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Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Mom Does it Best
Whew! I have a lot to live up to. This Christmas especially I think of how my mom has set such a high standard (in a very good way) of so many things. As a mom of a 4 and 2 year old, there are so many instances during the year that I think "well, my mom did it like this" and I think to myself "Will I ever do it as good as she did?" Well, I've come to the realization that the answer is "NO." I'll never meet those standards I'm pretty sure of it. And she's not holding me to these standards by any means, it pressure that I'm putting on myself. However, then pressure has been released. I've realize I will not do things as well as my mom, but THANK GOODNESS she set a high standard, because even if I try, I will still do better than I would without her example.
First of all, cooking. My mom is basically a chef. She does not use recipes and never really makes the same thing twice. This Christmas she made pheasant in one crockpot and also made duck. I can guarantee if I made those two birds, my family would have gone to McDonalds instead. But it was GOOD!!! Really good. Really really good. How do you make duck and pheasant taste delicious? I have no idea. Ask my mom.
And that goes the same for the rest of the meals that she makes, not just for holidays. Each meal is goumet quality. She could make a gourmet mac and cheese, I'm sure of it. She really doesn't have kids living in the house anymore, but still continues to make meals almost every day. Why? "Just in case someone stops by".....Ummm.....if I didn't have anyone to cook for and someone "just happened to stop by", too bad, sorry, you should have called first and for sure should have eaten before you came to my house. Sorry. I'm not a restaurant. So, it really boils down to an attitude. My mom has this great giving heart....me, well, obviously I have to work on that, huh? And let's not forget BAKING, especially Christmas cookies.....I counted last year, when I was a kid I think she made 12-15 different kinds of cookies. With 4 kids in the house! I made Oreo truffles this year. That's it. AND....my Oreo Trufffles look like a kindergartener made them, no matter how careful I am. Hers look like they come from a chocolate shop, all perfect. My favorite cookies are the candy cane cookies....one strip of regular dough, another strip of red dough, twist them together to make a candy cane shape and sprinkle with crushed candy canes and bake. Sounds easy enough. Nope. I made 4 pans last year and each one except maybe 5 of my cookies BROKE when I took them off the pan! She said she was going to make them again this year and I decided to give her a tip (since I'M now the expert, ha!). Told her to just roll the two colors into a ball so they look like a little peppermint (SO MUCH easier and they still taste the same, right?!) But NO NO NO, my mom wouldn't cheat. She has that standard remember? She made them this year, candy cane twist and all and said she didn't have any of hers break. Go figure. And, true story, they DO taste better when they are in the shape of a candy cane:):)
Secondly, decorating. For sure, hands down, without a doubt, I'll never be as good as her. For those of you who have stepped into her house know her house looks like it is out of a magazine. Actually, no, its better. She once told me that she never would never want a set of matching couches, chair, recliner, etc (gasp!!! im all into matching). Nope, no matching. It all goes together somehow, but everything in her house from the furniture to the decor comes from ALL different places. Some homes are "Pottery Barn", some are "Kirklands", some are "Walmart":), but her's is undescribable. If they make more than 100 of them, she doesn't buy it. Her house looks different every season with different decor in the summer, fall, Christmastime, and spring. It took me 15 min to put up my 4 decorations for Christmas this year. It took her an entire week. No joke. We've been in our house now for 6 years and just a couple years ago someone walked through our front door and asked "did you just move in here?" Bare walls, 2 decorations, you get the idea. My mom says "I didn't have everything right away, you'll accumulate things little by little to decorate your house". That may be so, but I'll never be as good as she is. She has a way of putting things together to make them look beautiful. Give us each the same fresh cut flowers and tell us to each put them into a vase and hers looks like a masterpiece and mine looks like a kindergartener did it. Thats not a joke, that happened this summer. :)
Third, cleaning. Now, serisously I really do think I do a good job. I NEED to have a clean house, that's what keeps me happy. Everything in the world could be going wrong, but if my house is clean, I feel good:) When we first moved into our house (no kids) I washed the floor once a week on my hands and knees and deep cleaned each bathroom once a week. That's what my mom does. That's what I grew up with. That's what I thought I had to do. Well, now with only 2 kids, cleaning is not so regular. I know I SHOULD wash my floor once a week, but I don't. And bathrooms? Oh boy, Im not going to even tell you how irregularly I clean them. Oops. My mom always had a vaccum running every morning in our house when we were kids. My vaccum gets turned on once a week if I am lucky. Before we left anywhere as kids, even if it meant we would be 1/2 hr late, the house had to be all cleaned up. My mom never wanted to come home to a messy house, which I understand. But, most times, it just doesn't happen. Syrup is usually still stuck to our kitchen table as we leave the house for church. If we were out all day and didn't get home til really late at night, it was MANDATORY that we still take a bath, no matter if it was midnight or not. I have put my kids to bed more than a handful of times with sticky fingers and mouths after we get home from somewhere late at night. They are still alive. But am I setting a good example like my mom did? Hmmm.....
