Pre-Halloween 2010

Today was a FULL day of Halloween festivities.  First, our Preschool Halloween Bash and then this evening we had another Halloween Party/Carnival (no wonder the kids don't realize Halloween is only 1 day!)  At this rate, I think the kids will be more fond of Halloween than they are of Christmas.  Jeff and I were counting and by the time Halloween comes on Sunday, we'll have gone to six (6!) parties already!

So here are a couple of pictures to share of the cuties...

While this photo looks odd...it is a classic signature Lucas pose.  Showing off his Bob the Builder "muscles"!  And as a funny side note...all night long people would say to him "oh, you're Bob the Builder" and he would respond "no, it's just my costume".  Seriously, this exact exchange occurred at least 10 times tonight.  It was hilarious.  He was so serious and the people interacting with him were a little dumbfounded--not quite sure how to respond to that.

Next we have "Sleeping Cutie"...

No matter how many times people would say "oh, you're Sleeping Beauty" she'd always respond "yes, I'm Sleeping Cutie."  She's definitely right...she is a cutie! :)

Happy Halloween!

Sadness

So as shocking as it is, Lucas and Addison just recently realized that Holly is no longer in the house.  We had a whole lead up to the fact that when Santa came on Christmas Eve he would be taking her back to the North Pole with him.  I guess it didn't sink in.

Addison: "I'm sad she's not here anymore.  I didn't say bye."

Lucas: "I did say bye to her mom."

No More Tears!

So it finally came to it...we had to get Addy's hair cut.  Each and every morning it was always the same scenario--tears, tears and more tears.  I'd say, "it's time to fix your hair, Addy." And then she'd always reply, "with a comb?" (with great anguish).  Even though I knew what was in store, all I could do was laugh when she'd ask if we had to actually comb it out.  She'd rather we just put it in a headband or ponytail (without combing) and call it a day.

After a few weeks of preparing her for the fact that we were going to cut it, we finally did it.  I was worried how she'd react.  But she seems to really like it.  And we've gotten plenty of compliments on it too!

Not really the best picture to capture what it looks like (will have to get another picture to post soon).  It's a wedge cut.  So it's longer in the front.  About chin length.  And then short in the back.  Soooooo much easier to get her to comb her hair in the morning.  Aaahhhh, one thing that's easy. ;)

And then Lucas' cut.  Wasn't terribly pleased with it.  I even had to ask her to go back and cut stray hairs that were poking out in the back and front sides.  And still there are flaws.  Ah, well.

Afterwards, we met up with our friend Madeline for some yummy Kara's cupcakes. 

Addy's cupcake.

Lucas' cupcake.

Gotta love the patience and restraint.  True signs that they have come to terms with their scrappy mom! ;)

Then a little playtime with the bike racks.  What's interesting is that around this time last year when we went, Addy could walk right under them without ducking.  Now check her out!

And proof (or shall we say future blackmail??) that Addy can hold her own...

A Princess in the Making

The last several months around here have been all about princesses, pink and basically being "girly".  So when Christmas came, it came as no surprise that it was an all-out "princess fest" for Addison.  Santa brought her some sparkly princess shoes, which she has worn every day since. 

And I must add, for true understanding and appreciation of her love for these shoes, she does not want them to get dirty in any way.  True story--I took her out to lunch on Sunday for the start of our Girls Day; it had been raining earlier in the morning so the ground was still wet.  When I went to get her out of the car and place her on the ground, she kept screaming for me to pick her back up and wipe off the bottoms of her shoes because they were dirty.  It was irrational, exhausting and humorous all at the same time!

So back to the Girls Day.  Jeff had received some AWESOME 49ers tickets for Sunday's game from one of his colleagues at work.  Now let's just say this guy is a TRUE fan--he's been in their commercials and everything.  But being the Sunday right after Christmas, there was no one around who could help watch the kiddos so that Jeff and I could go.  So he took Lucas and I did a Girls Day with Addison.  We started out with lunch together and then did a traditional "girly" activity--we got manis and pedis together.  I know, I know--the midwesterner in me is totally shocked that I took a 3-year-old to a salon to get a mani/pedi.  But she of course LOVED it.

Are you even surprised she chose pink nail polish??!?! :) 

A Christmas Recap

Sit back and enjoy a few minutes of our Christmas morning...

