The Matejas visit Wisconsin!

We were very lucky to have my sister's family up to visit the past few days... my sister Shawnta, brother Mike, and kids Dylan, Alexis, and Sadie. Nate was so excited for them to visit, he was waiting by the front door looking out the window for a 1/2 hour before they arrived. They were here for only a few days, but with 5 kids we were moving the whole time! We spent a morning at Monkey Joe's, played a lot in our basement, took walks around our block, played catch with baseballs and footballs, and ate lots of good food. Getting 5 cousins to sleep was interesting, they eventually had to be separated. All in all, we had a great visit... thanks Matejas, we can't wait for the next time!

Voles?

So when all the snow finally melted and the winter lawn shown through, there was a big surprise waiting for us... we have voles! What is a vole? It's a rodent, largely known as a "field mouse", and it looks just like a mouse, but it's not a mouse. They hang out in fields, and in our case they burrowed into our yard under the snow and set up shop. Our yard is now a disaster. Take a gander... lovely, isn't it? If I ever see the vole responsible...

Bubbles of Fun

This is what happens when you put bubbles in a tub with jets... a true bubble bath! Bubbles were overflowing the sides and covered the walls (well, kind of...). Nate was having a blast, but I was afraid to put Elin in because I thought she would disappear. She kept yelling, "Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles!" What a smile on her face.

Oh To Be a Child!

"Pajamas? Who needs pajamas... I just need that silly cat under the dresser!"

Week in Review: Bubbles, Volcanos, Nature Preserve and Cast - Off

The week began with an "oh no Mom - look what Elin did." It was bubble bath, not pee.



Nate and I built a paper volcano. It was a bit more advanced than I thought it would be. I should have taken a picture at the beginning. It has been well loved since Monday.

The nature center near us.

Nate abusing Elin.

Nate and his buddy Tyler.

It is warm out! Couldn't even keep Elin out of the water table. Check out the styling cast cover.

The cast is off! She didn't even move when they sawed it. I think she figured hey that lady has a saw - I better hold still.

Hey look I have a leg again!

Horn Head

Elin is not crazy about having barrettes and such in her hair. In fact, she usually pulls them out within minutes. Here's a pic of her crazy hair after she had 2 pig tails for a whole 2 hours... this pic is at dinner time, but in the morning she had some great horns going.

Father's Night

Last night was Father's Night at Nate's school. We spent an hour or so in his classroom... Nate showed me projects he is working on, and other activities he does during class. We (all the kids and Dads) had a good time together. When we left, we were all given safari hats (not sure why)- Nate was really excited, and I got some interesting looks on the way home.

Behold... The Alamo

Here are some pics of our latest fort in our family room... truly a military-worthy, highly defensible, and low-tech fortress. They could play in here for hours. Nate even set up a little bed inside, I suppose he thinks he's sleeping in there tonight (sorry, buddy, not yet). I remember building many forts in my childhood basement- we would turn over couches or stand them upright, cover them with any blankets we could find to make them pitch-black, and then sleep inside- good times!

Our Explorer

Nate put on his headlamp the other day when he was going over to his friend's house, I guess so they could go exploring. As far as I know, we don't have any spelunking caves or mountaineer-worthy climbs around here, but a dark basement will probably do just fine.

Moveable Alphabet

So here is a quick update on Nate and school! I was at school the other day for a safety day for Moms. Miss Mary Ellyn asked me if I saw Nathaniel's "work" that he left to continue the next day. I was really surprised. What Nate does, is he has a group of 6 animal cards with pictures and their name. He sets those out and uses the movable alphabet to spell the words he sees. Then writes the words on his animal worksheet too. Animals, reading, and writing oh my!

The Not-So-Immobile Elin

Elin has been taking her "impediment" very well, considering the difficulties this puts on a 1-year old child. The first couple days were a little rough... Elin would cry for us to pick her up and carry her. But we held our ground, and after a couple days she finally learned to walk in her cast. And now she's back to dancing! Here she is reading her books (i.e. pulling them all off the shelves and looking at pictures), with her over-sized sock to help her walk.

This is Elin's "cheese!" face... not really sure if she's just saying cheese or having a bowel movement.

I think if she were given the chance, Elin would eat a whole bag of pears if we put them in front of her... and you'd better not try to take them away.

Yes, Elin has got her groove back, cast and all! She may not be back to doing the moonwalk yet, but the spirit is definitely there. In fact, tonight I found her standing up in her dresser drawer again trying to turn on her music- how did she get in there???

Is she doing the electric slide, or in the middle of a "tah-dah!"? I'm not sure, but what I really like about this pic is my half-naked son dancing on his bed in the background. Actually, these two love to listen to their music and dance together- it's become a daily ritual.