The kids have discovered the cereal Corn Pops, which they cutely call "Poppies". William told me yesterday while looking at the box and reading the letter "Look Daddy, P O P S spells Poppies!".
Mary Grace on the other hand made a pet out of a little poppy. She found a tiny little one that was shaped like a seashell. I didn't know it was her new pet. While I was washing dishes, she handed it to me, and thinking she had found it on the floor or something, I ate it.
Once I saw the look of fear wash over her face, I realized I had made a great mistake. Then the crying began as she ran to Mommy crying "Daddy ate my poppy!". So we searched through several bowls of poppies looking for a suitable replacement pet, but didn't find one.
Good thing for me about 1 hour later, all was forgiven and forgotten. She has since found a new pet, twin small poppies. Now that I know that a piece of cereal can be a pet, I'll be a lot more careful...
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Incompatible games
Mary Grace and William sometimes play really well together. Sometimes, however, it doesn't go so well. Imagine observing this:
Mary Grace is playing with her Ponyville. She has Pinky Pie and Minty and Star Song and the others. They're having a birthday party for one of the ponies. It's a great party until William joins in. William brings his dinosaur to join in the fun. Of course, being a dinosaur, the first thing it wants to do is jump around and knock all the ponies over, disrupting the party. The dinosaur proceeds to get into an epic battle with one of the ponies, at which point Mary Grace is running crying for a parent to intervene.
She calls this "playing naughty", as in, "No William, I don't want you to play naughty!"
Now imagine the other side. William has a franken-toy setup involving trains running over dinosaurs, blocks acting as the bowser trying to beat everyone else, and even pull-back cars running through the whole disaster. Mary Grace brings her Barbie doll into this, suggesting they could all work together to throw a surprise party for another Barbie.
There's no term for this intervention, but again, it ends up in a brawl of some sort requiring parental intervention.
Sometimes they play well, other times not so much!
Mary Grace is playing with her Ponyville. She has Pinky Pie and Minty and Star Song and the others. They're having a birthday party for one of the ponies. It's a great party until William joins in. William brings his dinosaur to join in the fun. Of course, being a dinosaur, the first thing it wants to do is jump around and knock all the ponies over, disrupting the party. The dinosaur proceeds to get into an epic battle with one of the ponies, at which point Mary Grace is running crying for a parent to intervene.
She calls this "playing naughty", as in, "No William, I don't want you to play naughty!"
Now imagine the other side. William has a franken-toy setup involving trains running over dinosaurs, blocks acting as the bowser trying to beat everyone else, and even pull-back cars running through the whole disaster. Mary Grace brings her Barbie doll into this, suggesting they could all work together to throw a surprise party for another Barbie.
There's no term for this intervention, but again, it ends up in a brawl of some sort requiring parental intervention.
Sometimes they play well, other times not so much!
Monday, November 16, 2009
It's ok to post Halloween photos before Thanksgiving
Trust me, it's ok.
For Halloween, Mary Grace dressed as a witch and William wanted to be Spiderman. Mommy did an amazing job of finding both costumes on the cheap, in like-new condition, and the costumes were awesome!
Here are some of the photos we took on the magical trick-or-treating night of October 31! The kids had a blast showing off their costumes to all the neighbors and and the adults had a blast watching the kids and consuming drinkables from the beer wagon!
The night started out chilly with a cold breeze but as we moved from house to house it seemed to warm up for us. We trick or treated for about an hour, then headed back to the house to eat some pumpkin seeds and inventory the goodies.
The kids are still enjoying the loot and now expect a piece of candy after every meal, even breakfast. Mary Grace, the perennial bird-like eater has adopted a strategy of eating half or less of her meal then trying to fill up on candy afterward. Yes, she is our little negotiator.
William has learned to climb up onto the counter-tops where he stands up to reach the candy on the upper shelves of the cabinets. Cannonball, as our ex-neighbors Mike and Doris nicknamed him.
We're all looking forward to the upcoming holiday!
For Halloween, Mary Grace dressed as a witch and William wanted to be Spiderman. Mommy did an amazing job of finding both costumes on the cheap, in like-new condition, and the costumes were awesome!
Here are some of the photos we took on the magical trick-or-treating night of October 31! The kids had a blast showing off their costumes to all the neighbors and and the adults had a blast watching the kids and consuming drinkables from the beer wagon!
