Yard Time

This sign may look a little strange to you.  That is because I (probably unnecessarily) went all crazy and blurred most of it out.  One day while Amelia was supposed to be napping, she came barging into my room and said, "Mom! Someone just drove up, stuck a sign in our yard, and drove away!".  I was pretty miffed about her account of events, so we headed outside to investigate.  As it turns out, her new school stuck a sign in our yard welcoming us to our new "school family".  She was pretty excited and had many questions about how "they" knew where she lived and how "they" knew she was going to that school.  The sign stayed in our yard all the way until the first day of school and was a special reminder about the big change ahead every time we saw it.  It was a very sad day when Amelia saw me loading the sign up to turn it back in at her school.  She was under the impression she could "keep it forever" and "hang it in my room" (?). 

Pack it Up, Pack it In

My aunt Phyllis has been involved with G4U for a long time.  It is an organization that collects and packs "goodies" for deployed troops each month. She has often invited us out to Warrenton to help on packing day. Since I knew this was probably our last chance to help for awhile with Amelia starting school (they pack Friday mornings), we jumped at the chance to go.  It was great to see such a great, organized group in action.  Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures (and neither are that good really) because I spent much of my time chasing Henry around and attempting to keep him happy.

The group has an assembly line type method of packing bags which was perfect for Amelia.  She excitedly took one item from each bin for her bag (and picked "pink" things as often as she could).  Then, she joined the line and went through it again. 

We are hoping to help again when it aligns with Amelia's school schedule.  In the meantime, we are collecting items and making pictures and cards to send along with the packages.  When I heard they have a shortage of letters from kids, I knew just the person to put on the job!

Note to Self

We need to paint outside more often.

Lacing Up

Amelia has never been too interested in learning to tie her shoes.  And I haven't been much help, considering I can probably count on one hand the number of shoes with laces that she has ever owned.  But, we checked out a book on CD called "Countdown to Kindergarten" and the character has near panic attacks because she doesn't know how to tie her shoes before starting kindergarten and she thinks she will be the only one.  I won't give away the ending (I can tell you are on the edge of your seat), but after we listened to that story many, many, many times in the car, Amelia decided she was ready to give it a go.  She had received the Melissa & Doug wooden shoe for Christmas from her friends Natalie and Emma and she finally put it to use!  Once she was ready, it only took a couple days to get it completely mastered.  And later that same day she was double and triple knotting!  She was very proud of herself and we were so proud of her too!

Chalk it up.

 I decided to give a little chalk art a try with Amelia one warm summer day.  I had spotted a similar photo shoot on Facebook and thought it was adorable.  Unfortunately, I got the idea late in the day.  I was feeling a bit lazy on the set up and Amelia was ready to do her own thing.  But, they turned out okay and it is something I would definitely like to try again when we are looking for something to do and I'm feeling more energetic.

Are you wondering why Henry wasn't part of the chalk shoot?  He was stuck up on this bucket the whole time.  The kid has never stayed in the same spot this long.  He thought he was pretty hot stuff, though with his camo shorts and his too-short Cardinals shirt.

I am already missing those warm summer days as I lay on the couch snuggled under my thick winter blanket.  Brrrrr..

And Speaking of Sleep...

This kid absolutely REFUSES to sleep any other way.  He takes up about 1/8 of his crib.  His legs stay bent all night and his feet rest on the wall.  Even his little hands hang out the top.  And he lays his head in the exact same spot every night.  There is always a little head-sized spot that is dirty in that corner where his head lays.  It is a combo of head-dirt and spit and it is so stinky that I have to change his sheets pretty much on a daily basis.  Boys.

One Nap Woes

See that face? That is the face of a very tired little boy.  A boy, begging to go "night, night" at 5:00 pm.

Poor Henry, his mom thinks he should be down to one nap despite his very best efforts to stick with two.  His mom even made a call to the pediatrician to make sure his sleeping habits weren't abnormal.  A nearly two hour morning nap, an hour and a half afternoon nap, and twelve hours of sleep at night apparently is nothing to be concerned about.  The nurse assured Jodi that some kids need THAT much sleep and she should be happy about it and embracing it.  She may have also said that they've never had a call like mine, despite getting many calls about concerns for lack of sleep.  Embarrassingly, this photo was taken August 8th (I'm quite behind on my blogging!).  And just this week, I think Henry may REALLY be ready to drop to one nap.  Maybe.

Amelia + Gigi = Giggles Galore

I just adore this picture of Amelia and one of her very best friends, Gigi. You would be hard pressed to find two girls that love all things fancy as much as these two do. And the giggles when they are together do not stop.

Head to the Tavern

I got the chance to catch up with my college roommates a few weeks ago to celebrate some very exciting events!  We all gathered to toast the opening of Kim's new bar.  The Tavern of the Fine Arts is a great little place and I can't wait to go back many, many more times.

It just so happened that the first day the bar was open was also my other old roommate, Danielle's birthday!  We were all pretty taken with the bare booty behind our heads (or maybe it was just me??), so we made sure to get our picture with it.

I certainly don't see these four enough, so I am hoping that the bar can be a place we can all catch up together more often.  Woo!

Sweet & Sassy

Amelia got quite the treat the other day when we headed to Sweet & Sassy to cash in a groupon bought long ago.  I had originally planned to take her for her birthday, but time got away from me and it ended up being more of a Back to School treat!

The groupon included a haircut and a nail polish and Amelia was beside herself.  Not only did she get her haircut, but she got glitterized from top to bottom.  I have seen some serious glitter in my lifetime, but nothing like this.  Glitter in her hair, glitter stamps on her face and hand (who has ever heard of such a thing?), and glitter galore on each tiny finger.  And all in time for the kindergarten meet-n-greet being held that afternoon.  Yikes!

 She has already decided that she will not be returning to our usual salon for her next haircut.  Apparently that place is now only appropriate for Henry and not at all appropriate for her.  And one other thing--she would like a pedicure next time as well, please.  She was pretty taken by the little foot baths and cushy seating.

Sounds like I will be bursting a few bubbles next time she needs a trim.....