Outdoor fun

Here are a few pictures from today. It was a quiet day spent mostly playing outside.

new shoes

Check out Eve's new shoes. We went shoe shopping at a "buy one get one" sale on kids shoes. They both got new sneakers and they both chose sneakers with laces. Guess we have some tying lessons in our future!

sunflower garden

Check out our sunflower garden. The sunflower plants are HUGE, but no sunflowers yet. I'm confused. We have a handful of morning glories growing, but all about knee height, none have made it to the top.

climbing eve

Eve is getting adventurous with her climbing lately. She makes up here, up to the top of the other play set, and even tried climbing out across the swings like Lex does. She's growing up so fast!

Dinner update

I’m sure you’re all curious how our family meal plan is going. I’m sorry I’ve gotten lax with the daily updates, but really it’s not that exciting. The first week Eve, Alan, and I enjoyed tasty meals and Lex went to bed hungry. This ended in him waking up Saturday morning feeling very sick. He threw up some stomach bile and eventually was able to eat some food. I think maybe he realized that his stomach was too empty. The next week Eve, Alan, and I enjoyed tasty meals while Lex sat at the table with us (yay!) and ate carrots. I think maybe he also had some cucumbers and applesauce that week. Earlier this week he decided to branch out and try green peppers. The next night he tried yellow peppers and told me that if I bought corn on the cob he would try that too. He says, “I think I used to like corn on the cob when I was little.” Oh if only he ate everything he used to like when he was little! Tonight he ate corn on the cob and grapes for dinner. And three bowls of watermelon for snack! The fruit and veggies dinners seem silly, but he gets plenty of grains throughout the day (like a big bowl of oatmeal for lunch) and milk with two or three meals, so I think we’re doing ok. The key is he now sits with us, eats what he likes on the table, and doesn’t complain. It’s awesome!! :)

PS. He starts school in 12 days. Eek!

Happy Birthday Rosy!

Rosy came to visit us for her birthday. Aren’t we lucky?!?!? I think we are! She stole me away for a Zumba class and a big sale at King Arthur. Then we had a little party with the grandparents. A good weekend!

I made a Hershey chocolate bundt cake with milk chocolate ganache on top and coconut shavings. Eve helped me decorate the cake.

some for the cake

Some for the cake...

and some for eve

... and some for Eve.

After dinner she opened presents, again with help from Eve.

presents

Present time!

birthday girl

The birthday girl!

Reading is awesome!

Lex
Lex can read. Really, seriously read. Have I mentioned this lately? I tend to take it for granted since he’s been reading for years (what 5yr old hasn’t?!?) but every now and then it really strikes me. Like yesterday when he told me that saliva is another name for spit. “I read that in The Encyclopedia of the Human Body!” he tells me. Or this morning when he sat on the couch for quite awhile reading a Raggedy Ann book, a 93 page chapter book with very few pictures. He whizzed right through it. A few days ago we were sitting on the couch together and he was reading a Magic Tree House book while I waited for Eve to pick out a book for me to read to her. I started reading over his shoulder and I was barely finishing pages before he was turning them. Mind blowing! At lunch today he informed me that he is not color blind and that his tongue was playing tricks on his brain. He then gave me lots of details about color blindness and taste buds. Separate thoughts, of course. Awhile ago he stopped reading in the car and it was pure torture. I’ve always considered him a great traveler and it only sort of occurred to me that it’s because he reads. When he stopped reading in the car he whined and complained the whole way to my parents house. Fortunately we figured out the problem and he’s reading again. Whew!

The only down side to this is I have to be careful of the content he reads. I was going to buy him some books at a yard sale last weekend, but they are aimed at 5th and 6th graders and seemed to have some ideas that I don’t want him to have yet. Along the lines of school bullying, teasing, harassing the teacher, etc. Things that might be funny for 12yr olds, but I’m not ready for him to have that exposure yet.

I’m just so proud of him lately. He has been overcoming his fears and accomplishing some big things lately. Sitting at the table, eating a few things, learning to wipe himself, wiggling that tooth until it came out… all things that don’t seem monumental, but to him I know they are. He even asked me today what we’re having for dinner.  I told him and he said, “Don’t forget the carrots.  They are my favorite!” :)  He worked (and continues to work) hard and I’m so proud of him. I love the boy he is growing into.

Here are a few pics from our week…

Eve pouting

Eve pouting, playfully, at Walgreens

blueberry field

Our own piece of heaven, our new favorite blueberry patch.

Lex waving

"C'mon mom!" he calls to me.

Blueberry Eve

Happy Blueberry Eve

Eve checks out the hair dryer

Eve checks out the hair dryer while...

Lex gets a haircut

Lex gets a much needed haircut.

Climbing boy

Climbing boy

Climbing girl

"I can do it. I'm very strong!" she encourages herself, all the way up and back down.

Rockets in your pockets

Lex filled his pockets with rocks, with Eve's help, and then happily told me "Mom, I have rockets in my pockets!" He is big into rhyming these days :)

Rocks by the track

Those rocks, as well as a few we painted eons ago, made their way into the elaborate train setup covering my living room floor.

Bear hugs

We went to the science museum this morning and ended up taking a walk on the nature trails. It was fun.

BREAKTHROUGH!!

Oh what a day! Besides the obvious niceties (running errands, happy stories, a trip to the blueberry patch) Lex surprised me by joining us for dinner tonight! Alan said he joined them for dinner last night, but I wasn’t around so it doesn’t count! :) Tonight he ate about three full carrots and half a cucumber (cumbercue, he calls them, just to make me laugh) and he sat with us the whole time. He even smelled the rest of the dinner and asked what was in it. Oh happy day!

Then… to top off the evening, he got his tooth out!! All by himself! For the past few days he’s been letting Alan and I wiggle it and gently pull on it. Tonight he said it was really loose and while we read stories he worked on it. He figured out that he could push it in such a way that it seemed to get looser, so he did. While we were laying down (lights out, all settled) he said, “I think it’s out!” Lights back on, lots of cheering and jumping about. Yay! He has been so brave lately. I really admire him and I’m so proud of how rational he can be, when given the chance. We are working on big (for him) changes around here and he’s holding up really well. I think I need to go squeeze him now! :)

A family-rific weekend

We celebrated Grandpa’s 85th birthday in traditional style, early! It was great. Tons of food (this family likes to feed!), fun games, and nap time for everyone. I’m not feeling very verbose at the moment, but I didn’t want to delay this post for too long, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking. (Click on the picture for a Google Picasa album. Let me know if you have any trouble with it.)

Grandpa’s 85th Birthday Party

A new beach!

Today we decided to try out a new beach. I actually told the kids about it a week or two ago because my friend and I were thinking of going, but those plans fell through and we didn’t make it. The kids have been talking about it ever since! Lex even made one of his train lines go there, even though he had never actually been! So this morning we packed up and headed to the pond.

Splashing

Lex discovered the thrill of running into the water until you fall over. Always a favorite :)

ice cream

This place has a full snack bar. We got a cookie sandwich to share. Yum!

Also today, I mentioned cleaning the mudroom and Lex politely declined but Eve was all over it. She got the shoes out and lined up all by herself, got the room about 80% swept, and brought all the shoes back in. Really helpful!

sweeping the mudroom

This afternoon Eve and I made granola bars. She loves squishing her hands in things. :)

making granola bars