Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Other One

This photo says so much about the other one. I realized as I started these profiles I didn't have a cute close up of Tanner, so I proceeded to pose him today. Of course the only one that he actually smiled for...the creepy one where he is hugging the leg of Butterscotch the horse. So telling. Tanner is persistent. He has no concept of backing down until he gets exactly what he wants. He is dramatic. He is a little cunning. A lot ornery. Loud. Physical. All of those put together mean that he will employ a variety of tactics in his relentless fashion until he gets what he wants. And his favorite, and first choice, is how cute he is. He uses those baby blues and grin. Kisses. And how much he loves. Until it doesn't work and then he kicks it up a notch. He loves with the same relentless passion. He ADORES those he favors. Ignores those he doesn't. And has a horrible temper and pout, that at the same time is usually incredibly funny.

Tanner is clever. He can recognize letters, shapes, colors, Caterpillar backhoe loaders and John Deere articulated dump trucks. But he refuses to learn how to count to five. He can dress himself, but puts everything on backwards so he still gets Mommy to do it. He can sleep through the night, if Mommy is with him. He can jump in the pool and swim in his floaties, if Mommy is watching. But at other times he likes to go off and pretend by himself, build with legos, look at books, cut, draw, and play dress up in his fireman or doggie costume. His giggle, especially when tickled, is impossible not to be addicted to. He runs awfully fast on those short legs (which have sadly lost their rolls) and can throw a mean punch. I am amazed at how far he throws.

Oh, the other one. There is no middle ground here. But my love for him will always be high.

That One

That one. The middle one. The one who melts my heart and then pushes me to the brink. Annika challenges me in so many ways. She is so cool, so smart, so adorable that she challenges me to keep up with her. But for those same reasons, she knows my buttons, and she has the personality that doesn't stop pushing, sometimes to our disadvantage. She makes you love her more and more every day. Those gorgeous brown eyes, impish face and grin, and her giggle help her get her way. She is growing too. I can't keep up feeding her. She loves fruit and yogurt, this one will be my health nut and my cook. She is constantly MOVING. Breakdancing in the tv room, riding her bike at breakneck speed, running, wrestling, throwing and catching, working (this one is an awesome helper), climbing, just rolling around on the floor or wandering the house with restless energy. She loves a good riddle, puzzle, and game. She does like her tv, and I have to watch her because she'll sneak stuff she isn't supposed to watch. Legos, always building. Drawing, goofy cartoons. Annika has a great sense of humor. Science. She can't get enough of how everything works, reacts, the hows and whys. Constantly questioning. Reading story books. Learning multiplication--and she'll be in first grade.



She demands our attention. She is always on the move, at least until she drops from complete exhaustion. She has no patience. But her capacity to love and be maternal with younger children has no bounds. Her exuberance for learning and life is catching, and she has me completely infected with love I am showing all signs of never recuperating.



This One

It's time for some individual posts to celebrate what cool kids we have. Because all 3 of them really are awesome.
First there is Phoebe. She is growing up, and I mean literally. This one keeps sprouting up, and her hair just keeps getting longer. Her front teeth are growing in, and she has a couple more loose ones. More and more I can see myself in her. More and more she is becoming her own personality. Highlights about Phoebe: she is reading chapter books by the dozen, crafting and drawing constantly, playing and pretending with Barbies and American Girl dolls more than ever, putting together outfits with full blown accessories, but still prefers her jammies, demands to stay home all day and never go shopping or on errands. She loves popcorn so much she eats the old maids and craves ice cream. Her imagination is unending. Not a super active child usually, but has calloused her hands with hours on the monkey bars and swims like a mermaid. I still have not figured out how she goes so fast underwater. She is extremely good with her siblings, but when they make her mad, her voice takes on a shrill whininess you would not expect from that sweet face.




She is a girly girl, but she will put her own worm on, loves bugs, and gets a kick out of gross stuff. Loves animals and is begging for a pet. Begging. Wants snuggles and fun time together, yet NEEDS time by herself in complete quiet. Helpful, independent, a touch slow to move. Loving, easygoing, giggly happy.




So that is this one.











In No Particular Order

I forgot this photo at first, but having it at the beginning actually makes sense. This summer has been a gamble in a lot of ways! This particular one happened when Annika found the poker chips in the church garage sale pile and decided it was time to learn black jack and poker. I guess they got some good addition practice. And Daddy time is always at a premium.

Because this summer has been crazy. And I mean nuts. There has been so much going on, we have barely kept up.


Jeff's business took off--he billed in one day this week what he billed last September as a month. Which is awesome and exactly what we hoped for. But, there are also all of those pains of growing that quickly. Jeff has not had a full day off since May and is putting in 12-15 hours most days. He does love the work still and has remained excited about this opportunity despite his growing exhaustion.


I attempted to do a few unpacking jobs for his company and mom was awesome enough to watch the kids. This ended up being really hard to schedule and I didn't do as many as I would have maybe liked. The money is good, the work is actually kind of fun, but the logistics is nuts.


We have had lots of visitors. Few of them stayed in our nest, but we spent lots of time with them. Jeff's sister and family came in June and I took them downtown with the kids to Shedd aquarium and Navy Pier. Sarah, my sister, and kids came and were here for two weeks. Then my sister in law Naomi, and nephew, came to visit too. It has been a lot of fun to see everyone.


We have spent a lot of time at my parents. Between going to spend time with family, the jobs, we went for Mom's VBS/my downtime, individual time for Phoebe and Annika, and other random trips we have been in Elgin at least 3 days out of every week. My parents have been great about hosting us. We have loved swimming (the girls are getting quite good, enough that I can sit on the side and watch when I get tired), swinging, gardening, and watching movies.


One big event I focused on was our church's VBS July 18-22. I wrote the curriculum, Connected to Creation, and was the director. We had 170 kids and forty volunteers. It was a huge success, much to my delight. I added in a science session that the kids got a huge kick out of. Mom came and helped decorate, this is the amazing waterfall she created in the corner. We got Jeff away for an afternoon/couple hours of fishing. Always a good time. Annika caught a bass!


Mom came and babysat during a job one day and the girls had some friends over. They created this very cool giraffe costume and then took it to a whole other level and created costumes for everyone and decorated the tv room. Then they made up a play and acted for us. Super fun.


In Elgin they like riding the big wheels. We had recently gone to the dollar theater to see "Rio" and it has a Mardi Gras parade in it. So they recreated it. They tied the bikes together with jump ropes with the wagon in the middle and then filled everything with stuffed animals.



I picked a few cherries. Not a banner year, but I still enjoy doing it. I like harvesting. Often wondered if I would enjoy being a migrant worker. ;)


I opened my etsy shop, nicplynel. It will be fun to have an outlet for my stash of cards. Hopefully some sell, I have fun making them.
And we still have August to go! The kids don't start school until the 24th, but I have most of their supplies already. I can't believe Annika will be gone all day. They are going to Granny camp next week in Iowa. I am hoping to visit several people. So look for another super post!









Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Carnivale!



Phoebe is soooo creative, I love it. I love that she would rather stay home and come up with her own ideas of how to do things instead of going out. And then Annika takes it to another level.
This particular time it was her own "fair" games. So we had...
our own prize center

fishing










the bean bag toss game and a homemade corn hole next to it

















milk the cow (this one was Annika's idea)



bowling over the cups












knock down the tower














and pop the water balloon with homemade arrows (Annika made them from pencils and paper)










It was actually quite fun to play at this fair!