February Photo Drop - Part 2

And this post is a hodge-podge of pics from the 2nd half of February!

The girls and I spent a day in Springfield running around with no true agenda one day.  Hayden dressed herself (stripes, skirt, red shirt, and heart jacket with a huge flower headband). I just love her! 

We visited Pet Warehouse where she tried to convince Daddy that we were going to bring this little guy home with us.

A quick stop off at mommy's work playground, always a favorite.

And then there's Abbie and her own style; Minnie Mouse hat and one glove. That's it. :)

The girls and I also created this button tree! I had my eye on this for a long time but had never gotten around to actually making it.  Hayden helped paint the tree, both girls helped pick out buttons and place them on the tree.  Abbie tried to help with the glue but we quickly discovered that it wasn't a great idea. 

So I guess this post wasn't really a hodge podge of pics since the all happened on one day!  Oh well. At the end of the day, these two girls love each other and I couldn't be more blessed .  This last pic just shows how much they love each other (or at least tolerate each other).  We were hangin out in the living room and the girls were cuddled together as Abbie put Hayden in a loving hug (maybe head-lock,not sure).  My heart is happy.

Pre-K Update

Wow. It's hard to believe that Hayden's PreK year is almost 3/4 over already! She has grown and changed so much since that first day back in August last year.  I am so thankful that she enjoys school, looks forward to it, and is bummed on the days that she doesn't get to go.

August 2014

First Day of School

The beginning of the year started off rough.  Drop offs were hard as she cried each day for nearly 2 months.  Yes, there were days that were easier than others but they were never easy.  Ethan had the hard job of dropping her off and picking her up each day. I doubted our decision nearly every day in the beginning...the decision to just have her go 2 days a week. Would it have been easier if it was every day? I'll never know but when the day finally came to where she would give him a kiss and head on in to the room, what a relief it was for everyone!

Day 1

She's made friends, although most days in the first half she only talked about playing with Tessa.  We always talk about who she played with, what activities Mrs Michelle had them do, what was her favorite thing at recess, and what they did in Art or Library that day. And just like any other kid, she never had much to say.  Some times it would be days later when she would remember something (like an assembly) and tell us about it.  She almost always tells us the out-of-the-ordinary things she did that day, like walk to the high school or a fire drill.

She's gotten to experience a Halloween costume parade, Christmas party, PJ day, ice cream party and Valentine's day as well as a few assemblies and several snow days, so far. Ethan has been able to go to the holiday parties thankfully. It's been good for Hayden and Ethan. And of course Abbie got to tag along.


Thankfully though she loves school now and drop offs are never a problem.  She has mastered writing her name, knows her letters, social/emotionally has matured enough to be okay in unfamiliar situations (HUGE achievement), better at following directions, and is a math wiz.  We still can't get her interested in reading - the mommy in me worries but the early childhood educator in me knows that she will be just fine. I truly have no worries about her and school at this point. She's a sponge with what she's interested in and I am amazed with what all she retains.  Lately she's been in a non-fiction kick with books...learning about the human body and animals.
 

 I'm excited to see where the rest of this year takes her!

February Photo Drop - Part 1

Here is part 1 of what's been going on in our little world during February 2014! 

• Valentines: This is the first year that Hayden got to create and build a Valentine's box.  Granted, she had no idea what exactly a Valentine's box was but she was all excited to build a princess castle. With Ethan's precision and my craftiness and Hayden's vision and direction...this is what we came up with! She was very excited once it started coming together. Ethan was in charge of following her directions and she was in charge of decorations. 

        

• CHEESE! The girls both love being silly and love the camera. This is nothing new but I love seeing how they've changed. 

 

Paintings from the kiddos.  My heart is full.

• Piggy Bank Busted: We decided it was time for Hayden to spend some of her own saved money. To say she was excited might be an understatement.  We cashed in her piggy bank, I believe she had been collecting random coins for about year.  We spent about one hour with her in Toys R Us. Hayden really knows how to shop and make decisions. She would ask how much something was and if she had enough monies for it. Then she would evaluate it against another toy she was debating on.  Sometimes she would have 2 or 3 choices in the cart while she was perusing the aisles.  You could really see the wheels turning as she was making internal decisions, rationalizing which item would be more valuable to her.   In the end she ended up with a plush Ariel doll (to go with her collection of plush princesses) and was thoughtful enough to also include a small mermaid for Abbie.  

