Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  We actually managed to celebrate Easter on the day we were supposed to!  Here's what the Easter bunny dropped off for the kids!

I think Kayda must've seen part of her dress in it's hiding spot because this is our conversation from last night. 

Mom:  We need to go to sleep for the Easter bunny to come.

Kayda:  Bunny bring beautiful dress?

Mom:  Maybe, I don't know what the bunny will bring.

Kayda:  Bring Beautiful dress with polk-a-dots.

Mom:  Polk-a-dots?  What color pok-a-dots?

Kayda:  Green and blue polk-a-dots on beautiful dress.

Notice the dress has green and purple polk-a-dots.  Now Grandma H also came by with a dress for Kayda that had polk-a-dots so I'm not positive she was referring to her Easter dress.  I guess we'll never know for sure. 

This morning we all shuffled out to see if the Easter bunny had come.  The first thing the kids noticed were the guns.  Then Kayda noticed the chocolate.  She was very excited about that, once she pointed it out Dillon noticed and then he was very excited about that as well. 

We managed to pull them away for the Easter egg hunt, they did quite well of course we provided generous hints for some of them.  They'll figure it out as they get older!

Then it was back to the guns!

Check out Dillon, "stick 'em up!"

And that was the longest we could keep Kayda from her "beautiful dress".  We dragged them outside for a few pictures (we knew it would be only a few because it's chilly out there)

I am in LOVE with this picture.  Kayda tried to give Dillon a kiss and this was his reaction!  Such a little boy!

Kayda decided it was too cold, Dillon didn't mind (granted boys wear more clothes than girls) and he was going to check out those plants.

 We rushed back inside and took some more pictures.  Unfortunately you can't see their outfits because they're sitting down but I must say I have two goregous children!

Easter Prep... on time for once!

After lunch today we decorated Easter eggs.  Grandma H came over for the fun before she had to run off to the store.  We stuck the kids in towels (we used clothes pins to hold them on) so we didn't have to worry about staining their clothes, I thought their togas were charming.  We tried putting the eggs in whisks to help prevent broken eggs and such.  It worked wonderfully for Kayda but Dillon decided to was great fun to just keep putting the whisk in and out of the dye, thus splashing it all over the place.  They had a good time but they definitely weren't ready to be done when we ran out of hard boiled eggs.  Kayda is very excited for the Easter bunny to come and hide her eggs, Dillon doesn't understand the concept quite as well. 

When we were finished coloring the eggs we took a break for them to dry so we could do stickers on the eggs.  During that time Dillon took a nap and we ran over to Grandma and Grandpa G's for their strawberries.  Kayda was bundled up real good in her jacket, hood up, hands in pockets..and she tripped.  Poor girl, her hands were stuck so she ended up scraping up her chin, lips and nose real good. 

Finally we were able to put the stickers on the eggs.  They didn't want to stay on but the kids had fun anyway.  They ended up sticking more of them on themselves than the eggs.

He loves to show off!

She tried so hard to smile for us... but you can tell it hurt.

What a GREAT month!

Wow... there is SO much to share but we'll start with the most important:

This week Daddy became a non-equity partner at the firm!  Congratulations to him!  He has worked so hard and we are all proud of him.  Thanks Grandpa H for getting the ball rolling!  This means that I will be able to stay home full time next year!  Daddy and I are both very nervous that something will come up and mean we need the extra income so I may still substitute occasionally.  I am THRILLED that I will be able to be home with my little ones all day, though they will miss their daily visits to play with Grandma G. 

The next most important thing is that I am declaring Kayda POTTY TRAINED!  A couple of weeks ago Grandma G told Kayda she had to wear underwear and go potty in the toilet if she wanted to spend the night (she spends the night over there anytime Grandpa G is gone).  Kayda put on underwear that afternoon and went 5 days without an accident.  Then, out of nowhere she decided that she didn't want to use the potty anymore and went back to diapers.  Well a week ago she started wearing them again and it doesn't look like she's going back again!  Way to go Kayda!  Now I don't have to be nervous about preschool, she couldn't go if she wasn't potty trained.

Now, on to getting caught up!

There have been several scattered VERY nice days this month, beautiful days, sunny, warm... just goregous.  We've been spending as many of those outside as we can.  We're working on getting some yard debris out of our backyard and I found a frog!  I grabbed one of the kids buckets, they had such a great time looking at it.  Since we are getting rid of the debris I felt bad just putting it back so the kids and I packed up and drove the frog to a new home at Grandma G's pond.  The kids thought it was just fantastic... I did too until Kayda decided that she needed to see "just one more frog".  She was NOT happy that we couldn't produce another frog magically.

