The Polk Pages

Ode to Paci

2009-12-26T10:14:00.004-06:00

O Pacifier,
O Pacifier,
Joseph really misses you
It's so sad to see him boo hoo...
...for you
But your absence is overdue!
Bye Bye Paci...

Merry Christmas Eve!

2009-12-24T22:13:00.003-06:00

More to come later, but I wanted to go ahead and post this video of Joseph playing ball with his Daddy. Enjoy!

Celebration

2009-09-15T10:22:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday, Joseph!!! Technically, it was yesterday, but we had a busy day and I'm just now posting.

My youngest has turned 3! I can't believe how quickly time is passing. We celebrated both his and his sister's birthdays over the weekend. Jump Zone was the place to be apparently. AE had a Tinkerbell cake and Joseph had a John Deere cake. Lots of fun was had by all!

Joseph's 1st Day of Pre-K3 at FUMC

2009-09-08T16:10:00.003-05:00

Joseph was not too thrilled about going to school this morning. I gave him som gum on the way to school to try and cheer him up. Once we got into his classroom, he wanted me to stay with him. After he realized I wasn't staying, then he was all ready to leave with me. However, Ms. Melissa offered to hold him for a bit and that's when I made my escape! There were no tears, thank goodness, but I did wonder all day how he was doing. He was so excited to see me when I picked him up...he had even drawn a picture for me. How sweet!!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

2009-09-08T15:41:00.007-05:00

Aside from celebrating AE's 5th b-day on Friday, our neighbors were kind enough to feed us dinner Saturday night. The Higgins' family can grill a mean steak, bake the best baked potatoes, and provide plenty of entertainment! While the adults visited and ate, the kiddos got to play in the pool that's currently under construction. Needless to say, it was a literal mudpit...

Saturday was also the first game of the season for LSU. The Tigers had to travel to the state of Washington for the opening game...they won, thank goodness...but there's going to be tougher teams ahead and we need to look much, much better. The Polk Family was dressed and ready for the game, though.

Monday was spent hanging out by the pool with some really good friends, The Bensons. Pizza, pool and sunshine...life couldn't be better! :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day Holiday Weekend!

Guitar Duo

2009-09-05T13:52:00.001-05:00

Guitar Duo

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Happy, Happy Birthday to AE

2009-09-05T12:59:00.003-05:00

Well, my baby girl turned 5 years old yesterday. My how times flies! It seems like only yesterday when she was first put into my arms. I think she had a great day yesterday. She was line leader at school and we took cupcakes and juice for snack time. School let out at noon, so we opened presents when she got home. We did cake later in the evening.

All in all, I'd say she had a great birthday!!

1st Day of PreK

2009-09-03T14:07:00.005-05:00

AE started school in August. She is attending a new school this year for PreK. It has taken some adjustments (it's a 5-day program), but she really likes it. She has already made some new friends. Here are a couple of pics from her first day...

AE's New Look

2009-09-03T13:59:00.002-05:00

After the first week of school, AE let me know that things looked fuzzy when she was tired. I hastily made an eye appointment for her the following week. After the technician did her thing and the doctor looked and then dilated and then looked some more....he concluded that she is far sighted with a slightly lazy right eye. I had noticed the lazy right eye in the past, but didn't think that much about it, because it only happened every now and then when she was extremely tired.

Well, she needs glasses. And by wearing them all day, this should help with the fuzzy vision and help strengthen the lazy eye.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-28T12:09:00.007-06:00

Mehwy Kissmas (as Joseph says)! We had a wonderful day celebrating with family. Jason's mom had driven up from MS to visit over Christmas. My dad, grandmother, and brother joined us for a late lunch on Christmas Day. The kids were overwhelmed with presents (from Santa as well as family members) and have enjoyed playing with everything. My wonderful hubby gave me some UGG boots and a beautiful mother's necklace and he received Sirius radio. I think I got the better deal, don't you? Maybe not. :)

Joseph got his first drum set. Check out our future rock star. Big sister had to have her turn on it as well, and she's really good...we may have to start our own family band! I guess lessons are in our future. :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season!!

Warning: Don't Try This At Home

2008-12-23T15:33:00.005-06:00

Does anyone else's 2-year-old try this? He used the dryer door to boost himself up and into the washing machine. Crazy!! He is addicted to climbing...no place is safe!

