Emily's Opinions

Here are a few of Emily's little insights and opinions as of late:

#1. Sunday, as we were getting ready for church:

Emily: Mommy, if your belly and bottom keep getting bigger, pretty soon you won't be able to fit through the door into the bathroom!

Mommy: Yeah, that would be a major problem! I'll have to not eat so many cookies, huh?

#2. Monday, when we're at dancing:

Emily: Mommy, some of the girls in my dancing class like to listen the the Jonas Brothers. They think they're cute.

Mommy: Well, what do you think?

Emily: I think they're old.

Back To Nature

Yesterday we had yet another fun-filled Saturday morning! We took the kiddos back to Fontenelle Forest. This time, not so much for the DinoQuest (although we did check it out along the way), but for a hike through the woods! (This is Nebraska, not up North or West, so I was pretty excited for place to hike that wasn't hours away!)

Nice face, Daddy! (Emily got to bring "Dolly" along, so she was very excited to include her in the shot.)

Checking out some nature along the trail...

Fontenelle Forest has miles and miles of marked trails off of the boardwalk and through the woods. For this hike, we went down to the Missouri river. It was the perfect hike for little legs w/little attention spans! We brought two backpacks---our Camelpack w/water, diapers, and snacks, and the other was for Christian! For the most part, when the trail would've been rough for him, he enjoyed sitting up high and looking for squirrels. Once we got down to the river we had a snack and took some pics.

Look, Grandpa Chris! We got to walk over some railroad tracks!

Taking a break, having a snack and a drink from the Camelpack--"It's just so much fun to drink out of!"

A view of the Missouri River

Our attempt at the self-timer :-)

Glazed Pork Chops

Here's yet another yummy (and incredibly simple) receipe from Taste of Home. I always like new pork chop recipes; something other than chicken is always a good thing. These get the thumbs up from Cubby and the kids (no easy feat!!).

Glazed Pork Chops

2/3 c. apricot preserves

1/2 c. Italian salad dressing

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

4 boneless pork loin chops (1 inch thick and 6 oz. each)

In a small bowl, combine the preserves, dressing and mustard. Pour 3/4 cup marinade into a large resealable bag; add the pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hrs or overnight. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade for basting.

Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Drain pork chops and discard marinade. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees, basting frequently w/reserved marinade.

Applejack Festival

Today we drove down to Nebraska City for their annual Applejack Festival! We were all very excited and had a great morning walking around, exploring, learning about nature and picking some apples! For anyone who isn't familiar with Nebraska City, it is the home of Arbor Day and the Arbor Day Lodge. J. Sterling Morton (as in Morton Salt--the little girl with the umbrella on your salt?) founded this city and started Arbor Day. It's such a cute town--fun activities, but not overdone. So anyhow, here are some pictures of our beautiful children and our lovely morning!

Socks

Christian is a funny guy. Not only does he like to ham it up for pictures...

...he also is very particular about his socks. To meet his approval, all socks must be pulled up to just under the knee. Not above, and definitely not below. If they do not meet this criteria, then they are put back and another pair must be found. I have NO idea where he got this from--no one around here wears socks like that! Just another quirk that defines Christian! We love you, buddy!

Look at those cute little knees!

At Last, The "New" Room!

Okay, so I'm finally getting around to posting about the kids' new room! They've been sharing it since the beginning of August and, I must say, the transition has gone really well. They both love having the other to keep them company and they also enjoy the extra playtime that they get when they wake up bright and early!

Anyhow, here are some before and after shots of their room and how it turned out!

Before: A sweet little-girl's room

After: A fun room for two!

Feeling Fancy at DinoQuest

Emily has recently gotten into the Fancy Nancy books. The other night, while Cubby and I were at the temple, she and my mom made me a "crown" of roses. It was very pretty! We kept it in the refrigerator so it would stay fresh and today Emily wanted to be "fancy" with me as we all ventured over to DinoQuest at Fontenelle Forest. So, we both wore our "crowns" and she dressed up in things she felt were fancy. Very cute!

DinoQuest was a lot of fun. Basically, there were just a bunch of life-size dinosaur statue-type things along the trail. The kids could also "dig" for dino bones and compare footprints w/dinos, etc...They really thought it was cool and we had a good little Saturday morning. Here are some pics!

School Has Arrived!

The other day, Emily told me, "Mommy, all of my friends are five. I'm so tired of being four. Can I just be five now?" Poor girl! I told her that once she got into school, she'd find that there are plenty of kids who are still four, waiting, just like her, to be five. At long last, that wonderful first day of school has arrived!

This year, Emily will be attending pre-school five mornings a week. One of her best buddies is in her class and she even knows her teacher from being in the classroom last year. She was super ready and had a wonderful first day! We're both very excited for the coming year--I know it'll be an adjustment to have Emily gone every morning, but it will definitely be good for her to have her little "thing" each day. Christian and I will also get a little one-on-one time before Kari comes along too. Hurray for preschool!

Christian wanted in on the green shirt action and is wearing Emily's shirt from last year! (Emily shirt this year shirt is a slightly different shade of green. Thankfully, she wasn't too put out by it NOT being blue!)