Leitch Christmas

On Wednesday we headed up to my parents' for Christmas.  We went to church Christmas Eve and then my dad's side of the family came over after that.  The kids were up REALLY late and then had kind of a hard time settling down for bed.  

Christmas morning we opened presents with my family and then had brunch with my grandma and my great-uncle Dewey (he flew in from LA to spend Christmas with us).  After naps we headed to my Grandma Jacob's house for Christmas with my mom's side of the family.  

The kids had a great time playing with cousins and opening presents!  We came home yesterday and are ready to get back into a normal routine - for the next couple of weeks atleast.   

Here are some pictures of our Christmas in Morton.

my sister-in-law, Denise and my niece, Contessa

my brother Rick, sister Alison, great uncle Dewey, me, and my brother Max

the girls opening presents

Alison and Will

Contessa - just chilling - she was probably over stimulated by her crazy cousins!!

Swinigan Christmas

Kevin's parents were in town last weekend to celebrate Christmas.  Shawn, Shawna, Jackson, and Janelle came out Saturday morning to open presents.  The kids had a great time playing with each other and their new toys.  Norah watching Jackson play a new game on his Leapster.

Lucy playing with her new Little People toy.

The 4 cousins - getting ready to open presents.

Norah and Jackson singing "Jingle Bells."

Christmas Fun!

We have tons of pictures to go through before I post about our Christmas.  Our big gift was a new camera!!!  We also are trying to find a place for all the girls' stuff!!

For now, here is a picture of the 4 of us from yesterday.  Several people have asked for a belly shot of me.  This is probably the best you're going to get - 35 weeks.

Norah's Drawing

Here is Norah's most recent drawing.  She says it is Lucy, the baby and her - all with Santa hat stickers.  

One of Those Nights

Last night was one of those nights where both girls were awake at different times.  I think Lucy was awake 4 different times in the night (2 of which we were still up).  Norah was awake once - crying.  Now, it is 8:00 and both girls are still sleeping.  In fact Lucy is in our bed sleeping.  She came into our room about 6:30 and climbed in bed with us.  Neither Kevin nor I could fall back to sleep so we got up and there lies Lucy - sound asleep.  

I should be doing something productive - instead I am blogging!!

Not Much to Blog About

Not a whole lot to blog about.  We had my nephew's birthday party yesterday - my sister blogged about it.  The girls had a great time with their cousins!  

Lucy is as feisty as ever.  Can she sense that her life is about to drastically change?  She is wearing us out!!

Norah is napping again almost everyday.  If she misses - she is fine, but she seems to crash pretty quickly if she is in her bed.  

We might be a little closer to names for the baby.  Well, for the boy we are probably down to 2 or 3.   If we have another girl, I don't know how we'll choose.  Our list is atleast 5 long.  We don't have middle names either.  

We have less than 6 weeks to go - hard to believe.  I know I haven't posted any belly pictures.  I may have Kevin take one this week so this child knows that I did in fact carry him/her.  I just try to avoid too many pics of myself when I am pregnant.   

Had dinner with the Morrison's.  It had been a while since we had seen them - sad, I know, since we live 4 minutes apart.  The kids played great together!!

That is about all the randomness for now.  

Book Suggestions

To follow up yesterdays post, I could use a few suggestions to add to our book list.  If anyone has any suggestions for first chapter books that your kids like (would especially love suggestions from teachers).  Obviously, for now, I will be reading the books to Norah.  Some of the books I have to start with are:

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (this was one of my favorites)

Pocahontas by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (this is a lengthy picture book with excellent illustrations)

Meet Christopher Columbus by James T. de Kay 

The Adventures of Bobby Raccoon by Thornton W. Burgess (good for teaching about animal life)

Van Gogh and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt

As you can see I want books that cover a wide variety of subjects - art, science, history, as well as just good fiction books.

As I said I am open for suggestions to add to our list.  The books above vary in length - 20 some pages to 100 some page.

Thanks!

Just Gathering My Thoughts

We are just a few weeks away from finishing up the homeschool curriculum that we have been using and I am trying to make a few decisions about what to do after the baby comes.  I may have mentioned this before but in the end I haven't loved the curriculum.  There is so much busy work/worksheets.  Obviously, my background in early ed was in a play-based classroom.  I want to enjoy teaching the girls and at this point, I think Norah and I both dread the table work.  I have done TONS of searching for other activities that fit with the theme, but don't require us to sit at the table.  I have cut out a number of the worksheets and made games that teach the same thing - just more fun.  It is interesting to me because My Father's World is supposedly a Charlotte Mason style of teaching, but the more I read about Charlotte Mason, the less I see the connection.  Maybe I would see it more with the older grades.

