Of Eggs and Things

As usual, in the weeks leading up to Easter there are several "egg" related events to attend. Jeffrey's school had their Easter Party (they're allowed to call it such because it's a private school held in a church), the Kindergarten classes had an "Eggstravaganza", the county Recreation Department held their annual "Run Around the Soccer Fields and Pick Up Eggs" event, and we even dyed some eggs while visiting Noni. Somehow this year, we have thankfully missed out on some of the general schlock inside the eggs and gotten mostly candy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to stuff the kids full of candy, but the little toys, stickers and abundant other things to get stepped on or stuffed into the depths of my couch I'd rather deal with a little sugar.

So here are some pictures of Jeffrey's Easter party. They got a visit from the Easter Bunny, and then had an egg hunt in the church (since it has been raining here since last April I think. I'm surprised no one has built an arc yet). After some games and a rousing round of "Little Bunny Foo Foo" and "I'm Picking Up A Baby Bumblebee" we took our sugar-laden eggs home to be counted and coveted.




The next day the Kindergarten held their festivities. Since they were also rained out they celebrated their "eggs" inside. There was some kind of hunt, and egg dying. In the afternoon they did some egg and hopping races (Bunnies are OK as long as they aren't Easter Bunnies"). It was great fun watching Erin have such a blast playing games with her class.


Saturday afternoon brought the annual egg hunt. Hunt is really a misleading word. The county dumps a few hundred eggs across the soccer fields. They then line up the eager kiddos and at the exact toll of 3:30 set them loose. In previous years we have returned with baskets overflowing with eggs. This year, after a whopping 90 seconds all the eggs were gone. Erin and Jeff managed to snag about 10 each. All fine with me.



Finally during our few days at Noni's house we spent an evening coloring eggs for her Easter. Grandpa got an old fashioned Paas kit and they had a blast. Erin enjoyed mixing all the colors. Jeffrey was not quite as creative, but enjoyed himself as well.


We still have eggs to color as a family and then our egg hunt at the church and at back at home. Then we'll be all egged out until next March -- when hopefully it will have stopped raining.

History Lesson

The life of Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of a Kindergartner. Very informative. Make sure you catch the part about the train.

Almost There

Back in January I was convinced that I would be purchasing Pull-ups for another few years. Jeffrey had no interest in night training. And with all the stories Tom tells about his experiences growing up I figured we were in for the long run. Back in mid-February Jeff started waking up dry a few days a week. It was still a fight to get him to use the potty first thing, and often he'd just go in his pull-up rather than the potty.

By the end of February he'd go for longer stretches being dry...even a week at one point. But then we'd have 3 soaking wet mornings. I decided at that point that when the pull-ups ran out we'd try going without for a night. He's been doing great with the pull-ups recently. Been dry for almost 2 weeks. So last night (with 2 pull-ups still left in the bag) we had the big discussion after bath time.

"Hey buddy. You want to try wearing your big boy undies to bed?"
"Why?"
"I think you're ready. You want to try?"
"Why?"
"Well you've been dry in the morning for a while now, I think you can keep your undies dry."
"Why?"

I think you get the picture. "Why" was the only answer I was going to get so I grabbed a pair of Cars undies and explained again that he was growing up into such a big boy I thought he was ready to say goodbye to his Pull-ups.

After a few extra trips to the potty before bedtime he snuggled into bed. And this morning.....

....All dry. Yay big guy. I'm so proud of you.

Down By the Stream

We had a beautiful day last Sunday and decided to take the kids for a walk around the lake. It's a bit of a long walk, maybe a couple of miles. Generally the kids are hyper for the first half and then beat for the last 3/4 mile or so. And they always complain when we bring up the idea. "No, I don't waaaannna go for a long walk." So we decided this time not to tell them we were going to walk the lake, and started with, "Let's play outside." Then moved to, "Want to go down to the bridge?" And finally, "Let's walk for a bit. We'll come back."

Since it was so pretty I brought the camera along for the walk. The kids enjoyed 'fishing' in the stream, and Tom gave them a stone skipping lesson at the lake. There was the usual amount of whining about how Loooooong the walk was, but also a good amount of picking up pine cones, pretty stones, wild flowers and spotting geese, doggies, birds etc..

