A Few New Things

I finished a new pair of pants for Emmit. Its the same pattern as his bike pants, just the next size up. I found a cute tractor print to use as the main fabric and then went from there. I have fabric to make another pair for him too for this spring. Even though I used too much elastic and they barily stay up, I'm pretty pleased with myself.



Last night, Gerrit and Adam went to the bike shop to build this new beauty:

Yep, I got new wheels! I sold my Hawaiian Towney to my friend Sue because she wanted one (but didn't want to pay retail price) and I wanted a 7 speed instead of a 3 speed so I could pull the burley easier as well as keep up with Gerrit. Lucky for me, I have a brother in law who can get us bikes at cost so it didn't cost much more to upgrade after my sell to Sue. What cost us was my accessories! I chose the color of the bike based on the accessories. Anne helped me pick out the black/white accent color and I'm pretty pleased with how she looks. I  love the back baskets and the front basket has a little cell phone pocket in the liner! The bell is black and white too and sounds like a door bell. We went for a cruise around town today and it was soo much easier! I'm very excited about the bike and think we will get a lot of miles out of it. 

Donkey Basketball

Friday night, Gerrit and I went with Anne and Luke to the FFA fundraiser: donkey basketball. I didn't tell Gerrit we were going until dinner that night in case it didn't work out. When he realized it wasn't a normal basektball game and involved animals he asked: real or costume? When I told him 'real', his eyes got real big.



I had never been to donkey basketball - us city folk don't have FFA organizations and I can't see donkeys being allowed on the gym floor either! We all had a good laugh watching the donkeys buck them off and be stubborn. Gerrit is ready to go next year!

Mr. Responsible

Due to a little miscommunication, Gerrit was at the house by himself this afternoon. I'm not sure for how long, but long enough. My first thought was that he wouldn't be upset or scared and then I remembered he's only 4 (almost 5). My next thought was that he was crying and freaking out that he was by himself! 

When I got home, he was in the basement watching a kid show. He turned the TV on by himself and was happy as a lark. It might have been because there was no one to bother him while he watched TV or it could have been because of the bag of Oreo's he was eating....He climbed on the counter and reached on top of the refrigerator to get the bag. When I asked him how many he had eaten, he started with one and the guilt must have gotten to him because he confessed to 3. I didn't dwell on the Oreos and tried to compliment him for turning on the TV and waiting for us to come home. 

A Rough Week

This is what Emmit looked like on Saturday:

The eye: that is a week old - Sunday he fell at Bridgett's cafe and did a number on his eye. Luckily he didn't cut it open.

The lip: Saturday morning we were outside enjoying the nice weather....Gerrit took out the T to play baseball. Both boys wanted to hit off the T and they were doing OK taking turns. The problem came when one of them wouldn't get out of the way for the other to swing. We were working on being patient and calling me over to move the one (Emmit) who wouldn't get out of the way. Well, I guess Gerrit's patience ran out. He swung and nailed Emmit in the mouth!  Luckily all teeth are accounted for and no stitches needed (this time). Even though the bat was aluminum, I think the weight of it helped slow the swing down! A few wash clothes to clean up the blood, and some snuggle time with mom was all that was needed. The bleeding didn't last real long and I think his crying made him tired so I lucked out by having Emmit take his nap in my arms. As much as I thought about all the things I had wanted to do during nap time....I reminded myself that soon Emmit will be big and not want to snuggle or sleep in my arms. 

Today, you can't even tell he had a fat lip - the only thing left is the scab on his face. We are hoping he doesn't pick at hit so it leaves a scar.

On another note: Gerrit is getting a bit wiser these days.....

Sunday Emmit and I were taking a nap and Adam went to wash his bike leaving Gerrit to watch a kid show. I woke up and went downstairs to find Gerrit coming out of the storage room with a Gatorade. I asked him where dad was and he said: running errands. OK...I thought until I looked at the end table and saw the following: empty little root beer bottle, chocolate candy wrappers, Hersey kisses wrapper, fruit snack wrapper, and the unopened Gatorade! What was missing was the 2 peeps he had eaten! I guess Gerrit can not be left 'alone' or we need to do a better job of hiding food! (The candy was leftover from a few recipes). Adam returned and I showed him what Gerrit was up to while he was gone.....Adam admitted to allowing him to finish the partial bottle of pop and the fruit snacks, but the rest was all a mastermind of Gerrit!

Smart Fellers

Emmit has been sleeping in a big bed for probably 6+ weeks. We always are amazed at how we can put him in bed and he stays there! It would be so easy for him to climb out of bad via the back (he has the low head/foot board bunk).  He has started to get out of bed in the morning once we acknowledge him. He even turns off his humidifier! Last night everything changed - he figured out he could get out of bed. So bed time that started at 7 didn't really happen until 9! He walked downstairs with his blanket as if he did nothing wrong. Finally after the 3rd try (we were a bit distracted by the basketball game we were watching on TV), he stayed in his room. I sat on the floor and held the door shut so when he would try and get out, he couldn't. I wasn't sure where he actually fell asleep but thought it was in his bed based on the noise I heard. I didn't dare check once he stopped crying for fear of waking him up. When I went to bed, I peeked in and saw he was laying in his bed! Bed time should be eventful until we get a lock on his door too!

While watching the MSU vs MN game last night Adam asked Gerrit who he was routing for and this was the conversation between them:

Gerrit: Gophers!

Adam: What? Opa is going to be disappointed in you!

Gerrit: But dad, we LIVE in Minnesota, shouldn't we route for them? Opa is the one that lives in MI!

In Due Time...

One thing I noticed teaching at the high school is that I was asked more times about my Valentine's plans than I was about my winter vacation plans. Something about the 'romatic' idea of love is huge for high school girls. When I told them I didn't have plans - I have 2 kids at home, they seemed bummed and wondered if the romance was gone (without really asking if it was gone). It made me think about the whole day and if I was bummed that we didn't have plans and the answer is no. 

Having these 2 boys makes us happy and we talk about how big they are getting and how time flies by. I think we will have plenty of Valentine's days when the boys won't be with us or won't want to be with us. For now, I will take our 'romantic' dinner of take out for mom/dad and corn dogs for the boys - flying corn dog and all!

Big Boy Haircut = Big Kid

I guess when Emmit looked at himself in the mirror he saw a 'big kid' looking back at him....When we came back from getting hair cuts, the boys played outside seeing it was so nice. Emmit went right for the scooter. He was determined to ride the thing but couldn't keep his balance.

He tried hard and was busy with it for quite a while before he finally gave up.