Phonics Rule!!

Aidan recently started Jolly Phonics in school and since then, he's taken a great interest in learning how to write words. I am so excited. He's never really been very interested. Next stop...reading!!!
Anyway, on Saturday, he sat down with a pencil and paper and said he was going to do some writing. He asked for my assistance, but I said I would only help him break down the words into sounds, because its better for him to learn on his own.
Here's what he wrote:
I lv u.
I lv mom.
skol (school)
tres (trees)
dg (dog)
kt (cat)
kfe (coffee)
fsh (fish)
snak (snake)
zbra (zebra)

How awesome!!

Since then, he's been writing all weekend. I took advantage of it and dusted off a workbook I had and had him work on writing some numbers, as well.

Quest for a new toy...

Humor me.
I am on a mission to prove that I deserve and will utilize a good camera. I want a DSLR. Bad. So I've been playing with ours to try and prove myself to C.

.

And they're off...

Twice a week, for 2.5 hours, all 3 of my kids are in school. Wow. That's just so weird.
I can't believe that my babies are in preschool. It seems like just yesterday, they were these tiny little 3 pound babies that were smaller than my boobs!

1 year old!

and then they were 2!

One Down, Two To Go...

My baby went back to school today. What a long day for him. It surprises me that they have them go for only 2.5 hrs their first year, but then year two.....WHAM! 7 long hours. That's a big adjustment. He did really well, though.
We started our morning off with a very talkative Aidan. So excited, telling us how excited he was. He had his breakfast of choice: scrambled eggs and toast, and chose what he wanted for his first school lunch (turkey on a bagel, tomatoes, grapes, applesauce, water. I stuck some whole grain cheetos in there as a treat, but surprisingly, they came home. I guess the lunch was a wee bit big for a small boy.) He was excited and chatty his whole way to school and then we got on the playground and he clammed up. I don't blame him. We got to follow them into class and sit down on the rug and hear a story called The Kissing Hand.
He seemed AOK when it was time to leave. A little reserved, but good.
It was so weird to not have to race back at 11:10 to pick him up. And even more strange to have complete silence at naptime and no one to talk to or play with.
We went back at 3:20 to pick him up and he was so excited to see us and even offered up information about his day: they had PE and Art. They took a tour of the school to see the rooms where specials are and the cafeteria. They had a snack and he didn't eat it. There was a classmate who "made some bad choices and spent a lot of time in the office." Funny how that sticks out. And he also told me about all the rules and about how they have a counting rhyme to tell you how long you get at the water fountain when you get a drink.
We ended the day with a celebration dinner - outdoor dining at a local Mexican place. Yum.
He's excited for tomorrow, so it must have been as good as he's saying.

Ahh...the sweet sounds of school....

Tonight we had Aidan's meet-the-teacher/classroom orientation gig. His teacher is brand-spankin-new to the school, so I do have to say I was a tad apprehensive, but not anymore. She seems very nice (and young!), but she was so very uber organized. His classroom looks like a lot of fun. Its hard to imagine him in school all day - 8:30-3:20! That's a long day! He's so excited to use his new school bag and lunch bag and his special insulated thermos that we picked out --he was over the moon when I explained how it keeps milk & water cold, but will also keep spaghetti or soup hot.
I was happy to find out that we'll be able to come to his classroom on the 1st day and see him off. But after that, no dice. Which is ok.
And looking at his schedule, they have all these fun things: PE 3x/wk, art & music & library all 2x/wk.
Its all so exciting! It seems like he born just yesterday . How can this be?!?!

Diva

There is no word to describe her better. I love my girl to pieces and I suspect she gets a bit of her temprament from her mama and I hope that some of the things I see as negatives now, end up being positive things down the line. Her whining that never ever ends because she won't give in? Hopefully that just means that she will stick to something and has drive. Right?
I do worry about her and school, though. If the teacher tells her no, will she pull what she does at home and whine until I pick her up, being a little brat for the rest of the morning?

Little Fisherman

Aidan loves to go fishing with his Papa and anyone else who will join them. Earlier this summer, they went and he actually caught 13 fish!* He's still talking about it with great pride in his voice.



*Take note that he will not touch bait or the fish. He's terrified of them.

So last weekend, he was obsessed with sitting in Papa's little fishing boat and "rowing" it. He's never been in it...they always fish in the pontoon boat. We decided to let grandpa take him for a little spin in it. He was all smiles when they left the pier, but you can see his death grip on the seat.

My Little Fishes

These 2 are going to start private swim lessons next week. The lessons go for 15 weeks, 1x/wk. I bet that by the end, they are swimming 2-3 feet on their own. They are fearless little fish!

adoration

Ain't love grand?

Daddy's Little Helper

Can he fix it?

Yes he can!

The end of t-ball season

It was amazing to see how far Aidan came over the course of the t-ball season. His running, however, still needs quite a bit of work. You'd think that, of all things, would come naturally. Apparently not.

Tiny Dancer

Summer is just about over. Aidan has finished t-ball. Summer playground is over. Elliott completed swim lessons. And Norah finished dance and had her "recital". I was so proud of her and she was so cute. She may not listen at home all that often, but she paid attention in class. My big girl.

