Cousin Emerson

Aunt Terra sent this to me. It's a photo of Emerson. I got him this gown before he was born. INKtastic gave it to me to review on my blog Milking the Issue. Thank you INKtastic for such a wonderful, meaningful gift!

"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I opened it up I started to cry. Isn't it crazy how emotions work? I'm at work around a bunch of guys; I start crying. I'm not a real cry baby girl, but this one made me cry.

Do you see Emerson's double chin? He's gaining weight and beating his odds. Tomorrow night we celebrate yet another birthday. This time he'll be 4 weeks old.

Wordless Wednesday - Fire Truck

From left to right: Cousin Elijah 3 years, Cousin Evan 6 years, Mica almost 6 years and Isaak 3 years

Mica and Isaak

If you have the time, please enter my giveaway for Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter it's amazing to cook with!

Motherboard

I went to turn my laptop on last night, and only got a white screen. I restarted only to get a white screen once again.

Moving forward in time- My co-worker that is great with computers can't even fix my damaged one. Two of my co-workers were really impressed that I wasn't freaking out. I told them that I let things build up and then blow. Not very healthy.

He thinks the Motherboard is out, which is bad! That means that all the school work I've done to prepare for my fall classes is bye bye. I back things up at midterm and finals time. I haven't had a chance to back up recently.

To make things worse, my boss is out of town for a week. We rummaged through his office to find my cloned laptop from spring.  

My computer crashing makes me feel like my life is crashing. It's just one more thing to top off my rocky (up and down) summer. I'm thinking I need another Staycation. That would be such a blessing bad idea! I would get nothing done then!

Update! Now they are thinking it's my hard drive. If this is the case, my work for the summer is for sure bye bye.

Balls!

This was at the Omaha Children's Museum.

I had fun watching Isaak figure out this ball blower. At first he had no idea what it did.

Digging for Bones

This was at the Omaha Children's Museum.

The boy's were digging. I missed cousin Evan. He was into digging before the rest of the kids got over to the sand.

Dinosaur's and Other Prehistoric Creatures

This is at the Omaha Children's Museum.

This cracked me up. Mica was roaring at this fake dinosaur.

Saber Tooth Tiger

Wooly Mammoth

A sloth trying to knock off a Saber Tooth Tiger

A dinosaur and it's nest of babies

Another dinosaur

Then they had this mechanical dinosaur that kids could move up and down, left and right.

Omaha Children's Museum Flicks

This was one of Mica's favorites!

I don't think they get how this toy is really supposed to be used.

On Friday We Went to the Children's Museum

Grandma and Grandpa Spiehs and I took Mica, Isaak, Cousins Evan and Elijah to the Omaha Children's Museum.

Mica on a camel. He was crazy like, playing with everything, bouncing from one station to the next. It was like he was on speed, but I assure you he wasn't.

Grandpa Spiehs with Isaak. Isaak was the crier in the group. He would go to play on something, get to the top and cry for me to get him. He kept asking for Mica to help him, but Mica was too busy to stop and see that his brother wanted him at his side.

Evan kept asking, "When can we go to the next room?" over and over again. Elijah messed his pants before we got there.

This proves that no kid is perfect! Whenever there's a negative, there's a positive. Well all had fun!

Sing Along CD Player

I remember my sister's and I recording ourselves singing along to music when we were little.

Mommy Moment is giving away a Sing Along CD Player from Constructive Playthings.

Product Description: A sound choice for long-playing performance, this unit features 45-second antiskip protection, an LCD display, high output speaker, headphone jacks, built in pocket on the back to hold one CD and other child-friendly, standard features. There are even 2 microphones for sing-along fun. Size 9 ½" W. x 3 ½" D. x 10" H. Uses 4 "C" batteries (not incl.). See personalized CDs on page 29. Ages 3 yrs. +.

Hugs for Hits

I have a new strategy for my Isaak man. He's the youngest of the 3 boy's he hangs out with on regular basis. He was always left out and called, "The baby" of the family.

Now he turns from sweet and sensitive to mean and defending himself. If a child tries to take a toy from him, he'll wack them with it. He throws and hits.

I've watched all the boy's play; I really don't blame Isaak for being mean to the other kids. The boy's often yell out, "Isaak's the bad guy!" Then they all run from him laughing. Boys! My co-worker that has 7 children told me that the youngest is always the nicest and meanest at the same time. Now I know what he means!

I was giving Isaak lots of time-out. Many times we had two time-outs going; one for each kid. Then yesterday I thought of a new strategy. Isaak was about to clock Mica for taking a toy from him. I said, "Isaak come here!" Before he could hit, I made him give me a hug. He was happy to give me a hug. Then he forgot about the toy altogether. Most of the time it's a toy that is Mica's. A toy that isn't meant for age 3 and under. I'm not saying that it will be like that every time; forgetting about the toy someone grabbed from him. At least some of the time we can take negative attention and turn it it into being positive.

Daddy started something good as well. He whispers instead of yells. A whisper is sacred; they seem to listen to it. That is if they are not too worked up. Like if he's having a temper tantrum, he's not going to listen to a whisper. If I want to get him to do something, a whisper works great.