Flashback Friday

First Day of the First Year of Preschool - September 2009

Last Day of the First Year of Preschool - May 2010

My goodness they have changed in what seems like such a short period of time!

One Down, One to Go!

I may totally be jinxing myself, but it would appear to be that Ella is officially potty trained!

For some reason, this week it just seemed to really click for her. On Tuesday she begged me to wear her Minnie Mouse undies to school, so I obliged knowing that she had an extra change of clothes and...well...better them than me!

When I arrived to pick her up I was delighted to see her in the same outfit - she had done wonderfully and was so proud of herself!

She even asked me to take pictures of her that afternoon so that I could show them to Daddy, Grandma Shushi and Grandmommy because now she is a big girl!

Since that morning she has been accident free and in undies (aside from naps and bedtime)!

I am sure that we will have accidents and setbacks in the future, but (knock on wood) it seems that the bulk of the work with Ella is behind us!

As for Aidan, he prefers to stand on the sidelines, faithful friend Buzz Lightyear in hand, and cheer Ella on, always praising her and telling her what a big girl she is and that he is so proud.

He literally has zero interest and is not motivated by any sort of reward system. It may take me more time with him, but we WILL get there eventually!

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday happens to be our trash collection day.

Needless to say, it is a very exciting time for our little duo - especially when they are greeted with a honk and a wave!

Days and Life

My days might look like this:

But my life...looks like this:

And that's a darn good life.

My iPod = Their iPod

I never showed either of them how to use my iPod.

It appears that I didn't need to.

Just another example of how they learn simply by watching what we do!

Oh Deer!

After being turned away at our gym yesterday afternoon, the kids and I wound up at the greenway for a little exercise.

Let me back up a bit.....

I have started back at the gym (finally!!) and am really enjoying an hour or so each day to exercise a bit while the kids are in the childcare. Ella and Aidan LOVE the gym and talk constantly about the yellow ball and lots of dump trucks! In fact, they even keep me on schedule for our gym visits by begging to "Go to gym and Mommy go work out" each afternoon!

Apparently our gym childcare does not open on Friday afternoons until 5 PM. Every other day of the week is opens at 4PM. Needless to say, yesterday afternoon we walked in and were turned away. The walk back to the car was a tough one with Ella deciding to play limp noodle and scream and cry and Aidan shouting "But why are we leaving Mommy" and refusing to move.

I managed to wrangle them to the car and we found ourselves at the greenway instead.

I conned them into getting into the stroller with the promise of playing with their favorite stump and that we would see water in the pond. I was thrilled that they were on board with using the stroller, as I actually got in a 3 mile walk/run - and pushing 80 pounds is no small task!

As it turned out, we saw more than just the stump and water in the pond. As we rounded a corner, "Bambis" were there on the trail to greet us!

We stopped and stayed still for roughly 10 minutes as the entire family of deer slowly made their way across the trail and then grazed for a while before heading off into the woods.

Ella and Aidan were perfectly silent as we watched the deer, and I learned that you do not have to be a child to find the simple wonder of experiencing the beauty of nature in action. I enjoyed it just as much as they did!

Foto Friday

Preschool End of Year Party

It is almost here. The end of Ella & Aidan's first year of preschool.

Next Thursday is their last day of the school year with all of their friends in the Tuesday/Thursday 2's with Miss Phyllis and Miss Kellie.

We held our end of year party out on the playground this afternoon and the kids all had such fun.

We were all set up before the children arrived with balloons to mark our spot and gifts for the teachers.

The kids had no idea we were coming and were completely surprised to see us when they rounded the corner - it was so cute to listen to all of them yelling "Mommy!"!

We had fun playing with bubbles before eating lunch.

All of the children enjoyed pizza and sandwiches, fruit and cheese, snack mix, and lemonade. And of course, cupcakes for dessert!

After lunch it was time for one last class picture.

I thought it was difficult to get just Ella and Aidan to pose for me. Yikes! Getting all ten of them to cooperate at once was a feat we simply could not accomplish - but we did our best! (Sweet little Adams wanted no part of the picture).

We have had such a great year in preschool. It was a wonderful experience for Ella and Aidan was amazing for me to watch as they developed friendships on their own, and in turn, new friends for Mommy as well!

Watch out 3's - here we come!

Wordless Wednesday

Learning to Fly

Our house has always been a haven for baby birds. We have several species, from blue birds to robins that return each year to the same little nook and cranny somewhere around our house to make a new nest.

In all the years that we have been here, we have yet to witness the new babies. We see the nest, and the little eggs, but never the actual babies.

Until this past Sunday.

That afternoon we noticed a baby robin who was learning to spread his/her little wings.

Mommy was constantly in motion and all over the place doing anything she could to entice the little bugger to move and take off, but to no avail!

I could not help but wonder if I will find myself in the very same predicament one day!

Strawberry Picking!

We met up with four other families from CMOM's (Charlotte Mothers of Multiples) this morning to pick strawberries at a local farm in Ballantyne.

Despite the crazy heat, all of the children (and parents, too!) had such a wonderful time!

Ella and Aidan are so tired of having me follow them around with a camera all of the time that I always seem have much better luck at capturing moments in time with someone else's children! Check out this little duo who will turn two in July - aren't they just adorable!