Happy New Year!

May the new year bring
The warmth of home and hearth to you.
The cheer and goodwill of friends to you,
The hope of a childlike heart to you.
The joy of a thousand angels to you,
The love of the Son and God's peace to you.
- Irish blessing

Thanks to Make and Takes for the great glasses idea!

Baby Girl turns 3!

Happy Birthday, Pretty Layla! (Although you're hardly a baby anymore...I'll always call you my baby)!

We had a great time celebrating with you at Chuck E. Cheese this evening. And we talked a lot today about your party we had in June.


And, just for fun...a picture of you, 3 years ago today!


And the fun part of turning 3...interviewing you on your new favorites.

Color? yellow and green (really? I've never heard this before, but I guess I haven't really asked, either)

Food? Yogurt (that's pretty true, but also exactly what she was eating when I asked) she's a pretty good eater, except for dinner, she doesn't eat anything then)

Show? Dora

Character? Dora

Song? "Jingle, Jingle little Poop" followed by giggles from both her and Big Brother. Oh the joys of having an older brother for such a sweet little girl. She had been singing Jingle Bells just moments before (that's what reminded me to ask these questions) and I know that's what she was talking about.

Book? Dora, of course

Sport to play? I don't have sports...pretty true, she just gets stuck with whatever Big Brother wants to play

Sport to watch? Just Spiderman. Pretty random, but that's another of Big Brother's favorites.

Holiday? Christmas

Snack? blueberries (again, that's what's currently in her bowl), but she often sneaks sandwich cheese all by herself

Thing to do with Mommy? "have a snack" not really sure what that means, but it's what she said

Thing to do with Daddy? wrestle

Thing to do with Peyton? play air hockey

Place to go: bowling

Best Friends: Austin, Alex, Ayden and Reuben

Animal: baby elephant

This is very fun to compare to what was said almost one year ago.

Overheard

Things Mommy and Daddy overheard last night, long after bedtime, but obviously before there were actually sleeping children upstairs...

"It's boring"

"When is it going to get dark?" Remember, where we live at this time of the year, it's dark at dinner time.

"Layla is wasting water." We should've listened to this one and taken action, when we finally did we found not water, but soap, all over their bathroom.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" This is a question asked every single night before going to sleep.

"When's it going to be summertime?"

"She's bothering me." It has been requested many nights for her to be in bed with him, we tried it, this was one of the responses, but when she was then moved to her own bed, a meltdown occurred because, "I wanted her in my bed." My inside voice (that's the one in your head): "Well, then don't complain about being bothered, we are being bothered by your constant voices hours after you are supposed to be asleep...NO MORE NAPS for Miss L."

"Do better at posting on your blog." Oh, wait, that was my inside voice again. But as you can see, I'm back and trying to be more regular in my posting. I've already completed most of the post about the special activities of today, but I need Miss L to answer some fun questions for me tomorrow and then I'll post for all to see how we celebrated her birthday. And maybe someday, I'll get caught up and actually go back and post about our fun fall and Christmas activities of 2009. But, for now, my goal is to simply stay current with all the fun we're going to be having each day in 2010.

Wordless Wednesday: After Muffin Making

Pandas & Steaks

Oh...my sweet P,

It was a strange, strange day today!

I worked all day (9+ hours) and was exhausted when done and you were tired too. When I came "home", N (our fabulous babysitter) told me about your day.

She took you for a really long bike ride with L & R (N's son) took their nap. At the end of the ride, you freaked out over the "panda" trees. She said you were to the point of tears, came home and hid under a blanket and almost fell asleep you were so afraid. "Panda" trees are birch trees (I think), they are white, a little shaggy looking, with dark spots and you were convinced pandas were going to come down out of them and bite you.

I could hardly believe the story. You have never been this afraid of anything. She did some research with you, showed you bamboo on the computer so you could see where pandas really live and said you were doing better. I could hardly believe you'd be afraid of pandas, after all we have an entire room in our home dedicated to Mommy's panda collection. I love them and have since I was five. How could you develop this intense of a fear towards them at the same age?