Another one: Shopping, specifically for clothes. As kids, we were dressed SHARP. I remember being a kid and going shopping for school clothes or holiday outfits and the places we went were Macy's (Dayton's), Nordstom's, or any little unique clothing shop nowhere near us. Anything except Target or Kohls or JC Pennys. I never owned one article of clothing from either of those places. I never had the same clothes as anyone else and always had fancy dresses, a dress coat in winter with one of those little hand muffler things. For every holiday (Easter, Christmas, etc), I always had a brand new dress. Of course it was not appropriate to wear one of the other 15 fancy dresses that were in my closet. It had to be new. My hair as a little girl was either in fancy braids or big huge curls because my mom put rollers in or used a curling iron and a whole bottle of hairspray. Well, me being a mom of two little girls you would think that I would keep that same standard of dressingthem as sharp as a tack. Nope, not so much. My kids go to daycare in mismatched clothes. Most days, I don't even comb Julia's hair. They really don't own "dress" coats. A couple of their "nicer" ones are hand me downs. I have yet to buy them anything from Macy's or Nordstroms and mainly for the fact that I don't want to drive there. This year for Christmas, Lyvia wore one of Julia's old Christmas dresses and Julia wore a dress that she's worn a handful of times (and it was actually a hand me down from Gabrielle!) It isn't really even a "holiday" dress, but its black and has some green in it, so it passes for a Christmas dress in my book:):) My mom set a high standard of dressing nice and being put together, however, I still have a ways to go in that department.
I think I will have to continue this subject later......I could go on and on. It boils down to the fact that my mom always did her best to make sure we had the best, looked our best, and she never created excuses or ran out of energy doing it. Will I ever be like her? Will I ever someday come close to meeting the standards that she set for us? All I know is that I am thankful for the standards that she has set- if they were not set high, who knows what level I would be at!
First of all, cooking. My mom is basically a chef. She does not use recipes and never really makes the same thing twice. This Christmas she made pheasant in one crockpot and also made duck. I can guarantee if I made those two birds, my family would have gone to McDonalds instead. But it was GOOD!!! Really good. Really really good. How do you make duck and pheasant taste delicious? I have no idea. Ask my mom.
