Another busy week in the books here. We returned from our trip to New York and jumped right back into school. The week went swimmingly and was capped on Thursday by our first snow fall and our first delayed opening of school of the year. Lily and Jack had a great time playing in the snow but it was short lived and most of it is already gone.
On Friday night - in the cool temps - we visited a local park & garden that had a light set up. The kids walked through and checked out all the holiday lights and had a good time. We returned home for pizza and movie night - Charlotte's Web. The movie was a big hit, except when [spoiler alert] the spider died at the end. Needless to say, Lily was not too happy.
On Saturday, Lily and Jack spent some quality time with Aunt Kelly while Marcy and I did some shopping and purchased a new family mobile - we replaced Marcy's 2004 Honda Pilot with a 2011 model. Lily also got a fancy new haircut.
Sunday was Lily's last swim lesson session and then we spent the afternoon at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's where everyone took a turn at making holiday cookies.
That is all for now - no posts until the new year so happy holidays to all faithful reader(s).
The winter frost has set in but things are busy here. Lily and Jack had a great week at school. Jack keeps learning more and more and he is really becoming a little person. A little person that doesn't use the toilet, but a little person nonetheless. Lily is reading a writing machine. She works really hard to sound out words and is always writing notes. When the reading finally clicks for her, she is going to be a voracious reader. The numbers are really coming along as well.
Jack went to the doctor on Wednesday for his three year checkup. All went well and he is in perfect health. Jack weighed in at the 45th percentile in weight (31 lbs) and 65th percentile in height (38 inches).
We spent this past weekend in New York. The kids were great in the car and we had a relatively easy drive up to New York. Getting into the city through the Lincoln Tunnel was a disaster but next time we will be going by train. After a nice Friday night dinner with cousins Emilie and Stephanie we crashed for the night so we could have an early start on Saturday. The weaher was perfect and we hit Rockefeller Center, The Top of the Rock (the siteseeing platform on the top of Rockefeller Center), Central Park, the M&M store and then, after a nap, Union Square.
On Sunday, Lily, Marcy, Emilie and Stephanie headed off to the American Girl Store for breakfast with Lily's doll Julie. Jack and I had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then went to the Toys R Us in Times Square and rode the giant Ferris Wheel. After that we headed to the new Disney Store and Jack picked out a couple of Toy Story toys - one of which his sister has co-opted.
Happy 3rd Birthday Jack (tomorrow)! He is so excited and had a great birthday party yesterday with Mom, Dad, Aunt Kelly, Grandma Gail, Grandpa Tom, and Grandpa Maurice - he got some dress up clothes, camera, dj mixing table, computer, and magnifying glass/binonculars. He is very excited about bringing cupcakes to his classroom tomorrow to celebrate!
We have also been in the midst of our Hanukah celebration - the kids have been lighting the candles on their menorahs and have been opening a gift each night courtesy of Aunt Donna and Uncle Stephen. The kids also got great Hanukah presents from Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice - a Nintendo DS for Lily which she loves and a toy boat for Jack.
A busy Thanksgiving week is behind us and we are rocketing into the holiday season. Hanukkah on Wednesday, Jack's birthday next week and Christmas and New Year's right around the corner.
Thanksgiving was a smashing success with family visits from Casey, Tracy and Stan and cousins Emilie and Stephanie. We spent the morning at a Turkey Trot that Marcy, Kelly and Tracy ran and the kids ran a short Turkey Trot. The afternoon was filled with some quality time with family over turkey. Friday was decorating Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's Christmas tree with Casey, Tracy and Stan and Cousin Emilie. The tree decorating was interrupted by a visit from Santa who brought some early presents for the kids - books and new stuffed animals.
Saturday was more tree decorating at our house. Lily and I spent the afternoon visiting with Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice. Sunday was a catch up day as Marcy and the kids went to an indoor water park and played around the house. Aunt Kelly arrived to move in for a little bit while she gets resettled in the area and starts her new job.
