What a day...

a wet, cold day to be exact. We stayed home nearly all day Saturday--aside from a trip to the grocery store where my children were perfect angels despite the time being just before lunch and nap. After the grocery story trip, lunch, and nap (this has a very loose definition); W and L did Christmas crafts, built towers, made banana muffins, and watched a movie. I have a few things hung around the house from W when he was less than 2--he loved craft time. But, L doesn't really have anything so Christmas craft time was a must do!

Christmas crafts involve glitter--YIKES! It only comes out once a year because it takes nearly the whole year to get all the glitter up. W and L decorated snowflakes, Christmas trees, and circles as their little hearts desired. L had a blast. She was very serious and thorough with each of her projects. W really just wanted to deal in glitter, which made a BIG mess for me to clean up. The big clean up is totally worth all the fun.


W and L start off the Christmas crafting



Check out the mess!

W and L building their towers while waiting patiently for supper

W mashing bananas for banana bread. They both love to help bake. L is a little too helpful at times, but fun nonetheless. The both enjoy measuring, pouring and stirring

W and L eating popcorn while watching "The Race to Witch Mountain". L kept sneaking banana muffins, too.

And finally, the Christmas art for 2009

Reindeer Run

Saturday morning we got up, bundled up, and headed to Macon for the annual Reindeer Run/Santa Stroll with our friends, the Smiths. It is an annual fundraiser for the children's hospital in Macon. This was W's and L's first race (W is ready to do another one--I think we will in Jan.). We did the stroll which was 1 full mile including hills. W did great...as soon as Santa waved the flag to begin the race, W was off. He ran most of the way. Of course, he'll tell you he ran the whole thing and that he won! L ran a little, walked a little, and got carried a little. She gets a little nervous in large crowds, but I think she would have ran the whole way with W otherwise. The most exciting thing for L that day was SANTA! She just kept watching a him and pointing to him and whispering his name.





...and he's off! ( you see him, he is the littlest one in red)

waiting for us at the finish line.

The Crew

Soccer season is over...for now, that is. W is still really enjoying soccer. Aside from one "incident" he always looks forward to soccer. The one incident happened during a practice when W was playing rough with one of his teammates and then carried it over to one the girls. He pushed her over while she was dribbling the ball and that resulted in W having to run a lap around the field. He was so embarrassed, he never wanted to go back on the field. To bad for W, his mom has a "get back on the horse" policy. L was W's cheerleader this season. I made her a little shirt with the team name "CREW" on it (she is wearing W's old soccer uniform in the picture, she insisted!)and she went to every practice and game to support her big brother. W's turn is coming as soon as L is old enough to participate in sports/dance.

It is hard to hear the video of Coach Scott over the carrying on of W and his buddy Aiden--but, you can see W receive his trophy and the proud look on his face.

Hoedown

I know I have been a naughty blogger...I am catching up so Santa won't put me on the "THE LIST"!

A few weeks ago, W and I went to a school dance--the Mother-Son Hoedown. W wore his best western wear and was mighty dashing. We had a lot of fun. There were many activities including line dancing, carnival games, and a hay ride. The hay ride was by far W's favorite; we had to do that 3 times. W was excited to see one boy in particular from his class, he calls him John Pon (W's teach gave "nicknames" to everyone in the class for rhyming--W is William billiam). He is pictured with W.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was loads of fun for W and L. W was the Bumble Bee Transformer and L was a monkey. She was all set to be a bumble bee but when I found that monkey costume in a box, I knew it had to be worn one more time. I did have to squeeze her into the costume, though. The festivities actually started for them on Wednesday night when we attended "trunk or treat" at the base chapel with W's buddies Aiden and Ethan, followed by parties at school, and then Halloween day activities. We started Halloween night off at Publix (just in case later trick or treating got rained out) where both children played little carnival games that were set up in each of the grocery depts. and "won" candy. After that, we headed over to our friend's house--The Smiths...Phil, Tracy, Lindsay, and Jillian--and the tricking or treating started. The group of them happily went door to door and watched their bags fill with delicious and highly desired candy. Fun was had by both W and L...but, W pooped out long before L. You can see in one of the pictures that W is in the stroller and L is on the toddler step on the back.

Out after dark...

We are seldom out after dark, since that would lead to a late bedtime. An exception was made so we could do the 6-acre corn maze at Lane Packing. I though that W might be a little afraid but, he wasn't the least bit scared and didn't mind going ahead of me to check things out. Of course, he did have the safety flag with him. That flag was just in case you couldn't get out, you raised it up in the air and they came to you. L wasn't even afraid...although, I was a little afraid of losing her since she was wearing navy and it was pretty dark in the field. The only lights were at the four corners of the 6 acres. Also, throughout the maze they had signs with text numbers to call for directions from that point (we used it once) and conundrums for pure entertainment.