And that goes the same for the rest of the meals that she makes, not just for holidays. Each meal is goumet quality. She could make a gourmet mac and cheese, I'm sure of it. She really doesn't have kids living in the house anymore, but still continues to make meals almost every day. Why? "Just in case someone stops by".....Ummm.....if I didn't have anyone to cook for and someone "just happened to stop by", too bad, sorry, you should have called first and for sure should have eaten before you came to my house. Sorry. I'm not a restaurant. So, it really boils down to an attitude. My mom has this great giving heart....me, well, obviously I have to work on that, huh? And let's not forget BAKING, especially Christmas cookies.....I counted last year, when I was a kid I think she made 12-15 different kinds of cookies. With 4 kids in the house! I made Oreo truffles this year. That's it. AND....my Oreo Trufffles look like a kindergartener made them, no matter how careful I am. Hers look like they come from a chocolate shop, all perfect. My favorite cookies are the candy cane cookies....one strip of regular dough, another strip of red dough, twist them together to make a candy cane shape and sprinkle with crushed candy canes and bake. Sounds easy enough. Nope. I made 4 pans last year and each one except maybe 5 of my cookies BROKE when I took them off the pan! She said she was going to make them again this year and I decided to give her a tip (since I'M now the expert, ha!). Told her to just roll the two colors into a ball so they look like a little peppermint (SO MUCH easier and they still taste the same, right?!) But NO NO NO, my mom wouldn't cheat. She has that standard remember? She made them this year, candy cane twist and all and said she didn't have any of hers break. Go figure. And, true story, they DO taste better when they are in the shape of a candy cane:):)
Secondly, decorating. For sure, hands down, without a doubt, I'll never be as good as her. For those of you who have stepped into her house know her house looks like it is out of a magazine. Actually, no, its better. She once told me that she never would never want a set of matching couches, chair, recliner, etc (gasp!!! im all into matching). Nope, no matching. It all goes together somehow, but everything in her house from the furniture to the decor comes from ALL different places. Some homes are "Pottery Barn", some are "Kirklands", some are "Walmart":), but her's is undescribable. If they make more than 100 of them, she doesn't buy it. Her house looks different every season with different decor in the summer, fall, Christmastime, and spring. It took me 15 min to put up my 4 decorations for Christmas this year. It took her an entire week. No joke. We've been in our house now for 6 years and just a couple years ago someone walked through our front door and asked "did you just move in here?" Bare walls, 2 decorations, you get the idea. My mom says "I didn't have everything right away, you'll accumulate things little by little to decorate your house". That may be so, but I'll never be as good as she is. She has a way of putting things together to make them look beautiful. Give us each the same fresh cut flowers and tell us to each put them into a vase and hers looks like a masterpiece and mine looks like a kindergartener did it. Thats not a joke, that happened this summer. :)
Third, cleaning. Now, serisously I really do think I do a good job. I NEED to have a clean house, that's what keeps me happy. Everything in the world could be going wrong, but if my house is clean, I feel good:) When we first moved into our house (no kids) I washed the floor once a week on my hands and knees and deep cleaned each bathroom once a week. That's what my mom does. That's what I grew up with. That's what I thought I had to do. Well, now with only 2 kids, cleaning is not so regular. I know I SHOULD wash my floor once a week, but I don't. And bathrooms? Oh boy, Im not going to even tell you how irregularly I clean them. Oops. My mom always had a vaccum running every morning in our house when we were kids. My vaccum gets turned on once a week if I am lucky. Before we left anywhere as kids, even if it meant we would be 1/2 hr late, the house had to be all cleaned up. My mom never wanted to come home to a messy house, which I understand. But, most times, it just doesn't happen. Syrup is usually still stuck to our kitchen table as we leave the house for church. If we were out all day and didn't get home til really late at night, it was MANDATORY that we still take a bath, no matter if it was midnight or not. I have put my kids to bed more than a handful of times with sticky fingers and mouths after we get home from somewhere late at night. They are still alive. But am I setting a good example like my mom did? Hmmm.....
Another one: Shopping, specifically for clothes. As kids, we were dressed SHARP. I remember being a kid and going shopping for school clothes or holiday outfits and the places we went were Macy's (Dayton's), Nordstom's, or any little unique clothing shop nowhere near us. Anything except Target or Kohls or JC Pennys. I never owned one article of clothing from either of those places. I never had the same clothes as anyone else and always had fancy dresses, a dress coat in winter with one of those little hand muffler things. For every holiday (Easter, Christmas, etc), I always had a brand new dress. Of course it was not appropriate to wear one of the other 15 fancy dresses that were in my closet. It had to be new. My hair as a little girl was either in fancy braids or big huge curls because my mom put rollers in or used a curling iron and a whole bottle of hairspray. Well, me being a mom of two little girls you would think that I would keep that same standard of dressingthem as sharp as a tack. Nope, not so much. My kids go to daycare in mismatched clothes. Most days, I don't even comb Julia's hair. They really don't own "dress" coats. A couple of their "nicer" ones are hand me downs. I have yet to buy them anything from Macy's or Nordstroms and mainly for the fact that I don't want to drive there. This year for Christmas, Lyvia wore one of Julia's old Christmas dresses and Julia wore a dress that she's worn a handful of times (and it was actually a hand me down from Gabrielle!) It isn't really even a "holiday" dress, but its black and has some green in it, so it passes for a Christmas dress in my book:):) My mom set a high standard of dressing nice and being put together, however, I still have a ways to go in that department.
