Florida Vacation

No new pictures of the kids this time. Jim and I spent 5 days alone in sunny Florida! We went to Boca Raton for a wedding and then stayed a few extra days in Delray Beach. As much fun as we had we were ready to come home and see the kids. They had a blast with grandma and grandpa Koss. Grant greeted us with huge hugs and kisses while Kate gave me the cold shoulder. I think it is pretty standard for kids her age to be "mad" at their mom for leaving them and Kate was no exception. After a couple of hours she was back to her normal self. I feel refreshed and rested!

Joy

Grant still explodes with joy on a daily basis. Yesterday when I picked him up from gym class I asked the teacher how he did. She responded, "he is just so joyful! I've never seen a kid joyful all the time." I'm so thankful. Ever since he was 6 weeks old, even through all the poking and prodding of needles and tubes, he's been joyful. What a gift.

What they're into and up to

Kate- Loves to put on chapstick, speaks in 3 word sentences, doesn't eat much during mealtimes but constantly asks for candy, can count to 10, is particular about the shoes she wants to wear, enjoys her weekly swim lesson with mommy, loves to hang from things and yell "Kate monkey!"

Grant-can put on his own shoes (hooray!), skins his knee every other day from falling off his bike, likes to "look for clues" and go exploring outside, loves library storytime, always asks for a hug and a kiss before mommy and daddy leave, when he hurts himself says, "shake it off, shake it off," through his tears.

Kate's great date

Tonight we had some friends over for a bbq and everyone brought their kids. We ended up having 7 kids ages 3 and under and Kate was the only girl. She marked her territory early in the night by putting on a tutu and strutting about the house. The boys mostly chased each other around. As the night drew to a close we were all pretty exhausted so we put on an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The guys worked on cleaning the kitchen while the moms went on a walk. All and all a great night!

Two Habits

Kate has picked up two new bad habits. The first is pooping in the bathtub. Poor Grant, he just sits there and counts them as they float up next to him. The second is calling me by my first name. She also yells, "Hal! Hal!" when she's at grandma and grandpa Koss' house.

Happy Easter

my little chefs

Dress Up

"Shwim!"

Like I've said before Kate loves to swim. The other day she was riding her bigwheel when she saw a puddle. She yelled, "shwim!Shwim!" and then drove head first off her bike into the puddle. This photo was taken a few days later and doesn't really do it justice, but she has 6 different cuts on her face. Overall, she is a really tough girl, but this spill caused some tears.

Kate and Dad

Words

The other day when Kate was brushing her teeth I told her, "make sure you get the back." She took her toothbrush out of her mouth and reached around to brush her back. I laughed out loud and now she "brushes her back" every time she brushes her teeth.

Grant: Mom, I visited heaven the other day.
Mom: How exactly did you do that?
Grant: When we were in the airplane coming home from Florida, when we were in the clouds. I saw Jesus.
Mom: Really?
Grant: Yep. And God too.
Mom: It's not often that we see God, but if I are very quiet we can hear him.
(silence)
Grant: I heard him. He told me we need to go to the gas station and put gas in our car.
(I'm surprised God didn't tell him to visit a carwash.)

Round 2

We just got back from visiting grandma and grandpa Koss in Florida again. Unfortunately, the kids were sick the whole time. They did not sleep through the night a single night while we were there. While everyone was exhausted by the week's end I was really thankful to have the help with the kids.

Sing about my day

Grant is the king of stalling when he's going to bed. He asks for water, begs to brush his teeth again and requests us to sing songs while we play with his hair. He consistently makes the request, "sing about my day." We have to pick a catchy tune and recall all the fun things he did throughout the day. When we leave him in his bed we remind him to think about his favorite things.Tonight when I got done he said, "but I don't want to go to bed. I don't want to think about my favorite things. I can only think about sad things. I was tired and not up for cheering him up so I said, "fine. Just think about sad things." He got all cheerful and said, "okay. I'll think about disobeying, that is very sad." (said with a grin)

Making people smile

Yesterday Grant received a toy from his treasure box for going potty in the toilet. He chose a mini guitar. He insisted on bringing it everywhere. When we were driving to the grocery store he asked if he could bring it inside. He said, "I'm going to look for people who are sad or angry and I am going to play my guitar for them to make them smile. I love making people smile." So, off we went into the grocery store with Grant searching the crowd for unhappy people. But, everyone he interacted with was smiling and complementary of his guitar playing. We got in the car and he said, "Mom, I didn't find any unhappy people. Are you unhappy?" I told him "no, I'm very happy today." He then asked, "Could you pretend to be sad so I can cheer you up?" So, for the rest of the ride home I fake cried so he could play the guitar and sing. I am so thankful for my boy who is so filled with joy!

Kate and play dough

See ya Snow

It has been so nice out lately so we've been spending a ton of time outdoors. Both kids like to ride the big wheel and Grant likes his training bike that we got him last summer but he never rode. Kate loves to blow bubbles and pop them in her hands. Today we made it to the park. Whenever we pass a park Kate yells, "Weeeee." Grant can finally go on a regular swing but hasn't quite figured out how to make himself move. I'm really looking forward to summer when we can spend more days like we did today.

Pet Store

Today I took the kids on a special adventure to the pet store. The whole experience turned out to be a bit of a bust, but we surely started out on the wrong foot. From the moment we got on Woodward Grant began yelling, "easy, mom, easy." I asked Grant what he meant and he said that is what you are supposed to say if someone is going over the speed limit. No idea who taught him that. Jim, if you are reading this I was not speeding.

We got to the pet store and it wasn't long before Grant discovered that they had a vacuum. I allowed him to pretend to vacuum for 5 minutes(it wasn't even on) before the manager got really upset and we had to quit that. Then Kate stuck her hand in a fish tank (they should keep them covered) and we got another scolding. The last straw was when Grant found some lettuce on the floor and tried to feed the 2 foot tortoise crawling around the ground. Okay, so it was my idea. The science teacher in me should have known it was dangerous, but it seemed like a great way to pass the time. The manager didn't think so. We'll dress in disguise next time we go.

Tidbits

Kate's favorites:
Book: "Teeth are Not for Biting" (now if only she would listen)
Song: "B-I-B-L-E" (she pats her legs as it plays in the car)
Activity: swimming (pronounced "shwim, shwim!")
Food: cereal (this is a great way to keep her occupied after dinner)
Phrase: Me Tate! (while patting her chest)

Grant's favorites:
Book: Arthur and the Trouble with TV
Song: "All you Need is Love" (dancing with mom or dad)
Activity: climbing the structures at Kiddie Klub in Rochester
Food: mac n cheese
Phrase: "I love it when you call me Big Papa." (don't ask)

Florida Picts

The Villages

The kids and I met up with Jim at his parents house in The Villages for the second part of our vacation. The weather was slightly better so the kids even got to play in the pool once. We also took our third annual trip to "Uncle Donald's Farm" where the kids had fun feeding the cows hay and feeding the goat from a baby's bottle. Kate's favorite part was trying to climb the animals cages. Jim's mom calls her “dexterous." The thesaurus defines this as “able, active, adept, agile, apt, artful, clever, crackerjack, deft, effortless, expert, having the know how, nimble, nimble-fingered, prompt, quick & skilled.” We decided this is a very fitting description of Kate. Jim is excited to have someone to rock climb with him in a few years! We had a great visit and hope it won't be quite so long before we make it back.