Our little man is now THREE! It's hard to believe that my baby is no longer a baby or even a toddler, by definition! Time sure does fly when you're having fun.
Emmett's special day was a great one. Gramma and G'pa were here to celebrate with us again this year. We started the day with a Bashaw birthday tradition of donuts for breakfast.
Later in the day, Gammy and Boppa came over and joined us as well. Emmett enjoyed opening his gifts and received many cool clothes and toys. What a lucky boy!
Our birthday celebration this year was Minion themed. Per Emmett's request, we dined on salad, pizza, and breadsticks, and we enjoyed a delicious ice cream cake with Minions decoration!
Look at this boy! He loved being the center of attention and holding court. Great job blowing out your candles, buddy!
We even got some great photos of the birthday boy with his family! Pictures are not usually his favorite thing, so these are pretty special.
It was a wonderful birthday! The celebrations continued that week with another celebration at school; Emmett brought in brownies for his class which his teachers remarked were a "huge, messy hit!" (Sorry teachers!) Then the next weekend, we surprised the kids by taking them to Sesame Street Live at the Milwaukee Theatre for Emmett's special birthday outing. Both kids loved it! Emmett was so excited to see his Sesame friends in the flesh(or fur!), especially Cookie and Elmo. He was riveted the whole time. We tried to get some pictures, but little man was not feeling very paparazzi-friendly that day!
Emmett had his 3-year appointment with the pediatrician on 1/14. He's the picture of health, and his development is right on track. Emmett is 37.75 inches (57th percentile) and 30 lbs, 6 oz (35th percentile). Yay for another healthy, growing kiddo!
And without further ado, Emmett's first birthday interview! How old are you? (proudly holds up 3 fingers) Who is your best friend? Michael (friend from Willow Creek) What are your favorite things to do? Read stories, eat peanut butter sandwiches, see the zoo What is your favorite color? Yellow! What is your favorite toy? Cars and trucks and choo-choos What is your favorite book? "Train book" (we clarified this as The Little Engine That Could) What is your favorite food? Peanut butter jelly sandwich Where are your favorite places to go? To Germantown! What is your favorite dessert? Lollipops What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Parker Bear What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star What is your favorite thing to wear? a mask (???)
We are now in that post-holiday slump... Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's, Emmett's and Jason's birthdays all complete (well, mostly... still a little more extended birthday celebrating to be had this weekend!). So before I get too far behind (because we all know I have a tendency to let that happen!), let's do a quick look-back at the 2015 holiday season.
To begin the holiday season, Miri (with help from Mom and Dad) did a "Random Acts of (Christmas) Kindness" for the 24 days of December leading up to Christmas. This was such a great experience. I think we all enjoyed it, and it was a way to consciously shift the holiday paradigm of gifts and consumerism to the holiday season meaning a little bit more. Some of the random acts of kindness were incredibly simple and required zero planning (i.e., give someone a compliment, smile at everyone you see, do a chore for your brother) and some required just a bit more work (leave 'happy notes' in library books for the next child who reads it, leave a box of candy on the Redbox machine for someone to enjoy with their movie, donate food to feed the needy). I intended to do a better job documenting these, but ummmm.... well..... you know. Here a few RAKs that we got photos of.
Bringing up the neighbors' garbage cans
Picking up litter in our neighborhood.
Hanukkah was 8 crazy nights of candle-lit wonder. Most years, I think the kids get gifts 5 or 6 nights, but this year, I think the kids did open something every night. Emmett really liked being involved in lighting the candles this year, and Miri's ability to say the Hebrew Hanukkah prayer is getting pretty impressive! We did our annual dinner of matzoh ball soup (okay, we know this is really more traditionally a Passover thing, but it's Jewish and it's perfect for winter... so Hanukkah soup it is!) and latkes (store-bought this year because I really hate my house smelling like them for a week afterwards!).
The holiday program at Willow Creek, once again, did not disappoint! This year, Emmett was old enough to be in a class that puts on a performance. His teachers told us he was one of the loudest, proudest singers in his class during the practices in the weeks leading up to the show, but he seemed to get a bit of stage fright during the actual performance and spent a lot of time 'dancing' (spinning in circles) and not so much singing. I have to say though, it was nothing compared to Miri's infamous "Miley Cyrus" performance at that age, where she also got stage fright and stood there with her tongue hanging out and pulling up her dress. At any rate, Emmett pulled it together a bit more for the last of the songs, so I'll share that here.