The night started out chilly with a cold breeze but as we moved from house to house it seemed to warm up for us. We trick or treated for about an hour, then headed back to the house to eat some pumpkin seeds and inventory the goodies.
The kids are still enjoying the loot and now expect a piece of candy after every meal, even breakfast. Mary Grace, the perennial bird-like eater has adopted a strategy of eating half or less of her meal then trying to fill up on candy afterward. Yes, she is our little negotiator.
William has learned to climb up onto the counter-tops where he stands up to reach the candy on the upper shelves of the cabinets. Cannonball, as our ex-neighbors Mike and Doris nicknamed him.
We're all looking forward to the upcoming holiday!
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
William's sleepy time
William inevitably asks Mommy or I to lay with him after he's read a story. So once the book gets put down, the lights get dimmed and I snuggle with the little cutie and we talk about what we did today and what is going on tomorrow. Then about 30 seconds of silence before William is asleep. I'm not joking here. 30 seconds.
He asks "will you lay with me" like it's a big deal... Sure, honey - anytime!
He asks "will you lay with me" like it's a big deal... Sure, honey - anytime!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Mary Grace's new song
Mary Grace came home from school all excited about the new song she learned at school. Here it is:
(It degraded to some silliness at the end...)
(It degraded to some silliness at the end...)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Apple picking and pumpkin patching 2
Faced with a beautiful Sunday afternoon and nothing terribly pressing on our calendar, we opted to head out to G&S Orchards, at 825 Atlantic (crossing of Lincoln Rd in Walworth). It's about a 15 minute drive from the house and completely worth it.
We initially opted not to take a whole bushel, but cost made it more economical. We got a lot more apples than we need, but the cost was still about $20. The kids did great picking apples but had to be reminded to gently place them into the bags and not to pick up apples off the ground. We ended up with 4 varieties and made sure to eat at least one of each variety to ensure they were up to our high standards.
Next, we rolled the wagon down to the pumpkin patch for some pumpkin picking. After much careful examination, William settled on a nice big beauty, and Mary Grace chose "the littlest pumpkin" (based on a book we have). I steered her towards a larger, easier to carve pumpkin and she too got a nice one.
Anne wanted to get one too, so she picked a green one with the intention of carving our house number into it.
On the way back to pay for all the loot we selected, we noticed three years old is apparently the age when a child falls on a rotten pumpkin. Happened to Mary Grace last year and William this year. William couldn't care less though, while Mary Grace was quite upset and crying. Trusty mommy's emergency diaper bag to the rescue once again with a spare pair of pants.
On the way home we realized we hadn't had lunch yet, so we stopped at the new Bay/Goodman pizza on Atlantic and Browncroft and had a nice pizza lunch.
A wonderful fall afternoon was had by all, and here's the evidence:
We initially opted not to take a whole bushel, but cost made it more economical. We got a lot more apples than we need, but the cost was still about $20. The kids did great picking apples but had to be reminded to gently place them into the bags and not to pick up apples off the ground. We ended up with 4 varieties and made sure to eat at least one of each variety to ensure they were up to our high standards.
Next, we rolled the wagon down to the pumpkin patch for some pumpkin picking. After much careful examination, William settled on a nice big beauty, and Mary Grace chose "the littlest pumpkin" (based on a book we have). I steered her towards a larger, easier to carve pumpkin and she too got a nice one.
Anne wanted to get one too, so she picked a green one with the intention of carving our house number into it.
On the way back to pay for all the loot we selected, we noticed three years old is apparently the age when a child falls on a rotten pumpkin. Happened to Mary Grace last year and William this year. William couldn't care less though, while Mary Grace was quite upset and crying. Trusty mommy's emergency diaper bag to the rescue once again with a spare pair of pants.
On the way home we realized we hadn't had lunch yet, so we stopped at the new Bay/Goodman pizza on Atlantic and Browncroft and had a nice pizza lunch.
A wonderful fall afternoon was had by all, and here's the evidence:
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Happy Birthday Mama
We celebrated Mama's birthday on Monday at our house. We had a nice dinner, then leftover birthday cake from a lunch party for Mama, Aunt Rose and Didi. Happy birthday to everyone!
First rainbow ever!
Walking out the back door to go straighten the garage in anticipation of our first new bathroom appliance, the tub, I noticed it was sunny-raining. As I walked down the steps I saw this!