The main idea of Charlotte Mason was teaching with living books - not textbooks.  The idea is that you can teach anything (math obviously needs a supplement) by using whole books.  Table work is very limited and it is focused around the books that you are reading.  

A fellow blogger recommended 2 different books that I have read and gained quite a bit of insight.  One, which I had bought a year or so ago, is Educating the Whole-Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson, and the other is an E-Book called A Charlotte Mason Primer by Cindy Rushton.  

What I love about this style of teaching is that school happens all day, not just during "school time."  Obviously there is a set time for table work, which now I refer to as "school work."  This idea seems to imply that school only happens at the table - which is not the case.  There is also an emphasis on reading - LOTS of reading!  

Anyway, there is a lot more to it, but I have just begun my research.  I think I am going to attempt to teach with a Charlotte Mason style after the baby comes.   I still have to decide on a math curriculum - I am leaning towards Math on the Level, but still need to research this a little too.  

Barbie Dolls

So the girls are getting a doll house for Christmas.  It is one of those 4 ft doll houses for "fashion" dolls.  As in fashion - I think that basically is a Barbie or something of the same size.  I'm not sure that I am ready for the girls to play with Barbie dolls - after all, they are only 4 and 2.  However, I don't know what other dolls to get them.  Any of the doll houses at Toys R Us that come with dolls are quite a bit littler - I don't think they could even sit in the furniture .  There are the High School Musical dolls that are the same size as the Barbies, but I think I would prefer a "family."  

I am looking for opinions.  Do your 4 year olds play with Barbies?  Any suggestions for other dolls?  

Home Alone

I spent the weekend home alone - the entire weekend.  Kevin took the girls to Indy to see his parents and grandma.  The girls hadn't been there since May and with the baby coming, it will probably be a while before get there again, so he wanted to make the trip.  They left right after lunch on Friday and they are just a few minutes away.  I don't think I have ever spent this much time alone!  

Of course, I had a list of things to do, but my priority was scrapbooking.  I wanted to get caught up before the baby comes - and I was about 9 months behind.  Friday evening and most of the day on Saturday, I scrapbooked.  I ended up scrapbooking about 25 pages!!  I realize that if I would just take a couple of hours every couple of months, then I wouldn't get this far behind.  It is hard, though, because I prefer to spread out all over the living room floor to work.  I  left the house twice to run to Michael's for more supplies (thankfully, Michael's is less than a mile from my house).  I think cleaning up was more overwhelming than all the scrapbooking!!

I did accomplish a few other things while home alone.  I finished a couple of homemade presents and wrapped all the presents that I have.  I also cleaned the upstairs level of our house.  

I had hoped to catch up on some sleep, but I am getting a cold and I couldn't breathe very well in the night.  Between that and going to the bathroom every few hours - I didn't get much sleep.  I still feel more rested than normal - probably because I wasn't responsible for anyone but myself.

*Kevin and the girls are home - he said they did great in the car!  It's funny because we have commented several times recently that they are both finally at good ages to be able to do certain things (like travel) and we are throwing a new baby into the mix soon!  

Before putting the girls to bed we realized that both girls are running fevers - which means no Mother's Day Out tomorrow.  I didn't think Lucy would go willingly after being apart all weekend.  

New Haircuts

Wednesday we had 'haircut' day for all 3 of us girls.  Norah decided a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to cut her hair to her shoulders.  I was all for that - her hair was starting to look stringy.  Blah!  Lucy's curls had sort of disappeared because her hair was getting too long and their is no humidity right now.  I just needed something easy!  My hair is so think that it takes FOREVER to dry and I don't have forever these days.  Norah can't stop staring at herself - she loves her haircut.  I think it is adorable - Kevin likes it but thinks she looks shorter (I don't know if it is possible for Norah to look any shorter than she already is).

Once we got home on Wednesday, Norah says, "I like my hair the best, Lucy's the second best, and Mommy's hair the third best."  She asked me to post pictures of everyone's new haircut.  She took the picture of me (ignore the fact that I have spots on my shirt and no make-up on - really, I can't believe that I am posting it!!!)

