Now I Know My ABC's

This year at Paige's preschool they have been working really hard to learn all of their letters and I am really impressed by how far Paige has come.   It was really only a few months ago, around Christmas I believe, when Paige could't spell her name on her own.  These days she writes her name everywhere!  She has gotton so good in fact that she addressed 22 Valentine's Day cards all on her own, without complaining once.  Of course she only had to write her own name on each but did very well.  She has taken on a really big interest in knowing what words spell, or how to spell them and any chance she gets she likes to look at words and them copy them on her own onto abother piece of paper...without tracing! She asks me to write down various words for her, a favorite are her family members and pets.  She then writes them over and over.  She is so pleased with her writing telling me which word she is writing in lower case and which in upper case and she knows too!  The other morning she asked me to draw a stop sign, so I drew an octagon of course.  Paige then proceeded to add the post and what else?   S..T..O..P..I was floored!  She didn't see it anywhere to copy and she didn't ask me.  I am so proud of her!  Thank you to the YMCA for getting my baby ready for kindergarten!
Below is an example of what she has learned, she only had to ask me how to write 2 or 3 of the letters, the rest was all Paige.

Rock On!!

Just another cute little video of Quinn on my old rocking horse.  It is funny to think that 32 years ago, give or take, I rode on this very same pony.  Quinn is a natural, he just climbed right on and began rocking away!  Some how he figured out exactly how to move his body to get it flying all on his own.  Must be a boy thing. Or a future pony lover?  That sure would make his Grandma happy!
Giddy up!!!

Treasure Chest

My kids have this box of junk.  This really, really big box of junk.  I think everyone with kids has one, I know that my sister and I had one as kids, or maybe a dresser full.  This box contains the following: McDonald's happy meal toys, random toys from the dollar store, stocking stuffers, easter basket stuffers, birthday party prize bag toys, stickers, valentines, souviners from vacations, cars, blocks, random trinkets that hurt really bad when you step on them and stuff I don't know where to put.

So each time I clean their room I try to hide this box in the farthest corner of the closet, which is still clearly visible in their shallow closet.  But I stack alot of stuff on top of it in hopes of making it less appealing.  Nope, it never works.  Little by little this box makes its way out onto the floor and across the room.  Paige is the main culprit..this box is like candy to her...she just...can't...stay...away!  The thought has crossed my mind many times that if I just get rid of it as it is all junk anyway, their room would stay so much cleaner but I just can't do it.  And I won't of course because after all, it can entertain them for hours. 

Can You Say No???

My little pooh bear is really starting to say some real words.  He has had a handful that he has said for awhile now like touchdown, kitty, Tonka, Daddy and of course Paige whom he calls "G" (yes, I realize Mommy is sadly not on that list).  Lately I have noticed his words are getting more refined and he gets not only excited to use them but excited that we understand.  The latest is "Hi!".  He says it as soon as he sees me walk into a room or in the door after work, or in after taking out the trash or when he comes into a room.  I caught him the other night willing to demonstrate how he uses another favorite word, "No!" which is of course pretty cute to see.  Cute for now anyway because in no time I won't appreciate this word quite so much. 

No No No!!!

If you have heard me talk about my son you may have also heard me mention the fact that he doesn't listen to me...at all.  He is on the couch, on the chair and even on our kitchen table as of this past weekend.  I tell him "No!", he ignores me.  I tell him "Quinn!  No no!"  He ignores me.  I physically remove him from whichever object he is dominating to which he give me a blank look.  Then while heading directly back to where he was just removed he shakes his head and babbles "nun nun nun nun nun".  HE KNOWS!  So I assume that this is one of the differences in boys and girls...or at least a difference between my boy and girl.  Quinn is one determined little guy and it is nearly impossible to redirect him once he has his mind set to something.  See the vidoe below for a great example.  This time poor Tonka was the victim of Quinn and the most annoying toy ever!  This may be a good one to bring to Grannys house...he he he. 

Sidebar: Note how Quinn considers what he is about to do each time he assults the dog.

