more school days

 Emily loves helping Dallas

 A princess picture to me from Emily

 writing the alphabet

This is the first time Dallas has ever wrote his name, it was his idea.  He is so different from Emily in the learning process.  At four Emily was writing well.  I know can be a ton different with boys, and their fine motor skills don't develop as early as girls.  Even our piano teacher recommends that most boys are not able to begin lessons until age 9 or 10.  Needless to say, I am super proud of this little piece of paper.  We have only focused on the letters in his name, I though it would be motivating for him to be able to write a word.

Red Flannel Run

My sister Lynne talked me into running this 5k with her.  She is wanting to run a 5k a month this year, I imagine I will be tagging around for several of them, because she makes them so much fun!

 

 

 My awesome sister and I pre race, 16 degrees!

 I am run-ning (use Forrest Gump voice)

 Self portriat, post race

 I took some pics along the way.  I have never been this close to this Chinese monument thing.  Still not sure what it is.  Looks like it might be able to float out on the river?

 Fun, artsy pedestrian bridge that straddles the Des Moines River

Post race.  We both had really good times considering the weather and how bundled we were.  Now to improve!

My Valentine

I still need to post the kids Valentine's.  Dallas and Noelle had super cute Car's tattoo cards, and Emily made some homemade hearts and attached a flower ring to them, both ridiculously easy. 

 

 Emily was invited to three parties V week.  We made these cookies to take to one party.

 My Valentine brought me these.  He is so good, he always has to pre-order white tulips (from our wedding), he knows I don't think highly of red roses.

He also knows my most favorite dessert in the whole of Ames is apple pie from the Dutch Oven Bakery.  Love him!

Sunbathing

Last week we spent a couple of the sunny days soaking in the Vitamin D.  Sunglasses, pillows, kids, and even the tulips are getting in on the action.

Schooling

I don't usually take a lot of pictures when we are at Classical Conversations, mostly because it is hard to get pics of just Emily and I don't want to invade some others privacy by posting their kid on the internet.  These particular projects were pretty fun.

 

 We learned about the artist Michelangelo and how he painted the Sistine Chapel while lying on his back for four years!  We rigged up a way for them to experience art while on their back.  We were not brave enough to let them use paint, as we ahve to clean up after them and we didn't have a drop cloth.  Markers it was!

 We also learned about natural bridges, and how they are made and supported.  The kids built a faux natural bridge using encyclopedia books.  It supports Emily!

space saver

I did this today and it is a game changer!  I stole the idea from my friend Katie, when we were staying at their house over Labor Day weekend.   I saw she had all the boys puzzles in bags. 

It took me about 4 months to remember to buy quart size bags at the grocery store, and then another couple of months to sit down and knock this project out.  I cut the front of the puzzle box off and stuffed all the pieces into the bag.  I did about 10 puzzles in five miutes.  It saves so much space.  I only did the smaller puzzles.  I am considering working on the 100 piece puzzles next. 

Feb 28th

Last day of February post.  We had 5:00 pm snow flurries, after a 12 hour break of snow, from our random 24 hours of snow!  We spent the day on piano lessons (recital on Sunday), moving furniture back, reaarranging toys, and being silly.

 

 Emily has som daisy flower sprouts.  She painted this pot and recieved the seeds at a birthday party.

 Emily created this car out of playdough.  I think it looks like a camper van with those curtains in the window.

 Our tulips are coming right along.  They have probably been missing the sunshine this week.

 Singing a song for me

 Putting a puzzle together

Popcicles for dessert

Piano practice-a-thon

Last call for donating money for Emily's practice-a-thon.  We need to turn in the money at the end of the week.

1.  our dear son has stopped sleeping at night, again
2.  Rob and I are unkind to each other (on accident) in the middle of the night when dealing with #1, non-sleeping, wailing, night terroring dear son. 
3.  we need a better game plan, or to remember previously decided on game plan when sleep deprived and woken from sleep in the middle of the nigt
4.  the sun is out today
5.  I love having a Southern facing house
6.  The tulips have sprouted in our pots
7.  I might be sunbathing with them
8.  Valentines is this week
9.  Emily has already recived a crazy number of the cutest, pinterested up cards/treats
10.  I am so thankful for our extra classes and activities that allow my kids to celebrate a fun holiday like this, it would be one of the sad things about not having them attend a "school" to miss out
11. Emily and Dallas were so proud to hand out their cards.  I did sign Noelle's name to Dallas as well!
12.  Dallas is riding Em's bike in the basement rather well, and he looks so big on it. 
13.  He says he is never taking "those" wheels off of it. 
14.  They both need to learn how to ride this Spring, we will need another bike!
15.  I saw Skyfall on Sunday night at the theater, so good, glad I didn't wait to rent
16.  Our Jr Mints were stale, the goo in the middle was not goo!  #disapointed
17.  pot roast does not smell as good cooking all day when you are around all day to smell it
18.  yesterday I had 32 consecutive double-unders in a row, big record for me.  then I tripped
19.  my favorite jump rope is broken
20.  our read out loud this week is Ralph and the Motorcycle

