l is for ladybug

I feel like I've strayed away from making crafts with Addie, so my new goal is to try to add in some crafts, because I know how much she loves them! So, here's what we came up with for ladybug...Addie painted two paper plates, cut one down the middle, glued them on, along with the googely eyes. She added some polka dots and Mama hot glued the antennas! Wah-laaa!

We also read the Ladybug Girl and a non-fiction book about ladybugs. Here's where I got the activities! Also, Addelyn is always drawn to lollipops and asks for one everytime we see them. So I got her one for her birthday but forgot to give it her. With all the cake, ice cream and treats I don't think she missed out, so it worked out perfect to give it to her on the day we did letter L!

k is for kite

For letter K, I found the activities here at Confessions of a Homeschooler. One of the activities was a "Roll-a-Kite" game. Addie has never played a game which included rolling the dice. She was so funny and would just place the dice on what number she wanted. The idea of tossing it up and letting it land randomly was completely out of her realm. Hee! Hee! I think I might have rolled the dice like her too, when I was a kid. 

 A couple days later, when there was a good amount of wind, we walked down to the park and flew our own kite. Addelyn seemed to really enjoy this and for the first thirty minutes wasn't even tempted by the playground near by.

j is for jellyfish

Addie has been so excited to learn about jellyfish! I had to hid the jellyfish book, so that it would remain a novelty. So we did some tracing and coloring for letter J and then we left to see some real jellyfish in the big city! Here's a link to some jellyfish activities.

As we were crossing the Bay Bridge we talked about all of the things we were seeing, like the new bridge being built, the big buildings, the sailboats, etc. Addie started saying, "Those buildings are pectacular!" At first, I couldn't quite make out what she was saying and then realized she was saying they were "spectacular! I have to give all the credit to our Sesame Street podcasts for that one!

Here's a couple more pictures at the Aquarium of the Bay.

I'm so bummed that Addie and Liam are out of focus in this picture, but it captured the view that Liam got to see too.

I know I've already posted a million pictures of him in his carseat, but he's so stinkin' cute I couldn't resist adding this one!

goodmorning

i is for inchworms

For letter I, we did some fun activities from the Confessions of a Homeschooler Blog, which included an adorable number sort. Addie had to count all of the holes each worm had eaten and match them up with the number on the worm. Also, I had bought a set of alphabet books with very easy and patterned sentences in them. For every new letter, Addie and I read one corresponding book and I make sure to point to each word as I read. I always read the book twice for repetition, hoping that maybe she will start recognizing the sight words or at very least make the connection that each group of letters makes a word.

Last, we went to the library for Insectaganza! A scientist from UC Davis came out and talked (a lot) to the kids about insects. Addie had difficulty, as many other youngsters did too, to keep her body still and turned into a wiggle worm, so we left a little early. But as the scientist began her talk, she asked how many species of insects people thought there were. Children and adults started tossing out numbers. Then Addie surprised me and raised her hand. I had no idea if she knew what they were talking about, so I just sat back waiting for her answer. When she was called on, she said, "Ummm...BUTTERFLY!" That gave everyone a good laugh and she came proudly running to me, to tell me she said, "butterfly!" Too cute.

h is for hippos

 Today we learned about hippos. I checked out some non-fiction children's books for her to get an up-close look at these pretty cool animals. We also did some number work, patterning, practicing of writing letter H, and last I read her the book Hanna Hippos Horrible Hiccups. After reading the book we went back through and picked out lots of the words that started with letter H. I wrote them down on our cut-out H. This was another attempt at helping her develop her comprehension.
Here is the link for letter H!

g is for garden

I found a really cute toddler pack on gardens for Addie. Here is the link. Below is a picture of her doing a vegetable/flower sort. It created all kinds of conversation about what the difference between the two is. We also read one of my favorite children's books, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! a story about some bunnies eating a man's garden. 

One of the things I think I could work on more with her is comprehension. Often times I read her books and then set it down and move on. There is so much more I could do with her, such as...What happened in that story? Who was in that story? Did you like that story? What would you have done if you were ______? So that is what I worked on most with her today and hope to continue to remember the importance of not just reading books but talking about them too.

to the beach!

Liam's first day at the beach! We had a great Sunday at our fav spot, Stinson Beach!

giggles

We've been getting some very audible chuckles from Liam!
Here's the best I could catch, while holding my cell phone for video.
What fun it is to hear those belly laughs!

grammy

Grammy got to come visit us for a few days. She made us her yummy fish tacos one night and treated Addie and I to pedicures. We did much more but for the most part it was one nice, laid-back visit! Oh, and how could I forget, she gave Kevin and I our first date night since Liam was born! We got to see the Doobie Brothers and Chicago! Thank you, thank you Grammy!

Grammy got Addie Kiwi Crates for her birthday! Each month Addie will receive an art activity in the mail with all the supplies included! Right up her ally, thank you so much Grammy!

turning three

I've been wanting to add a song to the blog for awhile now, but since I no longer have that capability, I had to come up with another way to document a special song to me. The song is "You and Me" by Frances England and I can hardly listen to it without tearing up. Here is a slideshow of Addelyn Ann, along with a song that will forever make me think of her.
I'm so proud of you Addie!

Also, I got the idea (from Pinterest, of course!) to ask Addie and Liam a set of questions every year starting on their third birthday. So... I put together my own list of questions and here was her replies. Enjoy!

