This one is for you, Pop-O

My Ellie is getting to the point that she does not want to eat her baby food. She wants to eat what the rest of us are having. My father keeps telling me that he will be happy when Ellie can eat table food (My brave dad watches Ethan, Erica, and Ellie two days a week). Ellie tries to take the spoon from you. She is also notorious for wiping her dirty hands in her hair. She loves to make a fist just to hear the food squeeze through her fingers. Today at lunch time, I fed Ellie her favorite baby food, pumpkin and pears. This is the end result. At least she smells good from the pumpkin spices smeared all in her hair, ears, clothes, and every where else. Dad, where were you when it was time to clean her up?

Dance Party, USA

Ethan and Erica love to have dance parties. We often have these when the whole family gets together. Their cousin, Ally, has cool moves. But, Ethan and Erica are no slouches themselves. After breakfast, Ethan declared that we needed to listen to cool music. I turned on what I figured to be cool but was quickly told that my music was not cool. Oh the joys of parenthood! I finally found music worthy. Erica's favorite dance song is "Aunt Erin's song" or the Cha Cha Slide (I think that is the name. I guess I am really NOT cool). Ethan tried his best to imitate his mother doing the MC Hammer dance and Macarana. He is getting really good at break dancing. Although, I have no idea where he learned these moves. Erica had to go with the old stand-by, the doggy. The doggy was Ethan's favorite move in his younger days. It won't be long before Ellie joins in the fun. She loves to bounce when music comes on. Let's just hope she is a better dancer than her mother.

All Work and No Play

Ahh! I love spring break. I have really been looking forward to the week off of school to just spend time with my kiddos. This morning we had to take advantage of the sunshine. I first roped Ethan and Erica into helping me with some yard work while Ellie supervised from her wagon. We then took a break to swing. Apparently I worked them too hard! And, no, this was NOT nap time. 2 sleeping girls and 1 day dreaming boy
Yes, Erica is curled up in the "pirate ship" swing asleep. Paul and the neighbor have always said that they would love to take a nap in this swing.

Ellie worked hard supervising all of the yard work.

Susan the Monster

Today our family went to watch the film Monsters vs. Aliens at the IMAX 3-D theatre (Very cool). At the beginning of the film, the main character, Susan, turns into a monster. Now, Ethan, Erica, and Paul think this is hilarious. When we returned home, Erica was walking through the house yelling for Susan. She then began yelling at the top of her lungs for "Susan Monster, where are you?" This continued for several minutes. Needless to say, Paul got the biggest kick out of this.

No Room for Brad

This morning I awoke arrounded by arms and legs. Each night Paul and I read bedtime stories to the kids, tuck them in bed, sing songs, and finally slip out of their rooms. Erica even has a special glow-in-the-dark Backpack (Dora the Explorer) hanging above her bed. I must remind Backpack each night to make sure "No monsters or mices" get Erica. All of this effort and she still ends up in our bed in the middle of the night. Ethan usually makes his way into our room in the morning. However, this morning Ethan came in our room first, and Erica followed a short time later. Usually that is way too many bodies for our bed. I have come to find that we have the most comfortable couch in the world when both Ethan and Erica decide that they want to sleep in "Mommy Daddy's bed." With Paul still in Chicago for the weekend, I was able to enjoy Erica's hair tickling my face, holding my hand, the occasional "Mommy, I lub you" and Ethan's legs draped over my waist without the fear of falling off of the bed. As the sun was finally coming up, Erica said, "Mommy, Daddy can sleep with us, but there's no room for Brad." Our friend, Brad Rumple came to our house on Friday afternoon to ride with Paul to Chicago. Erica apparently believed that he would be staying with us upon their return.

Character Poll Anyone?

Scary thought--five 30-somethings (who act like they are still in college) driving around downtown Chicago in a mini-van! Go ahead and laugh, I am and will each time I think about it. Paul, Rumple, Sigler, and Stocklin are in Chicago for the weekend. They are so happy (giddy almost) that Stubbe is back (he was recently transfered from Denver to Chicago). So, what better way to celebrate than to have Stubbe kick the wife, daughter and new baby out of the house for the weekend so the boys can relive their "glory days."

Picture this, It is 7:00 p.m. in Section E of Johnson-Dietz, the boys are just waking up from a nap. It was a hard day of classes. The basketball games are on the TV, the radio is blaring. We think it is just the boys trying to be cool, now we know that Paul was just trying to hear to music. Stubbe is dancing somewhere, Stocklin is on the computer, and the rest are trying to lay low so that they do not top the weekly "Character Poll." No sign of Billy anywhere.

