Father's Day

I so appreciate Steve and all he does for our kids. He is a super-involved and hands-on dad. He is an "on the floor playing and wrestling, reading books, giving baths, playing outside, taking walks, going to swim lessons" kind of dad. For Father's Day this year I thought it would be cool if the kids could go on a date with Steve. I asked each of them what they would choose to do if they could go on a date with their dad all by themselves. Lydia might have gotten ripped off a tad as she gets to play and then take a nap as her date with Steve. :) Grace chose to go to dinner (specifically McDonald's) and a movie with Steve. So she got Steve this:

All in a Hello Kitty bag which Steve loved. :) Side note: did you know there is a website where you can make fake tickets? www.faketicketgenerator.com Very fun!

Samuel chose to go golfing with Steve (shocking) so he got him this:

And Lydia got Steve this to hang at work:

"Everybody...toes to the ceiling!"

Happy Father's Day!

I. Love. Summer.

We love summer fun:

picking strawberries and making strawberry pie...

taking walks together...

swim lessons...

even if Sam cries the whole time because he is "chillllllly"...

making forts and cuddling in them...

making bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls, peanut butter and bird seed...

playing at the playground...

(side note...Samuel got a nasty scratch on his finger and held his hand like it is in the picture for about an hour) :)

wanting to swing on the baby swings to be by Lydia...

running through the awesome sprinkler that Steve made out of PVC pipe...

I. Love. Summer.

Samuel at 2 1/2

Samuel turned 2 1/2 last week. Hard to believe he is that old already! At 2 1/2 Samuel is potty trained (yay!!!!), takes a 2-3 hour nap after lunch, eats like a grown man, and is all boy. He loves fruits and vegetables with dip. He does not walk anywhere. He is always at least jogging or at a full on sprint. He loves to play with balls, play-doh, anything outside, and cars. He still loves anything that goes (cars, trucks, planes, trains.) He loves being read to and looking at books in his bed. He never stops talking. Ever. He asks approximately 4,000 questions a day. Half of those questions are when you are reading him books. He calls Lydia "Liddy-Lou-Who." He is in love with Toy Story. All it took to potty train him was a pair of Buzz and Woody underwear and saying "don't pee on Buzz." He loves to help me get groceries and take walks with me. His favorite treat is popsicles. One of his favorite things is going golfing with Steve. 

He will cross his little arms on his chest when he gets in trouble or doesn't like something that happened. We are working on breaking that habit. :) He wants to do everything that Grace does and every time we come home I hear "I see our house first" or "I see our house second" being yelled from the back seat. He is quick to point out a train or a plane and every time he sees a bus he asks me "are there kids on it mom?" He loves to golf and can actually hit a chip shot with a pitching wedge 20 yards (that is from Steve if you can't tell). :) Anytime he runs into you or steps on your foot on accident etc. he will say "oops sorry mommy sorry." He often says "it's so coot mom" instead of "it's so cute" which is one of my favorite Sam-isms. He knows his letters and can count to 13. He knows all of his colors and can name quite a few shapes. He prefers to take a shower over a bath. He loves to help water the flowers outside. He loves helping me cook and bake. He attempts to pick out his own outfits and get dressed on his own although he often puts his shirt on backwards. He is obsessed with his flip flops. 

He is my sweet little man. :)

Lydia at 8 months

Lydia has learned to do so many new things in the last couple of months. She sits up on her own and rolls down onto one shoulder when she sees something she wants. She rolls to get where she wants to go. She eats what we are eating as long as it is soft or can be mushed (chicken, crackers, bananas, watermelon, mashed potatoes, etc.) She also still likes puffs, teething biscuits and baby food. She has 2 teeth on the bottom and is working on 1 on the top. She is so fast with her little hands. She will grab whatever you're holding or have a handful of hair before you even have time to think. She has also started pinching which will hopefully not last long! I have little bruises all up and down my arms. 

She has found her tongue (see pic above) and will blow raspberries (see video below) which the kids find hilarious. :) She has the best baby rolls in the world even having one that comes down over her ankle (or cankle as Steve lovingly calls it.) She continues to giggle, laugh and chat and loves to be munched on and talked to. She takes 2 naps a day usually around 9 and 1 and is ready for bed by 7. She still "sings" herself to sleep which I need to video before she doesn't do it anymore. She also started clapping her hands and patting you when you hold her (one of the most endearing things I've experienced.)

She had her first experience eating an Oreo (see above) and thoroughly enjoyed it! She is still a super chill baby and so so lovable...such a sweet girl. She has also gotten quite a few nicknames which I will try to explain. From day 1 I have called her Liddy Lou because of our fridge d.j. that sings a song called anny oo. It's catchy...trust me. Then that changed into Lulu. Then that changed into Lou-pie. I have no idea how. She is also called "sister pants" quite often. Again, I have no idea why or how it came about. Considering I was called Sarah-barah-katie-otis-itis, my brother was called goots (short for goots-uh-putz-uh) and my sister was Jill-ya or Jiller growing up I think I'll blame my mom and dad. :)

We love our sweet Lydia.

Preschool Stuff

They also got to go to the Ft. Wayne Zoo. I was so excited to get to tag along!

Here's the 4/5 preschool crew.

Grace

Grace just finished her 2nd year of preschool last week. They did a short program and then we had a potluck with all of the other families. Here are the 2 songs they did for their program. 

I think you're wonderful...

Pete the cat...

We've also decided to have Grace go to Clovergarten which is an early 5s program. She will go from 7:45-11:30 5 days a week. We kept going back and forth about doing this program or sending her to Kindergarten. We had her go through screening and the teacher told us she would definitely be ready for kindergarten but she won't be 5 until August so we decided it will be better to have her super prepared than under-prepared. And having worked with Kindergartners for several years now I've had to tell many concerned parents that it's about more than just being ready academically. It's about being ready socially, emotionally, developmentally etc. And here I am telling myself that now. :) With Grace still taking a nap several days a week and having these stinking migraines I think the extra year will be good for her. Now if only her teacher could follow her to Clovergarten... :)

This weekend we did a fun art project. I took a piece of card stock and taped the kids names on them. Then they finger painted all over and when it dried I took the tape off so their names were left in the middle. Then we framed them to hang in their rooms. 

Steve did Lydia's. :)