Nothing like the feeling of new carpeting on the paws!

As you can see somebody else likes the new carpeting too!! Chevy has been laying and playing on it all day. He has made himself right at home in our home the past couple of weeks. Even though it's still a battle of the sexes between the cat and the dog I think with time that will pass.

Well today I went on another mad mission for socks for Rose E (round three) and came out empty handed): I have searched all over kingdom come and found that all of the baby socks have some kind of elastic in them, I suppose to keep them on. I guess I will have to do some more searching online. We had a fun visit tonight though, Jeff's aunt and cousin Claire where in town (helping Jeff's cousin Wesley move home, he has been going to college here and is done for the summer). Walter was thrilled to get to play with his cousins Kirsten and Cale.

I thought I would also mention a few of Walter's question today since I got a kick out of them. First of all, with potty training we have been spending a lot of time in the bathroom lately and he was looking at a couple of lighthouses that we have on the back of the toilet and he said "mama why there not a sidewalk coupled up to the two lighthouses(coupled up is a train term that gets used in his everyday language quite often)?" He also said today, "mama cars don't grow, why cars not grow?" I swear we should have named him George! Speaking of books, Rose E was cute today as she "read" a book to me and then closed it and said "all done!" She has been looking at several things and saying "that?" too. Her words of the day where "chick", "birdy" and "more" (bird and more she signed as she said them).

Yeah our carpet has been laid!

Yeah (as Rose E would say), our carpet has been laid! It feels really nice to walk on and is a lot quieter. Also, Rose E keeps excitedly signing that she sees new flowers! I added a before and an after picture for all to see (the before picture doesn't do it justice to how badly the steps needed to be covered).

I kept these kids busy today by batting a balloon around, they both got a kick out of it. Rose E also made-up her own game that she played over and over where she would take my hair scrunchy off of my wrist and then hand it to me and wait for me to put it back onto my wrist, then she thought she would get Walter involved too so she handed it to him and said "here." Those wheels never stop turning! Speaking of wheels, lately when she sees a firetruck or ambulance she says "whee o whee o."

Both of these kids have been playing a lot with the toy telephones too. Walter usually pretends to call his Papas' and Grandmas' several times a day. Today I wrote down his phone call to Papa A.J, he said "Hi Papa A.J, good to see you. We playing Thomas trains. Good bye." I kept wondering where "good to see you" came from and then tonight the librarian at story hour said that too him, so I guess my mystery has been solved! He has also been into making-up names for his toys. Today he named two stuffed bunnies "betas" and "Zazas." He was tired today, so I had to laugh because he tried to lay down on the floor and Rose E said "get-up Walter!" Unbelievable! This morning when I was feeding her breakfast too Rose E said "mm yum, yum, yum" (the carpet installer whom she was quite the little flirt with said that to her yesterday). Boy oh boy do they ever keep us entertained!

Coming out smelling like roses!

Here is a sneak peak of the carpet that is being installed in our hallways and steps. I think it is going to look really nice, they should be done tomorrow. I will post a before and after then. This morning before they came I told Walter about the new carpeting but then he didn't know what to think about them actually going into his bedroom once they got here and said "Mama why are there strangers in mine bedroom?" Rose E on the other hand told Chevy "stop Chevy" when he barked at them. I have a couple of little police officers on my hands! I tried to keep the kids busy today with puzzles, games and books to keep them out of the way. Walter was proud of himself for putting this big firetruck puzzle together. He said Nana was driving Papa and Barney to the fire! I also added a picture of our little tomboy playing with Walter's tools. These little tools have gotten a lot of use lately. It was cute because Walter, after seeing the carpet layers pounding all day, decided to take out his hammer and "fix the rug." I also had to laugh because it was too busy for Rose E to nap, so once she finally did get to nap I took her into her room and she said "yeah!" She must have been really tired because it is usually "no, no, no." Lastly, I had to take a picture of Rose E and her bear crawl. I put a dress on her today and saw her almost stand-up as she crawled and I said "Rose E what are you doing?" She replied "this!" She is still going sock less. She broke out from the new socks that I bought for her too (the elastic at the top- they had the least amount off spandex in them out off all the socks I looked at at three stores) I am hoping that I can find some all cotton ones at J.C Penney or online. This little women is one sensitive kid! Her food choices are getting pretty limited too. I now think she is allergic to both wheat and whole grain oat as well as milk. I really do not know what to feed her! But a smarty she is. Today her other new words that she said where "train car," "swing" and "star."

All I want for my Birthday are my two top teeth!

Well, Walter finally got to eat at his favorite restaurant today after church, Pizza Hut! Speaking of eating, tonight with supper he made "steps" out of his cheese. Every time he would take a bite he would say "now there's more steps going down". Also, as long as I'm on the topic of steps I am pretty excited because tomorrow we are getting some nice rose patterned carpeting put down on our steps and hallways. Tonight I said my final good byes to the hard wood floors as I gave them a good scrubbing. I wonder when the next time will be that I will see them again. The carpeting I bet is going to add a lot! It is in dire need.

