More Easter pics

Here are some other Easter pics of the girls, our family and the Pinochle game we enjoyed on Sunday.

Hunting eggs

I brought some plastic eggs to Jared and Stephanie's house for the girls to hunt. They both had fun running around the yard collecting their eggs. Emma really got into it, and was trying to steal her sister's eggs when they were finished. I think she's a little competitive! She would have stayed busy for hours picking up those eggs. 

Easter baskets

The girls woke up on Easter morning to find their Easter baskets filled on the table. They enjoyed their treats and having a piece of candy before we headed off to church.

Decorating eggs

The girls really enjoyed decorating eggs together. It's kind of become our Easter tradition to get together with my friend Lisa and Ellie and Madison. I realized Emma isn't quite old enough for this activity yet, but I helped her with one egg before she headed off for a nap. I should have clued in when Lisa left Austin home (he's Emma's age). She wanted to do it all by herself. Dip the egg, put her hand in the dye, hold the egg. Yikes! We made it real quick, snapped some pics, and off we went to bed. She wasn't too happy when I got the egg away from her. Okay, lesson learned. 

Mackenzie also found the dye with her hands. Lisa admitted it was under her watch, but luckily it all came off with some soap and a good scrubbing. 

Boots and toothbrushes

Emma is so funny these days. She always wants to go outside, and when she sees Mackenzie's boots, she wants to put them on. They are way too big though.

It's so fun to watch the girls together. Emma wants to be just like Mackenzie. She loves to brush her teeth too. They stand in the bathroom looking in the mirror. Then, they'll run into the living room to find their library books to read before prayers and bedtime. 

Opening treats from Kansas

The girls enjoyed receiving some Easter treats from Gramma Jo and Granddad Brock in Kansas. It was fun to see how excited they were.  

I like crowns too

Emma found Mackenzie's princess crown the other day and wanted to put it on. She likes looking at herself with something in her hair, but it doesn't stay in long.

Emma loves pizza

Emma loves her pizza. I've discovered she really likes the toppings and will eat off all the top then discard the crust. 

Catching up

Let's see what we've been up to this past week. Our bull sale was the 18th, so we made it through that and on to the next project. Josh weaned fall calves yesterday and is ready to climb on a tractor for awhile to start some farming. We've had some really nice days and some rain in between. With all the snow this winter, the grass is starting to green up fast. The girls and I have enjoyed some time outside too. We decorated Easter eggs with friends Lisa, Ellie and Madison on last Friday. On Saturday, we spent the day at the new house cleaning and stripping wallpaper. On Sunday morning, the four of us attended Easter Mass, then we went to Jared and Stephanie's for dinner. Her parents came too, along with our friend, Guy, who's been staying with Mark and Carla while his truck gets fixed. The three of them are big Pinochle players, so after dinner, we all sat down to play. Josh and I were the newbies, but after a couple games we were hooked. It's quite fun after you figure it out. We ended up playing until 11 p.m! Last night, the guys decided they wanted to play again, so we went up to Mark and Carla's for pizza and a card party. Another late, but fun evening. 

Pretending Princesses

The other day the girls were playing in their room. Emma was trying to put on MJ's princess shoes. She just couldn't quite make it work, so decided to just stand their and pose without them. Mackenzie loves to wrap blankets around herself and pretend they are beautiful ball gowns. 

Is that Todd?

I just had to post this. Today MJ and Emma were both in the bathroom sitting on their respective potties. Emma had part of a fish head (a wooden one from the play kitchen) that she brought with her. Mackenzie looked down at it and said, "Is that Todd?" I said who? She said, "You know Todd, the kind we eat? I said, "Do you mean cod?" And she, "Oh yes, Cod." She is so funny! I just had to laugh and share. I can't believe I actually remembered it all though. Usually, I can't remember the funny things she says. And she says them all the time!