I think I will have to continue this subject later......I could go on and on. It boils down to the fact that my mom always did her best to make sure we had the best, looked our best, and she never created excuses or ran out of energy doing it. Will I ever be like her? Will I ever someday come close to meeting the standards that she set for us? All I know is that I am thankful for the standards that she has set- if they were not set high, who knows what level I would be at!
Traditions
We are in the midst of Christmas celebrations this weekend and I've been thinking about Traditions that we are starting as a family. It's exciting to create these fmemorable moments (although we've both agreed at ages 4 and 2, what we've done with Julia and Lyvia so far they will not remember any of it!) I don't remember anything when I was 4! Oh well. So, its for us right now:)
As a kid, my family always went down to Macy's (Dayton's) 8th floor holiday display to see Santa and its something that we are continuing today with the girls. The past 2 years we've went there on Christmas Eve morning and its great- short lines, no crowds, just perfect! And Santa is still there because he doesn't need to get into his sleigh until nighttime:) It's been a really great way to start our day since we go to church at 4:30pm and then to the Vetsch Christmas after that.
Just this year, on Chirstmas Eve, after the girls got out of the bathtub, they walked to their room wrapped in their towels to go get their pajamas on and found a present on the floor from Mom and Dad. Another tradition that I'd like to continue, it was Christmas pajamas for each of them. Especially cute for pictures by the tree on Christmas morning!
When I was young, we always went to the Hollidazzle Parade, but I'm not brave enough for that one yet. Seems like a lot of work with little ones right now! Maybe when everyone is a little older:) So, that's it for now, I'm sure as our girls and future kids get older we will create more family traditions.
As a kid, my family always went down to Macy's (Dayton's) 8th floor holiday display to see Santa and its something that we are continuing today with the girls. The past 2 years we've went there on Christmas Eve morning and its great- short lines, no crowds, just perfect! And Santa is still there because he doesn't need to get into his sleigh until nighttime:) It's been a really great way to start our day since we go to church at 4:30pm and then to the Vetsch Christmas after that.
Just this year, on Chirstmas Eve, after the girls got out of the bathtub, they walked to their room wrapped in their towels to go get their pajamas on and found a present on the floor from Mom and Dad. Another tradition that I'd like to continue, it was Christmas pajamas for each of them. Especially cute for pictures by the tree on Christmas morning!
Another Tradition that Johnny has started is reading "The Night Before Christmas" to the girls on Christmas Eve. They sit on the couch and cuddle up- its the only time of year that they read that book. Johnny makes sure to hide it until that night.
When I was young, we always went to the Hollidazzle Parade, but I'm not brave enough for that one yet. Seems like a lot of work with little ones right now! Maybe when everyone is a little older:) So, that's it for now, I'm sure as our girls and future kids get older we will create more family traditions.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Julia's 4 yr birthday!
I am posting this a little late. Julia turned 4 on July 8th! We celebrated with her twice- for her birthday dinner, she wanted cheesy noodles and we had a look-alike ice cream sundae cake. The next day, Friday, we invited all the grandmas and grandpas over as well as the cousins in town. It was a HOT day and they played outside in the sprinkler and jumped on the trampoline. Everyone made their own ice cream sundaes and we had all the toppings there.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Family Triathlon!
We Ran! We Biked! We Swam!
We drove over to the Barthel farm to do a family "practice" triathlon. Word is that my sister Gabrielle is organizing a "secret" triathlon for the family....secret for the fact that she is not going to tell anyone until it gets closer so she has more time to train and thus win. What a stinker. Well, we are getting ahead of the game.
