Catching Up: July

Catching Up: A Quick Snapshot of our July

Avery

- Latest obsession is Pokemon.  He finds the facts and hierarchy of the characters interesting.  Avery created a binder in which he organized the Pokemon character cards according to their evolved forms.  At home, he will create his own trading cards to sell or trade at school to earn more Pokemon cards.  Through his eyes, nearly everything can be related to a Pokemon character in some way.

- I fold little origami figures to put in the kids' lunchboxes as a way to let them know I think about them while they are at school.  Come to find out, Avery has been trading the origami out for more Pokemon cards with his classmates.

- He also tries to create crafts, such as fighter paper airplanes and giant tape balls (we found this one out after noticing the masking tape was disappearing at an alarming rate) to sell to students for Pokemon card money.

- We read a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book together and kept on getting to an unhappy ending.  Avery thought this was absolutely hilarious and decided to rename the books "Choose Your Own DISASTER".  We heard him cackling out loud alone in his bedroom because he was reading one and purposely trying to get to a bad ending.

- Avery and Aileen kiss each other "night night" before bedtime.  Avery asks Aileen if she wants "big bad kisses", then he lets her pick a character.  He then pretends, in an over-the-top fashion, to be that character while kissing her good night.


Aileen

- Acts as the medic with her doctor toys when Clint and Avery wrestle

- "It's froggy outside, Daddy." (foggy)

- Enjoys snuggling up to Daddy as he reads aloud play scripts while prepping for shows.

- Saw a boy upset in her Sunday School class because he missed his mom.  Right after entering the room and hanging up her "pack pack", she walked over to the boy and hugged and kissed him to help him feel better.  She definitely has a compassionate drive for those who are hurting.

- Without prompting, Aileen chooses to open puzzles and complete them on her own.  At 3 1/2 years, she can put together a 25 piece puzzle with trial and error.

Avery kept track of his allowance money in saving for his Wii U

Pokemon is Avery's latest obsession.  You can see how he chose to decorate his room walls.

The game system he diligently worked to earn money for and saved for two years.

Inside of a ball bag...

Soccer Camp buddies

Launching paper airplanes

Following directions to make crazy concoctions

Making a clay Pikachu

Constructing a Lego Pikachu

Catching Up: June

Catching Up: A Quick Snapshot of our June

Avery

- Elected and was relieved that he did not have to take swimming lessons this year.  However, his summer school class did an extended session of water safety classes that he participated in.

- Participated in Summer school & the Public Library's summer reading program

- Had a blast at Vacation Bible School!  He got to watch his Daddy perform a goofy character each day.


Aileen

- Tells her mama "You look beautiful!" after she puts on her makeup before church.

- Has pretend playmates.  Most of them are named "Sally".

- "sally cream" (sour cream)

- She sometimes has "sick me's" and pretends to see a doctor.

- Loves to eat hard boiled eggs and fruit smoothies

- Signed Aileen up for swimming lessons.  She loved them, and made quick progress being so cooperative with her teacher.

- We focused more on Aileen's potty training.

Aileen and cousin Emma on Great Grandma's piano.

Avery and his buddy Andrew playing on the bridge.

Kickball game!!

Pretty Miss Carey and Leenie Beanie

The Next American Ninja Warrior

Avweee pushing Leenie on the swings

Splongee ball golf

Trying to keep cool in the pool.  This involves swatting the water as hard as you can with pool noodles.

A summer tradition: eating popsicles on the porch

Catching Up: May Mayhem

Dancing after participating in the Primary School's Color Run.

End of the year thank you card to our beloved first grade teacher.

Catching Up: A Quick Snapshot of our May

Avery

- Finished up 1^st grade.  He loved his first grade teacher.  She seemed to understand his sense of humor and helped him catch himself when he spoke inappropriately.  A favorite saying that we've adopted from her is: “You get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.”  Thanks Mrs. Gann!  We're still using that one around our house now.

- Finished up his soccer season.  Their team won first place!  The players had a team photo in front of the soccer goal.  The coach encouraged the kids to hold up a finger for "We're #1!".  Avery wanted to hold and display his first place medal in the photo too.  Consequently, his pointer finger held the medal, so he (innocently) held up the next free finger (middle) for the coach.

- Wanted to know "Is there a secret room in the house that I don't know about?!!"

- Places plastic glow-in-the-dark bugs in Aileen's room to frighten her.

- Sneaks up and tries to scare his mommy quite frequently.  Sometimes, to his immense delight, he succeeds!

- Still a very picky eater, but always happily gobbles up his mom's blueberries and waffles.  We get an animated happy response when he discovers that is what we are having for dinner.

- Doesn't mean to be, but delivers backhanded compliments often about his mom's cooking.  Such as, "Wow, this is MUCH better than I thought it was going to be!"  "Ummm, I don't really like this mommy.  Sorry.  BUT nice try!"

- Constantly needs to have the company of someone else around him, especially boys his age.  Not long after school was out, he was complaining about being SO BORED because there wasn't anyone to play with.

- Happy that he no longer has to mess with sitting in a booster seat.  That made him feel a little more grown up and independent.

- Lost 6 baby teeth since Kindergarten.  Each one seems to have a dramatic story about how he lost it somewhere, swallowed it, or how the tooth unexpectedly popped out.  He avoids crunchy granola bars for fear that others will unexpectedly fall out.  Multiple letters have been written to the tooth fairy explaining the circumstances.

