Day one of death star piñata complete

Why yes, my back IS killing me. Two more days of this and then the painting. I sure hope this works. This is what I hope to end up with.

Giving In

Liam has NEVER owned any kind of G-U-N before. He earned some money and when we went to Target all he wanted to spend it on was this water gun. $2.50. All. He. Wanted. Was. This. Gun. I have resisted so much, but I finally gave in. It hit me that there was nothing I could do to stop him from loving the things and he may just want what he can't have more because it's being kept from him. So I said OK and you would have thought I handed him 100 lollipops. His face lit up and he couldn't wait to get it home and show Daddy when he got home from work. Funny thing is, Daddy was just as excited and ran out to get his own.

If giving in to a silly water gun produces fun times with family like this, I will do it over and over again.

 

The Sea Was Angry That Day, My Friends

We had SUCH an amazing time this past weekend. The weather was fantastic and the company wasn't so bad either. We had breakfast by the beach and planned to take the kids to play in the sand afterward. When we got to the beach, we saw this. I have never seen so many waves at a South Florida beach. I didn't bring a change of clothes or even a towel because I figured it would be just cool enough to stay away from the water. Liam had other plans. He and Daddy had a blast running into and away from the waves. By the time we left, we was completely soaked but grinning from ear to ear.

Some other cute pics from the weekend... (Side note: every one of these pics was taken with my iPhone.. crazy, right?)

The Planning Has Begun...

Like everything in life always does, Liam's bday party really snuck up on me. Yes, it is a month away, but we will be going out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday which means I have next weekend to get everything prepared. It also means I will spending nights up past my bedtime perusing the web for ideas and going overboard. But seriously, I am not gonna go crazy... seriously!

Boo- Happy Halloween!

I am beginning to LOVE Halloween. I never really cared about it before. But man oh man is it fun with kids around. Especially now that Liam is at the age to get it. It's just so much fun!
If you can't tell, Liam is an army guy and Livi is Pebbles.  We spent Halloween with our BFF's- the Matherly's. Liam and Cam were the leaders of the pack, running up to each house and screaming "Trick or Treat" while knocking repeatedly and shining flashlights into the windows. Luckily, Aunt Tina has some good spirited neighbors.

Livi was a trip. She spent a bit of time being chauffeured around in the stroller, but most of the time walking and carrying her own pumpkin. She insisted on not holding my hand and not letting me hold her pumpkin. By the end of the night, that pumpkin got pretty heavy, but she persisted in her independence.

Open House

Last week we went to an open house at Liam and Livi's school. They go to a Montessori school and I have been thoroughly impressed  with how much they have learned from this approach. They each get lessons everyday. There are different stations and each station has a different subject: Math, Science, English, sensory, etc. The kids each get a mat and the teacher gives them their name tag which they place on their mat before going to pick out whatever lesson they want.

Since we have 2 kids at the school, Chris and I had to split parenting duties. I went into Livi's class and he went into Liam's. This whole approach was amazing to watch for different reasons between the two of them. I couldn't believe how much of it Livi grasped. She knew exactly what to do and when to do it. Their lessons come on trays that they have to retrieve themselves, but when they aren't on trays... like say a bunch of building blocks... they have to bring them one by one. I saw Livi do both of these cause she did two different lessons and she didn't miss a beat. For Liam, it's amazing to me how a class of 15 3-5 year old's can be completely quiet and engrossed in what they are doing. Each on their own mat doing their own lesson.

I am happy to report that after a little investigating (aka- I asked the teachers), they are both doing well. Ms Kathy says Livi, although the youngest in her class, does better than a lot of the older kids and she can't believe how much she is talking. Ms Shareen says Liam is "a bit shy and sensitive" so she has to be careful how she speaks to him ( tell me about it..), but that he is lover and a sweetheart (tell me about it...).

If you're really bored, you can catch the rest of the open house videos (mostly Livi cause that's whose room I was in) here.

Chicken Pox

Livi is prone to getting rashes easily for almost any reason. The other day she was eating a lollipop and a piece of it fell on her chin. It might have been there for five minutes and it left a red rash for a couple of hours. So when the daycare called me on Thursday to tell me she had a rash, I wasn't at all concerned. I didn't even make it a point to look at it until I got her into the bathtub. But obviously, this was no normal rash.

Even though Livi had been vaccinated, she ended up with Chicken Pox. Luckily, the doctor said that the chicken pox you get after you have been vaccinated is a far different one than those who get it and haven't been vaccinated. These spots on her belly were the only ones she got and I never saw her scratch at them once. So Livi and I got the day off together. We both have had a cold and needed the rest anyway. The doc said she could go back to school on Monday and the spots are already fading away. Now we just have to cross our fingers that Liam and Daddy steered clear of it.