2014 :: week 13

March 23

Lauren loves her babies. Her collection seems to be continually growing as she takes over responsibility for all the dolls and stuffed animals in our house, including Will's. Here she is feeding Baby Addy (in the stroller, names after her cousin Adelaide) and Baby Natalie (high chair) while holding Penguin Baby (which Will received at a doctor visit).

March 24

Will and Lauren were a lot more excited about the snow that fell Monday afternoon than I was.

March 25

We've fallen into he habit of letting the kids watch a show after dinner since it got cold and windy again. Warm and sunny spring can start any time now.

March 26

Wednesday the kids came with me to the gym since Anthony was in Atlanta. Will has gotten much more adventurous in his climbing. Unfortunately, he is much faster going up than coming down and is usually at the highest or least accessible point when I tell him it is time to go.

March 27

I have somehow set a bad example for Lauren, even though the only times I take naps on the couch is in the afternoon. Thursday morning she carried her cereal to the couch, got a blanket and asked for a "show" so she could "sleep." I think the gray skies are getting to her.

March 28

Lauren has started taking her purse places with us. Friday she stashed it with some of her play money. When we got to the grocery check-out she told me, "I pay," fished a coin out of her purse and handed it to the cashier. The cashier was very nice, thanked her, and then handed the coin back to me. Lauren was quite pleased with herself. She also has recently decided to boycott ponytails or hairstyles of any kind, so her crazy hair is her own doing.

March 29

Saturday we road-tripped up to Lincoln to watch the BYU Women's basketball team take on UConn. It was great seeing "Coach Uncle Daniel," (as Will calls him) do his thing. It was an exciting game! After the game we had dinner with Daniel and his parents. Daniel was great with the kids, giving each of them a ride on his shoulders and racing with Will on the way back from Panera.

2014 :: week 12

March 16

My dad made us dinner Sunday evening and he treated the kids to a delicious dessert of mint chocolate chip ice cream afterwards. They were too engrossed in an episode of Dragon Tales to look up for the picture.

March 17

We didn't do a lot to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year. We did venture to a library and make some leprechaun hats. I was surprised at how long they wore them, at least as long as it took me to make them. When we got home Will took his off and Lauren wore his around for most of the afternoon.

 

March 18

I initially ordered Frozen as an Easter present for the kids. But then Tuesday was just one of those days and when the UPS guy dropped the package off I decided we might as well just watch it now. Lauren was in heaven. She loves the music, princesses and Olaf.

March 19

Wednesday we met some friends at the Lenexa Open Gym. After the normal open play hours Funky Mama put on a show. Will had a blast. He got so close that Funky Mama tripped into him, but he told me it was okay, sometimes that happens when you're dancing.

March 20

This picture is our March madness. Basketball on in the background for dayssss.

March 21

Friday my mom took the the kids and I to Wonderscope. The kids were almost as excited to ride in her car as they were to go to the museum. We had a great time! Despite the Spring Break crowds we were still able to spend a few minutes in each room. The kids loved showing Memaw their favorite exhibits.

March 22

It appears yard work will be on our agenda indefinitely for the next several Saturdays. Today we focused on getting the leaves up in our backyard that fell or blew into the yard after Christmas. It is boggles my mind how many leaves our relatively small yard can contain. In other news, I can't wait for these daffodils to bloom.

2014 :: week 11

March 9

Will got a tag pen for his birthday. Lately he has been spending an hour or so in the afternoon reading his books and playing the games. He is getting pretty good with sounding words out and recognizes a few words by site. I should do a better job encouraging and facilitating his reading because he is super interested right now. Any good tips on how to start?

March 10

A women in our ward is holding a Kindermusik class for some of the nursery-aged kids in our ward. She invited Lauren to participate and she had a great time.  She was very pleased that she got to go to a music class and Will did not. Will was pretty jealous.

March 11

Hello, neighbor! Lauren loves playing in her little house on our back porch. She was busy putting things in order while we grilled chicken and vegetables Tuesday night before it started to rain.

March 12

Seasonal allergies have commenced. Unfortunately, I seem to have passed those on to both of my children. Lauren got kicked out of nursery Sunday for her runny nose. It could be a long spring.

March 13

The kids love to swing on the wheel-chair swing at the elementary school playground.

March 14

Friday we had a picnic lunch at the park, TJ took out car to get the headlights fixed and we stocked up on groceries. I didn't take a picture of anything. Luckily Will took some selfies on my phone or the picture-taking streak would have been up.

March 15

We spent most of the ides of March doing yardwork. After dinner we went to the park and let the kids get the rest of their energy out. It's fun to see finally start enjoying the hints of spring.

2014 :: week 10

March 2

Will's musicality has been manifesting itself more than usual lately. Sunday morning he beat the garbage drum while we finished breakfast. The drum isn't really my instrument of choice for the early morning hours, but that doesn't stop Will from having a good time.

March 3

 We watched an episode of Caillou that talked about April Fools. Will though it was hilarious, and insisted that we "April Fools" each other all afternoon. He was very excited for me to open the fridge after he put some of his cars in there and then asked me for a drink.

March 4

Lauren plays really well by herself and loves playing in her room with her various toys, especially her Little People. She uses the other toys to facilitate her play with the people. A few of her Little People are the Disney Princesses and I made the mistake of telling her their names. Now she wants to know the names of all of them and she gets annoyed if I forget the names I made up the day before.

March 5

Lauren and I enjoy the time we have together while Will is at preschool, but she sure is excited to see her "Willy" when school is over.

Just some bedtime shenanigans. 