A little vent

OK, time for a little vent. Not really one about the kids though. More about a game.

You see I took Christmas as a time to give Tom family oriented gifts. The kids got him a board game. I got him a new game for the Wii. Since we all like to play the Wii together I picked out a Mini Golf game that looked fun. And it is. It's tons of fun. We all really like it, the kids can play on their own, and I'd say we've already gotten my $40 out of it.

So here's my beef. The game is rated "E" for "everyone". Family game right? Yeah it is. It's quite cute. If you get a par or better on the hole your character does a little dance. The daddy character does these silly things, and generally falls down. The mommy character is somewhat flirty and has cute little dances. The daughter character will twirl her club like a baton, or spin around and fall down. The little boy turns his fingers into 6-shooters and "pows" you. That's my issue. Really? That's all we can find for the little boy? He "pows" me.

I know, I know little boys will be boys. Still, does a mini golf game have to encourage it?

Cool thing about the game is you can earn different clubs to do new tricks. Yesterday the kids were playing and each wanted to get a new club. So Erin got the Dinosaur club, and Jeffrey got the Knight club. It's a golf club that looks like a knight on his horse with his jousting spear out. I figured the trick would be something "knightly". No. Upon achieving a great score on the hole, the young boy wields his knight club like an automatic rifle and "pow pow pows" the competition. He then sheathes his club like a sword. What on earth does that have to do with knights? It really bothers me. More than the 6-shooters with the hands does.

My guy is hyper, and crazy, and refuses to listen but he's also loving, and sweet, and influenced by the things he sees on TV. So today he's taking all his toys and wielding them like automatic weapons. I've explained to him that kind of behavior is not acceptable. We don't "pow" our friends. I expect in a day or two it will wear off. I'll change the club back into the train one that Choo-Choos around the screen, or maybe the fairyland one that makes a silly troll plop down on the screen.

But in a game that's rated "E", and is advertised as "A Hole in Fun", I'm a little disappointed that they couldn't come up with other ways for a little boy to celebrate a good putt than to "pow" the competition.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

We're all in our green today. Even though Erin's been sick the past few days we had to get outside a few minutes and take a couple of pictures wearing our greens. Now to see if they'll eat the corned beef at dinner.

Hello Eleanor

Last weekend (the frozen one, not the warm one) we headed to Baltimore to meet "Uncle" Gary and "Aunt" Suzie's sweet little girl Eleanor. Erin and Jeffrey were very excited about the trip and mom and dad were so happy to finally meet Eleanor. And, she is just so gorgeous. We are all totally in love with her.

Our trip ended up a bit more eventful that we had planned though. About 10 miles from Baltimore, our 'new' van broke down. Tom was able to drive it to Gary's and on Saturday morning they made sure it got to a Kia dealership for whatever work would be needed. Unfortunately they couldn't look at it on Saturday, so we were there until Monday....and then Tuesday...and then Wednesday. Well, not quite. We left on Tuesday in a rental car and I drove back to pick up the Kia on the warm weekend.

What it did give us was some wonderful time with Gary, Suzie and Eleanor. We went to Port Discovery together (one looooong walk but worth it), went out to dinner and of course oogled over the baby. Erin drew countless monkeys for Eleanor and insisted that Gary and Suzie put them in her room and on the fridge. Jeffrey also did his best to draw some pictures of everyone. When Eleanor's daycare closed on Monday due to the snow, we got to spend the day taking care of her while Suzie and Gary got some work done.

So guys, thanks so much for letting us crash a few extra days, and even more thanks for sharing your beautiful daughter.

Here's the picture overload.

Rid'em Cowboy!!

Best Kisses

Snuggle Buddies

Hanging on the mat

Mr. Fish

Last summer it became clear that Jeffrey's "thing" was going to be swimming. Aside from the infant class we took, he's been in love with anything water since he was tiny. Last summer I signed him up for a class and he loved it. So we gave him the option of doing swimming this spring or doing a gymnastics/tumbling class. He jumped all over swimming.