Getting ready to go into the maze

The first riddle...corny, just the way I like it

one of many help signs

the way the field looked to us

W and L in the middle of the field

the three of us

W and L forging ahead

finally we are out

Saturday we went to the Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival and enjoyed some local entertainment. W and L both rode horses. W has done it before but, this was L's first time. I was pretty sure she would freak out but, she did pretty good on the horse ride. We also did a hay ride and enjoyed a local bluegrass band. William had a lot of fun dancing while he was waiting on funnel cake from Grandma and Grandad.

 

This is W with his class on 50's day at school. Today was the fiftieth Day of school and the celebrated by dressing in that decade. Then they had a sock hop.

W's rules for Mommy

W has a pretty standard rule for me which he makes clear each time we drive on base. His rule is that "you can't talk to boys mommy", so I always explain to him that Mommy has to be polite and that means speaking even if it's a boy.
Well, we were driving home the other day and W tells me I didn't break two rules only 1. I asked him to tell me the two rules. W replied "You're not allowed to talk to boys--you didn't break that one..." and " No blowing wind". I immediately start laughing b/c my toilet humor leads me straight to flatulence. But, what W meant was that I could not put his window down and let the wind blow in--he had just combed his hair and this is very serious work for him.

Go Crew

This is W and L pre-game. L is wearing her "Go Crew" soccer outfit that I made for her hastily one night.

Soccer Season

Soccer season is in full swing. W's team is called The CREW and he is loving it. He practices 2 nights a week and then has a game every Saturday. Poor W spends most of the game watching his shadow as he runs with the group across the field, he is making improvements in his game, though. We have little pep talks before practices and games to ensure he is thinking about the ball and not his shadow. He is pretty sure he is the fastest on the team--in reality, he may be the slowest but, he never gets discouraged. L is quite the little spectator. Except during practices she likes to run onto the field and give W a very emphatic "no" paired with a finger point. She then proceeds to strut off the field like she has done something important. These are pictures and videos from his first game and some from the opening ceremonies. There will be plenty of soccer pictures to follow.

L's Birthday

L had a small birthday celebration including her second annual purse cake and presents. She waited very patiently to blow out her candles and eat her cake. She was such a girl with her presents--she had many "ooh" and "ahh" sound effects. L has mostly enjoyed her princess shoes which she wears daily. She also really likes making "necklaces" with her stringing bead--she does love to accessorize.

W's first day of school

W started pre-K about 3 weeks ago (I know I am a little late with pictures). These are pictures from his first day. This was the only day I could take pictures because from the second day on he has requested that I not walk him to class. So, everyday I walk him to the front of the school and he takes it from there... he is such a big boy and I am so proud of him!
First thing when he gets in his room, he selects his lunch item. Then he puts his nap mat in his cubby, agenda in the agenda box, and backpack on the hook. After that he finds his seat and starts the activities for his day.

She's a big girl!

L had her 2-year well check today. She weighed in at 29.12 lbs. (83%ile) and her height was 35.5" (92%ile). She was terrific at her appointment today!

My little L is 2!

My little L... You have not idea how much I love looking back through pictures and seeing how much she has grown or how hard it is to select just a few (this is a few compared to the amount of pictures I have). Every moment photographed is a distinct memory and looking at the pictures instantly brings the memory of that moment back. L has changed so much. She has hair for one thing--WOOHOO! Her very sweet and sassy, girly personality is fully blossoming and I LOVE IT!

Music Factory

This weekend we went to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame for a Children's show in downtown Macon. There was a children's musician there for 2 hours, the first hour she performed and the second hour was open mic for the children. Much to my surprise W jumped up and did 3 songs--Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and ABC's (twice). He definitely doesn't get this extroverted behavior from me. I am the person who had stage fright so terribly in 8th grade I made the second chair trumpeter play my first chair solo--more about me--although, I did redeem myself my senior year of high school when I had a solo that had to be played every Friday in front of an entire stadium of people and during competitions. Okay so, W sang 3 songs all the while L refused to get out of her stroller (that sounds more like me). L eventually got out after the show was over and played with all the neat instruments available.

W Through his 4 Years

These are a few, okay a lot, of pictures of W from the beginning until now. I tried to make it my favorties but really, they are all my favorties. Every picture of W makes me smile and has a special memory. I guess you are lucky that this isn't over a 1,000 pictures.

He's 4

We celebrated W's 4th birthday at the Museum of Aviation. William had a blast. All the children put of flight suits and toured a C-130. They learned about the different things the c-130 carries including vehicles, which they seemed to think wouldn't fit in a c-130. W tried on a parachute backpack while the tour guide talked about the jump signals and other aspects of jumping. During this L decided she wanted to put on a flight suit and stand with her brother. After a jump demonstration with W and his buddy Brenden, they watched a video of an actual jump. After all the jumpers were out of the plane W exclaims "hallelujah". Following the c-130 tour the children assembled gliders and headed outside for a glider contest. Everything wrapped up on the 3rd floor in the Victory Cafe where they all had hot dogs, chips, cake, and ice cream.

Monkey see...

W got a tattoo so, L got a tattoo


W had to use a bucket at a cup so, L had to use a bucket as a cup


W had to drink pickle juice so, L had to drink pickle juice. That's a big EWWW! to me.

L while enjoying some peanut butter toast