We started out with a 1 mile run with the girls in the double stroller- Holy Hot outside. That got us sweating. Then off for a bike ride on country roads. Problem- I forgot Julia's helmet (she is on the trail-a-bike behind my bike) so we decided to "off-road" it and take a bike ride around the farm. Wow, that was hard. It was like mountain biking...rather farm biking. Lots of hills, bumps, trees to dodge. We biked for a solid 30 min (there is a lot of space to bike around the farmyard). Much more fun than biking on a boring old road!! Then for the swim (I went solo on this one while Johnny entertained the girls)- 10 laps in the pool. Whew! Good workout.
We drove over to the Barthel farm to do a family "practice" triathlon. Word is that my sister Gabrielle is organizing a "secret" triathlon for the family....secret for the fact that she is not going to tell anyone until it gets closer so she has more time to train and thus win. What a stinker. Well, we are getting ahead of the game.
We started out with a 1 mile run with the girls in the double stroller- Holy Hot outside. That got us sweating. Then off for a bike ride on country roads. Problem- I forgot Julia's helmet (she is on the trail-a-bike behind my bike) so we decided to "off-road" it and take a bike ride around the farm. Wow, that was hard. It was like mountain biking...rather farm biking. Lots of hills, bumps, trees to dodge. We biked for a solid 30 min (there is a lot of space to bike around the farmyard). Much more fun than biking on a boring old road!! Then for the swim (I went solo on this one while Johnny entertained the girls)- 10 laps in the pool. Whew! Good workout.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Royal Family
We were the "Royal Family" for Halloween. Julia the Princess, Lyvia the Frog, Maureen the Queen and Johnny the King. And let's not forget about Grandpa Guzek the Court Jester and Gabrielle as the fairy godmother. We took the girls trick-or-treating to a few friends houses in the daylight hours and had family over at night. I was able to get ONE picture of the girls together that day, thank goodness!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Apple Jacks
We went to the Apple Orchard last weekend as a family. Julia rode a pony, we looked at the giant pumpkins, picked some apples, went on a cow-tractor ride and bought a carmel apple for Grandpa Guzek. Fun afternoon!
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Barthels Go Camping!
Julia went camping over Labor Day Weekend with Grandpa Greg and Grandma Rex up north to Lake Vermillion. It sounds like they had a lot of fun fishing, biking, and Julia provided entertainment at night telling "ghost stories". It was different not having her around and just having one on one time with Lyvia. It was nice, but we missed her!!
We (me johnny and lyvia) also went "camping" that weekend- if you want to call it that We drive a whole 15 minutes to Baker Park to join some friends and spent a couple days there- kind of. Got there around 6pm, slept in the tent that night (Lyvia slept like a champ in her pack and play!!), drove home the next day to get some more food, stayed the rest of the day and evening and drove home at 11:30pm after the campfire because our bed sounded better than the hard ground. I sent Johnny back the next morning to go get all of our stuff. That's our kind of camping:)
Here are some pics of Julia's adventure. I did not bring a camera for our "camping" trip.
We (me johnny and lyvia) also went "camping" that weekend- if you want to call it that We drive a whole 15 minutes to Baker Park to join some friends and spent a couple days there- kind of. Got there around 6pm, slept in the tent that night (Lyvia slept like a champ in her pack and play!!), drove home the next day to get some more food, stayed the rest of the day and evening and drove home at 11:30pm after the campfire because our bed sounded better than the hard ground. I sent Johnny back the next morning to go get all of our stuff. That's our kind of camping:)
Here are some pics of Julia's adventure. I did not bring a camera for our "camping" trip.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Comments Welcomed:):)
I told you I didn't know what I was doing. A lot of you have said how you have viewed the blog and tried to post a comment and couldn't because you had to register as a user. Well, I just figured out how to change that setting, so comment away everyone!!!!!!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Free Baby??
I just realized what Lyvia's shirt says on the "Grandpa for Rent" post from 8/8/09 . Supposed to say "Free Hugs" on her shirt but you can only see the "Free." No, we were not trying to sell her. Just thought I would clarify:) haha
More Pics from Duluth Trip
I had a heck of a time getting these pictures in-between the paragraphs on the last post. So here they are:)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Family Getaway to Duluth!!
Johnny suprised us with a two day trip up north. I knew we were going somewhere, just not exactly where. Here are some highlights from our adventure!
