Lovin' Spring!

Spring has sprung, and I'm loving it! I can't stay outdoors enough. I think we were only inside for about 2 minutes all day Saturday.

I took the kids to the park today, and Grace is quite a little daredevil. She is unaware anything is too big for her.



They love the picnic table I bought them during my Saturday yard sale treasure hunting. We've already had several picnics.

Archie is getting quite good at riding his bike.

We're growing a garden (indoors for now but we hope to transplant soon). Don't you love this ensemble Archie put together? Snow boots?

Friday Fotos

Cat sat, sat, sat: Guess Who's Reading?

Archie's reading! I, of course, am really proud of him!

It started with the alphabet a long time ago. Then, we progressed to phonics games. I started these just after he turned two but gave up shortly thereafter because he wasn't quite ready (of course :)

We re-doubled our efforts as part of my New Year's Resolution to start doing school with Archie.

We made him his very own story book out of construction paper, and he has been learning one sight word a day.

Here's a sample page he can read:

Meanwhile, we were playing phonics games with alphabet blocks, magnetic letters, stickers, etc.

While he was making good progress, this was a ton of work for mom (and not necessarily the most strategic plan) so I bought him the 1998 Hooked on Phonics off Ebay. I love Ebay. Today I did the first two lessons with him. This is the first story (in video). It consisted completely of "at" words. The second story "Dan Ran" was a little more difficult because it combined "at" words with "an" words. He was really proud of himself when he finished.

I think we're good on reading for the day. Next subject this afternoon...Math!

Grace Picture Hodgepodge

There's really no rhyme or reason to this post. I just wanted to share some of my favorite recent Grace pics. Thanks, Aunt Kay, for this cute dress! (Mommy was thrilled for a warm enough day last weekend to take outdoor pictures without a jacket!)

I thought Grace was ridiculously cute the other day when I carried her in from the car asleep. Usually, the movement wakes her up, but she was really out that day. She's pretty funny here surrounded by (clean) laundry.

Grace likes to sit in the corner of her crib, surrounded by her stuffed critters, and read a book to herself until she decides she's sleepy enough to sleep. She is a perfect sleeper so it's fine with me. Usually she just flops over when she's ready, but this afternoon she fell asleep sitting straight up! (I went in later and she had flopped over :)

Grace loves her boots and purse. She feels special wearing them. Never thought an 18 month old would be so particular about her shoes...Can't you see the bliss on her face?

Winterfest Fun with Archie

Last weekend we headed up to Roanoke for some Winterfest Fun. (Winterfest is a free festival at the civic center with free games, food, and ice skating - we weren't brave enough to try that, though.) Grace was there, too, but this day was filled with stuff more aimed at Archie's age.

I was so proud of him for having his photo made with this big polar bear. He camped out around this really cool inflatable I think Archie went through 200 times.

He also made this cool snowman craft out of graham crackers and marshmallows. So easy! I've decided to host a marshamallow snowman making party for my Mom's club :)

Archie does not like to get his hands dirty so he chose a non-conventional way of sampling his treat.

Archie's favorite part was the fire stuff outside. We got to go through this cool fire safety house. The house would fill with fake smoke and then they would put the "fire" out by beaming lasers at it. Archie liked the truck best, though.

Growing with Grandma and Grace!

Grace has really grown since she was the sweet little two-week-old who could barely raise her head to look at Grandma DeJ.

At 17 months, she's already talking up a storm with Grandma.

My personal favorite conversation to have with Grace (while eating)

Grace: (points at food on table) mor-uh, mor-uh

Me: Grace, do you want more?

Grace: Yeah (satisfied grin)

I also enjoy hearing her call any muppet type creature she sees "Elmo"

Grace's First Day of School!

Grace started Mother's Day Out today. After dropping her off and running a quick errand with Hunt, I dropped him off at school and it sunk in. FREEDOM!!! I had freedom. This feeling is a first since Archie was born. Sure, Hunt watches the kids sometimes and grandparents are great when we're visiting, but now I can have freedom in a whole new way. Usually, I save someone-else-watching-the-kids time for something really monumental, but now I can use it for more ordinary tasks such as running to the bank or house-cleaning (or even blogging). Grace's teachers said she had a good first day despite a wipe out during Ring Around the Rosie. (I know, I know - dangerous game.) She's in the same class with Archie, which I think helped with the transition. He didn't even seem to mind having The Gracer tag along. She'll be going on Mondays and Thursdays. Here she is at the school sign, modeling her new outfit from Memaw.

Archie wanted in on the fun.

Archie on his first day of school in September. Grace started much earlier than her brother.