Daddy will stop at 3 different Redboxes to rent Tron Legacy for us to watch as a family.
Mommy will make you practice piano and violin and complete your homework.
We take you to church each Sunday and do our best to teach you to love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Daddy built you a mini-tree house and put up a zipline.
Mommy wakes up early enough to fix a hot breakfast almost every morning.
We make you pick up after yourselves and do a few basic chores around the house.
Daddy does home repairs, cares for our dog, and plays outside with you.
Mommy reads you stories, takes your pictures, writes this blog and plays games with you.
We both work hard to support the family, we take you on trips, and do numerous things each day to make you happy, healthy, and safe.
Always and forever, we love you and are grateful to have you each in our life!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter festivities
We had some fun with Easter festivities at our house and at a park with cousins. But I did try to instill in my children why we celebrate Easter. I think it worked a little with my two bigger girls, but not with Gabby. Today in the car, I said something about Easter. Then she shouted happily, "Easter is for eggs." I said that we do hunt for eggs but that the holiday is about Jesus and his resurrection. She told me emphatically, "NO! Easter is eggs." Hopefully the lessons will sink in as she gets a little older.
Here are photos of our Easter festivities:
Dying Easter eggs. Notice that Gabby's hands are dyed at least as much as the eggs are. :)
Gabby got a little upset when the Easter eggs had all been dyed.
Easter egg hunt in our backyard with friends Max and Annie:
Easter baskets:
A fun holiday, all in all.
Here are photos of our Easter festivities:
Dying Easter eggs. Notice that Gabby's hands are dyed at least as much as the eggs are. :)
Gabby got a little upset when the Easter eggs had all been dyed.
Easter egg hunt in our backyard with friends Max and Annie:
Easter baskets:
A fun holiday, all in all.
Easter dresses 2011
Here are some shots of my girls in their Easter dresses. I only got one decent one of all three of them...Gabby didn't want to cooperate at all...and even Ella didn't want her pictures taken much. Michelle, of course, posed for a ton of photos. She isn't camera shy at all.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Books about Music
To celebrate Michelle's progress in violin (she's learning so much!!) and the beginning of Ella and Michelle taking piano lessons, and because I love books so much (and because it was the theme last month for a group I belong to on Goodreads), here is a list of some great picture books about music.
Music, Music for Everyone by Vera Williams. This is a sequel to A Chair for My Mother. Now the narrator's grandma is sick and there is no extra money in their jar. But she and her friends come up with a great way to earn some money... they form a band to play at special ocassions. Her music cheers up her grandma, makes a special anniversary more wonderful and earns some money to put in the jar.
Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora. Ben loves to listen to the jazz music, especially the trumpet. One of the jazz players helps him to ge a trumpet of his own. Gabby loved this story and was soon pointing to and naming the instruments.
Zin, Zin the Violin by Lloyd Moss. This is told in rhymes. It includes some good music vocabulary and introduces ten different instruments in the orchestra. Gabby loved this story also, but even though it was about a violin (and other instruments), I could not get Michelle or Ella to listen to it. They thought it was a little boring. I liked the whimsical illustrations.
Handel: Who Knew What He Liked by M.T. Anderson. I thought this was an interesting, well-written biography of Handel. It included some interesting things about his life and it all tied into his strong knowledge about himself...knowing what he liked. Very interesting and great illustrations.
The Little Piano Girl: The Story of Mary Lou Williams, Jazz Legend
In many ways Mary Lou Williams had a difficult childhood but she was an amazing piano player, naturally gifted. I'll admit I'd never heard of her but really enjoyed learning about her and her life.
The Bat Boy and His Violin by Gavin Curtis. I really liked this fictional story of a young boy who loves to play the violin. His father wants him to play baseball and doesn't really approve of him playing the violin...until his violin playing helps the team become more successful.
Marsupial Sue by John Lithgow isn't about music, but it's a cute story/song about a kangaroo who doesn't like doing what kangaroos do...until she learns that being yourself is the best thing to be.