Then, you did something impolite to R and I sent you to time-out just before they left. I got a taste of what N was talking about. You freaked out again, because from the time-out chair you could see the "panda" trees. I forced the time-out issue, hoping I wasn't doing something wrong and traumatizing you, eventually I caved and moved time-out to a new spot. The stairs...those didn't work either...you could still see the tree, so I gave up.

Then Daddy came home. By now, you probably know, he can be ruthless at times like this and he laughed at your fear and forced the issue more and more. I was worried and laughing at the same time. It did seem a bit ridiculous, but I could tell you were really scared and that worried me.

You wanted to watch songs on YouTube. Madagascar and Spiderman theme songs, specifically. This took your mind off the pandas for awhile, but then Daddy wanted to show you KungFu Panda. I was leary, but Daddy persevered. You did really well and said that panda was ok.

At some point in here, Daddy asked about dinner and you said, "I want steaks." Steaks? Really? How is it in one evening you can go this much against your MOmmy? First, pandas and now asking for red meat from your Mommy who spent 5 or so years as a vegetarian. But, oh, did you please your Daddy! He was thrilled and wished he had a huge New York Strip on the grill to satisfy your craving. But chicken will have to do tonight.

Then I had you get the globe. You showed me where we live and I showed you that pandas live on the other side of the world. We talked about how there was no way a panda would come out of one of our trees and hurt you. You told me you would never go there (to China). I was sad. I said ok, but Mommy is going there some day. You asked why and I told you because I love pandas and I want to see them in China some day. You asked if they'd be in a cage and I said hopefully no, I really want to see them in the wild. That got you worried all over again. So, I backed off and you seemed to be doing fine.

We were taking you to Grammy & Grandpa's house for the evening so I was a little worried about leaving you there in this state, but I still wanted the night out with Daddy, so I went to get ready. I could hear Daddy take you outside and you were talking about the panda trees again, but when I came downstairs you were still fine. Later, Daddy told me he made you go across the street and touch the tree and now you were fine. Pandas weren't going to hurt you anymore and the trees weren't panda trees! Cured! Yay! I could continue my love of pandas and not feel conflicted about the fear I was imparting on you!

However, throughout the whole evening, Layla has been listening to you, as she always is! And now she is afraid of red pandas. Who cares? Not Mommy, she never really liked them anyways. And isn't affecting Layla nearly like the pandas did you.

I think we're all over this episode. Layla hasn't mentioned red pandas at all. You mention pandas but realize they aren't going to hurt you and live far away. I realize it's just a phase, as is almost everything at this point in your life. And Daddy is still waiting for the day there is enough time to grill you up one of his fabulous steak dinners!

I love you, P, even in all of your oddities,
Mommy

A Weekend Trip!

This past weekend was very full of car rides for us!

We left Thursday and drove as far as we could in the direction of Winchester, Virginia, to celebrate with my sister as she graduated. We drove into the night and here are some pictures of how we finally got the kids to sleep in the car. Peyton had to make himself a tent, but he really did sleep like this for a couple of hours.



Friday morning we finished the trip (only 2 hours) and arrived in time to go to C's hooding ceremony. We listened to some boring speakers, heard the same three students get all the awards and cheered as C received her hood and got all that much closer to graduating for the final time!

Friday night J & I got some time without P & L thanks to Grandpa G & Grandma J. We drove a little ways to our friend Gary's in-laws house and were graciously welcomed by strangers for dinner, drinks and a bed in true southern hospitality. They were a great couple and we had a fabulous time making new friends, catching up with old friends and enjoying the great outdoors of northern Virginia!

Finally Saturday arrived! The big day! One of my little sisters became a Dr. Congratulations, Dr. C Williams! I don't know why I'm not really big on taking pictures of other people's big days, like this, so I have no pictures to share with you, but I know she does. It was a sweltering hot day and the ceremony was outside. So, I sat and fanned myself with the program, waiting with my other sister to "Woo Hoo" as C's name was announced and she received her fake "diploma".

