Kaitlyn's Easter Party

Kaitlyn's preschool class had their Easter Party/Egg Hunt today at school. There was yummy food, a cake decorating activity, a live bunny and, of course, the egg hunt!

Kaitlyn's class (minus two friends who were absent today)

Icing their own cupcakes and seeing what happens when you mix colors together

All lined up ready for the egg hunt

The hunt lasted about 5 minutes.

Kaitlyn and her best pals, Halle and Meredith. This trio is inseparable at school!

Sweet Friends

A couple of weeks ago, Kaitlyn got to explore the Discovery Center with her dear friend Hannah. These two love each other so much and play together very well. I'm looking forward to many more adventures with these sweet girls!

Catching Up...

A few weeks ago, we all went down to my mom's house for the weekend. It was cold and rainy, and we spent most of the time indoors. Fortunately, my mom saved lots of toys from my childhood, so the kids always keep themselves pretty entertained while we're there. Sometimes, though, you just need to sit and chill in front of the TV. Truthfully, I think the adults needed them to chill in front of the TV for a little bit too! And in case you're wondering, yes, that is Santa on the screen. Apparently my kids haven't figured out yet that you usually don't watch Christmas movies in the springtime :) I didn't have the heart to break it to them.

Love the zombie look. This is why they don't get to watch much TV!

Are those really my children lying so peacefully next to each other?

Pure cuteness!

Ethan's 1st Haircut

This adventure didn't go so well, as you can see in the pictures below. The downward spiral started with the cape. We tried to describe it as a fun "superhero" cape, but that didn't fly at all. When Steve (the hairstylist) tried to put it on, Ethan swatted at that cape with all the anger and frustration that a 2-year-old can manage. We ditched the cape, but it was too late. He was in full meltdown mode. So Steve started snipping quickly.

So pitiful...

Enormous tears!

We tried bribing with candy, but to no avail.

He's getting really angry now!

Finally it was over!

I really hope his hair grows very slowly.

Ethan's 2nd Birthday

Somehow, my "baby" boy is now 2! I'm not quite sure how two whole years have elapsed already, but the calendar assures me that they have. We had a small family-only celebration for his big day. He loves trains, so I decided to go with a Thomas theme. The cake came with some train toys. Ethan "helped" me blow out the candles and seemed to enjoy all the attention.

When it came time to eat the cake, he was very eager to dig in. However, he couldn't figure out how to eat it. He first tried to take a bite by picking the whole piece up with his hands. But he didn't like getting frosting on his hand, so he would set the piece back down and say "Uh-oh" until someone wiped his hands clean. He tried this method a few times without success. Then he tried to use a fork to break off a piece, but his little hands just couldn't coordinate the action well enough. I offered to cut it into small pieces for him so he could use his fork and he adamantly refused. This little one hates for his food to be cut in any way after it reaches his plate (if you cut it before you give it to him, it's apparently fine). So he was in a pickle. He desperately wanted the cake, but he couldn't figure out a way to eat it without getting his hands messy and without having the piece "ruined" by cutting. I felt bad for him (it was his birthday after all!!), so I cut him a second piece of cake and cut it into small pieces before I put it on his plate. He happily gobbled it down without a second's hesitation. Notice that the original piece sits untouched in the middle of his plate while he scarfs down the smaller pieces :)

Then came time for present opening.

It was a nice sunny day outside, so he got to enjoy some time outside.

A family picture.

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Lindsey were able to join us. Gran was there too. Kaitlyn's already making plans for her birthday in May. She has already requested a princess cake.

Happy Birthday, sweet Ethan! I can't wait to see what new and exciting things this year has in store for you.

Kaitlyn's Spring Program

Kaitlyn's preschool held their spring program last week before spring break. Each class featured a book by Eric Carle, and Kaitlyn's class chose "The Grouchy Ladybug". They painted ladybug shirts to wear, and they sang several songs about ladybugs. Although I wouldn't call Kaitlyn an enthusiastic performer, she actually opened her mouth a few times on stage and mouthed some words. We're making progress! :)

Here is a picture of her whole class on stage. I know that Kaitlyn is tall for her age, but I guess I didn't realize just how tall until I saw her standing in a line with her friends. To be fair, though, several of the kids in her class are a few months younger than her. But since there are no short genes on either side of our family, I don't think they'll be catching up to her any time soon!

After each class performed their songs, all of the kids got back up on stage and sang some group songs. Kaitlyn was more interested in watching us in the audience. I can't believe that next year will be her last year of preschool. I can't even fathom kindergarten.

Otter

The kids in Kaitlyn's preschool class get to take turns taking the class "pet" home over the weekend. It's a very big deal. This large stuffed monkey is named Otter and the kids are supposed to document their adventures with Otter through pictures so that they can share their stories with the rest of their class. Kaitlyn got to bring him home a couple of weeks ago, and these are some of the things that Otter got to do at our house.

Otter and Kaitlyn "cooked" together.

They made Valentines for all of Kaitlyn's friends at preschool.

Kaitlyn, Otter and many other fluffy friends attended "school" where they learned about letters.

Kaitlyn and I were both sick during the Super Bowl, so we stayed home together while the boys went to our lifegroup party. She watched the game for about two minutes...

...before she moved on to more interesting things, like playing Tic-Tac-Toe.

Due to illness and snow, Kaitlyn missed a week of school, so we wound up taking care of Otter for a really long time! Poor Otter lost his novelty and wound up in her closet for several days...good thing he wasn't a real, live pet!

January

I know that it's winter and everything, but we are quite ready to be done with winter weather around here. In January, we have had several bouts with snow, one that dumped several inches on us and shut down most schools for a week. We tried to make the most of it on the first day by building the requisite snowman. The kids had fun for a while and the snowman stuck around for several days...because it took that long for temps to get back above freezing! After the snowman adventure, neither kid expressed any interest in going outside for more snow play--which was fine by me!

