Friday, March 18, 2011
Spring Break!
We have been really busy here lately. Since I last updated:
* James got his first haircut! I had them take about 2 inches off all over his head and I really should have had more trimmed up -- boy does this kid have hair! I don't have any pictures of this experience because Jason was in the car while Hallie slept, Ruby was getting her haircut at the station across the aisle from us, and James was sitting in my lap. I do have his certificate though (and one of his curls).
* Jason has been approved for some big travel in the next couple of months. In April he will head to Orlando, FL for about a week and then in May he will be in Alaska! I think he is going to have fun, especially with the Alaska trip, but he will miss Ruby's birthday (not that she really knows when her birthday is exactly ...) We'll just celebrate when he is home.
* I have been bombarded with interview opportunities with the Department of Children's Services in a few local counties. I have decided not to interview though because the pay wouldn't really be enough to cover daycare expenses ... but, it feels good to be wanted.
* Hallie has finally broken through her 5th tooth! (I think James has 12 now ...) And, it looks like she might start getting hair here soon. :)
Recently, Ruby came home from the Early Learning Center with Ted E. Bear, her class mascot. He spent a week in our home, tagging along with us on all of our outings, and generally being a part of our family. At the end of the week, we wrote in Ted's journal about our activities and put pictures in there for her class to see. Ruby really enjoyed having Ted with us and the first night he was gone, she woke up in the middle of the night, hysterical! (Ted went home with another kid and Ruby swore that he was not going to take good enough care of Ted and that Ted needed to come back here.)
This week has been Ruby's spring break from Camp Faith, and it has been gorgeous, so I decided to get the kids out and about. I hired Crystal (one of Ruby's teachers from Camp Faith) to help me Wednesday and Friday and we went to the bounce house and the zoo. We had so much fun! And it is really nice to have a helper when the kids are all running in different directions. I think I am hiring her when Jason is in Alaska too ...
I will update pictures in the next post.
* James got his first haircut! I had them take about 2 inches off all over his head and I really should have had more trimmed up -- boy does this kid have hair! I don't have any pictures of this experience because Jason was in the car while Hallie slept, Ruby was getting her haircut at the station across the aisle from us, and James was sitting in my lap. I do have his certificate though (and one of his curls).
* Jason has been approved for some big travel in the next couple of months. In April he will head to Orlando, FL for about a week and then in May he will be in Alaska! I think he is going to have fun, especially with the Alaska trip, but he will miss Ruby's birthday (not that she really knows when her birthday is exactly ...) We'll just celebrate when he is home.
* I have been bombarded with interview opportunities with the Department of Children's Services in a few local counties. I have decided not to interview though because the pay wouldn't really be enough to cover daycare expenses ... but, it feels good to be wanted.
* Hallie has finally broken through her 5th tooth! (I think James has 12 now ...) And, it looks like she might start getting hair here soon. :)
Recently, Ruby came home from the Early Learning Center with Ted E. Bear, her class mascot. He spent a week in our home, tagging along with us on all of our outings, and generally being a part of our family. At the end of the week, we wrote in Ted's journal about our activities and put pictures in there for her class to see. Ruby really enjoyed having Ted with us and the first night he was gone, she woke up in the middle of the night, hysterical! (Ted went home with another kid and Ruby swore that he was not going to take good enough care of Ted and that Ted needed to come back here.)
This week has been Ruby's spring break from Camp Faith, and it has been gorgeous, so I decided to get the kids out and about. I hired Crystal (one of Ruby's teachers from Camp Faith) to help me Wednesday and Friday and we went to the bounce house and the zoo. We had so much fun! And it is really nice to have a helper when the kids are all running in different directions. I think I am hiring her when Jason is in Alaska too ...
I will update pictures in the next post.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
70 degree weather in Feburary
Wow. It's kinda nice to be able to say that. The last week the weather has been spectacular. Jessica and the kids have enjoyed being able to play in the backyard and also go to the park with friends. James and Hallie are both fully walking toddlers, and Ruby continues to amaze us with her reading and comprehension skills.
Last time I said we'd have photos of the twins birthday. We've done a lot of uploading to Flickr, so you can go there for photos of their birthday, and August 2010 - January 2011 photos, grouped by month. Below are a select few photos from their 1 year photo shoot (which should hit Flickr later this week).
Teeth are coming in like crazy for James, and he drools to show you. (you see his glowing chest in one of the photos below? Yep. that's drool.) He's headed for a haircut here this month too. Looking a bit too much like a hippie I guess :) Hallie is still stuck on 4 teeth, and is slowly getting some more hair. She makes up for it by running laps around her brother through the kitchen, dining room, and living room. She's a much better walker than he is at this point.
Until next time - Jason.
Last time I said we'd have photos of the twins birthday. We've done a lot of uploading to Flickr, so you can go there for photos of their birthday, and August 2010 - January 2011 photos, grouped by month. Below are a select few photos from their 1 year photo shoot (which should hit Flickr later this week).