I quickly hurried back inside and excitedly gathered up the kids. They had never seen a real rainbow up in the sky before. So we all went out in the chilly October air and watched the rainbow!
Mary Grace was quick to point out that in cartoons, if you find the end of the rainbow, you'll find a treasure! As usual, William agreed and even repeated the statement!
I quickly hurried back inside and excitedly gathered up the kids. They had never seen a real rainbow up in the sky before. So we all went out in the chilly October air and watched the rainbow!
Mary Grace was quick to point out that in cartoons, if you find the end of the rainbow, you'll find a treasure! As usual, William agreed and even repeated the statement!
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Sleep talking
Every once in a while, Mary Grace wakes up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. I always wake up when I hear the little pitter-patter of her running into our bedroom, straight to my side of the bed. I'm expected to lift the covers and she climbs in and we fall asleep.
That usually lasts about an hour, when she starts tossing and turning, slowly pushing me towards Anne's side of the bed. At that point I get "influenced" to take Mary Grace back to her bed, where she sleeps soundly for the rest of the night.
Last night was one of these events. So I'm sound asleep when Mary Grace starts talking about Cinderella's carriage. I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was obvious she was having a Disney Princess dream...
Finally back to sleep and about a half hour later, Mary Grace is YELLING "Lets go for a hay-ride! Hahaha". I was chuckling at that one, but Anne wasn't so amused. So off to her own bed my little girl went. And a smile on my face I have everytime I think about it.
Hope it happens again tonight!
That usually lasts about an hour, when she starts tossing and turning, slowly pushing me towards Anne's side of the bed. At that point I get "influenced" to take Mary Grace back to her bed, where she sleeps soundly for the rest of the night.
Last night was one of these events. So I'm sound asleep when Mary Grace starts talking about Cinderella's carriage. I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was obvious she was having a Disney Princess dream...
Finally back to sleep and about a half hour later, Mary Grace is YELLING "Lets go for a hay-ride! Hahaha". I was chuckling at that one, but Anne wasn't so amused. So off to her own bed my little girl went. And a smile on my face I have everytime I think about it.
Hope it happens again tonight!
That TV is going to rot your brain!
I remember my mom saying that to us as kids, especially on those marathon TV nights when Battlestar Galactica or The Six Million Dollar Man was on. I now have proof that she was right.
William and Mary Grace were watching some kids show we Tivo'ed on TLC back when we still had cable. Anne walked in as a commercial was playing and asked "What are you guys watching?" William responded "It's the Wonder Hanger - It holds 6 winter coats!"
Most of the programming they watch is commercial free now, so those rare commercials they do see really carry a lot of influence!
William and Mary Grace were watching some kids show we Tivo'ed on TLC back when we still had cable. Anne walked in as a commercial was playing and asked "What are you guys watching?" William responded "It's the Wonder Hanger - It holds 6 winter coats!"
Most of the programming they watch is commercial free now, so those rare commercials they do see really carry a lot of influence!
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
One
Counting the number of illnesses the kids encounter this cold/flu season.
Mary Grace started feeling sick after school. She fell asleep snuggling with Mommy and when she woke up, signs of a stomach bug surfaced. Between "bouts", she was pretty normal, but the "bouts" lasted well into the evening.
She was awake at 11, 3:30 and 6:30, then finally got up at 7:15, seemingly back to her peppy, excited, loud-talking self. Unfortunately, her fever kicked in at 100.5 and while she's keeping down clear liquids, she's still not 100%.
William and his iron stomach are fine, although he felt a little warm this morning.
Mary Grace started feeling sick after school. She fell asleep snuggling with Mommy and when she woke up, signs of a stomach bug surfaced. Between "bouts", she was pretty normal, but the "bouts" lasted well into the evening.
She was awake at 11, 3:30 and 6:30, then finally got up at 7:15, seemingly back to her peppy, excited, loud-talking self. Unfortunately, her fever kicked in at 100.5 and while she's keeping down clear liquids, she's still not 100%.
William and his iron stomach are fine, although he felt a little warm this morning.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
William's artsy side
Lately, William has been getting much better at coloring and painting. He's brought home some wonderful artwork from school and it we can see the improvements that each one brings.