She enjoyed it so much that we've decided to continue with dance this fall/winter. She's going to be taking a real ballet/tap class. She is so stinkin' excited about her "new dance class"!

Here are a few photos of my ballerina

stretching before dancingVideo. First one is the dance they learned. Second is some of the moves they practiced over the summer.
[url=http://www.dropshots.com/KarriT#date/2007-08-14/18:00:20][img]http://media2.dropshots.com/photos/9665/20070814/180020.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.dropshots.com/KarriT#date/2007-08-14/17:55:13][img]http://media1.dropshots.com/photos/9665/20070814/175513.jpg[/img][/url]

Summer Fun!

Well I've been quite the slacker.

We've had a busy few weeks, filled with fun things like camping at Devils Lake (ok, maybe that wasn't quite as fun as we had hoped, especially since daddy thought it was ok to let them play with the campfire. But we won't go there), a weekend trip "up north" (as we say in WI) with some friends, a day trip to Bay Beach Amusement Park, and another day trip to the Shedd Aquarium. Busy Busy Busy!! But lots of fun before the school year starts!

Here are a few photos....
What camping is all about - swimming
building sandcastles -


and eating s'mores-

My daughter is fearless when it comes to water.
















Enjoying some rides at the amusement park.

Ride On!

Oh. My. God.
He did it. On his first try when we got to the park. He didn't fall once at all! And he even knows how to brake slowly and stop without falling.

GO AIDAN!!!!!!!!!

Getting Girly!

Norah asked me to paint her toes and fingernails today! This is huge. I think I've asked her if I could do this every week for a year now and she's shrieked in horror. So for her to ask for it....wow!

Growing Up...

Aidan is growing up so fast and learning so much from school. Especially recently, it seems like he's really picking up on things. He's starting to spell some words on his own and be able to write them without asking how they are spelled, like zoo, mommy, daddy, flower, and some of the easier (to spell) months of the year. Granted, its pretty much rote memorization and its not like he's phonetically figuring out words, but still...its so much more than what he was doing two months ago, which was nothing.

His drawings are really impressive (to me, at least), as well. He's starting to add so much detail and they're becoming much more refined. So very cool.

Here are two recent ones....

A drawing of a sunflower, tulips, and daisies growing in soil.




















The May calendar


Norah and Elliott. What can I say about them. They will turn me grey, if that is even possible. When I take them to their little kids' club and pick them up later, I am always told that Norah is the one who bosses Elliott around, who takes his toys away, and who is quite mean to him. However, at home, its a whole different story. He provokes her, he teases her, and he does whatever he can to make her mad. And he knows what will make her mad. And when I tell him to stop, he flashes me this cute little smile. He is going to be trouble. I hate to peg him this early, but I can feel it. He's going to be a handful as he gets older.
As much as they fight, they love each other to death.

Long time, no update

Potty training is in full force here. Its certainly not fun, but I guess they can't be in diapers forever. Norah's actually doing fabulous on the pee front. She is managing to stay dry all day. Its just the poop issues we have to worry about. And poop issues she has. Holy cow. We need to break her of her holding it in behavior. It involves multiple laxitives, enemas, and visits to the children's hospital gastroenterology clinic. Good times.
Elliott is doing pretty good, too. He did pee himself today and just kept playing...never came in to tell me. I will chalk that up to being busy. I hope.

Aidan will be out of school after 6/15. I am kind of scared of what the summer holds. He tends to be, um, sassy, bossy, naughty, etc, when bored. So its up to me to keep him busy, but still have a fun summer. He'll be in a summer playground thing every M-W for 2 hours in the morning, all summer long. He's got t-ball at night. And he's taking 2 1-day zoo classes and a 1 day gymnastics camp. Norah is in dance (night) and is in the gymnastics camp, as well. And Elliott is also in the gym camp, and is doing swim lessons at night. Between all of that and playgroups, the park, and pools, and a few summer festivals, I hope we'll have fun.

Speaking of festivals, last weekend, we walked down to a small festival. En route, I looked down and saw that Norah and Elliott were holding hands between the strollers. How sweet is that?

he says the cutest things

we were in the car and the song, 'personal jesus' was on the radio and elliott said to me, "oooh, mom, i really like this song."

later on (same car ride), he said, "my eyes keep falling down." tee heee

Picasso in Training

Norah loves to color. She will spend a large chunk of her day coloring. However, the past two days, she's decided to try out her crayons and markers on other mediums....wood, vinyl, cotton. It hasn't gone over very well in this house. Yet, it hasn't stopped her from doing it again.
Her butt has been seeing a lot of the time out chair lately.

Misc Babble

Elliott pooped on the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was Saturday night and he did it unprompted. Of course, he hasn't done it again since then, but I hope its a start of something. He really wants to wear his Lightning McQueen and Spidey underpants, so we'll see.

When I ask Norah if she wants to poop on the potty too, she answers with a, "not meeee." as if she's telling me she doesn't want butter on her toast or waffles for breakfast.

Right now, Norah's really into identifying boys/girls and the whole brother-sister relationship. She often tells me, "2 girls, mommy. 1, 2", pointing to herself and me. And then, "3 boys. 2 brothers. 1, 2." Sometimes she'll tell me I am her sister, but usually she says she's a little sister and a little girl. Very cute.