Meanwhile, J wandered campus with P & L, found a place to lay in the shade and played baseball (go figure) with Peyton, of course, they didn't have a bat so they used a stick and a fallen nut - anything to keep them occupied and out of the heat and from bothering others as they restlessly endured the hour and a half boredom (for them) that is graduation!

We spent the rest of Saturday leisurely celebrating! Eating Italian food, sleeping, eating more Italian food (pizza delivery is great) and playing in the kiddie pool.

Then we ventured another hour and a half northeast to a DC suburb to spend the night with baby sister, E, and her husband. But, first, to get there, we had to take a ferry! And today Peyton is still talking about the boat we had to drive our car onto to take us across the river to get to Aunt E's house and can we do that again? Sure, if it wasn't a 9 or so hour drive just to get there, it would be worth the $4 and the 10 minutes on the boat...right? Again, no pictures, well, because it would have just been water all around us...easy to imagine! Peyton has also been reinventing the scene in our pool with toy boats, toy cars and "his hand as an island". Does he really think we went to an island? I guess that is sign he needs a small geography lesson.

As a complete aside, he did pick up the globe all on his own today and perfectly find the state in which we live and confidently exclaim, "Look, Mommy, here's our house!"

Back to the trip...

Sunday was yet another day on the road, another hour and a half northwest this time to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Kinsel's house. We had mini family reunion of sorts. It was really mostly my family and the people we'd been with all weekend but my aunt, uncle, cousin, and cousin's baby came today, too. It was great to meet Baby S and see how she is thriving after spending the first month plus of her life in the NICU! This is the only other picture I took all weekend...



And finally, Monday morning came and we loaded into the car for the 9, turned into 11, hour trip home! And this is where I can thank the inventors of the DVD player in the automobile for my sanity! We did try to do other things, brought some coloring books and such and those lasted a few brief moments from time to time but the main entertainer for those 11 hours was a whole host of library borrowed cartoon DVDs.

All in all, it was fabulous trip! It was great to see family and in a different season than normal! It was fun to play in the yards of those houses we are normally couped up in during the cold, snowy months of winter when we normally visit. It was great to see the flowers and produce being cultivated in spots that are normally bare ground during our visits. It was great to wear shorts, t-shirts, sundresses and swimsuits and go barefoot, in place of snowsuits, layers of pants and shirts and heavy winter shoes. It was great to pack all of our belongings for 4 people for 4 days in one large suitcase rather than the typical overstuffed bulky 3, sometimes 4, suitcases for the same number of people and the same number of days! Cheers to summer travels and the lightness and warmness it brings to our hearts to be near family as they reach milestones they've been dreaming of for decades, literally!

We are soo proud of you Aunt C! It still warms my heart to think of all you have endured these last 5 years and the good you are going to bring to so many people throughout your career!

I wish I had a picture of you, all by yourself, well with your "diploma" of course to insert here as it seems totally appropriate! Lesson to me...take pictures of everything...you never know when you might indeed want it!.

Like Father, Like Child!

Daddy is a bowler and here is a little proof that his children follow in his footsteps!

P has a whole bowling season under his belt already, but this was a brand new experience for L! And she had a fantastic time.

Check out her form...


And her follow through...


P is bowling one-handed now...


And he even gets consistently decent scores...


L did all of this game all by herself as you can see from the score. Her ball sometimes took forrrrrrrevvvvvvvvverrrrrrrrrrr to get down the lane, but it always made it. Towards the end of the second game Mommy had to give the ball a little extra push but bowling held L's interest for 2 whole games today.

We love Kids Bowl Free! which would allow each child to bowl 2 free games each day this summer. We're only taking advantage of that one day a week as it is the only day our bowling alley is open in the morning. Besides, we have too much fun doing other things during the summer, but this has been an added bonus as we get through this last month of summer.

Wordless Wednesday...up a tree!

Wordless Wednesday: Water Balloons!

A Half Birthday Celebration!