Aileen

- Has been enjoying her transition from a crib to a toddler bed successfully for some time now.

- Transitioned to a "big girl" booster seat.  This one is so much easier to switch out from vehicle to vehicle.  She was so proud to make this step and get big brother's old seat.

- Although she loves her brother, Aileen sometimes has to sternly tell him that she wants to be alone.  We suspect that she is an introvert and just needs to recharge with some time to herself.

- Enjoys going to the hair salon with Mom to get her hair cut.  We give her a sucker, and she sits very still and quietly as she soaks up being pampered.  The hair stylist will sometimes put her hair up in a special ponytail or curl it a little with the curling iron.

- She dresses up (in a used, pink sparkly tulle dress that was given to us for play) daily, dancing and pretending to be a princess.

- Often asks Daddy "Dance with me!"  She and her Daddy prance around the living room to pretend music, twirling and following her orders.  She is sweet, but requires things to be done in a particular way.  Her Daddy and I think this is sweet, particularly because we first met in college taking dancing lessons.

- The most common play theme is playing "birfday parties" and "princesses".  She cooks the food for the party in her play kitchen and plays hostess to several stuffed animals, all which the adult is supposed to give personalities too.  There is one ornery cat puppet in the bunch that needs a lot of time outs.

- Pedals a trike well for her age.  Aileen loves being outdoors and often asks to play outside with reluctant Avery.

- We did not have to teach her how to blow her nose.  She figured this out on her own, which made things easier when she was sick.

- Music speaks to her.  She can feel emotion through how she interprets a song sounds.  Often, she is compelled to dance in a way that shows that emotion.  She will even wear the emotion through the expression on her face.  When she closes her eyes, we know that she is really concentrating and lost in the moment of her imagination.

Fabaloos Siblings

Avery

Avery played spring soccer through the YMCA this year.  He was a little more focused this season, but still managed to breakdance "the worm" on the sidelines waiting his turn.  We also had to remind him not to lay down on the field in the middle of a game.  Overall, he did have fun playing and socializing with the other kids.

Our sweet boy made a large Mother's Day card for me at school.  Inside the card, students were supposed to write adjectives that described their mom.  He managed to write "BOOM", "POW" and "FABALOOS".


Aileen

"patterpitter" = caterpillar

Likes to dress up in her princess dress to go grocery shopping with her mom.

"green bean paint soup" = green bean soup

"I want to wear a dress so I can be a mom princess."

Prances around on her tip toes.

Avery asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up Aileen?".  Aileen answered, "I want to be a princess mom."

She gets two M & M's for a potty treat and shares one with her brother, especially if it is the color red.

Aileen sometimes brings her beloved blankie (gee gee) to Avery if she senses he is upset.

When Aileen noticed that she had two bruises on her knees, she told us that she has "blues clues" (which sounds like the word "bruises").

"seepin' booty" = Sleeping Beauty (her now favorite movie)

At her daddy's speech and debate banquet, they announced next year's fall play (Treasure Island) by having the high school principle dress up in a pirate's costume.  Aileen, fearing for her safety, vocally  disapproved, and announced "That pirate should NOT be in the high school!"

The Bank Story

Aileen

"Someday I want to paint my house yellow."

"I want to get married and dance." (similar to how she saw it happen in the Cinderella movie)

cuddly, affectionate, sweet

can be very sensitive and will get upset at a minimally stern voice

"merica" - harmonica

"fridger" - refrigerator


Avery

He is seven years old and claims, "I haven't had pistachio pudding in YEARS!"

Ate a Brazil nut and asked, "What is an American nut?"

Each night, Avery kisses us with a "hug kiss" before bed, and says to his mom, "Good night, my sugar plum!"

Hoards empty cereal boxes in his room because he cannot stand the idea of throwing out a perfectly good craft project item.

When we were picking out new bedding for Aileen's toddler bed, I found him pushing all of the pillows into the storage shelves.  He had misread "plush pillow" for "push pillow".

One morning, while he was retrieving his plastic piggy bank from his shelf to put in his allowance, the pig broke in two.  We decided that was because of the weight of all the change in it, and that we needed to convert it to bills at the bank.  Avery gathered up the load of coins and put it in a large yellow Easter basket.  We gathered in the van and drove to the nearest bank.  He toted his heavy basket to the teller counter inside.  We were by far the most animated customers in line.  There, he began telling the bank teller about how this was his first time inside the bank, the story about how his piggy bank broke in two from his allowance money, what he is saving up for and emphasized how much money he had.  The teller asked how he would like his money broken down into bills, and he replied, "mainly twenties".  As it turns out, Avery had saved approximately thirty dollars in change.  The teller put it in an envelope, handed it to him and asked if he would like a treat.  Of course he exclaimed excitedly "Sure!".  He noticed a sign in their window that discussed rewards for banking through their branch and asked if the sucker was the "reward", and said very loudly for the benefit of others in the bank that "the sucker is AWESOME!".  Aileen, always the quiet observer, happily enjoyed a free sucker too.

Quiet Time with Little Leenie

winter scene with glue and cotton balls

making valentines for grandparents

tracing and stamping handprints, using water color and crayon resist

playing "doctor" with her stuffed lamb

listening to a "Frozen" story and following along in her book

water painting

Aileenie Creativity

vinegar and baking soda volcanoes

DIY puff paint designs

cornstarch and water "gak" sensory play

learning to mix colors in a plastic squish baggie

eating breakfast in style