Music, Music for Everyone by Vera Williams. This is a sequel to A Chair for My Mother. Now the narrator's grandma is sick and there is no extra money in their jar. But she and her friends come up with a great way to earn some money... they form a band to play at special ocassions. Her music cheers up her grandma, makes a special anniversary more wonderful and earns some money to put in the jar.
Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora. Ben loves to listen to the jazz music, especially the trumpet. One of the jazz players helps him to ge a trumpet of his own. Gabby loved this story and was soon pointing to and naming the instruments.
Zin, Zin the Violin by Lloyd Moss. This is told in rhymes. It includes some good music vocabulary and introduces ten different instruments in the orchestra. Gabby loved this story also, but even though it was about a violin (and other instruments), I could not get Michelle or Ella to listen to it. They thought it was a little boring. I liked the whimsical illustrations.
Handel: Who Knew What He Liked by M.T. Anderson. I thought this was an interesting, well-written biography of Handel. It included some interesting things about his life and it all tied into his strong knowledge about himself...knowing what he liked. Very interesting and great illustrations.
The Little Piano Girl: The Story of Mary Lou Williams, Jazz Legend
In many ways Mary Lou Williams had a difficult childhood but she was an amazing piano player, naturally gifted. I'll admit I'd never heard of her but really enjoyed learning about her and her life.
The Bat Boy and His Violin by Gavin Curtis. I really liked this fictional story of a young boy who loves to play the violin. His father wants him to play baseball and doesn't really approve of him playing the violin...until his violin playing helps the team become more successful.
Marsupial Sue by John Lithgow isn't about music, but it's a cute story/song about a kangaroo who doesn't like doing what kangaroos do...until she learns that being yourself is the best thing to be.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Ella's play date
On Friday, one of Ella's friends from school came home with us and played for a few hours. The girls had so much fun with Zoe. Zoe is darling...and they played happily the whole time she was here. First, we got Slurpees and went to a park. Then we came home and they played out back for an hour or more. Finally, they came inside. They watched tv for a bit and then came upstairs to paint. Both Michelle and Ella were so excited for her to come over and now Ella can hardly wait for their next play date.
Gabby at 2 1/2
Gabby has such a personality! She continually makes us shake our heads and laugh. She talks so much...tells stories and says things that you wouldn't expect a 2 year old to say. A couple of examples, sometimes when you ask her a question, she'll respond, "Possibly." A couple of days ago, she smiled at me and said, "I'm sassy." (That's true!) She knows what she likes (such as "Signing Time with Alex and Leah"--she asks to watch this by signing the opening line from their title song in the cutest voice) and what she doesn't (eggs) and she lets you know too.
I know I've mentioned this before, but she loves vegetables and fruits. Right now tomatoes are a particular favorite which she asks for almost daily. She's upset if I run out. She's the only one of my kids that will eat tomatoes and last weekend when we had pico de gallo, she ate a bowlful of it...even drinking the tomato juice at the bottom. :)
She loves to paint. I mean LOVES to paint. She asks to paint at least once every day...sometimes 2 or 3 times per day. She also likes play-dough.
She is about halfway potty trained. A few days ago, she said to me, "Mommy, potty train me NOW!" I'm of the philosophy that potty training is a natural progression and that it should happen when kids are ready..and that they can mostly do it themselves when they are ready. So when she asks to go to the toilet, I take her...and she usually goes when she sits there. But about half the time she still goes in her diaper. And I'm okay with that. It will happen eventually. No reason to stress either of us out about it. But she is happy when she goes in the toilet so we'll keep letting her go, of course, but just following her lead.
She is growing up too fast for my liking. But she still loves to cuddle and she still loves her pacifier. (Sadly, her days with it are numbered. As soon as summer comes, it's going bye-bye.)
