this could take all day

planting jelly beans

We were planning to have Easter lunch over at our friend's house and they called us Saturday afternoon to have us bring the kids over that evening. They had made the decision to forego Easter Baskets this year in favor of a delivery of "magic jelly beans" from the bunny. We were going to plant them that evening and see what would happen on Easter...

Excited kids!

Dani couldn't come as she had misbehaved that night, so Daisy planted a bean for her.

And look what popped up overnight!

Yipee!

Only problem: The kids wanted to know which lollipop came from which bean, and of course we had no idea! So we gave up and just told them to pick one.

They were all happy to sit at the kitchen table for quite a while, licking away. Dani was cracking all of us up with her huge stick.

Thanks for including us in this fun new tradition guys!

Xander's Reptile Man Party

Earlier this month we were invited to the coolest 6th birthday party when our buddy Xander had "Reptile Man" bring his creatures into the living room for quite an amazing show. Darin was roped into helping carry the boxes of critter into the house, and remarked as he picked up a box "I didn't expect it to move." 

"Don't worry," replied Reptile Man, "that's only the cobra."

Ha!

(Some of the following pictures are ours, some were stolen from facebook.)

Thanks for the fun times and Happy Birthday Xander!

"Best Girls Night Ever"

It was a Friday night and we were guy-less. Darin was working, and my friend Natalie's husband had taken their sons to Monster Truck Jam. So we decided to round up our lovely ladies and have a girls night. Natalie suggested taking them to The Melting Pot, and it seemed like quite an adventure to me. The girls were great on the drive to Tacoma and Natalie and I enjoyed some good conversation too.

We decided just to do cheese and chocolate at dinner and despite being a little worried about the hot pots in the middle of the table, all the girls were really well behaved. I wouldn't let Dani dip her own bread, but she was happy to let me do the dipping for her (something I was shocked about since she is usually all about doing things herself!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm....chocolate....

 

 

Dinner was pretty fun. So was the party in the bathroom afterwards.

 

 

Wait, Dani didn't get in the picture.

 

 

Ahhh...much better.

 

After such a delightful dinner (at which Daisy kept loudly repeating "best girls' night ever!") we headed over to do a little shopping at Babies R Us. The girls spotted the car ride on the way in and we promised them if they behaved they could have a ride on our way out. Turns out the ride was 50 cents, and that's all the change we had on our way out. So it was time for all to pile on. What a fun time we had!

 

 

 

 

And despite the late hour, the ride home was equally enjoyable thanks to the portable DVD player we'd recently been given and Miss Cinderella.

Thanks for the fun evening ladies. Can't wait till our menfolk are all busy again!

 

meeting Baby Ethan

We have a new neighbor here in Parkwood East! And his name is Ethan. And he is delicious.

Our sweet neighbors welcomed their firstborn mid-January and invited our crazy crew into their hospital room to say hello.

Daisy got the first hold.

Dani was a little too wiggly and excited for a hold, but decided to climb up and check out the baby while Papa was holding him.

Is there anything better than a sweet newborn? As we were visiting, our neighbors reminded us that we might be bringing one of these home any day now. Kind of crazy. We have no idea what God has in store for us, but we are just a couple weeks away from being a licenced foster home!

They even let me have a turn!

Welcome to the neighborhood little man!

Snow!

(Major issues with typepad recently. Here I am trying again. I miss you guys!)

We had so much fun during the recent snowstorm. We kept hearing about impending snow, but waking  up to nothing. Daisy prayed for snow ("for lots of snow AND for it to stick) for three straight days before we got any. But we did get some, and it was great. And it kept us home for three days to play in it. So I think Daisy got her prayers answered for sure.

Here is a fun smattering of our pictures in the snow.

First time out in it.

 

Snow angel.

It's always a bit of a challenge to get up without destroying your art.

 

 We wandered over to the park where the normall mild slide had taken on some new characteristics with the addition of ice.

We were invited over to our friends house for more snow fun, including lots of sledding.