Pen and paper

Mackenzie loves paper and pens, and usually has some sort of paper product with her; either using it as a menu, song book, cookbook, etc. Now, Emma's getting in on the fun. She's been starting to carry around a pen and paper too. I usually try to give her a pencil or crayon, but sometimes she gets what's handy. I try to give her pens without the point out, but she's figured out how to click it to make it work. Smart kid! Today, she had a children's bulletin from church. She got really excited when I showed her how to circle one of the pictures. 

Potty practice

Before Christmas I took MJ's little potty chair out of the closet so Emma could get used to seeing it in the bathroom and maybe spark some interest in potty training. I still have a hard time believing she's almost two and it's time to start thinking about this stuff though. Lately, she's been sitting on it before bathtime. She thinks it's pretty neat and she likes to take toilet paper too. Today, at lunchtime, Mackenzie was using the toilet so I asked Emma if she wanted to try. I took her diaper off and she sat there on the little potty while MJ was on the big one. I went to get the camera to get a few pics for the scrapbook. When I came back she had stood up and MJ said she'd gone potty! I was so excited. We clapped for her and said good job. Then, she got excited and clapped too. I helped her dump it in the big toilet then wash her hands. While, I've almost been content to just not even worry about it, this is a positive step. Now I'm not ready to put her in pull-ups yet, but I'll ask her if she wants to try and if she does great. Having her in diapers is probably easier because I don't have to be consistent with asking and messing with the whole potty training thing yet. I think it helps having a big sister. Emma wants to do everything MJ does. So, who knows where this will lead. I'm not in any hurry, but I had to share this first step she took today! 

Bedding and quilt fabric

Mackenzie wanted to show off her new bedding. She's been talking about purple, pink, red and white for at least a year now, and I finally found a comforter and shams on ebay. (This was after we found the fun fabric at JoAnn's for a quilt!) But, we're making the quilt anyway. 

We're looking forward to my parents visit in the next month or so. Making the quilt will be my mom and I's project. 


I'm also looking forward to having Mackenzie start learning to sew by helping make it too.

Bathtub

Here are some pictures from Emma's new bathtub experience. The first is that first night she discovered she could lay back in the water. I didn't get the photo until the water was all drained, but she was still lying there. The next photos were from the other night. She really thought it was funny to have the water all the way up to her face. She didn't even mind when it got in her eyes. It was funny watching her figure out it was okay. 

Catching up

Sorry it's been awhile. Can't believe I haven't posted in a week! Not that we've been doing anything totally exciting, but things are going well. Let's see if I can even remember...We had our weekly music class on Monday and went to the library on Wednesday. I got together with friends Tuesday evening. We celebrated a friend's birthday, enjoyed some dessert and caught up with each other. We're also reading a prayer journal called The Busy Moms Guide to Prayer. It's a book that can be really personalized to each of us, yet we can also come together with our prayer requests for the week. It's been nice to have this sharing time again. 

Wednesday afternoon we also enjoyed a playdate with friends. Thursday was the girls' day at the sitter and I worked on stuff for our bull sale coming up on Tuesday. I'll be busy working on that this weekend and getting in some scrapbooking time. The girls are staying with their Nana so hopefully Josh and I will have some time together too while they are gone this evening. 

Bubbles

As you can see, the girls got to take a bubble bath tonight. They normally don't get bubbles in the water as their skin is so sensitive, but tonight I thought it would be a fun treat. Emma thought they were quite fun and kept wanting to show them to me. She'd squeal excitedly as she tried to pick them up. At the end of the bath, MJ was lying on her back trying to float. Emma kind of tipped over and was in the water on her back too. Normally, she kind of panics and scrambles up, but I steadied her and she just laid there with her little face barely out of the water. She sat up and I figured she was done, but she threw herself back to do it again. I had to keep watching her so she wouldn't hit her head. She'd float, then come up, then float again. I ended up draining the water and she was still lying there on her back with no water. It was like she figured out it was okay and she was going to just stay there. It was the funniest thing!