Kids were up and out the door at 6:00, right on schedule. On the hunt for breakfast now...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Packing, packing...
Tomorrow morning we leave on our Disney adventure. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!! It has been SO long since we have been on a big vacation.
We will be in Orlando for about five days and then we take off on the Disney Wonder cruise ship! It will be our first cruise!
I have all the clothes packed already. I have most of the incidental items ready. We are going to load up the car tonight and hit the road at 6:00am!!!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Yard Work
Last night was hubby's weekly yard night. The grass in our yard is immaculate. There's literally, not a weed in sight. The grass is so thick, it feels like carpet. It's insane. But, he gets a kick out of it. (go figure!)
Anyway, E loves to watch Daddy mow the yard. When we are in the house, he runs around to the different windows so he can see Daddy mowing. He will bang on the window, bounce up and down, laugh and say 'Dadda Dadda' It's adorable. (except for the fact he calls D by 'Dadda' and has yet to say 'Momma'... that ticks me off a little) :)
After I cleaned up the dinner dishes, the kids and I went out for our evening walk and then some play time in the yard. H helped E with his 'mower' so he could feel like Daddy. Unfortunately, the grass is too freakin' thick for him to push his mower on. So, he ended up mowing the driveways and sidewalks mostly.
Sissy had to help push the mower through D's thick grass. E eventually went in the neighbor's yard (full of weeds) and the neighbor's driveway to do his mowing.
Look at these two!! :)
E discovered bubbles this weekend at an Easter egg hunt. He LOVES them. H tried to do all the blowing, but E wanted to be a big boy and do it himself. He wasn't ever successful in blowing his own bubble, but he sure could shake that wand and fling bubble liquid in my face!
E chasing the bubbles.
H had her half mile run yesterday for the presidential fitness test. (I HATED the presidential fitness test when I was a kid. It always made me feel like a failure.) She met all the requirements for presidential fitness (pull ups, push ups, stretch, etc.) except for the run. She had to run a half mile in 3.98 minutes. She made it in 4.02! She was off by 4 seconds!! What a rip!!
D went at lunchtime yesterday to watch her run around the track. She was happy he was there supporting her, but she was acting crazy. D said she poured water all over her head and she told me that she put ice down her shirt. Crazy girl!!
Anyway, E loves to watch Daddy mow the yard. When we are in the house, he runs around to the different windows so he can see Daddy mowing. He will bang on the window, bounce up and down, laugh and say 'Dadda Dadda' It's adorable. (except for the fact he calls D by 'Dadda' and has yet to say 'Momma'... that ticks me off a little) :)
After I cleaned up the dinner dishes, the kids and I went out for our evening walk and then some play time in the yard. H helped E with his 'mower' so he could feel like Daddy. Unfortunately, the grass is too freakin' thick for him to push his mower on. So, he ended up mowing the driveways and sidewalks mostly.
H had her half mile run yesterday for the presidential fitness test. (I HATED the presidential fitness test when I was a kid. It always made me feel like a failure.) She met all the requirements for presidential fitness (pull ups, push ups, stretch, etc.) except for the run. She had to run a half mile in 3.98 minutes. She made it in 4.02! She was off by 4 seconds!! What a rip!!
D went at lunchtime yesterday to watch her run around the track. She was happy he was there supporting her, but she was acting crazy. D said she poured water all over her head and she told me that she put ice down her shirt. Crazy girl!!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Challenging Conversations
This school year, we have noticed that H doesn't share with us much about her day at school. In reality, she has never been the type of child to come home from school and say, "Guess what I did today, mom?" While she was in preschool, D and I would speak to her teachers daily. We always knew what she was working on and what were her stumbling blocks. Now, in elementary school, it's left up to her to tell us, and this has been a struggle.
Let me give an example... Last week, she was on spring break. (She spent the entire week with my parents.) This Monday afternoon (her first day back from spring break) this is how the conversation went when I picked her up from school:
Me: How was your day?
H: Good
Me: Did any of your friends do anything fun and exciting over spring break?
H: Claire went to Nevada
Me: That's neat. Was she on vacation or visiting family?
H: I don't know.
