Monday, March 23, 2009

Never a Dull moment

Well, Spring Break has come and gone. We had a nice relaxing week with lots of outside time. It was so nice to get to the parks, take some walks, go for ice cream, etc. It just makes me want summer to be here even sooner. By Monday, though, it seemed that maybe things around here had become a little too relaxed. We had lots of whiners here....there seemed to be too much screaming...too much running, and too many "accidental" pen marks somehow "appearing" on the kitchen table and the laundry room door. The missing ( or possibly swallowed) small ear on the blue wooden elephant instrument might have been the last straw. Hmmm... by Monday morning, it seemed it was time for a refresher course in our house rules. So here's what Sophia and I came up with:



Okay....so it really wasn't all work and no play today....We did have some fun creating a Dr. Seuss hat in honor of his birthday this month. Sophia is studying the letter " d" this week and is having a hat day at school this week in honor of this great author. We had fun making the tall hat....but oops....I don't think I made it big enough...b/c it kept falling off of Sophia's head. Sophia decided it was better suited for Itty.



Though she was following one of our newly written house rules (Sharing)....it probably wasn't such a great idea for Sophia to "share" her hat with Joseph.... OOPS!


Speaking of rules....Joseph scored an A in the area of table manners today. This is a MOMENTOUS occasion at our house. He actually ate about 80% of his lunch today with only minimal spitting out! He ate parts of a hot dog...and actually may have......LIKED it! YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Here is how he smiles when his mama is SOOOOOOO proud of him!


And last but not least...here is what our children always look like after dinner....peacefully and quietly reading to themselves...
no running around, no climbing on the dishwasher, no dragging the vaccuum attachment, no scooting the chairs around! Ha, ha! Well, this is really what it looked like after dinner tonight....even if it was just ONE night. Maybe that course in house rules made all of the difference.



Is this peaceful end to the day an indicator of how the rest of the week will fare? I have a feeling it may not be so peaceful come Wednesday....Sophia is scheduled for trip #2 to the dentist....This week's appointment: impressions for the palate extender.
PS. When I said good-night to Sophia....she requested that I check in her closet, the guest room and Joseph's room to be sure that Grizzle and "Jello-Girl" were nowhere to be found. Oh my....I guess I"ll have to save this story for another day!



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Toes and Curls, Boys and Girls!

The past few weeks have seemed pretty ordinary. Thankfully, everyone has been relatively healthy and we've been able to enjoy getting back into the groove of our regular routine. But when I looked through my camera pics, I realized that our last few weeks have not been "ordinary" at all! Sophia and Joseph grow up more each day...and sometimes even I don't recognize the "extra" ordinary events till I look back! Joseph is becoming much more "communicative" (though not with words :)) each and every day. He points to a lot of things, drags me to places around the house where "accidents" have occurred and points them out (i.e., window sills where little hands have been a little too curious and pulled out the window levers), and points to food that has maybe not so accidentally fallen to the floor. He is also very much into waving to cars and people especially when we take big sister to preschool. He continues to be the loving little guy he has been since day one. He has always loved to hug us...but now he loves to hug Willie too!


It's fun to watch him play with his toys and scoot them around the house. Of course running and playing peek a boo and hide and seek are also some of this favorites!




It's fun to watch him learn new things, but even more fun to see the physical changes as he grows. Of course he will always be my baby, but even his little feet seem to be getting bigger. I LOVE his toes and he loves to take his socks off so I can tickle those toes! But even more exciting than this.....I am THRILLED that he has curls! Yes, really....not just waves, but real curls in the back of his head! Maybe one of my children will have curls afterall!




In looking through my latest pictures, I have learned that boys will be boys! It's hilarious how many pictures I have of Sophia sitting down quite content coloring, reading, watching, etc. Capturing Joseph is a bit more difficult. He is ALWAYS on the move...and sometimes gets himself into the silliest positions! Maybe you can see what I mean in these pics.





Well, I did find ONE picture of Joseph sitting....but it wasn't actually me who took the picture. Can you guess who snapped this shot??

Monday, March 2, 2009

My Glamour Girl

As if we needed another pair of sunglasses around here! Sophia probably has a pair for every outfit....and even finds some that she thinks "work" on Joseph too (only the blue ones of course!). Anyhow....I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy these princess ones at Target today for her! They even have diamonds on them and of course....they are every bit PINK! She was soooo excited about them that we had to go to the customer service desk before leaving so we could have them cut off the tag. We couldn't possibly leave the store wearing her "old" sunglasses, right???

When I woke her from her nap, this is how I found her!


Sunday, March 1, 2009

Last Winter Wonderland??















Pretty ironic that our biggest snowfall came on the last day of February! Sophia finally got to wear her new snowsuit and use her new sled! Although I am definitely glad that spring is around the corner (I hope), I was glad that Sophia got to have fun with these things before next year! She made a pretty cute snowman (thanks to Daddy for rolling the big balls of snow) on Saturday, and was able to do a little bit of sledding with me the next morning. We found a great hill by our swimming pool in the neighborhood! She also thought it was pretty cool that she could play on the park equipment in the middle of winter. Of course not for too long....mommy's hands were REALLY cold!!! BRRRRRRRRRRRR

Although Joseph didn't play in the snow, he made his own fun inside this weekend! Playing in Willie's water bowl and "helping" Willie eat seems to be a favorite past time for him these days. I was "trying" to feed Willie Saturday night, and thought it was pretty funny that Joseph kept picking up pieces of Willie's food and bringing them to me in the kitchen. When I went back to Willie's bowls to put down a fresh bowl of water... I noticed Joseph had given Willie his water cup in the spot where Willie's water bowl normally goes! Fitting.... I guess he thought he could share his water with his puppy! I thought it was so cute that I of course ran to get the camera....and when I went back to filling up the water bowl, didn't notice that Joseph was up to more mischief. Before I knew it....he was carrying in Willie's ceramic food bowl into the kitchen. It was as if he were telling me that Willie was all done and I needed to clean it. Of course he didn't quite make it to the sink...he dropped it and it broke in many pieces. Well....there had been a crack in Willie's food bowl for quite some time.....so I guess Willie got the good end of the deal...brand new "crack-free" doggie bowls!

And I couldn't resist snapping a few pics of my cuties sporting one of Sophia's many pairs of sunglasses!

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