Teeth are coming in like crazy for James, and he drools to show you. (you see his glowing chest in one of the photos below? Yep. that's drool.) He's headed for a haircut here this month too. Looking a bit too much like a hippie I guess :) Hallie is still stuck on 4 teeth, and is slowly getting some more hair. She makes up for it by running laps around her brother through the kitchen, dining room, and living room. She's a much better walker than he is at this point.
Until next time - Jason.
Hi. My name is James. I love the camera!
Hallie is darn cute, and she knows it :)
Nekkid babies! Okay, It's just cute!!
Jessica said they never were able to get a pic
where the number 1 (James is holding it) was
stood up.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Whoops!
Sorry for the lack of activity here on the blog. I've been slacking. Wait. I should say, it's Jason here. With all three of them walking, cold and flu season, changing nursery schools, work, and life in general it's been tough getting this updated. I'll try to do better here moving forward. But recently we started a large upload of photos to the Flickr photostream that you can can find here. We will update with the twins' birthday party in the near future. Thanks for tuning in.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Ruby's New Nursery School
This week was Ruby's first week at her new nursery school. I decided to make a switch when the old nursery school made some major changes without any communication to the parents. So, I called around and the place I had originally wanted for Ruby had an opening in her age group! She is now at the Emory Valley Early Learning Center -- which is more of a school (and run by the Department of Education) -- whereas her old "school" was more of a daycare setting (and run by the Department of Human Services).
Now, my biggest complaint about the old school was the lack of communication. Well, in her first week at the ELC I have received three notes from the teacher. I get a note at the end of each day and one at the end of each week. These basically just summarize what Ruby's day was like and the weekly one tells how she did on projects and what they're learning. This week was all about penguins, which was a perfect week to start because penguins are Ruby's favorite animal!
The school is a fully inclusive environment and about 40 percent of the students have some form of handicap or disability. This means that students who need services can receive them while at school and all of the kids learn about differences. One of the benefits of a school that provides services is that all of the students get to use the therapy room. There is a Gross Motor Room where the kids have free play/recess when it's not nice enough to go outside. In this room is a ball pit, trampoline, "roller coaster," etc. It is a neat room and Ruby absolutely loves going to the "Gross Room."
Ruby acclimated to the new school very quickly. The school typically does a student evaluation after about 45 days of attendance, but since Ruby has done so well, they are going to evaluate her in the next few weeks. All this means is determining how she is doing educationally, socially and emotionally and finding out if there are any familial concerns or things that they should work more on at school or we should focus on at home.
I think this is going to be a great change for Ruby. And, one of the perks for us is that the school provides breakfast, lunch and all snacks -- this means I no longer have to pack a lunch or bring a classroom snack twice a month!
In other news we are gearing up for the twins' birthday party. Grandpa Arnold and Grandma Kimmy fly in tomorrow afternoon. Ruby is trying to decide if she wants to call Arnold "Papa" or "Grandpa-doodle." The first name came from one of her books, and I'm not sure where she got the second, but we'll see what she comes up with. She calls my father "Grumpa" (from the book Grandpa Grumpy's Family).
We are having the birthday party Sunday at Razzleberry Ice Cream Lab and have about a dozen families joining us. It should be a blast and I promise lots of pictures from that event. Sorry there are no new pictures today!
Now, my biggest complaint about the old school was the lack of communication. Well, in her first week at the ELC I have received three notes from the teacher. I get a note at the end of each day and one at the end of each week. These basically just summarize what Ruby's day was like and the weekly one tells how she did on projects and what they're learning. This week was all about penguins, which was a perfect week to start because penguins are Ruby's favorite animal!
The school is a fully inclusive environment and about 40 percent of the students have some form of handicap or disability. This means that students who need services can receive them while at school and all of the kids learn about differences. One of the benefits of a school that provides services is that all of the students get to use the therapy room. There is a Gross Motor Room where the kids have free play/recess when it's not nice enough to go outside. In this room is a ball pit, trampoline, "roller coaster," etc. It is a neat room and Ruby absolutely loves going to the "Gross Room."
Ruby acclimated to the new school very quickly. The school typically does a student evaluation after about 45 days of attendance, but since Ruby has done so well, they are going to evaluate her in the next few weeks. All this means is determining how she is doing educationally, socially and emotionally and finding out if there are any familial concerns or things that they should work more on at school or we should focus on at home.
I think this is going to be a great change for Ruby. And, one of the perks for us is that the school provides breakfast, lunch and all snacks -- this means I no longer have to pack a lunch or bring a classroom snack twice a month!
In other news we are gearing up for the twins' birthday party. Grandpa Arnold and Grandma Kimmy fly in tomorrow afternoon. Ruby is trying to decide if she wants to call Arnold "Papa" or "Grandpa-doodle." The first name came from one of her books, and I'm not sure where she got the second, but we'll see what she comes up with. She calls my father "Grumpa" (from the book Grandpa Grumpy's Family).