Now as I mentioned, Quinn ignores me.  But he does not ignore my husband.  I am amazed that I can scold him 10 times and nothing but one firm "Quinn, No." from Jeff and the world comes to an end...lip out...eyes brimming and frozen in his step like a little statute.  Where can I get some of that?
Actually as I write this that reaction is not as commom these days, I think Quinn is on to us...that if he waits long enough so that we are distracted by something else he can get away with it.

Lately Quinn is OBSESSED with phones, not my phone nearly as much as Jeff's phone and the cordless phones in the house.  The real kind that he can push numbers on and if he is lucky, and we aren't paying attention, he just may get some one to answer.  For example, yesterday at breakfast he was being naughty in his highchair trying to escape while I got everything ready so I gave him a phone to play with.  Next thing I knew I heard my Dad on speaker phone saying "Hello?  Hello?".  Happy Sunday Dad!  I am sure there will be many more unexpected calls to be had...at least you have caller ID.

So back to the cell phone, Quinn will get his hands on Jeff's phone at least once a day if not more, that and the remote.  Oh, I forgot about the remote and how he loves it so.  So what is more often to happen these days is when Quinn gets something he knows he shouldn't have he waits for us to notice.  I wish I had a video of the reaction Jeff gets from Quinn.  He will again say, "Quinn,  No No!"  To which Quinn's response is to throw whichever item he is holding in a knee-jerk reaction up into the air and run squealing with his belly out and arms back in the opposite direction.  It is priceless.  He loves this game.  Yep, it's all a game...

Lil' Slugger

Paige is very much into baseball these days and anything associated with it.  Recently we bought her a new batting helmet after she managed to clock herself in the head with a ball while playing in the basement.  Yes, I said in the basement.  Paige and Jeff practice batting and catching a few hours a week down there.  Trust me when I say, I am looking forward to Spring! 
The other night Quinn wanted to try on Paige's new batting helmet.  It is funny how they have nearly the same head size even though there is three years between them??  Quinn was so pleased with himself once the helmet was on, he beamed immediately, bobbled about the kitchen for a few minutes and then decided he was done.




And he couldn't get the helmet off fast enough!!!

Did I Say Thaw? I Meant Snow Day!

A couple of weekends ago we were hit AGAIN with over a foot of snow!  Luckily this time it came over a holiday weekend so the kids and I were home with nothing to do. Unfortunately the view below is not from my house....but it is from my sisters!  Pretty huh?

 My sister convinced us that we owed her a trip out to her neck of the woods so we packed up the car, picked up Grandma Cheri and headed to Eden Prairie to spend some time with our Auntie Shy and new cousins Erin and Emily. It was nice to visit with my sister, it is hard to find the time some days! 

 Our main goal on our visit was to do a little sledding since Shyan has a pretty good sized hill in her back yard.  Paige wasn't too sure at first but once I told her I would go with her she was ready to go.  Originally I was hoping to sit inside with Shyan, Grandma and Quinn and watch from the window but I quickly realized that if I wanted Paige to have some fun, it was going to take some work on my side.  Before we could go though we had some bundling to do.  Shyan was happy to help Paige get her snow gear on...

Paige of course had to make a silly event out of it...she looked a bit like a lion in the picture below!

Then out the door we went!  The snow was absolutely gorgeous but I underestimated the workout I would have to endure just to get through the 2 feet of snow in the ground working my way across the yard and up to the top of the hill.  Paige had a tough time too, she had to stay in the path of my footsteps in order to avoid falling repeatedly.  Once we were in place she was excited as was I .  It had been a very long time since I had the opportunity to go sledding in fresh, deep snow!  Paige and I shared a sled, it was a big hill.  Paige climbed into my lap and off we went, we both screamed the whole way down before spinning out at the bottom covered with snow.  Time to get up and do it again...however I didn't quite anticipate what it would take just to do that.  Did I already mention that I was getting quite the workout???

See below, the pictures speak for themselves.

Yep, that is what Mom's do.

Over and over and over again.

In the meantime... everyone else was watching from someplace warm...

Shyan did a great job keeping Quinn happy inside while Paige and I played outside. 

It was a good day...

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