We celebrated L's 3rd birthday in June this year (her half birthday) instead of having yet another family gathering the week of Christmas with more food that is no good for us and no one knowing what else to get her and/or her getting way too much stuff all at once. It was fun to have a party for her outside in the fresh warm sunshine. Here are some pics. She was not very photogenic today, so none of them are great, but we tried and we'll always remember how her party went.  She wouldn't even put on her party dress, but she's still the cutest little girl I know!

UPDATED!! Signs of Summer!

UPDATE: Here is the video I promised in this post, over a month ago. Yes, it took that long to get the said firewire. I ordered the wrong one first, had to make a trip to the post office (one of my least favorite places to conduct business) to return it, before I could order the right one. But, it finally arrived this week and I've been having a blast uploading and editing videos. So, be on the lookout for more, soon.

Be on the lookout for the most adorable blinking and winking at 1 minute and just after.



ORIGINAL POST: Today was our last day of Kindermusik for Layla until the fall. I took some fun pictures and wanted to share them with you. Bubbles are definitely one of her favorite activities, both at Kindermusik and at home! Here's also a shout out to the best Kindermusik teacher ever...Ms. Lorie! We love you, we'll miss you this summer and we'll be back next fall!

Last Thursday, Peyton had his spring musical performance. There are no words to describe it. It was hilarious, cute, special, funny, adorable, well done, tearful and did I say full of laughter. I still can't decide if I was crying because I was laughing so hard or because I just can't believe my little man actually made it up on stage already. BARELY!! He didn't want to go, told us he wasn't going to sing (he didn't) and thank God for Ms. Gump who was once again willing to carry him away from us and back to the "warm up" area.

When they finally brought the littlest ones out, the crowd AWWWED and we started voraciously looking to see if Peyton even made it up there. We spent the entire first song looking for him so I can't tell you anything about it except that Ms. Batesole started out running across the stage with a tambourine and the kids danced! It was incredibly cute, I just wish I could've seen Peyton dancing to that.

We finally found him smack in the middle of approximately 200 3, 4, and 5 year olds, not singing a word, but doing all of the actions to a song called "Music Makes Me..." Some of the lyrics were Music Makes Me blink, laugh, dance, wink. Oh, it's the cutest, funniest video you've ever seen. I just wish I'd gotten the firewire (part needed to transfer videos from our camera to the computer) before just now (it's on order) and I promise I'll update this post as soon as I get it! Until then, here's a still shot.

Can you see him?

Us either...

Oh wait, he's practically behind a boy with a bright yellow shirt on.

Between him and the microphone stand

Believe me, Daddy was able to zoom in much better with the video camera...it's coming soon!

And finally, here are some more random pictures I've been meaning to post, but haven't.

Chillin in the shade finishing lunch outside

Posing for the camera

The first time he wrote his name without copying the letters as Mommy wrote them somewhere else...pretty good, I think.

At Conferences, Ms. Gump told us to have Peyton work on his fine motor skills and that hole punching was great practice. He liked it for a little bit, it was easy for Mommy and something we'll definitely try again this summer.

This probably fit better as a sign of spring, but it's too cute, so here it is anyways. Check out those cool shades on my girl!

There are only 10 more days of school for Peyton this year! And one of those is field day this Thursday, which I get to help out with :-) I can hardly believe his first year of school is almost over! I'm pretty much ready for him to be home, for awhile. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm sure we'll be filling it up with lots of fun activities and friends so keep coming back!

Artists!

Happy Father's Day to Jeremy!

He wanted a whole artist set including an easel. We all went together Saturday night to pick it out. It sat on the desk Sunday morning and Jeremy finally gave in to Peyton's incessant pleas to paint with Daddy. The result was too cute to pass up the photo op. Jeremy uses the garage for his "studio", hence the dirty floor, tools on the wall and general mess in these photos.

I really do think Peyton is a budding artist. He won't draw anything but he is very meticulous about not mixing paints or only doing it when he wants a specific outcome and will paint anything. He is always begging to paint. And you can tell from the looks on all three faces they are serious about this work.

Race Across America!

I want to introduce you all to a good friend of ours from church - Beth Goldsmith. She is a breast-cancer survivor of just over one year and has been dealing with breast cancer in her family for the last ten years. She has lost her great-grandmother, grandmother and sister to the disease and her mother and aunt are also survivors.