We're taking classes through my gym since it's a little more convenient. It's also a smaller class size. He really loves it, but he does give the instructor a bit of a hard time. He just gets so excited, and wants to sink to the bottom of the pool as often as possible. He still has absolutely no fear. At his last class he was monkey walking along the side of the pool, while holding onto the edge. He decided that wasn't enough fun and simply pushed away from the side.....into 4 feet of water with no instructor within immediate reach. She and I both were able to grab him quick enough and swing him back to the edge, but he only wanted to do it again. So clearly, swimming is essential for him as he has NO FEAR with the water.

Here are a few pictures and a short video of Mr. Fish enjoying swim class.

New York Family Visit

Bad blogging mommy. Things have been nuts, and I just haven't had the time to blog about Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Katie and Cousin Will's visit. We had a lot of fun time together. It was nice to just hang out together. We did take off for an afternoon of bowling, a morning walk to the beach and dinner at the German restaurant.

The kids had a lot of fun playing with baby Will. As always Erin loves to help Katie take care of him, especially feeding him. Jeffrey loved helping push his stroller on our walk.

We're so glad that they got the chance to come down and visit for a few days.

Hanging with Cousin Will

Together with Aunt Katie

Snuggles from Grandma

Giving Baby Will a Ride

Our Local Wildlife

Bowling!!!

We headed back to the bowling lanes on Friday while Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Katie and Baby Will were visiting. Erin had an early release from school so we picked her up and headed right for bowling. Grandpa stayed home to watch baby Will.

It was a quiet afternoon and there were very few other people at the alley. They had it all set up for "night" bowling with little LED lights and black lights and classic rock playing. Pretty different from when we went over winter break.

The kids were super excited. Ever since we went bowling back in December, they talk about it constantly. "When will we go bowling again?" "Look mommy, there's bowling!!! Can we go?" "Can we go bowling tomorrow?" Hopefully this little excursion has bought me another few weeks without pestering.

This time I did remember to bring the camera. I got a few shots of them bowling and also some videos. So here we go.....

Our bowling trip...

Happy Valentine's Day

Dancing

Erin got to go on a special date with her daddy on Saturday. The county held a Father/Daughter Valentine's day dance and Tom decided it would be fun to take Erin. They got all dressed up and headed off on a beautiful afternoon. At the dance they met up with a few friends, and danced the rest of the afternoon away. Erin said the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance were her favorite parts. Tom said they danced together the whole time and just had a blast. It's quite sweet watching my little baby grow into such a big girl these days.

Erin and her friend Delaney

Spinning with Daddy

The Axiom!!!

The kids are at the age that our lives are a series of phases. Mostly popular culture phases. We'll watch the same movie, over and over for a month -- Wizard of Oz, Cars, The Incredibles, Peter Pan....we've been through them all. And right now we are headlong into the phase of Wall*E. This seems to have another level (similar to the Cars obsession which is still under the surface). Every day is filled with Wall*E. Jeffrey asks to watch the movie at least every day, if not twice.

Tom and I are both film score fans, and were really drawn to the Wall*E score the first time we heard it. When Jeff got the DVD for Christmas and the obsession started we went out and downloaded the score. Now every time I'm in the car with Jeff he hollers, "Wall*E Music!!!!!" Both he and Erin will sing along to the couple of songs on it. What's more interesting is that he knows the movie so well that while listening to the score he'll tell me what's going on.

"Mommy, this is where Wall*E meets Eve"
"Eve put the plant in her tummy"
"This is the Spaceship. NOT the Axiom, the little ship."
"THIS is the Axiom mommy."

There are many, many more.

Jeffrey also seems obsessed with the Axiom. They only use the word Axiom a few times in the movie, but he picked up on it. Yesterday he was crunching his lollipop and said..."Hey mommy, Look...the Axiom." And it did look like the Axiom.

And then there's today's lunch conversation.