With the state testing going on at the high schools I had a day off so we had a play date down at Kent common's indoor park.  It was originally just with an old coworker of mine, Rhonda and her grandson Hank but another coworker, Liz ended up bringing her little girl Maya as well. I regret to say that I didn't bring my camera but it was fantastic!  They had all kinds of kids' toys, small slides, riding toys galore, a teeter-totter, and tons of other toys.  The kids had such a great time running around.  There was a firetruck that had a seat on the back, the kids took turns driving and being driven.  At one point I was helping them with the teeter-totter, we ended up with another two kids rotating with Kayda and Dillon.  When Kayda decided she wasn't interested one of the other girls, Grace, decided that Kayda was her new best friend.  Next thing I know they're practically attached at the hip running around the gym with a small grocery cart.  True to Kayda's character, Kayda was driving and pointing out the balls that she wanted Grace to go pick up.   Dillon would chase after them every once in a while but for the most part he just ran around, perfectly happy to ride the cars as fast as he could.  He played with whomever was doing something that could hold his interest, little mister social.

Kayda started speech therapy this week.  She'll be going every Monday and Wednesday for about half an hour.  She was supposed to get a binder to put some of the things we work on in so we bought one and decorated it for her.  She LOVES it.  Of course we got horse stickers so that's probably why.  Monday she worked on leading with the "h" sound and Wednesday she was working on a lot of random sounds.  It's great to be there and see exactly what's going on so that I can practice everything at home with her.  I'm noticing a little bit of a difference already but I can't wait until her speech is clear enough that someone that isn't around all the time can understand what she's saying. 

We also had another play date on Tuesday with a friend of mine from high school, Andraea and her little boy Braden.  We met at a nearby park, not my favorite by any means but it was nice enough.  The kids immediately started climbing everywhere and racing down the slides.  Eventually Dillon decided that he wanted to go up the slide so he figured out how to stand up, hold on and walk along the edge to the top so that he wouldn't keep sliding back down.  I was amazed that he picked it up so quickly!  After that Kayda watched him and figured it out.  Next thing you know Kayda, Dillon and Braden are all playing "monster".  Of course they eventually found a patch of dandelions and I ended up with a pocket full of them. 

Last thing... Today I decided to try a craft.  Every once in a while I get motivated.  For valentine's day we made hearts with glitter all over them.  Today we tried to make bunnies.  I just grabbed whatever I could find that might work and cut out the pieces we'd need, then Kayda and Dillon glued it all together.  They did a great job and I am ever so grateful for the fact that elmers glue wipes up so easily.  Here are their bunnies!

Kayda's Writing

Kayda and I have been working on her writing now that she knows her letters. We got special lined paper and everything.  Well we tried to write on that paper tonight. She wasn't too interested in writing on the lines and she didn't write her name this time. No, instead she spelled "CAT" which Grandma G has been working on with her. As well as "GUM" which we just did because she accidentally wrote a G in place of C and she wanted to write a word with that letter.  She knew how to write the A and the T without any help.  She made the M upside down so we had to fix that.  Here you go! Pretty darn good for a kid that's not even 3 and a half!

Kayda's Dance Class

Kayda's cousin Ella (~6 months older) has been doing a dance class. I wanted to have her take the class with Ella because they're good pals but the class starts at 10:30 and I'm not done with my classes until 10:35 so we couldn't do it. Well last Thursday Aunt Sarah volunteered for Kayda to come to class with Ella as a guest and guess what...she loved it. So we were able to figure out a way for her to go to class with Ella. Every Thursday Grandma G is taking Kayda to Aunt Sarah's and from there she'll go to class. I figure I should be able to grab Dillon and get over there by a little after 11 so I'll be able to poke my head in and watch a little. A great big thanks to Grandma G and Aunt Sarah for making it possible for her to go.

Ella was sick today so Grandma G brought Kayda and bravely tried to occupy a very tired, grumpy two year old (he hasn't been sleeping much the last few nights). Before Grandma G left I was able to snap a few pictures.

Well, Grandma G left before Kayda was done in the hopes it would avoid a tantrum. She has been a Grandma's girl completely since she's been staying the night there whenever Grandpa's gone. She doesn't want to leave when I go to pick them up after work, she's constantly asking to go over there and constantly asking Grandma to sleep there. The plan kind of worked. The last couple minutes of class the mom's can go in and watch so I came in to watch holding Dillon. They're doing the hokey-pokey and Kayda is just sitting there looking sad. I wave her over and she has the silent tears running down her face because she wanted Grandma. She went back over to get her stamps but she was sad that Grandma was gone. Hopefully she'll stay happy the whole time when Ella is with her.

