Nap Time

To say that Lydia doesn't like nap time might be a huge understatement some days. She fights naps (and bedtimes for that matter) at all costs. A couple days ago, Lydia was upstairs. She was supposed to be taking a nap, but I knew she was either trying on Grace's clothes, reading books or making a big mess.

Here she is moments after telling me loudly that she was awake - and NOT TIRED.

These pajamas must have been tough to get on since one foot is in the arm. Poor kiddo, it's exhausting trying on lots of clothes.

Pretty Boy

Have I ever mentioned that Diesel has a rough life some days. When we brought him home 5 years ago, he was spoiled. Completely spoiled! He ate whatever cute shoes I neglected to put away out of his reach. He became our weekend alarm clock. He went for long leisurely walks where all the little neighborhood kids loved him. Then we moved, got a bigger house and a bigger yard. His life was looking pretty good, until the first baby came along, then the next and another. Now our poor puppy gets made over daily with cute necklaces, pretty hats and the occasional feather boa. Poor Diesel. Just remember, they only do it because they love you. (And it's just getting started, you have two more girls that will dress you up more).

My Little Badger Fan

With the recent changing of the wardrobes from summer dresses to fall dresses, Lydia has a new favorite dress. I seem to agree with her! Last weekend while she was watching the game with me she gave the team a little pep talk. "Go Badgers! Go Badgers! Let's go, okay?! You got it?!" When they zoom in on a player, she seems to think that she needs to give that one player a little extra encouragement.

GO BADGERS!! Great job cheering, Lyds!

Pretty Girls

My favorite three girls - in no particular order.

Lydia - this poor girl seems to have the worse luck with bugs, bees and wasps. The big red mark on Lydia is a result of recent wasp encounter. All it takes to keep her happy though is a little food.

Ella - seriously what's not to love about those gorgeous blue eyes. I'm feeling a little left out being the only person in my family without amazing blue eyes.
Grace - she continues to impress me as she grows and learns more each day. She is convinced that if she eats dinner at night that she will magically have the strength to lift my arm.

Birthday with the Schuhs

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Charlie come down for an afternoon/evening to spend time with the girls and celebrate Ella's birthday a bit early. Grandma was recovering from a minor surgery, so Grandpa had to do all the heavy lifting, and swinging.
Lydia didn't seem to mind. This is her favorite thing to do. It's no wonder Grandpa thought he got a workout after playing with these girls.
I love this picture of Grace and Ella. Grace is singing Happy Birthday to Ella. Ella just smiled and laughed. She wasn't used to getting so much attention from everyone.


mmmmmm, cake.
Yummy!

Happy Birthday Ella! We'll continue to celebrate her birthday for another week.

Outside Fun

I was reminded today about how great it is to have a play set in our backyard. A couple years ago, Paul and I didn't see eye to eye on the play set idea. He argued that we can easily walk to neighborhood parks. (He's right). I argued that the girls don't always nap, at the same time and it's so much more convenient. I am so glad that he eventually gave in to my hours of complaining.

The girls enjoy it too!



In case you are wondering what those little stickers are that all the girls are wearing, we voted. Which means, I vote, while the girls are swarmed by the sweet ladies at the voting place giving them lots of attention and stickers.

Silly, Little Monkey

Ella turned one yesterday!! Her dark hair seems to be getting lighter and curlier by the day (the humid weather sure does help the curl factor). She' s standing, and taking a couple steps until she realizes that it's so much quicker for her to crawl. I think Ella has spent too much time watching Lydia and seems to be learning to climb quite well. She loves to climb up the stairs every chance she gets. She also enjoys standing on the rocking chair and rocking.

Soaking up the September Sun

After a few days of cold and rainy days, we had a comeback of some great summer like weather. Unfortunately I've already packed away a lot of the summer dresses, shorts and cute summer tops to make room for the long sleeve dresses, pants and long sleeved shirts. Too many warm days in a row mean that I have to do make sure that I don't get too far behind on laundry or Grace has to wear long sleeve dresses on warm days.

Here the girls are painting the driveway. It seems so similar to sidewalk chalk, but chalk apparently gets old after a summer of drawing.

Another Day of Apple Picking

We had so much fun apple picking the first time that we went back again. It didn't hurt that we had eaten all the first round of apples either.

My little taste tester. The person worker at the apple picking place told us to try the apples to see if we liked them. Grace made sure to taste lots of them.
Feeding the chickens.
This poor little bunny was surrounded by the Pedersen girls.
Lydia's not so sure about those geese.
The little apple.

Fire Department (Part 2)

Since the girls had so much fun hanging out with the firemen, I thought it to be worthy of another post. (Or I just had enough pictures and figured I could milk it for another day). Either way, here they are. Grace and Lydia liked climbing up the big fire trucks and sitting in there. I think they would spend the entire day there if they could have.

Lydia
Grace
Lauren, Lydia and Grace in the back of the ambulance.
...again.
Future fire fighters (or firemen's wives)

Fire Department (Part 1)

For the past several years, the fire department comes to one of our Moms club meetings and speaks about fire safety. Grace and Lydia were smitten by the firemen. They bring a fire truck and an ambulance that the kids can go in an explore. One of their favorite things every year is spraying the fire hose. This year was no different!!

Grace

Grace, Lauren and Lydia
Lydia was pretty serious about her cone spraying duties...
...until she saw the camera.

Playtime with Cousins

We planned a play date with the girls cousins, Nona and Erick before Nona started school. Play dates will be a bit harder to schedule since Nona will be in school every day. Since they live about an hour away and we have to work around lots of naps and car rides, we don't get together as frequently as we might like.

Grace and Nona had Aunt Sara read lots of library books.

Poor Erick was over his head in girlness. Being the only boy, he is seriously outnumbered!
Ella (whose hair seems to be getting lighter and lighter every day)
Grandma Pedersen, Grace and Nona coloring.
Ella and Sara
Thanks for coming Grandpa Pedersen, Sara, Nona and Erick. Come back soon and visit again.

Lydia and a Bandage

Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?! I'm the only one here.


**Maybe I shouldn't delegate the blog writing to Paul. His posts don't always make sense. Lydia likes to give herself "mustaches" so that she can look like her grandpa.

We All Scream for Ice Cream

Grace, Lydia and Ella have certainly inherited Paul's love for ice cream. They have become accustomed to their nearly daily serving of Paul's favorite dairy product.


Ella looks like she considers her ice cream eating very seriously.

Uncle Mike

It's no wonder that Uncle Mike is cool. Who else will spend hours spinning, throwing (hopefully catching) and wrestling with these 3 cute girls.

Lydia used to have her doubts about Mike until she realized that he just may throw her higher than anyone else. I'm not sure if it is intentional or if he is not used to the weight of a 2 year old versus the weight of a 9 year old.

Apple Picking

Some call it writer's block, really I just have pictures and not a lot to say. So here you go.

Apple anyone?



A year ago when we went apple picking Lydia would eat the entire apple. By entire apple, I mean the seeds, core maybe even stems and any attached leaves. This year she was a little lass focused on the eating and more focused on hanging out with her favorite friends.