Lily had her first homework assignment - making a turkey out of materials we already had in our house. She worked very hard on her turkey and had show-n-tell on Friday where she explained the items she used in her creation. Jack had a really good week at school, he has been coming home singing all of the songs he learns in music class.
On Saturday, we had breakfast and went to the local Thanksgiving Day parade with friends Maddie, Claire, Eliza, Beatrice, and Charlotte - the kids were mesmerized by the dancers, floats, and Santa - and loved all the candy that was thrown. Later that day, Aunt Kelly arrived (officially) into town w/ her truck full of belongings and Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom joined us for unpacking and dinner. The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the beautiful weather outside - which included a scooter/bike ride.
Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. - Happy Birthday wishes to Daisy who turned 1 (7 in dog years) today.
Working on the turkey.
Horsing around.
More work on the turkey.
The final product.
Checking out the parade. Jack has his Thanksgiving crown on.
Lily and Jack had a great week at school. On Thursday, we had Lily's parent/teacher conference - Lily is progressing well with letters, sounds, writing, identifying words, and spelling - her teacher says she is on the cusp of reading and she is already identifying multiple "sight" words and is reading short sentences. Mrs. P says she is a "delight" to have in class! On Friday, we had an international dinner at Jack's school - he was very excited about his first school event. The kids sang songs in Spanish and although Jack did not sing, he did stand on stage with the rest of the kids. For a few weeks, he was struggling when we dropped him off at school - was very clingy - but in the past week he has improved and runs right in to play with his friends. He is also making minor progress with toilet training, asking to use the toilet more often.
On Saturday, we visited the Air & Space Museum in VA - it is a huge hangar filled with planes and spaceships and was definitely worth the trip! Later we visited with Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice. On Sunday, Lily had her swim lesson, she is able to swim continuously half way across the pool, and is getting pretty good at breathing. Later in the day, we went on a bike/scooter ride to the playground, and Lily and Mom went on a bike ride together, Lily is mastering getting up hills so we are actually able to go on a real bike ride now.
A full week of school/work for all, and then we are looking forward to Kelly officially moving back this weekend, and visits from Tracy/Stan/Casey, and Emilie and Stephanie! Lily and Jack want to send out special hugs and kisses to Daisy who will be celebrating her 1st birthday on Monday November 22 - Daisy still loves to chew and can get a little wild but she is definitely fun to play with.
Another fun week in the books. Lily had no school on Monday and Tuesday, and Jack stayed home both days too. On Monday, the kids had morning play dates with Maddie and Claire and later we finished up our winter clothing shopping and had dinner with Grandma Gail and Aunt Kelly. On Tuesday Aunt Kelly spent the day with the kids and took them to a local aviation museum, they had fun getting dressed up and checking out the planes. Finally, Wednesday was back to school! Picture day at Jack's school was on Thursday, hoping we got a good pic of the two of them because Lily's school pic was a little funky (but aren't they all). On Friday, Lily had a K-2 social at her school, with pumpkin bowling, crafts, pizza and just running around with her friends.
On Saturday, Jack picked out his first bike, he was very excited but he needs a little work figuring out the pedals - after his second attempt, he said "I think there is something wrong with this bike. I need a new bike." Then he proceeded to try to ride the bike while sitting backwards, something that would never have occurred to Lily - he is a clown.
On Saturday night, we hung out with Hayley, Cole, Ms. Michelle, and Mr. John and had fun as always.
On Sunday, we celebrated Yellow Grandma's 90th birthday - she turns 90 today! Lily and Jack send out special birthday hugs and kisses to Yellow Grandma and we are very happy that we got to share in such a special occasion.
Lily and Jack are also very excited that their Aunt Kelly is officially moving back to the area with a brand new job - congrats Aunt Kelly!!
