Another Gushy Post (for good measure)

Man, I am so proud of my girl!

Example one:  We had Amelia's parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago and her teacher could not say enough great things about her.  She told us that she is a caring, compassionate friend who is always doing her best to help those in the class who are upset or angry.  She rubs backs, sings songs, and offers advice to her friends.  She has exploded on her reading and has already learned 40 of the 58 sight words that are TAUGHT in kindergarten.  Her teacher called her "eager to learn"!  And Mrs. H has NO concerns about her starting kindergarten in a few months, even though she will be one of the youngest in her class!  In fact, she told us that we will need to make sure she is being challenged enough once she gets there.

Example two:  I took Amelia to her Kindergarten Assessment at her new school a few weeks ago.  It is a process they use mostly to make sure that the child is ready for kindergarten and not grossly behind.  They ask them to write their name, state their phone number and address, identify shapes, colors, and body parts (including palm!) among other things.  When the teacher brought Amelia back, she said she did a great job.  Amelia told me later that the teacher asked her to read some words on a page and when Amelia did, the teacher said, "Wow!  I have some kids in my class now that can't read those words yet and you already know them!".

Example three:  Much to my despair, the house REALLY needed to be cleaned yesterday--like the works.  Vacuuming, dusting, windows, bathrooms, sheets changed, and on and on and on.  I was unsure how I was going to accomplish this task with two little ones under foot (especially since one HAS to be in the room with me and is terrified by the vacuum).  But, I mentioned to Amelia that I would need to spend the majority of the AM cleaning and she said she would help.  She stripped her own bed, picked out her new sheets and Henry's sheets, picked up endless toys in both her and Henry's room, and dusted everything she could reach in her room, Henry's room,  and our room (including baseboards!).  It was incredible!  I was mostly surprised because she actually did just as good of a job as I would have.  And since I only use a damp microfiber cloth to dust, there was no fear of getting chemicals on her hands or clothes.  Amelia has  a lot of responsibilities around the house already, but I will definitely be adding dusting to the list!

And look!  I was able to pick up a couple of jumpers for kindergarten next year at the Uniform Sale yesterday.  Much to my surprise, she was THRILLED with the attire despite its lack of girliness, shininess, and pinkness.  In fact, she said, "I'm NEVER going to take this off!".  I didn't have the heart to tell her that will be her school attire for the next 9 years or so.....

Built for a Queen

 Another craft we picked up at our pre-cycle break trip to Michael's was a wooden princess castle "puzzle".  I'm not quite sure how the little one talked me into this, but she was pretty passionate about it and I had an extra 40% off coupon to burn, so I caved.  She, of course, wanted to come home and get started immediately, but I was able to hold her off a couple of days claiming it was a Cycle Break Project and, thus, had to be completed on cycle break.

Unbeknownst to me, the kit was 66 steps!  (This was not something advertised on the packaging).  We got through about half of the construction on the first day while Henry napped.  It was a process, but Amelia was so patient (a trait she does NOT get from me) and so excited.  She was actually able to help a lot on the first day because it was mostly like building a puzzle.

The second day of building was a little more frustrating for me.  It involved installing roofs and balconies.  And since Amelia very efficiently popped out all of the pieces, I had a hard time finding what I needed (the individual pieces weren't marked).  But we made it through and I have never seen a little girl so happy over a $3 wooden puzzle!

The first thing she did, of course, was insist the roofs and balconies be removed so that her "Peter Pan people" will in the castle.  (She informed me that this is Peter Pan III and in Peter Pan III, there is a castle). And did I mention that she lost Peter Pan on a recent trip to the doctor?  Hence the green block.

Here's her castle, along with the pirate ship she made awhile back with GG.  She is getting quite the collection of items she has built.  One of these days, I will remember a camera when she attends the Home Depot Kid's Clinic!

And so it was definitely worth every frustrating minute.  And actually, the final product is surprisingly sturdy and well constructed.  And it really is a perfect addition to Amelia's make-believe world.  And I love that she adds color to it as she sees fit.  Come to think of it, I may see if Michael's has any others we can put together....

Pot o' Gold

It's hard to believe, but we are in the midst of Amelia's last cycle break--ever!  Her pre-school has been functioning on a year round schedule, with 9 weeks in school, followed by a 3 week break.  When Amelia returns to school after break, she will begin her final quarter of pre-school.  Wow!

