swinging

Getting us home in time for baths and clean up and then… COMPANY! Tammy and her 3 kids came by with a library book about making things with duct tape for me to look through and some time to visit. I was working on my bows sorting so it was fun to have someone else peruse the wares! Echo and little Russell are the best of friends, though he is way bigger than her and she pets him like he is a puppy! 

Post bath play, thus the poofy hair

A good ending to a relatively busy day… and with my next blog entry I will FINALLY share the results and the experience of my very first table with my crafts on it!!! Crazy!!! So check back tomorrow!!!

Quiet time with a book

This entry was posted on 09/06/2012, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Two Adventures in Two Days

Let’s make our way to the weekend! The weather has been pretty predictable in its sunny wonderful-ness this week. The kids have LOVED it, the dog has LOVED it… I have to admit I have loved it too! We worked it out in advance so that Ken got enough work done to take his morning slow and we (as a family no less!) scratched ANOTHER thing off our list. Visiting Grandma’s work while she is there! And with the lovely weather how better to enjoy the event than to go for a family walk there, once we covered our Trinity’s blisters with bandaids, packed up the baby’s necessities and convinced the boys that walking WAS much better than the van. 

Walking together

We made good time and brought Grandma a bottle of water, as we all know hydration is VERY important. We met some of her co-workers, played with some toys and made two important purchases. As this is the weekend of Jaywalkers everything was 50% off so I got Echo a booster chair for 1.50 to take to Kathy’s when we pet sit (oh and for her to play with as it is officially her new favourite seat).

A chair AND the Tupperware cupboard

Ken picked out a boardgame. The main reason? It is still in the shrink wrap with a copyright date of 1974! So here’s hoping it is an interesting game! At least it is a good conversation piece for a piddly 2.50!

New game

On the way back Trinity’s feet started hurting again so she got a ride from Daddy. She is so nervous about heights that it took a little time to calm down and get comfortable with it. 

Best view

That got us home in time for lunch and schooling. Of course we had to do our page for the books… they are getting quite full of all sorts of adventures!

Gavin working on his library book

The twins each took some time in the afternoon to help me out with my craft sale items. Each of the boys has made their own duct tape change purse to sell for 4.00 like mine. They picked their own colours and Gavin even took the time with a messed up piece to draw and cut out a duck to embellish his. 

Gavin with duck

The inside on Zander's is silver

There is a measly 1 week left until the craft sale! I am going to link the event HERE so please, if you are in the area on the 9th, come by, buy something however small and help out a great cause. 10% of ALL my sales for the day go to the charity and I am also donating a doorprize. My  table SHOULD have the sign It’s a Hoot and Friends on it (gotta get that done yet!). I am personally selling owls, bows, duct tape items and some headbands. I will post some teaser images later this week as well as this link again and again! So check back! 

So many owls

Anyway after Grandma got done work and we had supper there was some kid and Grandma quality time while Ken and I ran out to get groceries. Some alone time for us and some nail polish time with Grandma. Echo’s first time! She got sparkly stuff and Trinity some gold. Zander had his done as well though we removed that Saturday as we have a special Sunday planned. I am just so glad they are getting some fun time with family in. We hadn’t visited in quite some time and we need to take advantage of this and have new memories and adventures made. 

Echo and her fancy nails

With Grandpa gone to the city for a conference it was bed time and then JAYWALKERS… yup two items in two days! Jaywalkers is an event where the downtown is blocked off from vehicular traffic. Instead booths are put up, carnival games and rides… there was snacks, shopping and even a 4-H booth with some animals! 

Checking out the animals

Bunnies

Echo in her seat

We tried to win free passes for the mini golf/petting zoo/corn maze just outside of town. All 4 kids tried and failed to make the shot but she gave us a pass anyway… after all there is still the REST of the family to pay for! The kids had a blast trying though! Each with a different coloured set of balls. 

Mini golf

And then we paid 2.00 for 6 balls to try bowling for 1,000.00. Ken came rather close but we did not win. It was fun though!! Each of the boys took a turn. 

Bowling

Next came the two things Ken and I absolutely LOVE about Jaywalkers – mini donuts AND lemonade (we tried the cherry version, I still prefer the original). Yummy, though the prices had gone up! Of course it would not be an outing without an injury. On the way back to the van Gavin wasn’t listening and climbed on some cement parking blocks, slipped and biffed it big time! Both knees VERY scratched up. So we cleaned him up as best we could with what we had in the van and after a brief stop off to pick up a medium sized diaper cover (yup I love SPRINKLES). took him home to clean and bandage properly. He did a professional job of scuffing himself up royally! 

OUCH

With Ken’s help, I spent some time making Echo a miniature version of Trinity’s purse… 4 inches long and with a shorter strap. She is very pleased and I was able to just use bits from all of my remaining rolls!

Echo's purse

We had a surprise visit from Tammy and her girls while the kids watched a movie from the Library and I got in some visiting time. She brought some of her older pieces of dressier clothing that she no longer needed/could wear for me to try on later and some company on an afternoon that went from sunny to drizzly rather quickly. 

Supper was homemade hamburger courtesy of Ken and then the kids played  games with mom while I got in some chatty time with Ken. I think we are starting to really feel on the same page on more and more things. I am hoping he can get a few more minutes here and there to homeschool with us in the near future as well. Though I do think we are doing rather well. I would love to do more in-depth things and hope to find some ways to get back into the crafting, math and sciences in a way that actually brings in the boys’ interest willingly. As it is I hope to get started on the United States on Monday. I have a few books from the library to use, and a couple files printed out from my resources. Sunday night I hope to do some more searching. Any suggestions are welcome! We plan to spend the whole month on it! 

It was a great day for together time. And I snuck in another weather page as for the first time in forever the weather changed visibly through out the day. Tomorrow it is the dedication for the costumes mom made the church. I look forward to it, and the last day of Sunday School. I hope to see some local friends, pick up a few items at some stores not available here and maybe stop at a park or two. Gotta keep the adventures going and two more things on our list to cross off! That is without going over the information the Information Center gave me about some local things. There is a great aboriginal event towards the end of the month and I know the library has advertising about a Father’s Day event that includes pictures on a fire truck! 

So my attempt to stay positive and do the day as the day standing alone worked rather well… the evening not so much but you know what? That sometimes gives way to talks that do help… I still have plans to make paper… just need a blender no one cares about, a screen and some paper to shred. Everything is doable if you keep your heart and mind set upon the path. 

A big sister being a big help