March for Babies 2013

What a perfect day for the March for Babies! The weather was gorgeous, and the company was fantastic!

This is just trouble, waiting to happen.

SpurDog and one of our favorite coworker's little girls. So sweet.

Femster and I couldn't resist.

What a great way to spend my birthday!

Busy Week!

I have been awful about posting lately; Facebook and work are consuming my life!

On Wednesday, our entire county made the trek to Baltimore for the Common Ground conference.

 It's possible that as I was boarding the bus, I yelled, "Party Bus 2013!!" I am so professional.

The conference was not as informative as last year, but I did get some great tech gadget tips in one of the sessions I attended. In fact, I went out and promptly bought a Boom Can for my laptop the next morning. I am having crazy tech issues in my classroom right now; my Smart Board projector died two weeks ago, and I'm having to use a portable projector in the meantime. As a result, I don't have any sound. So, the Boom Can is a life saver (and you can't beat the $14.99 price at Staples!).

It's so compact and cute!

Yesterday, I took the kiddos to a birthday party for their two biffles at our local park. The weather was amazing, and everyone had a great time! 

So. Stinkin'. Cute.

Happiness is two best friends and a basket of Cheese Balls.

I'll post later after I get back from the March of Dimes March for Babies. I'm really looking forward to it! The weather is beautiful, and I'll be walking for a great cause with some of my favorite people.

Happy Sunday!

The Tooth Fairy's Helper and Earth Day

Deedle and Princess A have anxiously been awaiting a visit from the Tooth Fairy's helper. She was supposed to visit their classrooms back in February (during Dental Health Month), but apparently, she was under the weather...for a really, really long time. Well, she finally paid a visit yesterday, and the kids couldn't stop talking about her. Apparently, she even had purple wings (Princess A was delighted!).

"Look, Mama! I'm flossin'!"

We celebrated Earth Day during our writing block on Monday. I used Fun in K/1's awesome Earth Day Craftivity pack. It was a huge hit with the kiddos! But my favorite is this one:

 

"You can reuse by if you are done with a beer bottle, you can wash out the beer can and brew your own beer." I knew I liked this kid.

Tomorrow, our entire county is headed over the Bay Bridge to the Common Ground Conference in Baltimore. I have my Kindle, chocolate, and snacks ready to go!

P.S. There ya go, Mom...I updated!

Birthday Boy, Bubbles, and (Face)book

Sorry about the post title...I love alliteration!

The jury is still out on whether or not "The Fours" are as awful (if not worse) than "The Terrible Twos." I know that birthdays can be anticlimactic, but sheesh! Deedle has been in a rough mood these past few days, particularly tonight. A 6:45 bedtime is starting to look really good...

On Friday, the kids' daycare was closed for a family emergency, so I let them play hooky with me. Deedle spent a surprising amount of time, practicing his writing and drawing. He is really working hard to perfect his pencil grip!

He desperately wanted to draw a picture of McKinley, so I drew one and he copied it. Nothing would do but that he draw McKinley's dog bed and favorite blue ball, too.

Does anyone else out there do the Primary Talent Development units? Our county implemented them a few years ago, and while at first, I detested them (they can be very messy!), now, I actually look forward to teaching them. The lessons are designed to be "hands-on," and the kids get so excited about them. It's also really intriguing to observe the students for "resourceful and persevering" behaviors; the ones that you wouldn't expect usually keep trying until they get it just the way they want it!

In this lesson, the students were asked to blow and pop bubbles. Then, they had to measure the diameter of their bubbles, using standard and nonstandard measurement tools.

This little one had a hard time getting started, but once she figured it out, she was blowing bubbles left and right!

 

Check out the bubble inside the bubble!

In other news, I decided to get back on Facebook. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. On one hand, I love being able to reconnect with my friends and family who live in other states. On the other hand, it's freaking addictive, and life is busy enough without being distracted by Facebook. We'll see how it works out.

Go Fly a Kite

Today was a picture perfect day: warm temps, plenty of sunshine, and just enough wind to fly a kite. Deedle got two kites for his birthday yesterday, so of course, the kids had to try them out.

Notice that McKinley is waiting patiently for Princess A to throw his frisbee, even though she is clearly preoccupied with flying her kite.

 

Every girl needs a pair of oversized Hello Kitty sunglasses. Right??

Best Surprise Ever!

I didn't plan to have my children sixteen months apart. When I found out I was pregnant with Deedle, Princess A was only six months old (I'm an educated woman...I swear I know where babies come from!). Being pregnant while trying to handle a baby was tricky (and exhausting), but I really believe that God knew what He was doing when He blessed us with a surprise pregnancy (either that, or He has a really sick sense of humor!).