As I mentioned, she usually has 3 weeks off for cycle break, but due to a very snowy winter, she has 3 snow days to make up this cycle.  So, it ended up being more like 2 weeks.  Before break even started, we swung by Michael's to pick up a few craft supplies to keep us busy during break.  (Turns out all three crafts I had in mind were pretty much completed by day 3 of break, but that's another story...).

I found this idea awhile back and thought it was right up Amelia's alley.  I also thought it would be fun for her to pass these out to friends and family.  We ended up making 5 "pots of gold", although we strayed considerably from our original recipient list.

I failed to take a final picture after it was all together, (check out the link above for a visual) but it couldn't have been more simple.  Amelia painted a clay pot with black paint.  Then, when it was dry, she filled it with Easter grass.  Third, she placed pipecleaners of the colors of the rainbow arched in the pot.  Finally, she filled the "pots" with gold (chocolate) coins we picked up at Walgreens.

I think she enjoyed making these, but the real fun came when she got to pass them out!

Finishing the Basement

 I'm not sure if it was the gigantic rocking horse that the kids received from Santa or Henry's birthday extravaganza that seemed to double the number of toys in our home, but something pushed Jason over the edge.  And now, he has decided now is the time to finish the basement. 

Luckily, it seems, he has plenty of help! All of those visits to the Kid's Workshop at Home Depot seem to be paying off!

 (seriously, is this not the funniest picture?)

He is guessing the whole project will take about a year to complete.  In fact, I think he takes pride in going to the hardware store, buying as much wood as will fit in his Toyota Corolla, and doing small sections of framing at a time.  

It will be so nice when its all done and we have the perfect place for that gigantic horse!

Park Tour

 Not too long ago, on one of those days that I couldn't stand to be inside one more minute I came up with an idea to get out, despite the chilly temperatures.

I decided we were going to do a "park tour".  I spent some time talking it up to the kids, packed some snacks, and dressed everyone in layers.  The plan was to visit 3 local parks, each for a different purpose.  And just when it would get too cold to be outside one more minute, we would warm up in the car in route to the next stop.

You may be thinking that with gas prices as high as they are, this is not necessarily a financially wise decision.  But, these parks were all within 5 miles or so of my house and since we weren't spending any money while we were out, I was okay with the extra gas guzzling.

Our first stop was to feed the ducks and geese at a park we often frequent after picking Amelia up from school.  Usually we visit the playground or swim at the pool, but today our stop was all about feeding the birds the leftover bread I have been saving for such an occasion.

 It was sunny, but cold.  Luckily, geese and ducks seemed to appreciate our efforts.  We ended up running into a woman who was picking up trash in the park--something Amelia and I keep talking about doing but never have.  It turns out that the woman sometimes substitutes at Amelia's school and remembered her (as a side note, it is a little strange when someone you do not know greets your child by name).  It was an excellent reminder that we are going to get out and do our fair trash pick up share very soon.

After chatting with the teacher, we were due for a little warm up.  Henry screeched like an angry bird when I put him in the car.  The boy likes being outside for sure.  Then it was on to our next stop.  The plan here was for Amelia to scooter around a little bit while I pushed Henry in the stroller.  I thought we would head to the playground, maybe play a little bit, scooter back to the car and head to park number 3.

Turns out, however, that by the time we reached the playground, the weather was tolerable.  Some may even say, nice.  The kids played and played and played.  Before I knew it, it was time for lunch!

We slowly made our way back to the car, stopping to explore a fallen tree on the way.  This tree has been here for well over a year (maybe longer?) and Amelia simply cannot pass it without climbing on top and walking its length.

Once back at the car, we decided to scrap park #3 in favor of lunch.  It was a fun day that kept us warm and active.  Thank goodness there are so many parks close by, I'm sure we will be repeating this idea the next stir-crazy day that arrives!

Run, Marble, Run

  Amelia was so amazed by the thaumatrope project that she quickly insisted on “another craft!” that evening.  Since I was already on this website, I searched around for something we could throw together with no preparation.

This marble run was perfect!  All we needed was an old cereal box and some marbles.  We had half of that!

Amelia and Jason quickly got to work following the directions carefully.  In no time, the marble run was ready to be tested.  But, alas, we have NO marbles in our house—almost seems like a crime.  And it just so happened that day we had visited an antique mall (Amelia’s idea for a “special treat”) and I was eyeing several mason jars of marbles.  But I failed to make a purchase.

