March Photo Drop - Part 1

So March is halfway through, which I hope means that the snow will be a thing of the past very soon! We did have snow on Ethan's birthday, the 16th, which was crazy.  Thankfully we didn't have to get out it in, but it was pretty.  Hayden and I got to go see the Lego movie with some friends.  Sh may have fallen asleep within the first 20 minutes but still says it was a great movie.  

And then spring break happened.  Thankfully i got to share my spring break week with Hayden. We spent Monday and Tuesday running around and enjoying the time together.  We visited Bass Pro Shops (to see the animals) per Hay's request. Abbs and I went to the library story time.  We played outside. We went to my school's playground.  Whew.  And then Grandma Diddle came down to visit. She took both girls back with her for a few days to the farm. They were excited and I have no doubt that they had fun. 

Hayden and Ethan also did a project at Lowes - she made a birdhouse! We had to buy some paint, yellow paint, so she could make it pretty. So far no birds have moved in. 

Other than that, it's been the normal silly, chaotic, loveable days here at the house.  Ethan and i love sitting back and watching the girls interact and seeing how they're changing.  They both amaze me everyday. 

Inseparable at times

Saturdays at Home Depot these days

Oh, did you see the post about their new ride? They love it...Hayden does a little bit more, haha. 

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.

January in Review

January can pretty much be summed up by one word.  Snow. We had a lot of it, it seemed.   Which meant several snow days for Hayden and me.  Oddly enough, we didn't have any major weekend plans during January. I'm not quite sure how that happened as we always have something going on.

So in January, Hayden ended up missing quite a few days of school due to the snow. When she did go back, she said her teacher still remembered her and she remembered most of her friends. She's still liking it and I have no doubts that Kindergarten will be just as much fun for her, especially since she'll get to go every day. Hayden seems to be growing a bunch, looking older every day. 
 Abbie is getting more and more personality. Well, not more personality but maybe stronger.  She's quite the little lovey at times but she is learning how to get her way real quick.  This ends up being a big fight between her and Hayden as Abbie always wants whatever Hay has.  I'm sure that'll change with time, right? (Someone humor me and say yes!).  Her teeth have finally started coming through and coming in several at a time. 
And then Ethan and I are still kicking...nothing new or exciting happening that I can think of just yet!  

And now let the massive amount of pictures begin!

The 2 big girls stayed at the farm for a few days and I got to go "rescue" them. They were definitely missing their mommies.

We pulled out Grandma Rufenacht (GG) and Aunt Lena's buttons. Abbie was in heaven for a bit. Hayden loved sorting. (I on the other hand, had fun keeping them all in one pile and out of Abbie's mouth)

Ethan brought in shovels of snow one evening. This was about as close as Abbie wanted to get to it.  Hay thought it was fun though and used her bath toys to play with it. 

Abbie brought Hayden a handful of hair clips and Hay was all too eager to help her out and play Hair Shop!

These two always manage to find time to play video games together. Too cute

This is a new development.  Both sitting...together...watching tv...at the same time.  The thumb sucking is old news by now :) 

We even broke out the Playdough one day.  Hayden and I worked on creating a bathtub while Abbs learned she could poke it with her fingers. 

One day they sat contentendly playing with Hay's squinkies.