Where has the time gone????

2008-12-23T13:39:00.014-06:00

I hope I haven't lost everyone....hello? Hello? Is anyone out there?!

I guess it's way past time to update this blog. A lot has happened since September. Let me fill you in...

OCTOBER:
I attended a local pumpkin patch with Anna Elise's class. We went on a hay ride, picked a small pumpkin from the vine to take home, ate lunch and just enjoyed a wonderful sunny afternoon playing and visiting with friends.

Our local Mommy & Me group had a Halloween parade for the children. They bobbed for apples, climbed aboard a fire truck, had refreshments, and went trick or treating. Joseph wasn't able to attend as he was napping, but Anna Elise had a blast!

I guess I need to include what Jason and I were able to do as well. We attended the New Orleans Saints vs. Oakland Raiders game in the Big Easy. We met some good friends there and had a nice weekend watching football, eating and drinking.

At Luke's, a game day favorite!

These helmets got lots of compliments!!

Had to take a picture of #55, Scott Fujita!!

And of course, the AR boy...McFadden.

We ended October with trick or treating at a friend's house. The kiddos had a blast. Thank you, Myerskis, for opening your home (and neighborhood) to us!

NOVEMBER:
Ahhh, this month revolved around food, doctors and football. What a great combination, eh?!

November 4th was our 8th wedding anniversary, so went out to dinner to celebrate. Our friends, the Johnsons, had ordered us a bottle of wine and it was waiting for us when we arrived at the restaurant. I was in good spirits....

I also took the kids to Firefly Pottery (with the Mommy group) to make Christmas gifts for grandparents and wound up getting some extras just to keep them occupied while I decorated. It was fun, but also nerve wracking...Joseph was like a bull in a china shop!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we traveled to Hattiesburg, MS and New Orleans, LA. Jacq watched AE and Jobo, while Jason and I met our friends, the Burkhalters, in the Big Easy for another long weekend. We shopped, ate at some fabulous places, and attended the Monday Night game...the Saints vs. the Packers. Needless to say, we had an awesome weekend. :)
I should have some pictures to document that weekend, but there is a long story regarding my camera and I don't have any. :(

About the doctors...Joseph developed double ear infections while we were gone (poor thing!) and had to be taken to an immediate care place on Sunday. Antibiotics and a decongestant later, and he is a much happier person! No wonder he was so miserable on our car ride to MS!! Well, after 7 days of antibiotics, he's still pulling at his right ear and screaming when you touch it, so off we go back to the doctor's office. Apparently his right ear had developed a hole in it and then rehealed itself, but it was still infected and he needed a different antibiotic to treat it. Round 2 of antibiotics!! And then, in between these two visits, he cut the back of his heel (near his Achilles' tendon) so badly he had to be taken to the E.R. for stitches (8 of 'em!). He had an X-ray done, some numbing stuff put on that didn't work, so he still have to have a local anesthetic injected, and then 8 stitches sewn in! Oh, my baby!! I was out in the car with AE...Jason was the brave Daddy who had to watch all that.

DECEMBER:

AE, Jobo, and I went to see the Peabody Ducks with a few of the moms from the Mommy group. It was my first time to see them as well. Joseph really liked the glass elevators and we all had to go for a ride up and then down in one. It was neat to see the ducks come down from the 2nd floor and then walk the red carpet to the fountain.

The Mommy group held their annual Christmas party at the local Community Center. Jason, the kids and I attended. Santa and Mrs. Claus were also there and they handed out books to all of the children. It was a lengthy process, but a lot of fun!

Jason turned 35 this month. In fact, he and my dad share the same birthday, but I won't mention my dad's age. :) Happy Birthday, hubby and Dad!! I hope you both had great days!

Jason's Mom got here last Friday, so I've been doing last-minute shopping, gift wrapping and trying to get the house in some kind of order for the holidays. Oh yeah, did I mention Joseph has another round of ear infections (Round 3, is it?)?

Happy Holidays...Merry Christmas...Happy New Year!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSEPH!!

2008-09-16T16:24:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I'm a little late (2 days) posting this particular entry...I hope I'll be forgiven.