Last night, I went to pick up the kids from KidTown and William looked at me all disappointed. I asked what was wrong and he said that he wanted to finish his coloring before he left. He immediately went to work coloring in his firetruck so that he could give it to mommy when we got home. He was very serious and intense, it was adorable.
He did a fine job and we'll be proudly displaying it on the refrigerator!
Last night, I went to pick up the kids from KidTown and William looked at me all disappointed. I asked what was wrong and he said that he wanted to finish his coloring before he left. He immediately went to work coloring in his firetruck so that he could give it to mommy when we got home. He was very serious and intense, it was adorable.
He did a fine job and we'll be proudly displaying it on the refrigerator!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Snowy Owls no more
Mary Grace recently had her first field trip this year, to the zoo. I saw a big poster outside of her class where each child noted their favorite animal. I already knew before reading that she loves the snowy owls.
Sadly, the snowy owls were nowhere to be seen and their display area was even gone. Anne emailed the zoo only to learn that the snowy owls had passed away.
Should we treat this as a lesson for Mary Grace and tell her what happened, or maybe tell her a white liem like "the snowy owls don't live at our zoo anymore"...
We're not looking forward to the devastation either way.
Sadly, the snowy owls were nowhere to be seen and their display area was even gone. Anne emailed the zoo only to learn that the snowy owls had passed away.
Should we treat this as a lesson for Mary Grace and tell her what happened, or maybe tell her a white liem like "the snowy owls don't live at our zoo anymore"...
We're not looking forward to the devastation either way.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
William and the Lion
William tells us after his first day of school that there's a boy named Lion! We doubted him so we asked, "do you mean Ryan?" His response was no, his name is Lion. The next school day, we found out that there is a Ryan, and that's the boy William was calling Lion. Honest mistake :)
William is definitely verbalizing a lot more and often going on and on with a long story about something he saw, usually a TV show or video game. We typically understand about 50%, but he gets so excited telling us his story (all the while, fidgeting in some way, usually shaking one or two legs) that we have to feign a surprised excitement at the end. We're looking forward to understanding > 85%.
At bedtime, the routine has been augmented my laying down with him until he falls asleep. That generally takes less than one minute though, so no harm done... :)
Finally, the kids have started ballet lessons. Here's a photo from their first day! Video to come soon!
William is definitely verbalizing a lot more and often going on and on with a long story about something he saw, usually a TV show or video game. We typically understand about 50%, but he gets so excited telling us his story (all the while, fidgeting in some way, usually shaking one or two legs) that we have to feign a surprised excitement at the end. We're looking forward to understanding > 85%.
At bedtime, the routine has been augmented my laying down with him until he falls asleep. That generally takes less than one minute though, so no harm done... :)
Finally, the kids have started ballet lessons. Here's a photo from their first day! Video to come soon!
Friday, September 18, 2009
William and Mommy
William has started school, as we all know. What you all don't get to see however is just how adorable that little boy is, all dressed in school clothes, carrying his Iggy beanie baby and his school bag, with a little half smile on his face.
He climbs into the car and keeps that look up all the way to school. It's a kind of a combination of worry and pride.
Today I watched him saying goodbye to mommy. He's still doing the reverse wave since we haven't told him otherwise. So there he is waving to mommy with his palm pointing towards his face, then moving on to blowing kisses.
William's relationship with his mommy is something I think I could sit back and watch with fascination and loving pride all day long.
He climbs into the car and keeps that look up all the way to school. It's a kind of a combination of worry and pride.
Today I watched him saying goodbye to mommy. He's still doing the reverse wave since we haven't told him otherwise. So there he is waving to mommy with his palm pointing towards his face, then moving on to blowing kisses.
William's relationship with his mommy is something I think I could sit back and watch with fascination and loving pride all day long.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
First day of school for William and summer roundup
While for Mary Grace school is now old-hat, today was William's first day at preschool. He got a gentle introduction to his new classroom, new fellow students and his new teachers! Here's a photo of the kids outside just before they entered.
The kids were so excited when I saw them at lunchtime. Mary Grace loves her newly redecorated/remodeled classroom and William enjoyed meeting the other kids and playing with our neighbor, his buddy, Joe.
Anne and I were asking the kids if they had a good summer and what was their favorite part. It ended up with us making a list of all the things we did and saying, we should post that on the blog.
