January 30th

Another quiet week at our house. I enjoyed not being super scheduled and having time to go to the park, take walks, do a few little projects, and play with the kids.

I finally took Sylvie to do her two year pictures. I told her about it the night before and showed her her new dress. She was pleased about it. The morning of, I curled her hair a little (her hair does NOT take curl well!) and we went to the Picture People. We were the first appointment of the day. Unlike last time, Sylvie did not run in circles. She followed directions gravely and without expression. There were a lot of pictures where she looked cranky. There were no pictures where she was really smiling until, at the very end, I reached over and really tickled her. Luckily, the photographer was ready and she caught the smile. So I got one, and one is all you need. She was really very good, just so serious!

Jens had three play dates this week and got a very high score on the "-ip" word test. He was able to come up with 10 words that end in -ip, including wudchip, my favorite. He also did well on his math tests and got good job stamps on his hand every day this week.

Friday night we had a family movie night. The kids voted for "Rudolph" even though Christmas is over. In our house we celebrate all year, apparently. They sat quietly on the couch snuggling up with us the whole time and didn't mind that Mike and I closed our eyes for a while. It was very sweet.

Saturday Jens spent the morning running errands with me and the afternoon bowling with Mike. We met up at the park afterwords so the kids could play.

It was a good week.

Saturday Fun

I came downstairs after a lovely sleep in to Jens and Sylvie making beds out of scarves. It was very serious business, apparently.

Then we went to the zoo, where the animals were very busy, especially my little animals.

And then playing with friends. Audrey was very helpful about teaching Sylvie how to use the scooter.

January 21

Having fun at the Winter Ball.

January 21

At the park with dog. He needed some help climbing up and down, so he mostly rode in Sylvie's jumper.

January 19th

The scarves continue to be a favorite.

Time Out

I gave Sylvie her first time out today for writing on the furniture with a pen. She had to sit on a stool in the corner. It was very sad and she felt terrible-lots of big tears. Then she helped me scrub the pen off. I can already tell that time outs are a lot more effective for her then they ever were for Jens, although push ups continue to work well for him.

January 23rd

This week we enjoyed some sunny weather which means lots of outdoor time. We went to the park a few days and I got some good walks in. Jens had Monday off, which means he stayed in his pajamas all day and did nothing. It was a nice break. Tuesday I spent the afternoon reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child for book club, which was Wednesday night. Wednesday Jens was busy all day--he went from school to the library, home in time for a play date, then we went on a bike ride. Book club was fun--we have some new ladies joining us, which will be nice. We were getting sparse, what with the move aways and drop outs. We came up with the next seven months of books, so that is good. Hopefully we will actually read them all.

Thursday was our regularly scheduled play date with Jens's friend Nathanael. We stopped at the park on the way home from school and the kids discovered a big pile of sand. Sylvie has never been filthier! She had sand in every crevice and cranny, head to toe. I brought her home and put her straight in the bath tub. Then the boys did "treasure hunting" while I weeded our dirt front yard. It was hard work and I was sore at the end! Thursday night the Laurels were in charge of mutual, so that was fun, too.

Friday was our real party day. First, I bought 500 lbs. of sand. Then, when Jens and Nathanael got dropped off from school, we filled up the sandbox. That was a party in and of itself. THEN, Mike and I got all dressed up and went to dinner and dancing downtown. I even did my hair. It was the Intel "Winter Ball," and yes, we referred to it as "the ball" all week. The food was nice and Mike was a good sport and danced with me, in spite of the fact that he doesn't dance in public. What a good husband! We met up with a few other couples and had a really fun time, although I can tell I am getting old. The music was WAY to loud for me. Saturday we slept in, went to the zoo, and hung out with friends in the evening, then I went to a baptism, which was really nice.

Sylvie continues to do well with her thumb during the day, but she definitely counts on it at night. I ordered a thumb guard this week, so that will be awful. We are not looking forward to that. Her vocabulary continues to grow in leaps and bounds--I can't believe how much she can say. She has started saying NO a lot, and she often insists that "Mommy's turn. Mommy do it." This applies to all sorts of things--bedtime, putting on her coat, doing buttons, story time, diaper changes, etc. She wore a ponytail yesterday which made her very happy, and today she wore her sunglasses for the whole three hour block. We decided not to fight it. She looked very glam.

Jens is reading and reading. He gets really excited when he can read a "regular" book without help. On Friday they celebrated the 100th day of school--it is hard to believe we are more than halfway done. He also had three days in a row of happy stamps, which means he did a good job in class. We are so glad that it has been such a good year. He also continues to be the Gobblet champion--at least when he plays me. He wins legitimately at least half of the time.

