funny kids

here's a clip of our hilarious girl and our wild man:

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elli is so silly all of the time...and her closing line is the best!


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i know my video skills aren't great and it looked like ralphy was going to fall off there for a second, but honestly he didn't even tip..i just started watching him instead of the camera screen as he got close...he loves riding that tractor! he drained the rechargeable battery twice this weekend! (thanks kyle & sarah for passing down such a great toy!)

videos

ralphy will be 11 months old this week...he prefers walking to crawling now and is so proud of himself on two feet! he still likes to climb and is trying to give me a heart attack all the time!

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i know this video is a little long (2 1/2 minutes), but i know a few of you will be hanging onto every word like we do!

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summer is winding down

we spent last weekend at my cousin jay's cabin and went back to maramec spring park and to the river...we had a great time, despite the heat...the kids love the river, as you can see...ralphy is definitely a "walker" now...we have been attempting to get a good, clear video clip of him on his feet, but so far they keep turning out a little blurry...we'll have more footage of him soon! summer is officially over for ralph, as he started practice and school meetings this week...summer flew by too fast (but the kids and will still be enjoying the rest of it!)

busy bees

these two are constantly on the move, as you can imagine...our little 10 1/2-month-old has been taking steps on his own and climbing on everything! elli rarely slows down, either - her body and mind are always racing! ralph is enjoying his last few days of summer before his school/football commintments begin...i used the kids' naptimes to finish the last harry potter book this past week and i finally managed to get the flowers painted on elli's wall (pictures soon to come)...i know it's a little late in the season, but they are finally blooming! so, we've been busy and we're still having a blast...isn't summer great?!

fun in the sun

last week was a week of real summer vacation...summer school is over for ralph and he didn't have any football obligations, so after we got back from camping, we got to have fun all week!

we went to the zoo...

we watched fireworks on the fourth of july...

we went to the baseball game...

played in the sprinkler...

and basically just had fun!

camping

we had a busy camping weekend last weekend...we went with my mom & dad to maramec spring park south of st. james...it was great...except for the rain that was with us most of the trip! but the kids had fun and so did we...and most of the trout escaped being caught this time...we didn't get to go swimming or have a campfire because of the rain, but we'll definitely be going back! the picture captions show the names that elli gave to our surroundings! have i mentioned that she has quite an imagination?!

well...summer is in full swing and we've been having fun swimming, going to the park, eating popsicles and playing in the backyard... and visiting grandparents, of course!
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ralphy is 9 months old and is a wild man! he has no apparent fear of getting hurt as he crawls, climbs, crashes and tumbles...he pulls up on everything (and pulls off anything he can get his hands on)...he has a few teeth that have poked through and a few more that are close (teething so far doesn't seem to bother him)...he is a happy, happy kid! elli is still the best chicken herder around...she can catch all of them except the goofy looking white one...we spent an evening in the creek and caught tadpoles, minnows and crawdads...she has been able to see several of the tadpoles change to frogs...she stays busy painting, swinging, reading and watching an occasional movie (shrek is this week's favorite)...she also has a new castle to play in (our neighbors passed it on to us after their grandkids used it for years...thanks mr. & mrs. H.) the castle is perfect! ralphy loves to climb up the slide to look in at elli hiding in the tower!

something we didn't expect this summer was chicken pox...elli managed to get herself a mild case of them in early june...they didn't bother her too much until she got a few in her mouth...that was not fun...we expected ralphy to get them and were thinking that getting them over with now would be good, but he managed to avoid them somehow!

been farming long?

we went to gram & papa's cabin over memorial day weekend...it was ralphy's first trip...he doesn't realize it, but he got elli to ride the tractor (up until now she wouldn't sit on it if it was running!) ralphy's bravery got her to hop right on!

here are a couple of clips of the chicks (they're all grown up, now!) the black & white speckled one is elli's "true pet" she carries her everywhere with her...she talks to her, sings to her, takes her down the slide...she has named her "spark"....in the video elli is telling us that it's going to rain so she has to go inside

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ralphy wants ahold of that bird!