Princess A doesn't remember a time in her life without Deedle. She learned to share and to be patient at a very young age. She is fiercely protective of her little brother. She is instinctively maternal and nurturing. Deedle, in turn, adores his big sister. When she is hurt or sad, he goes out of his way to give her an ice pack or a hug. Even though they have different interests, they play surprisingly well together.  In short, having my children sixteen months apart is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

It's hard to believe that four years ago tonight, I was in labor, anticipating Deedle's arrival.

 Pop-Pop with his namesake, just a few hours after he was born.

"Can we send him back, Daddy?"

Today, we celebrated Deedle's birthday at the local park. The weather was beautiful, and the kids had a fantastic time! They raced and chased, ate cupcakes, and opened presents. All in all, it was the perfect day.

 Princess A and her BFF

Deedle and two of his friends, playing "Pirate Ship"

Happy birthday to the best surprise I've ever gotten! You are one amazing little person, Deedle.

Friday Date Night

Why do short weeks feel so doggone long?? Even though we only had to work three days this past week, they were three of the longest days ever! So, as a reward for surviving the week, KShaf decided to take the fam out for dinner last night to our local Japanese restaurant. We were pretty confident that Deedle would like the food (that child eats anything that doesn't eat him first!), but we didn't anticipate just how much Princess A would enjoy her dinner!

Here is Princess A, gobbling up her salad. The chopsticks were a huge hit!

I don't think I've ever met another three year-old who enjoys miso soup as much as Deedle does.

Deedle has developed an affinity for sushi (the more exotic, the better!). I can't wait to tell him what those little orange thingies are when he gets a little bit older...

Last night, KShaf got down all of Deedle's baby clothes from the attic to give to a friend who is expecting a little boy in a few months. I knew I shouldn't have looked through the clothes, but I couldn't help myself!

 

I can't believe that the little munchkin who could fit into this itty bitty outfit is going to be four years old next weekend! Where in the world has the time gone??

Tomorrow, we are going to have breakfast with my Biffle and her family, my parents, and one of my closest friends from college and her mother. I am beyone excited to reconnect with everyone! 

Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter and a Trip to the National Zoo

We had a great Easter with the fam yesterday (even if the weather was a little sucky!). The kids woke up at (the ungodly hour of) 5:30, and they immediately ran to check out what the Easter Bunny had brought them.

Somehow, the Easter Bunny knew that the kids had a brand new sandbox, so he brought plenty of new sand toys.

My family (my parents and my sister's family) came over for Easter dinner mid-afternoon. The kids had to be patient and wait for a few bands of rain to pass through before they could outside and hunt for eggs, but it was well worth the wait! KShaf was an excellent "egg hider" (he did a much better job than my sister and I have done in prior years...we've been known to have a few glasses of wine and forget where we hid the eggs!).

After the egg hunt, we came in and enjoyed this for dessert:

You can't go wrong with Barefoot Contessa's recipe for strawberry cheesecake!

We have been promising the kidlets that we would go take a trip to the National Zoo, so since the weather was supposed to be sunny and 65 degrees, we decided that today was the day!

 Princess A and KShaf enjoying the view from the Metro.

I'm pretty sure Deedle would be content to ride the Metro all day.

It was a pretty long walk from the Metro station to the zoo, but it was worth it! 

 Princess A and Deedle outside the Asia Trail.

The kiddos checking out great panda exhibit. The animals were all out, enjoying the warm weather and sunshine.

After the panda exhibit, we stumbled on the Asian elephants just in time to see them enjoy their lunch. I don't think I ever realized how much they use their trunks to feed themselves...it was really something to see!

Gratuitous Mommy and Deedle pic.

The kids were mesmerized by the elephants. We could have stood and watched them all day!

The American Trail was pretty amazing, too. In fact, we got to see the sea lions being fed, and one of them did a full back-flip right in front of Princess A and Deedle!

 You don't realize how well sea lions swim until you see them underwater.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, the zoo was really filling up. Honestly, it all made me a little anxious with small children...I was slightly terrified that I was going to lose one of them! We started heading out of the zoo around 1:00. But before we left, I got a few pics of the kiddos in front of the triceratops statue in the Kids' Farm.

All in all, we had a great time, but we are all exhausted (despite catnapping in the car on the ride home)! In fact, Princess A is screaming through her shower as I type this...she will, clearly, be going directly to bed after she finishes up. I probably won't be far behind!