Picture Day At School

Today was picture day at school.  Sadly, I had to leave the house before the kids were up this morning for work and so that left Jon in charge of getting the kids ready.  The girls wanted to wear their hair curly for pictures so we had to give Jon a lesson on how to use the curling iron.  I got the report tonight that daddy did a great job.  Jon told me that E was encouraging him the whole time.  She would tell him "nice job daddy, keep up the good work"!  So cute.  It is nice to be married to a guy that is not afraid to take on two little (slightly becoming high maintenance) girls and a boy who does NOT like to wear "church" shirts to school.

It sounds like Jon did a great job and from the pictures he took before school, the kids looked awesome too for their 1st grade pictures. 

The Corn Maze

 This past Sunday, we decided it would be fun to check out a local Corn Maze.  We found tickets from Groupon that were half off the admission so it worked out perfect.

It was a nice Sunday afternoon of the five of us hanging out together and making memories.  We spent a long time in the corn maze finding all of the letters of the alphabet.  We learned all about space and the kids worked on their map skills.  Also, at this corn maze they had live animals, pig races, air pillows, and the most favorite and unusual thing to the kids was the ginormis bin of corn that they could play in.  Kendrick let us bury him in the corn.

Oh and just so it is documented.  E threw Jon into the corn pit with her.  She worked and worked and worked at it and finally got him to fall in. 
Jon and I have vowed to do more things together as a family.  This was a great kick off to that idea.  We all really had a great time together and have vowed that we will go back again next year for more fun.

Wordless Wednesday ~ The Corn Kids

Week full of Excitement

Wow!  It has been a crazy week for all of us.  The kids started 1st grade on Tuesday and they are all in their own separate class from each other this year.  They LOVE it!  I knew we made the right decision about splitting them up when they came home from school the first day and they all fought over who could tell the next story at the dinner table.  It was awesome.  Jon and I have our work cut out for us since all of the teachers are very different in their rules and processes but I am sure we are off to a good start and the kids are so happy.
This past weekend we had crazy times with a church festival, soccer for all three, a fun neighborhood party, church, and Birthday parties this evening for Jane and Uncle T.  WOW!  Now I am sitting at my computer trying to catch my breath.
It was a fun fun fun weekend and great to see all the kids thriving so well at school and activities.  They are all doing awesome at soccer and they each scored a goal on Saturday.  They were all pretty excited about that.

Now its time to hunker down for a crazy busy week.  We are lucky this week because we have Grandma Carol and Grandpa Ronnie coming for a visit.  They can't wait to meet Miss Gracie Mae!  Oh and speaking of that cute lil thing, she gained over two pounds in a week and I swear we are watching her grow during the day.  She is doing well and so far we have only had 3 accidents in the house.  Not bad for a week and a few days.  I will post some more pics soon but I especially love the one below of Gracie playing with the cat toy.  Let's just say Toby and Dexter are not Impressed! 

Wordless Wednesday ~ 1st Day of 1st Grade

Puppy Love

This weekend we dedicated to bringing home our new puppy.  Her name is Gracie and she is so cute.  We have bonded, Gracie and I.  To my surprise, Gracie has chosen me as her "safety" person.  I can't believe it as I was the last one on board to adopt her, I do not know much about dogs in general and well to be honest, I was just down right scared.  She loves me and I have to admit, I love her.

She has really warmed up to us and seems to be making herself right at home.  She is in the "teething" mode and well she is biting everything and everyone right now.  The kids have all shed a few tears but we are trying to train her not to do that right now.

Gracie is very smart as she really seems to be "getting" it most of the time.  We owe a lot to the Jones family as they did a tremendous job with all of the puppies.  Gracie is almost potty trained.  She had an accident in the house today but that was because I did not let her out right away when she was whining at the door.

I am amazed at how quickly she can pick things up.  Jon is already starting to train her on some stuff and he is so good with her.  He has always wanted a dog and he is such a natural with her that I can see why.
The kids are all a little different with her right now.

E is thrilled about her and cannot get enough.  When we were at the fair on Sunday, Grandma Mary was dog sitting for us and E asked every 15 minutes if it was time to go home because she missed her.  A likes Gracie but at this point, is not all thrilled about the "teething" part.  K likes her and wants her to chase him but she is still a little young for that.  He does not like how she bites at him either but Jon promised him that in no time Gracie will love to play fetch, K is anxiously awaiting that day.
Toby and Dexter our two senior cats are not impressed but so far they seem to be handling our new addition well. 