Note:  Norah posed herself and then thought Lucy and I should also be in front of the Christmas tree.

The Gingerbread House

For school this week, our story was The Gingerbread Man.  We read a WIDE variety of Gingerbread Man and then compared all the books.  We made a gingerbread house - I just bought a kit from Michael's.  Sometime maybe I will attempt to bake one, but not this year.  The girls did a GREAT job decorating it!  I thought there would be some arguing, but they had a blast!!  Sorry the lighting in the pictures is so bad - we have so many windows in our kitchen that it is very difficult to take decent pictures.  

Our Family . . drawn by Norah

Here are a couple of pictures Norah drew recently.  Obviously, with 5 people (including the baby) we are too big of a family for one piece of paper.  

This first picture is Norah and Lucy.  When we asked her why she had a sad face, she responded, "Can't you see that Lucy is hitting me?"

Nice, huh?

This is Kevin and the baby - nothing too exciting, but prepare yourself for the next one.

This is me.  I realize that I am pregant, but I didn't think I was that big.  I'm almost 32 weeks and have gained about 17 pounds - do I really need a WHOLE page for myself.  And if you remember right, the baby is in the previous picture.  It looks as if I will have my work cut out for me losing the baby weight.

Side note:  Norah also told me yesterday that I "looked really big" in the shirt I was wearing.  

Our First Snow

There is nothing like the first snow of the season when you are 2 and 4.  As soon as I opened the girls' shade this morning they were oohing and aahing as if they had never seen snow before (in all reality, Lucy may not remember ALL the snow last year).  Although I am not a snow person, it is quite fun to see their faces filled with excitement.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent the day at my SIL, Shawna's, parents.  We had 10 adults and 4 kids.  The food was excellent - although I filled up much more quickly this year since my stomach is being squished by a little one.  

Shawna's mom used to teach elementary P.E. so she always has lots of fun things for the kids to do.  The weather was INCREDIBLE and their backyard is HUGE so we spent quite a bit of time outside!

Kevin's parents are here for most of today- not sure what our plan is.  Are we brave enough to head out to some stores?  I would like to go to Michaels, Gymboree, and Toys R US.  I know - totally random stores.  Michaels, of course, is having a big sale plus good coupons.  I want to get a kit to make a gingerbread house.  Norah's theme this week is fox and the recommended book is gingerbread man.

Norah saw a skirt at Gymboree - not just any skirt, but a HOT PINK TULLE skirt.  They are having a 30% off sale and I have a 20% off coupon.  I think Norah will be totally excited on Christmas to open this skirt!

We are looking for a doll house for the girls.  I am incredible picky and can't decide what I want them to have.  If you have little girls and have a suggestion - let me know. 

Lucy's First Drawings

Lucy drew a couple of pictures and actually labeled them.  Normally, she just scribbles, but this time she deliberately drew pictures.  

This first one is a spider.  I think she actually wanted to draw a face based on her language as she drew, but when she finished it, she looked at me and said, "I made a spider!"
She said this second one is a face.  As she drew the eyes she counted "1 eye, 2 eyes!"

Thanks to my great husband for getting me the scanner!  I have had a number of drawings that I wanted to scan and now I can!! Yea!

What's that Sound?

Oh, it's . . silence!!  That's right - my girls are asleep - not just in bed, but actually asleep.  The girls are doing great in their bunk beds, but Norah hasn't napped since.  She has a rest time either in my room or in the baby's room - but she is busy coloring and writing.  Every once in a while she has seemed tired, but she won't give up and fall asleep.  

Norah had multiple meltdowns today and actually has bags under her eyes, so both girls were in bed by 6:45.  Hopefully, this will help Norah catch up on sleep.  Lucy goes to bed by 7 every day anyway, so 15 minutes doesn't make much of a difference.  

*Update

*Just an addition to my post yesterday.  A different nurse called me late afternoon yesterday to talk about the results of my 3 hour glucose test.  Since a nurse called me the day before, I was a little confused.  The nurse yesterday said basically that I was borderline gestational diabetes so they do want me to follow their diet plan.  She was putting it in the mail to me.  I go see the doctor on December 3, so I am anxious to talk to him and find out why the 2 nurses basically told me 2 different things.  The first nurse basically told me to eat a well balanced diet and try to avoid greasy fast food.  The nurse yesterday told me I need to follow their diet (I did mention to the nurse yesterday that she was telling me something different and she couldn't really explain why).  

