Sprinkles

It's been a S...L...O...W process, but Hallie's finally working her way into becoming a fan of the sprinkler. It helps that Lily is completely fearless when it comes to water and is always willing to get wet first.

But as it goes with Hallie and most things, once she got the hang of the sprinkler and decided being sprinkled could be fun, she committed whole-heartedly.

After she'd had enough to drink from the sprinkler, Lily spent the rest of her outside time filling up a plastic tea cup with sprinkler water and then walking the cup across the lawn and the stone patio to where the adults were sitting. Because Lily's not the steadiest of walkers and the patio stones are a bit uneven, there was never any water left in the cup when she reached us...so then she'd turn around and walk back to the sprinkler to start the process over again. Lily must have done this 50 times without complaining, but on the 51st trip she'd finally had enough.

I think she was also a little upset that the bottom of her swimsuit wouldn't stay on. In protest, she peed on the patio. Like six times.

Then, so as not to be outdone, Hallie peed on the patio. Only once, thankfully.

I guess peeing on the patio is better than peeing in the pool...

Dreams

Because this blog serves as something of a baby book for Will and Hallie, it's a place where we post pictures of and tell stories about their adventures and milestones. But now, as Will and Hallie get older and some of my memories fade, this blog will also be a place where we document the "little things" we don't ever want to forget.

On occasion Will has trouble falling asleep. One night he came out of his room, asking for suggestions as to what he might do to pass the time and/or help him finally drift off into a peaceful slumber, and in one of my more genius moments, I came up with blowing dreams into his ears. I gave two little puffs of air in one ear and three long puffs of air in the other, and he headed back to his room, a smile on his face. The next morning he told me he'd dreamed about super heroes and ninja fighters (?).

We still go through this ritual a couple of times a week, and I love more than anything that my little boy still believes that dreams come from his mothers lips.

Hmmm...

Will: "Look, Mom, I drew a picture of you!"

Erin: "That's a great drawing, Will. Good work!"

Will: (after looking at and pondering his picture for a minute or two) "Well, it actually looks a little bit more like Grandma Brenda than it does you."

Clearly.

Identical Cousins, Part 3

Because they're cute, and because on some days I can see in them their sister moms.

Splash Pad

Just like Will and Lily love the pool (and Hallie strongly dislikes the pool), Will and Hallie love the splash pad and Hallie strongly dislikes the splash pad.  I've actually never seen a child love the water more than Lily, and I've never seen a child as willing to sweat on the sidelines (instead of getting instead of getting in the water to cool off) as Hallie.

That's a handsome boy.

Lily literally can't get enough of any
water-related activity.

She only drank like four or five cups
worth of water that day.

This stream of water, which fell every time
a bucket up above filled with water, was
strong enough to de-pants Will.  He thought
this was HYSTERICAL.

Bathing beauty.

Pouty Pouterson.

Luckily Hallie cheered up a little when we left the splash pad for the park. Both Will and Hallie only wanted to slide with Lily, so they'd wait at the top of the play structure for Lily to s..l..o..w..l..y (she's only 18-months-old) climb up the stairs, through the tunnel, and across the platform to the slide. Then they'd fight about whose turn it was to go down the slide with her. It was really sweet. And really annoying.

A Summer of Swimming

We've spent a lot of time in swimming pools this summer - from swimming lessons through the city to swimming lessons at our neighbor's house to open swim at the neighborhood pool. Will has loved every minute, while Hallie has loved only a few seconds here and there (she hasn't yet found her flippers, and she's always cold, which makes swimming a little less fun for her).

There's no longer any fear in this boy when it comes to swimming.

"Speedo goggles make me super fast!"

She still swims with her sunglasses on.

Practicing his strokes.

Trips down the slide.

Working on not drowning.

Crossing the lily pads.

At the end of every lesson the kids would go down the water
slide. Hallie never wanted to participate, so she'd line
up the ducks on the pool deck instead.

