Decisions, Decisions

I am learning that parenting is made up of lots of decisions like...
DO I JUST LET THIS SLIDE? Or should I say something about "we don't put our feet on the table"?

But then I remember that sometimes I put my feet on this table when I am feeding Vivien or watching a movie. Of course, I know not to put my feet up on someone else's coffee table! Must remember to watch out for this when we are out of our house!

And for the person who would question us letting our girl watch Sesame Street while eating lunch...this is an occasional treat! Another decision we made! :)

Daddy's Hat

Amity loves wearing her Daddy's hats!

And SOMETIMES she loves sharing with little sister too!

A Girl After My Own Heart

One of my top ten favorite things to do is take a nap and read a book on Sunday afternoons after church.* This is how I found Amity when I went in to get her after her nap this afternoon. Just a chillin' and reading her books!

*I DO typically wear clothes for MY naps! It was just a hot afternoon and we thought this little Sweaty Betty could do without! :)

May-pup

Amity is becoming more and more interested in all things "girly" lately. She likes to sit on the counter and watch me put on "Mommy's may-pup". She has even let me apply some eye shadow as well as accessorize her hair which is a really big deal for a girl who does not like to have her face touched!

Cooling Off

It is not even June yet and it already feels too hot! However, things are looking up now that we found out about SPRAYGROUNDS! Today we visited a really nice sprayground in Rockwall with Becky and her gang. Amity was her typically cautious self but gradually ventured closer to the water. Still she was never a big fan of getting surprised by the overhead sprayers and buckets.

I carried Vivien in the sling most of the time and covered her head with a wet burpcloth to keep both of us cool. I have a feeling this little girl is going to LOVE the sprayground next summer! So thankful that she was so laid back today!

Spraygrounds...I tell you...they are my newest favorite thing! Adults don't have to wear swimsuits and you can still get cooled off! :)

Sweet Vivi Leigh took a short nap on her personalized towel (thanks to the Andersons!) and then was back in the sling for more water fun.

Thanks Becky for a fun idea! We can't wait to try out the sprayground in our neighborhood some day soon. Amity is stilltalking during what should be her nap. I went in to check on her and she said "Go see water again?"

In Training

Please don't be misled! I have not read any books yet. We have not adopted any philosophy or method. We haven't even prayed about this yet (apparently this situation has driven numerous parents to their knees)!

Amity is showing no signs of readiness for being potty trained. She never tells me she has a dirty diaper even though it is apparent to anyone with a nose that she does. When I have asked her if she wants to sit on the potty, she emphatically says, "No, thank you!"

The other night, I was feeling a bit stubborn and curious. A dangerous combination! Vivien was already in bed and Dennis was working outside. I was in no particular hurry at bathtime and decided to experiment. I offered Amity some chocolate if she would sit on the potty without a diaper. As tempting as chocolate is, she had decided that her hatred of the potty was stronger. On this night, I told her that she had to sit for just a few minutes before she got in the bathtub. She kept signing and saying, "Please, bath!" But, I was stubborn and held out with the broken record method. Eventually, I just sat her on it and cheered wildly. As you can see below, no toddlers were harmed in the process!

Of course, there was nothing actually put in the potty either BUT she was willing to sit on the potty again the next morning.

So...we have gotten over our potty-sitting fear. Now I'm all out of ideas as to what to do next! I think I am going to subscribe to the theory of just-wait-until-she-is-three! :)

Afternoon at the Museum

Eli turned 4 on May 10th! We were invited to the Science Place Museum to celebrate this little man with lots of family and friends.
In the theme of "God's Mighty Warrior", there were balloon swords and helmets as Dennis so strikingly demonstrates. :)

The kids formed a line to be ushered from the party room to the museum exhibits. Any time Amity sees a line of anything, she says "All aboard!" I think she learned this from her Leapfrog train set that she plays with in her pack-n-play.

We forgot the stroller so Vivien participated in the party from this vantage point.

Nothing says Patagonia like a smocked dress, pink bow, and sandals!

After her zoo trip with the Connells yesterday, Amity was an expert on pointing out animals and then saying, "I scared of (insert name of animal here)." Then she would say, "C'mere!" to the animal. I'm not sure she really knows what "scared" means!

Amity and the birthday boy get ready to go plant some crops!

Collecting eggs from the chickens

Definitely a fan of the rocking horse!

Eli and Josiah were excellent dairy farmers!

See that look on Dennis's face? Yep, he is about to spray his sweet little daughter! And we wonder why she is cautious!!!

Riding her "tractor"The water room was super busy and the smocks were in big demand. I couldn't help but think about our last visit to this museum with Ella and how much Amity has changed! She was still a knee-walker back then!

Cousin Eiley is a HUGE fan of water!

And then there's this...

Amity got really serious and concentrated when she spotted the Lego table. She could have stayed there for hours.

Could she be the first girl to want to have a birthday party at the Lego store? Maybe she will be an architect?

Then again, she does look cute in a fireman's helmet!

Don't you feel safe while these two are on watch!

Especially with the assistance of this blue-eyed one!

Back in the party room, we enjoyed some yummy shield and sword cake made and decorated by Becky.

The kids got to decorate their own shields.

Vivien got to get out of the sling and enjoy some snuggles and smiles with Lolly.

Amity sat with the "big boys" from Eli's school and played with the knights.

What a fun afternoon! Thank you, Connells, for letting us be a part of the celebration!

Two are better than one!

A new tradition has been formed for these little ladies. When I go in to get Amity out of bed in the morning or after naptime, I take Vivien with me and lay her in bed with Amity. Amity loves to snuggle with her little sister. Today, we walked in to find Amity looking at a book. I laid Vivien in the bed and there was more snuggling and looking at books. Could I BE a happier mama??? :)

It's Nice to be Noisy!

There is some new furniture in the Grover house thanks to GG and KK! We have a new-to-us table and chairs in our kitchen. They used to be my grandparents and then my parents and are now ours. They definitely hold lots of good memories in their wood grain!

Another piece of furniture arrived in the same trailer...
As we heard the concert pictured above, my brother-in-law asked my parents if they were snickering the whole drive here! Yes, this furniture brings quite a bit added noise to our home but it seems worth it so far!

Table with a View

Amity had received birthday money from my parents, Nanna. and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bill and we had decided to use it to buy her a table and chairs but were waiting for the big KidKraft warehouse sale this weekend. I couldn't go the first day of the sale because it was Friday and I couldn't manage the girls and the sale at the same time. So, we arose early Saturday morning to head to the sale only to find a CLOSED - SOLD OUT sign on the door. I was so disappointed but we decided to head up to Frisco to Ikea to check out their tables and chairs. After a cinnamon roll and lots of walking around, we found a table and chairs we liked and brought them home for Dennis to assemble. He spent Saturday evening putting it all together.

This was the scene this morning:

She gets a beautiful view of our backyard with some no-longer-used burglar bars! Don't tell the bad guys!

I have ordered a cute oilcloth tablecloth off of Etsy to protect the table and my sanity and look forward to lots of eating, drawing, painting, play-doh, and pretending at this sweet little table!

Front Yard Photo Shoot

They weren't exactly dressed for a photo shoot but we were outside yesterday afternoon while Dennis worked in the yard and it just seemed like a good idea.

Amity was naming all of Vivien's body parts in this pose.

Vivien wonders if sister is truly qualified to hold her.

Amity finally looks at the camera!