I can't believe my baby baby is now 2 years old!! It seems like only yesterday that he was born.

I've included a couple of pictures that were taken a couple of weeks and then a month after his birth. I never got any pictures of him with my digital camera while he was still in the hospital. As he came 10 days early, I was a little unprepared. We did manage to purchase a disposable camera, so all was not lost. :)

Here a few pictures of the birthday boy on his big day....

We spent his birthday watching football with some good friends. The kids had a blast playing and the grown-ups got to watch some football and catch up. Joseph was playing with one of the balloons that was left over from the party we had thrown for him and his sister on Saturday. He kept releasing the balloons outside, saying "bye, bye boon." On Sunday, he proceeded to sit on the remaining balloons until they popped, to which he would reply, "boon pop."

The second picture shows how crafty the boy is. I walked into the office and found his standing on the computer desk. He hurriedly threw the camera down and acted like he wasn't doing anything. I checked the camera and could have sworn that it was off. Well, when I was downloading the pictures to the PC, I discovered about 10 or so of these "self-portraits" that Joseph had obviously taken of himself as he stood on top of the computer desk. This was the only one which captured his entire face, the rest are of his nose down! Ha!

For Anna Elise and Joseph's birthdays, we decided to have a party at our house. We invited gobs of children, rented a bouncy house, ordered pizza and ate cake. I think everyone had a blast! Joseph and Anna Elise (not to mention good ole' Mom & Dad and Jacq) were exhausted come Saturday night. But so worth it! Take a look....

I'll include some more snippets about Joseph in another post.

School Days

2008-09-10T17:42:00.004-05:00

Well, Tuesday officially started the 2008 school year for the Polk Family. AE was sleepy, but excited about her first day. Joseph was a-okay with everything...picture taking, backpack wearing, walking into the building...until we ventured into his classroom. He lost it!! There were tears, clinging, a lot of drawn out "Mama"s. We walked around the room, I got him seated at his spot at the table, showed him his snack and then tried to leave. He wasn't having it! The teacher's aid finally had to pull him from my arms as I walked out with tears in my eyes. I then snuck a peek at him through a window and I got busted! So, the tears and Mama-calling started all over again. I ventured down the hall aways and waited a few more minutes. One of the other mommies from the classroom rounded the corner and let me know things had quietened down in the classroom. Whew! I could now breathe normally and leave the building. I didn't realize how much having my youngest away from me for even a short amount of time would affect me, but it has. Bittersweet!

I somehow managed to skip getting a picture of Anna Elise in her classroom (probably because Joseph was all over the place and I was trying to keep him from disrupting her room!). Sorry, babe!

So, I pick them up Tuesday afternoon and AE has had a wonderful day. Great! Joseph, on the other hand, refused to take a nap (which he LOVES doing) and is somewhat sleepy. No problem, he'll just go to bed early and I'll remember to tell the teachers about his pacy in his backpack. YES...I forgot to mention that he needs his pacy when he sleeps! Am I horrible mom or what?! All in all, though, the teachers said he did great. He ate well, played well, no problems. Terrific!

Fast forward to this evening for a recap of today's events, and well, there's not much to report. AE had another terrific day and was in great spirits when I arrived to get her. Joseph had received his pacy for nap time and had actually slept some (an improvement), but still appeared a little sleepy when I picked him up. So, I guess this Mother's Day Out is treating him okay (and as a bonus, I have some free time to get things done that would have been extremely more difficult to do with children in tow).

Hope everyone is having a great week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNA ELISE!!!!

2008-09-04T19:08:00.007-05:00

I can't believe my firstborn is now four years old! As of 5:33am, September 4, my baby turned 4! Here are a couple of pictures from her first few days with us!

We really had a family day, as Jason was home sick with the Flu (yes, Flu, in September...imagine that!). We started the day by singing Happy Birthday to AE, letting her open a couple of presents, and then doing whatever she wanted the rest of the day.

Except....