(pause)
Me: Did you all talk about the rainforest today? (their current study is on rainforest)
H: No
Me: Surely Mrs. Taylor or Mrs. Woodbury said something about the rainforest today.
H: Yes, but we didn't talk about it.
Me: Well, what did they say about the rainforest?
H: They told us about a project.
Me: Really? What type of project is it?
H: A research project
Me: What are you researching?
H: I don't know.
Me: How do you not know?
H: They gave us a card with animals on it.
Me: What animal was on your card?
H: It wasn't just one.
Me: Ok, can you name one of the animals on your card?
H: (rolling her eyes at this point) Something like a spider monkey.
Me: That's neat. Did you learn any interesting facts about the spider monkey?
H: No
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
I feel like I'm a drill seargent pounding questions away at her. How do I get her to just open up and talk to me about her day? Most days, I don't drill her with questions. Some days, I just want to know about her day!!
Let me give an example... Last week, she was on spring break. (She spent the entire week with my parents.) This Monday afternoon (her first day back from spring break) this is how the conversation went when I picked her up from school:
Me: How was your day?
H: Good
Me: Did any of your friends do anything fun and exciting over spring break?
H: Claire went to Nevada
Me: That's neat. Was she on vacation or visiting family?
H: I don't know.
(pause)
Me: Did you all talk about the rainforest today? (their current study is on rainforest)
H: No
Me: Surely Mrs. Taylor or Mrs. Woodbury said something about the rainforest today.
H: Yes, but we didn't talk about it.
Me: Well, what did they say about the rainforest?
H: They told us about a project.
Me: Really? What type of project is it?
H: A research project
Me: What are you researching?
H: I don't know.
Me: How do you not know?
H: They gave us a card with animals on it.
Me: What animal was on your card?
H: It wasn't just one.
Me: Ok, can you name one of the animals on your card?
H: (rolling her eyes at this point) Something like a spider monkey.
Me: That's neat. Did you learn any interesting facts about the spider monkey?
H: No
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
I feel like I'm a drill seargent pounding questions away at her. How do I get her to just open up and talk to me about her day? Most days, I don't drill her with questions. Some days, I just want to know about her day!!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Snaps and Zippers
Lil' Man has recently discovered how snaps and zippers work. He gets the biggest kick out of zipping and unzipping something. It all started with a pencil holder of his sister's. Recently, he's moved on to a different object, with snaps and zippers... my wallet!!
Here he is, with my wallet, after he's emptied my zipper pouch of all my loyalty cards!!
Another favorite of his? The dishwasher. Yes, as soon as he hears it opening, he RUNS into the kitchen. He loves to open and close the soap dispenser lid and roll the trays in and out of the dishwasher. He also thinks it's funny to climb on to the open door. Yeah, that one is not so funny...
Another favorite of his? The dishwasher. Yes, as soon as he hears it opening, he RUNS into the kitchen. He loves to open and close the soap dispenser lid and roll the trays in and out of the dishwasher. He also thinks it's funny to climb on to the open door. Yeah, that one is not so funny...
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Three Stooges
It's been a long time...
So, my sister and her new love are making me feel really guilty for not blogging. :) You see, the last time I blogged, E was 4 months old. Now? He's 18 months... and my how things have changed!!
I think I will give this blogging thing another try. I know it would be great for A and J to be able to see more into our daily lives. Hopefully, I will be able to blog from my phone now, which may ease the process some. We shall see.
Yesterday was Easter and it was a day full of traveling. E was up before 6:00am. I'm not sure why, but it was WAY earlier than I wanted to be up. It was my morning to do 'morning duty', so we headed downstairs for breakfast bright and early. (actually, it wasn't so bright because I'm not sure the sun was all the way up yet) Regardless, E had his usual oatmeal and yogurt. In the meantime, I had prepared a french toast casserole that was waiting in the fridge for me to put the topping on and stick it in the oven. It baked for an hour and smelled heavenly by the time it was done.
The Easter Bunny brought the children toys that they could use on the drive to Disney this Saturday.
