Things I enjoyed this week. Just because.

Things I have enjoyed this week:

1. The way Jaxon pronounces 'dandelion'- he is sure it is 'gang-e-lamb'. He even did phonetic pronounciation with me. 'Mom, say 'gang'. Gang. 'say e'. E. 'Say lamb'. Gangelamb.
2. The way Kiley eats her corn on the cob. Wish I had pictures. Next time. It's awesome.
3. Trying out new parenting tips from babycenter.com. Offering more choices. Less 'no's'. Bolstering self esteems. Constantly learning (us).
4. Working from home. Nice to not have to get dressed for anyone and not to talk to anyone. Love that.
5. Snack time before bed the other night. Kiley and Jaxon on their little couch, both eating string cheese. Jaxon was watching his show and Kiley was just trying to find more string cheese. They were pretty cute.

just for fun

Remember that loot I talked about back in June?

Well, we didn't just fish and tell ghost stories in Canada. It was also a week to pull out some beads and play a little. Not that I completed too many projects, but it got my creative spirit refreshed and rejuvinated.

And honestly, even though I make a lot of cool stuff (so I think!), I really can't wear it all. It should end up in the hands of people who will wear it and make memories with it.

Well, not this one. This one's mine.

 I might keep this one too.

But alas. Someone should really wear my custom creations besides my jewelry organizer. My jewelry organizers don't provide much compensation. And paying customers would help me buy some new sterling silver chain and jump rings ...

And so, I've relaunched the WaVu Designs etsy site. I'm setting some small goals to get it going and then hope to start creating more. Baby steps. I really do love it, so it doesn't feel like work, which is important when you're selling on etsy, because honestly it could take like six months to have a sale.

Anyway, I've linked up my site on this page, but if it gets too annoying, just let me know. In the meantime, feel free to share with anyone you know and happy shopping!

i blinked

I blinked.

I blinked and before you know it, my chubby little 6 month old turned into a 3 1/2 year old semi-grown up and my colicky little newborn grew into a toddler.

No really. I think I blinked and this past week my kids grew up before my eyes (which were blinking).

Kiley started to walk. She also has several distinguishable words now, which only a select few can decipher. She says 'meh' for milk, 'moh' for more, and something like 'taku' for thank you. I may have heard her say jaxon tonight too, but i can't be sure. Kiley has also learned the meaning of the word no. And we can all verify that she doesn't like being told no. Girl knows what she wants and she's gonna get it, one way or another. She can put on the waterworks within seconds (and stop them as soon as she gets what she wants).

Jaxon learned how to pee standing up (albeit after many, many failed attempts, he is now aiming and mostly hitting the right spot- sorry Jerry and Ellie for the walls of your bathroom in Cabin 6 will never be the same).

Jaxon also got to sleep in a big bed last week in Cedar Lake. He did so good and was so proud of himself. He wanted his bed changed at home too. Yes, we still had him in a crib--don't kid yourself, you know you wished you'd kept your kids in cribs till they were 5! Foolish people who transition toddlers early ;-)

So this afternoon, we transitioned him (see happy dance above). I had to fight back a couple of tears. He was beyond excited though and I can just tell that he feels a little more confident. He has been running around saying how he is a big boy now and 'I can do this or that because I'm a big boy and I have a big boy bed'. Who knew? Such a simple thing could bring so much pleasure. Let's just hope he stays in his big boy bed tonight since I'm home alone with the kids...eech!

So much change. I'm happy watching them grow up, but it also makes me sad to know they'll never be that little again. And I was reminded again today that I need to slow down... live in the aftermath, and take in every moment with these pieces of sunshine.

As my grandma is in a hospital bed, giving her best fight yet, I wanted to dedicate this post to her. Grandma- I know you love reading my blog, and so I'm hoping you're able to get to a computer real soon and check out the following video clip and some of the pictures from our Cedar Lake trip. They are sure to have you laughing and smiling in no time. We love you and are praying for your speedy recovery- I'm also looking forward to your first facebook status post when you're back at it.

Kiley walking. She's got the drunken sailor part down so far...and this girl is keeping us hopping! She is into EVERYTHING.... Wish us luck. I've said it before and I'll say it again- she is gonna be a handful!

moose on the loose

We look forward to it for nearly a year... Cedar Lake, Jerrie and Ellie's, Canada. No matter how you slice it, it is a little piece of heaven.

It has taken many different forms over the years... from big groups of us to just a few.. from loud roucous dice and pinnacle games to quiet evenings reading by the lake... and now we've started bringing our kids here. Seems so crazy that not too long ago, we were scrounging for beers from a nearby town because we'd already maxed out on our limit (a case per person to bring across the border duty free). Tomorrow we will go home with 10 beers in our cooler...

Things change when you have kids. Vacations definately change. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I loved every minute of all the time I had this week to spend with my babies, who are not such babies anymore... and my niece Zoe who is so grown up... and my parents who are great sports about being cabinmates with a little girl who wakes up crying all night...and my husband, who is an amazing dad...........

Here are a few photos from our adventures at Jerrie and Ellie's, Cedar Lake Camp in Ontario (just a little plug for J&E).

Packing it in... we made use of nearly every space in our truck. And we had to send several things with my parents... but we managed to fit it all in! Even the kids!

Jaxon, checking out the rocks. He was pretty thrilled to finally be at 'the canada where grandma and grandpa and zoe were'.  Not the other Canada. There were lots of 'ideas of Canada' floating around the car on the way up. After a night stay at our 'other house' in Fort Francis (the Super 8), we rolled into camp right at check-in time. Whew!

And about an hour later, Scott and Jaxon were off to do the fishing. This is the cleanest those boys were all week.

Kiley, saying, take me! Take me!

Couple hours later... Jaxon is on the leaderboard with a 19 1/2 inch walleye caught on his Buzz lightyear rod, later renamed- the Magic Rod. Everywhere he went he caught fish on that thing.

Here are some that made it into our bellies for dinner. Yummy! Sorry fishies!

Jaxon and Zoe were quite the pair. They went on treasure hunts, made up songs about moose (which I will not sing here or it will be stuck in my head all day). Doh! Too late. Moose on the Loose, Moose on the Loose. His name is Deuce. He drinks a lot of juice. He's Craaaazy. He's Haaazy. And he's a little bit Lazy.

Jazz hands!!

Finding the treasure!!

At the campfire. Campfire? What campfire? These rocks are awesome!!

Ghost stories! Tales of the 12-eyed green giant monster, Doolittle the garbage eating monster, and the flower snatcher.

Last night of fishing... and time to go home. Till next year, we will cherish the memories made at Cedar Lake.