Life This Week

We have been working so hard with Sam lately to develop his social and emotional skills.  He's so smart and requests to do schoolwork daily.  The picture below makes me so happy because he was happily constructing his own tower at the end of preschool when his buddies came over.  He really did not want to build with anyone else but finally relented.  He and his friend were able to build a really cool castle together and he was so proud of it!  It's always nice to see progress in an area where we have spent so much time and energy.

Roy and I have been really enjoying family history work lately.  It's fun to track down names, figure out bits and pieces of their stories either through written accounts and pictures or tracking their movements through Census Records, find siblings or parents or children who weren't connected before our digging around, and to understand that these are real people who had families and jobs and dreams and who are connected to me through marriage or genes.  Anyway, if you want to do your own family history work, we really like familysearch.org and puzzilla.org.  Both are free and have lots of records and names in the databases already.

Anyway, the reason I even mentioned family history is because we spent part of the day out in Warrenton, VA yesterday for Roy to do some family history work.  One of his relatives lived out in Facquier County, VA and married a lady from there sometime in the 1840s.  Roy could find the wife's name and her mother's maiden name, but not any other information.  So since that information isn't digitized and online, we went out to the library for Roy to do some digging in the Genealogy Center and the kids and I read books and explored Warrenton.  It was a fun adventure and cool to show the kids one of the small towns fairly close by.  Warrenton had tons of patches of flowers and pretty areas to walk so it was a fun morning!

I was so proud and even teared up when the following paper came home from school this week from Abby.  She was supposed to use the word "but" in at least one sentence (my over-achieving daughter took the whole time to write...I love her):

• I liyk my frens but I liyk my family morr.  I liyk you but I liyk you morr.  But why do I haf to do my homework?  But I can tak carre of Androw!  But my Dad is alrgkt to cats!

Interpretation: I like my friends but I like my family more.  I like you but I like you more.  But why do I have to do my homework?  But I can take care of Andrew!  But my dad is allergic to cats!

FYI, we plan to name the baby Andrew Joseph and I love to hear the kids talk to him, talk about him, and make plans for him.

Two Week Catch-up

We have had a busy few weeks!  I'm in the middle of spring cleaning/purging/baby-prepping/rearranging furniture and trying to keep the rest of our busy lives going too.  Luckily the kids are awesome helpers are are really thrilled about the changes that are coming our way.  Here's some of what we've been doing to keep ourselves busy:

• moving Lydia into a big girl bed and into the room with Abby and Sam.  After the first couple nights of slumber party syndrome, they all got used to being in there together and I think it'll be hard for them to ever go back to not being together.

• Roy and Sam did the Father-Son campout for a whole hour or so.  Apparently, Sam was not a fan of roasted marshmallows (he's a purist), but loved the roasted Starburst.  So the girls went out for ice cream...first time ever for Lydia and only second time for Abby.  Neither girl knew what to do with the 30 flavor options, 6 cone or cup options, and an entire counter of toppings (those weren't an option for my wallet, though).  They both settled on chocolate-dipped sprinkle cones and neither had a problem eating their gigantic scoop of ice cream, even though Abby insisted on using the sample-sized spoon.  It was so fun to have a girls date with my girls!  And we were happy Sam and Roy had fun too. :)

 

• Soccer practice, games, and journaling!

• Fun dress up days at school.  This was crazy hair day.  I think next time we'll go a little more wild, but having four twisty buns was crazy enough for Abby :) 

• Lydia very clearly says, "Picture, mama!" now so I obediently take a picture.  Here she is reading to Sam and I after announcing it was school time and I needed to "Sit there.  No, there!  Sit still!"  She read us "Green Eggs and Ham", a family favorite that we all have memorized thanks to the CD we have in the car, but she turned the pages backward.  It drove Sam crazy because he knows exactly what picture goes with the words, but he held back any criticism.

• Lydia loves to feed the birds and squirrels.  She again requested a picture.  Later on, all three kids used the bread as bait for squirrels and then shot at the squirrels with their squirt guns (can you tell that was  Roy-inspired activity?). 

On That Note...

Roy was attempting to take a nap yesterday after I had already told him we had to get through our to-do list first.  A little annoyed, I sent in the big guns.  I told Sam to go tickle Roy.  That didn't work.  Then I told him to poke him.  Nothing.  Then I told him to give Roy a wet willy, knowing full well that not only did Sam not know what that was, he had never heard the term before.  Without so much as blinking, he shoved his finger up his nose and took aim at Roy's ear...

A little Steve Urkel pants action

Funnies

• When I was at school picking up Abby, a kid in her class came up to me, pointed to my tummy and asked, "What are you really growing in there?"
• Abby and Sam raced to the rocking chair and Sam tried to wedge his head in under Abby so he could say he was there first.  When he complained he didn't have enough room, Abby responded, "That's because you have the Zwahlen head!"
• Abby was hiding in the bathroom and Sam was looking all over for her.  He knocked on the door, "Abby, it's me!"  Abby answered, "Who's me?"  If you know my dad, you will know that somehow that sort of humor was genetically shared from him.
• Lydia was walking around with her dress up to her ears and I said, "Hey, come here diaper girl!"  Without missing a beat she said, "Hey, diaper mommy!"
• We went to this really awesome, huge park a couple days ago.  It's one of those parks where you feel like you can lose your child if you take your eyes off of them for an instant.  Sam is self-sufficient and Lydia usually hangs out close by so I wasn't worried about being able to keep them in my sights or close enough that they could find me.  Then Lydia escaped.  You know how I found her?  I heard a little voice say, "Oh, Mommy!  Hi, Michelle!"

Soccer, Week 2

Abby had a great second week at soccer.  I could see her really catching on to the game and learning not just rules but some of the strategy.  More importantly, she had so much fun.  She worked hard the whole game and came away afterward feeling proud of herself and can't wait to go to practice this week.  It's good to see how much she is enjoying soccer!  

When in doubt, look for the pink socks!

Spring Break Fun (Part 1)

We had a great Spring Break with Abby!  It was so nice to have her home with us all week.  We sure miss her when she's at school.  We went out to Frying Pan Farm with friends one day and got to see lots of baby animals.  

  

We spent a half a day in DC and visited Roy at work and then the kids and I went to the Natural History Museum.  It was my first time doing a museum by myself with the three kids (go big or go home, right?) and it actually went really well.  We got lucky and got to see a tarantula feeding and Abby and Sam got second row seats right in front of the cage.  We got to bid farewell to the dinosaur wing that will be closed for 5 years and see the T-Rex Room that just opened for the building of the T-Rex.  It was pretty awesome.  Abby wished her cousin Miriam could be there with her (if you hadn't  heard, they plan on being paleontologists together and opening a museum of their own).  Sam, Lydia, and I just appreciated the sheer number of crates that were there holding the bones.  We're excited to go back and see what progress has been made!

Miriam, this picture is for you!

A Reason to Smile

I love this brownie face.  One thing I love about Sam is that he jumps into life with exuberance.  That's everything, even licking a spoon of brownie batter.

Roy is in Palm Springs this week (rough life) and the kids wanted to send him pictures of their silliest faces.  I love how you can see their own twist on the idea of silliest face.

This sweet message came home from school with Abby today.  We do pretty well when Roy is gone, but we would obviously prefer to have him home.  It was especially nice to get this today and give me a boost for the next couple of days until Roy gets home.  Abby is such a builder of people and she looks for the best in those around her.  I love that about her and love that I am the recipient of her love today.

"Something that makes me feel good is:

Mom gives me a warm feeling."