She and Joseph had Open House at their school, so we had to visit with their new teachers, see their classrooms, and talk to other classmates and their parents. It was a little stressful for Joseph, but he warmed up as the time passed. We then went to the library, where the birthday girl checked out a couple of books, but no movies since we had met our quota on DVDs. After that, we went to Kroger to purchase cakes for their upcoming combined birthday party (as Joseph will turn 2 on September 14th), but then realized the cakes I wanted to purchase (Ariel and Thomas) were at Wal-Mart. Ugh!!! So, I get to Wally World, have the two kiddos in the back of the buggy, and proceed to order 2 cakes. They are bouncing up and down in the buggy and screaming at the top of their lungs as I'm trying to tell the very patient lady behind the counter which cakes I wanted to purchase and when I needed them. She looked at me and said we have a 24-hour turnover on our cakes, maybe you want to come back next week, when it's quieter? She wasn't being a smart-aleck, she was actually throwing me a bone, and I thank her dearly. So, I will go back to Wal-Mart either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of this next week, because as Jason has so eloquently said, time and time again..."the dream begins September 9th, 9am through 2pm, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...you're living the dream stay-at-home mom." But, as he also says, "it has been a four year, 24/7, pledeship."

Had a nice visit with Pawpaw and Nenie. Came home and had some cake (that AE had picked out earlier at our visit to Kroger), sang Happy Birthday again, and played around the house. It was a good day!!

We did something small on AE's actual birthday, because we are going to have a combined birthday party for both of them a week later. Not sure how many more years we'll be able to do that, but it's kind of nice not having to worry about two different parties!

Hope everyone has had a good week and will have a great weekend!!

Geaux Tigers!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-08-26T07:30:00.007-05:00

Well, it was overdue, but AE and I finally got our hair cut. And we are now "stylish," as she likes to say! Take a look...

Joseph has been enjoying all of the construction that is happening in our neighborhood right now. They are currently building a house on one side of us and are about to start on the opposite side next week. Right now, he has the best view from his sister's window. Check it out...

We just found out that some very good friends of ours will be building right next to us, so we are very excited about our future neighbors!!!!

Hope you all are having a great week!

So Much To Say...

2008-08-20T12:01:00.016-05:00

here's a quick synopsis of what we've been up to since the last post...

*Splashing around in the backyard due to the extreme heat (notice that Joseph has placed a chair in the pool and is about to jump from it!)

*Anna Elise getting to see her first stage performance of the The Backyardigans (her awesome Daddy took her and they had sooo much fun!) Notice the title is 'Tale of the Mighty Knights' and AE keeps calling it, "The Tale of the Nighty Nights!" Too cute.

*Games of chase before winding down for the evening

*Getting ready for Pre-Season Football (Geaux Saints!), which means lots of Who Dat?! and Tiger Roars are ahead

*Sneaking onto the kitchen counters and creatively eating our snacks (that would be a soft potty seat topper that he is sitting and scooting around on!)

*Attending a birthday party at a local gymnastics facility (what a blast!!)

*Quick family beach trip to Gulf Shores, AL. Joseph was so scared of the sand at first, but he got over his fears and was soon dumping buckets of it on his head and running straight to the ocean. AE fell in love with the beach last year and kept asking when we were going back this year...she got her way! We met a couple from Georgia (north of Atlanta, actually) who had two kids the same ages as ours and they all got along swimmingly. Their son, Preston is pictured with Anna Elise, but I don't have a really good picture of their, daughter Vivienne (please forgive my spelling!), who was adorable and so smart and well-behaved! The woman pictured with AE and Jobo was their nanny on the nights Jason and I went out to dinner. Her name is Glenda and she's the best!! She played with the kids and even bought them a little stuffed pelican and seal. Thank you, Ms. Glenda!! The last picture in this set is of all of the jellyfish that people kept catching. They were really bad this time of year and so many kids kept getting stung. Made you just want to stay in the pool, which was great because it was only 2 ft. deep (perfect for the young ones).

*Shopping for school supplies and being filmed on the local news (thank goodness there were no interviews done!) Okay, so my daughter and I are famous now, what can we say?! :)

http://arkansasmatters.com/media_player.php?media_id=86531

Thank goodness they didn't get us on camera once we had passed the school supplies section. AE had found a Bratz doll that she refused to let go of and had to be carried out of the store screaming. It was NOT pleasant!!

Later Tater!!

Saturday night and everything's all right!