And thus began a search around the house for something marble-like.  Amelia keeps a “nature box” which is really an old shadow box from Jason’s youth.  With it various compartments, it is perfect for storing allllllll those things she manages to find when we are the park (pinecones, acorns, shells, rocks, etc.).  She immediately went for the oblong acorns, which didn’t work too well.  After that, we tried acorns that were more rounded, rocks, and then candy.  Jelly Bellys, jaw breakers, and even Mike and Ikes.  It became an experiment of sorts to see which shape made it down the ramps and which did not. 

Amelia played with it much of the night and was very excited to show Henry the next morning.  He also seemed to enjoy it!  

Eventually, it made its way to the recycling box.  But, something tells me we haven’t seen the last of “Marble” Runs in our house.

Being 'Court'ed

Much of a dream come true for Amelia, she was asked to dress like a princess for a night!  Jason's cousin, Candace, is in high school and was nominated to be on court for her winter dance.  It is tradition at her school to be escorted by a young girl.  And better yet, the court maid and the girl are to be wearing matching dresses!

Luckily, GG (my mom) is somewhat of an expert sewer.  She was able to take a look at a picture of Candace's dress and use a very small fabric sample to whip up a very attractive little number for Miss Amelia.  Thank goodness too!  She had the dress on for all of about 3 hours, so I couldn't have imagined shelling out a hundred dollars or so for a matching dress from a bridal shop.

Amelia got the full treatment that day:  nails polished and hair curled.  She was surprisingly cooperative and actually seemed to like every minute--even when I would accidentally pull her hair.

And...done!  She was so funny when she saw herself all put together in the mirror!

It took about 3.5 seconds to make friends with some of the other princess-y girls in attendance!

Amelia and Candace

There was some crazy elaborate bowing thing Candace had to do to the retiring queen twice while walking in during Coronation.  She was teaching it to Amelia before hand (who I think was more than a little disappointed that she didn't have to bow too).

Thank goodness Candace is so patient with the little one.  She was SO wound up that night and I, myself, was ready to strangle her.

The truth of the matter is, however, that when "go" time came around, she did great! 

And happily enjoyed a treat afterward!

Something tells me we have our work cut out for us!

Thaumatrope, anyone?

  I cannot remember what maze of website ogling brought me to this blog, but I instantly fell in love.  Most of this man’s ideas are super simple and many he even has ready made to print out. The first project I thought we would try was his thaumatrope. Do you remember these from your youth?  There are two separate pictures that are attached to a disk and when twirled quickly, they merge into one image?  Apparently it's due to "persistence of vision".

So, one night after dinner, I told Amelia we were going to do a little magic.  She had earned the privilege of staying up a little later than Henry (a rarity these days now that naps are absent in our house). 

I printed out the two pictures:  a bird and a branch and told Amelia that when we were done, the bird would be on the branch.  She got right to work cutting out the circles and then we attached them to a pencil.

Then, I showed her how, if you move the pencil very fast in your hands, the bird winds up on the branch.  She was SUPER impressed by this mystery and had many ideas as to why this happened.  Unfortunately, my camera couldn’t catch the two images together, but trust me, it was pretty neat!

I will have to search out some other examples of this phenomenon since it was such a hit in our house!

Good Bye Naps

I realize I am pretty lucky to have enjoyed a solid 4 years of naps from Miss Amelia.  I also was lucky enough to have a couple more months of 2-4 naps per week.  But, I am pretty sure my nap luck has run out.  Amelia still has "quiet time" each day but there is definitely no napping taking place.  In fact, I am pretty sure that what she does during that time is the opposite of napping (see above picture).

Florida: Day 8

Well, Day 8 was a bit of a bonus day.  It was supposed to be the day we returned to St. Louis.  However, late the night before (about 11:30 pm), we received a text from Southwest Airlines that our flight for the next day was canceled due to looming weather concerns in St. Louis. This didn't come as much of a surprise considering all we had heard from many friends and family about the supposed storm.  Ice, followed by massive amounts of snowfall was in the forecast. The word "blizzard" was even being thrown around.