We are having the birthday party Sunday at Razzleberry Ice Cream Lab and have about a dozen families joining us. It should be a blast and I promise lots of pictures from that event. Sorry there are no new pictures today!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Belated Happy 2011!
We've made it to the new year and are looking forward to Jason's birthday and the twins' birthday this month. The kids are recovering from some sort of stomach bug, but other than that, everyone is doing well here. We all had a great Christmas -- Ruby was thrilled that Santa came to visit her. And she was excited that he ate her cookies and the reindeer ate her carrots. Today we are relaxing because we have a snow day! I think we have about three inches of snow and schools are canceled and even Jason's work is closed. It's days like these that I love living in Tennessee -- Iowa definitely would not close school for this!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Is it really almost Christmas??
The past month has just flown by! We have been very busy getting ready for Christmas and partaking in a bunch of holiday fun.
Ruby is asking Santa for a camera for Christmas this year. We told her that she can only ask Santa for one present -- so when she was sitting on Santa's knee and he said "what else would you like?" she was kind of taken aback and finally said "something for Hallie and James." How cute is that?
Ruby is really ready for the holiday to get here. There are presents under the tree, lights on all of the houses and we had snow on the ground, so why isn't Santa here yet??? We've been passing the days baking cookies and delivering them to our neighbors, buying and wrapping gifts for our friends, making Christmas cards, and decorating sugar cookies. It has been a lot of fun and extremely messy. Ruby seems to think the UPS man needs to come to our house every day because every time he's here there's a tasty treat to eat or gift for under the tree!
In other big, exciting news, James is walking! He took his first steps on December 5 and is getting more and more adventurous each day. He is also sporting a new black eye -- but that's what happens when you fall face first into a table. It didn't faze him a bit. I really think he is going to be a daredevil.
Hallie, on the other hand, is not making any moves toward walking. I think she sees her brother making a fool of himself and doesn't want any bit of it. I'm certain that one day she's going to just take off walking without all of the starts and stops that James has. She's watching him so she can perfect it for herself! Hallie is our big eater, just like Ruby was. I think she enjoys when the UPS man comes, too, because it means she gets to sample the treats!
Ruby is starting to read some basic words. She can identify her name and knows all of the letters and the sounds they make. Her favorite "game" lately is asking what everything starts with. And, when I turn it around on her, she is usually able to tell me what the word starts with. (Though she doesn't like the trick words, like "knock.")
Tonight some of the neighborhood girls came caroling, so we let Ruby listen to them for awhile. And then I lined them up to babysit on New Year's Eve! Enjoy the pictures from our holiday festivities ...
Ruby is asking Santa for a camera for Christmas this year. We told her that she can only ask Santa for one present -- so when she was sitting on Santa's knee and he said "what else would you like?" she was kind of taken aback and finally said "something for Hallie and James." How cute is that?
Ruby is really ready for the holiday to get here. There are presents under the tree, lights on all of the houses and we had snow on the ground, so why isn't Santa here yet??? We've been passing the days baking cookies and delivering them to our neighbors, buying and wrapping gifts for our friends, making Christmas cards, and decorating sugar cookies. It has been a lot of fun and extremely messy. Ruby seems to think the UPS man needs to come to our house every day because every time he's here there's a tasty treat to eat or gift for under the tree!
In other big, exciting news, James is walking! He took his first steps on December 5 and is getting more and more adventurous each day. He is also sporting a new black eye -- but that's what happens when you fall face first into a table. It didn't faze him a bit. I really think he is going to be a daredevil.
Hallie, on the other hand, is not making any moves toward walking. I think she sees her brother making a fool of himself and doesn't want any bit of it. I'm certain that one day she's going to just take off walking without all of the starts and stops that James has. She's watching him so she can perfect it for herself! Hallie is our big eater, just like Ruby was. I think she enjoys when the UPS man comes, too, because it means she gets to sample the treats!
Ruby is starting to read some basic words. She can identify her name and knows all of the letters and the sounds they make. Her favorite "game" lately is asking what everything starts with. And, when I turn it around on her, she is usually able to tell me what the word starts with. (Though she doesn't like the trick words, like "knock.")
Tonight some of the neighborhood girls came caroling, so we let Ruby listen to them for awhile. And then I lined them up to babysit on New Year's Eve! Enjoy the pictures from our holiday festivities ...
Riding the carousel at the Festival of Trees.
Yummy, sprinkles :)
I thought the frosting was for my face ...
Yummy sugar cookies!
Look, mom, I can decorate them too!
Making the frosting for cookies with September.
School Christmas party!
Exercising at Nursery School.
Visiting with Santa at Nursery School.
I think we got about 4 inches and Ruby loved it!
Getting ready to go out in the snow!
The family reinkitty!
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