Preschool Lessons

Here are some lessons I, the mommy, has learned from preschool:

1. Empty your child's shoes before coming in the house, otherwise you'll have half the playground on your living room floor. (lesson learned on Sept. 6, 2011)

2. Little girls need to wear shorts under their dresses, especially if your child is a "monkey" on the playground. (lesson learned on Sept. 8, 2011)

Craft Time

My kids love crafts and there is a store in Austin, Lakeshore Learning Store, that offers free crafts on Saturday. We went today for the first time in a long time and had a great time. Today's craft was making a presidential briefcase, in honor of President's Day coming up. The kids got to glue on sparkly dots, foam shapes, stars, and other crafty type items. They also got to blot dots on their briefcases to add color. They spent about 30 minutes working on their briefcases, it was so much fun to watch both kids be so focused on one activity. After that we walked around the store and played with many of the toys the employees had set out on small tables. The kids had a blast and it was a great way to spend a Saturday while Ben was at work.

Snow Day

Last week we had our annual snow day of the year. Here in Austin we usually get one day in February that we get a small amount of snow. This year it snowed overnight and when we woke up our yard was covered in snow. Well, I don't know about "covered" since you could still see some grass sticking up, but it was enough for us. When Heidi woke up I took her to the window and had her look outside. In the softest most innocent voice she said, "snoooooooooow." She was so excited to see snow again. Noah gave the snow the funniest look. Last year for the snow day he was only 13 months old, not really old enough to remember the snow. When he looked outside his eyebrows furrowed and he stared at the white stuff covering his outdoor toys.

After breakfast the kids got bundled up, and of course I could not find both of Noah's gloves so he was stuck with wearing one of my gloves. He didn't mind. After we were all dressed we went outside to play in the snow. The kids couldn't wait to attack that snow. Heidi immediately fell into the snow and made a snow angel. Next she wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and wouldn't stick together. Noah walked around and looked at all his toys in shock of the snow on them. After some play time the kids and daddy tried to have a snowball fight, but again the snow wouldn't stick. Instead of snowballs they had a snow-dusting fight. It was very cute and fun.






After all the outdoor excitement we went inside and cuddled by the fire to warm up. Unfortunately the snow didn't last long. The sun came out and by noon most of the snow had melted. One day of snow is enough for us here in Austin. We're looking forward to next year's snow day.

Heidi-isms

Heidi is such a talker and often says things that we just can't believe came from her mouth. So here a few:

As we were walking through Kohl's Sunday night Ben and I heard her say, "Sucks for you mommy". I asked her what she said and she stopped in her tracks and said it again. Then I noticed she stopped right in front of a display of women's socks. "SOCKS for you mommy." (1/30/11)

During bedtime prayers Heidi prayed, "and God can you help my mommy to follow my directions the first time I say them." (1/31/11)

After tripping over a toy in the play room she got out her pretend phone and called her daddy. Here's how the conversation went, "Daddy can you come home now? I just lost my balance and can't seem to find it." (2/1/11)

"Today is Tuesday and the next day is Threes-Day". (2/8/11)

Noah is 2

My baby boy is now a big 2 year old. We celebrated the last day of 2010 with Noah's birthday. The morning started with Heidi excitedly running into his room to wish him a happy birthday. Noah was all smiles from there on out. After breakfast I got the kids' clothes together to get dressed. Noah was so excited to put on his "Birthday Boy" shirt. He normally fights me on getting dressed in the morning, but not this day. He quickly got dressed and kept pointing to his shirt.

The original plan for the day was to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for Noah's first play experience. Things did not turn out that way. Heidi was running a fever and not feeling well, so we decided to stay home and let her rest. We did take the kids out to lunch at Mighty Fine Burgers so that the birthday boy could have a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milk shake. Normally I don't let the kids get french fries when we eat fast food, but since it was Noah's birthday I made an exception. The few times I've let him have a few fries he loved them so I knew this would be a special treat for him. He had a blast eating his special lunch and really enjoyed dipping the fries in the ketchup. His face was almost completely covered in ketchup by the time we were done eating. He might be a good eater, but not exactly a clean eater.

While the kids napped I wrapped Noah's presents and made the frosting for his cupcakes that I made the previous day. After Heidi woke up she came downstairs and helped me decorate the cupcakes. I frosted (using my new frosting gun my mom gave me for Christmas, and it was awesome!) and Heidi decorated with sprinkles. We had a good little system going. All the cupcakes got frosted and decorated while Noah was still sleeping. After he woke up and came downstairs we let him open his presents from us. He got a new Thomas the Train set and train, a baseball glove and ball (so he doesn't have to use Heidi's pink Dora glove and ball anymore), and a guitar. He quickly learned "mine" and was very reluctant to let Heidi play with any of his new toys. It took a little convincing, but he finally learned to share (not happily though). What can I say, he's a two year old, it'll take some time.

After dinner we put candles in the cupcakes and sang happy birthday to Noah. He was all smiles the entire time and tried really hard to blow out the candles. He got the first candle quickly, but struggled to get the second candle out. Eventually with Daddy's help the candle was blown out. Then the kids dove into their cupcakes, icing first. We had a great day celebrating Noah's birthday as a family and are looking forward to celebrating with friends at his upcoming party.