Thursday, October 25, 2012
Balls
Ian's parents sent chocolate balls in a Halloween gift they sent. Graham
and Harper were eating some and Graham kept saying, "My balls are so
good. They taste sooo awesome. Harper, did you want to taste my
balls?" To which Harper replied. "Graham I am not interested in your
balls." Good girl.
Friday, October 19, 2012
All Things Graham
Graham's schedule is easy- he goes to school Tuesday and Thursday mornings and hangs with me the rest of the time. He loves to go to the Farmer's Market, the library, the grocery (especially Trader Joe's where he can push his own little cart and shop for what he wants- peanuts, dried fruit, fruit, chips, cereal). He still gets at least 1 playdate a week with his best bud, Charlie. They are hilarious together and it gives Graham time to be a boy without someone wondering why he is crashing his toys into theirs.
Graham loves to play doctor, cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and restaurant. He likes to color and help cook. He loves to be outside racing his big dump truck, sliding and playing basketball. He also loves to look at books and to listen to books on cd.
His favorite characters are Captain America, Batman, Superman, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Fireman Sam. He loves movies such as The Lion King, Cars, Nemo and Mater's Tall Tales. He loves to dance to Harper's dance parties, or in department stores, or the car.
He now outweighs Harper by 2 pounds, but she definitely isn't his little sister. He loves to be with his sisters and will even play Barbies or babies to be with them (although this usually involves a car or boat as well!)
I ask Graham every day, "Who loves you the most?" He says, "Mom and Dad, Lucy and Harper".
Graham loves to play doctor, cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and restaurant. He likes to color and help cook. He loves to be outside racing his big dump truck, sliding and playing basketball. He also loves to look at books and to listen to books on cd.
His favorite characters are Captain America, Batman, Superman, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Fireman Sam. He loves movies such as The Lion King, Cars, Nemo and Mater's Tall Tales. He loves to dance to Harper's dance parties, or in department stores, or the car.
He now outweighs Harper by 2 pounds, but she definitely isn't his little sister. He loves to be with his sisters and will even play Barbies or babies to be with them (although this usually involves a car or boat as well!)
I ask Graham every day, "Who loves you the most?" He says, "Mom and Dad, Lucy and Harper".
All things Harper
Harper's weekly schedule:
Sat, Sun and Mon- free!
Tuesday: school and ballet
Wed: School
Thursday: school and usually a playdate
Friday: school
Harper loves school and ballet. She loves all her new friends in both. She has a new teacher in school this year and loves the changes that being one of the big kids brings: weighing things on scales, art projects, feeding the fish, banging the cymbols to get the class' attention. She has repeatedly earned stickers for her going the extra mile behavior- helping a fellow student or cleaning up things that others had messed. She is a leader in the class and that is exactly how she likes it.
At ballet she is a super rule follower. Mrs. Houghton keeps a tight ship and Harper loves to show off how disciplined she can be. Some of her best friends are in the class with her: Lila, Penny and Rachel as well as her past ballet friend, Hayden. Recently I peeked behind the curtain to watch a moment of class. When I commented to Harper later that I could see her "running around thr room" she stopped me in my tracks. "Mom, I was not running. We don't run in ballet class. We arabesque, plie, leap, twirl and tip toe. We do not run." Many hand gestures, facial expressions and a mom-you-embarrass-me voice rounded out the exchange.
At home Harper is all bout Littlest Pet Shop, Barbies, baby dolls, playing doctor and dressing up. She also loves to look at books, listen to books on cd and "do homework" which are pre-k and kindergarten appropriate workbooks. She loves to demonstrate how smart she is. And she is very smart, can't wait until she is reading, she will absolutely love it. When not doing these things she loves to dj house dance parties. Her faves to play are One Direction, Kesha, Britney, and Katy Perry.
And she eats. The littlest one in the house often eats more than any of us on any given day. Graham weighs 2 pounds more than her, but she easily eats 2-3 more plates of food than he does each day. Hummingbird!
Sat, Sun and Mon- free!
Tuesday: school and ballet
Wed: School
Thursday: school and usually a playdate
Friday: school
Harper loves school and ballet. She loves all her new friends in both. She has a new teacher in school this year and loves the changes that being one of the big kids brings: weighing things on scales, art projects, feeding the fish, banging the cymbols to get the class' attention. She has repeatedly earned stickers for her going the extra mile behavior- helping a fellow student or cleaning up things that others had messed. She is a leader in the class and that is exactly how she likes it.