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i'm experimenting with adding video to the blog...hopefully there will be more to come!

busy...busy

the kids have been busy growing up...

ralphy is 8 months old...he is crawling everywhere, pulling up to stand and he can make it all the way up the stairs (supervised, of course)...he is loving finger foods (well...he loves all food..it doesn't matter to him if he feeds himself or we give it to him with a spoon!)...he tries to find things to snack on outside, too: mulch, grass, leaves, whatever...he has so much personality and is so much fun!

elli is so grown up and she is such a good big sister...she gets a little rough at times because she is ready for ralphy to wrestle with her...but generally she is awesome...she's always up for a good time, whether it is a trip to the park, the zoo or an evening with a bonfire...she has been visiting her chicks at gram & papa's quite often and she has the little speckled one pretty tame...they are best friends! she says hilarious things all the time, but this was especially funny: we were talking about things we eat: we eat chicken, we eat beef and milk that comes from cows and we pork from pigs, etc...elli said, "and we eat dog" and i said, "no, we don't eat dogs" then she says, "yes we do - we eat hush...(long pause).......puppies!"

on the move...

it seems like i should be able to keep this blog more up-to-date, but somehow times gets away from me and weeks go by before i update...so...lots of things have changed since the last post...


ralphy is 7 1/2 months old and is just so hilarious...he is a happy kiddo (though he has been going through a little separation anxiety, so he isn't all smiles if he can't find me...i guess that happens when a child is with momma all the time)...he is definitely on the move now...he has been mobile for awhile, but he can really crawl well and can pull up to standing now...yesterday he got up on the bottom step and got "stuck"...needless to say, the gates are coming back...ralphy's other new trick is playing patta-cake...if we sing the song, he starts bouncing and clapping his hands together...very cute...he lights up when daddy gets home from work!

elli lou is growing like a weed and having fun in the spring weather...we love "park days"! the old crocs have been retired (the yellows and the purples) and she now has a new pair of light green ones..."mine got too little and gram bought me new ones and ralphy can have my old ones..." she tells this to anyone who will listen - strangers at the zoo, checkers at wal-mart, kids at the park, parents at the park... :) she has been busy painting at her easel on rainy days...she loves to pretend...we are amazed by her imagination...elli's new wake-up time is between 6 and 6:30...embrace the day, right? it's great for ralph because he often gets to chat with her before he leaves for work...he won't like it so much this summer on the days that he could theoretically sleep in...


the teacher in me still thinks in terms of a school year...this one has flown by! it's true what they say: each year seems to go by faster than the last...summer will be here in a flash...

here comes peter cottontail...

life seems to revolve around weather...

we were so happy to have a couple of weeks of warm weather...there's just so much more to do when it's nice out...but...winter came back to haunt us just in time for easter egg hunts...

we prepared for easter by visiting the easter village at purina farms (it was definitely our shortest visit...it was so so cold!) ralphy stayed bundled in his seat the whole time...

we colored easter eggs friday night after the last fish fry...

on saturday elli took part in the hunt at our church and then the hunt put on by our town's park board...as father anderson said before the 9 am hunt began, "we'd have been warmer if we'd done this at christmas!" it was so cold and windy...everyone was bundled up with coats, hats, scarves, gloves...it was not easter egg hunting weather!

elli was a good sport and gathered lots of eggs (she'd been practicing and gram & papa's for weeks)...but...by the time she began the next hunt at the park at 10:30, she was tired and ready to go home...

on saturday evening, we headed to gram & papa's to get the kids' easter baskets (and hunt some eggs) ...

and then we went to grandma & grandpa g's to get the kid's easter baskets (and hunt some eggs).... on easter morning, elli ran downstairs and jumped in our bed (at 6:45am...because "it was day!") she rolled around for a few minutes before jumping down off the bed...when she hit the floor, she froze and then tried frantically to get out the words that were racing through her mind..."the...the...the... easter bunny came... and...and..and...put eggs in your bedroom! he was here!" you couldn't have asked her to be more excited about the fact that he really did come! she waited for us to jump up and get the cameras and then she had all the eggs in the whole house picked up in what seemed like seconds...

she found her basket and the one hidden for ralphy...it was a great morning! ralphy seemed to enjoy the commotion, too...next year will be so funny as he races around with elli! our little darlings took an early nap so i went to mass by myself...we then packed up and went to the first stop: ralph's mom & dad's...we ate, played, visited and then the kids had an easter egg hunt...
then it was time for the next stop: grandma & grandpa brown's...we played, visited, ate dessert and then the kids had an easter egg hunt... we missed everyone at granny's, but 3 stops would have been nearly impossible...so the kids and i went to granny's monday to play, visit, open easter eggs and eat leftovers...yum!

and now, once again...we're ready for warm weather...