Visit from all the Arizonians
Weekend visit to the Thiel family (first road trip)
Monday night swim parties at the Matzkys
Tuesday night swim lessons at Midtown (first swim lessons for William)
Weekend swimming and kidtowning at Midtown
Swimming in our backyard pool too!
Bike rides to the playground
Swimming in the waves at Durand-Eastman beach
Wednesdays with Didi and Catie
Multiple trips to Seabreeze
Our weekend trip to Buffalo (first time in a hotel)
Selling kettle corn Park Ave fest weekend
Leslie and Tim's wedding (first wedding)
(more to come, I'm sure)
The kids were so excited when I saw them at lunchtime. Mary Grace loves her newly redecorated/remodeled classroom and William enjoyed meeting the other kids and playing with our neighbor, his buddy, Joe.
Anne and I were asking the kids if they had a good summer and what was their favorite part. It ended up with us making a list of all the things we did and saying, we should post that on the blog.
Visit from all the Arizonians
Weekend visit to the Thiel family (first road trip)
Monday night swim parties at the Matzkys
Tuesday night swim lessons at Midtown (first swim lessons for William)
Weekend swimming and kidtowning at Midtown
Swimming in our backyard pool too!
Bike rides to the playground
Swimming in the waves at Durand-Eastman beach
Wednesdays with Didi and Catie
Multiple trips to Seabreeze
Our weekend trip to Buffalo (first time in a hotel)
Selling kettle corn Park Ave fest weekend
Leslie and Tim's wedding (first wedding)
(more to come, I'm sure)
Monday, September 07, 2009
What a weekend!
We had a great labor day weekend, filled with fun activities for both the kids and the parents. We started Saturday afternoon with an Auragen reunion, seeing all my old friends from 3+ years ago. The kids played on the playground, played batting the ball and played "soccer-ball". Everyone had a lot of fun.
Sunday, Daddy pushed for a day at the beach, so off to Durand-Eastman (aka "The Ocean") beach we went. We packed beach toys and a snack and arrived after lunch. William immediately set to work on the sand while Mary Grace wanted to look for beach glass. Next, we decided to brave the elements and go swimming. The wind was blowing and there were waves out at the sandbar. I took the kids individually out to the waves and either held them or just held their hands as we tried jumping over the crashing waves. It was the first time both kids enjoyed the water at the beach. Mary Grace got a little scared at the end, but William wore his perma-grin up until the moment I told him we had to go. Hope next year our first visit to the beach won't be on the second-last day of summer. :(
And Monday, the Daddy took the kids to Midtown to go swimming and for an event "games on the pool deck". The games turned out to be some dollar-store crafts, a little disappointing, but the kids enjoyed it. After our first craft (pipe-cleaner spiders and butterflys), we went swimming for almost an hour. We all started to get cold, so we got out and lounged with Roxanne, Katie, and Hurley girl. The kids got juice boxes, Daddy got a beer and we broke out the second craft.
Back home by 4:30 for dinner, then closed the weekend with some miscellaneous activities leading to bedtime. Sadly, the camera stayed home for all the events, so I'm posting some older, but recent photos of the kids at the pool.
Sunday, Daddy pushed for a day at the beach, so off to Durand-Eastman (aka "The Ocean") beach we went. We packed beach toys and a snack and arrived after lunch. William immediately set to work on the sand while Mary Grace wanted to look for beach glass. Next, we decided to brave the elements and go swimming. The wind was blowing and there were waves out at the sandbar. I took the kids individually out to the waves and either held them or just held their hands as we tried jumping over the crashing waves. It was the first time both kids enjoyed the water at the beach. Mary Grace got a little scared at the end, but William wore his perma-grin up until the moment I told him we had to go. Hope next year our first visit to the beach won't be on the second-last day of summer. :(
And Monday, the Daddy took the kids to Midtown to go swimming and for an event "games on the pool deck". The games turned out to be some dollar-store crafts, a little disappointing, but the kids enjoyed it. After our first craft (pipe-cleaner spiders and butterflys), we went swimming for almost an hour. We all started to get cold, so we got out and lounged with Roxanne, Katie, and Hurley girl. The kids got juice boxes, Daddy got a beer and we broke out the second craft.
Back home by 4:30 for dinner, then closed the weekend with some miscellaneous activities leading to bedtime. Sadly, the camera stayed home for all the events, so I'm posting some older, but recent photos of the kids at the pool.
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