Thursday
5:00am- waaaaay to early to be awake
5:30am- left the house and headed north
7:30am- First stop......Bruno/Willow River exit on 35W North......Dave's Cafe! A little local cafe with the BEST breakfast. We discovered this spot back in the day on one of our trips to and from UMD. We walked in that morning and 20 heads turned. The place is filled with the "regulars" and we definately did not fit in!! I even overheard the waitress saying that they open at 7am, but the guys know how to let them selves in and turn on the coffee pot at 6:30am and just wait till the staff gets there. Anyway, we had an enormous breakfast for really cheap- we recommend this spot to anyone- as long as you don't mind feeling a little out of place:):)
10:30am- Gooseberry Falls.......it was drizzling rain, but it felt good and wasn't enough to even get us wet- more like a mist. We walked around with Julia, Johnny had Lyvia in the backpack, for about an hour and a half. The water was high an the falls were beautiful!! The river was muddy and when we looked down from a bridge Julia said "Dad!! Chocolate Water!!" hahahaha
1:30pm- The Edge Waterpark in Duluth!!! Our suite overlooked the indoor waterpark. We got our swimsuits on immediately and went to play!! Lyvia lasted about a 1/2 hour, so mommy and Lyvia got to go back to the room to take a nap:)
6:00pm- Ordered in from Blackwoods Restaurant! We picked up our food and went back to the hotel to enjoy. Much better than trying to keep 2 kids quiet and behaved in a restaurant:)
7:30pm- Mom and Julia went back to the waterpark for one last time for the day. She went down the little yellow slide about 50 times, sat in the hot tub for a little bit and were back in the room by 8:30pm to get Julia ready for bed- she was so tired!
10:00pm- We were all in bed- unheared of!!!
Friday
8:00am- Continental breakfast at the hotel followed by more swimming at the waterpark! Lyvia was getting tired and I could have probably brought her back to the room and she would have taken a nap, but instead I took her on the lazy river and held her as she put her head on my chest and sucked her fingers. She didn't fall asleep but she was so relaxed and I was loving it. I honestly don't remember the last time that I was able to cuddle her that long. I could have stayed there forever:) It was quite a sight too, to see me dodging all the waterfalls on the lazy river- by the end I was a pro.
12:00pm- Hotel Checkout and we headed to Leif Erickson Rose Garden for lunch. Johnny packed sandwiches and fruit and of course cheese sticks:) From there we walked down the boardwalk toward Fitgers. Lyvia was in the stoller and Julia walked with us- she was a trooper and did pretty good. Johnny had to hold her on his shoulders every once in a while to give her a break. Lyvia was all smiles the ENTIRE day!!! Everyone we walked by would comment "Wow- she's happy!" or "Look at the happy baby". She was loving it. It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL outside! The sky was bright blue and it the sun felt so warm. Johnny and Julia took a break to skip rocks in the water while me and Lyvia watched from up above on the boardwalk
1:30pm - We stopped in Fitgers just to look around and Johnny already had booked a massage for me at one of the day spas there. Another suprise! We walked by and he told me to go in because I had an appointment. One of the best massages I've had- heaven!!!
2:30pm- Portland Malt Shoppe stop! I don't think we will ever get sick of the malts there- its a must stop every time. Johnny got a peanut butter cookie dough malt- doesn't that sound just like him? We waked down to Canal Park and spent the afternoon walking around and enjoying the weather and the beautiful lake.
6:00pm- We headed back to our car. Julia was getting tired, and so was I!! Julia walked most of the day but sat on Johnny's shoulders a lot too. She's getting pretty big so Johnny had quite the workout- I think his back was ready for a break. When we got to our car, I was unpacking the stroller and grabbed Lyvia and put her on my shoulders. It was then where I had the genius idea that for the whole day Johnny could have put Lyvia on his shoulders and Julia could have taken a ride in the stroller when she was complaining that she was tired. Whoopsies. Sorry Johnny. hahaha
7:00pm- Before we even got out of the parking lot both girls were asleep. We took a driving tour through UMD and saw all the new buildings and changes from when we went to school there. They have added so much- it looks awesome- I would love to go to school there now. We reminiscesd about the many memories of college......so glad we are at this chapter in our lives though!