Will brandishes his broom in many ways. Friday afternoon he was "rocking out" and playing guitar.

March 8

Lauren has been taking the coins from her piggy bank and place each one on an individual brick for awhile. Lately she has been adding puzzles pieces to the mix. She likes to make patterns and gets mad when I try to pick them up.

2014 :: week 9

February 23

Sunday was the first time we saw my dad in a few weeks. He and my mom traveled to Utah to visit Matt & Emily and their new baby Tyler, then he had to travel for work. Sunday afternoon he stopped by for a visit and Will insisted on playing Angry Birds with him. Will is obsessed with Angry Birds right now.

February 24

Even though I took this photo in landscape, when I uploaded it to the blog it appears sideways. I am too tired to figure out the problem, so I apologize for the strange orientation. On Monday we talked about agency and making good choices for FHE. I got the idea online to fill out a blank "Chutes and Ladders" template for our activity. In filling out the game I subconsciously aired some beefs I have with Will right now because "telling mom dinner is gross," "stealing chocolate chips," and "saying bad words," were the choices with the harshest penalties. (Will's bad words of choice are butt and shut up.)

February 25

I feel so lucky that Lauren is over two and still takes a nap each day. I know each kid is different, but Will had stopped taking naps completely by her age and I have been living in fear of the day she stops. We've been debating whether or not to take her pacifier away, but I am scared to mess up the good thing we have going. Taking Will's away was the beginning of the end for him and napping. She does skip naps from time to time, but overall she still sleeps for a good 2 hours every afternoon.

February 26

Will's been on a music kick recently. I don't know if it is the long hours indoors or what, but he is doing something music related all the time. Here he is "rocking out," (his words) on his bass drums.

February 27

Anthony had an incredibly busy workload this week. The perfect storm of work and church related responsibilities hit and kept him busy well into the evening hours every night. I took both kids with me to the gym on Thursday for the first time this year. They love playing in the explorer room after I'm done exercising. When it was time to go Lauren "hid" in that tunnel and forced me to climb up and forcibly remove her. Two year olds have a strange sense of humor.

February 28

Friday I tried to run all my weekend errands before the bad weather hit Saturday. Among my stops was the library where I picked up the March book club read, Cold Comfort Farm.

March 1

Saturday evening as we were finishing up dinner we got word that church will be cancelled for tomorrow. Those darn wintery mixes are getting us again. So we decided to postpone baths until tomorrow morning and have a game night. We played CTR Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land and Let's Go Fishing. Lauren won more than anyone else, proving that those games are not based on skill or attentiveness.

a long post about where we hang our coats

Since the new year we've tackled a few home projects that have been on my to-do list for quite some time.

This is our entryway:

Unfortunately, these things are covered in coats or towels most of the year. It really drives me crazy. I hate that the first thing people see when they come to our house is a pile of  messy coats. And yet I consistently put my coat on the pile with the others so I really had no right to complain. I just stewed on the inside. Then one day I saw this cool idea on pinterest and thought it just might work for us! So nearly two years later we did it!

I don't have a great before shot of our hallway, in fact this photo of the kids with Will's friends is the best one I could find:

The wall between the door to our garage and the half bath and stairs is pretty empty. Basically a thoroughfare. Occasionally I would place laundry baskets or other random items in the corner, but that was about it. We decided we could give it a try and enlisted the help of my dad (and his truck, saws and nail gun). 

A few Saturday's later we had this:
 

 aerial view

filling in the gaps and then sanding them down

 Painting (no picture of this step)

hanging hooks

VOILA!

It's still a work in progress, which is why it has taken me so long to post about it. I want to put some sort of decor on the ledge above the hooks, but haven't figured out quite what yet, so it is still empty. Also, seeing how bright the white looks, I am now even more impatient to paint the rest of the dark trim white.

UPDATE (decor):

And the best for last:

 The view from the front door.

Even though the rest of the house is probably a mess, it is so nice having a cleaner, less cluttered entryway. Thanks to my dad and Anthony for bringing my dream to life!

sledding

I am not a huge fan of winter and snow. Cold and wet get me down I guess. But it hasn't always been that way! I've been trying to figure out what has put me so squarely in the anti-cold camp. My family lived in North Dakota for three years, so my tween winters (at ages 9, 10 and 11) were cold, long and full of snow.  I have a lot of fun memories of playing out in the cold and snow during that time. And in Kansas too, after we moved here, though there was never as much snow. In fact, after we moved here I probably looked forward to snow more than ever before because a lot of snow could mean a snow day. That's probably it. When I was younger snow got me out of doing stuff I didn't want to be doing and gave me an excuse to lounge. Now that I'm a stay-at-home-mom and pretty much do that everyday (haha) I feel restricted by the snow and cold. When it isn't keeping me from getting out it is making the process of getting out a lot more time consuming.

After our last snowstorm I was contemplating how much I used to enjoy sledding and decided that we needed to take Will and Lauren out after work one day.

We trekked to our beloved park because I had seen kids sledding there a few day prior.

Will did a great job of carrying dragging the flying saucer all by himself.

The "hills" weren't nearly as steep as I had thought, but we were still able to get a little bit of speed.

I know, it looks like we are cross-country sledding.

After a trip down with his parents, Will decided he could tackle the hill on his own.

He was quite pleased with himself.

Lauren loved it! She would count "1-2-3-go!" and then before the sled had come to a stop she was already calling to go, "Again! Again!"

It was a fun afternoon. I had forgotten that I like the feeling of having flushed cheeks. Maybe my negativity towards winter can thaw a bit after all?