Another Busy Weekend

Life in the Phillips' household is continuing at a breakneck speed.  Last weekend Brian and I both worked, we went birthday gift shopping, we went to Gavin's birthday party, we went apple picking (and rode the ponies), and we went to the library.  The kids were exhausted at the end of the weekend, but very happy.

A couple of funny stories:
Mackenzie blurted out "O M G" in the car the other day. Needless to say, Brian and I are too old to talk in text acronyms, but we thought it was pretty funny that Mackenzie did it. We asked if she knew what OMG stood for (she used it in the proper context) and she said no, so we explained that it meant "Oh my goodness".

Brian was home with the kids and Isacc came tearing by him in his Woody cowboy hat, one Woody rain boot and one fireman rain boot and his underwear. Brian suggested to him that he put on some pants and Isaac explained, "Cowboys don't wear pants!" Brian turned on parental controls on Netflix, just in case.

Trip Back to Chicago

The kids had their first trip back to Chicago since we moved and they had a great weekend.

We left Friday night and stopped in Shipshewana for the night.  We had gone to Splash Universe there before and we thought going to a waterpark would be fun and would wear them out Saturday morning before the drive to Chicago in the afternoon.  The kids had a blast at the waterpark.  It has been a while since we went to one and this one is the perfect size for their age now.  Mackenzie loved swimming in the lazy river and going down the big tube slides.  Isaac still likes the smaller slide in the toddler pool, but he tried the bigger slides in the "bucket" section (where there is a bucket that dumps every few minutes). He even went down the big tube slide with me once.  He didn't like it so much (it was very dark for a good portion of the slide, since the slide goes outside and we tried it out Friday night).  However, for Isaac he has made huge strides at the waterpark.  When we went to this waterpark when he was still a baby he pretty much cried and sat in Grandpa's lap the whole time :)

Saturday we headed over to Chicago.  We got there in time to check into the hotel Brian and I were staying in that night, to go to the grocery store and get Isaac some milkless snacks, and to go to Pollo Campero for dinner.  If you have never heard of Pollo Campero, it is a fast food restaurant that is actually based in Guatemala and serves fried chicken, black beans and rice that the kids love.  Mackenzie is a particularly big fan.  When we told the kids we were headed there, I am not sure they remembered what it was, but once we got there they remembered.  Mackenzie didn't stop eating the whole time we were there, in fact she was still finishing up the bowl of beans as we were clearing the table.

The bowl was one of the sides for the family, but I am pretty sure Mackenzie ate 3/4 of the bowl.

I didn't think to take any pictures of the kids when we dropped them off for their sleepover at Granny's Corner.  Mackenzie was super excited, but Isaac was a bit hesitant when we left him.  I am not sure he remembered Granny's Corner very well.

Then Brian and I headed to the ND vs. Miami game at Soldier Field.  We had a great time at the game, particularly since the Irish won and are now 5-0.

 

The next morning we headed back to Granny's Corner to pick up the kids and to go to brunch at the George's new house.  Of course the kids did not want to leave.  Mackenzie got to spend the entire sleepover with Sophia, who was one of the three baby girls at Granny's Corner with Mackenzie from the time she was six weeks old.  I asked Mackenzie how Isaac did and she said that he cried the whole time.  Granny said that he did fine once he got used to being there.  Isaac said he cried a little when he went to sleep and when he woke up.  He told me that when he woke up Granny gave him sausage and he calmed down. 

We all had a great time at the George's for brunch.  We got to see their new house in Oak Park and hang out with the Georges, the Conn's and the Schultz's.  All in all there were 8 adults and 9 kids there.  The kids all played really nicely together.  I had gotten some small pumpkins for all of the kids before we went over in the hopes that I could bribe them with the pumpkins to get them all to sit together.  It worked pretty well, but unfortunately I am not a very good photographer.  I thought the pictures looked okay on the camera when I took them, but when I downloaded them they were really dark.  Hopefully someone else got a better shot.

From left to right: Isaac, Mackenzie, Abigail, Ben, Sydney, Isobel, Noah and Vivienne.  Milo is still a bit small to sit for the picture.

 Here are a couple shots of Isaac and Isobel playing together.  They may not remember, but they were cohorts at Granny's Corner together.  Miss Terry used to tell me that she would put all of the infant/toddlers down for their naps together and after she left the room Isobel and Isaac would stand up (there pack 'n plays were next to each other) and chat and keep each other up.  If she opened the door they would plop back down : )

 Vivienne decided to join in the fun as well:

 

Meanwhile, Mackenzie was playing upstairs with Ben and Noah.  The three of them definitely remembered playing together in the past.  Here is a shot of Mackenzie and Ben with a wagon full of pumpkins that they got up the stairs together:



 

Here is a shot of all of the babies born after we left Chicago, with their moms.
From left to right: Jenn and Abigail, Laura and Sydney, and Amber and Milo.



