Tie Day

Dr Seuss's birthday is March 2nd so this week the kids have theme days. Yesterday was PJ day which was very exciting for the girls. Today is Tie Day. Emma chose to wear one of Marc's ties...it has Winnie the Pooh on it! Olivia wanted to make a bow tie. I used the sash from her curtains for that...it's the best we could come up with and she loved it so that's what counts!

Today is also Marcus/Mommy day. Daycare is closed because one of her kids has strep throat and his fever won't break so she needs to get him to the doctor today and change up his meds. I have a tough act to follow though. Yesterday Marc took Marcus to the YMCA to go swimming. He had a blast! Not sure how I'm going to top that! Right now I'm teaching him how to write his name...so far he's having fun (I think).

Wow! Snow!

We had enough of this cabin fever and went out to play in the snow this afternoon. Boy was it snowing too!

Marc took the kids across the street to sled down the neighbor's hill. WEE!!!

They climed up...

And went down...

So much fun!

We LOVE snow!

We tried to tie Tucker on to pull them in the end...he wasn't too sure about that.

Go Tucker Go!

All the kids were soaking wet, but it was a ton of fun!

Dynamic Gymnastics

We went to a birthday party at a place called Dynamic Gymnastics on Saturday. It was a great place! The kids started out stretching and then had free play with rings, balance beams, bars, a play gym and even a trampoline! (I forgot my camera so these pics are from my phone...I so wish I would have had my camera...)

Then it was parachute time. They got a kick out of that! They played all sorts of games with the parachute.

Each kid got a turn to sit in the middle...what fun!

Then we went to a different room where they got to jump into "the pit". Olivia is waiting patiently for her turn to jump.

Emma's turn.

Don't forget about Marcus. This was the perfect place for all of Marcus' energy.

The birthday crew...notice Marcus is the only boy! He didn't mind. Little Bella is the one swimming in the pit below...she's only 2 and LOVED this!

There's the birthday girl, Makayla!

What a friendship! Even though they go to different schools this year and never see each other, you would never know. The minute Emma and Olivia walked into the party, Makayla was right by their side. I remember when these three were 2 years old! Now Makayla is 6 and the twins are close behind! Where does the time go?

Emma Lost a Tooth!

Emma finally got a loose tooth (Olivia has already lost 2!). She's been working on it for a while now. Every day she tells us that if we just tie a string around it, attach it to a door and shut the door it will just come out! I haven't been brave enough to do that though. I looked at the tooth tonight after brushing and it was bleeding and looked like it really needed to come out...so we recruited Daddy for the job. He tied a piece of floss to the tooth and then we headed to the bathroom...Marc was a little gun shy and actually ended up pulling it out before even closing the door. You can see all the action in the video below. Pretty easy. Emma was so brave! She is amazing!

Here she is...first tooth out!

Thanks Daddy! She put it in a special place for the tooth fairy. She is very proud that she actually has a tooth for the tooth fairy. Olivia's first one fell out at a friend's house and we never found it; her second one fell out in gym class at school (or so she thinks). Olivia really makes that tooth fairy work for those teeth. Olivia has gotten a quarter per tooth so far...Emma thinks she'll get a dollar since she isn't making the tooth fairy work so hard...we'll see :-)

100th Day

Today was the 100th Day of School. The girls' assignment was to display 100 things in a creative way.

We came up with Emma's pretty quickly. We cut out a heart and glued 100 candy hearts onto it. She did all the work and was so proud!

Olivia's was a bit of a challenge. Everything I suggested was turned down. I came up with froot loops on a string, popcorn on a string, we had crazy sticks and she started to put them together in a star shape but said she didn't like it. I suggested using 100 Cheerios to make a picture...nothing was appealing to her. She was getting a little sad too. I said "we have a few days, we'll think of something great" She said "please don't think of anything with food though"...ok then! I asked her what her favorite thing was and she came up with butterflies. I came up with a mobile. We took a hangar, tied 10 pieces of ribbon on it, then I found a butterfly template online and printed it. Olivia colored all 100 butterflies and used scrapbook picture tape to attach each one to the ribbons...10 on each ribbon. She was so excited through the whole process. She kept saying "This is going to be the BEST one Mom!" When she finished she had a great big smile on her face...she gave me a big hug and said "That was such a great idea Mom...thank you for thinking of it". This is her this morning before school...she even wore her butterfly dress.

The girls said everyone loved their projects. The 100th Day of School was a success!

