Gymnastics

Madeline and Oliver started gymnastics this fall.  I do a class with Oliver while Madeline does her own class with 4 or 5 other little girls.  Madeline wanted me to bring a paper and crayons to her class so that I could draw pictures of what she was doing so she could make a book.  I told her I would just bring my camera.  It might be slightly easier.  

We always start with stretching and then we move into the obstacle courses.  One of them is usually balance beams.  The other usually works on forward rolls, cartwheel prep, bars and other fun stuff. 

 The tumble tramp looks like the most fun to me.  I really want to give it a try.  But, I will just stick to watching Madeline and Oliver.

There are several other friends doing the class with us.  Annie is one of Madeline's friends from church.  

They get to play on the bars while they wait for the turn on the trampoline (for Oliver) and bars (for Madeline).

 The Pit is probably the kids' favorite part.  Oliver loves to swing and drop into the pit or jump off the beam or horse into it.

Madeline's turn at the other obstacle course now.  

  

Now, onto the beams.  

And now her turn at the pit!

I love his sweet little feet, waiting patiently for his turn.  

Finally his turn.  They practice opening and closing their feet (apparently really hard for 2 year olds) and seat dropping.  

Mr. Willy always ends the class with popcorn.  "It's getting really hot and I think we're gonna pop!  Pop pop pop pop pop!

And this is what Lucy does during the whole thing.  She just hangs out and doesn't make a peep.  But, she usually manages to pull her piggy out by the end of class leaving her with an awesome bed head do.  

Oliver's First Day of School

Oliver watched Madeline go to Mother's Day Out every week last year and he wanted to stay each time.  I think it had to do more with the cars that were in her classroom than the actual school.  But, he was super excited to get to go to Mother's Day Out this year.  

Andrew met us at school to see Oliver on his first day.  And all was well until it was time for us to leave.  Oliver latched onto Andrew like a Koala Bear in a Eucalyptus tree.  He had to be pried off, screaming and crying, as we left the room.  Poor buddy.  

  

When I went to pick him up, he said "You left me, momma."  Doh... dagger in my heart.  

 Besides that comment he actually liked it a lot.  His teachers said he calmed down almost immediately.  

He has had a difficult time going for the past few weeks.  But, he is always happy once he is there.  But, we are making progress.  This past week, he walked right in without even saying goodbye.  He came home and when I asked if school was good, he said, "no, it was terrific"(A quote he heard from his sister.  But, cute none the less.)

splinter

Our kids have a hard time remembering to put on their shoes when they go outside.  You would think this would be a little reminder.  

Apple Picking

We went apple picking a couple of weekends ago at Butler's Orchard to kick off the fall season.  We got a ton with hopes of making some applesauce or something else yummy.  Unfortunately, none of those plans came to fruition.    

This is Oliver after asking him to show me his apples AND look at me.  He got half of it.  

We also picked some raspberries.  I don't personally love them.  But they are fun to pick.   

I sure do love my family!

Water Slide

Things get a little crazy around here when daddy gets the day off from work.  We celebrated the end of labor day (and the completion of the tree fort) with a little water slide fun.  Just add water at the top and a pool at the bottom and you have a super fast water slide.  

Of course, daddy had to try it out too.  (We had to refill the pool.)

And what is better than a water slide?  2 slides!

What a fun end to our summer!

1st Day of Preschool

We headed to Madeline's preschool last Thursday for an open house.  We got to meet her teachers, Mrs. Hain and Mrs. McGonigle.  

She didn't make it too far in the door.  She stopped right at the writing desk and drew a picture, or 3.  I don't think she even really looked at the rest of her classroom.

Today was her first day.  She chose her "rose" dress last night.    

Here she is last year, with Oliver, on her first day of Mother's Day Out.  

Here they are, one year later.  

We woke Lucy up from an early nap to join the pictures as well.  Oliver held that sign like his life depended on it.  He wasn't letting go.  

We finally made it to school.

She sat right down and started working with the play dough.  And so did Oliver.  He wanted to stay so bad.  Fortunately, he gets to start MDO next week.  Madeline will be in preschool Tues-Friday.  That's a lot!  We are going to miss her around here in the afternoons.  But, I think she is going to have tons of fun.

1 Year Old

Our sweet Lucy is 1 year old now.  Crazy!  She is really enjoying her ride on toys right now.  We have brought a few inside and she uses them to walk all over the house.  She isn't walking yet.  But, she takes several steps between things more and more.  If she realizes that someone is watching, she will usually just slink back down to the floor.  

This is how she usually gets around.  She walks everywhere on her knees.  It doesn't matter if it is the deck, concrete, wood floors, grass or carpet.  It makes my knees a little sore just seeing it.  

She is starting to talk a lot.  She babbles a lot.  Especially when I call mom on Skype, she starts to really chatter in her own little language.  But, she has a few words that we understand, most of them start with the letter "b".  

ba-ba - paci

ba - blanky

baw - ball

buh - butterfly

moo - cow

ooh ahh - monkey

She is using a lot of signs and will imitate almost any sign that we show her.  

Butterfly, more, please, baby, all done, orange are a few that she actually uses.  

She is still nursing 3 or 4 times a day.  She will sometimes sip on a cup of milk.  But, isn't a huge fan yet.  Not like Oliver who can down a gallon of milk in 2 days.    

She loves almost any real table food though and usually out eats the other 2 kids.  Usually for breakfast she will eat an egg and some smoothie.  I can't seem to get her to eat pancakes or waffles for breakfast though.  She loves broccoli, black beans, fruit and popcorn.  She can eat all this food with her 10 teeth she has now.  She may have more, but I'm a little scared to stick my finger in there anymore.   

She loves toys with buttons right now.  She will try to steal cell phones and cameras as well.  If someone tries to take a toy away from her, then she will scream bloody murder.  She also loves balls.  If she sees one, even one super far away, she will say, "baw, baw, baw, baw..." until you get it for her.  Then she just wants to hold it.    

I wish I had a picture of it, but she loves to eat the tips off of markers.  She then chews on the tips while  she drools whatever color the marker was.  She looks like a little vampire.  But, you see why I can't get a picture.  It is a complete mess.  

She is definitely a lap baby.  She loves to be held.  When we went to the beach this summer, she mostly sat in her chair beside Paw paw.  She didn't care to get down in the sand.  If we are home, then she wants to be held.  It is super sweet.  But, it also makes it difficult to get things done.  

She is down to one nap now.  She sleeps for about 3-4 hours in the afternoons and heads to bed around 8 at night.  Her mornings start around 8am.  She usually wakes up super happy.  And she is even happier when Oliver and Madeline come in to greet her.  

 This is her first piggy.  Her hair is at a very awkward length right now.  It is in her eyes, but I want it to keep growing and she pulls out her bows.  So, the piggy seems to be working for us right now.

She loves Madeline and Oliver.  And they love her.  Madeline is super sweet to her and tries to teach her things and lets her play with her toys.  She takes really good care of her.  Oliver is sweet to her too but still has a hard time sharing sometimes.  He loves it when she comes in his bed and snuggles with him.  He reads his books to her.  They all start the same way, "Once upon a time...", even if it is a board book about colors.   

Lucy is especially attached to her paci and blanky now.  If she is sleepy in the car, usually you just have to give her both and she will cover her head with her blanky and go off to sleep.   She gives great snuggles when she is sleepy too.  She is such a sweet baby.

We sure do love our little Lu Lu.  She is such a joy in our lives.  She is happy, smiley and giggly.  She is lovey, snuggly and fun.  I can't believe she is a 1 year old though.  But, it has been a great year.  Happy Birthday, Lucy!