Leah's Princess Party

On August 30th, we were invited to a Royal Celebration in honor of Princess Leah turning 4. We drove to Front Royal on Friday night and helped transform their house into a castle fit for a pretty princess. I had so much fun helping to plan a girl birthday party and can't wait for a daughter of my own!!!! Upon arriving, they kids decorated their crowns, swords, and magic wands. They then dug in sand to find gems and jewels. Next, it was time for a game: Pass the teapot...played like hot potato, but when the music stops the child picks a prize out of the teapot and is not out. After lunch, Rebecca led the kids on a princess hunt around the house following clues and finding a treasure left at each princess' station that they could use later to decorate a foam picture frame. The kids had a lot of fun with this game and then it was time for cake.
Princess Leah looks lovely in her white princess shirt, while Prince Mikie is very handsome in his Prince Charming shirt and yellow crown with a pink elastic band. I was so impressed that he actually wore it! He never wears anything on his head or anywhere else (he won't even wear a jacket). I still don't know how Rebecca talked him into it, but he wore it for most of the afternoon!
Zachary wouldn't leave his crown on, and so we snapped this picture very quickly while Daddy held his hands down. Zachary had fun keeping up with the big kids and tore down every decoration on the door within his reach. We finally gave up and just decorated the top half of the window panes.
Leah with her beautiful castle cake. Rebecca did a great job adding details to make the castle perfect for her little princess (even if we did almost run out of frosting, have to make 2 batches of pink, and couldn't find the Snow White figurine) Everyone was commenting on how neat it was!

These are only a few of the pictures from her special day. I made a photo show that really captures the events: The Story Of Princess Leah's 4th Birthday (click here)

Richmond Metro Zoo

On July 23rd, we took the boys to the Richmond Metro Zoo. It was a really hot day, and a very small zoo, but we still had fun. Here they are on the zoo Carousel.



One of the only words Zachary can say is "duck". Here he is pointing at the ducks in the pond.


My favorite zoo animal is the giraffe. Luckily, Mikie wasn't scared and even got to feed and pet one. It was the best part of our day.

Zachary's turn....he didn't seem to care about them too much...but he did like....
...The COW!

We rode on the "train" around the Africa section of the zoo. Mikie was really excited to see animals from all the different continents since we studied them in our preschool playgroup last year. I enjoyed hearing him say:

"Daddy, now we are in Asia!" "Mommy, now let's go to Africa"

They even had a baby zebra to feed and pet.

They didn't have any elephants (Mikie's favorite animal) so he told me his favorite part of the day was feeding the camels. I guess they don't want you to get too close to them so they have tubes that you get to pour your feed pellets down. Mikie thought that was so much fun!

The Bug Box

A few weeks ago, we went to THE BUG BOX with Lenny, Brooke, & Nathan Klepic. The boys had fun looking at the insects and reptiles. I took advantage of our "field trip" and did a unit study on insects with Mikie. He can now tell you that insects have a head, thorax, and abdomen, 6 legs, and 2 antennae. His favorite insect is a grasshopper.

Lenny Ladybug & Mikie Butterfly

Zachary loved the spiders! EEWWW!
Mikie with the grasshopper.

Mikie examines them through the magnifying glass.

Zachary just wants to use the magnifying glass to hit things!

Even though the bugs were really neat, I think Mikie's favorite part was putting together and alphabet puzzle with Lenny in the discovery room.

Firsts

Tonight was Mikie's first night of AWANAS. We've been talking about it for over a week now and trying to get him excited for it to no avail. I think what was really making him anxious was that they are required to wear a vest where they can display the patches they earn for memorizing scripture. He won't even wear a jacket when it is cold outside, so a vest to him was pure torture. We put it on at home before we left and he threw a huge fit and so we took it off in order to get him into the car. I was so nervous that the entire night was going to go horribly and that he would be kicked out for being disobedient. I began praying that God would ease both of our fears and that he would have a great time. All day long it has been overcast with a steady drizzle of rain. As we are walking to the church Mikie keeps saying "This is a bad, bad day." I know he is referring to both "the rain" and "Awanas". When we get to his room (204 the second story of the church...how exciting!) I contemplate putting his vest on again and risking another tantrum. I quietly tell the teacher that he is really reluctant to putting it on and she says that's ok for the first time. I explain to Mikie that just this once his vest will get to stay in his bag...he seems ok with that but will not join the group of children on the floor and prefers to sit and color at a table by himself. I leave...happy that he's not crying...but expecting to be called out of service to pick him up. An hour passes and I'm still in church...God has answered my prayers! When I arrive in his classroom he is playing with the other children and has marker all over his hands and face (a sure sign of participation!) The teachers tell me that he is a very smart little boy and only showed defiance once when asked to stand for the pledge but then did finally obey. As we were walking out he was smiling, happy, and chattering on about making an Ern E Elephant puppet, and that there was a story with Luv E Lamb and a zebra. I am so relieved that it went so well and he even said next time he would wear the vest (I'll believe that when I see it!).

Here he is with his teacher, Miss Freida and his cubbie bag (but no vest).The last week in July, Mikie went to his first day camp. For 3 1/2 hours each day he was at the Stafford Parks and Rec Camp Discovery. The first day was hard for him to transition away from me. I was in the hall listening to him scream and my friend, Kim, had to help calm him down (thanks so much!!!). The next day went smoothly and on the third he cried again but this time for only a few minutes. The 4th day ended up being his last since we had to fly home to Iowa for my grandmother's funeral. This was a really big step for him to be away from me for so long and I'm so proud of him for getting through it with only a few melt downs. It helped a lot that his 2 good friends, Lenny and Jacob, were in the camp as well. Here he is with his camp shirt on. He wouldn't stand next to his bag so I could get a good picture and Zachary was screaming in the car so I didn't realize that Mikie's eyes were closed until I uploaded it days later.

