Selah's first sleepover?

Not so much. It ended with her going to her bedroom and getting in her crib. And the boys getting in their beds as well. It was 10 o'clock and bedtime here is 7:30...I think they were all exhausted. (Of course then Selah ended up in a pack& play in the boys' room for a few hours, but after the TWELFTH time I was woken up and had to go upstairs I finally moved her down to our room. What a night!)

No messes!

Although he loved the blackberries he was eating, he totally flipped out when he saw his hands!

A few from this week

So you may have seen the poor fly trap after Selah got a hold of it, but here it is before.

 The boys were so excited, they wanted to go BUY some flies for it.

Yeah, not too likely.

 Micah and Mommy got caught having a little treat!

He's a great little snuggler if you have something super yummy and share!

 Gluten Free, Dairy Free Chocolate Chip cookies.

Our family is all going gluten and dairy free to see if we can help Mr. Micah out some.  Not an easy (or cheap) task but much easier than it used to be thanks to so many readily available products at the regular grocery these days.  These are a Betty Crocker mix, and they were GOOD! Almost as good as "real"ones! The kids and I loved them, especially Micah who normally doesn't get stuff like this.  He had another after breakfast this morning- and probably would have eaten all that were left if he was given the opportunity.  He was pretty mad when I said no more.
If interested in GF, DF recipes stay tuned at our cooking blog.
And if you have any good ones to share, comment on the blog or email me!

It seems as though Miss Selah is ready for a new baby.  She is constantly wanting to "hold" Micah. It doesn't work well even when he does cooperate (rare).  But he did let her "hold" him this morning and even said cheese.

Still need to remedy.

Obviously, I haven't found time to attach the vents, yet. So...I still end up finding lots of these situations. This time it was Easter eggs finding their way down the ductwork. Of course, when asked if she put eggs in the vent Selah replied, "no. Mikey do-ed that!" (Do-ed would be 2yo speak for did.) If you were to always listen to Selah's side of the story, she's never done anything wrong!

Micah's hiding place.

I" lost" Micah this morning, when no one else was awake (except Bryan but he was off to work already.) Finally it dawned on me to check the shower, as he LOVES to play in there. Sure enough. Luckily, as you can see, he was just in a diaper so his clothes didn't get wet.

Whew

Looks like the ball pieces are safely behind the crib.

All's well that ends well

Forgetting my wallet at home today resulted in an impromptu stop at the park. Had no idea it was going to be nice out, but we hit 73! (Though it was quite windy and therefore a bit chilly at the park.) Kids were thrilled to be out after the major disappointment of not being able to go to the library! Can't wait for Spring to finally show up!

Waste of a perfectly good dollar!

I knew letting her take that ball to bed was a bad idea! And worse, it's from the dollar tree so it's probably full of lead paint. I'm hoping that the missing pieces are on the floor and not in her belly...

I spilled the mouse!

"I spilled the mouse, Mommy! I spilled the mouse!"
The words ever mother wants to hear, right? I had no idea what mouse she was talking about...and finally got her to show me. She was talking about the boys' fly trap. They've been carefully cultivating it for a couple of months thus far...and needless to say, are quite devastated. Jonah was searching his closet for a black shirt to" celebrate the funeral" of the fly trap. Poor kid. (We are trying to save it, so here's hoping!)

No basket?

No problem!
Selah is not to be thwarted by the fact she forgot where she left her basket. There's plenty of room in her pantlegs!

Easter Eggs!

Didn't get a whole lot of pictures this year, just too much packed into a day, I guess. But Selah and Daddy were trying to stick some stickers on before eating the eggs. Wasn't a very successful mission but Selah had fun anyway!

Just for decoraction

It may be hard to see but Noah has the plug for the laptop tied to the spindle up there and then tucked into the ottoman. As soon as I saw this, Noah quickly and loudly informs me "I'm not going to use it! It's just for decoration!"
I don't think that one's worth the risk...

Selah and the cookie.