 

 

 

Daisy found a neighbor friend to have a snowball fight with.

 

 

And it was all a grand ole time until this happened. No one likes getting snow in the face, especially not a sensitive 4-year-old.

 

 

And what is it about snow that makes you want to throw your loved ones down in it?

 

 

I had just bought this purple snowsuit on sale for Daisy to wear next year (I love my bins in the garage that allow me to purchase off-season and sale items in bigger sizes!) Lucky for us it fit our snowsuit-less friend just fine.

 

 

A couple more of my cute snow girls.

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we ventured out to the backyard where the girls were really enjoying munching on the snow.

 

 

 

Darin decided it would be fun to bury Daisy in the snow. She was pretty down with that idea too and laughed her way though it. (See what I mean about typepad? I have no idea why its now decided to give me this space for a text box.)

We also enjoyed a bit of a snow day treat, with the recipe I saw on my friend Sasha's blog. Darin said it tasted like vanilla ice cream. It was yummy.

The girls decided to eat their snack in the playhouse (aka: the giant doghouse that came with our house, Darin cut out the door a bit bigger and added windows.)

I ditched the party then to head inside, but Darin and the girls went to work on the snow fort. It was a pretty awesome cave I think.

On the last day of snow fun before it melted I headed out of town, but Darin and the girls finally got to create a "frosty". Daisy had been wanting to for a while, but her patience with waiting for the snow to be packable sure paid off. 

And what snow day would be complete without hot chocolate afterwards?

Hope y'all had snow days that were as fun as ours!

 

 

my two dads

I'm putting the finishing touches on my second Christmas post tonight, but typepad is acting all weird and having issues with my photos and text. So I thought I'd write up a quick post to tell you a funny story that happened on Saturday night. Actually, I'll let Darin tell you. He's funnier than I am anyway.

Hello everyone. Long time. Did you do something different with your hair? It looks amazing. Well anyway, Deanna wanted me to tell you about a conversation that I had with my good friend and the godfather of our little girls, Tyler Ray. 

To set the stage, we all were going out to thank Tyler and Stacey (his wife, girls' godmother, etc.) for watching the girls as we took a CPR/1st Aid class for our foster care license. We wanted good food and since we were in Silverdale, the only real option was Silver City. This being Saturday night, the place was packed and with our table of 6, the wait was stated to be 30 minutes (it was more like 55). After a short rock-paper-scissors match between Deanna and I (she always wins) it was determined that Stacey and Deanna would stay and chat while Tyler and I took the girls across the parking lot to the mall to play for a few minutes while we waited for our table. I know, Deanna promised this would be funny, stick with me...

So we're walking through the mall parking lot, each of us is holding a little girl's hand, and the conversation goes like this:

Me: ...yeah, and in the mall is Hales, but we've heard that the food isn't as good as Silver City. 

Daisy (singing in the background to herself): The sun will come out, tomorrow...

Tyler: Hmm, that's too bad, their beer is good.

Me: Yeah. Oh well. (Pause) You know, I bet to some people we look like the gay couple that adopted two cute little blond girls. 

Tyler: Yeah, I was kinda worried about that perception too.

Me, along with Daisy (This is where the part of my brain that lives with girls all day, every day, kicked in): TOMORROW, TOMORROW, I LOVE YA, TOMORROW, YOU'RE ONLY A DAY AWAY. TOMORROW--

Tyler, interrupting: Um...the show tunes probably don't help.

Yeah, probably not. It also occurs to me that earlier I told you your hair looks amazing. What I meant to say is, "Grunt, hack, spit, belch. Yo!"

Have a FABULOUS day!!!

November 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Reading with Sapo/Christen.

Swamp park fishing. What a lovely fall day.

She had a bad cough and picked up this mask when we took her to the doctor. And now she wants to wear it all the time so she doesn't have to remember to cover her cough!

Off to a princess birthday party. Dani didn't want to dress up, so she wore a "princess" shirt instead.

We got to meet baby Eliza today, and hang out with her sweet parents. Mmmm...love me some baby.

