In honor of D, though, here are some of my favorite pictures of him when he was little:
And one more for Danielle:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
D's slide show
So I got a whole load of old pictures from D's mom so I could put together a slideshow of his life to date. I finally finished and I love it. It's fun to watch it. :) I wish I could post it on here, but it's WAY too huge. It's 48 minutes long, with music, so there's no way that will work.
In honor of D, though, here are some of my favorite pictures of him when he was little:
And one more for Danielle:
In honor of D, though, here are some of my favorite pictures of him when he was little:
And one more for Danielle:
Thursday, March 18, 2010
One more ballet picture
Scroll down for the rest of the dance/birthday pictures, but I just had to add this one from a few weeks ago. I love it. :)
Oodles and scoodles and piles o' pictures
Here are lots of pictures from Ballet/Tap Parent Observation Week and K's 4th birthday! :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Phases of Life
I like where our family is right now. E & K are getting much more independent, our schedules are getting a bit busier, so days are more interesting, and I'm starting to think about what kind of work I'll go back to once K is in school full time.
And I'm getting frequent glimpses into what the girls will become. For example, I sometimes forget what a typical 'first child' E is. She is such a mini mommy sometimes.
For example, this morning, E didn't have school. So I slept in until 8:30. When I came downstairs, she had poured three bowls of cereal (with milk), and two glasses of orange juice (she knows I don't drink it), then put them back in the refrigerator. She had climbed to the top of the pantry to get the cereal down and even put it back in the right place. After that, she climbed on the counter and reached to the top of the cabinet and pulled down the two vitamins she and K have. She read the directions on the top of the bottle so she could open them (child safety) and actually got it. She got the right amount out for her and K and put them back.
She thought she still had school today, so she got dressed after breakfast, then came up to tell me her bus would be here soon.
It was downright funny, because she acted like a kid who's been doing that for years. I promise: I DO take care of my kids. :)
She's also toughening up a lot, both mentally and physically. She's really growing up well this year. She used to be scared of everything, but we've worked really hard with her on trying things she's scared of. She fell HARD at the park yesterday twice, but after crying (she really did get bumped hard), she got up, dusted herself off, and kept playing. In gymnastics, she got up on high beam last week and tried a cartwheel. And she got really close to getting it. Just a few months ago, she would be terrified at the thought of doing that. So my tiny five-year-old is learning an amazing lesson of conquering fear, which is so awesome. She's also really exerting her will lately. No tantrums in a few weeks (knock on wood), but clearly stating what she wants. I love that.
K is developing a STRONG personality. She's going to be feisty. Who am I kidding, she IS feisty. She will provoke E non-stop. She's going through a major whining phase right now, but I keep telling myself that it's temporary as long as we don't encourage it. I know that beneath the whining, she's a really smart, funny, loving little girl.
She's reading pretty well now, and knows most of E's list of sight words from kindergarten. She still hates the word 'look' because "Mommy!! It has TWO O'S, so it's ooooo!!! It's looook!!!" She knows she cracks me up when she fights me on it. She fights me on 'when', too. When I tell her to ignore the 'h' she gets really mad and says "But it's there! I don't want to ignore it!!"
It may sound like I'm just bragging about my kids, but I just really like the phase of life we're in right now. There are days I want to pull out my hair because the girls fight constantly, and days I second guess every decision I've ever made. But then there are days when I feel like I've done something right because I see my kids making smart decisions. There are days that E & K will both come out of gymnastics or ballet after goofing off and not trying the entire time and I swear I will take them out of the class the following day. And there are days that they come out so proud of themselves because they learned something new.
It's got its highs and lows, but overall it's a really nice phase right now. Or maybe that's just spring fever talking...
And I'm getting frequent glimpses into what the girls will become. For example, I sometimes forget what a typical 'first child' E is. She is such a mini mommy sometimes.
For example, this morning, E didn't have school. So I slept in until 8:30. When I came downstairs, she had poured three bowls of cereal (with milk), and two glasses of orange juice (she knows I don't drink it), then put them back in the refrigerator. She had climbed to the top of the pantry to get the cereal down and even put it back in the right place. After that, she climbed on the counter and reached to the top of the cabinet and pulled down the two vitamins she and K have. She read the directions on the top of the bottle so she could open them (child safety) and actually got it. She got the right amount out for her and K and put them back.
She thought she still had school today, so she got dressed after breakfast, then came up to tell me her bus would be here soon.
It was downright funny, because she acted like a kid who's been doing that for years. I promise: I DO take care of my kids. :)
She's also toughening up a lot, both mentally and physically. She's really growing up well this year. She used to be scared of everything, but we've worked really hard with her on trying things she's scared of. She fell HARD at the park yesterday twice, but after crying (she really did get bumped hard), she got up, dusted herself off, and kept playing. In gymnastics, she got up on high beam last week and tried a cartwheel. And she got really close to getting it. Just a few months ago, she would be terrified at the thought of doing that. So my tiny five-year-old is learning an amazing lesson of conquering fear, which is so awesome. She's also really exerting her will lately. No tantrums in a few weeks (knock on wood), but clearly stating what she wants. I love that.
K is developing a STRONG personality. She's going to be feisty. Who am I kidding, she IS feisty. She will provoke E non-stop. She's going through a major whining phase right now, but I keep telling myself that it's temporary as long as we don't encourage it. I know that beneath the whining, she's a really smart, funny, loving little girl.
She's reading pretty well now, and knows most of E's list of sight words from kindergarten. She still hates the word 'look' because "Mommy!! It has TWO O'S, so it's ooooo!!! It's looook!!!" She knows she cracks me up when she fights me on it. She fights me on 'when', too. When I tell her to ignore the 'h' she gets really mad and says "But it's there! I don't want to ignore it!!"
It may sound like I'm just bragging about my kids, but I just really like the phase of life we're in right now. There are days I want to pull out my hair because the girls fight constantly, and days I second guess every decision I've ever made. But then there are days when I feel like I've done something right because I see my kids making smart decisions. There are days that E & K will both come out of gymnastics or ballet after goofing off and not trying the entire time and I swear I will take them out of the class the following day. And there are days that they come out so proud of themselves because they learned something new.
It's got its highs and lows, but overall it's a really nice phase right now. Or maybe that's just spring fever talking...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tantrums
So I'm getting an interesting perspective on E's meltdowns. Though she's acting moody and grumpy, I'm not letting her get to me. It's almost like she WANTS to have a meltdown. One little issue that set her off is now poisoning everything for her.
It started when she wanted me to watch her try something. She couldn't do it, so she got grumpy. Really really grumpy. I told her I'd be happy to watch her when her attitude got better. From then on, everything has gotten her mad. She's being
Okay, this was saved as a draft, so I have no idea where that sentence was going. E's bad mood was diffused in the car on the way to ballet when a song she loved was on the radio. Pretty simple solution this time. (sigh)
It started when she wanted me to watch her try something. She couldn't do it, so she got grumpy. Really really grumpy. I told her I'd be happy to watch her when her attitude got better. From then on, everything has gotten her mad. She's being
Okay, this was saved as a draft, so I have no idea where that sentence was going. E's bad mood was diffused in the car on the way to ballet when a song she loved was on the radio. Pretty simple solution this time. (sigh)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Blog Hijack
I'm hijacking this blog to say that I'm really looking forward to a weekend with no commitments to just spend with Carrie and the girls...maybe the dog, but I'm not sure. Mid 40's temperatures won't hurt either. Ahhhhh, 2 days, no commitments, Sheeran Family Time!
Denis (husband, father, pet owner...)
Denis (husband, father, pet owner...)
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