Turning 3

Mark your calendar - these special little ladies turn three next week!  It's my turn to host the party - we're having a garden party at our house next weekend.  Please pray for good weather!!

Summer Agenda - togetherness.

The kids will be at the perfect age this summer for them to be enrolled in camps TOGETHER!  Many of the kids programs in our area take kids ages 3 to 6 years old.  PERFECT FOR MOMMA!

I figured this may be the only year I can get away with this.  Next year, Kevin will be way to old.   I wouldn't normally enroll Katie in camps at 3 years old, but she is used to preschool and being with other kids, so I think she will do just fine.  Plus, Kevin will be with her.  They are going to two sessions of daycamp, held at our preschool.  They are signed up for library story time together as well as swim lessons.

**Ask me at the end of the summer if this plan worked?

Kevin is six - yes, everyone knows this already!

I may be the worst mommy-blogger ever!  With the ease of sharing pictures of the kids so quickly on Facebook, I have neglected my blog duties....Well, now is my chance to remind you again, Kevin had a terrific 6th birthday!

The birthday celebration started at 7:00AM!  Before school we went to Krispie Kreme for donuts - it's down the street from school so it was an easy choice. We had fresh, hot donuts - yum!  Kevin's teacher made a big fuss over him and he brought a treat to share with his class after lunch.  For dinner, Kevin chose to go to Buffalo Wild Wings - I was surprised, and so grateful not to go McD*nalds!  For his birthday gifts, we have Kev a remote control car, Woody (from Toy Story) and some dinosaur toys.  

At six years old - Kevin LOVES toys!  Sure, he does love to play with the IPad or Wii, but he still loves to lay on the floor and arrange all his toys for battle.  Just when I think he has outgrown some toys, he will get them out again and play all afternoon (sure makes it difficult to get rid of anything).

Kevin continues to excel at swimming.  Recently, his teacher suggested I put him on the swim team.  He loves to swim and I have seen a big improvement in his endurance and strength.  He can swim the entire length of the pool now.  His big goal is to pass the swim test at the Y so he can jump of the diving board.  The test requires him to jump in, swim a length, and then tread water for 1 minute - I think that is a huge task for a 6 year old!

This spring he is going to start soccer, and he's signed up for baseball this summer.  Along with swimming, it will be an active summer.

 Lego Party - quietest birthday party ever!  Highly recommend it!

I love that Katie insisted on being included - she "built" the exclamation point!!! 

Notes on Katie

PIGTAILS and SWIM LESSONS - those are the two big things in Katie's life right now!

Nearly 3 years on the making, her hair is finally getting long enough for pigtails!  Well, it isn't everyday that she will sit still and let me fix her hair, she will let me put pigtails in when it's time for swimming lessons.  Nate and Katie took the YMCA Waterbabies class last winter - it did not go well!  So, we took a break from swim lessons for a while, and this year she loves it!  She finally had the courage to go down the slide and "jump" off the edge ("jump" = walks off the edge into Daddy's arms).

Notes on Katie's behavior:  Some of you know that this fall Katie and I had quite a rough time together.  Her two year old behavior really peaked in early December which was when  I was prompted to buy this awesome book - it really helped us!  While we haven't implemented all of the techniques in the book, just a few have really done the trick for us.  Both Mommy & Katie have experienced less bouts of crying and yelling.

Notes on potty training:  She's almost there.  Some days Katie will ask to use the potty and other days she won't care and is content with a wet diaper.  Like most things with Katie, I am going to wait until she feels like it's all her big girl idea to use the potty and I wont have to force her.  Hopefully, this will all come together this spring (warmer weather = less layers of clothes to fuss with).  I learned my lesson with Kevin, no child will ever use the potty if their parents sit on the floor and read them book, after book, after book...

Notes on NO MORE napping:  This is the saddest thing to admit - neither one of my children take naps anymore.  Sigh... 

This fall we realized that on the days when Katie takes a nap she would be yelling in her crib until well past 10PM!  This did not work well with a tired Kindergartener next door, he had to get to bed.  So, we eliminated her nap.  It wasn't pretty (hence her behavior problems), but things have smoothed out.  There are still random days when I give her a nap and OMG do I CHERISH those days (ie - CHERISH = I do not do any boring housework or chores during that time.  It's all ME time like reading  or watching a non animated TV show!)  Nate can tell the moment he walks in the door at night if Katie's had a nap!  On a non-nap regular day, both kids are in bed by 7:30 which I find totally awesome!

Notes on activities:  With the loss of her nap we have A LOT more time to keep busy during the day.  Katie enjoys her preschool class on Monday & Wednesday mornings.  Tuesday mornings we attend a Brighter Beginnings toddler class which has art/music/play for the kids and an educational topic for the moms.  We normally make it to the Y several afternoons a week.  Lucky for me, Katie does not cry in the childwatch.  She loves to run and play with the other kiddos there.  She HATES going to the bus stop every afternoon to pickup Kevin.  It's a challenge to get out the door 500 feet to the corner to meet him.  I left her alone in the playroom one day and went to the bus stop.  She was not happy, crying so very hard when we came home.  She thought I left her home alone, forever!  Now that it's so cold here, we normally drive to the bus stop (500 feet - pathetic, I know, but warm)!