I am anxious to get the diet in the mail to see how this is going to affect how I eat on Thanskgiving, Christmas, and my birthday.  

Quick Little Update. . .Nothing Exciting

Other than the girls being sick - nothing else is gong one here.  Norah has an ear infection - according to the doctor it is really bad.  Besides the antibiotic, he prescribed her some eardrops for the pain - which he has never done before.  Poor girl!  

I had to go for the 3 hour glucose screening on Friday because my numbers were too high after the 1 hour.  Oddly enough, this time I was 140 (seriously no idea what the number actually represents) and they want you to be below 140.  What does that mean you ask?  I have no idea.  I don't technically have gestational diabetes - thank goodness - but I'm also a little higher than the doctor would prefer.  According to the nurse I am just supposed to monitor my diet a little better - limit fast food intake as much as possible and try to eat a balanced diet.  Other than sometimes indulging in a craving, I don't think I eat that bad.  I'll just try to be a little more carefull - I will need some serious willpower over the holiday season.  I LOVE to make Christmas kind and often make 8-10 different kinds.  I may have to take a year off, though, so I am not tempted to eat too many!!

It is hard to believe that we will be having the baby in 9 weeks!  I have my c-section scheduled and we have started to count down.  I think we have actually narrowed down our names to a couple of boys names and we may actually have a girls name!  Middle names are still totally up in the air.  With a last name like Swinigan (kind of a mouthful to say) I am incredible picky about the length of names!!  

Today was the last week of the women's Bible study at our church.  The study I did was Lord, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur.  It was excellent.  It is interesting to me that although I grew up in a great Bible teaching church, I didn't know much about the names of God.  Sure, I had heard them before (names like Jehovah-jireh, Elohim, Adonai), but I never actually knew the specific meanings of each name.  Nor did I know how and when the names were revealed to the Israelites.  It was a great study and I would highly recommend it to anyone (our facilitator was excellent, too).  I will miss not going after Christmas, but I just don't think I could with the baby coming.  By next fall - we will all be ready!  

I haven't posted a lot about school with the girls for a little while.  We are still trucking away (mostly with Norah), but I have been a little too tired to worry about posting the details.  We have about 4 or 5 weeks left of the curriculum that we are using but we are going to take a break next week to do Thanksgiving stuff and we will take a break in December to do Christmas stuff.  We will still have school - we are just adding some of our own stuff so basically we will finish up the My Father's World curriculum the week before the baby comes.  Should be perfect timing.

As I said - nothing too exciting - just normal everyday stuff. 

Lucy Funnies

A couple of Lucy's new favorite phrases:

1. Wowah (that would be Norah, which she can say correctly if we tell her too), change your attitude.

2.  Why do I do all the work?  (she often asks this when she is picking up toys)

3.  Yes, Mommy and why, Mommy  (this is what she says when I tell her not to do something - such as, stay out of Norah's bed)

I know there are many more - I just can't remember!  I need to get better about posting things as soon as she says them! 

After 6 Weeks. . .

We think Norah is officially over her finger sucking habit!  I say, 'think,' because we obviously don't really know what she does in the middle of the night.  She doesn't put her fingers in her mouth at the times she used to - when she is tired, watching TV, in the car, when she is hurt, etc.  I have even napped with her a couple of times and she hasn't even tried!  Yea!

Norah's big reward for filling up her chart (she got a sticker every morning if she kept her gloves on all night) was a trip to Build-a-Bear.  Last weekend, we dropped Lucy off at Shawn and

 Shawna's house (Kev's brother & SIL) and we took Norah to the mall.  She was very excited to pick an animal - of course, she chose a PINK leopard.  She was amazed at all the clothes to choose from (actually we were, too) and ended up picking a denim skirt that is similar to one she has and a purple shirt and leggings.  

We finished our little outing with cookies from the Great American Cookie Co.  Yummy!

Bunk Beds

Between computer issues and just feeling too tired, I haven't blogged about anything fun recently.  So here we go!  The girls are in their "new" bunk beds!  We bought them off of Craigslist a couple of months ago.  They were a light wood which I probably could have learned to like, but the great (and handy) husband that I have knew that I had my heart set on white.  He spend the last several weekends stripping, sanding, priming and painting - and they look fabulous!  He did a great job!