Fast forward 10 years, It is 7:00 p.m. in Chicago, the boys are just waking up from a nap. It was a hard day of "work" and travel. The basketball games are on the TV, the radio is blaring. We know that Paul is just trying to hear to music. Stubbe is dancing somewhere, Stocklin is on the computer, and the rest are trying to lay low so that they do not top the weekly "Character Poll." Again, no sign of Billy.

Not much has changed! That's why I love these guys! I hope you have fun, and please, Sigler, no phone calls at 4:00 a.m. when Stubbe is STILL dancing.

"They'll Think I'm a Rock Star"

That was a quote right out of Ethan's mouth.
Tonight Ethan had a screening for Kindergarten placement. As he and I were traveling to school, we were talking about the things that he would have to do. He told me that he could run "super fast." He then was telling me that he would count in Spanish and English, name his shapes, etc. I was feeling very sad that my baby boy will be going to school in a few short months. That is when Ethan said, "Mommy, they'll think I'm a rock star." Tears immediately dried up as I laughed out loud. Yes, Ethan, Mommy will always think that you are a rock star!
Once inside, Ethan began his screening, as I was ushered into another room to meet with the principal. I sat next to the mother of a student in my class and listened as my boss welcomed everyone to our school. She spoke about the wonderful things going on in our school, the things I sometimes take for granted. It was so different to be addressed as a parent and not a teacher.
Halfway through Ethan's screening, the speech therapist came out to tell me that Ethan wanted to teach all of the other children their ABC's. I laughed it off until 2 other teachers came out to tell the same thing. Ethan was very upset when we left, because he didn't get to teach the other children their ABC's before it was time to go.

My Big Girl

I knew this day was coming, but like all of Ellie's milestones, I am somewhat sad. It means my baby is growing up. Tonight when I placed Ellie in her crib for bedtime, she was not happy. I tried to let her cry it out. She obviously had no intention of that tonight. When I returned to her bedroom, she was standing in her crib. Ellie has just recently started pulling up to things around the house, but tonight was the first time she had done that in her crib. Since Ellie was in no mood to be the first one to bed tonight, we had reverse bedtime--Ethan to bed first, then Erica, and finally Ellie. We do ever so often, and for some reason the kids love it.

The Children's Museum

This weekend Erica stayed overnight will B'maw and Pop'o and Paul was working, so Ethan, Ellie, and I headed to The Children's Museum with our church. It was our first trip ever to the museum. Pulling into the parking lot, Ethan noticed the the dinosaur breaking through the outside wall of the museum. So, we had to visit the DinoSphere first. Ethan enjoyed the T-Rex and triceratops skeletons. He explored every nook and cranie of the area. They even had a place where the children can dress up in dinosaur capes complete with gloves resembling claws. Ethan loved it, and Ellie giggled every time her brother growled at her. They enjoyed pretending they were dinosaurs guarding their nests. Ethan and Ellie each enjoyed the Lego Castle Adventure exhibit. Ethan had millions of Legos to choose from to build a castle. There were boys of all ages building their castles. He really enjoyed seeing what other visitors had built at the Lego tables. But, I think our favorite part was the dragon and castles built by the professional Lego builders.Ellie even had a chance to build her own castle.

She did not have quite as many Legos to use in her creation.

My superheros loved the comic book section. Paul was a little jealous that we were able to see a real Batmoblie from Batman Returns and The Last Knight. I enjoyed the Wonder Woman memorabilia. (Under Roos anyone?)

Batman defending Gotham City!

Notice the muscles from eating ALL of his vegetables.

Spring Fever

We have it bad, all five of us. We are enjoying the warm sunshine.

Here are some recent photos of our family in action.

Erica and the neighbor boy on the Gator.

Notice she picked out her own outfit!?!?

Paul, Ellie, and Ethan after we put up the trampoline.
She LOVES it!

Ellie and her Daddy.

Ethan trying out a four wheeler. He wants one for his birthday so badly.

This as close as he will get to a four wheeler.

Our trip to the zoo. Erica couldn't wait to see Marty (the zebras).

I'm NOT TIRED

Ethan kept telling us that he was not tired after our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. You be the judge.

Happy Birthday Papaw!

This weekend the whole Buening family gathered at Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio to celebrate Papaw's birthday. Ethan and Erica (and Paul and I) looked forward to it all week. In fact, Erica just about drove Paul up the walls Saturday morning asking if it was time to go to the water park. She followed us all through the house to make sure that we didn't leave without her. I had to run a last minute errand to the grocery store. Erica was willing to leave me behind. Paul convinced her that they couldn't do that. By the time I returned home from the grocery store, Ethan and Erica were buckled into their car seats ready to go.

