Home with the girl

Clean up time. We had a fabulous Oscar Party last night. Despite the snowy weather most of our friends were able to attend because they live in the neighborhood or very close. There was lots of food and drinks and laughter an even a little bit of watching the awards. The kids played together great. They watched a little of the Boxtrolls movie but mostly played their own games of hide and seek and a ghost hunt game that involved lights off, flashlights and a lot of screaming. Joel was able to entertain the kids for a bit with a movie character scavenger hunt that had them looking high and low all over the house.

Today Julianne and I are home cleaning up. She loves to "wash dishes" at the sink. More dishes get dirtied than washed because she gets lots of cups and spoons and pours water back and forth. It does keep her entertained for a long time with only a slight risk of flooding. I was able to put away clean dishes and take down party decorations.

Julianne is on her second week of potty training and doing really good. The party was a great test. She was able to twice tell someone near her that she needed to go potty! There are still lots of accidents (one today) but I feel like we have got a good start.

I'm motivated today to make this post because I happened to look back at some of the great stuff I posted a couple years ago. It's amazing how quickly the kids are growing! I also miss the motivation to take pictures of the everyday routine. It's easy to take pictures at holidays but the great stuff that happens each day makes for the best photos (and is easily forgotten if not documented). I can't find time to scrapbook. Maybe I can make time for this.

Little girl shaking her "booty-butt".
This favorite phrase of her own creation makes me crazy and unfortunately she loves that!

First Day!

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Jace! It was quite a scene as a crowd of parents stood by and watched the two lines file into the elementary school. Jace was nervous but he did great! Tonight we got stories of his day in bits and pieces. He said there are not toys in Kindergarten but there are toys in the other room (the Enrichment classroom where he goes for the afternoon). He said 3 whistles mean: thunder and lightning, 2 whistles mean: line up, and 1 whistle means: someone is not listening. He says he doesn't buy his lunch but he still had to wear a tag with his lunch number on it. These were the snippets of information that he interjected into conversation. It slowly paints a picture for us. I'm sure we will learn lots more as the days and weeks go by.

I wish I could say I was as excited about my classroom experience. After a crazy, week of working way to many hours (even much of the weekend), it was a bit of a relief to start class. Today went OK. I am trying to stay optimistic. I just have so many doubts about this job.
I miss spending the playtime hours with my kids. We had a lot of fun this summer in the hours between lunchtime and dinnertime. I am mourning the loss.


Julianne is practicing her walking

 

And adding to the stress of the last few days, my camera flash suddenly quit working! Camera store says to allow 4-6 weeks and $150-200 for repair. They offered to sell me a flash attachment (starting at $180 and not fixing the problem).  I can't think about it without getting upset. I love my camera. Can't imagine that long without it. Grrrrrrrr!

first swim lesson

poolside after Jace's lesson. Julianne and Joel are about to get in the water

Tonight was the first of a series of swim lessons for the kids that will take us through the month of May. It's my way of easing into swim season. They will be able to get comfortable in the water just in time for our neighborhood pool to open.

Due to some schedule changes at the rec center Jace's lesson is the half hour before Julianne's. They have the same instructor. I figured Joel and I could take turns swimming with Julz while the other gets Jace cleaned up and dressed after his lesson. I did not anticipate how excited Jace would be for Julz to swim. He would not leave the edge of the pool while she was in the water. He danced at the edge giggling and talking to her and trying to talk to the instructor. It was adorable.

 We tucked in two very tired kids tonight.

This face

Little girl was feeling much better last night at dinner time. She happily gobbled bits of spaghetti noodles and meatballs. Then started playing a game of her own creation. She scrunches up her face and makes snorting sounds. Jace thought it the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen in the world and laughed so hard he was falling out of his chair. Joel just made the same face right back at her and the game continued for several minutes. Long enough for me to get a series of these pictures.

racing and resting

Another year, another Cherry Creek Sneak. Today Joel ran the 10 mile race while Jace and I cheered him on. Aaron ran the 5K race and Janet and Lori were on the staff of volunteers for the race. Julianne spent the morning at Grandma and Papa's house. Little girl is not feeling good this weekend. We took her to the Dr. on Friday afternoon after she spent the afternoon crying. Since then we have been treating her with Advil to keep her comfortable as she fights what the Dr. said is probably a virus. She doesn't sleep great when she's not feeling well so all of us have lost a little sleep this weekend.

Wishing Daddy a good race at the starting line

Today Julianne is 10 months old. I can't believe how fast the months have flown by. She is growing much to fast. This week she will have her first swimming lesson. Hope she gets to feeling better by then.

crawling, waving and teeth

I spent the day at home today with the kids. We used masking tape to turn the living room floor into a road map then scattered matchbox cars and wooden blocks all over. It was great entertainment. Julianne has been crawling for a few days now and is really getting the hang of it. She follows Jace around the living room with ease and does surprisingly well of the wood floors. Her major obstacle right now is the step between the raised living room and the rest of the main floor. She can't go up and down it without help or a sad tumble.
This evening Joel got home and put on the front carrier pack to take Julianne on a walk. As soon as she saw it she got very excited, reaching and squeaking. We all enjoyed the cool spring evening. The park was full of teams practicing ball, girls soccer, two different age groups of baseball and even flag football. We made our way around the park playing a simplified version of Frisbee golf.
After dinner we did some dancing around the living room. It was a great stay at home day. Tomorrow will be much busier so I'm off to bed.

waving like she is the grand marshal of the parade

reading the bedtime story (check out those bottom teeth - she has 5 total now)

Ski Day

Today Jace spent a very special day with daddy. Joel took a day off and took Jace for his first ski day ever! They loaded up in the Jeep this morning and went up to Loveland for the day. After getting suited up, Jace got a half day private lesson because there were no other kids signed up today.  I think he had a great time. He said the best part was going fast and that he was a little scared going on the lift. I could tell he was exhausted tonight. He was hyper and could not sit still at dinner.

tired and happy in the bath tonight

Julianne and I spent a quiet day at home. She is trying so hard to start crawling. She is able to scoot and turn around in a wide radius when she plays on the floor. I really think, each time I put her down, this time she will just crawl away.