I guess since we are already 14 days into the new year, I should blog the fun way we welcomed 2013!
I LOVE that we have established a great tradition of spending New Year's Eve at home with some of our very favorite friends!
The O Family have been friends of ours for YEARS, but we became neighbors a few years ago, and the fun times just keep coming!
They brought their kids' "Headbanz" Disney edition. We are all Disney people, so we figured it would be easy and fun. Oh, it was fun, but it was NOT easy! I definitely recommend this game for Disney lovers :)
The little girls loved it, too :)
Whitney and Emma are about 10 weeks apart and we LOVE watching them grow up together! I look forward to years of adventures with these two girlies lol NEVER a dull (or quiet!) moment!
They were happy to watch some movies, play with every toy we own, and watch some fireworks out the back windows.
Whitney didnt return to school until the 9th, so we had a whole week to fill with fun. My mom and dad were awesome enough to keep an eye on Grady while Whitney and I started our BIRTHDAY PARTY shopping!!!!!
Im not sure who was more excited. I really wanted to do the whole Toy Story theme, with a Woody and Jessie/cowboy/cowgirl concept, but since I learned there would be a second Baby Bass, Ive wanted the kids to have "One Fish, Two Fish" themes. Their bathroom almost satisfied my need for all things Dr. Seuss, but I reallllllllly want the Seuss party. Thankfully, Whitney is very agreeable and excited to have a One Fish Two Fish party!
It appears Dr. Seuss threw up in our guest room.
Unfortunately, the last few days of Winter break were rainy and chilly. Thanks to Eric's Aunt Carol and Uncle Joe, we were able to make the best of the dreary weather and color the umbrella they got Whitney for Christmas!
She was SOOOOOO excited to use her fancy umbrella!
I have mentioned chapter books to a handful of friends lately and thought I'd blog it for future reference. Whitney and I started reading Disney Princess chapter books right after Grady was born and we cant get enough! Its a great way for her and I to connect each night before bed, and it has really encouraged her to WANT to learn how to read by herself. We started with Disney Princesses since they were familiar characters, but also because I noticed other series had negative feelings towards school or outright bullying or other "big kid" subjects I didnt feel like diving into with my three year old.
We had a great time with Disney Princesses and were excited to find the Magic Tree House series last month. We just finished book #2 at nap time today, and we are both excited to start #3 at bedtime tonight. It always amazes me what details Whitney recalls from the night before, what she guesses will happen next, and how she really empathizes with the main characters' feelings as they travel through different periods of history. I highly recommend the series for boys or girls this age. There have been two or three questionable moments where the big brother says the little sister is "stupid" (or something equally nasty), but I just rephrase it and move along.
The weather has been amaaaaaaazing these first few weeks of the year! We have hit the "birthday party park" twice and had a blast!
Love this silly girl :) "Ta DAAAAH!!!"
Yeah, that giant bandaid on her knee? Happened in the parking lot less than 10 minutes before I took this picture. She is such a trooper though! Cried for about 5 seconds, asked me to kiss her bloody, dirty knee and wipe her tears, and then waited while I wiped it with a baby wipe and put a bandaid on it. (Eric makes fun of me for the stash of "just in case" stuff I leave in the car and diaper bag. I win. The wound under that giant bandaid? HUGE. A normal-sized bandaid wouldnt have worked. So there.)
I asked her if she wanted to go home since she had such a big booboo, and she said no, she wanted to play. And play she did! She moved and ran and climbed as though the giant nasty scrape never even happened!
And that night when it was bathrime, I thought for SURE she would lose her mind when I had to remove the bandaid and then (gasp!) plunge her knee under water. Nope. Not this girl! She's TOUGH! She held her fresh, still-bleeding wound under that running faucet and happily said, "Look Mommy! The water is healing my frape! (scrape...and i hope she never fixes that)."
Grady? He just wants to eat mulch.
He also wants to copy what his sister does and LOVES watching her run and jump!
We had a great day, despite the parking lot injury :)
A few days later, we were lucky enough to have Mac and Gramps join us at the park!! While we waited for Grady to wake from his nap, Whitney and I packed our picnic lunch and she put on a little concert ;)
This girl LOVES to sing! She still says she is going to be "on stage like that girl who was Ariel on stage."
Eric calls her "Hollywood" every time she is especially dramatic ;)
When Grady finally woke up, we headed out for our picnic fun! Grady was excited to be on the loose in the grass!
And Whitney was THRILLED to have Gramps teaching her how to kick the soccer ball into the goal!
"Mac!!!! Did you SEE DAT!?!?!?"
Grady was just as excited when we let him chase the balls we brought. "A BAAAA!" over and over.
"You mean I CANT eat the grass?"
"Well that sucks."
This picture:
reminds me of this picture:
Grady and Gramps spent some quality swing time :)
I. Love. This. Picture.
And this little girl has been SOOOO well behaved lately! I dont want to jinx it, but I am LOVING this stage!
She listens so well, and as long as we lay out our expectations for her, she follows directions, avoids drama and meltdowns, and is truly a joy to be around!
I LOVE that my parents dropped everything to meet my kids at the park. How cool are they!?
And who is having more fun here?!
And WHEN did this girl get sooooo big!!???
I love that my kids LOVE my parents, and we look forward to watching their relationships grow through the years. We are so blessed to live three miles from my parents.
And its super cool that my parents live within walking distance of this awesome park!
I cant WAIT for their birthday party!!
Seriously yall....how cute are our kids?!
Each looking in the opposite direction, but still a cute pic of our happy, happy kids :)
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