She is an amazing woman for so many reasons, but today I'll take this opportunity just to highlight her determination to not only survive cancer but to thrive afterward and live the best life.

This Friday, Beth begins another amazing journey - the Race Across America. She along with a team of seven others will bike (pedal-push kind, not a motorcycle) 3,021 miles, non-stop, relay style from Oceanside, CA, to Annapolis, MD.

She is riding on a team sponsored by Vera Bradley Foundation who's sole purpose is to race money to fund further research for breast cancer. One of the shirts the Foundation presented to her at a Send-off party on Sunday said, "Me, My Bike, My Cause!" That pretty much says it all.

So far, the team has raised $80,000 for the foundation.
The goal is $100,000 by this Friday. I know they are going to make it - $5 at a time - with help from across the nation and people like you. Will you help? If so, click here. You can read more, track them throughout the next week...did I mention they plan to do those 3,000+ miles in 7 days...and make a donation. Whatever you're able, know it is greatly appreciated and together we can eliminate this disease that affects each one of us somehow. And if you can't give financially, will you please give just a little of your time by keeping everyone involved in your prayers next week - prayers for endurance, safety and thriving, not just surviving.

P.S. We'll be following the race very carefully with some fun reading and activities so check back next week to see what we're learning as we keep Beth, the rest of the team and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

A is for...

Alien

We are attempting to make a craft for each letter of the alphabet this summer, starting at the beginning. This does mean we have to do more than one each week, so it will be a challenge and we are already behind. We'll be making a "letter wall" out of the biggest, empty wall in the playroom. Here are the creations for the first week. Along with pictures of a special lunch to go with it.

 

 

Water Play

Peyton is done with school for the summer. He's been home for two full days now and one of his favorite ways to fill the time has been playing in water. Sprinklers really, as we haven't set the pool up yet this year. So, here are some pictures and a video of them playing in water.




I didn't want to post both of these videos but the second one is worth it for the Layla laughs you can hear about 30 seconds in and the great big cheesy smile she produces at the very end.

SplashPad at Memorial Park


turning the water on
and playing peek-a-boo
with Mommy around the pole









Peyton calls this rainbow the car wash,
but this is Layla running through it

Action shots of Peyton & Layla
having a blast in the water

Free Art Friday

It was such a beautiful day.  I didn't want to come inside but I wanted to do some art and when given the choice between painting and coloring, the kiddos chose painting even though coloring would've been a sinch to move outside.  So, I thought, how can we do this outside, but not just on the table, like always.  Here's the results...Peyton loved it and I have a feeling he'll be asking for it more this summer.  He is our painter, after all!

 

  

 

And, yes, those are my clean sheets hanging in the background.  I just prayed the kiddos would stick to the paper on the tree and my sheets would survive without streaks of red, orange, green and brown.  But, hey, if not, it's washable paint, right?!

The Case of the Missing Pink Tee

Oh, it's going to be a long summer, spent in our back yard searching for pink or white or blue or orange or red golf tees.  Do you remember, not that long ago, I wished for golf rather than bowling?  I may be eating my words if I'm called out into the yard too many more times to look for a specific color tee somewhere around there, over there, or maybe over here. 

And I thought I was being smart buying pink...you'll always be able to find those in the grass.  Oh, but not in the lush green we are experiencing right now.  Maybe later, but not today.

And will one of the extras I have in the house or that you have in your bag work as a replacement?  NO!  So, the search continues.

We should buy stock now in whatever company makes tees and the nerf golf balls as well.  We've only lost 3 or 4 of those over the neighbors fence so far.

Zoo Day!

Forecast:
Sky: cloudy
Ground: wet
Mommy's mind: needs checked
Zoo attendance: next to nobody, which makes it perfect for us

But, we went anyways. The zoo opened almost two weeks ago and I've been dying to go - I can't believe we had to wait this long and I wasn't willing to wait any longer. Yes, we can go as much as we want whenever we want all summer long (Thanks, Grammy and Grandpa Dave) but we need to say, "Hello, Spring" to all of the animals.

