Osss

"Mommy, mommy! Oss! Oss! Oss! SELF."

Translation: "Mommy, I want an orange! And I simply must peel it myself. Period."

This kiddo would survive on oranges/cuties/clementines if I let him. And he is quite talented at peeling them himself! Cuties are definitely made for little hands, just like the commercials promise.

Just a little love

Evan's regular teacher wasn't in today (jury duty) and he had a sub he didn't know well. He didn't handle drop-off well, since he loves Miss S so much, and it took me a long time and a lot of his tears to get out of school. Drew's teacher heard it was a rough morning, so she sweetly made sure to walk Drew down to the snack room later that morning for a comforting brotherly hug. Evan had definitely calmed down by then, but there's nothing like a little love on a day when you're just not feeling your best. I hope these two continue to bring each other comfort for years and years to come!!

Here they are again the next day... just winding down together after school. Snacks, milk, tv, and a hug. What could be better?

Frist Bloom 2013

Today's the day - the first daffodil in the yard showed her lovely head.

Library Day

Today was "Rumble at the Jungle" story time at the library, so the boys and I took a trip over there while Daddy was in NC for basketball. This was our first trip to the library, and both boys were thoroughly excited taking it all in. In a big private room, a fun lady read a couple stories, sang songs, made animal noises, and generally had a loud and fun time talking about jungle animals. We colored & stickered paper elephants (or in Drew's case, our faces) and stuck them on party noise-blowers for a little art project too.

 

Drew started off shy and needed a
little brotherly confidence at first.

After the story time, we explored the kids section of the library. After so much fun and activity during story time, it was difficult for the boys to concentrate on selecting books, but the massive stacks were quite interesting to explore. The hardest part was keeping an eye on both boys as they pulled out books then tried to put them back. Dewey Decimal would NOT have been pleased...

 

Drew gives new meaning to
"getting lost in a book."

Now that he can write his own name and somewhat understands the responsibility of respecting books and returning them on time, we decided it was a good time to get him his very own library card. He signed his name on the dotted line, listened to the library-man's instructions to always return your books on time, picked a blue card, and proudly checked out his first books.

 

Be My Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!  Our house is covered in hearts and X's and O's, with a healthy dose of glitter everywhere. We've been working hard on our Valentines for friends at school, and some surprises for our family as well, which left the house looking much like a scene from a bad movie... there's red splattered everywhere, and even a handprint trailing on the wall. Scary! However, this holiday is about love, so here are some pics of our "Love Day."

Everyone wore red on Valentine's Day, and were thrilled to get new bears and toys at breakfast. They were stoked for their class parties, and to share some love with their friends and teachers.

Evan decided on "gooeyfish" Valentines for his friends. Aren't these adorable? I can't find the original source of the design anymore, but am glad I didn't have to create them myself. We had a blast putting together the fishbowls and snacking on Swedish Fish.

Evan worked very hard at writing all his classmates' names. He knew how to make almost every letter without asking what it looked like! We tried to space it out over several days, but he told me that all that writing left him with a hand cramp.

Here are Drew's Valentine's for his classmates. We opted for non-candy treats for his friends, and these for silly straws fit the bill perfectly.  

For dessert at home we filled strawberries with a cream cheese/powdered sugar mix and rolled them in mini chips. 

 Evan declared them "scrumptious!"

Hands

The Dolphin class talked today about what we do (and more importantly, don't) with our hands. When asked what nice things he could do with his hands, sweet Evan responded like this...