Kate Reading

Kate does really well at memorizing. She "read" this book to me the other night and her voice is so cute I thought I would share. I am including the words since she is hard to understand. And at one point she ad libs, which is a bit confusing.



I THINK ABOUT GOD: Two Stories About My Day
WHY
Tell me, Mother, tell me why...Why do birds stay in the sky?
And why are grown up people tall, while Jean and John and I are small?
Why does the rain fall? Why does the moon shine?
Why do the clouds move? Why does the wind whine?
Why does it get dark? Why is a puddle wet?
Why is the snow white? And why does the sun set?
Why does baby cry? Why do I yawn?
Why do I sleep at night and wake up with the dawn?
Little child, I'll tell you why: God wills all these things to be.
He made the earth and sea and sky, just as he made you and me.

I DO MY BEST
The sun peeps in to wake me. I jump up from my rest.
(this is where the ad libbing happens!)
I promise God that all day long I'll do my very best.
I wash my face and brush my teeth. I comb my hair, I try.
I put away the slippy soap and spread the towel to dry.
I help to get my breakfast. My big pink bowl I find.
I pour the cereal carefully- I like the popping kind!
I stand beside my mother while she washes baby Tim.
Sometimes I take the fluffy puff and help to powder him.
It's time to put my coat on. Off to the store we start.
I help to carry packages and push the shopping cart.
Back home, I color pictures. I do the best I can.
Today I drew some tigers and a very funny man.
Soon it's time for bed again. I talk to God and say,
"Help me to do my very best to please you every day."

Bedtime Songs

I finally caught Kate on tape doing a little singing. Tonight's selection includes: You Are My Sunshine, Bushel and a Peck, and This Little Light of Mine.




Her rendition of Bushel and a Peck sounds more like "I push Leia in the back..", luckily her actions do not reflect her words. We also added a verse to This Little Light that goes "This little moon of mine, I'm gonna watch it shine." She transitions between verses while singing. I enjoy her creativity!

Making the Grade

Evidently 8 months is "Developmental Milestone Month" for Leia. Since October 18th she has figured out crawling, clapping, pulling up on objects, going from tummy time to sitting, standing unassisted for a few seconds, and eating a meal consisting solely of finger food.

What's next: Aggravating Kate by stealing all the toys, and experiencing the "jail-like" atmosphere baby gates provide.

Crawling Commences

Leia has joined the world of the mobile. Yesterday she could crawl two steps and then would splat down. Today she is up to 4 or 5. Who knows how far she will get tomorrow. The baby gates are going up tonight!

Dress Up

Leia made her dress up bin debut yesterday. She was quite the patient model while being dressed and during her photo shoot. What a sport.

At one point there was a mouse ears headband included but that didn't last long.
Kate chose the Snow Princess costume. Warmth is always in style!

Love

Kate decided to show Leia how much she loves her by covering her in heart stickers (while I wasn't looking of course). I wonder how many Leia would have tolerated before I intervened.

First Pig Tails

I can't quite pull it all up into pig tails but it is getting closer!

Secret Garden

Everytime we go to the zoo we drive past a mysterious park. It is surrounded by privacy bushes so you only get a glimpse of the fun it hides as we drive by. Today we finally stopped to check it out. What a surprisingly large patch of green goodliness it turned out to be. There is a large grass area and play structures for both big and little kids. It was not overly impressive but was more park than expected for a city street corner.

Scratch Patch

The girls and I visited a place called the Scratch Patch today with friends. It has two rooms where the floor is covered in polished stones. The girls got cards with all the stones pictured and details about them (that part was a little beyond them). They were also given cloth flowers to collect stones in. You can buy a bag and take stones home if you want. We have enough choking hazards around here as it is so we left them all there. It was a fun out-of -the-ordinary excursion.

Hiking the Arboretum

We took a stroll at the arboretum. There are lots of bridges to cross and benches to rest small legs. It sprinkled on us a bit and started raining in earnest just as the cars came into view. It's a great space for a fall hike.

Snack and water in hand, she's ready!

Catching up with Hadley on the trail.

"Look mom a floating log!"

Taking a rest.

Getting a better view.

The world is her jungle gym.

Hat season!!!!

Puddle Jumping

It was pouring down rain this morning and during a downpour is the only time we have puddles near our house to splash in. Even then the best ones are the street gutters. Kate and Willow had a blast hunting for puddles and investigating what was in them.
We found one....now what?

Follow the leader

Investigating.

Can you tell we did this after gymnastics? They are doing straddles over the puddle.

Family Pumpikin Outing

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch. The plan was to buy some pumpkins to carve at home while embracing messiness. The line was ridiculously long so we settled for Kettle Corn and rolling around on the ground with the pumpkins.

For Ann

What have we been doing lately? Here's a little taste:

Practicing gymnastics.

Pondering the outdoors.

Mastering solid food.

Climbing with Cousin Aidan.

Making playdough.

Twin day!

Leia's first wagon ride! (she refused to look at the camera).

Swimming in undies. (We forgot a bathing suit and a towel!)

Sorry for the lack of postings in September. We were busy enjoying the last of the great weather. Happy fall!!!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our first trip of the season to the pumpkin patch. We will head back soon to take pictures with the pumpkins. On this trip we met up with LOTS of friends and explored the bean maze, pumpkin patch, hay tower, and found animals to feed.
Coming out of the bean maze with Hadley and Nathan.

Wheelbarrow snuggle time.

Mother's Helper

Whoever invented the Mother's Helper is a genius. I have an awesome 12 year old playing with the girls while I finally accomplish tasks that can't be done while: 1.the girls are sleeping or 2.while they are needing supervision. I have her for another 30 min. I might just go enjoy a latte and some dark chocolate in a quiet space before I am "on-duty" again.

Plus if she comes weekly I might actually have time to post pics of all our current fun.