35 years

No complaints here.

Our little song bird

 

Ada, reading and singing Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes out loud to the rest of us. She does it nearly all day, every day.  The list of memorized nursery rhymes grows every week.

Enjoy!

Ada & Quentin

I am happy we made the decision to have me home with the kids. It is difficult -- patience, finances, isolation. All of these things make it difficult, but I have been reminded lately why it is worth it, or more, why I need to be grateful for it.  Just look at these faces.

I see her changing. It is hard when you are with someone everyday to notice the subtle changes, but this week I have noticed them.  She is growing, changing, moving on to the next big phase. 

The best part of it is her needing to feel secure while she moves through this transition. That she comes to me a dozen times a day and asks me for a hug, gives me a kiss or asks that I hold her. You betcha!


He is growing too. The endless eating, the independent play, the way he turns himself inside out when he wakes up first thing in the morning because he is just so stinkin' happy to see his mom, his dad and his sister.

And my favorite part -- the crazy way that the two of them together are developing the sweetest, safest and incredibly special relationship with each other. I know they will bicker, tattle and get on each others' nerves someday, but for now it's the highlight of my day listening to the two of them laugh out loud at each other. Love it.

 

Express yourself!

Ada and Charlie having fun playing with their rain forest

I mentioned a few posts ago that I would never buy another toy again. I have gotten 4 weeks mileage out of this box. It is played with on a daily basis, and has evolved over the past month. Most recently we turned it into a rain forest, which was and still is a big hit, "Mom, can we make a rain forest today?!"  Want to make your own?  Go here, print, color, glue and pretend.

I love this box.

This week we focused on the letter "B".  We made a letter "B" book with these print outs by coloring, cutting and gluing them into our very own book made with construction paper and bound with yarn. 

Today we made bird cages (because B is for birdcage and bird, you know), and hung them from the kitchen chandelier.  Go here and here to print and make your own.  We printed one of each bird, cut them out, glued them on each side of a piece of cut out cardboard, strung some yarn through it and voila -- a hanging bird cage you don't have to clean. 

Now what should we do next week for the letter C?

The Artist

...and her pallet

I will never purchase another toy. This box has provided endless entertainment for two weeks now.

Ada practicing her letter "Q" in Blue

Daydreaming about her own blue picket fence someday

Speaks for itself

Peanuts and Crackerjacks

Nothing like a ballgame to blow the funk away.

This girl loves baseball (or maybe she loves the guaranteed ice cream that comes with going to the game).

It was "kids run around the bases" night at the Flying Squirrels game last night.  

That's our girl!

Home, where my music's playing...

It is here.  The post-visiting-home-funk.  

It sneaks up on me every time we return from Oregon.

It usually sets in about 1 day before we leave, actually.

There was no time for that this trip, what with the wedding, and prepping 2 kids for travel, and 4 connecting flights from Eugene to Richmond.  There was work to be done.

So, here it is. A week later. The funk has arrived.

Blech.

Fortunately there is this, 

and this,

to make the funk go away.

Back in the groove

We are back in the groove (kind of) from our fabulous 2 week vacation in Oregon, enjoying farm fresh Virginia peaches and contagious laughter.  

Enjoy!

Summertime Fun

Games with the neighbor kids

Ada and her friend, Nixie Fae

Duck, Duck, Goose!

Guess who is the Goose

Genuine joy

Getting in on the action with his big sister

This one makes me smile every time I look at it

Fun on the 4th!

Conversations with Ada: Installment 3

Please note cut on her lip for the first day of camp.  Someone wanted to shave like her Daddy.  

Sam, "Ada, what did you do at school today?"

Ada, in the backseat of the car on their way home, "You talk for me, Dad. I'm tired."

Garbage can for Oscar the Grouch

 

Later that day.

Michele, "Ada, how was summer camp today? What did you do?"

Ada, "I can't talk, Mom."

Big Bird

Thankfully we have evidence of what she did this week.  

 Little stinker.