a bit about the baptism

the baptism was a wonderful experience for us all. I'm sure there is very little that Emma will remember about this day, there was a lot going on. but one thing she is sure to remember is that the water was cold. the hot water heater wasn't able to keep up with the demand, I guess.

there were a lot of friends and family there.
and of course we were asked to pose for a family picture. my family is pretty good looking.

but there is a reason that I am always behind the camera

about the birthday party

Emma is the girliest girl there ever was. okay, maybe not, but she is does love sparkly, swirly, lofty kinds of things. This is why her cake has princess sprinkles. she decided that it would be best if the sprinkles were not all mixed together so she put them the cake herself.
if you're wondering what they are, they are white pearls, yellow crowns/tiaras, blue glass slippers, and red apples (from snow white - no one was poisoned eating these apples)

Connor and Emma are always giggling together. It often makes me crazy... they kind of get themselves worked into a squealing, giggling frenzy. I have to remind myself - often - that it could be worse, they could be fighting non stop. at least they like each other.

her presents were a barbie with a kitchen set. she says that she can pretend that the kitchen is in Barbie's house or it is her cafeteria that she apparently owns and operates :)

she also received some wonderful art supplies which included a sketch pad, color pencils, a very nice artist's eraser, and a book with instructions on how to draw different kinds of pets.
she has been drawing a lot and she is pretty good. (I still need to take pictures of her drawings)

she had a great time

it was a great birthday

for Emma.
I, on the other hand, suffer from sensory overload with every birthday that happens in this house.
but this one is extra special. Emma is 8, so along with her birthday I get to organize - to some degree - a baptism. so I've been kind of swamped for the last week and I will go over birthday pictures when I finally have a minute after the baptism is done.

I'll try to blog tomorrow, complete with pictures

This day is such a special one....

it's birthday time for you

it wasn't all bad (a lot of pictures)

the day we went out to the falls we hadn't even left home yet and Connor came running back in the house and was so excited. he told me that I had to come and see what Emma had. with the cooler temperatures everything is a bit sluggish.

she caught a leopard frog. those things are tricky to get a hold of. the longer she held it the more it warmed up and struggled to get away. it would kick and push the hand she had supporting his legs

she giggled a lot.

then we went out to see the falls. the kids had so much fun and I wasn't a complete tyrant the entire time. As soon as they got out of the car they were climbing and running.
there were a couple of places that I could allow them to freely run and have fun.

Ronan and Emma started it.
see them running in the background of this picture of Connor being Farmer Brown
they were running through the picnic area and Emma ran too close to the tree...(maybe she meant to do it) but she put her foot up on the tree and bounced off and kept running. everyone saw her do it and it was so cool! every one of the kids had to have their turn, then it turned into 'how high up the tree can I run'I really should have stopped them because it is a State Park. but I think that I was just so relieved to not have to keep them away from the fences and railings that I just didn't care if they were abusing the tree a little.....
just so long as they weren't risking falling into this churning wateror off a cliff


so I let them get it out of their systems


Connor may have gotten a little worn out from all the running around.
I was secretly hoping for this. let them wear themselves out and they might not give me trouble when it's time for bedsome might call this cheating, but Ronan is the winner... although Timothy did run the highest without any help
in the bike rack. yeah.... you're guess is as good as mine.
:)

MN water torture

Yesterday Tim got home from work and suggested that we should go and see the falls (since they currently have water).
I've may have mentioned before that on their best days my kids are fairly klutzy. and I have mentioned in the past that having my kids near the falls causes me to panic a bit. but even with that nervous disorder of motherhood we went and I had a full blown nervous break down.
last week after all the rain we had in this area there has been severe flooding. (We have been blessed not to have sustained any flood damage to our house. we haven't been affected by the road closures or power outages or water and sewer restrictions)
the Falls have been real busy since the rain.

this is a picture (from the link above) of the falls in August of last year. the water was barely a dribble.
and I was about freaking out on this day.


this is the exact same spot yesterday. you know this equation... kids + water = throw rocks and acorns in water. my mommy imagination was going nuts picturing my kids in mid throw tripping on the air around their feet and plunging head long into the rushing water.
and this is before you reach the bridge.
that's another equally famous equation. kids + bridge = kids climb the rail on the bridge.


I don't have to tell you what I was picturing. ugh! Ronan is still mad at me for screaming at him not to climb up the railing. He says "I was trying to see the water and I couldn't see the water because I'm tiny"
well, that may be, but my fear was enormous.

ha ha ha

me: "Timothy, I think you've grown again."
Timothy: "I just put my shoe on"