We debated whether to put the girls to bed at the same time or put one down earlier and one later.  Typically, Lucy talks/sings herself to sleep (this has been her routine ever since she could carry a tune) and Norah falls asleep instantly.  It doesn't seem right to put Norah to bed first, since she is older, but if we put Lucy to bed first, it could take a LONG time for her to fall asleep.  So, we have put them to bed at the same time and so far it is working great.  The first night both girls were exhausted so they both fell asleep right away and they both slept until 7 (unusual for Lucy - her typical time was 6:15 or 6:30).  The second night Lucy was singing and we heard one loud "SHHHH" from Norah (we temporarily put the monitor in their room - mostly for our own entertainment).  Lucy continued to sing, but both girls drifted off fairly quickly.  Last night, they giggled and talked for about 20 minutes.  At one point Norah was singing and when she stopped, Lucy said, "Norah, do that again."  Kevin went up one time to remind them that it was bedtime -  and we didn't hear another peep.  7:00 has been their wake-up time this week - I love that!

So far so good.  I know we will have some nights that aren't so great, but I am happy with how well they are doing for now.

Naptime has been a little more difficult partly because Lucy is so excited to be in a new bed.  I have to take the ladder to the top bunk out of the room during naptime.  Lucy won't stay off of Norah's bed and this morning she had actually climbed on the outside of the rail to the top bunk.  Next thing I know she will be jumping from Norah's bed to her bed. Ha!

I realize that my pics don't actually show the beds - just proof that they are sleeping.  I will try to get a picture of the beds to post.

Regression

While I have several fun things to post about (Norah is no longer sucking fingers!  We moved girls into their new bunkbeds!) I am too tired to upload pictures and write a lot.  However, I could use some advice.  Lucy has totally regressed when it comes to the potty training.  She is having accidents all the time - not even just one a day.  She is probably having more accidents than she is actually going on the potty.  If I remind her then she will go (although today I was helping her pull her pants down to sit on the potty and she peed right there on the floor), but if it is up to her - like at MDO, Bible study, or church, she just goes in her pants.  She also doesn't seem to care - she actually laughs when she sees that I am frustrated!  She has also started going in her car seat and tells me after the fact - even after she just sat on the potty before we left.  Yesterday we were going to Kevin's brother's - about 40 minutes away.  We had to stop about 20 minutes in so she could go potty.  She had been holding it for hours if we were in the car. 

I realize that it is totally normal after a new baby comes that she would regress - I just didn't think it would happed before.  Although, she talks often about being the baby and says "That baby is your belly be the big kid."  

Anyway, anyone have any advice?  Being so tired doesn't help my attitude about it, but it is driving me crazy!!

A Teenager

I think Norah has skipped a few years and is nearing 13 or 14.  She has been a little obsessed recently with how old you have to be to be a teenager.  She often asks if she has to be a teenager to do certain things.  

Last night, she and I ran to Kohl's to do a little shopping.  I could use some black pants - I think with the girls I had borrowed from someone else.  (I had no luck by the way).  I thought we would look at the Christmas dresses for Norah.  Plus, we did a little Christmas shopping there too.  I had a 30% off coupon so I figured we should do what we can.  While we were at Kohl's, Kevin and Lucy were at Circuit City.  Norah said at one point, "Girls don't like shopping for computer stuff - only clothes."  She is at a fun age to take shopping because she enjoys it, but I still have the final say over what she picks out - and she's okay with that.  I know that won't last forever.

She has started using the word "like" in way too many sentences.  While looking at the clothes, she said, "Mom, isn't this like so cute?"  "This is like so much fun like shopping for clothes."

I wasn't going to make her try on the dress she found, but she really wanted to.  While in the dressing room, she was dancing and singing, "I love beautiful, fancy dresses!"

As we were leaving Norah said, "Wasn't this like so much fun?  We just got to talk and talk.  I loved it!" 

So Tired

I know it's normal - to be this tired during the third trimester - I just don't like it. I think I have hit the fairly normal end of pregnancy insomnia. Some nights I sleep great - other nights, I hardly sleep. Some days I nap, some days I feel like I have too much to do to nap. Today, I was laying with Norah - who isn't feeling very well. I actually fell asleep and she did not. I woke up to her just sitting next to me - staring at me.