2008-07-27T20:19:00.006-05:00

After much persuading from my husband, and the fact that everyone is asleep, I have decided to sit down and recap the past week or so. AE attended her first Vacation Bible School (VBS) and had a blast! It was a long week, with her attending Mother's Day Out in the day and then going to VBS at night, but it was sooo worth it!

Jason and I met several friends downtown for a concert on Friday night...B.B. King and Willie Nelson. It was sooo HOT outside, but they were worth seeing. It was a lot of fun. Jason and I were meeting Abby and Damon and Michelle and Lindsey, but we also ran into Rod and Amy, so we had a good little group to sit with and enjoy the show.

It's been so hot lately, that the kids have been either inside enjoying the wonderful air conditioning or outside playing in the sprinklers/baby pools.

As you can see from the last picture, our living room was turned into a romper room (thanks, Daddy!). See what happens when I leave the room and leave Daddy in charge?! Ha!

For those of you who don't realize exactly how active my children are, especially the younger one, check out the video above. Enjoy!

Well, that's about all we've done lately. Hope you all have a great week ahead! Until the next posting...

These boots were made for walkin'

2008-07-16T14:27:00.003-05:00

or playing dress up, playing outside in, you name it and my kiddos have done it. I have the proof, here it is...

We didn't do too much this past weekend...played outside, went to a birthday party at the JumpZone, Jason and I managed to go out to eat Saturday night without the kids, and then church on Sunday and a brief visit with my Dad in the afternoon. Joseph kept asking for "Pawpaw" after church, so we decided to pay him a visit. While the kids and I were inside my Dad's house playing, Jason and my Dad killed a copperhead snake that was curled up in a flower bed by the walkway leading to the pool. Glad I wasn't around for that!!! Eww!

Anna Elise had a playdate yesterday afternoon with one of her best friends, Rachel. They had a blast and are looking forward to the next one! She was supposed to attend Mother's Day Out today, but managed to put on the waterworks for me and I couldn't make her stay...I would have felt too bad. So, we headed on to the park for a Mommy & Me scheduled playdate. It was a lot of fun, but we managed to stay there for 3 hours!!! Am I crazy or what?! Joseph is still napping and Anna Elise is counting down the minutes until it's time to leave for swimming lessons.

Sorry it's taken me so long to post...I've found another addiction, Facebook. Jason has to pull me away from the computer sometimes....not healthy! :) I'll try to stay on top of my blogging, though. I haven't forgotten you all!

I have a much needed GNO (Girls' Night Out) planned for this Friday and I can't wait! We're going to eat at a restaurant I've been wanting to try and possibly go see a movie afterwards (Mamma Mia!, which I doubt my husband would agree to see, so it's great that my girlfriends are interested in it).

Hope everyone is having a great week. Good luck to my friend, LAH, who will be speaking before legislators tomorrow morning regarding her son's Autism story. Wish her luck. For those of you who aren't familiar with Leigh Ann, you should check out her webpage...

TTFN!

FEVER!

2008-07-06T15:35:00.004-05:00

Anna Elise developed a fever virus last Sunday and continued to run fever until about Thursday. We (being myself, AE, Joseph and Jacq {my mother-in-law}) had planned to visit Eureka Springs for a couple of days, but had to postpone our trip until another time due to FEVER. It was the craziest thing...the only symptom was the fever and boy did it get high, almost 105 at one point. Nothing to do but give fluids, Tylenol or Motrin, and make sure she got plenty of rest. So, no trip to Eureka Springs, swimming lessons or Mother's Day Out.

But...we had already planned a trip to the Buffalo River for Thursday and Friday and since the fever had broken and she was up running around again, we decided to go. One of our dear friends, Mo, came to visit us and go canoeing. So, the kiddos hung out with Jacq at the cottage and playing along the riverbank, while Jason, Mo and I canoed for a few hours. We thought the canoe would have three seats, but it only had two, so I came away with wonderful bumps and bruises but worth it! I don't have any pictures to show you since we took a disposable camera with us on the river and I haven't gotten them developed yet. Sorry!

We returned home on Friday and spent some of the evening with some more good friends. It was the first year that Anna Elise was able to stay up for the fireworks and she seemed to enjoy them. She did fall fast asleep on the way home, though! Here are a couple of pictures of AE, Mo, Jason and me before we left for the evening....