11:00pm- Home and bed! We had such a fun trip. The girls were so good and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Good job Johnny!!!
11:00pm- Home and bed! We had such a fun trip. The girls were so good and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Good job Johnny!!!
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Beach!
It was HOT outside yesterday, so we went to the beach with the girls- and Grandpa Guzek met us there of course:) It was Julia's FIRST time at the beach- finally after 3 years:) We are very spoiled with our swimming pools. Grandpa Greg & Grandma Rex, Grandma and Grandpa Barthel and Grandma Renee all have underground swimming pools. But, we decided to broaden our horizons and brave the crowds and experience the sand in our toes (and swimsuits!). We went to the Elm Creek swimming pond, which is man-made and slightly chlorinated (hey, we're used to swimming pools so we couldn't brave a real lake yet) and it was super fun. Johnny felt out of place being 1 of the 5 guys that were there along with 1500 women:):) haha
The nice thing about the beach was that Julia could just walk right in and touch the bottom while and splashing around. Here are a couple pics and short video clips!!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Bike Rides
Here are the girls all nice and cozy in the bike trailer. Once in a while Lyvia starts crying and I look back to find out that Julia took her toy and is hiding it next to her.
Grandpa for Rent
I told Gabrielle she could have a mini garage sale at our house and she could keep the profits. Grandpa enjoyed supervising the whole thing and sat on the rocker with a sign that read "Grandpa for rent- will do anything but work"
Stinky
Again, Julia was at Grandpa Greg's and Grandma Rex's. She had to go potty, so Grandpa brought her to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet, looked at Grandpa Greg and said "Grandpa, you better get outta here before it starts to stink!!!" Wonder where she's heard that???
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Different Girls
The only thing that Julia and Lyvia have in common is that they are girls. I always said I would not compare my kids, but it is impossible. We find ourselves every day saying "Julia never did this" or "Julia never did that". It is really crazy how different they are- comparing the two at the same stages of life.
Julia sucked her thumb
Lyvia sucks her two fingers
Julia never stuck anything in her mouth- we could give her a penny and she would just look at it.
Lyvia tries to eat everything- the stroller, the rug, magazines, etc. She's like a goat.
Julia was a content baby
Lyvia had major gas issues
Julia would sit in a poopy diaper and never cry
Lyvia can't stand even a pee diaper
Julia would never cry when she woke up in the morning- just layed there and smiled
Lyvia usually wakes up crying because she is hungry
Julia was true to her age with clothing- at 12 months old she wore 12 month clothing
Lyvia is a chunk. At 8 months she is wearing Julia's old 12 month clothes
Julia would fall asleep in the stroller all the time as a baby
Lyvia would just cry when she was tired......NOW, she is finally able to fall asleep.
Julia would fall asleep as soon as we started driving in the car even if it wasn't nap time.
Lyvia is usually wide awake when we get to wherever we are going.
Julia was and still is a very hard sleeper- I could vaccuum in her room while she was napping.
Lyvia is a light sleeper- i can barely tiptoe in her room while she is sleeping.
Julia would never even wake up if we had to get her out of her crib and go somewhere
Lyvia wakes up right away and usually does not go back to sleep
Julia never spit up. We never even used her burp cloths.
Lyvia still spits up and we now put a big blanket on our living room floor to catch the puke.
It's great that they are different- they are going to compliment each other well:) I'm interested to see what Lyvia's personality type will be- similar to Julia- an animated story-teller?? Or a quiet and reserved? We will find out!
Julia sucked her thumb
Lyvia sucks her two fingers
Julia never stuck anything in her mouth- we could give her a penny and she would just look at it.
Lyvia tries to eat everything- the stroller, the rug, magazines, etc. She's like a goat.
Julia was a content baby
Lyvia had major gas issues
Julia would sit in a poopy diaper and never cry
Lyvia can't stand even a pee diaper
Julia would never cry when she woke up in the morning- just layed there and smiled
Lyvia usually wakes up crying because she is hungry
Julia was true to her age with clothing- at 12 months old she wore 12 month clothing
Lyvia is a chunk. At 8 months she is wearing Julia's old 12 month clothes
Julia would fall asleep in the stroller all the time as a baby
Lyvia would just cry when she was tired......NOW, she is finally able to fall asleep.