Meet Holly B. Jolly!

On Friday morning, our Secret Elf--Holly B. Jolly arrived.

As I suspected, Lucas is taking Holly's presence here at the house very seriously.  While Addison is so-so.  Makes sense--Lucas is the rule follower!  Even when it's Addison that is doing something "naughty", Lucas gets very concerned and says don't show or don't tell Holly.  He doesn't want anything to mess up Santa believing he is a good boy and deserves the presents he is asking for :)  Funny how even when you try to give them autonomy, they still see themselves as a pair.

Addison is finding the fun in Holly's mischief.  This morning she was found playing inside Addison's Little People Castle.  Right away Addison said, "That's bad Mommy.  It's for princesses."

Super Cute!

Today we received a very exciting package from Aunt Barb.  Lucas was more concerned with whether or not Aunt Barb was coming to visit while Addison could hardly contain her excitement as we opened the package and found a fabulous selection of princess movies.  (If only I had the camera ready to capture her expression when she saw that they were princess movies!)

So this new found treasure became my leverage for getting them to take a "good nap" today ;)

After nap, we popped in Cinderella.  This is Addison glued to the movie.

This is her realizing I'm taking photos.

And now she's all set to pose for the camera in her princess crown.  LOL!  (note: I had to pause the movie)

And now for a super cute quote from Addison while watching the movie...as you may recall in Cinderella her step-sisters are quite mean and tear apart her mother's gown that she intends on wearing to the ball.  Well, Addison got all sad that they "broke" her dress and turns to me and says "I can fix it.  When I get glue on it."  Aawwwww, cute!!

Thanks, Aunt Barb!

Down on the Farm

A few weekends ago we went to Ardenwood Farms for their Annual Harvest Festival (our 2nd time--and definitely enjoyed more by Lucas and Addison this year!)

They LOVED (contrary to what this photo looks like!) that they could get on a tractor this time (usually the tractors are not out for kids to climb on).



Then it was off to pick corn...the whole reason for visiting!



We started out picking Popping Corn. Then moved to the Indian Corn.



They really got into trying to pick corn on their own. Indian Corn was a little more popular due to it's colorful nature.









Plus, we got to see the animals and the Blacksmith this time (the kids patience and interest was definitely higher this year). Interestingly enough, they loved the Blacksmith...the fire maybe?? Lucas even asked to go back and see him again. :)

All in all, it was a really fun outing.

Bouncing Like Tigger

We got Lucas and Addison these for their birthday...they LOVE them. First words out of both of their mouths were "I'm bouncing like Tigger!"

LOVE this picture I caught of Addy in motion. It's hard to tell from the photos but her legs are a little too short still for her to climb on, so she either needs help or she does this balancing act of trying to get on while holding onto something else next to the bouncer. It's pretty cute to watch.

Included this photo only because it shows off our new driveway a bit ;)

Here Addy is starting to get a little pooped.

And now they both are feeling tuckered out.

Because they are getting really competitive these days...we had a race. On your mark...get set...watch the video :)

3 Years Old!

It's hard to believe...Lucas and Addison just turned 3. Although, if you ask Lucas, he'll tell you he's 6. I'm not sure where 6 came from, but he's pretty darn consistent with that answer. Which is probably why I haven't been able to get him to show me that he is 3 like Addison happily does each time someone asks her how old she is!




They both had a hard time understanding what a birthday really meant. They've been to so many birthday parties (seems like every other weekend since this Spring--okay so it's not really that many, but it feels like it!), that they associate birthdays with going somewhere and eating "happy birthday cake". So in the morning when I woke them up and said "Happy Birthday" they both chanted, "I want to go and eat happy birthday cake".



Lucky for them, they get to celebrate their birthday twice...once just as a family and again with their friends this weekend. Lots and lots of happy birthday cake!

A Good Laugh

The kiddos have been really into animals lately. Identifying what they are and the sounds they make. Well, last night I'm making dinner and completely oblivious to the mess that Addison is making in the family room. Jeff gets home and witnesses it. Addison has unzipped one of our cushions on our oversized chair and is removing the stuffing. She says "sheep in pillow, daddy!" Definitely cute and funny...or is it?! We'll see if this becomes a new "game" in the next few days. :)

"Play Necklaces"

Yesterday Mardi Gras made it's first appearance in our home via Aunt Barb and Uncle Matt. As you can see here, the kiddos wasted no time at all taking out all the fun new accessories.