November 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

We have this japanese maple in the front yard. Darin loves it. I don't. I think it blocks too much light from my front window. But right now, this red color is pretty stunning. 

Darin took the girls and met up with Papa Ty & Mama Stace at Latin's Cider mill. This is one of our favorite fall traditions and I was sad to miss it but enjoyed my 4-H weekend in Cathlamet.

One sneaky girl decided to nap in her sister's bed today. Oh well, at least she's sleeping!

Getting my ponytail all ready to donate.

She asks to paint every day.

November 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Happy Birthday to me! Darin made me my birthday crepes a day late, and the sweet guy got me special candles.

Time to vote!

Christen/Sapo is here to babysit for us each evening as we take our foster parent classes. The girls love her. I do too. 

We brought home a big box of apples from Eastern Washington, so it was timet to get to work making crisp. One for the oven and one for the freezer. Yummy.

First red cup of the year!

November 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Someone in this house is sick :(.

Daisy invented a game today. She drew a "board" and colored in some squares on it. Then she cut out tokens and drew an x on each one. We took turns putting the tokens on the colored squares. The one with the last token was the loser. Pretty simple game and I was pretty proud as she created it all by herself.

While I was sick and Darin was home with the girls, he pulled out his lego collection. They all had a great time together and I know Darin looks forward to many more lego building days with his girls.

Puppet show on laundry day. (I fold my laundry on the couch. I used to do it in my bedroom, but I like the couch and coffee table much better these days. Where do you fold laundry?)

While I spent the day with my sisters, Darin took the girls to a friend's house where in their backyard creek salmon were spawning. He reported it was pretty cool and the girls enjoyed trying to spot the fish.

 

end-of-year inspiration

When I saw this post last week on creating simple photo books for your children I was sold. You know me, I love pictures! And you know what, my kids love pictures too. I have a photo slideshow on my computer screensaver, and the girls will sit in front of it for hours watching the pictures scroll by and asking questions along the way.

They need to get their hands on some of their pictures. We need more albums around here!

So I've been scrambling the last few days to get all caught up on my photo-a-day project, get my pictures organized, and pick my favorites from the year so that Daisy and Dani can have their very own year-end albums. (And along with that will come lots of new blog posts, gotta get caught up here too!)

A New Year's Eve tradition is born in the Gemmer house!

Since I've got 'em all organized, how bout a few of my favorites from 2011? I'll try to narrow it down a bit...

And now I'm off to wipe away a tear. This little project of mine got me a bit more emotional than I prepared for. It is hard watching these sweet babies of mine growing up.

 

October 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Happy Birthday Darin! Jen made an amazing homemade peanut butter chocolate cake. Darin sure felt spoiled. Especially 'cuz I just made him brownies from a mix! (Note also the milk in a wine glass. Those Kaufman's sure are classy people!)

Lunch with family was a highlight from our visit to Lewiston.

Another highlight: playing in the leaves.

Driving home we stopped by Palouse Falls.

Dani giving her baby a piggy back ride. (cell phone pic)

trip to Idaho - part 5

On our last full day in Lewiston I had a photoshoot with some 4-H friends, so Darin hung out with our girls while the Kaufmans went to Mass. Then they met up with Jen, Sam & Andie (Joe ditched the party to go do a little hunting) for lunch. When I was done I headed back to the house where they were attempting to put little people down for a nap. But since Andie was the only taker, we decided to get out of the house once again. (Um, I guess Darin took a nap too. That guy.)

When meeting up with my photo friends, I spotted this amazing batch of leaves outside the community college, and unlike at home in WA where it is hard to find dry leaves, these were good and crunchy. So I suggested we head that way for some outdoor play.

Turns out all the leaves were covering a rock pathway, but that didn't stop the kids from digging in and making a pile.

Jump in!

Then it was time to bury me in the leaves, 

so I retaliated by starting the great leaf fight of 2011. (Much better than snow for sure!)