• Meet Puffin: Hayden had been talking a LOT about wishing she had a kitten.  We eventually gave in and ended up with this crazy one.  Ethan took Hay on a surprise trip to Joplin Humane Society in search of a kitten. She called me when she got there and was BEYOND ecstatic once she realized what they were doing. It took her the entire day to come up with a fitting name, Puffin.  Where that came from, we have no idea but it is perfect.   She was about 3 months old and is so feisty. She's a perfect addition to our family. Hayden has fully accepted her "mommy" responsibility with the kitten and takes great care of her. 

That sure didn't seem like much for a post but that's all I've got for tonight :)  Part 2 will be up this weekend.

My girls

I love my girls.  I love how different they are, how sweet they can be, and how daily they stretch me to be better and stronger. It's not roses all the time but it's the best I can imagine it ever to be.

Hayden. Oh Hayden. She definitely has her bouts of fits but her times of pure awesomeness outshine those rocky times.  She is so sensitive and takes everything personal.  She really wants to be her best and to please everyone.  She takes care of Abbie most of the time and is a great big sister.  She has such a sweet sweet heart.  Hayden loves all things princess, girlie, dreamy and fairy tale-esque.  She is amazing.  She loves to be tickled, to tickle Ethan, to play tricks...oh man does she love to be silly.  The things she finds humor in is funny just within itself.


And she is sooo inquisitive.  Just today, Ethan told me that Hay asked him how we talk...like the physiology of how we speak.  What 4 year old thinks of those things? I wish I could have heard his response but I have no doubt he did an amazing job, teaching her the key points to the vocal anatomy.  She continues to question things around her and grows every day.  She uses her brilliant brain to argue...and most times her logic is tough to beat!  Lately she's also been getting frustrated with her words, unable to say what she means the way she wants to..or frustrated when we don't exactly understand what she means.  It gets interesting around here some times.
She is a snuggler though...that's never changed. She neeeeeds mommy and neeeeeds me right now. Her favorite place is our bed I'm pretty sure, even though hers is perfect it's apparently not as "compy" as ours. She used to be shy, too bashful to even wave at someone she was excited to see.  At the heritage festival she went right up to another little girl and started chatting away and playing.  When she's comfortable with people outside of the home, she is a chatterbox.   I'm not sure if that's part of growing up or being in preschool or just finally growing stronger and more comfortable.  Either way it's amazing to see her blossom. I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us.

And sweet, sweet Abbie.

We used to say "and then there's Abbie..." but now when we say it, it's with a totally different tone.   Within the past few months we've seen changes in her and it seems every time I look at her, she's changing and growing.  I forget how quickly it happens. She's almost past the screeching pterodactyl phase...Ethan's favorite phase (insert sarcasm). It's wonderful to not only see her vocabulary grow but that she can appropriately respond to questions; it makes things so much easier.  She tries singing every now and then and definitely does her best to mimic sounds  she hears.  Sometimes she gets her noises right and it's an actual word.  I can't wait for her to get more words and really tell us what she's thinking.  

She never fails to try to keep up with Hayden, either.  This girl is getting to be too advanced for her age as she follows Hayden and is determined to do just like her.  Abbie is quick to figure out how to do sneak attacks and steal Hay's toys or how to quietly shut herself into Chili dog's kennel and play contentedly.  She's a character.  She has an ornery side and loves to play.

She also gets our humor and loves to be silly with us. I do believe she'll fit right in! Abbie also loves to be outside. I remember Hayden being the same way -- throwing fits because we wouldn't let her go out and then when she did get outside, just wandering happily around the backyard.  Abbie loves the slide though and tries to go up it, unsuccessfully, every time. She almost has the "weeee" part down too as she's zoooming down the slide.

Like I said...it's not all roses but it's remembering these moments and how special these two beautiful girls are that help get us through. I so wish the days were longer so I could cuddle with them more; wish the sun was out more so we could play longer; wish time would slow down so I could enjoy this age, this time, these babies of mine.  My heart overflows with happiness....blessed beyond measure.  No complaints here.

I sure love these girls...

Random Photos

Since I clearly have slacked off in posts...here's a bunch of photos I've downloaded off my phone...with no story to go with them.