Return of Daddy Donut Day!

Today was the first Daddy Donut Day of the year (Mommy went back to work today) and Miriam's first one. Of course, I forgot to take the camera with me (hey, I did manage to get 3 kids there and the same number back home), but I did get a picture of Miriam before we left. Note her excitement (she didn't know she wouldn't be able to have a donut), and her outfit that Daddy dressed her in for the special occassion. In fact, Miriam was so excited for this outing, that she spit up all over Daddy right before we left.

I always take the kids to Marge's Donut Den. It's a little bit of a drive, but you can't beat the service. Where else will the owner take your screaming 2 year old son behind the counter and wipe all the icing off his face while you are taking your 3 year old to the potty?

eBay

Apparently you really can find anything on eBay.

Last week Esther and I were playing her Dora memory match game. We were trying to remember the character names on the cards, but we didn't know very many. I looked online and found a website that listed them, so we were looking at that to figure them out.

Yesterday we were playing with Play-doh and she has a Dora set that goes with it. We were again trying to remember the character names, and Esther said, "We'll have to look on eBay again!"

Meet "Aladdie Kuperus"

Due to the fact that the number of time-outs our children (not Miriam...yet) receive in a day seems to be directly proportionate to the number of days they have been locked inside the house, yesterday seemed to be a good day to build a snowman.

So, Daddy, Esther and Peter ventured outside to attempt this great task. Esther rolled the snowball until it got too big, Peter kicked the snowball until it broke, and Daddy started all over again and finally made a snowball the right size. The other two snowballs essentially were formed with the same process.

The kids thought decorating was quite fun. We used Girl Scout Peanut Butter Cookies (much to Mommy's dismay) for eyes, a potato for a nose, grapes for a mouth, and fruit snacks for buttons (much to Peter's dismay....but he got to eat the ones we didn't use). When Esther announced that the snowman was a GIRL snowman, Mommy became worried over where Daddy was going to use the two plastic cups.....she was happy to see we used them for ears. We finished it off with a hat that says "Palm Beach" on it, hoping it might help speed spring time along.

Esther then named the snowman....I mean snowgirl. She named her Aladdie Kuperus. "You know," she said. "Like in the song!" Well the song she is referring to is "Did You Ever See a Laddie".....we didn't have the heart to tell her Aladdie wasn't a name.

3 Cuties

I managed to get all three kids to cooperate for a few pictures this morning. I just love the digital camera because I can take 10 shots and usually at least 1 will turn out!

The Infamous Mr. Jake

As was stated in previous posts, Peter now likes to say his own prayers at every meal. And at every meal, Peter prays for "Mr. Jake".

We haven't quite figured out if Peter is praying that he is thankful for knowing Mr. Jake, or if he knows something the rest of us don't, and thinks Mr. Jake needs all the help he can get.

Either way, Peter is extremely happy anytime he gets to see him. So, today, since I was meeting Mr. Jake for lunch, I picked up Peter along the way so he could join us. Peter was quite excited to get away from the "ladies of the house" for a while and have some guy time with Daddy and one his buddies.

Fun Saturday

Today was a busy, but fun Saturday. This morning I took Peter on a couple errands. He's a pretty fun guy to shop with because he says hi to everyone and sings "Kum Ba Ya" in Kohl's. I was trying on a coat and he asked me what I was doing. I told him I was trying on a coat and he said, "That good idea Mommy!"

While we were out, Casey took his girls to get a donut at Marge's. He has to make sure he's still in practice when Daddy Donut Day starts up again in a couple weeks when I return to work.

After lunch we went to our friends the Meengs' house to go sledding. They live in a new development and there are no houses behind them, so they have a perfect sledding hill for little kids right in their backyard. The dads took the 4 older kids out sledding while Tracy and I stayed in with the babies (their daughter was born 3 days after Miriam). The kids had a great time, and we're hoping they might actually sleep tonight after getting some fresh air and exercise! I forgot the camera, so unfortunately we don't have pictures.

We stopped at Casey's parents house for a bit so Casey could help his Dad with something, so the kids got to see Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Nick. Then my Dad picked up dinner and ate with us because he is back from Florida for a few days for some meetings. The kids were very excited that he's home, and Esther sat on his lap reading books for a long time. I think he was pretty happy to see them too.

After all the fun of today, we are looking forward to celebrating our nephew Tyler's baptism tomorrow and then celebrating something not nearly as important--the start of the NASCAR season!

Playing for the Princess Team

The other day Peter told me he was going to play football (with his squishy soft football) and that he needed his helmet. Since we don't have a football helmet, I wasn't sure what he was referring to. I told him to go get it, and this is what he put on his head. Once again, Daddy is so proud of his son.

Brotherly Love

Peter likes to hang out with his sister, "Miss Miriam" as he calls her...

Miriam's Smile

Here's a little video of Miriam's precious smile...

Esther Quotes

Esther: "Mommy, Peter's not my best friend anymore." (I didn't know she actually considered him her best friend!)

Mommy: "Why not?"

Esther: "He broke my train, so he's not my best friend anymore."


Esther: "Can we go sledding sometime when you and Daddy are both home?"

Mommy: "Yes, maybe Saturday either Mommy or Daddy can take you and Peter so someone can stay home with Miriam."

Esther: "Daddy's funner, so he should go. Daddy's the funnest! I mean, you're fun too Mom, but Daddy's funner."

2 Months Old!

Miriam is already 2 months old. She is starting to smile more, "talk" to us, and fall into a little more of a routine with eating and napping. She's still doing a great job sleeping at night, and we're so thankful for that! She is so sweet, and still receives lots of kisses and snuggles from her brother and sister as well. She's also working on catching up in size to her cousin Tyler!

Dress Up

Esther and Peter love to play dress up. Unfortunately Peter doesn't really discriminate between the "girl" clothes and the "boy" clothes. This is a favorite ensemble of his, and Casey cringes every time he sees him like this. The picture doesn't show the pink high-heels that he is usually wearing as well!

Casey would much prefer that he stick to this look:

Gymnastics on a Bus

This morning Esther (and I) got to go to her first friend birthday party with a group of kids. Her friend Hope turns 4 tomorrow and she had a pretty cool party. There's a gymnastics place in town called For the Kidz and they brought a bus to their house that is all equipped for doing activities inside. It has everything from a mini-trampoline to a rock wall, and even a zip line! The girls (and Hope's brother Jordan) thought it was a lot of fun! I think we might need to get Esther signed up for a gymnastics class now...

Little Funny Face

I just had to post this picture of Miriam's first silly face...