This past Tuesday, we had a play date with several neighbors with 2 & 3 year olds. When I was telling her about it ahead of time, she said she did NOT want friends to come. When I told her who was coming, she told me emphatically, "They are NOT my friends." But she happily played with them while they were here and a few minutes after they left, she told me to have them come back. She could name all of their names and has talked about them several times since then. :)
Oh, and Gabby loves to help clean. She wants to wash dishes, vacuum, use windex on mirrors or our glass table and really do whatever I'm doing to clean. If I can, I let her help.
I know I've mentioned this before, but she loves vegetables and fruits. Right now tomatoes are a particular favorite which she asks for almost daily. She's upset if I run out. She's the only one of my kids that will eat tomatoes and last weekend when we had pico de gallo, she ate a bowlful of it...even drinking the tomato juice at the bottom. :)
She loves to paint. I mean LOVES to paint. She asks to paint at least once every day...sometimes 2 or 3 times per day. She also likes play-dough.
She is about halfway potty trained. A few days ago, she said to me, "Mommy, potty train me NOW!" I'm of the philosophy that potty training is a natural progression and that it should happen when kids are ready..and that they can mostly do it themselves when they are ready. So when she asks to go to the toilet, I take her...and she usually goes when she sits there. But about half the time she still goes in her diaper. And I'm okay with that. It will happen eventually. No reason to stress either of us out about it. But she is happy when she goes in the toilet so we'll keep letting her go, of course, but just following her lead.
She is growing up too fast for my liking. But she still loves to cuddle and she still loves her pacifier. (Sadly, her days with it are numbered. As soon as summer comes, it's going bye-bye.)
This past Tuesday, we had a play date with several neighbors with 2 & 3 year olds. When I was telling her about it ahead of time, she said she did NOT want friends to come. When I told her who was coming, she told me emphatically, "They are NOT my friends." But she happily played with them while they were here and a few minutes after they left, she told me to have them come back. She could name all of their names and has talked about them several times since then. :)
Oh, and Gabby loves to help clean. She wants to wash dishes, vacuum, use windex on mirrors or our glass table and really do whatever I'm doing to clean. If I can, I let her help.
Music Show and Tell for Michelle
Wednesday was Michelle's music show and tell at school. I love that I was able to go to these...and on Thursday I was able to volunteer in each of the girls' classrooms. :)
Michelle's class sang Los Colores and America the Beautiful. They also did a couple of rhythm and singing games and played instruments during these songs. They first used rhythm sticks, bells, and drums. Then they used a metalaphone, xylophone and glockenspiels.
Two of Michelle's closest friends, Liliana and Amelia, are in this photo.
At the end, they sang "I bought Me a Cat" by Aaron Copeland.
I bought me a cat
my cat pleased me
I fed my cat under yonder tree
My cat says fiddle eye fee.
(and so on). For each time the animal made it's sound a different child played an instrument that sounded similar to the sound that the animal made. Other students were holding puppets of each animal.
Mrs. Shorten has done a wonderful job of teaching them. Michelle was so excited the other day when reading a book called "A Mouse Called Wolf" about a mouse named Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse who loves music and can sing beautifully because Wolf (his nickname) was singing songs written by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart and she knew who all three were because Miss Shorten had taught them about each of these composers. :)
Michelle's class sang Los Colores and America the Beautiful. They also did a couple of rhythm and singing games and played instruments during these songs. They first used rhythm sticks, bells, and drums. Then they used a metalaphone, xylophone and glockenspiels.
Two of Michelle's closest friends, Liliana and Amelia, are in this photo.
At the end, they sang "I bought Me a Cat" by Aaron Copeland.
I bought me a cat
my cat pleased me
I fed my cat under yonder tree
My cat says fiddle eye fee.
(and so on). For each time the animal made it's sound a different child played an instrument that sounded similar to the sound that the animal made. Other students were holding puppets of each animal.
Mrs. Shorten has done a wonderful job of teaching them. Michelle was so excited the other day when reading a book called "A Mouse Called Wolf" about a mouse named Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse who loves music and can sing beautifully because Wolf (his nickname) was singing songs written by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart and she knew who all three were because Miss Shorten had taught them about each of these composers. :)
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