Come Back!

Hey, where'd everybody go?? Won't you please come play with me? :)

Writer and Stacker

Here's a picture I'd have clearly thought the duties would have been turned around. Hailey was super interested in stacking the blocks while Bo was interested in "writing" on the blocks with the pen in his hand. Actually, he wasn't really marking on them, but it was super cute watching him try! :)

Tea Party Game

Well, it took nearly 3 months for Hailey to bust out the Tea Party game she got for Christmas and I think it was a hit! Ducky, Hailey, Bo and the Panda all were playing today! Each player has to spin the dial and if you get a good space, you can choose the piece for your party. When you assemble your entire tea party set, you win! However, if you get the bees, you have to give a piece back. That is what prevented us from playing. Every time we'd ask, she'd say "I don't like those bees."

Anyway, a long time coming... But thanks Aunt You-Betcha!!

Garden Trip

Darlene and Hailey finally made the first trip to the garden! They were soooo excited to head out there this afternoon!! (even though they had to wear winter jackets) :)

They started surveying the situation and Hailey used her bluey snow shovel to help clean out where the peppers and tomatoes were from last year. I've heard rumors that this is the location of the carrots. We're all super excited about spring, I hope you are too!!!

Bo's Breakfast

Bo had quite the breakfast today. After putting down a bowl full of oatmeal, he took to Cheerios. However, mid-breakfast he was given a bottle which is one of the things he's completely enamored with right now. His focus was unending for the maple syrup bottle and then he loaded 1/2 of his Cheerios into the bottle. When he noticed he couldn't get them off, he got a little torqued off. To appease the situation, we removed the bottle and gave him another handful of Cheerios!

Movie Night

Our church held a movie night tonight (Toy Story) and we invited Kendall and Miss Sarah (from my work) to come along. They had prizes for kids who wore jammies to the party. They also had free popcorn and lemonade. Kendall and Hailey are chilling out on the strawberry blanket and her Pooh pillow chowing on some popcorn!

When Hailey got home, she was ready to tell me all about it as I had to stay home with Mr. Bo! She had sooooo much fun!!

Outside Reminders

In the springtime, it's hard to go from days we can thoroughly enjoy outside to days where it's a bit chilly. Obviously, we could move to places where it's warm all the time, but then we would forget how much fun it is to have warm springs and summers! Ok, maybe I really don't need the reminder, but here are some of the fun pictures from being outside yesterday!

Bo has been fun to have outside. Earlier this spring on the warmer days outside he didn't really enjoy himself at all. He complained a bit but it was worth it to have Hailey burning off a little steam. Now one of his favorite things to do is go over to the rocks and sort them by shape and color... He's got a lot of work to do!

Then the Lion took a little joy-ride in her car. She said she was going to the store to get fruit crackers, but then she just ended up relaxing a bit and forgot all about the crackers! :)

Lion Tamer

With the Kanga costume dirty and being washed, Hailey woke up this morning and wanted to be something. So we took out one of the other costumes we procured from our neighbor friend Michael! Hailey put on the lion today and they headed to the Mississippi Market (they are a local co-op that sells lots of local and organic foods).

One of many things that made the trip successful was that they had kid sized carts. While Lion was cruising around the store, the manager stopped and snapped up a picture because she was too cute (and I officially can't argue with that!)

She's already on their Facebook page! Too cool!!!

The Kanga Returns - Part XLVII

Our Kanga's back and there's gonna be trouble... Hey-la, dee-la, our Kanga's back! That's right folks! No better time to avoid wearing that spring jacket than to put on our ol' Kanga costume! Man we sure are putting the miles on it! :) I wonder if she'll fit into it this October?

The Bunny

As promised, here is Hailey's bunny creation from the Spring Party. Isn't he cute?!?!?!

I made a sample and cut out the pieces before hand. It was really fun to see which kids were "rule followers" and tried to make their bunnies like the sample. My kid happens to be a "rule breaker" and used the cheeks for eyes and insisted the bunny needed arms. Is anyone surprised??

Happy Brushing

I just finished brushing! Seeeeeeeee!!!!

Spring Equinox

We had our Spring party today. We had sooooo much fun with Hailey's friends! This was one of the two project stations. They're decorating cup-pots and planting flower seeds. The other station included making a bunny out of paper plates and other things (I'll have to take a picture of that to post later.) Friends in this picture are (From L to R): Madelyn, Belle, Hailey, Addie and Grandma.

Hailey's attention for projects lasted a little longer than others. Hailey and Grandpa had a good time decorating another pot!

Now it was time for my specialty. Teaching the girls how to play games! We're learning Hi-Ho Cherry-O with Chara, Kendall, Hailey, Addie and Esther. It was such a fun day. Thanks to everyone who was able to come!

Happy Weekend

Happy weekend everyone! Hailey, Ducky and Grandpa all are enjoying themselves this evening! We hope you are too! Have a great weekend!

Company Tomorrow

Of course Hailey is excited anytime one of the Grandma's is coming for a visit... But check out Bo! He looks pretty pumped to have a visit from Grandma with the Pony and Grandpa that goes with Grandma with the Pony! The rest of us are just hoping the company is excited to visit us! :)

More Peek a Boo

Here is a snippet of video from yesterday's bathroom peek a boo session. The funniest part of the video is where Bo spots the red recording light on the camera and his smile falls off his face for a couple seconds. Then back to hiding with a smile on his face!

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Bathtime for Bonzos!