So, we whipped out both computers and got to work.  One of us worked on securing a hotel room near the airport via Priceline and the other worked on getting a new flight home.  We had inquired earlier in the day about keeping the house and car another day, but those two things alone were going to cost us $250 for the day.  Yikes!  We lucked out with finding a fair deal on two rooms through priceline and were even able to check in early--like 10:00 AM!

The hotel attendant was so generous too!  She gave us adjoining rooms AND upgraded us to a room with an indoor balcony overlooking all of the goings on of the hotel lobby and dining area.  This was PERFECT for my nosy children who could sit out there all day and people watch.  (I kind of liked it too!).

GG immediately moved a little table out there for Amelia and got her started on a little Valentine's Day card making craft.  That and some coloring kept her busy for almost an hour!

Then, it was off to the pool for a little R&R.  Our last day was the warmest of them all--81 degrees to be exact.  It was perfect! I mean, if we had to get stranded, it was really the best situation to have.  Great weather, heated pool, roomy accommodations. 

Jason and I actually had a conversation about feeling a little bad to be missing out on the extreme weather at home.  The thought of being legitimately snowed in sounded kind of fun and something we had never REALLY experienced before.  Turns out, we weren't missing a single thing because there turned out to only be some ice and a little snow when it was all said and done.

The trip home the next day was pretty uneventful.  Both kids did amazingly well considering we had a pretty long day of traveling.  It was great to be home and back in our own bed!  That being said, I am already dreaming about my next vacation to the House with the Mouse.....

Florida: Day 7

We decided to return to the Magic Kingdom for what was supposed to be our final day in Florida (that's what we call foreshadowing, folks).  This time, we arrived with plenty of time to hula hoop and such before the welcome show started.  The weather that day was the nicest we had had so far, so the crowds were in full effect.

Since we had already been to MK earlier in the week, we thought we would take it slow and just hit a few extras we missed the first time.  I will admit, though, it was a little hard to get out of the must-see-and-do-everything-mode.

Our first stop was Dumbo and both kids loved it. I rode with Henry who was wildly signing "more" on our descent down from the air.  

Although I didn't take a single picture, we met up with some St. Louis friends post-Dumbo ride.  Amelia adores "baby" Elise and it just so happened our Orlando trips overlapped by a few days.  

We had yet to meet the fairies on this trip or last, so we headed that way as soon as they opened and were told the wait was about 30 minutes, but would "probably be less".  Nearly an hour later, Amelia and Jason were finally exiting the Fairy-meeting tent.  Henry had freaked out long before that and he and I had to exit the line early.  The grandparents were smart enough to ditch the line early on and go ride Space Mountain instead.  Nevertheless, Amelia loved meeting Tinkerbell and her friends.  She excitedly told Tinkerbell that Wendy was her favorite character.  (In case you are out of the loop, Tinkerbell doesn't like Wendy).  She got a kick out of upsetting Tinkerbell and still talks about it all of the time.

The race car ride was another adventure that got skipped on our first MK day, so Jason and Amelia sucked it up and waited almost the full 30 minute wait time so she could become a driver for a day (or 5 minutes, really).  This time she could at least see over the dashboard.  Last trip she wasn't so lucky!

Amelia picked up a whole pack of Disney Playhouse tattoos from somewhere on our trip.  So, on our last day, we were each sporting one of the character tattoos.  Unfortunately, we don't have the Disney Channel, so no I really didn't know who any of the people were.  Henry was assigned the character "Cubby".  I thought he wore the tattoo well.

We left the park shortly after lunch.  It got really crowded, really fast.  I'm not really great in a crowd and my dad is even worse.  Besides, we had hit all the things we missed the first day there and even rode several again like the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain RR, and Small World.  The kids were wiped and the adults too!  It was naps all around and then all the Wards (minus Henry) returned for the evening show. 

Man, I thought Magic Kingdom was magical during the day, but the night was pretty incredible too.  There is something about that castle and all the different lighting effects they do with it during the show!  Wow!

The parade was pretty incredible too.  We didn't do the nighttime events last trip.  I'm so glad we did this time because Amelia thought it was wonderful and so did we!

And, of course, the fireworks!  But the best part for me was watching Tinkerbell fly from the tippy top of the castle.  If you don't know what I am talking about, you can find videos online.  I did not get a single picture because I was in awe of the whole thing and apparently didn't realize I was holding a camera. 

It was a great end to a great run at Disney parks.  What a magical place!