Randoms

I implemented a reward system for the family today, and another specific one for Dallas.  Lesson learned today.  Dallas does not care about any reward, and Emily does to the point she will do anything and everything to get Dallas to listen, help, be compliant... the list could go on and on.  I feel like this will only stress her out!

We made Weelicious Graham crackers for snack today. http://weelicious.com/2010/09/01/graham-crackers/  They are super tastey, easy to make - especially if you make your kids do the work of cutting them out, and they are made from simple ingredients I usually have around. 

Rob and I are back to working out almost daily again, this sure ups my laundry mess.  Especially when we run outside = extra layers of clothes.

Dallas has been sleeping so much better!  I think I have our whole church praying for him to sleep through the night.  The crazy thing is he is sleeping on the floor on a quilt tucked under 4+ blankets, with his head next to a humidifier.  This humidifier is special!  Rob calls it the "emilyfier", he jokes that it whispers "emily, emily" as it churns out water.  So we did what any sane parents would do, we ordered two more humidifers from Amazon! 
I guess Rob slept like this for many years growing up, so we shouldn't be so surprised.


Emily started her practice-a-thon today, she has already logged 20 minutes, and recieved her first donation in the mail.

Noelle has the best imagination.  She has imaginare "boobees" (not what you are thinking!)  She eats the boobee's, feeds them, cuts them up, tucks them in, you name it she does it.  When I go get her out of the crib in the morning she has quite a lot to see to me.
"momma, I not sick, I don't feel good, but I didn't throw up here.  I stand over here and toot.  My mermaid needs a drink, water not milk, (she then walks to the back of the crib and makes a shhh sound), feeds mermaid the water."  "change my diaper momma, I pee three times, not poop"

 Our windows are ready for Valentine's Day

I found this after being upstairs for five minutes.  Emily was at a playdate so Dallas and Noelle conjured this up.  Five boxes/bins stacked near the fridge???


Edited to Add: Dallas slept horribley last night! 

best deal in town

Valentino's our local pizza joint has a kids eat free promotion every Tuesday.  If you go Tuesday evenings the kids also get to prepare their own pizza, the (y bake it and you take it home.  Can you say Wahoo, I don't have to make lunch.  This particular night they had Princess Lucinda painting faces.  How could we pass this up? 

 

 Noelle had a rather stunning, one-eyed butterfly

 Lighting' McQueen

he kept saying Kachow'

This little lady requested a dolphin, this particular desgin combination was a first for Princess Lucinda

 

Valentino's is a pretty good deal most days of the week if you have small kids.  They charge a $.60/yr you kid is for the buffet.

Emily's Valentine Piano Practice-a-thon

Dear Family and Friends,

I’m participating in the “Sibbel Studio Valentine’s Week Practice-a-thon” to raise money for the Emergency Residence Project (ERP) in Ames, Iowa.

 We hope to raise $3,000.00 to help children and families have a warm, safe home for the winter.

 The Emergency Residence Project seeks to provide shelter with meals, referrals and, if possible, intervention to prevent homelessness.  Last year, ERP’s Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Homeless Prevention programs helped 2,372 people, housing an average of 45 individuals a night, about ½ of whom were children.  For more information, go to: http://www.amesshelter.org/erp/.

 I will try to practice­­­ 100 minutes or more during a seven-day period between February 7 and 14, 2013, and will be very grateful if you sponsor me, either with a pledge for each practice minute or a donation of any amount.  I usually average 75 minutes per week.

 All contributions are tax deductible, and 100% of your gift goes directly to assisting a family in need.

 Please write your check directly to Emergency Residence Project and send it to me if you want to claim your gift as a tax deduction.  You can also send cash or a check to my parents and they can write a check to Emergency Residence Project. 

 Thank you so much for considering sponsering me! 

 

-Emily