Lucas was first intrigued with the necklaces...he didn't miss a beat as he would see one in the box...yell out "blue necklace" grab it, then "red necklace" grab it...and so it went.




Until of course, he saw the hat. Then the necklaces came off and the hat went on. He was definitely interested in how it made noise (for at least 2 seconds) and then it was back to the necklaces!




As you can see, Addison was also quite excited by the necklaces. She definitely kept pace with Lucas (not wanting to miss out on any necklaces of course!).





That is until she found the purse with money!! And then it was all about the money...no more necklaces for her (well, maybe just one...)

Is it true that possession is 9/10 of the law?!?

In the end, Lucas made out with the most necklaces. Addy was just happy to have her money! :) So today I kept hearing from each of them "play necklaces, mommy?" Definitely a hit with them for sure! Thanks Barb & Matt!

In other news, we are finally starting to make some "visible" progress on our home addition. Here is a picture right after our beautiful redwood tree was removed. Our yard is definitely more open and gets a lot more sunlight.

And here is day 1 of "prep" work for doing our foundation/basement. I say "prep" work as we still haven't gotten our final building permit, but our foundation contractor is chomping at the bit to get started (like we aren't!). We'll keep you posted.

Back in January, one of the moms in my Moms' Group came up with a wonderful idea of doing our very own "renegade" preschool. We find a location, purchase our own supplies and then teach our own lessons while still giving the children the experience of a preschool at a fraction of the cost.

Sign me up!!

The pressure to send your kids to preschool at an early age is very strong here. Plus, the cost is pretty scary too. Then, multiply that by two kiddos and it's down right frightening! So this idea was very appealing to me.

Pictured above is our first day. Week 1 we discussed the classic (well, at least it's a classic in our home!) "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle. We discussed the Red Bird, the Brown Bear and the Blue Horse.

Week 2 we discussed Things We Love to go along with Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, I neglected to get any photos of our adorable Valentine's Cards we made before I mailed them out. Sorry...but then again, maybe you were the lucky recipient of one! :)


Week 3 I taught the concept of Rain and Rainbows. We read "The Little Cloud" by Eric Carle as well as "What Makes a Rainbow" by Betty Schwartz. We colored rainbows and made our very own Rainstick!



Week 4 we discussed the concept of Up and Down. We read a couple of books dealing with this as well as sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". So of course we needed to make some spiders to go along with the song! And being the particular person she is, A felt hers needed one green leg! :)

Week 5 we discussed Birds. To go along with this theme we made these fabulous bird feeders out of large pinecones, peanut butter and birdseed. (Ironically, the very same day we made these, we were also cutting down our beautiful Redwood tree to make room for our home addition. So sad.)

Week 6 we discussed Caterpillars and Butterflies. We read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle (do you see a trend here? It is my belief that he writes fabulous toddler books...or at least L&A think so!) You may notice that one butterfly is a little more "spot on" than the other. A was more into putting the glue on the pieces than on actually placing the pieces together. Whereas, L preferred putting the pieces together. Together they make a great team (well, sometimes!)

So this has become our "new" activity in our regular routine. They both really seem to enjoy it. In fact, we'll be driving there and still be 2 blocks away from the school building and they both start chanting "school, school". I'm excited to see where it will lead us. I'll be sure to keep you posted...

Look What I Made

Okay, I have to admit, I'm pretty darn proud of these...on Tuesday night I got together with some friends for a little crafting and 2 of the ladies showed me how to make these adorable animal towels.

I've always loved these at the craft fairs but have never wanted to pay the $40+ for one (especially when I'd need 2!). I'm totally addicted to these now...I can feel myself wanting make a bunch to have on hand for gifts. It's just so empowering to do something like this...I mean I'm creative but generally in the papercrafts/scrapbooking arena...definitely not in the sewing one!

L&A wanted no part of the towels at first today. However, as soon as I wrapped them around them after getting out of the bath, they didn't want to take them off for at least an hour! Each time I said, "okay, let's get dressed" I was told, "no, more bear towel".

Too stinkin' cute!!