Magic Moments

I guess I've taken a bit of a bloggy vacay this week. And it's been nice. We've had a nice slow summer week filled with regular summer stuff like swimming pools, parks, friends, and popsicles. Of course we spent last weekend at the cabin and I think it was perhaps the BEST cabin day I've had yet this season. The weather was PERFECT. We had a lot of "firsts" at the cabin so it was an exciting weekend. My mom got on the jet ski for the first time and even liked it. She said she'd go again. I caved on my no motorized boat rule and let Aiden go for his first boat ride. He was very obediant on the boat and it wasn't the nightmare I imagined. I may even let him go again sometime. Tom let Aiden drive but I think we'll wait til he's older before we send him out on his own. Probably more exciting that Aiden's first boat ride was the fact that Tom and I went on our first date in a VERY (think months and months) long time. I can't say...

Hakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as "There are no worries". It is sometimes translated as " no worries ", although is more commonly used similarly to the English phrase "no problem". Aiden loves the Lion King and we almost let him watch it once per week. Hakuna Matata has become his favorite song and he sings it often....which is a good reminder for us. With all that is going on around here the reminder of "no worries" is always needed. :) I think that Aiden is going to give Elton John a run for his money, what do you think? ;) Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo . Hakuna matata! It means no worries for the rest of your days. It's our problem free philosophy. Hakuna matata!

We've had a case of the crankies around here and I heard that they were going around. :) I really have no one to blame but myself because I let Aiden skip a nap or two in the name of FUN! Even though we've had some fun days this week, skipped naps lead to over tiredness which leads to not falling asleep at night, waking up too early, and the vicious cycle continues. To add to it I've been preoccupied, operating on my own agenda, and selfish with my time. So, I had to kick myself in the pants today and remind myself of the basics of our playful parenting style. 1. Only say "No" when what Aiden is doing is actually wrong. Saying no because what he is doing is annoying or inconvenient for me isn't a good enough reason to say no. Saying no too much takes away some of the power and seriousness of the word. 2. Time outs can be overused. It works just as well for non-serious infractions to ask Aiden if he needs help obeying. The same thing gets accomplished ...

For those of you who are always looking for a deal, beat this. I scored 2 free admissions to the Minnesota Zoo at our library on Friday. That was a $32.00 savings. And Aiden gets in free. So, we spent the day at the zoo for $6.00...$5 to park and $1 on food to feed the goats. Not too shabby. We had fun...mostly it was just nice to spend the day as a family. I liked that atmosphere and layout of the Minnesota Zoo. They have a neat farm and I really like Discovery Bay (the aquatic animal place...you can even touch certain types of sharks, sting rays and star fish). But, to be honest, it's not worth $16/ person for admission. I like our free zoo quite a bit better. The animals at eh MN Zoo were not that cool and they didn't have that many. Tom and I are spoiled b/c we have great memories of the Omaha Zoo. Nonetheless, here are some pictures of our fun day. The best seat in the house....looking at the camels from Daddy's shoulders. Yes, there is glass in between A...

I woke up this morning to find our refrigerator letters mysteriously lined up like this. The scary thing is I didn't line them up. And Tom didn't line them up. Neither one of us think that Aiden would or even could line them up and I can't remember a time when he played with these letters yesterday. Maybe I'm overreacting because I'm reading a mysterious and scary book right now, but this is a little unexplainable. Right now we are blaming "Somebody." Somebody is the 4th person who lives with us that gets blamed for all our lost items or chores that didn't get done (ex: Somebody didn't take out the trash. or Somebody took my cell phone). :) Tom said that tonight before we go to bed we will scramble the letters and then see what they look like in the morning. If they are back in a row, we are moving. :) Can you decipher a code hidden in the letters? We couldn't. Dum da dum dum dum.....

We were driving to church last Sunday and jammin' out to some good old fashion rock music....the perfect music choice to get your heart ready for worship, right? :) Tom was into it....Lip syncing, car dancing, making his hard core rocker face...the whole nine yards. It was then that we peaked into the back seat and saw our baby Aiden lip syncing, head banging, body boppin', and making the cutest rocker face EVER (think of a face that is really caught up in the passion of the song)! He was trying to do everything just like his Daddy. And who wouldn't want to be just like his Daddy? He is one COOL guy! Tom and I muffled our giggles as best we could. We couldn't help but laugh at the utter cuteness and we didn't want Aiden to stop...it was just too cute. There is more to the story than how cute Aiden is and how good of a rocker Tom is. :) It was then that my heart turned a little more spiritual. And it was about time since we were almost to church. I couldn...

Thanks to Leap Frog (and my own blood, sweat, and tears) I think Aiden understands that all letters make a sound (of course he has NO IDEA you can put sounds together! all this knowledge is still just like random trivia to him). He is still REALLY confused as to what sound each letter makes, but he'll get there. I'm putting together a preschool curriculum to hopefully casually start in the fall because I don't want to miss out on this window of eagerness to learn! Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo . We went to the farm last night to take in some local bluegrass music. Aiden was excited ALL day about seeing a banjo and thankfully they didn't disappoint! After all, what kind of bluegrass band would they be if they were short a banjo? Anyway, Aiden had fun seeing the animals but was happiest when he was doing his jig... Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo . ...and he had a very cute dancing partner! Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo .

1.Yesterday I was looking through Tom's contact list on his phone to find a number when I found a number for someone named, "random joe." At some point Tom took down someone's number but didn't know their name so he listed them as "random joe" and now he has no idea who it is. Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there stories" but I laughed for a long time. That is definitely something that Tom would do. 2. Last night Tom talked me into watching Paul Blart Mall Cop. It was stupid and over the top but we both laughed a lot. I love that Tom makes me laugh. I think the laughs stop there because we have 3 documentaries lined up to watch over the next 3 nights. Oh dear, I think we are getting old. 3. I love it when Aiden sings in the 3rd person. Today he's been singing, "Oh Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on Aiden!" I LOVE it! 4. It's our first Monday back from the cabin and it's been hard to g...

Cabin memories are going to come in bits and pieces as I have time to sit down in between putting laundry away, getting groceries, and playing with Aiden who is lonely for his cousins. Aiden was not happy to be in the lake at first...it seems as if he is still afraid of the water. I even bribed him with cookies...he tolerated it just long enough for 2 oreos. Then came the break through.... It seems that all it took was for Pappy to tell him that swimming was cool and then he LOVED it! He even started jumping off the dock! Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo . And Daddy jumped off to just to prove he wasn't scared either.... Untitled from Jenny on Vimeo .

We brought back sunburns and mosquito bites, but we sure had fun and feel so blessed. More to come...