1.     What is your favorite color? pink
2.     What is your favorite movie? This one! (holds up Finding Nemo)
3.     What is your favorite song? ABC’s
4.     What is your favorite toy? My princess puzzles
5.     What is your favorite book? This one! (brings out Berry Bitty Bakers a Strawberry Shortcake book she picked out herself on one of our trips to Barnes and Noble)
6.     What is your favorite activity? Read books…can I do puzzles too?
7.     What do you like to eat for breakfast? Yogurt and toast and bananas (she never eats yogurt but loves her toast and banana!)
8.     What do you like to eat for lunch? Mac and cheese
9.     What is your favorite snack? Fruit snacks
10. What do you like to eat for dinner? Potatoes! I love potatoes! (I'm pretty sure she's talking about when I make a baked potato bar)
11. Who is your best friend? Ummm…Dad…and Liam and you
12.  What do you want to be when you grow up? Breakfast! (after a little explaining what the question meant and giving some examples such as, astronaut, teacher, doctor, mommy, she replied with...) I need to be Addie!(Don't you just love her?!)

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addelyn's third birthday party

We celebrated Addie-girl's third birthday at Fenton's Creamery in Vacaville this year! (Much easier on Mama!) Our friends and family gathered for lunch and ice-cream cake! Then we headed outside to the Nut Tree Parkway and rode the carousel and train. It was once again a very hot day, but a good celebration of our sweet girl! Thank you family and friends for coming and making this a special day for her!

Addie loves balloons and asks for the them all the time. My response was always, "it's not your birthday, we'll get some balloons on your birthday." So we did it up big on the balloons and she loved them!

I dressed Liam up like a big boy for his sister's birthday!

I made birthday hats for all of the kids last year and none of them wore them except for Addie. So I decided not to make them this year. I think that might have been a mistake, according to Paige. Isn't she a little doll?!

Addie looks up to Paige's big sister, Allie, so much! She was happy to have her helping her open gifts again this year!

Paige calls one of her baby dolls, Liam. So it was a must that she get to hold the real Liam!

Addelyn's buddy Skylar, who just had a 3 year old birthday exactly one month before her!

Carousel ride with the Daddies!

And we ended the afternoon with a little train ride!

visitors

We've been having a great streak of family coming to meet Liam for the first time! This last week Auntie Jan, Gramma Jody and Grandpa Bill not only got to meet Liam for the first time, they got to help celebrate Addelyn's third birthday too! First we picked up Auntie Jan from the airport and later that evening Bill and Jody rolled into town! Here's a few pictures of the much anticipated visit...

Liam loved Auntie Jan and fell asleep on her right away. He gave her all sorts of smiles at just the sound of her voice.

"Will you play with me?" Addie would ask. She even let Auntie Jan read her bedtime stories!

I think Bentley was confused when he laid his head down on her leg. No Bentley that's not Auntie Pam!

At brunch with Gramma Jody. Sadly, I did not get any pictures with Grandpa Bill. Boo.

Getting the chuckles with Gramma Jody.

Goodbye smiles for Gramma Jody. We were so grateful for their long trek from Olympia, Washington.

happy independence day

love the widmers

fourth of july parade

We had to create a new tradition this year, since our family wasn't here to celebrate with us. So on the morning of the fourth we headed down to our city's parade. It was a good time until Addie had to go to the bathroom, which was across the street from where we were standing. So Kevin and Addie were part of the parade this year! Then Liam decided to have a complete blow out in the wrap! Quite an event, I must say!

f is for fireworks

It just happened to work out to do F on the Fourth of July! I didn't even realize how many F's were involved...fourth, flag, fireworks! It was fantastic! I found an adorable 4th of July packet and we did lots of the activities. Here's the link.

That morning I made French toast, even though I know it conflicts with the whole American holiday but hey, it starts with F! That night before fireworks, we made a flag fruit pizza and talked all about what the American flag looks like. It was a good day for letter F!

e is for elephant

After our E toast and eggs, we read, traced, colored and did an activity with some old Easter eggs. I put the capital letter on one half and the lower case letter on the other half. Addie had to find all of the matches and tell me the sound they made. She did great! 

I've kind of forgotten though the importance of not just reading stories to her, but talking about them as well. So my goal is to ask her what happened in the story, what was your favorite part, etc. I think she's so used to moving on to the next thing that retelling what happened, whether it be a story, what she ate for lunch or why she got a time-out is pretty challenging for her. 

Here's where you can find the E printables at the Confessions of a Homeschooler Blog.

girls night out

"Getting the grits" on her mama! Love her!

Addie and I had a much needed mother-daughter date this last weekend! I can't remember the last time it was just her and I, so it was very special to me and hopefully to her too.

We went to watch her friend, Allie, dance in her recital. My hope is that next year she will be in the same recital and just the thought of that makes me well up with tears. I could hardly hold them back while she sat in my lap and watched the girls perform. It was the same feeling I got when we checked out the preschool she'll be attending in the fall. I don't think all of the emotion is because I'm sad she is growing up, I think it's tears of joy and pride that I know I will have when I see her enjoying the opportunities we are fortunate enough to be able to give her.

As excited as I am for her (and Liam) though, I don't think I've ever wished so badly for time to just stand still. My heart sank today, as I turned over all of the calendars to July, the month our little girl turns 3 years old and our baby boy turns 3 months old. Gulp.

c is for camping

After some C English muffins and some cantaloupe, Addie and I did our camping activities. They included reading, lots of tracing, patterning, and a singing a song, "A Camping We Will Go." The unit was adorable and included so much more! It's here if you want to download it.

Since camping with a new baby isn't all that practical, Kevin set up the tent in our backyard and we made a fire and had some s'mores! Liam and I slept inside and I thought Addie and Kevin would make it through the night, but at about midnight Kevin brought her in and they both fell fast asleep indoors.

Liam enjoyed a little tent time too.