Later Isobel and Isaac joined the party upstairs.  Evidently Mackenzie convinced the boys to clean their room up (and she helped) in order to decorate for Halloween, which then became decorating for a birthday party.  Then they decided that it should be a surprise party.  So they would all hide in the room and then ask the adults to come up and when we opened the door they would yell "Surprise!"  The kids did this a number for times for different groups of adults.  It never got old for them.

When I was upstairs with them, the kids wanted to take pictures.  Here is Mackenzie's shot of Isobel with her pumpkin (she didn't quite get the pumpkin in the shot):

 Here is Mackenzie's shot of Ben with his pumpkin.  She told Ben to hold up the pumpkin so that she was sure to get it in his shot:

 Here is Ben's shot of Mackenzie with her pumpkin:

 Here is Isaac's shot of Noah with his pumpkin:

The kids didn't want to leave the George's either, but it was time to head back to Chicago.  The kids were pretty exhausted and slept most of the way home and then went to bed on time and slept in this morning.  I think they had all the fun that they could handle.  Hopefully Granny will invite us back for the next sleep over so we can do it again!

So Much Going On

It has been a long time since I updated the blog and a lot has been going on.  Today I had a mini-go-live.  We put in a PeopleTools Patch to our system, so I have been at work most of the day. I am feeling pretty relieved to have that done. 

Last weekend my parents came down with Lexie and stayed with the kids so that Brian, Butch and I could drive over South Bend and meet Tammy and go to the Notre Dame vs. Michigan Prime Time (aka late) game.  It was fun to be in the stadium for the night game and it was awesome that Notre Dame won, even if ND won because Michigan kept giving us the ball whenever they got close to the end zone. 

Mackenzie is doing really well at school.  She brings home handwriting everyday and also does a lot of coloring.  She seems to really like her teacher, Mrs. Zuchowski.  She is enjoying having gym and being independent at lunch and getting to punch in a code to buy her milk.  She also likes when they get to go to the library.  She says she doesn't like anything else, but I think she just gets tired of being asked. 

When we got back from Chicago she wrote this for me:

Awesome!

Mackenzie is also going to gymnastics twice a week.  One of her classes is a half an hour of gymnastics and then a half an hour of ballet.  She literally gets on the bouncy floor and doesn't stop bouncing until class is over, except to do whatever task they ask.  She really seems to like the crab walk. 

Isaac can start gymnastics when he is four.  For now he is really enjoying his class at daycare and he seems to like having alone time with Mom or Dad when the other takes Mackenzie to gymnastics.  He is an extremely busy boy.  He doesn't slow down all day, both his body and his mouth.  He has also decided that he doesn't always need a nap and honestly he seems to do fine without one.  I can't believe that he is three and a half.

Next week we are headed to Chicago for the Notre Dame vs. Miami game at Soldier Field.  When Brian and I went back to Chicago 2 weeks ago for the Estonian show we went to the old house to dig up hostas and day lilies and we stopped by Granny's Corner.  We mentioned that we were going to try and bring the kids the weekend of the game if we could find a babysitter.  Lucky us, Granny's Corner has decided to have a sleepover the night of the game, so the kids are going to spend the night with some friends while we go to the game!  Seriously, Granny's Corner is the best daycare ever.

Busy Birthday Weekend

The kids and I had a very busy weekend.  Friday was Mackenzie's birthday so we got to do birthday presents and have cake that night, which is always fantastic.

Brian was working the rest of the weekend so it was just the three of us most of the time.  Saturday morning we went grocery shopping.  The kids were very good at the store in order to ensure they got their treat, Pop Tarts.  The kids used to ask for Pop Tarts a lot because other kids at day care got Pop Tarts for breakfast.  I have never thought that Pop Tarts were a very good breakfast, but I have gotten them for them at other times so they could have them for dessert.  In the past they have never really liked them once they got them and Brian and I have always ended up eating the extra calories.  Well the page seems to have turned on Pop Tarts at our house and the kids loved them when they had them as their treat yesterday.  Now if only I could avoid them somehow . . .

After grocery shopping we went to watch Carson play soccer, and to wish Aunt Shannon a happy birthday.  While we were at the soccer game we were very close to a playground and the kids thought that going to the playground would be more fun than watching the soccer game.  I told them that we were there to watch the soccer game, but that we could probably go to the playground the following day, since it is almost in their cousin's backyard.  They weren't too keen on the idea yesterday, but they were very excited about it this morning. 