We had the best intentions of going swimming on Saturday and Sunday, but about the time we were ready to go it started to rain. Bummer!

All of our company left on Sunday, so it's back to same ol' same ol' starting today. Now, if I just had the energy to clean up, all would be well.

Have a great week everyone!

************************************************************************************

On a different note...

Friends of friends had a major accident occur to their son the night of the 4th. He was hit in the back of the neck by a Roman candle and is suffering from 3rd degree burns from his ear to his collar bone. He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday and is expected to remain in the hospital for 10 days. Please join me in praying for him and his family during this difficult time. Thanks.

Monday, Monday

2008-06-16T20:21:00.007-05:00

...and so much to catch up on! We had a family reunion in the north central part of the state. The last two of my grandmother's sisters and my grandmother were in attendance as well as the other sisters' & brother's families. We had a great time, even though we spent most of it herding the kiddos instead of visiting with all of the relatives. We did get a great picture of my family, though.

From left to right...Jason holding Anna Elise, my brother Rob, my grandmother Geneva, my dad Jim. and me holding Joseph. Just wish my mom could have been there as well.

Last week, Anna Elise started her summer camp program, which is really just a summer Mother's Day Out, but I had to change the name in order for it to sound cool to her. Imagine that!

Here she is in the car holding her Webkinz Chihuahua that her Jacq gave her for Christmas. She affectionately named the dog, Kitty.

By the middle of the week, both kids had appointments to get their hair cut. Anna Elise told me she wanted her hair cut to her ears...I told her no and had only an inch cut off and light layering done. I did give in to another hair cut at a later date that would shorten it to her shoulders, but no higher. I don't want to lose her curls!!!

You can't tell much from this picture, but they do have new 'do's! They were also enjoying cold popsicles on a hot afternoon!

We had some sprinkler action going on during the week, which involved soaked clothes and then naked bodies. And it never fails with a little boy, the minute the diaper comes off, pee pee ensues! I think it's finally connecting with Joseph that pee pee comes from his wee wee and that he can have some control over it. I got a few snapshots of him trying to make himself pee pee, but I probably shouldn't post them here...

Friday night, I attended an all-school class renion with some of my girlfriends for our old alma mater. Apparently, the school is supposed to be relocating to a different location and the old building is being torn down, hence the need for an all-school reunion. Of course, it was the 40th reunion for the class of '68, so it was a very special weekend. I attended the banquet with three very good friends, Abby M., Michelle C., and Suzanna A. (who met up with us at the banquet). While we were there, we listened to speakers, danced, ate/drank, and caught up with more good friends that we hadn't seen or spoken to in awhile. It was a really fun night, but we missed the people who could not attend (won't mention any names, but I think you know who you are!). They had good excuses, though, so we'll forgive them at this time. Anyway, I'm attaching some pics from that night. Oh, I wasn't able to attend the Family day on Saturday, so Abby M., I apologize and I hope you weren't too mad at me for that! Here are the pics...

That brings us to Father's Day...Jason and Joseph were caught watching the LSU Tigers play the North Carolina Tarheels in the College World Series. They lost, but they have another chance to redeem themselves on Tuesday night against Rice. Geaux Tigers!!! Wait, I forgot, I haven't downloaded those pictures yet, so I'll include them in another post.

Well, that's about it for now. I hope everyone has a great week!!

Features

2008-06-04T14:28:00.003-05:00

I was stumped for a title for this post. Features came to mind after reading Leigh Ann's entry about her son's eyelashes (the kind every woman wishes she had!). My kids were also blessed with long eyelashes, although not from me, and that's one of many features I love about them.

AE has beautiful, long curls and big blue eyes (though they tend to be more gray as she ages), and I just love the one dimple she has on the left side of her face. Too cute! She also has this belly laugh that is so infectious, if you hear it you can't help but laugh as well.

Joseph is small for his age, but so darn cute. He also gets compliments of how pretty he is and I take no offense to that either. I think he's rather 'purty' myself!

Hope everyone is having is having a great week! Happy Hump Day! :)

Can you spare a square?

2008-05-30T13:22:00.007-05:00

I didn't think I'd have to worry about toilet paper locks at 20-months-old, but apparently I do...