Valentine

(goofy picture...but sweet story)

I wanted to share this sweet Valentine's Day story. I picked Marcus up from Daycare on Valentine's Day. He had a little bag full of frosted sugar cookies (some large, some small) from his party that day. The conversation in the car went something like this:

Marcus: "Mommy, can I have a cookie?"
Me: "Of course you can"
Marcus: (after a little while of thinking)..."Mommy, are you hungry?"
Me: "I'm Ok"
Marcus: "But I want to share my cookies with you"
Me: "Awe, thanks Marcus" (he gives me two of the small cookies)
Marcus: "Mommy, I gave you the small cookies because I want to save the big ones for my sisters"

Sure enough, his sister's got off the bus and were greeted by a very excited Marcus. He gave them both a big frosted sugar cookie and was beaming. The girls thanked him and took a bite of their cookies. He stood there and said "Well, do you have anything for me?"...I burst into laughter, the girls looked at each other then down at their bag full of treats. They each pulled out one piece of candy and gave it to him...he said "Thanks girls!" They all gave hugs and went on their way. I have the sweetest kids ever!

Quick Visit

We also had a quick visit from Grami and Poppi this weekend. Poppi went hiking with Marc and Marcus while Grami went shopping with me and the girls. We bought the girls' Valentines for their school party. Grami helped them write each kid's name in the "to" spot and showed them to write their names in the "from" spot. It took a while...there are 28 kids in their class! They both did a great job though. Pretty amazing what these kids can do as kindergartners. I didn't have to write one name! I was so proud. We had a great time with Grami and Poppi!

Sweetheart Dance

The local Girl Scouts put on a Sweetheart Dance for the Fathers and Daughters of the community. Friday night was dance night. The girls got all dressed up in their fancy dresses and waited patiently for Daddy to come home from work. Marcus was very excited for Marcus Mommy night too.

I gave strict instructions for the girls to stay clean and be careful...while Marc was showering and getting dressed, the kids were playing in Marcus' room. Suddenly I heard a scream and then Emma was sobbing. I ran downstairs to find her with a really bad bloody nose...all over her dress! She had a "little disagreement" with Marcus wich led to her hitting him and him kicking her in the face. I carried her to the bathroom, took off her dress and asked Marc to please stop the nose bleed while I attempted to clean the dress (it's Emma's only dress and she was crushed about this). Thank goodness it's 3 layers thick; I was able to use stain spray and scrub the blood out of the first layer while leaving the bottom 2 layers dry so she wouldn't freeze. The night was saved!

The girls practiced their dance moves while waiting for Daddy to finish getting ready.

Olivia had Emma twirling in and out...it was precious.

Time to go...don't they look smashing! They picked up our good friend, Jordan, so they would each have a date. Then they met another "couple" at a restaurant and had a fancy dinner...then off to the dance.

Marcus and Mommy made yummy sandwiches with homemade bread for dinner. We played with cars and trucks and watched a short movie then made cookies and had them with milk.

Marc came home with a few pictures on his phone. Here's Jordan at the dance with the girls.

Daddy with his daughters...so sweet. They had a wonderful time dancing the night away. Such a wonderful memory made with Daddy's Little Girls :-)

Super Sunday

We have a few projects to get done around here so we decided to put the kids to work this morning. Marc had a bunch of birdhouses ready to paint; Marcus thought that was cool!

Emma takes her work seriously.

Olivia was pretty serious too.

This kept the kids pretty busy so I could get ready for our Super Bowl party today.

After the kids got cleaned up and ate lunch they were told to go clean up outside. Marcus has rediscovered his shorts and short sleeve shirts. I did put a coat on him...clean up turned into playing and Marcus is still outside looking just like this. Do you think someone is ready for summer? I think the snow in the background is just perfect. He swears he's not cold.

Olivia decided Marcus' coat would be warm for her.

So far it's been a Super Sunday! We are preparing the snacks and the TV is turned to the right station...hope everyone has a great Super Bowl Sunday! Go Giants (Marc has $$ on them...otherwise I really don't care).

What's Up?

The weather is gorgeous today! 40+ degrees and sunny! Olivia is trying to climb the next big tree in the yard (it's just a little high so she can't quite get up there yet).

Emma has claimed the tree that is within every one's climbing ability. That's why Olivia has ventured to another tree...we can't seem to get Emma out of this one!

Marcus just decided to play in the few last patches of snow around the yard. We really haven't had much of a winter this year so he's making the most of what we did get :-) I hear the ground hog saw his shadow so maybe there's more to come???