3 pigs

A few weeks ago: After reading The 3 Little Pigs (book #41 in Scholastic Phonics Reader set of 72), we made our own. And then we baked biscuits with a piggy front and a piggy back for dinner. It was fun, but my son is just not into arts and crafts so it took some convincing to get him to finish it.


The first one made his house out of grass. On the back of the house Mikie drew the first little pig and wrote the number 1. He chose a pink crayon so the details are hard to see.

The second one made his house out of sticks.

And the third built her house out of logs (notice how the smartest pig was the female!)

On this house he drew the wolf falling down the chimney (blue line on right) into the pot of boiling water on the fire (orange lines bottom right).

The next book was about the Bremen Town Musicians. We read the book, made a mobile with all the animals standing on each others' backs, and watched the 5 minute fairy tale video I remember watching as a child.

It's so much fun being a mom and a teacher!

Mikie says...

Just recently, Mikie has said a few funny/cute things that I have to get written down somewhere before I end up forgetting them. So, I thought this was a good place to post them:

When we were getting ready to take Zachary to his first ENT appoint I told Mikie that we would be seeing a new doctor today and her name was Dr. Redmon....his response: "Where's Dr. Bluemon?"

When Mikie had Hand Foot and Mouth disease, we went through a Mc Donald's drive through and I asked him if he wanted a Cheeseburger Happy Meal. He told me: "No, I'm not feeling well. I want a Cheeseburger SAD meal."

While at my parents' house he told my dad that he couldn't play anymore because "All the helium went out of my arms."

Zachary had on a pair of overalls with metal buckles the other day and Mikie informed me that he couldn't sit next to Zach because "he has weird clothes on". (This is from my son who has a zipper phobia)

Michael was talking on the phone with our financial advisor and Mikie had something that he really wanted to ask him but I told him to wait until Michael was off the phone. After a while, I heard him say, "Daddy sure is talking a long time!"

On Sunday we drove 30 minutes to Kings Dominion (amusement park) and we really needed Mikie to nap so that he would be cooperative. We told him that we would wake him up when we got to the exit (which he knows is #98). The entire way he was telling us that his eyes just wouldn't stay closed and they kept coming open. When we reached exit 98 Mikie exclaimed "Exit 98! I can wake up now. Exit 98! I woke up...see my eyes are open."

This one is an OLD one, but it's got to be one of my favorites so I'll include it: While at a zoo in Germany, Mikie had just turned 2 a couple months prior and had to use the potty. I took him into a stall and the sun was shinning quite brightly through the window above the toilet making our shadows appear on the ground. Now keep in mind it was a pretty windy day and my hair was not pulled into a ponytail making it very 'fluffy'. Mikie saw the shadow of my head/hair on the ground and said "Look, Mommy...it's a lion!"

And not too long ago I said something that I tend to think on a regular basis now that I have 2 children. I said, "This house is such a mess" to which Mikie replied: "Maybe we should move to another house."

Whew, I feel better that I finally posted this. It's all been written down on a post-it and I was afraid I was going to forget to do it. I should start a little section each week for funny sayings like my friend, Kelli, has on her blog. But, I'm not sure Mikie says as many funny things as Lenny does. Maybe now that he's getting closer to 4 he will. I hope so...it's so cute to hear what they come up with!

Update on Zachary...

I just love these pictures of our goofy little guy! We took the boys to the track at the middle school right behind our house last week when the weather was so nice. They both had a great time running around and climbing up the bleachers. Zachary was being so cute making faces at the camera while I was trying to keep him from toppling down the bleachers head first.




Zachary is now 13 months old and weighs 16 lbs 13 oz. He has gained 12 oz this past month thanks to the Pedisure he drinks instead of milk (he stopped nursing last week). He is fearless and into everything (I have a little 'Jack' on my hands). He is constantly climbing, dancing, throwing balls (and food from his high chair...hand slapping doesn't even make him cry....trust me...I AM doing it hard enough), and is now running to keep up with his big brother. He will jabber non stop but only says a few words (and you have to use your imagination to know that they are indeed words)....out, cat, dog, ball, duck (or it could be quack? not sure) and I think he is saying please which comes out like "deese". Michael and I swear one night last week after we said grace he said quiet clearly "Amen" but he hasn't done it since. (Once doesn't count in my book.....but does in Boagie's so I suppose I should write it down)

After battling an ear infection for 2 months (got his first molar) and then the hand, foot, and mouth disease for a week, we had 2 healthy days and then he developed a runny nose that lasted over 2 weeks (during which he was getting his second molar). He was so congested and cranky all the time, but thankfully it didn't lead to another ear infection (Praise God, ears have been clear for 1 month now) so we finally gave him some Clarinex this past Friday. OH MY GOSH..........I should have done that a LONG time ago.........he is now "Claritin Clear"! It immediately stopped the runny nose and improved his disposition immensely! Don't get me wrong...he's still a much fussier and more demanding baby than Mikie ever was, but at least now he is smiling, laughing, and running around acting silly again. He has the same belly laugh that Mikie did (and still has). There's nothing better than hearing the laughter of my two boys...well...there is one thing better... the laughter of my two HEALTHY boys!

I hope this doesn't sound selfish, but I feel like I have been robbed out of so many moments with him because for the past 3 months (since May 19th) he has been sick with one thing or another! Those are 3 months that I can never get back and will always look back on as having a grumpy, ill little boy. I'm so sorry, Zachary!