This is a typical conversation with Selah. She will never admit. And she doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with lying. Guess we need to work a little harder on that!

Sneaky Selah

Direct quote: "I was bringing this cookie to you, Mommy!"
Hmmm...so why did you take it up to your room...?

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Nope there was no way.

Selah refused to leave the Easter basket at home. It was FINALLY Easter and she was going to enjoy it! (And, what if the basket disappeared while we were at church?? Not worth the risk!)

Resurrection cookies!

Every year on Holy Saturday we make these" empty tomb" cookies. The kids get to act out the Easter story by beating the pecans; tasting salt, sugar, and vinegar; and then sealing the cookies in the tomb of the oven for the night. And when they open the oven in the morning, they find their cookies cooked and with a hollow spot symbolizing Jesus' empty tomb. They love making these and they aren't half bad to eat! Last year our cookies were still sticky and had no hollow part. This year they were a little flat, but the were cooked through and had a (small) hollow spot! (Hard to see in the picture.) Maybe next years will be perfect...

Micah the guard

We wouldn't expect any less from Selah than sitting in the closet eating Easter candy would we? Good thing she has her little brother to be the lookout. Isn't that nice of him? Or maybe it's because she was sharing her chocolate...

What's mine is mine.

What's yours is mine. And what's ours is mine. Okay?

Poor Mikey

Not sure of the cause of today's misery (perhaps Selah feeding him chocolate?) But he just wanted to sleep in my arms. Which I hate, as I am not an idle person. Sometimes, though, it is necessary to stop and smell the roses. (And when he's that pathetic looking even asleep, it's hard to not give in.)

What happened to my baby??

He's just not a baby anymore. (And soccer was insanely wet today, hence the nakedness.)

Holy Thursday

Heard this song being played during the Holy Thursday Mass held in Washington DC today.  Although I think it would be more powerful if sung by a man, it is a wonderful song. It's called Agony in the Garden by Danielle Rose. Love it.

Dear State of Michigan,

Dear State of Michigan,

1)So here’s the beef. We paid you a bunch of money in taxes this year.

~Okay, fine. I guess in Michigan we’re “rich.”

2) So we bought a tax program to make life a little easier. And it said we owed you another $317.

~Hmmm. Really? I don’t know about that!

3) So we did the tax forms by hand, just to verify.

~Unfortunately, I found that the tax program was right. Man, that stinks. All that work for nothing!

4) So then, to make life easier, we pay $19.99 plus tax (?!?) to efile.

~Still not sure why I had to pay again to efile, but okay. And we won’t even discuss the “mandate” to efile.

5) So then, we are notified that we must print form 123 and mail to address XYZ with a check.

~Got it. One check, one paper, one envelope and one stamp.

6) Oh! But we must also print form 234, sign and date it, and mail to address ABC. Within 3 days.

~Great. Got it. Another stamp and another envelope. I can do this.

7) Oops. Forgot to sign that paper.

~There goes another envelope. Luckily the stamp was salvageable.

8) Now I’m a little confused. We efiled to make this EASIER…right?

~But this efiling cost us $19.99 plus tax. And then 3 envelopes and two stamps. And a whole lot paperwork and confusion.

9)Ah, but now we have everything ready to go, so let’s go walk the half mile to the mailboxes and mail this.

~Whew. That was harrowing. I am grateful that is over! Filing taxes has NEVER been this much work!

10) Let’s check that address one more time, just to be sure. WAIT! What is this? It says it must be sent by certified mail! WHAT?!?!?

~You cannot be serious.

11) So let me think about this again.

a) Used tax program.

b)Feared (hoped) it was wrong, so did taxes by hand.

c) Nope wasn’t wrong, so decide to efile after all.

d) Pay another $19.99 plus tax to efile.

e) Then had to print and sign forms and use two stamps and 3 envelopes.

f) Find that we must now send certified mail.

g) Think…we could have just printed, signed and mailed the tax forms (or used the ones done by hand) to begin with and actually come out WAY ahead both in time and money????

