Behind Closed Doors

I don't know if it's the pigtails or just the fact that she is talking so much but Abby seems to have grown up way too fast. I can't believe that in just three months she will be 2 years old. I look at her face and she just doesn't have that baby look anymore. I still hold her and kiss her like she is a baby because she still is my baby. Today while I was working in the office I could hear some noise coming from the bathroom. I immediately knew that it was Abby. I have to always keep my ears peeled around that little one. I called to her to get her to leave the bathroom and waited for a couple of minutes. Nothing. I figured I'd better investigate what damage was going on in there. Low and behold the door was closed and it was quiet. I opened the door only to find Abby sitting in the corner with her toothbrush in one hand and the tube of toothpaste in the other. Oh how I immediately recalled a picture of me at 2 years old with a tube of toothpaste in my hands. She just sat there happily brushing her teeth. Luckily the tube of toothpaste was almost empty so no messes there. Abby loves to brush her teeth. She will gladly get on the stool before bedtime and tell me which toothbrushes in the drawer belong to Emma, Andrew, and Peter. She loves it when I sing the A,B,C song and the Happy Birthday song to her when we brush her teeth. She has finally become proficient at the spitting action after getting her teeth brushed. I am not sure anything has actually come our of her mouth but at least she knows that she needs to spit. She loves to finish with a small drink of water that she wants to get all on her own. My little baby is all grown up...SNIFF SNIFF. Where has the time gone??

Science Fair Project

All third graders at Andrew's school are required to do a science fair project. All I could think of was....dread!! However, I quickly realized that it was a good learning experience for all of us. Mike and Andrew came up with the idea and executed the experinent and I helped Andrew put together his board. It truly was a team effort to help Andrew understand and complete his project. Since we are big milk drinkers Mike and Andrew came up with the idea to see if giving cows antibiotics would produce antibiotic resistant bacteria in the milk we drink. Sure enough bacteria grew on the cultures with both the organic and store bought milk. Andrew had lots of fun and even learned about a topic that is somewhat complex for a third grader. On the night of Science Fair it was rewarding to see him explain his project to other students and parents that passed by his board. The rest of the night at Science Fair was spent watching a demonstration put on by the Pacific Science Center. Andrew was chosen to stand on stage and volunteer for part of it. I opted to bring the video camera instead of the camera and I was so grateful I did (I will have to post the video later). Peter, Emma, and Abby enjoyed the other exhibits that were scattered across the gym from the Pacific Science Center. By the end of the night I realized how grateful I was that our elementary school puts on the science fair. It was a great learning experience for Andrew and something that Peter is looking forward to in the years to come.

When Andrew brought home his board today he had a fancy little certificate and a science journal that he was awarded for an excellent job on his science fair project. Apparently a few of the kids from each third grade class were selected for outstanding science fair projects. Way to go Andrew!!!

Pinewood Derby

To some the pinewood derby event for cub scouts is the end all of competitions. There are dads that literally spend hours upon hours building those cars with their boys. It can be such a great bonding experience for the boys as long as dad doesn't completely take over. I was a little worried this year as I knew that Mike would not have a lot of time to spend on the car with Andrew because of his exam which happened to be on the same day as the pinewood derby. Somehow he and Andrew were able to quickly come up with a simple design and color. I picked up some stickers and the car was done in literally 15 minutes, not including drying time. The best part about it was that Andrew was so happy to have been able to help out in making his car. It made me realize that it didn't matter how long was spent on the car but that the time was well spent together. Mike was able to get home in time from his test to make it to the pinewood derby. The couple that was in charge of the pinewood derby were absolute masters. The track was amazing and the computer program that rotated which cars raced was something to behold. Each of the cars raced in their own dens first. Then the cars were scattered between the different dens. I loved how each boy got to see his car race multiple times and on all the tracks. Andrew was happy to have a few wins. That was really all that he needed. By the end of the racing all the kids were just happy for each other. Andrew ended up getting 2nd place for fastest time in his den. And to think that car only took 15 minutes to build and it still was fast. It was a good lesson for this competitive mom to learn.

Learning Together

I am so grateful for good friends and good examples that I can look to for ideas, motivation, and inspiration. I feel like it takes all of my energy to keep up with the boys and their school work that I seem to spend less time working with Emma on the skills she needs to be prepared for Kindergarten. Thanks to the Leap Frog videos she has already mastered all of her uppercase letters and sounds. After reading a friend's blog and getting motivated to spend more time teaching Emma, I came up with a game that Emma and I could play together that would help her find an object, name it, and tell me what letter it starts with. At first we gathered all the little people animals together and I put down various letters that each animals name started with. Then I had Emma tell me the name of the animal and figure out which letter it went with. That was fun but she figured that out all too quickly. So, next I took some random little people objects and lined up a bunch of letters. She had so much fun with that and by the end we were both laughing because after matching everything she picked up the letter U and said, "Underwear starts with U." It was hilarous. Since then we have mastered all the lowercase letters and moved on to simple three letter words. She can now sound out and read: cat, dog, mom, dad, ball, cup, jet, pig, fox, hen, and sun. It still takes her a bit to figure out each word but that is progress to be proud of.

First Time

There is always a first time for everything. I just love those first time moments.

A couple of weeks ago Abby was eating lunch and I went upstairs to get something and when I came back downstairs she was totally asleep in her booster chair. I ran and grabbed the camera and she didn't move a muscle. I remember Andrew and Peter falling asleep all the time during lunch. I had almost forgotten all about that until now.

I have loved being able to put Abby's curly hair in a small pony tail. She will now stand on the stool and be patient as I tie a little bow in her hair. She is happy to contribute by handing me many clips while calling them bows. The best part is that she will leave the ponytail in and not bother it. Then I spray her little curls and brush them up and she just looks adorable. The other day I realized that her hair was a bit longer and I wondered...could I possibly get pigtails in there yet?? Sure enough it was long enough for two short little piggytails. With lots of water and many distractions I was able to get Abby to stand long enough to figure out how to keep her little curls in the rubberbands. The end product was to die for cute. Even Peter stared at her during our morning prayer. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "She just looks so cute." Yesterday he asked me if I would put her hair in pigtails because she just looked so cute in them. Peter is such a sweet and observant boy. I must agree with Peter---she just looks so cute in pigtails.

Last week as I was getting the kids ready to go to school I asked them all to get their shoes and coats on. I asked the boys to help Abby get her shoes on. When I came to inspect everyone's progress I noticed that Abby had shoes on--one pink croc and one pink converse. I asked who helped her and they said that she did that all by herself. I had actually seen her get her pink crocs on before but I was impressed that she could get the converse on and velcro them in the right places. It was a another cute moment!