I had a doctor's appt. yesterday - everything seems great! It's hard to believe that we only have 11 weeks to go! We have so much to do before this baby comes!! The girls still are not in their bunk beds, yet. Kevin is refinishing the beds that we bought - we are hoping one day next week!!

I have been feeling the baby move constantly and just like with Lucy, this baby seems to settle under my right ribs. I realize that because I am short, there isn't a lot of room for the baby, but seriously. It's like this baby sticks a body part - arm, foot, I don't know - right under my rib!

Norah felt the baby move this week - that was the highlight of her week!!

Foreign Language Friends

Just wanted to put the bug in your ear to this GREAT website for teaching Spanish to your children! I've seen brief snippets of it - my brother is the creator - and it is excellent! As with any early childhood program - the earlier a child begins something, the better!

Foreign Language Friends will launch on January 12, 2009, but check out the website now to read a little about it! We will be making it apart of our homeschool experience!!

Baby Update

Since I have hardly posted anything about the baby, I thought I would give a baby update. It's funny because when I was pregnant with Norah - our world totally revolved around being pregnant. Now, with 2 other children, I don't have a lot of time to think about being pregnant. If I am tired - it doesn't hit me until the girls are in bed. If I don't feel good - I don't have time to think about it.
Anyway, I am 27 weeks, but because I am having a c-section a week early, I really just have 12 weeks to go. What?! 12 weeks - where did my 2nd trimester go?
The baby is moving constantly - especially when I am in bed. I have started feeling what is probably hiccups. The girls are getting really excited about the baby. They both are constantly hugging my belly and talking to the baby.
Since we don't know what we are having, we really haven't narrowed down names at all. In fact, our lists keep getting longer and longer. We have about 6 boys names and maybe 10 girls names. Kevin doesn't really like to tell others our names so I won't list them here. Before Lucy was born we had a different name picked out for her, then about 3 days before my c-section, Kevin said he wasn't sold on the name, so we went back to the drawing board. We ended up with Lucy Mae. So even if we choose a name - it could still change.

The Mural!

Denise, Contessa, and my mom came to our house a couple of days before Will's birthday party. Denise and I have been talking about her painting a mural in the basement, but owning a successful business keeps her VERY busy!

As soon as they got to our house, Denise got busy painting. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of her actually painting.

We love it!! Thanks, Denise!

Here is the finished mural:

Weekend Recap . . .Finally!

We are still having some issues - but for now I can post a few pictures.

My nephew, Will, turned 2 last week (I can't believe it - it seems like he was just born!) so we went to the zoo to celebrate! It was CRAZY at the zoo because they were having Boo at the Zoo. The kids had a great time collecting candy and admiring all the animals. Seriously, I don't think we will ever tire of going to the zoo!!

Here are a few pics. . .just realized that somehow I didn't even get any of the birthday boy! I will have to try to get some of him from someone else.

Computer Problems

We are having some computer problems. I can check blogs, email, etc. but I can't upload pics nor can I find any of my pictures (Kevin did just back up the pics last week, thank goodness).

Much of what I have to blog about I have pictures to post. I think I will wait a couple of days to see if Kevin can get all this figured out.

Hopefully, more to come in a couple of days.

Lucy's Stories

The girls were arguing in the car today and I hear Lucy say, "Norah, you rude and I mad!"

Lake of the Ozarks

This weekend we went to the Lake with our small group from church.  Our church has a marriage retreat house on the lake for small groups to go for marriage enrichment.  We had a great time!!  At the moment we are the only ones with kids (although 2 other girls are pregnant) and the other couples were very kind to invite the girls to come with us.  We have only ever been to the lake in the summer so it was fun to go in the fall.  We were able to enjoy God's incredible creation as we looked across the lake at the leaves changing colors!  Beautiful!

Kevin and the girls on the dock from the house.

We had yummy food - we have excellent cooks in our group!  We went to Ha Ha Tonka State Park for a hike (Kelsey and I just went on the short one to the castle ruins).  The others went on a longer hike/trail down 316 steps (Kevin and Lucy ended up not making it - imagine that).  Norah wanted to keep going so she stayed with the rest of the group and walked ALL the way down and ALL the way back up.  I thought for sure Norah would need to be carried back up, but she toughed it out!!  We found out later that Norah told Jenny and Kristy some tall tales on the hike (like that she held a baby deer on her camping trip - what?)