Oh yeah, State of Michigan. I do not like you much at all. You may win this round, but we are not through yet! (In fact, maybe I'll just go ahead and have triplets next year. Surely with 7 kids we cannot OWE money to you!!)

I'm not ready for this!

She just seems way too little to be in such a big bed. (And way too...inquisitive to be" free" to roam!) She tried to get me to let her sleep in there for nap and I told her no. She responded she wanted Daddy. Guess who put her to bed tonight? I think she knows how to play the cards!

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Today's mission

What's Commander Wilhelm doing today? He's on a protection mission. Protecting our house from possible explosion, that is. He and Jonah hafe become quite concerned about the fate of our house since Selah and Micah have figured out how to remove vent cover and stick stuff in the vents. Not sure how to" fix" this...drill holes and screw then into the floor? Sell the 2 year old?

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Dear Mother Nature

You can't be serious!! No more snow! Please take Old Man Winter and banish him to the southern hemisphere until at least November! We are desperately and impatiently awaiting Spring. Please take pity on us, this has gone on too long.
Thanks in advance for your prompt cooperation,
The Wilhelm Family

No fear

Terrifying, isn't it?

Breakfast with Puppy

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are terrifying to eat with, but I like eating with Puppy!
(She got him up there all by herself and then was devastated when Daddy moved Puppy so that he could sit down for breakfast!)

Selah says

Mom, Selah says the blue markers taste the best....I think she's right! Yum!

So big!

Micah is now 16 months old. It is so hard to believe. And he's a bit of a bruiser for his age, he wears 24 month and 2T clothes and the same shoes that Noah wore when he was 2. And, as you can see, he takes up almost the whole crib already. Makes me a little sad, he's growing up.

A two hour Mass& a trip to Costco

Means one tired Selah! Isn't she sweet holding her apples?

And Micah fell asleep on the way to Costco and surprisingly not only stayed asleep as I got him out of his carseat and carried him in but also as I transferred him to Bryan who eventually transferred him into a dog bed in a shopping cart! And sadly, I forgot my phone in the car to take a picture- but I assure you he was cute. Quite a few people made comments as we made our way through the store.

Nope not white chocolate.

It's butter. But, given that I haven't had real butter in 15 months, I honestly could join her. Unfortunately, not only would Micah freak out, I'm sure my pants wouldn't zip tomorrow. Guess I'll leave all those calories to her.

Who needs toys?

Seems they play so much better when they're just being creative. And Micah's getting Selah's usual treatment, he has a pink and purple cup and a pink container today. He's secure enough not to mind.

Ducky family

I guess the shark was adopted?

She's always up to something.

Couldn't find Selah. Heard little feet running down the hallway and her bedroom door slamming shut. That's when you know it's time to investigate. Found her under some blankets.
"I'm wearing Mikey's jammies," she says to me.
"I see that. But don't you think you should wear Selah's jammies?" I replied.
"Nope." A woman of few words...every now and again.
Sigh."Okay, do you think you can not take your diaper off?" I asked, totally resigned.
"Yep," she says as she tries to run away into her crib. I grab her to hug her and...
Find she isn't wearing a diaper. Well that could have been messy. She loses. Backwards jammies again tonight.

Cheese

Micah gets a little jealous when Selah's getting her picture taken. You'll just hear this cute little voice saying" cheese!" How can I not take his picture?

So big

Selah's just swinging away, singing a sweet little song about swinging. I'm looking at her thinking how big she's getting and how sweet she is when she's ...well, being sweet. And then, in true Selah fashion, she lets go of the swing and leans back. Notice there is not a back on the swing. Yep, she cried for a while after that one. (But honestly, it was hilarious. I mean, what did she think was going to happen??)

Woodchips

Yum.

Trouble

Caught Mr Micah and Miss Selah coloring. Amazingly enough, they kept it on the paper and not the carpet. Micah heard the camera and is saying cheese. Selah isn't to be distracted from her masterpiece!