At ballet she is a super rule follower. Mrs. Houghton keeps a tight ship and Harper loves to show off how disciplined she can be. Some of her best friends are in the class with her: Lila, Penny and Rachel as well as her past ballet friend, Hayden. Recently I peeked behind the curtain to watch a moment of class. When I commented to Harper later that I could see her "running around thr room" she stopped me in my tracks. "Mom, I was not running. We don't run in ballet class. We arabesque, plie, leap, twirl and tip toe. We do not run." Many hand gestures, facial expressions and a mom-you-embarrass-me voice rounded out the exchange.
At home Harper is all bout Littlest Pet Shop, Barbies, baby dolls, playing doctor and dressing up. She also loves to look at books, listen to books on cd and "do homework" which are pre-k and kindergarten appropriate workbooks. She loves to demonstrate how smart she is. And she is very smart, can't wait until she is reading, she will absolutely love it. When not doing these things she loves to dj house dance parties. Her faves to play are One Direction, Kesha, Britney, and Katy Perry.
And she eats. The littlest one in the house often eats more than any of us on any given day. Graham weighs 2 pounds more than her, but she easily eats 2-3 more plates of food than he does each day. Hummingbird!
All things Lu
Here is Lucy's schedule for the Fall 2012:
Sunday: Soccer game in am, winter swim in the pm
Monday: School, Running Club and or Brownies
Tuesday: School, Chess Club
Wednesday: School, usually a playdate
Thursday: School, playdate with Kes and straight to soccer practice
Friday: School
Saturday: Soccer
Add in her first year for studying for tests, homework, chores and a super busy social calendar and we barely see her and she barely sits. When she does have free time she usually heads outside to ride her bike, swing, or climb trees. She also loves art projects, playing with her Jupiter Juice and reading, reading and reading. She especially loves Magic Treehouse books or anything nonfiction involving American history or animals. Her favorite tv shows right now are Brady Bunch reruns and Call of the Wildman (or Turtleman, as she calls him). She also loves Animal Planet programs.
She loves being in second grade and her teacher, Ms. Stobbe who is young and energetic and loves to encourage Lucy's empathetic nature. Lucy, for the 3rd year in a row has gotten comments from her homeroom teacher in the first month of school about her ability to empathise with students who are having trouble adjusting to being back in school. She truly is a friend to everyone in her class and tries to include those who are often left out, at least while in school, as much as possible. Good kid!
Sunday: Soccer game in am, winter swim in the pm
Monday: School, Running Club and or Brownies
Tuesday: School, Chess Club
Wednesday: School, usually a playdate
Thursday: School, playdate with Kes and straight to soccer practice
Friday: School
Saturday: Soccer
Add in her first year for studying for tests, homework, chores and a super busy social calendar and we barely see her and she barely sits. When she does have free time she usually heads outside to ride her bike, swing, or climb trees. She also loves art projects, playing with her Jupiter Juice and reading, reading and reading. She especially loves Magic Treehouse books or anything nonfiction involving American history or animals. Her favorite tv shows right now are Brady Bunch reruns and Call of the Wildman (or Turtleman, as she calls him). She also loves Animal Planet programs.
She loves being in second grade and her teacher, Ms. Stobbe who is young and energetic and loves to encourage Lucy's empathetic nature. Lucy, for the 3rd year in a row has gotten comments from her homeroom teacher in the first month of school about her ability to empathise with students who are having trouble adjusting to being back in school. She truly is a friend to everyone in her class and tries to include those who are often left out, at least while in school, as much as possible. Good kid!
Super Graham is 3!
Graham turned 3 after 2 months of talking about his birthday. He was pretty certain that he wanted a Super Hero Birthday for about 2 months. What that really meant for a 3 year old party is that everyone wore their own capes (BYOC!) and Graham handed out masks and super hero shields to everyone. We hung "bad guys" which were really Halloween mummies, witches and skeletons so the boys could battle them with bean bags and save the day!
Graham had a wonderful time and is already planning his birthday party for next year. But he is cherishing being 3. He knows how to show you "3" 3 different ways on his fingers and he constantly tells me that he is a big boy. But a big boy that still hugs me everytime he hasn't seen me for 5 minutes, and who cuddles with me in bed nearly every morning. He also says, "my mom loves me the most!" That I do.