Very little happened during the month that was truly blog-worthy. But I did capture a couple of slice-of-life moments that I want to remember. First, it must be tough being a little brother with a big sister. Ethan looks up to her so much and wants to do everything she does. So it makes perfect sense that when Kaitlyn dresses up in a costume necklace that he would want to participate as well. And Kaitlyn eagerly indulges him. I wonder at what point he will realize that boys usually aren't thrilled to wear pink necklaces?

At least he has a "manly" shirt on :)

My birthday turned out to be a gorgeous day weather-wise--finally a much-needed break from the cold dreariness! So we eagerly packed up the kids and headed outside for the day. My aviation-loving husband suggested we go to the Fly-In at a local airport. The kids, of course, absolutely loved seeing all the planes up close. And there was plenty of room for them to run around and work off lots of energy.

They had an old restored World War II (?) fighter plane at the Fly-In. We got to watch it take off and fly around a bit. Pretty cool!

Kaitlyn is really, really into artwork these days. Give her some paper and some writing utensils (preferably markers or colored pencils), throw in some stickers, and she is good to go for at least an hour. She loves writing her name (and other words) and drawing pictures of things--things that I can actually recognize! She can write about half of the alphabet well and the other half--well, she's still working on those :) Ethan, of course, is right there with her, coloring on his pages and making his own art. Every once in a while, he'll bring me a crayon and announce its color, then he'll return to his project. It's really quite cute--not to mention a life-saver when I really need them occupied for a while.

On this particular day, the kids were happily coloring together when I decided to get out the Dustbuster and clean a bit. Both kids love to help with chores (in fact, they're downright giddy when I announce that it's time to put away laundry. Wonder how long that will last?). So Ethan dropped his crayons and came begging to help with the vacuuming. Notice that Kaitlyn is still at her art table, a little less eager to leave her project...until she sees Ethan with the Dustbuster. Now I've already mentioned that Ethan loves to do whatever Kaitlyn is doing, but it's actually a two-way street. Kaitlyn can't stand to see Ethan getting a "privilege" that she isn't getting, especially one that comes with attention from a parent. So about 2 seconds after I took this picture of Ethan below, guess who drops her crayons and comes begging for her "turn."

Yep, you guessed it! Now if I could only find a way to foster this enthusiasm of chores so that it doesn't fade as they get older!!

Christmas!

Christmas with a 3.5 year old and a 1.5 year old is SO much fun! Kaitlyn was really excited about the idea of Santa and his reindeer this year. She dutifully left out cookies and milk for the big guy and carrots for Rudolph. Sorry Dancer, Prancer, et al. No goodies for you this year! Ethan was still pretty clueless about the whole Santa thing, but Kaitlyn's excitement was contagious and he got into the spirit too.

When we all got up the next morning, I was expecting unbridled enthusiasm from Kaitlyn as she ran into the living room to see what Santa brought. And she was very excited when she first got up. But when she actually walked into the living room, I think the idea of a strange, odd-looking man coming into our house while she was asleep and leaving presents became a bit overwhelming. The picture below reflects my kids' personalities beautifully. Kaitlyn watching and figuring out everything from a comfortable distance and Ethan diving head first into the fun-looking toy. Santa brought the kids a train set and (wisely) left a note saying that it was for both of them and that he wanted them to share it. Other than a few skirmishes over who gets to play with which train, we haven't had any major incidents...yet.

As you can see, though, Kaitlyn quickly warmed up to the idea of unwrapping new toys.

The only thing she wanted from Santa this year was a horse puzzle. I'm not really sure where she got that idea. She loves puzzles, but the horse-theme was quite random. Nevertheless, Santa brought her what she asked for and she was absolutely delighted. I think she's only worked it once since she got it though. Good thing it didn't cost Santa a lot of money :)

This is what Ethan did most of the morning. Occasionally we were able to tear him away for a few minutes to open another present.

He was pretty awestruck by this large present...for about 5 seconds. Then he moved on to other things. I don't think he understood that there was a toy inside the box. He never once indicated a desire to open the box and see what was inside. I guess he thought we just gave him an empty box with a fun picture on the outside?? Since he had so many other toys that he was already interested in, I decided to hide it away for a rainy/snowy day when we're all in need of a new toy distraction to maintain sanity. I wonder if he'll remember it at all when I pull it out again in a few weeks...probably not!

Mom and Jim came up to Nashville again this year on Christmas Day. We were a little nervous about road conditions that morning because of the snow we had received, but it all worked out okay. I had a lot of fun cooking the big Christmas meal and was so thankful that we didn't have to pack the kids up and travel with them.

After Christmas, we all headed to Memphis to celebrate with Jeff's family at his sister's house. His parents drove down from New Jersey and his grandparents flew up from Florida. 14 people (10 adults and 4 kids under age 4!) all staying in one house. Lots of craziness but tons of fun! We took pictures of the present-opening extravaganza, but apparently forgot to take any other pictures during our stay :(

Here, Ethan is opening a present from Mimi and Papa...and is surprised to hear their voices coming from the book! I'd never seen a recordable book before. What a neat idea!

Ethan and Daddy opening a truck present.

A sweet picture of Uncle Andrew showing Kaitlyn how to work her new ladybug toy.

Mimi made Kaitlyn and me matching aprons. Kaitlyn loves helping me cook, and she insists that we wear our aprons now when we're working together in the kitchen.

I'm already looking forward to Christmas in 2011 when Ethan will be a little older and Kaitlyn will hopefully be even more excited than she was this year. I love Christmas with kids!!!