I caved

I decided the easiest thing was to just buy more storage for now...and it turns out it's only $5 per year. So I will post more pictures as soon as it updates in my account. (May take 24 hours- blah, blah, blah.)

Out of Space

So I've been having trouble posting from my phone the last few days...turns out we are out of space in our Google account.  So, might not see anything for a while as I decide if I want to buy more space or delete old stuff...which I need to have a book made first. Guess it's the motivation I need to get on that.  Soon as I find some spare time...and money.

Not Just Twins

You may have seen the video recently posted all over the place of twins "talking" to each other.  This is our version.  And, cute as they are, the best part is at the end.  The kids and I watched this at least 20 times last night (it's how we got Selah to stop crying.) My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. And they've all been watching it again all morning here, today. 

(So you may notice that Micah doesn't respond once, instead says "more"- we were eating dessert.  So Selah gets louder and closer as she says it again, and that's when she falls.  And before the camera shuts off you can see Micah's little head move as he looks to see where she went. I'm laughing just thinking about it.  Might not be as funny if you weren't there.)

And a rider on a bike and a...spider?

Only because Selah is intensely afraid of spiders, naturally.

Lucky for her...

It was just water. Not that she's allowed to take water out of the kitchen, but had that been, say, grape juice? She'd be lucky to still be living here.

<Side note: after about the fourth time she has changed her own dirty diaper(and made quite a mess), she is now not alloweded to get dressed unless we are leaving the house. So you'll be seeing a lot of Selah in her" jammies!" Backward, of course, so she can't get to her diaper.>

Sharing

Selah is a great sharer...as long as she isn't supposed to be sharing! I knew something was up as soon as I heard him laughing and giggling. She gave him a tortilla (only bad because wheat seems to bother him.)

Always 'entertaining!'

So it seems that if a two year old bites a larger lego they should do so with caution. The little holes in the top appear to be the perfect size to get stuck on a tooth. (And require quite a bit of work to get off!)

The things you find...

I've had this package of meat in the freezer for what seems like forever. This morning I decided to check the date on it. Can you read it? September 26, 2008. Like 3 weeks after Selah was born? So it's been through 2 moves, first of all. And countless times it has been the only meat in the freezer and I still haven't cooked it even when desperate. There's the second of all. Don't worry- although it still LOOKS fine, it's off to be smashed by the smasher in the garbage truck and then be dropped off at the dump (as Noah would say.)
Of course, I could have checked to see if Bryan had checked the blog today and made it for dinner....would have been good on Friday, wish I had thought of that! (Not that it would have worked seeing as how it's Lent.)

New toys

Preceding this picture...
Micah's screaming and shoving at Selah because he wants a turn. Selah's screaming and shoving at Micah because "Bikey's trying to steal my boat!"
Mom: Selah, can Micah have a turn now, please?
Selah: Nope. But him can push me! Wanna push me, Bikey?
As you can see, he was happy to oblige. Until she got off, the he stole it!

We had dinner at a friend's house last night- and they were kind enough (haha) to send Selah home with a couple new toys; including this" boat" and the "little" baby she has stuffed under the seat. And, being a typical kid, these are hers and she's not willing to share.

Learning from Micah

Micah has learned A LOT from Selah. Most of which, I'd rather he didn't. But it seems that Selah has picked up a few bad habits from Micah as well. One of which is putting her head on the floor when she's mad. This is how Micah usually throws a fit. Most of the time he just bends at the waist, puts his head on the floor and then yells. I guess Selah isn't as flexible as she does it from her knees. And no, it isn't any more effective for her than it is for him.

I want to brush my teeth!

Don't worry, I got Micah a tootbrush and toothpaste, too!
(It seems that locks on the doors are only effective when the door is shut.)

Caught!

Christmas in April?
(I do believe there is a very similar picture of a two-year-old Noah on the right sidebar.)

Santa's little helper

It seems we have a Santa-wannabe at our house.

April Fool's?

Nope. He really ate it. In fact he ate 3. Three. THREE pieces of asparagus. His body probably thinks he's playing a trick on it!