When we arrived at Great Wolf, everyone quickly changed into their swimsuits to enjoy the water park. Ethan was one of the first ones into the water. He didn't waste any time exploring the water park. He loved the water slides, the basketball goals, the lazy river, and the wave pool. He put on his goggles and swam, and swam, and swam. He was a fish!

Erica was much more reserved. She wanted to be held the entire time, particularly by Gammaw. We did get her to go down a water slide. She was very frightened, you could see it in her eyes. We were able to convince her to go down a few more times.

Ellie enjoyed sitting on the edge of the pool. She loved to splash her toes in the water. She enjoyed watching all the people just as much as the water (B'maw would be proud!).

After naps and dinner, we headed back to the water park. Erica was feeling a tad bit braver, but not much.

Later that night, we were finally able to celebrate Papaw's birthday. We had cake and candles but no flames. I brought the candles but forgot the lighter.

Sunday morning, the kids woke early ready to go again. After some breakfast, we headed back to the water park. Erica was tired, Ellie was tired, and Ethan was to busy swimming to eat or realize that he was tired. We had a blast! Paul was able to rock the girls to sleep pool-side while the rest of enjoyed the water park.

We had a great weekend with the whole family. Ethan, Erica, and Gabrielle really enjoyed being able to play with their cousins, Ally and Jake.

40 and Fabulous

My parents will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this weekend. That is a pretty amazing feat. So, I got to thinking, what else happened in 1969? It was pretty interesting what I found.

• Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the U.S.
• Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon
• Sesame Street was introduced
• Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Woodstock
• Seiko sells the first Quartz Watch
• Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut
• Pontiac Firebird Trans Am introduced
• Eric Carle wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• The Beatles release their album Abbey Road
• Internet invented by USA US military
• Brett Farve was born in October of this year
• Boston Celtics were NBA Champs
• Average cost of a new house was $15,550.00
• Average cost of a new car was $3,270.00
• Gas was 35 cents per gallon
• My mom and dad met, fell in love, and got married

She is FINALLY crawling!?!

Ellie finally figured out the art of crawling. Last week she made her big move. She just need a little incentive to get her going. Who knew it would be paper left on the floor! Sunday morning, Ellie decided to try out her new skill in the bathroom, as I was getting ready for a bridal shower. She was able to open the cabinet, pull out everything from underneath, crawl across my freshly painted toenails . . . all while I was watching.

Story Time

Tuesday is Library Day. Erica and Ethan are able to go to the public library with "Cheri School". Erica LOVES library day. She brings her library bag into the house and unloads the books into their special basket. Each night she brings every book to story time. Mostly, Erica reads to us. She enjoys making up her own stories to the pictures.

Dream a Little Dream

As all parents, you dream of what career path your children will take. As a newborn, I secretly hoped that Ethan would become a doctor. Maybe a dentist or a dermatologist. You know, a doctor that does NOT have to go into work in the middle of the night or holidays. As he grew, I knew that he was much more interested in cars, trucks, combines, etc. He often lets me know that his dream is to be a fireman. So, Saturday morning I was completely caught off guard by his future dream.
The kids and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful, spring weather. Paul had to work, so I took the kids to the zoo. Following the dolphin show, Ethan decided he needed to ask the trainers a few questions. He had some very good questions for the trainers. Ethan ended his meeting by telling the dolphin trainer that he was going to be a dolphin trainer when he grows up. My jaw hit the floor! My next thought was, "Can he do that in Indiana?"

Quote of the Day

Okay, I have been thinking of creating a blog for many days, weeks, months . . . It wasn't until this week that I decided I had to do it. My beautiful children, made me laugh out loud yet again, so I had to "write it down."
So, Saturday morning, Paul and woke up surrounded by children. I love, love, love Saturday mornings. Paul headed out to get the paper only to find the garage door open, the lights on, and the door to van wide open. We checked to make sure everything was in order. It was later that morning that Ethan told us he was looking for his new toothbrush during the night.
Only a few moments later, Paul, Ethan, and Erica were watching a cartoon that made them all laugh. Erica, still laughing, turned to Paul and said, "Daddy, you're a penis." Paul, tried to discipline her with a straight face. He and I then proceeded to laugh hysterically in the closet for several minutes.
So, this my friend, is why I have created a blog. I hope to never forget these moments that make Paul and I laugh until we are in tears hiding in a closet.