School Days

I'm so fortunate to have found a school that we all LOVE. We did Mom's Day out when they were younger, pulled them out of a daycare facility we didn't like, we've done 1 day then 2 days, now 3 days in a pre-school and they are learning so much.

The school offered some 'extracurriculars' this year that you could attend (for a small fee, right?). They could choose from a Tumble Class, Karate, Spanish or Music & Movement. They chose to do a Spanish class once a week. They love "learning Dora's language" and have fun counting & telling me colors in Spanish.

Their primary teacher is Russia, so the girls know a lot about Russia and will be the first to tell you that Ms. Katarina braids their hair much better than mommy! Addy's favorite part of the day is almost always play time outside & craft time. Lilly loves circle time and listening to books. They are both in the early stages of reading--asking how to spell things and trying to sound out words.

They'll be eligible for kindergarten in the fall and the thought of it makes anxious of what lies ahead for us! They will be very near the cut-off point and Jeremy & I are weighing out the pros & cons of putting them in versus holding them back. If anyone has an opinion, we are all ears! Our fear is we will have one that is ready and one not quite, so the debate will continue until we have to make a decision in the Spring.

Here are their most recent 'school pictures'!

Lilly, always ready for the camera!

Addy, reluctantly shares a grin...

437 questions x2

Thanks goes to my friend over at 4tunate for sharing this sign and helping me realize the source of my insanity! I also think driving alone with the girls may be the worst time. There is no escape and the onslaught of questions never stops. I have one daughter who probably asks this many before lunch! Here's a sampling of what I've heard this week:

-Why is the sky blue?


-What makes the ground smoke in the morning?

-Who picked the names of the colors?


-Why can't we go to the park anymore?


-Do pee and poop come from the same place?


-Why do vacuums make that noise?

-Can I have a snack?


-Why are some dogs big and some dogs small?


-What makes poop smell?


-Where does the poop when you flush?


-Why can't we talk about poop?


-How old do I have to be to wear earrings?


-Can I watch TV?


-What are we doing today?


-What are we doing tonight?


-What are we doing tomorrow?


-Why is 'she' looking at me?


-Why won't 'she' play nice?


-Will you play babies with me?


-Can I call somebody?


-Will you play princess with me?


-Will you play fighter jet plane with me?


-Where did the missing puzzle pieces go?


-Can I help you cook?

-Can we have a dance party?

-Where are my elmo panties?


-When can I have a baby sister?


-When is daddy coming home?

-When is ga ga coming over?


-When is Aunt Cat coming back?


-Why do you have to work?


-Are we there yet?


-When will I learn to read?


-Can I go to dance class?


-What's a bill?


-What is credit cards?


-Are you old?

-When you are old do you go to heaven?


An oldie, but goodie, buried on my camera's memory card--This was the first day of pre-school this year!

My Three-Year Old Addy

Dancing Queen!

My little Martha....

We had to document the first successful attempt at her name back in October!

(The blue writing was mine, red--all hers!)

Addy is a sweet soul--she is a loving, happy 3 year old. She loves cherry tomatoes, black beans, hard-boiled eggs and expensive cheese. She makes up words and then laughs at herself and how silly they sound. She then gets her sister and anyone else listening laughing as they laugh at her laughing, it's all quite funny. I've said it before, but she is going to break some hearts with those eyes. She's a mama's girl and holds grudges towards daddy any chance she gets, but the deep-down love shows through. She's begun singing Christmas carols already and makes up most of the words as she goes along. She HATES not getting her way and we are constantly working on 'sharing' and not 'taking', speaking and not yelling, 'I would like' over 'I NEED'. Every morning she asks if she can wear her hair in pigtails. Her most important decision of the day is typically what animal, cartoon or princess will be on her panties--she takes this very seriously, lays out all the options and works on this for about 5 minutes EVERY day.

Last week, we met with her teacher for our first "parent teacher conference". They adore her. Apparently, so does some kid named Joey (Daddy's working on tracking down this kid's last name). They have no concerns over development--she's hitting her milestones--gross motor, fine motor, social-emotional, cognitive--the whole list. Not much (besides Joey) surprised us in our conversation. She LOVES craft time and is pretty content coloring, cutting or gluing something. She has impressed her teacher about how engaged she gets doing 'dramatic play'. She goes from a tiger at the zoo, to a fireman, to a doctor to a mommy all pretty quickly. She still hoards and has done this forever (items will change obviously). I'll go to pick her up from school and she'll be carrying around pieces of her day (crackers from mid-morning snack in her pocket, a crayon from craft time in her hand, a baby blanket she napped with, all while going about her business). She's not a fan of 'circle time' and gets bored, again not surprising, she is her father's daughter. She loves puzzles, but gets frustrated when she can't do them on her own. The teacher said she's polite and plays hard and typically crashes hard during nap time too.

She's usually too busy for pictures, but I caught this back in September and it's a favorite! Who would say no to those eyes?

Sweet face!

School Days

A & L have loved their school programs this year. They are enrolled 2 mornings a week and always come home telling tales of the adventures they had that day. It's nice too, because they are the oldest kids in one of the programs and the youngest in the other, so they've learned to socialize on both ends of the spectrum. Their teachers are always complimentary about their manners, their intellect,their ability to play with other kids and look out for each other. I often wish I could observe them in this atmosphere as they sound like much better behaved kids there than they are at home! Their school pictures from last year can be seen here, and the dramatically different pictures from this year are below:

What a difference a year makes!

Lilly--always ready to cheese the camera!

Addy-she plays shy, but isn't at all!

One of their teachers snapped this shot for me--sisterly love at it's best...

Addy, at the head of the class, LOVES to paint and always has so much to tell me about on days when they do this.

Lilly in the middle of the table here, next to Addy, is a bit more skeptical about getting dirty with paints, but always loves to show off a finished creation.

19 months and LOTS of pictures!

The girls passed their 19 month mark last week, still not feeling 100% and still experiencing some serious snot, but after numerous doctor visits, the ear infections have cleared and we aren't infectious, so that is good. I want to try and get them back in their routine. We went to school Friday and got back school pictures that were taken a couple weeks ago (these are pictures of pictures, so forgive the quality, but I couldn't resist). Here is my happy-go-lucky Addy.......and my "I'm not smiling for a million bucks, have I told you about my ear infections Lilly...."

Unfortunately she looks more like the Mona Lisa than she does my kid, but chock it up for another funny memory! We've had Grandma & Grandpa Sadler here, so they've been spoiled all weekend, with new spring clothes and new "big-kid" chairs!

"Can't a girl have her bedtime snack and watch Elmo in peace?"--Addy

"Bedtime--who said anything about bedtime?"--Lilly

My good friend Jamie watched them on Thursday while I went to a lunch for work. She learned all about separation anxiety issues of a 19 month old! Here's a picture after my return...Thanks for your patience Jamie!

If you notice Lilly's cheek, we had an incident with a broken glass--we are lucky it wasn't worse and Daddy swears he'll foot the plastic surgeon bill if it leaves a scar!

Lastly, Addy and my dad share a special bond and have for a while. She adores when they are visiting and has needed some TLC this weekend as much of my time over the last few weeks has gone to Lilly. Here's a favorite picture of mine....