Here is a shot of the kids at the playground with their cousins:

They had a fantastic time at the playground and afterward playing in the Rogers' yard while we waited to see Grandma and Grandpa and wish Nathan a happy birthday.  This afternoon Mackenzie and mom did a little sewing whil Isaac played with MagnaTiles and I think that everyone is going to sleep well tonight.

I almost forgot that Isaac and I watched Notre Dame beat Purdue while Mackenzie hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's Saturday afternoon.  Go Irish!

First Day of School & Sewing

Mackenzie started school today. It was a little weird to watch her get on the us at daycare and go to work and not see her at her school at all. I didn't ride the bus to school, so maybe that is why it was weird for me.

Grandpa Butch picked the kids up from CDC this afternoon and when I went to Grandma and Grandpa's to pick them up (a very tired) Mackenzie wanted to spend the night at Grandma's.  I thought that maybe she should come home so I reminded her that her new sewing machine was waiting for her.  So after dinner we got her Pixie unpacked and set up.  Fortunately Aunt Bonnie (who gave Mackenzie the Pixie for her birthday) had it pre-threaded so we just had to plug the foot pedal in and plug it into the wall and it was ready to go. 

 

 Mackenzie did a couple of practice runs and then wanted to make something.  Isaac got some leftover robot fabric out of the closet.  It had been used to make a beanbag for Thomas and Nicholas and it was cut in an interesting shape and I thought it might make a decent bag so off Mackenzie went with me helping to guide the fabric.  She gave it to Isaac and he thought it made a good hat:

Then it was decided that the bag needed handles so back we went to the sewing machine.  We found an extra piece of long fabric from Isaac's quilt and sewed a tube, turned it right side out and attached it as a handle.  Here is Mackenzie modelling the new bag:

 

Isaac still thinks that it is a great hat, now with chin straps :)  Mackenzie has all kinds of ideas for other things she wants to sew.  I think a pillowcase is next . . .

Birthday Party

 

Mackenzie decided that she wanted a fairy birthday party this year, so we made it happen yesterday.  A few girls from her CDC class came over along with a couple of my co-workers and a lot of family and it made for a really great party.

 

Brian made a Tinkerbell cutout for the party where the kids could put their face in as Tinkerbell and it was a hit with the girls.  Here is a shot of Mackenzie as Tinkerbell:

I made a lot of decorations for the party including big tissue paper flowers and giant tulle poof balls.  Mackenzie decided that these would be great for a parade, so the girls started out the party by parading for all of the other guests.  The girls took turns leading the parade.  Here is a shot when Mackenzie was in the lead:

The living room was the main party area.  Here you can see some of the decorations as well as some guests.  On the table are kits for the girls to make their own fairy as well as fairy headbands.

 

Manu is graciously modeling a headband in this shot with Mackenzie:

 

And here are a couple of action shots of us making the fairies.  I didn't think to take a picture of the girls with their finished fairies, but they were basically made out of floral wire, wood beads and fabric flowers and I thought they were super cute.

 

Finally here is a shot of Mackenzie getting ready to blow out her candle and of everyone else getting ready to eat cake!

The party was a lot of fun and the rain held out for us so that it was a pretty nice, although hot and humid, day for the party.

Today is Mackenzie's first day of kindergarten so hopefully I will have a new post soon.

Sleepover and More Bounty

A few weeks ago I let the kids have a sleepover in Mackenzie's room.  We have 2 crib mattresses since Mackenzie was still in a toddler bed when Isaac was first born, so we put those on the floor in and the kids slept there (with the bears I made them, awwwww).  Brian was working so I took a picture of them for him and then forgot that it was on the camera, so it was a pleasant surprise when I downloaded pictures today.

Our garden continues to thrive.  In the picture below you can see the back end of the main garden (on the right) and the raised bed that Brian made for me for strawberries that never grew and that now is overflowing with pumpkins, cucumbers and zucchini.  

 We picked a pumpkin today.  It is the perfect size and shape right now and since we had one fall off the vine last year around this time that turned perfectly orange for Halloween I figured I would try again.  There are a few tiny pumpkins on the vine now and I am hoping since this one is off the vine now they will grow more.

We also picked another enormous zucchini tonight.  I swear these things grow over night!

We are planning what will probably be our last trip to the cabin this weekend.  Mackenzie had orientation at school today and she continues to be unimpressed so far.  Monday night she gets to go to the open house and see her classroom, so I am hoping that sparks some interest in her.  During orientation we saw her friend Gia from CDC.  They are not in the same classroom, but Gia is in the other all-day kindergarten class, so hopefully they will see each other pretty regularly.