Sunday, after watching the ugly Vikings game, we headed back outside to finish our tree work. One tree needed a little more dirt and then we mulched them all. The extra dirt we put under the deck for now and Annika was having a great time using it as a sand (dirt) box. She had her shovel and rake and other toys under there. After our chores were done, it was time to play! We got out the wagon, put the kids in it and walked to a nearby park. James had his first wagon ride! I think he enjoyed it. After playing at the park for a little bit we walked over to the neighboring soccer fields and watched part of a soccer match. In the 15 minutes or so we were there we saw 3 goals! Then it was back home for dinner. James was hungry. Not long after I started feeding him the doorbell rang. It was Gramme! What a wonderful surprise visit! She was in the neighborhood so she stopped on over. (I would have known she was coming if I had brought my cell phone to the park with me.) She played with Annika while I fed James. They played with Annika's tea set. Gramme kept wanting to put her tea cup down on the little saucer but Annika insisted the saucer was a plate for imaginary food to be put on, not tea cups! Each time Gramme would put her tea cup on the plate, Annika would very quietly reach over, remove the cup from the plate and set it on the napkin instead. Goofy girl! After I was done feeding James then Gramme got some good James snuggles in too. At one point Gramme was laying on the couch with James up in the air over her head and they were both giggling. It made my day.

Annika has been using her manners more and more lately. She is much better with the pleases, thank yous, you're welcomes, sorry's and excuse me's. It's so cute to hear her talk like that.

James has discovered jumping. Annika likes jumping on our bed and always wants James to jump with her. Once in a while, I will hold him and "jump" him with her. Then yesterday he was in the Exersaucer and he started jumping by himself. Kris took some video of it but the files was too big to e-mail me at work. No worries though because James repeated his newest discovery today for me. I love the look on his face when he figures out something new. He gets the biggest grin. It's the same grin he gives me when I say his name and he looks up at me. His eyes shine and he smiles from ear to ear. Man, he melts my heart. They both do. I'm such a sucker for these two kids.

You know what else is great? Annika and James playing together. It's starting to happen. Usually Annika just rushes over to take toys away from James (we're still working on the sharing around here) but James doesn't mind. He is in love with his sister. He always crawls over to wherever she is and wants to play with whatever toy she has. And if she gets up to move away, he gets so sad. Last night Annika crawled behind the toy chest to play with toys so James crawled after her. Then the two of them sat and giggled and played together back there. Little by little they are learning together how to play. I love it!

Tomorrow Annika goes on her first field trip. She and her class are going to a local Apple Orchard. I'm sure she'll have a great time, but I worry about things like the bus ride and getting lost and stuff. That is what I do - worry. More than likely everything will go smoothly, but of course I'll worry about her until Kris calls me tomorrow (and he better call!) to tell me she's home safe.