Miri's Pre-K class put on quite the show too! Her class sang probably 8 or 9 songs, complete with props and dances and even signing! One of Miriam's AMAZING teachers, Miss Wendy, is fluent in sign language and performs with the 'Silent Singers'. Here is the performance of "Holly Jolly Christmas" in simultaneous singing and sign!
As usual, we also saw Santa at Willow Creek the night of the holiday program. We got Emmett onto his lap this year, but it did require a little bit of coaxing, which was surprising because this is the kid who loves Santa so much that he dressed up as him for Halloween!
Christmas Eve was a busy day! We had "Rymer" Christmas at my parents' house that morning, and we really enjoyed our time with extended family. Emmett and Charlotte are as thick as thieves; those two are adorable together. They really are best buddies. Miriam continues to look up to and enjoy time with big cousin Kaden more than words can say. Later that day, we attended mass at St. Boniface, had a yummy pasta dinner at our house with Gammy, Boppa, and Aunt Mary, and, of course, prepared for Santa!
Putting reindeer food (sparkly oats!) on the roof and lawn
Treats and milk for Santa and carrots for reindeer
A decent family photo!
Ready for Christmas!
Christmas Day was so special too! Gammy, Boppa, and Aunt Mary joined us bright and early to watch the children see their gifts from Santa. Both kids must have been good, because Santa brought Miriam got the locket, mess-free glitter kits, and yo-yo that she had requested, and he gifted Emmett with trucks and a yellow shirt for Emmett, per his request! Plus several surprise gifts and whole stockings full of all sorts of neat things. We also received so many awesome presents from family. We are 2 weeks out from Christmas, and I'm still trying to find space for all the new Christmas (and birthday) toys! Miri and Emmett are terribly lucky kids. They are really enjoying building toys, arts and crafts toys, pretend play toys, new books, etc etc. Later in the day, we spent time at Gammy and Boppa's house, and we enjoyed Christmas dinner there.
Santa filled the stockings
And left packages under the tree!
My OCD goes nuts looking at this picture!!!
New Year's Eve was a fun celebration too! Gramma and G'pa were here, which made things extra special. We enjoyed our tradition of a big "appetizer meal" with the kids and watched a kids' countdown on Netflix. Miri so desperately wanted to stay up to see the ball drop, as she'd heard her teachers talking about it, so we found a YouTube video of last year's Times Square ball drop. Talk about a major disappointment! I thought her little heart was broken. I remember the same disillusionment the first time I watched it too, as a kid. It sounds so much more exciting than it is! But then the kids were off to bed, and we enjoyed a fun evening of board games, more snacks, wine, and prosecco with Jason's parents and my parents. Jason and I are both so lucky in the parents department, and we feel even luckier that our parents really enjoy each other too! It is always really fun to get the 6 of us together. Here's a selfie stick shot!
My 'focus word' (I prefer this to 'resolutions') for 2016 is PRESENCE. It can be so hard to not be living in the past or the future, but I'm always striving for living in the present, being present, and being mindful. That being said, it's time to stop reminiscing over the (wonderful) 2015 holiday season... and time to start making dinner. (hee hee)
Our little lady just turned 5 years old last month! And we celebrated, celebrated, celebrated! Miri is clearly taking after me in that she managed to stretch out her birthday as long as possible. Over Labor Day weekend, we were able to celebrate with the Rymer side of the family. Our plans were thrown for a loop a little bit by Emmett having a rogue fever, but we still managed to make the weekend special. Miri's cake of choice was a Frozen-themed Funfetti cake.
Miriam's actual birthday was on a Tuesday. I took the day off, and we had a really special Miri/Mommy day. Highlights of the day included making pop-beads jewelry, seeing the Shawn the Sheep movie at the movie theatre, meeting up with Daddy and Gammy for lunch at Robert's Custard, and baking sugar cookie bars. We had Miriam's favorite meal of "green noodles" (fettuccine with an avocado-basil sauce) for dinner, and she got to open presents from Mom, Dad, and Emmett throughout the day.
Miri had a birthday celebration at school the next day, complete with a crown and her birthday treat of choice (popsicles). It was also the Grandparents' Day party that day, and she had such a great time showing Boppa around Pre-K and doing special activities together.
Finally, we celebrated one last time by going back to Breaker Bay indoor water park at Blue Harbor resort in Sheboygan. We went there last year for Miri's birthday celebration, and we all had such a great time that she chose to go back again this year. We had such a fun morning! Both Miriam and Emmett are such little water bugs. Miri's swimming has come so far in the last 6 months. We brought both kids' water wings, but our big girl didn't even need them! She especially loved the inner tube slides, the lily pad walk, and just being able to swim independently around the recreation pool this year.