H's basket contained:
The kids and I ate lunch as soon as we got there. Of course, E didn't want to take a nap at his usual 1:00 time. So, after about 20 minutes of fighting with him to take a nap, I gave up and let him play with everyone else. Once the rest of the family arrived, they all ate lunch and E ate about a pint of strawberries. (Literally! The kid LOVES them.) All the grandchildren (10 in total) went on a wild Easter egg hunt outside. Then, we all sat around and chatted while the kids played kick ball in the yard. Let me rephrase, most everyone sat around chatting... I was running around after a crazy boy who is completely fearless.
Around 4:00, I was able to convince E to go to sleep. He was refusing, but once I was able to get him to stay still for a few minutes, he relaxed and drifted on off to sleep. He got up around 5:30 and off we went to McDonald's for dinner. (Dinner of champions!) E was super cranky on the way there b/c he slept through his normal dinner time. He ate a hamburger, small fries, and cup of mandarin oranges. H was starving too considering she'd been outside playing with the boys all day. (She's the only girl on that side of the family... poor thing.) She, too, at an entire happy meal plus a hot fudge sundae!
We made it home around 8:00, again, later than I had planned. I popped E in the tub for a quick bath and to bed. H took a shower and quickly went to bed too. Finally, D and I could kick back for about an hour. It was a fun day, but not relaxing at all. :)
Now, if I could have only slept last night...
I think I will give this blogging thing another try. I know it would be great for A and J to be able to see more into our daily lives. Hopefully, I will be able to blog from my phone now, which may ease the process some. We shall see.
Yesterday was Easter and it was a day full of traveling. E was up before 6:00am. I'm not sure why, but it was WAY earlier than I wanted to be up. It was my morning to do 'morning duty', so we headed downstairs for breakfast bright and early. (actually, it wasn't so bright because I'm not sure the sun was all the way up yet) Regardless, E had his usual oatmeal and yogurt. In the meantime, I had prepared a french toast casserole that was waiting in the fridge for me to put the topping on and stick it in the oven. It baked for an hour and smelled heavenly by the time it was done.
The Easter Bunny brought the children toys that they could use on the drive to Disney this Saturday.
H's basket contained:
- ThinkFun Rush Hour
- Travel Scavenger Hunt
- Family Talk Cards - She got the grandparent talk set for Christmas and it was a hit last week at Nanny's house.
- A book with pages that she scratches off to make designs.
- A dry-erase travel book with many pages of puzzles and games
- Tons of chocolate!
- An easter egg hunt that took her throughout the house looking for a 'golden egg' with a special surprise in it ($5)
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Storybook Surprises
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Clubhouse Hunt
- Crayola Color Wonder Travel Tote
- Baby Keychain w/ Remote
- A Baby Maraca :)
- Old MacDonald Had a Farm board book with little plastic popping bubbles in the pages. It was incredibly entertaining for him. :)
- My Starter Laptop
The kids and I ate lunch as soon as we got there. Of course, E didn't want to take a nap at his usual 1:00 time. So, after about 20 minutes of fighting with him to take a nap, I gave up and let him play with everyone else. Once the rest of the family arrived, they all ate lunch and E ate about a pint of strawberries. (Literally! The kid LOVES them.) All the grandchildren (10 in total) went on a wild Easter egg hunt outside. Then, we all sat around and chatted while the kids played kick ball in the yard. Let me rephrase, most everyone sat around chatting... I was running around after a crazy boy who is completely fearless.
Around 4:00, I was able to convince E to go to sleep. He was refusing, but once I was able to get him to stay still for a few minutes, he relaxed and drifted on off to sleep. He got up around 5:30 and off we went to McDonald's for dinner. (Dinner of champions!) E was super cranky on the way there b/c he slept through his normal dinner time. He ate a hamburger, small fries, and cup of mandarin oranges. H was starving too considering she'd been outside playing with the boys all day. (She's the only girl on that side of the family... poor thing.) She, too, at an entire happy meal plus a hot fudge sundae!
We made it home around 8:00, again, later than I had planned. I popped E in the tub for a quick bath and to bed. H took a shower and quickly went to bed too. Finally, D and I could kick back for about an hour. It was a fun day, but not relaxing at all. :)
Now, if I could have only slept last night...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)