So, when Peyton awoke this morning, I asked if he wanted to go. It was a definite yes response. Then I asked a goofy question (sign #1 I need a mental health check), "Do you want to go to school and then the zoo or just go to the zoo?" Now, it can also be called a hookie day!

So, with wet pavement, windshield wipers on, long sleeve shirts on, jackets with hoods up, stroller and snacks in hand we were on our way.

As we drove, I told Peyton and Layla they could each pick one favorite animal to see today, hoping we wouldn't have to do the entire zoo.

Peyton picks first...the drums. What's that you say? The drums aren't an animal. Well, don't tell Peyton. He was adamant that's all he wanted to do. Yes, that's right. We're on a trek in less the 50 degree weather with mist in the air...to play drums. And, yes, we do have drums at our house, but apparently not as enticing as the drums in the African Veldt.

Oh, and I should tell you, that's the only thing in the African Veldt right now. It's under construction and there are no visible animals for another month.

But, walk we did, for 5 minutes, straight to the drums and straight out.

And now he says his favorite animal is the orangutan. So, off we go. They were adorable. They played peek-a-boo with us and since we know their names from last year, you could hear Layla saying, "Peek-a-boo, Melati."

Meanwhile, Layla tells me she wants to see ducks. Oh, great, yet again, another animal that can easily be seen many places other than the zoo. Not the least of which is the pair of ducks which usually appears in our backyard this time of year. I'm sure they'll show up tomorrow just to make this zoo trip even less needed. However, they are easily spotted at the zoo without walking out of the way, at all.

So, now it was up to me to decide which other part of the zoo we traversed. Oh, wait, not yet, now Peyton wants to see the sharks. So, off we go, but he's scared of them?!?! As he was the peacocks (any and all of them) and this little bird in the rain forest. It was on our path and he was extremely afraid to pass by it. I was tempted (and Daddy would've done it) to jump and scream as he went by to scare him, but that would've ended our great zoo trip too soon.

You want to know if Layla was scared of anything? Of course, she was. The sea lions, just like her brother last year, and the baby chicks, I think just because a friendly zookeeper came to hold them for us and let her pet one - she wanted nothing to do with that.

Finally, I decide to trek through the farm on our way out and you guessed it, we saw the entire zoo except for the kangaroos. But, we had a fabulous morning together. Peyton and Layla listened amazingly well, never ran off and were ready to go before me. I guess there's hope for many more zoo trips yet this summer and they're sure to be warmer.

One of the best parts and best pictures from this trip came at Layla's instigation. It was the most helpful thing to me, as well. When she finally decided to walk and not ride in the stroller she wanted to be holding Peyton's hand. And since he kindly obliged today they were always within my reach. You see, Peyton usually likes to run through the zoo, with me 20 feet behind, saying Peyton stop, come back here, wait...you get the idea. But, since Layla had him under control he was not running and it was much more enjoyable. Again, if that keeps up, we can go to the zoo anytime they want!

It was also fun to hear Peyton tell me about things he's learned at school this year and can connect to the zoo. They've been talking about South America and the rain forest and so he was very interested in the animals around the orangutans. I have a funny feeling that will be the constant on our zoo trips this summer. Also, when we were looking at the wallabies and I pointed out the baby. He immediately said, "It's in her pouch." I have no idea if he remembers that from last year or has learned it this year, but it's always fun to hear him learn.

Then I have to remind myself he's all boy! For the next most interesting thing at the zoo today were each and every one of the animal butts. If he saw anything close to the rear of any animal he was sure to tell me he could see it's butt! Oh, what fun!

The whole way through the zoo I was thinking about what I'm teaching them when I bring them here, about all the animals, their environments, just by the words I use and wishing I had something for them to hold, read, draw, write or connect it to when we leave. So, that's what I'm looking for now - resources to help me help them learn more about everything we see at the zoo instead of just making it a fun place to go run around and once in awhile look at animals and, of course, their butts. Any suggestions?