Once Breaker Bay was closing, we went to Jimmy John's, which is M's favorite restaurant! I wonder how old she will be before Jimmy John's is no longer her favorite? I asked her what it is she likes so much about it and she said, in all seriousness, "I like how they wrap it [the sub] in paper and put it in the little baskets." It is so funny what is impressive to young children!! There was a Cold Stone Creamery next door to Jimmy John's, and of course, we Bashaws can't pass up ice cream! It was a really wonderful family day to celebrate our girl turning 5!
Finally, here is Miriam's annual birthday interview!
How old are you?I'm 5!
Who is your best friend?Adelyn
What are your favorite things to do? Go to gymnastics, ride my bike, play with my whole family
What is your favorite color?Purple and pink and blue and red and orange
What is your favorite toy?My Frisbee
What is your favorite book?Bread and Jam for Frances (by Russell Hoban)
What is your favorite food?Green noodles
Where are your favorite places to go?Gymnastics, Jumping Country, and Kinderberg Park
What is your favorite snack?Fruit snacks
What is your favorite dessert?"Treat-the-bag" (this is what Emmett named the kids' bags of candy collected from holidays, parades, etc)
What do you like to take to bed with you at night?Bear
What is your favorite song?"Roar" by Katy Perry
What is your favorite thing to wear?Dresses
As always, we can't wait to see what the next year brings! We love you so much, sweet girl!
Labor Day 2015 has come and gone, so I guess we can say the summer is unofficially over. I'm always torn at the end of summer. It is sad to say goodbye to festivals, fairs, almost-consistently-nice weather, etc, but, at the same time, fall is probably my favorite season. At any rate, let's reminisce on the last 2 months of awesome-ness.
Kids' Night at the Zoo
We got to watch the bears being fed; it was really neat!
The kids LOVED listening and dancing to this band!
Miri went to Minnesota with Gammy and Boppa to visit the Murphy Rymer clan. She had a fabulous time!
Twinsies Miriam and Charlotte
While Miri was gone, we took Emmett to the 'beach' at Lannon Quarry in Menomonee Park
Emmett also had bonding time with his beloved Izzy while Gammy and Boppa were in MN
I call this photo "vanilla and chocolate."
Allison and Jason went to New Glarus for day camping and brewery exploration with friends
Becca was in town for the outing! Besties since 7th grade!
Our whole crew!
"Hunger Games road trip" ;)
We took a family day trip to Madison for the farmer's market and campus exploration!
Pizza as big as your head at Ian's
Ice cream at the Terrace is a messy endeavor with Emmett
Much neater ice cream eater!
Strolling down the Lakeshore path
Ozaukee County Fair with friends!
Meeting a horse
The gang watching the horse show... although Brinley seems to have other plans.
Miri and her BFF Adelyn on the carousel
Miri and Adelyn out for a cruise-- preview of when they are 16?
Poor Jason had to take the kids on the spinning bear ride... again!
Miri and Adelyn conquered the giant slide!
Expedition: Dinosaur! at the zoo
Placid plant-eaters...
And terrifying T-rex!
Wisconsin State Fair 2015 with special guests... Gramma and G'pa!
Cheers to Mommy drinking her once-a-year milk!
Music was a little loud for their liking...
Wouldn't be a fair without fair food!
These kids sure do love carnival rides!
Miriam (and new friend made in line) takes her first ride on a Ferris wheel!
Irish Fest 2015! We had a big crew this year- joining the usual group of Allison, Jason, Miriam, Emmett, Gammy, and Boppa were Aunt Mary, Joe and Jeannie Neary, Gramma and G'pa, and Adam, Rochelle, Kaden, and Charlotte! More family = more fun!
Miri and Kaden enjoying the music
The (elder) Bashaws enjoying their first Milwaukee Irish Fest!
The grandmas dancing with their grandkids!
Her first 'rock' concert... she LOVED it!
Red Hot Chili Pipers were awesome!
The Rymer/ Neary/ Bashaw clan all got together the day after Irishfest. Time with family is the best!
We spent the better part of a week (well, Jason and the kids anyway, as I had to work Tues/Wed) with Gramma and G'pa in a condo they had rented in Mishicot, WI. A lot of fun times were had-- swimming, parks, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, the (very small!) Manitowoc zoo, and even early birthday gifts for Miriam!
They say summer ends when the kids go back to school... so here's a picture of Miriam on her first day in the Pre-K class and Emmett's first day in the Big 2s!