Halloween festivities galore this week! On Friday morning, Jack had his school parade, breakfast, and mini concert. Jack LOVES his music teacher, Ms. Jan, and sings the songs all the time but when it came time for the big moment, he was extremely shy and did not really want to stand on the stage. He was very excited about dressing up as Spiderman though, and Lily enjoyed visiting her alma mater for the breakfast.
On Friday afternoon, Lily had her school vocabulary parade - they made their own costumes and Lily chose the color red and strawberry - she spelled it 'strobare' which was a very good effort! After the parade, Kelly, Jack, and I joined Lily in her classroom for her party. Lily was a great big sister and included Jack in the games and story time, he got to sit on the mat with all of the other kids, and when Lily's teacher, Mrs. P., asked the kids what animal they saw, Jack yelled out the correct animal - he loved kindergarten and is counting down until 2013! ;)
We had a fun weekend - movie night with Aunt Kel on Friday and a playdate with a neighbor on Saturday. On Sunday, Lily had her first swim lesson and did very well - she may need to be in a more advanced class, her freestyle is advancing quickly and she is doing pretty well with breathing. On Sunday afternoon, Lily had a gymnastics birthday party, and later we went on a walk/scooter/bike ride - both Lily and Jack went the farthest they have ever gone, they are both getting pretty good. The walk was to distract the kids because they were all hopped up for trick-or-treating, counting down the minutes. Jack decided to be Batman and Lily was a vet. Lily ran from house to house with friends Maddie, Pierce, and Eileen, and Jack and Claire managed to keep up. Jack was excited by every piece of candy he received, and was very deliberate with his choices when offered the candy bowl, Lily was all about accumulating as much as she could - Jack was most excited by the glow bracelet and paper airplanes he received. We covered several streets and were out for a good hour and a half. Once they got home, Jack chose to eat crackers he received, and Lily tried a few things but stuck with a chocolate bar as her favorite.
Today, Lily did not have school, so the kids stayed home and they had a playdate with Maddie and Claire, and then we headed to the mall with Grandma Gail and Kelly - we made some final winter garb purchases in anticipation of snow (Dec??) and our CO ski trip in January.
Lily and Jack want to send out special birthday wishes to Great Aunt Donna who is celebrating her birthday on Thursday!
Enjoy the pics and video!
Jack at his Halloween soiree.
A little stage fright.
Playing in the leaves.
Lily as a strawberry at her Halloween parade.
Jack joining in the kindergarten class.
Clowning around.
The vet and Batman ready for some trick or treating.
This week Lily went on a field trip to a local farm where she fed the goats, saw some piglets and calf, and picked a pumpkin - Mom chaperoned and it was a lot of fun seeing all of the kindergartners in action.
On Saturday, we had our annual neighborhood Halloween Festival (which Mom co-planned). It started out with a neighborhood costume parade in which Jack and Lily held the banner, and culminated with fun on the moonbounce, ghost bowling, and three-legged and egg/spoon races. As you will see Lily is a vet and Jack chose to be Spiderman over Batman (will see what he chooses for Halloween). They were thoroughly exhausted and we had an early dinner with friends Andy and Jen, and an early bedtime.
On Sunday, we carved pumpkins and celebrated Dad's birthday with Grandma Gail, Grandpa Tom, and Grandpa Maurice - Lily and Jack send out special get well wishes to Grandma Phyllis.
Jack as Spidey: "I'm going to get you!" (he really has no idea who Spiderman is but he makes a cute/funny one.)
Lily wrote a book of nonfiction this week about animals, it was extremely creative and the facts were correct. Today she came home from school and carved a pumpkin for fairies, I believe it is sitting out front with leaves and sticks waiting for the fairies. She was very excited to get a new nonfiction library book which tells all about pumpkins - she gets to check out a new book every Monday. She is also very excited because she is the line leader at school this week and on Friday they have a parade in which they will dress up using vocabulary words (education for Halloween, no dress up).