Lucy seemed to think it was her job to entertain Dave and Kelsey by making up songs about "naked bodies" and "poopy diapers."  I'm sure she was just preparing them for becoming parents.

We ate a late lunch at Dog Days.  Our service wasn't great, but the view and the weather was great!!

We went miniature golfing after lunch.  Norah had a great time and did really well!  Lucy enjoyed walking on the bricks and dropping her ball into the hole.  The grown-ups all had a great time, too!  

The girls didn't have a nap so they were both very tired.  They were both in bed and asleep by 7:30 so the grown-ups could have a relaxing dinner without them.  We grilled out and had yummy sides.  We finished the evening with our own version of the Newlywed Game.   We laughed SO hard I thought Kelsey or I might go into labor right there!

Lucy woke Kevin at 5:30 this morning while the rest of us slept a little later.  After another yummy breakfast we packed up and headed out.

The girls did really well the whole weekend!  I was quite proud of them!  They had a blast with so much attention from all the grown-ups.  At one point Lucy asked if everyone was coming home with us.  And later she asked if "Mr. Aberle" was coming to our house.  

The girls are exhausted again - because they didn't nap on the way home and played outside for several hours once we got home.

We had a great time with everyone!  It was great to get to know everyone a little better!  We can't wait to go again!!

I guess being so well-behaved all weekend was a little much for Lucy.  Here she is on the way home.  She looks so pleasant, doesn't she?

Toddler Thursday Theme - Black and White Animals

Last week we had a VERY laid back week of school - since Lucy was sick.  Norah was fine - but Lucy wanted to be held a lot and that made it difficult to get anything done with Norah.  By Friday morning the girls were both asking to do school so we did a few things - but we will continue this week.  

Lucy matched animals to animal cards.  All the animals were black and white animals.

The girls drew with white chalk on black paper.  They seemed to also enjoy making smudges on their pictures after drawing.

We worked on making patterns - Norah enjoys and can finish pretty difficult patterns (ABC and ABAAB).  Lucy on the other hand, had no interest.  I tried just to get her to copy an AB pattern and she just wanted to put the white blocks together and the black ones together.

The girls made pandas with black and white circles.  This is Lucy's.  The picture of Norah's didn't turn out very well.

Oooh - a Clean Car

While Lucy was sleeping today, Norah and I went outside to clean out the car. Of course, Norah played on the front porch and in the garage while I cleaned. Seriously, I haven't cleaned out my car in FOREVER! It was nasty! There were crumbs from a pumpkin muffin left from pumpkin festival which was over a month ago! It totally makes Kevin sick and he usually cleans out my car for me, but he has been so busy recently that he hasn't had time.

After Lucy's nap we were going to run to the grocery and I said to Lucy, "Mommy cleaned out the car while you were napping."

Her response, "I can hardly beyeeve it!"

When I opened the car door for Lucy, she squeals, "Oooh! It's so cean!!"

Sad really - that my 2 year old is so excited to have a clean car!!

Sick Day Update

I took Lucy to the doctor today and she has an ear infection - which means the tubes are no longer in place. She seems to be over the tummy ache, but doesn't have much of an apetite.
She did wake up from her nap much happier than she has been all week. Hopefully, we are at the end of this bug.

Norah seems fine - other than the fact that I made her get a flu shot today. She "couldn't" move her arm all day today - you know, because of the flu shot.

A Sick Day*

We had to cancel our plans to go to the pumpkin farm with the Diehl's today. It was kind of a dreary morning anyway so we have rescheduled for a day next way. Lucy has a stomachache. I will spare you the yucky details, but she is pretty miserable. She didn't sleep well last night so she was EXTRA grumpy. She took a 2 1/2 hour nap over lunch and woke up happier - but still not feeling well. She has just wanted to be held and snuggle with her blankie most of the day. Unfortunately, we will have to miss our Bible study tomorrow - which Norah and I really enjoy, so we are bummed to miss it.
Hopefully, she gets over it soon and doesn't pass it onto someone else.

*Before bed Lucy was crying that her ear hurts - I guess we will be making a trip to the doctor tomorrow.  Just after dinner Norah said her tummy hurts - great!  Both girls were in bed and asleep by 7!  They obviously don't feel well.