After a wild leaf fight, we headed to the back of the college attempting to find more leaves. And while the pickings weren't as great as out front, we did find some.

Although we had forgotten our rake, so it was all about scooping by hand. And we got a good workout!

After all that work and play, Jen's dear mom suggested a visit to the fro-yo shop. Who could argue with that?

Highlight of the trip? Some might think so.

September 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

A little chocolate milk to brighten up a dull afternoon.

Puddle Jumping!

Flowers from my family. Especially nice since I was feeling a bit under the weather.

Yipee! Bible Study Fellowship has begun again.

Thanksgiving dinner. I took my friend Julie's advice and purchased a random non-thanksgiving turkey to cook up. Then later when we made plans with Tyler & Stacey we decided to go all-out on Thanksgiving: mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, bread, stuffing and gravy. It was marvelous and we all wondered why we only eat this once a year. This is one good meal!

September 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Getting rid of the fireplace in our living room. I love it so much now! So much more open.

Cleaning the carrots she dug up, in preparation for preschool snack day.

I was taking a picture of something else and Dani asked me to take a picture of her. Usually she sticks her fingers in the corners of her mouth and sticks out her tongue for a "silly face". This time she actually smiled for me. And then promptly demanded that she see it.

Children's performer at the library space in the mall. (Daisy in the blue and white dress.) We had a lovely time with friends.

Baby shower for Miss Anne! We are so excited for her and Justin. And it was so fun to have a little girl join me at the party.

trip to Idaho - part 4

One of the coolest things about the Kaufman family is their evening bedtime song tradition. Now we sing bedtime songs too, but at the Kaufman house, Uncle Joe gets out his ukulele or guitar and serenades. My girls thought it was pretty darn cool. (And I do too!)

 

Bring that Uke along next summer when we go camping and we'll really rock out at campfire songs!

trip to Idaho - part 2

After my family emerged from the maze (thanks to a little GPS on Darin's phone) and we were done taking pictures, Joe pulled the top off the giant tractor tire that was filled with wheat, and the kids all had a ball playing in it.

Time to bury Daisy!

After we had done our best to shake wheat out of boots and socks and shirts and underpants, we ran through the hay maze.

And since the corn maze didn't officially open for a bit longer, we decided to ditch this scene and head to a nearby park. And since I'd had just about enough fun with my camera that morning, Darin took over and shot some fun ones of Miss Dani playing.

By now both girls were pretty convinced that Idaho was about the coolest place on earth!

trip to Idaho - part 1

Sometime this summer I got the crazy notion that it was about time to pack up the kiddos and make the trek to Lewiston to visit the Kaufman clan as a family. So two weeks ago we packed up snacks and books and toys and prizes and a borrowed DVD player to make the trip. The girls were amazing on the drive, even with a two-hour stop in Ellensburg for a lunch date with Aunt Dakota, and no naps like we had been hoping. 

We pulled into Lewiston right around dinner time and were greeted with an amazing home cooked dinner, delicious wine, and hugs from great friends. And once the kids were fed and in bed, we started the first of what would be nightly games of killer bunnies. 

Saturday morning dawned with another delicious meal.

Muffin making:

and eating:

And some prepping and entertaining (notice Dani is playing away on Darin's phone)

And then we loaded up the vehicles and drove out to the corn maze. The day was a bit foggy and chilly, but it wasn't raining! Darin took the girls and got lost in the maze for while, and I had a bit of fun with my camera.

Man, I love this family.

August 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Selecting her footwear for the day.

Backyard fun with the neighbors.

I love summer mornings when I can wake up and enjoy the sun coming in through my window. Dark fall/winter/spring mornings are tough.

My baby girl in her big girl bed.

Daisy's multimedia project, hanging on the fridge.

Mops meetings = playdates for the girls. They loved having these two over for a morning of fun and a "picnic" outside.

August Adventures: backyard pool

Who needs a fancy waterpark when we've got this slide and pool in our very own backyard?!

The lines are way shorter too. (Unless there's a little sister involved.)

Ahhh...I miss summer already.