The Way I Feel

We have been reading and talking about feelings with Will recently. When I read books to him, I often ask him how he thinks the person or character is feeling and we like a specific book by Janan Cain called The Way I Feel. It describes lots of emotions in kid friendly verses and shows pictures of characters expressing that emotion in their face.

So... while he was sitting on the potty tonight (sometimes it takes awhile) I read the book to him again and then asked him to make different expressions for me. What a good sport... these crack me up!

Happy


Sad


Scared


Pouting


Thinking


Angry


Surprised


Silly


More Silly



And just plain cute...


And after all that... he'd peed on the potty! He likes to say "Ta-da!" when he's proud of himself. And when we flush he says "bye bye pee!" Here's Will is his big boy underwear.

Our sticker chart is filling up with potty rewards!

Long Weekend

I love long weekends. It sort of feels like the days are extended, because you can get everything done and still have time to be lazy and just do whatever you want. It's a vacation at home which, when you think about it, is the best place to be.

Friday was a sort of recovery day from the busy holiday. I stayed home with the kids while Craig worked a half day in the morning. Then in the afternoon, Sophie and I went over to babysit Mya & Stella for a few hours while their mommy & daddy went househunting. I forgot to mention that Sophie's first tooth broke through on Thursday morning! This has been her signature face since then. (Sorry for the blurriness - she was in motion and I wasn't quick enough.)



Playing with cousin Mya (Stella was sleeping).

Sophie's climbing on everything. She climbed right into their bouncer seat by herself!


Saturday morning, we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop in hopes to enjoy some free Christmas activities and a picture with Santa. Well they had a nice set-up for the kids but when we got up to the picture line, the lady handed us a card and very kindly told us that we could come back at 3:00, sort of like a reservation. Um, no thank you. So we observed Santa from a distance and spent the rest of the time browsing the store and looking at all the animals. The lady also recommended we come back during the week when it's not so busy. Good tip - maybe we'll do that.


Some poor, random spectator probably didn't want to be in my picture - LOL.




We were trying to get him to make a scared face in front of the big bear but Craig was still in this one.


This one's cute.


Back at home:

"Over the pillows and through the furniture... to grandmother's house she goes!"
Sophie LOVES crawling through the coffee table... ALL THE TIME.



In the early evening, my mom and I took the kids to see the Lights Before Christmas at the zoo. It was a perfect night for it. Not too cold and we got right in - no lines! I also purchased a membership this time as I hope to visit a lot more next year when Sophie's 1. It's a pretty good deal!










I really think Sophie liked it! She was pretty entranced with all the colors.

They even had the traditional lights show where the trees flash to the beat of Transiberian Orchestra music. Very cool. Will's favorite part, however, was not the lights. It was the aquarium. That's almost ALWAYS his favorite part. And I keep telling Craig we need to make plans next summer to visit an actual aquarium. Maybe a long weekend trip somewhere with friends.










Then when the kids were tucked in bed that night, Craig and I put up our Christmas tree. I was anxious to get it done, but then as we were working, I started to panic that this would be a magnet for our littlest explorer, Sophia. Surprisingly, however, she hasn't really touched it at all. She likes to look but has kept her distance thankfully.

Our tree is ancient... and sparse... but it looks pretty cute I think.

The stocking were hung by the... um... shelves with care...

And then Sunday morning, the kids woke up and I got the tree lit before I went to get them so they could see our new decor! Once when we went to sit on the couch to read a book, I said "And what are we not supposed to touch when we sit on the couch?" He said "don't touch the snack-ings". LOL

Sunday was a totally relaxed day. I literally stayed in my pj's ALL DAY. I showered at night and put my pj's right back on. LOL We hung out and rested up and ate good food.

Who's that baby climbing in the bookshelf... AGAIN?

Ha! It's Sophia! She's pulling up on everything these days. The couch, the bookshelf, toys, us...


Oh, and Will added a bunch more stickers to his potty training chart too! Good job Will!

Happy Thanksgiving

Lots of family, lots of food, sleepy kids, sleepy parents, good memories...

For the past 14 years, my mom's family has spent a 3-day "vacation" at Maumee Bay State Park. It originated with my Grandpa's 70th birthday as a surprise party and has continued each year, eventually coordinating with Thanksgiving since the events were so close together. So the past few years have included a full, traditional Thanksgiving feast (on Wednesday evening) served in chaffing dishes and crockpots in one of the larger hospitality suites, followed by a big family "sleepover" and lots of relaxing and game playing. My grandma does one heck of a job preparing and serving meals in a hotel room that consists of a mini-fridge, a microwave, and a small sink. Everyone brings lots of snack foods, fruit/veggie trays and coolers. Grandma brings a waffle iron for breakfast and a giant crockpot full of chili for lunch. Then we order pizza one evening. It does help that everyone lives within easy driving distance of the resort, but for the most part, the adults arrive and stay put at the hotel. Grandkids, of course, with newly wedded in-laws have some traveling to accomodate other parties.

So, I took a half-day on Wednesday to get home, get everything loaded up while the kids napped and get out to Maumee Bay shortly after nap time.

There's a new children's play area at the resort in place of one of the old "walleyball" courts. Will had an absolute blast in the pirate/ocean scene playground.







The cousins & significant others playing Banana Grams. (P.S. I won 2 out of 3 games!!! Even up against my brother-in-law Wes who has an astounding knowledge of the English vocabulary. I think I just got lucky that night.)






Case & Wes


Taylor and girlfriend Amanda


Bryan, Brianne & Zach


MY small family does not stay overnight with everyone else. It's just easier to drive the few miles to sleep in our own beds. We knew we had a big day Thursday so I made sure to get home at a reasonable hour and get the kids to bed ASAP. Then I got everything together for the next day and reloaded the car.

Early Thursday morning, the kids and I were up, dressed and back out to Maumee Bay for waffles and more hanging out while Craig slept in. Then I loaded them back up and picked Craig up shortly before noon. We headed out to the Riedeman family Thanksgiving which was hosted by a friend of Craig's mother in his beautiful home in Toledo's Old West End. He had a lovely spread prepared in the dining room.


The foyer


Sophie timed her nap perfectly with our lunch meal. We brought the pack 'n play and just put her down in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Will, on the other hand, missed his nap entirely. Timing is everything in the life of a toddler, but sometimes it's out of our hands and he did very well considering. Here's Will riding a new "rocking horse", which is actually a specially-designed high chair turned on it's side. Craig's parents purchased two from Amish country to keep at their house for the grandkids. It also converts to a desk on the opposite side. Beautifully crafted.

Family pic on the stairwell. Will's tired and just about maxed out with good behavior.






On the way home, Will crashed almost before we made it down the street. :)

He got about a 45 minute catnap while we drove home to grab swimsuits and drop some stuff off before heading back out to Maumee Bay for leftover chili and some pool time. Another new feature this year is a fountain-area for the kids beside the pool.



Soph playing on the hotel bed.


All in all, a very nice holiday. We paid the price of too much activity and lack of sleep for awhile... both kids have runny noses now. But we are still very thankful for our general health and for our families.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!