sense of humor

I think this little guy is going to have a good sense of humor. We get to catch him cracking up daily about something. Often times, it's his sister that is the catalyst. I don't think we can get enough! Here's a little clip of Liam cracking up over Addelyn smacking a balloon.

w is for watermelon

Addie loves watermelon! So how appropriate to do watermelon, even though it was a repeat from last year. We read books, practiced some W's, put together a little puzzle and later that week at preschool she happened to make a watermelon! I got the watermelon activities here.

v is for valentine

Valentine's in August??? Why not! Addie covets the Valentine's books and is attracted to anything pink with hearts, so we did Valentines as our theme. The preschool pack I downloaded also had a math activity which introduced addition. She did pretty good! We put together a math sentence and she had to put the chocolates in the heart shaped box and count them. We also read books, did a few more activities and last she made her Daddy a Valentine for when he came home later that night. The preschool pack can be found here.

u is for umbrella

I think we actually did this letter at the end of August and I'm just now getting around to posting this. I've lost my umph and my feet are dragging. School has started for both Addie and I and finding time to plan, print, check out books, etc. is hard to find. But I will push through, because I love to see her face light up when I tell her we are going to do a letter-of-the-day!

For letter U, we read an adorable book The Umbrella, which had beautiful illustrations but no words. So Addie and I added words. She did so good helping me talk about the adventure the little dog goes on with the umbrella in this book. We also practiced big to small and making some letter U's. I go most of the activities here.

hungry boy

Liam is just shy of his six month birthday now and has been eye-balling our food for quite some time. So Kevin and I thought it was time to pull out the highchair (feels like we just put it away) and give this boy his first meal! He was a little unsure of what to do with this new stuff (rice cereal and breastmilk) in his mouth but quickly figured it out. Solid foods here we come!

princess addelyn

Addie has most definitely caught the princess bug. I'm trying to keep her from becoming totally consumed, but boy, does Disney know what they are doing. 

A while back I had read the book The Help and I was quoting one of the sayings from that book to Addie. I said to her, "You are smart, you are kind, and you are important." Addie's reply... "And I a princess!"

This one's for you Auntie Jan!

In case, you are wondering this is Princess Rapunzel.

Cinderella crawled on our bed to watch herself in the mirror.

first day of preschool

Our baby girl was off to preschool this morning! What a surreal experience this was, to be a teacher and now on the other side dropping my own kid off! The tears flowed as I watched my self-assured little girl walk into her classroom and start on a craft. I'm looking forward to hearing all about friends, dress-up, snack-time, cubbies, songs, and more! Love you with all I've got Addie Ann!

Can hardly believe this day has come!

Yes, it's kind of a big deal around here!

I hope to make The Kissing Hand a tradition. Such a sweet story to send her off on her first day!

Growing up my parents would always take us out for breakfast on the first day of school. I decided to modify that a little and thought I'd decorate and make a special breakfast for her. When I listed off a couple of breakfasts I could make her she decided on blueberry pancakes. The first thing she said to me when I set this down in front of her was, "I don't like that." Lovely.

Our big girl walking into her classroom. Can't believe she looked back!

Cubbies!

She dove right in on her first craft!

We took a few more pictures and then said goodbye! Not a tear was shed...by her.

I went back a little early (okay I was the first one there) to spy. Hey, the teachers said it was okay!

This picture was taken through the window. They are singing songs and saying goodbye. If you look closely you can find our daughter facing the opposite way of all the other children. Ha! Ha! That's our girl...marching to the beat of her own drum.

At the end of the day. Sadly, she had woken up with a runny nose which turned into a cold, as you can see in her eyes here. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and then slept for another two hours. Needless to say we didn't return to preschool on Thursday.

camping for four

This Labor Day weekend we headed up to our friends' annual camping spot on the Mokelumne River. We had such a good time! Addie and Bentley played hard with the other kids and dogs. Liam swang under the trees and smiled at anyone that would look at him. Overall it was a success! Until...we packed up and headed back up the mountain and our car broke down. Fortunately our friends were close behind us. We barely had cell service but were able to get our car towed and a ride home with friends. Phew! There was only about $200 in repairs and if our car was ever going to break down it couldn't have gone any smoother. We can't thank our friends enough who so graciously rescued us!

Baby boy's first camping trip!

Our friends, the McMillen's.

pleasant surprises

The other morning I was in that really deep sleep, when Addie woke up and went into the office and made a little card for me. She came running in and woke me up with this sweetness!

Then a few days later she came into this kitchen with this card!!! I just about fell over! I had no idea she was capable of writing her name all by herself! Just a couple months past three years old and can write her name! UH-mazing! So proud of you Addelyn Ann! She told me she wrote an "M" for mom too.