Jeffrey: sitting at table "Mommmy!!!! Come here quick!!!"
Mommy: cleaning kitchen "What honey."
J: "Come here, I have to show you!!!"
M: "OK" looking for any excuse to ignore the dishes
J: "Look Look!"
M: "What honey."
J: "It's the Axiom. See? My sandwich. It looks like the Axiom"


Honestly it did. So we have a space ship/food Axiom thing. I really wish I'd taken a picture of it. So the Wall*E obsession has reached a new level.

And here's Jeffrey pretending to be Wall*E. He came up with this all on his own. He's humming the Wall*E theme. Sorry the sound on my camera seems to be messing up that's the buzzing in the background.

Momma's New Toy

After Tom's accident with the Sentra a few weeks ago (he was fine, but the car was totaled) we were forced to look into buying a new car. Not really what we had planned, but given where we live, we are required to be a 2-car family. We tossed around the idea of replacing it with another compact for Tom to go back and forth to work. BUT, the next car was supposed to be my choice, and I've been waiting for my choice for a few years. So, here we go.








Yep, I got my van. It's a 2008 Kia Sedona with about 35K miles. Great condition, and we got a super deal on it (thanks Uncle John B. for the tips). It rides so nice. The kids are getting used to it. It's pretty different from what they're used to riding in, being so much higher up. It will be nice on longer trips too. So now Tom has his "BOOSDDY" license plate back on the Intrepid and I've got to come up with a fancy-dancy plate for my new toy.

History

This is as close to history as we got today. Even though we're only about 90 minutes from DC we decided that for the safety of the kids and the sanity of Tom and I we'd stay home. Believe me, I really wanted to be there to witness this momentous day. I did have the TV on throughout the day. I tried to explain to Erin what was going on. I pointed out who Obama was and explained what a president is (not just a dead guy on a coin). By mid-afternoon she would get excited whenever she saw him on the TV. Jeffrey on the other hand didn't really get it. He was impressed by YoYo Ma playing the cello right before the swearing in. At least the boy's got taste. So the kids have some pictures of them sitting in front of the TV that they can show their own grandchildren in 50 years.

King Boo Jr.

Does anyone remember this post?

He Was A Tree Cutter

I still get a laugh out of reading it.

A few weeks ago, at a Worship Committee meeting, someone brought up the point that kids don't know why they are getting a day off from school. It just happens. I nodded my head in agreement, but added that I felt Erin's teacher was doing a really good job incorporating history into their daily lessons. Learning about money? Then talk about Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson when you learn about the penny and the nickel. Kinda cool.

I know that Martin Luther King Jr. is on the kindergarten SOL (standards of learning here in VA) so the kids are taught about him - generally around his birthday. So, I asked Erin if she had school on Monday (knowing well enough that she didn't but wanted to see what she'd say).

"Hey Erin, do you have school Monday?"

"Huh? Oh. No."

"Why not?"

"We're celebrating something."

"Something?"

"Yeah. Some guy's birthday. King Boo I think." (for those of you who are not Super Mario fans.....King Boo is a character from a video game.)

"Oooooh. King Boo huh?"

"Yeah, or Junior something."

(trying very hard to control my laughter)"OK Junior something. Why are we celebrating this King Jr.'s birthday? You don't get the day off school on daddy's birthday or mommy's birthday."

"I don't know mommy. Can I go play now?" (clearly finished with this silly conversation)

"Yes dear, you can go play now."


Anyway, the weekly report from the teacher said that this week they were talking about public safety -- got to meet a real police man and everything -- and that next week the topic of Martin Luther King Jr. will be discussed. I have every faith that they will, but for this weekend, there's no school on Monday because it's King Boo Jr's Birthday (or something) and who knows why that's such a big deal.

This Afternoon's Project

Check out this afternoon's project. I'm pretty happy with it.

Happy Birthday Cousin Will

We went to New York to celebrate Cousin Will's first Birthday. We had a great time playing with our cousins Rylie, Avery and Will while staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We even got to take an hour one afternoon to go sledding with Cousin Rylie and Uncle Jeff. It was so much fun.

On Saturday we went to Cousin Will's birthday party. There were lots of people there and Aunt Katie brought lots of toys to play with. It was a great time. Both Erin and Jeffrey got to help deliver Will's presents to him.