It's been a while...

Well, it's been quite a while since I've updated so here's a quick summary... Our family has been hit with illness after illness after illness. The kiddos were basically sick from mid-December to mid-February. So we haven't been doing a whole lot. Here's a few things we've done that I have pictures to go with.

Kayda and Dillon love to ride their trikes, this is their newest invention. Dillon figured out how to pedal and then stopped all together, maybe this is why.

Kayda and Dillon love to color. Kayda has discovered that she LOVES glitter, I haven't been brave enough to try that one with Dillon yet. Here are some examples of her masterpieces. I drew out the shapes and then she did most of the cutting, I helped hold the paper while she did it though.

While our little family has been sick we've spent a lot more time than we like indoors. Well a couple of weekends ago it was gorgeous outside and Daddy decided that we should go for a walk. A walk turned into a trip to Lake Meridian with our little family, Hank, Grandma H. and their new dog Jake. Gotta love how nice the weather has been. It definitely doesn't feel like March, and it didn't feel like February and it didn't feel like January. Not so sure we had much of a winter... maybe 2 or 3 weeks worth.

For Christmas Kayda got moon sand and I was finally brave enough to take it out again. Kayda had a blast, Dillon liked to smooth everything I made for him but got bored quickly.

Another big step this month was a trip to the movies...again. We took the kids to see "Planet 51" at the $3 theater. They BOTH did great this time. They sat and watched the whole movie and had a great time of it. Kayda recently went with Grandma and Grandpa G to see "The lightening theif" and did very well.  She didn't get scared at all and wanted to go see it again!

As I've said before Kayda can officially write her name, but now it's without help! Way to go! She even wrote out every letter of the alphabet with me a couple of days ago and the important part...most of them looked the way they are supposed to! She wasn't learning her letters very well because she would get bored so I finally bought the letter factory and it has made a huge difference! She knows all her letters and the sounds they make. She's so excited to know them that she'll read off the letters on posters and such. It's helped some with her speech but we'll still be happy to get her into speech therapy; we're still waiting for the official results of the evaluation. Kayda loves the book "Snug House Bug House" and enjoys reading it to us (she has it memorized). Last but not least, Kayda is officially signed up for little chargers starting next fall. Now we just need to get her to potty train. I wish she was interested. Hopefully the no potty, no school rule will help.

Now for little Dillon. We have discovered that Dillon does not like it when Kayda isn't home. She has started staying the night at Grandma G's a lot and he is miserable without her. He adores his sister and is more than a little lost without her nearby. One good thing about it is that he gets to ride in the Jeep which he adores! He is starting to talk like crazy and many of the words are recognizable. He is the most charismatic little boy I know. When we go anywhere he's waving at everyone, talking to them, saying bye to them and giving them his sweet smiles. He's a charmer, watch out girls here he comes!

Man they grow up fast...

Well several major things have happened recently. Kayda has learned how to write her name! You still have to prompt her on which letter to write and sometimes how to do it but she is doing great considering she's not even 3 and a half! (I'll get pics up as soon as I get some). That's one of the big things going on for her. Those of you who see Kayda know that she has some problems with her consonants. She can say them individually but she tends to just leave them out when she's talking, this obviously makes it pretty difficult to understand her. She is starting to get very frustrated, she'll tell us big long stories and we can't understand her. We've decided to take her to speech therapy with the school district. They did some testing last Monday and will complete that testing this coming Monday. Once the testing is complete she will be seeing a speech pathologist to help her sort out her words a little better. I figure this gives us some time to get her speech better in time for preschool next September.

Dillon has now officially figured out how to pedal his tricycle! He's been thinking about it since Christmas but preferred to simply sit on it and push around. The last week he has been putting his feet on the pedals more and more. Well today was a beautiful day so we went out and got our front yard up to snuff and then the kids were riding their bikes. I hooked a belt to the front of his trike and would just pull when he got stuck (when you have to switch the foot you're pushing with). Soon thereafter he was pedalling just fine on his own. Every once in a while I have to give him a little push to get him started but he was pedalling for quite a distance, he was pedalling himself from the cul-de-sac all the way back to our driveway (about 40 yards or so). Barely over two and riding his trike!

Now for Grandma and Grandpa H. Normally I don't write much about what's going on with other people's lives but they just got a new dog. He's a ~6 year old beagle that was at the pound. The kids HAD to go see him yesterday and he's a sweet heart. They love him to death, hopefully he'll fit in as nicely as Sandy did before and he and Hank can be pals.