We discovered today that Rose E now has two teeth popping through on top. That's how she got her bottom two too, at the same time. She also got to stand-up for the first time in church for having a Birthday in the month of May. It was cute because she stood in Jeff's lap and danced as the congregation sang "Happy Birthday". Where did the time go?!? She is getting big too fast! Her new words of the day where "duck" and "ney" for horse.

Shabby chic to chic

Well today we went from shabby chic to chic with our pump organ. A couple of weeks ago we sold this first one, it was very old but no longer worked right and today we bought this one from the church. It is also very old, it works and is in much better condition. Walter had fun with Daddy this afternoon playing on it.

We also had lots of wind with snow today, yes I said snow ugh! Although Rose E peered outside this morning looked at the swings and said "whee" we still made it a puzzle day inside. Walter had fun with a cube puzzle that makes 8 different puzzles and Rose E had fun with her wooden knob puzzle, she kept saying "what this" and she repeated "jelly fish" and "fish." For the first time too she tried to put some back in place (a few of them in the right spots).

I also took a picture of Walter at lunch today. It's funny how just about everything becomes a learning experience these days! Typically when I have been giving him grapes I have been cutting them up, but today he got them whole and boy was that ever thrilling! One of them even had a little stem left on it so he said "mama where do grape trees come from?" Then before eating them he put them into a pile and said they where "pizza hut." What a goof! Never a dull moment I swear. He also kept teasing me all day long because I wore my hair in a rubber band, he kept playing with it and saying "mama has a tail." I suppose the term "pony tail" could seem a little confusing after all!

April showers bring May flowers!

Well today was a rainy kind of day but I kept thinking about the old saying "April showers bring May flowers." Despite the rain we where able to sneak in an evening walk. This boy of mine doesn't miss a beat! He asks about everything! I have been talking about plants lately with him and he even noticed flowers coming up that I didn't notice and would say "what kind of flower is that?" He also saw some worms and said "mama where the worms going?" Oh and too there was a kitten sitting inside a window sill and he said "why the kitty sitting there and not playing in the kitty's house?" I love it though, because it gets us talking about things in greater detail.

This morning did we ever have the sound of music in this house! The kids played with a piano (in Rose E's words a "niano") and a xylophone. Rose E was cute, she would dance and play at the same time. She has really been into those dance moves lately! She also said this morning "doggy drink, all done" and "clock." I got a kick out of her during lunch too, I gave her a small bowl to play with and she took all off her crackers off of her tray and put them into the bowl then she took them out of the bowl one by one to eat.

This afternoon Jeff and I drug the kids to a few antique stores, though we didn't really find anything it was still fun. We also stopped at a new coffee shop in downtown Calumet which was neat because a couple from our church have restored it, it originally was an old car station and they have really fixed it up with lots of charm. Walter was thrilled to have an "nm and nm cookie" and hot chocolate to sweeten up his day!

Wee!

We are pleased to announce that Jeff's brother and his wife finalized the adoption of Ariel! We are very happy for them all and thought about them all day long. We will be celebrating his adoption more on the weekend of Rose E's birthday.

Walter was also thinking about them and made-up a story about him and Ariel. One of his favorite things to do is to take turns making-up stories with Jeff and I and I thought yesterdays was a cute one so I decided I would share it(in the story he came-up with all of the good parts-the people and the adventures). He pretended that we ate with Papa, Nana, Uncle Dan, Auntie Amy and Ariel at Pizza Hut and Ariel brought a car that flipped over on both sides. Anyway, he pushed it back and forth at the table and it landed in someones plate, so Walter took him in his helicopter to the car wash. Then Walter drove him to the park (the one we went to today) and he slid it down the slide and it went all the way over to the museum train track. The train ran it over and the engineer felt so bad that he gave them a special ride in the caboose. Then Walter took it home and fixed it with his Bob the Builder tools! Boy oh boy, does this boy ever have an imagination!

Speaking of the park, I took these pictures today while we played there. Every time we drive by lately Walter has been giving me the report on how much snow is left there and then finally the past couple of days it has been mostly gone so he was thrilled when I told him today we could go. Both kids had a blast. Rose E went down her first slide and every time she would go down she would say "wee." Then she would sign more and say "wee" to do it again. Walter had lots of fun climbing, sliding and swinging. I had to add a picture of him on the merry go round too because he saw it and said in great excitement "mama what is that big wheel?" Then it was cute because when it was time to leave Rose E started to cry. Also when we got home she was trying to tell me about it by talking about "wee" and then when we went for our usual walk tonight she kept saying "wee" too. I think she was asking to go back. I can not get over how many words she is saying! The past couple of days when I am done reading a book she says "the end." She also said "ring" (stacking ring), "please" and "good night" to Walter tonight. Yesterday, it was neat because I played a little game with them where I tossed balls into a container and when I tossed the first one in she said "yeah."
Lastly, I posted a picture of Walter and Jeff next to our train crossing sign. Jeff gave it a fresh coat of paint today and it really turned out nice.