This is what was going on next to me while I was typing in the blog this morning. I heard squeals of laughter and decided to check out the situation. I found the empty roll, saw the scattered remnants of paper on the floor, and then found the thief with a new roll in his hand around the corner....

BUSTED!!!!

Blogging has definitely caused me to pick up my camera and catch these great moments!

Once the princess woke up, we went to a friend's house for some jungle gym and sprinkler time. I met this friend through the local Mommy & Me group that I'm involved with. The Friday playgroup has grown and has some really neat people involved with it.

I was trying to get a good group picture, but of course, my two were not cooperating! Looks like they had fun, though!

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Busy, Busy Day

2008-05-30T08:20:00.009-05:00

I meant to post last night, but Anna Elise refused to sleep in her bed unless Mama was with her. Needless to say, we went to her room about 9pm and the next thing I knew it was 10pm, so I picked myself up and shuffled off to my room. No blogging happened last night!

But, we did have a fun day yesterday. After going to the gym, which I need to do more often, we met some friends at the park that we've been meaning to get together with and just haven't found the opportunity to do so. We met these friends while living in the apartments we recently moved out of. How lucky were we to live above a family with similar interests and close-in-age kids? Doesn't happen very often, but it worked out well.

This is Bonnie. Isn't she cute?! She is so sweet and down-to-earth. She is transistioning right now, because she left one profession and is entering another one. You go, girl!

Her kids are Jacob and Cora, and they are absolutely adorable. Anna Elise and Jacob have the best time playing make believe. Cora holds her own with both of them and somehow Joseph just contentedly plays alongside them all.

Joseph just fell in love with the tricycle our friends had brought to the park. Check him out.

Oh, I must backtrack for the moment and let you see how every morning lately begins at the Polk household.....
Isn't my little man so cute? He stands in front of the pantry doors pointing and saying "dat, dat" until the doors are opened and he can pull out the bottom drawer and use it like a step stool to reach what he wants! Of course I let him, because I don't want him to wake up his sister. She needs all the sleep you can get.

Back to the park...So we spent a couple of hours playing and then headed over to Bonnie's place for lunch. She fed us pizza, chicken nuggets and cheese. The older two were too busy playing to really eat, but Joseph and Cora chowed down. Onto more playing and before you know it, it was almost three in the afternoon and none of the kiddos had taken a nap yet. The Polk family headed on home. My kids were so exhausted! Joseph took a short nap and then went to bed around 6:30pm, but not AE, no she refused to go to bed until she was made to at 9pm and then only if Mama slept with her! Oh, she told me the other day that she wanted "real" babies to keep her company in her bed. So I proceeded to tell her that once she was a mom she would have real babies to sleep with her, but for right now we should use our baby dolls. That seemed to pacify her for the moment.

And, finally...here's the grand finale of the day. Jason and Anna Elise playing their guitars together, singing about characters from Sprout TV's Goodnight Show!

Intro Please...

2008-05-29T06:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, I have officially joined the bandwagon now (with prompting from my dear husband as well)! He's been on me to keep a diary of our children's antics, but I can't seem to find the time to sit and write and write well about their doings, so this seems like a better idea. Maybe I'll try to shorthand some key things on paper. Who knows.

Anyway, Jason and I have known each other for 10 years and have been married for 7 1/2 years. We have two beautiful and high-spirited children, Anna Elise (3 1/2) and Joseph (1 1/2). I am a stay-at-home mom and have been since 2004...and love every minute of it (even the want-to-pull-my-hair-out moments, which seem to be happening more frequently lately and I'm not sure why!!).

This is Anna Elise (AE, sissy, sweet pea, sweetie). As you can see, she loves to play dress-up and is very girlie-girl, but also doesn't mind getting dirty, collecting bugs and playing rough. In the picture, she has her Mariposa Barbie butterfly costume on over her Easter dress...too cute! Jason took this picture, and I'm not exactly sure what they were discussing.

This is Joseph (JoBo, bub, brother, little man). He has surpassed his sister's climbing abilities at this age and is even more fearless (if that's possible!). He is 100% all boy and just as cute as he can be. Words are starting to form more and more these days and it's so exciting to watch his world get bigger and bigger. He may be small, but he's a force of nature!