Go Hop On Pop

I almost never cut my girls hair, and never short unless they are donating it to locks of love.  Today Alyssa was in need of a trim and I decided to go short… here it is.  I love it and don’t regret it at all.

Oh Man, I can’t believe what a little girl my baby is turning into.  She is in total parrot mode and repeats every thing said.  She is just not a baby anymore.  It’s sad in some ways but so amazing to watch.  She is as feisty as Aubrey but not nearly as destructive.  She is so much fun, and I love, love, love her blue eyes.  I never thought I’d have a blue eye’d baby, but now I have two.

Whoops, missed day 10… I even thought about it, but got caught up in FHE and life.

Today as part of my own homemade preschool for Alyssa she had her first swim lesson.  She did well.  Alyssa is not overly social, and honestly it doesn’t bother her one bit, so a few social outings might be just what she needs.  She was able to listen and obey and has no fear of the water.  She jumped right in and was the first to challenge the rule of staying on the first 2 steps, little stink… but after a gentle reminder she caught herself sneaking off a few times and quickly self corrected herself.  I love to see her develop a little self control.  She can’t wait to go back next week.

We got a huge snow storm today, the kids were sent home from school early.  On our way to church the temperature in the van read -1.  We are finally experiencing the winter we’ve heard about.  Overall it’s not so bad.  I sat in my room today watching the snow fall, and it reminded me of being in a snow globe.  I had an overall feeling of peace and gratitude of being able to sit and watch this storm come in and know that we are safe and happy.  I’m blessed to be able to be home and enjoy these days with my babies, and get the awesome privilege of seeing discovery take place.  I’m the one who gets to see their faces come alive, their eyes shine…

The girls are always giving each other foot rubs, we go through lots of lotion, come to think of it lots of conditioner, shampoo, soap, and the endless supply of tights and little black shoes.  Tonight everyone got foot rubs even Hallie who just melts when the girls rub her little feet.  Even Daddy is smelling sweet tonight.

We finally have snow.  The city sets up designated sledding hills, and this one happens to be a mile from our home.  They put up hay bales to crash into.  The only problemo is that it was 15 degrees with a windchill much colder.  The older kids did well, but Alyssa was done after a few runs.  Can’t wait to go again.

Well, it turns out that no one is interested in a co-op preschool here.  Most mothers have their children in a formal preschool, the prices run anywhere from a couple hundred a month to $400 a month and it’s just not in my budget, so I decided to do my own thing.  I enrolled Alyssa in swim lessons, the local community center has all kinds of classes, so this month swim, next month ballet, Spanish, princess manners class, gymnastics, tennis, you get the idea.  As for a curriculum I went with Five in a Row, and we are both enjoying it.  I love that it gives me a break down for every subject during the week based on one story.  The library makes it easy, they have all of the books and they make it so easy to find them and hold them online.  A white board with markers for mastering letters and we are all set.

Alyssa is happy– her new primary teacher has pink lips, it doesn’t take much to please her just a little beauty.  So for Friday’s picture, we just finished with Ping and learned all about China and the Yangtze River.

I have been so pleased with the kids schools.  Tanner’s teacher saw a talent in him that I didn’t and asked him to train with her to be in the spelling bee.  So he’s been going to school early and working with her at lunch to get himself ready.  Considering he’s only been in the school for a  couple of weeks I think  it took a lot of courage for him to participate in the Spelling Bee. Although he didn’t win, he did well and I’m proud of him.

Arrowhead Elementary School

A picture of our dining room.  This  has become a necessity in our home.  We always sit down to dinner every night, and I enjoy having it in a room out of the way of the daily distractions in the rest of the house.  I know that the dining room is often thought of as a look don’t touch waste of a room, but I love having a dining room.

What’s for dinner?  Pulled Pork.

Awww…sigh of relief, another dish doer in training, and she’s so thrilled too!  Emma and Tanner will be relieved, and really she was sticking her tongue out for the camera not because of the dishes, she actually asks to do the dishes (wonder how long that will last).