The placement of the ducks was very important to her.

When Sara, Jeff, and Lily came to visit we bought a small backyard pool so that the kids could play in the water every day, whenever they wanted (without the grown-ups having to pack up towels, sunscreen, toys, changes of clothes, snacks, hats, sunglasses, etc. and trek everyone to the neighborhood pool). Lily and Will could have played in the pool all day, but Hallie preferred to cower in the corner.

This is the only decent (and I use that
term loosely, seeing as none of them are
looking at the camera) photo of the
three of them from this visit.

Next up will be swimming in the lakes!

Happy Birthday Tom!

Happy birthday to my hubby and Will and Hallie's daddy!

Call Me, Maybe

I'm sure you've heard the song and seen the "dancing" videos, just as we have.

When Tom and I traveled to Wisconsin for the wedding of our dear friend, Beth, a couple of weekends ago, we heard "Call Me, Maybe" at least 10 times on the radio. It was stuck in my head to the point that when we arrived home I pulled up one of the videos on YouTube and started playing it for the kids. When they started rocking out we started filming, and after all was said and done we ended up with 15 videos. Here are just six of the 15, edited down so that you can get the gist of their performances without having to spend your entire afternoon watching videos.

Will starts things off on his own.
(This was Will's very first foray into lip-syncing, in case you can't tell.)


Then the girls join in.


Then Lily loses interest.


Then Lily does her best to keep Will from continuing his performance.


Then Lily gives the feet dance a try.


And finally, Will and Hallie bring it on home, sans Lily.


I love how "in to" the dance Will got, but even more than that, I love how - throughout all 15 videos - Hallie keeps her hands in tightly balled fists, never smiles, and looks like she's slowly beating the crap out of someone. I'd hate to run into that little pipsqueak in a dark alley...

Watering the Lawn

This one's all boy. Creative and resourceful, but all boy.

(Our hose has a hole in it, so he wrapped the hose around his
waist so that the hole was facing directly out in front of him.
He then turned on the hose and watered the lawn, laughing
the entire time because it looked like he was peeing.)

Polka Dot Polka

Sara and I have been playing this duet since we were 11 and nine years old, and we still play it at least once every time we're together and in the presence of a piano. It's called the Polka Dot Polka, and clearly it invites dancing.



Well, Hallie danced. Lily danced, grocery shopped, and cried for someone to give her access to the guitar.

Oh, and Will actually filmed this video - he's obviously going to be the next Steven Spielberg. Or Dawson Leary.

Boops!

Hallie Claire loves her red cowboy boots ("boops"). They go with everything.

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Susie bought the little red boots for Hallie right after we moved to Texas. The boots were purposely too big when they came home with Hallie so that she'd be able to wear them for a while, and thankfully they still fit her now. Someday, however, the little red boots will find another home, and when that day comes Hallie has another pair of boots waiting in the wings.

Hallie adores Ms. Andrea's little girl, Makenna. A few weeks ago, Andrea was cleaning out Makenna's closet and came across a pair of PINK cowboy boots that Makenna had never worn but that were now too small for her. Andrea offered them to Hallie, who after seeing a picture of the boots and learning that they once lived in Makenna's closet, said she absolutely, positively wanted to put her little feet in them.

They're still about three sizes too big, but when the time comes these pink boots are going to help Hallie light up the world around her.

Happy Birthday, USA!

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

~Erma Bombeck

Her Life is So Hard

Though Hallie'd like you believe that I forced her spend the afternoon working her fingers to the bone, she chose to "mop" the patio in the first place and then insisted on continuing to do so - despite my warnings that a thunderstorm was rolling in - for more than 45 minutes. My patio is really clean and the water in the swimming pool is completely and totally disgusting.

In case you can't understand what she's singing (it was a little windy outside that day), here are the lyrics to her song:

We can do it, we can do it
We can help our Cinderellie
Make a dress so pretty
...

Her life is so hard.