Mother's Day in Audubon

It's hard for us to make plans for Sunday afternoons with our busy mornings at church. Therefore, we decided to honor Scott's mom on Saturday instead. We headed out to the Wiederstein farm, and Scott and I made dinner for them.

Charles, Kristi, Parker, and Bella came out too. The boys had a lot of fun playing outside with Kristi while Grandpa, Charles, and Scott worked on a wheelchair lift for their truck. Grandma and I had a nice visit while I supervised the girls. I even worked on the Mother's Day crafts for church since the girls both fell asleep for awhile.

It was a great day...wish I had remembered to take some pictures.

Mother/Daughter Banquet

Emma and I took Grandma Van Manen to the Mother/Daughter Banquet at our church. I surprised Mom by dressing Emma in one of the dresses that I wore as a little girl. I didn't realize that Mom had hemmed it up about 2 inches, so it was a little short. Still adorable though. I'm going to have Emma's one-year-pictures taken with the dress on (after Mom redoes the hem and I get the chocolate stain out from the chocolate chip cookie). And don't scold me for not having those taken yet! It was a great evening with my mom and daughter.

I obviously wasn't getting Emma's food cut up fast enough. She reached over and went for the cookie. A girl after her momma's own heart.

During the speaker, Emma was walking all around. This is when she walked to the back to see Noel and Julie Johnson's granddaughters (Malia in the pink and Hannah in blue). It's hard to tell in this picture, but Emma was laughing REALLY hard.

This was as good of a group shot as we were going to get since Emma was TIRED.

It's Camping Time Again!

Scott, John, Emma, Mom and I enjoyed a FABULOUS weekend of camping at Lake Ahquabi. Great weather, great food, and great company. The only downside was John waking up at 6:15 in the morning (thankfully he was in Mom's camper and she didn't let him come over to ours until 6:45...still too early though) and John not sleeping well on Saturday night (in our camper) because he came down with a double ear infection. Nice timing, John. Here are a few of the highlights from the weekend:

John and Grandma enjoyed looking for minnows in the lake. (Sorry Mom, but this picture worked better than the horizontal one. ) Actually, John REALLY enjoyed throwing rocks, sticks, and sand in the lake. He thought he needed to be pushed in the stroller.

Emma enjoyed playing in the sand...and eating it.

John going down the tunnel slide.

Now it's Emma's turn.

Emma started to climb up this by herself. She ended making it all the way up, with just a little assistance from me (after nearly having a heart attack).

Which way are you supposed to go on a slide?

That's a big step, Emma. Can you make it up yourself?

My hand is to the side of her, but I gave her absolutely no assistance.

Using the little holes on the platform, she made it all the way up!

Silly string...need I say more?



Bubble time! Mom took these pictures and captured some great ones of the kids' facial expressions.


Emma loved exploring. At least this rock was too big to go in her mouth.

No, the fire was not going at this point.

Mom bought the kids a BIG bubble blower. We pulled it out to try getting John in a better mood. It didn't work, but Emma LOVED them. John did too on Sunday.

Okay, so normally I'm the one who is absent from all the pictures, but I guess it was Scott this time. He WAS there and a big help throughout the weekend.

A Mop

While playing with John tonight, I was alternating between Dancing with the Stars and The Biggest Loser. They were showing clips from the beginning of The Biggest Loser, and Helen was laughing at her hair. She asked why no one had told her she had a mop on her head. A couple minutes later, John turned to me and said, "Mommy, you have a mop on your head." Thanks John...

Shoe-Addict x2

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Emma is a shoe-addict. As if proving my point, tonight while I was getting John out of the bathtub, Emma went into her room and crawled inside the shoe bin. She played with shoes for at least 10 minutes before crying for help. At least this way, the shoes aren't scattered all over the house.

Daddy's Helper

Scott mowed the yard tonight. The backyard was a forest, thanks to Max. John was so proud of himself for helping Daddy.

Preschool

John had his preschool open house this afternoon. He's going to be going to Rising Sun Learning Center, which is just on the other side of Pleasant Hill. Very convenient to say the least. Anyway, he LOVED it. Here are some of the highlights for him (although when asked what he was looking forward to most, he said, "EVERYTHING."):

1. Washer and dryer in "the blue room"
2. Butterflies (real ones and the butterfly puppet) and a fish
3. Pet carrier with a dog and a bone in "the blue room", along with lots of dress-up clothes
4. Bathroom (for BIG boys and girls)
5. Puzzles in the "quiet room"

Voiceover and Barnstormers

Scott's barbershop quartet, Voiceover, sang the National Anthem at the Barnstormers game. It was the first game we (Scott, Julie, John, Emma, and Grandma VM) had been to, and we had a lot of fun. Grandma was quite the trooper taking Emma (and sometimes John) on walks, so that Scott and I could actually see part of the game at least. It was a good game, even though the Barnstormers lost.

Emma and John loved their hotdogs. They ate before the game was even close to starting, since we had to be there at 6 in order for Scott to meet the quartet and the person in charge. The game didn't start until 7:05.

Voiceover - Bill Diesslin, Scott Wiederstein, Carl Wilburn, Bill Buttermore

waiting for kickoff - Tim Dodge (our youth pastor) is in the lower left. Every time John saw him, he'd say, "There's Mr. Tim!"

Grandma bought John a t-shirt. (He wore it at the game, to bed, to church, and to bed again. He WILL take it off Monday morning.)

The Barnstormers and the Quad-Cities Wheelers praying midfield after the game. The Barnstormers do this every game.

Pigtails

Outdoor Fun

After the I-Cubs game, we enjoyed some time playing outside in the yard. Then we had a picnic supper with Grandma Van Manen in Altoona. It was a GREAT day for playing outside.

Iowa Cubs

Scott directed the Studebaker Elementary Roadrunner Chorus as they sang the National Anthem today at the Iowa Cubs game. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to spend at the ballpark, and a Cubs win made it even better. Emma hadn't napped all day, and finally fell asleep near the end of the game.