It was a fun time and I'm glad we got to be there for Will's special day!!!

Jeffrey Helping Will Open His Birthday Present That He Picked Out

Erin Giving Daddy and Jeffrey A Push To Start

Puzzles

It amazes me how differently the kids can approach the same problem. I realize that they are two years apart in age and that may have something to do with it but it's a very interesting phenomenon.

Take this puzzle for example.It's a definite favorite of the kids. If you haven't checked out the Melissa & Doug puzzles, they're awesome. We have 3 of the board puzzles like this one and 3 floor puzzles they make. Seriously, they're great puzzles.

Anyway Jeffrey approaches the puzzle in this manner. He first puts together the flag. Next comes the pirate under the flag and other pirates from there on. He will take pieces that he knows go together, even if they don't 'fit' into the board yet and place them where he thinks they would go. It's a very interesting method of working puzzles but he can prettily easily complete this one and it's 48 pieces.

Erin looks at the puzzle totally differently. She MUST start with the piece in the bottom left-hand corner. She then works across the bottom of the puzzle. When she finishes that row, it's back to the left and she puts in the next row. She will NOT go out of order. She will hold onto pieces, knowing where they go, but won't put them in until the gets to them in line. The biggest issue with this method is that if she can't find one certain piece the whole process comes to a stop. Even if she has other pieces she can easily fit in, she refuses to until she finds the 'missing' piece. Watching her work with the puzzles is really fascinating to me, but she always finishes them.

So two kids, raised by the same parents and their approaches to a simple problem are night and day. How cool it is to watch them learn and grow and turn into their own little thinkers.

A Look Back at 2008

Just thought this might be fun to do. Here's a look back at some of the things we did and some of our favorite things from 2008.

From Meg's Mommy Journal

Christmas 2007

From Meg's Mommy Journal

Christmas 2008

Basic Stats: This is the year that little brother broke the "little" title and out-grew his big sister. At their mid-year check up he was 35 lbs and she weighed in at a whopping 32. But in June she measured 42" and he 41". Now I'm afraid even that has changed. It appears he's got a good 1/2" on her in height now.

Starting Schools: Erin started Kindergarten in August and Jeffrey started 2-day preschool in September. Both are having a blast at school.


Places we went: Memphis with Noni and mommy. We liked the zoo there the best. To New York for Uncle Jonathan's graduation. To Pennsylvania with mommy and daddy for our very first family (just the 4 of us) vacation. We had a super fun time at Hershey Park -- locally referred to as "Chocolate World". To the New Jersey shore with all of daddy's family. The kids decided that a week at the beach was an awesome time. To Maryland a few times to visit Noni, Grandpa, Oma and Uncle Jon.


Our favorite movies: 2008 was the year of The Incredibles, Madagascar (the Move It Move It Movie), and Annie. As for movies at the theater Wall*E takes the cake. And now that it's out on DVD it's a staple here at home too.


Our favorite things to do around home: Erin continued to love going to gymnastics and being in the plays. This year she was a street girl in Annie and an angel in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Jeffrey discovered a LOVE of swimming over the summer and couldn't get enough of the water. He also loves going to the gym with mommy and playing with all his friends there. Both kids like playing the Wii. Erin's mastered several of the games including bowling, mini-golf, tennis and cow racing. Jeffrey's slowing picking things up but enjoyed race car driving until the game broke. This was also the year that the kids really got into helping in the kitchen. Both kids especially love making bread with daddy as well as making cookies and even helping with dinners.


2008 Firsts: First time camping. First time bowling. First time for Jeffrey to ride a roller coaster. First days of school. First time seeing the Mississippi River. First summer spent playing on the deck. First time Erin read a book to mommy. First time Jeffrey traced his name. First soccer game. First field trip for Jeffrey.

Favorite Toys: Erin still loves her Little Pet Shop toys as well as her tea party sets, stuffed animals and magnet dress up dolls. Jeffrey goes nuts over anything with wheels, especially Cars cars, his Diego truck, his train set, and still loves playing with his Little People.