Graham had a wonderful time and is already planning his birthday party for next year. But he is cherishing being 3. He knows how to show you "3" 3 different ways on his fingers and he constantly tells me that he is a big boy. But a big boy that still hugs me everytime he hasn't seen me for 5 minutes, and who cuddles with me in bed nearly every morning. He also says, "my mom loves me the most!" That I do.
Olympic Fun for 7!
Lucy celebrated her 7th birthday with an Olympic Birthday Party with 25 of her favorite friends. The girls came in to the tunes of the Olympiad, donned glittery makeup and hair gel like the US gymnasts and nibbled on red, white and blue fare (chocolate covered marshmallows dipped in colored sprinkles were the crowd fave!) Once everyone had arrived the games began.
Each girl first tried out their shot put with water balloons aimed at a target (bravely held in place by Ian who got his share of water balloons to the shoulder). Once each girl had a go at it a few times, we moved onto the gymnastics portion of the program where they each had to walk across our newly made balance beam and give us a spectacular dismount- this was the girls' favorite competition. Third, the girls broke into relay teams to do happy hopper races. Finally, we broke out Lucy's favorite tunes to allow the girls to perform dance and gymnastics moves with their new ribbon sticks.
Soccer, tether ball, swing added to the sportiness and all seemed to have a great time. Lucy gave out gold medals and red, white and blue candy (twizzlers, blue pixie stix and white candy stick) as favors and thanked everyone for coming.
Next year I'm aiming for a 3 girl sleepover!
Each girl first tried out their shot put with water balloons aimed at a target (bravely held in place by Ian who got his share of water balloons to the shoulder). Once each girl had a go at it a few times, we moved onto the gymnastics portion of the program where they each had to walk across our newly made balance beam and give us a spectacular dismount- this was the girls' favorite competition. Third, the girls broke into relay teams to do happy hopper races. Finally, we broke out Lucy's favorite tunes to allow the girls to perform dance and gymnastics moves with their new ribbon sticks.
Soccer, tether ball, swing added to the sportiness and all seemed to have a great time. Lucy gave out gold medals and red, white and blue candy (twizzlers, blue pixie stix and white candy stick) as favors and thanked everyone for coming.
Next year I'm aiming for a 3 girl sleepover!
Barbie says, "Shhhhh..."
Ahhh, our house. I literally count the minutes some days until it is quiet. We all know and it is well documented that Lucy has the gift of gab, even if she isn't talking to anyone but herself. And then there is Harper who also likes to chat, and sometimes to herself, but also in a high pitched "this is me being a girl" voice. Or she is screaming at Graham. Or Lucy. Or she is telling me a 23 minute account of a 25 minute show she saw 2 weeks ago. Complete with hand gestures. And then there is Graham. Our once quiet Graham who couldn't hear the world but then got tubes a year ago and now talks perhaps more than anyone in the house, but with crashing noises, occasional falling down, repetition, and a sense of humor all his own. Add Kidz Bop, Lucy's One Direction, Harper's ever going dance party, my talk radio and all the other household noises that just happen with 5 people around and you get one noise saturated house.
With that being said. I had low expectations today when the girls were dropped off at school and I had Graham to myself this morning to be followed by Harper and her friend Anna for the afternoon. So I was very surprised when my little man carried his Spider Man car downstairs next to where I was working and began playing. But not with Spider Man. With Barbies. Folks, he played with Barbies for 3 hours today. Even when the girls came home and they moved onto other things. He played with Barbies. He took all of their clothes off and chose new ones for each one. I helped him dress them but then he would disappear again to put them in the giant pink Barbie car and away they would go. In almost silence. So quiet. So uninterrupted. Work was finished. Chores were finished.
I know what some people think about boys playing with dolls. But I will take it any time. It made him happy but most importantly, it made things quiet. Quiet, in the middle of the day.
With that being said. I had low expectations today when the girls were dropped off at school and I had Graham to myself this morning to be followed by Harper and her friend Anna for the afternoon. So I was very surprised when my little man carried his Spider Man car downstairs next to where I was working and began playing. But not with Spider Man. With Barbies. Folks, he played with Barbies for 3 hours today. Even when the girls came home and they moved onto other things. He played with Barbies. He took all of their clothes off and chose new ones for each one. I helped him dress them but then he would disappear again to put them in the giant pink Barbie car and away they would go. In almost silence. So quiet. So uninterrupted. Work was finished. Chores were finished.
I know what some people think about boys playing with dolls. But I will take it any time. It made him happy but most importantly, it made things quiet. Quiet, in the middle of the day.
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