Julia would fall asleep as soon as we started driving in the car even if it wasn't nap time.
Lyvia is usually wide awake when we get to wherever we are going.
Julia was and still is a very hard sleeper- I could vaccuum in her room while she was napping.
Lyvia is a light sleeper- i can barely tiptoe in her room while she is sleeping.
Julia would never even wake up if we had to get her out of her crib and go somewhere
Lyvia wakes up right away and usually does not go back to sleep
Julia never spit up. We never even used her burp cloths.
Lyvia still spits up and we now put a big blanket on our living room floor to catch the puke.
It's great that they are different- they are going to compliment each other well:) I'm interested to see what Lyvia's personality type will be- similar to Julia- an animated story-teller?? Or a quiet and reserved? We will find out!
First Teeth!!!
Lyvia's first teeth have broken through! The two bottom ones came at the same time. We can't really see them yet, but can feel them. No wonder she has been a crabby pants. Hopefully I can get some good toothy pictures once they start to come up.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Watering Flowers and Chocolate Pudding
Watering Flowers
Julia was helping Grandpa and Grandma water flowers a few days ago. She could barely lift the watering bucket, but was trying her best. She ended up dumping all the water on the rocks/sidewalk.
Grandpa Greg, teasing says: "Julia, don't you know that you're supposed to water the flowers, not the rocks?!"
Rex: "Oh, Grandpa, she's doing just fine...."
Julia in a very stern voice glaring at Grandpa Greg: "Yeah, Grandpa! I'm doing just fine! I got half on the rocks and half on the flowers!!
Chocolate Pudding
Grandma Rex promised Julia chocolate pudding if she kept her pull-up dry at naptime. She did not keep it dry at naptime, but did keep it dry overnight when she stayed there that night. She woke up in the morning and was so excited. "Grandma!! I can have chocolate pudding! I kept my pull-up dry!! Well, a promise is a promise, so she got a little chocolate pudding for breakfast:)
Grandma Rex: "Julia, do you keep your pull-up dry when you wake up in the morning at home?"
Julia, shaking her head: "NO"
Grandma Rex: "Why Not?
Julia, matter-of-factly says...."We don't have any chocolate pudding at home"
Julia was helping Grandpa and Grandma water flowers a few days ago. She could barely lift the watering bucket, but was trying her best. She ended up dumping all the water on the rocks/sidewalk.
Grandpa Greg, teasing says: "Julia, don't you know that you're supposed to water the flowers, not the rocks?!"
Rex: "Oh, Grandpa, she's doing just fine...."
Julia in a very stern voice glaring at Grandpa Greg: "Yeah, Grandpa! I'm doing just fine! I got half on the rocks and half on the flowers!!
Chocolate Pudding
Grandma Rex promised Julia chocolate pudding if she kept her pull-up dry at naptime. She did not keep it dry at naptime, but did keep it dry overnight when she stayed there that night. She woke up in the morning and was so excited. "Grandma!! I can have chocolate pudding! I kept my pull-up dry!! Well, a promise is a promise, so she got a little chocolate pudding for breakfast:)
Grandma Rex: "Julia, do you keep your pull-up dry when you wake up in the morning at home?"
Julia, shaking her head: "NO"
Grandma Rex: "Why Not?
Julia, matter-of-factly says...."We don't have any chocolate pudding at home"
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Teddy Bear Cake
I knew i wanted to make (ok, eat) an ice cream cake for Julia's birthday party, but of course we needed chocolate cake too. I borrowed my moms cake pan to make a 3-D teddy bear- great idea- not as easy as I thought! I slapped frosting between the two halves and tried to stick it together, but it would not stay. More frosting and a big mess later, still wouldn't stay together. Toothpicks! Hark! I stuck them all over and it worked! Went upstairs and when I came back down, the bear was split in half again, lying in a big pile of frosting. Skewers to the rescue!!! I stabbed the poor teddy bear with the wooden sticks and it worked! Loading the bear with sprinkles was an adventure too......:) All worth it though:)
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