Toby and Gracie had a stare down today and Toby won as Gracie decided to go back to her "Safety Zone" after that happened.

I feel bad for the cats as this will be something that is not going to be easy to get used too.  Toby has been snuggling at night with me and so has Dexter so they are both getting good attention. 

Gracie chose us to come and live with and we could not be more thrilled about it.  I realize that she will bring more work to our daily schedule but I know that we are all crazy about her and that she will soon be, if not already, all of our best friend.

Wordless Wednesday ~ A Whole Lot of Pizza

VDL Vacation 2011

This past week we were lucky enough to spend on vacation at a beautiful lake resort.  We had a fantastic time, great weather, great food, great entertainment, and most of all awesome quality family time.  I never in my life remember needing a vacation more than I needed one last week.  I missed Jon, I missed the kids and I need to unwind with no distractions.  That is exactly what I got.

Grandpa Al and Grandma Mary along with Uncle T also joined us for the fun.  We had lots of game time, laughs, and memory making.  We could not have asked for better weather.  We were on the lake everyday with the Pontoon we rented.  We saw some amazing sunsets and met some incredible people and one special dog.

The kids had fun tubing and skiing (or trying to ski) behind Grandpa Al's new boat.  Jon and I even got in on the tubing action along with Uncle T and Grandma Mary.  A was the only one that got up on water ski's but they all tried.

We were all so thrilled for A that we were jumping up and down.  She felt pretty special about that.  K made two news friends on the trip and he as so excited to meet some boys his own age.

They had great fun playing tether ball, swimming, and even tubing together.  
We are all tan and relaxed before this busy school year takes off and I head back to work tomorrow. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ We Love Sunsets

Fort City

Tonight when I got home from work, I found a huge fort in the basement that Jon and the kids built today.  This is something they like to do every so often and the kids LOVE IT!  Jon took it one step further and promised the kids they could have a sleep over in the basement. 

Of course as they were all getting tucked into their beds, I had to grab the camera and take some photos.  It is a little lonely up here with the whole family in the basement but I decided I was not going to sleep on the floor tonight.  Even the cats are sleeping downstairs. 

I am sure I will hear lots of stories in the morning of the big camp out.  In my eyes, Jon gets Dad of the Year award once again.  He is truly such and AWESOME father to our kiddos. 

Introducing....our new Pup!

A few weeks back for our Wordless Wednesday Picture, I gave a hint about what was to come.  If you have not figured it out, we are going to become dog owners.  Our nanny, Erin, helped her parents raise puppies from their yellow lab.  We went to see the puppies the day they were born and we have been back weekly ever since. 

At first, we (I) had no intentions of getting one of these puppies but after much debate, discussion, and prayer, we decided that if we are ever going to get a dog, now is the time. 

The kids are at a perfect age and well, Jon has always wanted a dog.  Our puppy will be put through extensive training to be a hunting dog.

I would lie if I did not tell you that I am VERY nervous about bringing a puppy into our already crazy world but I can say that the more I go and see these puppies, the more in love I have become. 

Tonight we went to pick out our puppy.  There are five girls puppies to choose from and well, it is not an easy decision.  We do plan to go back one more time before we make the FINAL decision but we are 99.9% sure we have picked her...well she kind of picked us. 

Below is the note that we sent to our extended family tonight:

Above is the puppy that we selected tonight.  HER name is Gracie!  She is really sweet and loves to play.  Gracie kind of picked us tonight.  Every time we sat down or turned around she was right at one of our feet.  When we were getting ready to leave and could not decide, I looked down to her sitting at my feet looking up at me with these eyes.  When Jon sat down she came right over and snuggled up to him.  It was really hard to pick because we had all five girl puppies running around in the grass with us.  They are all great puppies and all of them would make great hunting and family dogs.  However, we are only taking ONE and we had to decide.  We did not tell them who we were going to take when we left but we discussed in on our walk home and we all said the same thing....Gracie!  So here she is you will all fall in love with her. 

Wish us luck! 

The Erickson Five