Bo has finally ditched his bath seat. I think both Hailey and Bo were very appreciative of this new development. Now they have the whole tub to circumnavigate instead of Bo being constrained to his seat which takes up 1/2 the tub anyway. Now that he is free to move around, he loves playing peek a boo with you!

The Bunny Project

Hailey has been working on a bunny project from one of the art magazines we checked out from the library. She has had such a fun time making each little part from the wagon (with wheels) above to the bunny below. Isn't it cute!!!

Well hello Mr. Googly Eyed bunny!

Rhubarb Schmubarb

Hailey had the last of our rhubarb crunch (made with last years frozen crop of rhubarb, but still oh soooo good!). She said she was done and I asked her to bring her plate to the kitchen. She walked slowly and licked her plate clean! Every last little bit of frosting and crunch was consumed. I'm pretty sure she was thinking, "The rhubarb isn't gone until I say it is gone!"

Remembering the Days

This is the way, way, way back machine from 3 years ago and probably one of my favorite pictures. Daddy's foot vs. Hailey's foot! I'm sure today the ratio is a little smaller, but I still can't help but smile thinking back to how little they were!!

Concentration Station

It's amazing the concentration this little guy has when he's trying to be just like his big sister! Hailey was doing some writing with the pen, so it was Bo's turn to push the ink around. Hrmmm... I think I see "Bo" on the paper. And if you look closely, Ducky Cottontail is on there too! :)

Where's the Tea

Hi.
I'm Bo.
I like tea.
Do you like tea?
My cup is almost empty.
Would you like to have tea with me?
My parents don't let me pour the tea myself.
But if you were here I think you could pour the tea.
Tea for me.
Tea for you.
Tea for two!

Table for Two

It's fun to see these guys somewhat playing together. Even though it's not perfect, it is extremely interesting to watch the interaction! Bo just can't get enough of figuring out what his big sister can do. Hailey just can't get away from him fast enough. In some ways, I think she likes that he gets into her stuff though. We always suggest that if she wants to build towers so that Bo doesn't knock them down to do it at the big table where he can't get to. But she doesn't. She'll do it on the floor, or the coffee table or the yellow table. All of which Bo has easy access. :) We don't call him the master of destruction for nothing!

Birthday Chatterbox

This one is a couple days old, but we had to put it on here! Last Thursday was Grandma Jane's birthday and Hailey was talking on the phone to tell her happy birthday! While she was chatting, she was all over the stairs chattering away. We just wanted everyone to see what was most likely happening on the other end of the call when you're talking to Hailey! Hopefully that puts a smile on your face!

Flamingo on a Stick

Meet Hailey's new friend! At the end of Polar Bear, Polar Bear, there is a girl who is holding a flamingo on a stick as her costume. So Mommy and Hailey made their own! When I got home, she was just finishing tying on the flamingo tail! How cute is that!?!?

New Games

Hopefully by now everyone knows we like to play games in this household. We've come up with a new game in the last few days that I think anyone would enjoy! (Especially Hailey or Bo!) Depending on which one you ask, it's either called "Chuck the Duck" or "Wing the Weasel". It's played when one or both of the kids are at the top of the stairs and they take turns flipping their guys down the steps.

Now is the time for adult interaction when one of us has to be down the stairs to toss everyone back over the railing for another round. As opposed to other games, this one ends only when someone gets bored. But let me tell you, everyone has a riot!

Bo is so particular about getting his in the right spot. And Hailey is all about quantity. She unloads the 92 guys from her bedroom and chucks them down one (or many) at a time. The only real rule is that none of the guys that are chucked can be hard. So sorry beautiful white duck!

Hailey Helper

After Bo's nap this morning, Hailey was a big helper! She wanted to help give Bo his bottle. How cute is this!!?! I think it's pretty cute, even though it only lasted for a couple minutes! :)

Naptime

Hailey has been LOVING her Uncle Will time!! The first thing on her mind when she woke up this morning was where Uncle Willy was. This afternoon she "helped" him take a nap. I thought he was doing just fine on his own, but Hailey wanted to make sure he had all the things she needs when she takes a nap. First she turned on some soft Christmas music. Then she got him Ducky and some other stuffed animals, then she tucked him in with extra blankets. I kept reminding her to be quiet and let him sleep. I caught her pushing her chair over beside the couch and asked what she was doing. She told me she wasn't going to say a word, she was just going to watch Uncle Willy sleep. . . . and she did.

The Coloring Uncle

We are currently the staging area for Uncle Will before his trip to the south west. After dinner, they busted out the crayons and scissors and started making more things for Hailey's songbook! They had soooo much fun until Will's hand started cramping! :)

Spring Fever

What better way to encourage Spring fever than to plant your starter seeds for your garden?!? I built a little contraption for our grow light and we have 3 trays of seeds going. Hailey loves to show them off and is excited to help with them still! We hope Bo will be on board when Spring rolls around to help out!

Happiness

This reminds me of Darlene's track team when she lived in Iowa. They used to have a saying that was "Happiness is blue on your shoes!" The locale of the state track meet had a blue track so it was definitely a good thing to have that!

Well, Hailey got some blue shoes today... And we know she's excited to have them! She's worn them for her nap today as well as bedtime (as seen above with her airplane jammies!) As always, I just chuckle and say, "What a girl !!!!!"

Our Bo

All of this about Bo walking and I had to go back to what things were like way back when. This was from March 1st of last year. The day that I went back to work after being home for three weeks. Look how little he is! He still gives us that scowl/stare/concentration face now!