Our pictures from Mackinac Island.

No time to update now but here are the pictures at least from our Mackinac Island trip...

It's a good summer if there are no updates for a long time...

So Im going to try and catch up with a few album posts.
Starting with a great day at the beach.
We were excited for the annual Kite Festival in Grand Haven
but when we showed up early that day, you could hardly see any kite for all the fog.
We still made the best of things and even had our pictures taken for a local TV commercial!
After a while of enjoying an oregon-like coast, friends started to arrive and like magic the clouds lifted to give us a sunshiny summer day of fun. It was so great in fact that we went back the very next day to soak in as much as we could. That was the beginning of what has been turning out to be an active, playful, sunny fun season. To great obviously to sit writing any blogs about it. (except for right now of course;)

The Poopy Party!!

Well we finally did it.Kota had his much anticipated poopy party
as a reward for finally mastering the pot.
It was a wild success and fun for all.
Tons of friends showed up to help celebrate this monumental achievement
I made my first (and last) fondant cake,
we made t.p. roll crafts,
had bbg hot dogs, poop soup (chili), and pee punch (lemonade),
and a Piñata filled with what else but tootsie rolls!

Couldn't quite get everyone to cooperate with the musical whoopie cusions game
but they made a good favor since the mini toilets filled with potty putty were mostly dried up.
I was concerned about the weather but we lucked out with a perfect break in the rains to play & eat outside the whole time. Never was the subject of poop so fun!
Now back to being respectable again.
(yeah um, how do i teach my 3yr old that it's not ok to joke about poop & toots in public anymore? i may have created a stinky monster)

Easter

Proccess of a Potty Piñata

First you take your prized little throne and cover it with plastic wrap

Then start paper maché-ing it.
for days...
while it sits in the middle of your kitchen table
drying
layer after layer.
But dont do the bottom yet because you must slide
(or rather, wiggle, pry, finagle)
it off the actual seat.

Now you can cut a piece of cardboard to fit the bottom and start several more days worth of paper maché layers

Until finally you can paint it to perfection!

And Vwallaw, a Potty Piñata !

Next Project:
Potty Party Invitations.....
Oh yeah, it's gonna be gross

Half a Decade?

Keith and I recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.

This year I decided to plan a relaxing day together, "Emily style".
Especially since Keith had been working so extra hard the last few months for his tests and finally finished.
To make sure things would be copasetic at home, we arranged for two babysitters.
I'd take no chances of getting called home for a minor difficulty today!
And they did a wonderful job too.
We started our day of love with a morning yoga class together.
(my husband is a good sport yes?)
And since we didn't take any actual pictures,
I've added example images just help imaginehere we are in side by side head stands breathing deeply and meditating on the everlasting love that binds our eternal union to each other. (minus the beach of course)
After a little morning enlightenment we walked over to one of our favorite eateries; Marie Catrib's for a light brunch.I ordered and egg-white omelette with mushroom, spinach, home made sausage and no cheese. (I secretly like to spread a little jam on top)
For a special treat I had a huge glass of carrot/orange juice that I could see them squeezing right there. mmm Yummy!
Keith had a regular man-omelette with seasoned potatoes. Even though Im not a bit fan of potatoes, the seasoning is so incredably delish and I asked about it and was able to buy a little bowl of it from them. I use it in my own eggs at home now and its fantastic!
At this point we casually killed a little time and mosied over to my new salon for our appointed couples massage.(minus the flower petals and candles, but the bed was heated and very nice)
I must say, it is odd when you hear the other massouse ask "how is that" in a low sultry voice... but except for the tourtured parrott squaking in the bookstore through the wall, the experience was entirely, relaxingly lovely.
Now, that we were good and greasy and half-way though our day, we headed home for a quick shower / change and check on kids. All went well (phew) and since we had a big chunk of time to fill we made it with perfect timing to see a mattinee of Alice in Wonderland. with middle middle seats too!
From there we headed to another favorite restaurant Rose's.We were just in time for some happy hour minis. Oh boy! Keith had a little burger while i enjoyed one of their fabulous little oven pizzas with bbq & shrimp. Then we aggreed to split a spoon spinach salad and turkey cranberry sandwich. ooh im getting hungry again just thinking about it...
The atmosphere was lovely and we were seated in their window porch area surrounded with a gorgeous view of Reeds Lake.Well, actually it looked more like this,Yes, there were people ice fishing on the local lake.
What an odd thing to do.
Well, finally our day was perfectly finished with a visit to Oasis Hot Tub Gardens.
This was what took the most amount of convincing for Keith. I assured him that it was heavily clorinated and he reluctantly enjoyed every moment of our one hour private soak in the covered outdoor Nova Scotia room. (regardless that he was paged three times by work)I left that place and walk to our car the warmest I have ever been a Michigan winter.
The actual bitter pain i feel from the dry life-sucking artic winds was, for a while, relieved.
and I felt soft, smooth, and relaxed. We arrived home from a perfectly easy going no stress day to kids sound asleep in their beds and happy babysitters.Im still in shock that it all fell into place so well and that
we've been married now for Half a Decade!
I guess 5 arduous years ended on a blissful note ;)
Happy Anniversary Dear
Thank you for my beautiful family,
my beautiful life...

Today's lesson is all about:

SNAILS!

Kota was talking about snails today but it seemed as though he didn't know exactly what they were. So, we decided to learn all about them today. Here are his favorite pictures that we found. He is now coloring his own.

Give up?

good guesses,
but actually,
when I asked him what he was doing he told me,
"Im planting a garden! These are my begtables"

Too cute huh :)

Guess what he is doing here?

Lilly turns ONE!

Wow, I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big!
One whole year, and walking already for two months too.
She has been a magical addition to our family.
She fills our lives with pure joy and delight!
Her smile lights up the room like a burst of sunshine.

I can't image that a world once existed without her
Oh how I love my little Lilly!
*Happy Birthday Sweet Baby*

My new thing...

For those who don't know about this yet I'd like to share with you my new minibiz
They are this-mommy-made
uber darling hair Clips.
I am just getting started but you can peek at some samples on facebook

or visit it's blog Here

Good Idea; in theory

A friend gave me the idea to melt all my old crayon bits to make big swirly new ones.
I thought this would be a great project for Dakota (since he is always looking for a project)
and a good way to get Lilly to start scribbling since she would be able to hold onto bigger bits.

I decided to line my cupcake tin in foil.
'Kota loved every step of this and eagerly helped
peel, snap, and fill.

All was going according to plan and in the end

out popped these little cupped beauties

Unfortunately it was a bit messier than planned
(like usual)
and Lilly only wanted to eat them anyway

The next day we bought a brand-new box of crayons.
Eh, at least we tried...