That's our news.

January 15th

It was so sunny and warm at Boa Vista that we really took our time while we were there. It has been foggy and cloudy in Folsom, so the sun was doubly welcome. We got treats and sat out on the back patio that overlooks the orchards. Jens and Sylvie found some little chairs which make everything more fun, and they just had a good time. When I told Sylvie it was time to go she said "No. Say here." We stayed longer than we should have, though, and the kids were tired and cranky by the time we got home.

January 14th Sibling Bonding

Over Star Wars

One of Jens's favorite songs right now is Dynamite, in which the singer says "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes . . ."

This would be Sylvie, throwing her hands up in the air whilst listening to the song. Now if only she would follow my instructions so well.

This outfit is 100% Sylvie's idea--she insisted on everything, from the dog jumper to the socks to the headband to the shiny pink dress up shirt. She is singing "Twinkle Twinkle" into the Boomwhacker and is entranced with the sound.

January 10th

Pasting is infuriating! And yet, so fun at the same time.

We have done four or five of these little pasting projects and she LOVES them. She is so excited that she shows them to Mike as soon as he gets home from work.

January 16th

This week has been very foggy, so we have been doing a lot of indoor activities. I took Sylvie to story time and was again irritated by mothers who sat right behind us and 1. brought TONS of food for their kids to eat (really? Hot dogs in the library?) and 2. talked through the whole thing (not about the books--about potty training and pregnancy, if you are interested). It was very rude and distracting, not to mention a bad example for all the kids sitting around them. BUT. Sylvie loved it and picked out a few books to bring home, which she is also enjoying. I am going to try a different time next week and see if it is better.

Wednesday I went to Jens's class to help with clay. The kids made heart frames and decorated them. I am sure they will turn out very cute. Thursday the Little girls came over to help us use up some of the leftover clay, which was fun. The kids made some cute things. Thursday I visit taught and went to New Beginnings for YW, which was really nice. Friday I went to Jens's school to learn about the art projects for this semester. We are doing Chagall, Pollack, and Bierstadt. The projects are fun, so I am looking forward to that.

Saturday we went to apple hill and got all sorts of tasty things to eat. The asian pears are so good right now.

The best part of this week was how well the kids have been playing together. I don't know if Sylvie is just suddenly interesting enough or knows how to communicate well enough (or tell on Jens if he hurts her) but they have been playing really well together lately. Hallelujah! In other kid news:

Jens figured out this week that he can read. We have been working our way through a little reader series, but a few nights ago he picked up his Star Wars book (a treasure he picked up at the book fair) and realized that he recognized a lot of the words. He has listened to it so many times that he has memorized parts of it, and he can fill in what he forgets with reading. Right now he and Mike are reading a Mercer Mayor Critter book, and he can read almost everything without help. How did that happen?

Sylvie has been doing pretty well on the thumb. She is clearly still sucking it at night and nap time, in fact, she openly admits to it. As soon as you walk into her room she says "I suck a fumb" and holds it up for examination, this in spite of the yucky polish and a band aid, which she insists we put on every night. But she isn't doing it during the day unless she forgets, which is pretty rare. So there is progress. I think we will have to get a thumb guard to get rid of the sleeping habit.

Have a good week, everyone!

I can't believe I forgot

The biggest piece of news in our parts is that we are working on getting rid of the thumb sucking. Sylvie had a rough day where she got an owie on her thumb. We decided to capitalize by encouraging her to give it up. I got Thum, which you paint on to her fingernail and it is supposed to taste terrible. She doesn't seem to mind the taste much. But she actually has given up most of her thumb sucking. She doesn't suck it at all during the day, only forgetting at nap time and at night. Cross your fingers for us that we will be able to boot this habit!

Also this week, she tried out big girl panties. She looked really REALLY cute in them. But she also peed on the couch and me after about 20 minutes. So we aren't going to continue with that.

Making Cheese

I don't know if we don't have quite the right milk or what, but this certainly wasn't easy. It was delicious, though.

January 3

Grammy got Sylvie some movement scarves for dancing with. They are definitely a hit.

January 3 Woof!

What you can't see about this soft blanket is that it has a tail. So cute.

January 2nd Like-a-Bike

I forgot how slow going this bike is when it is being introduced. VERY slow. And she only rode it for half a block, then wanted to be carried.

January 9th

I hope everyone is enjoying a good start to 2011. I have been receiving some complaints about the lack of writing on my blog. I always thought a picture speaks a thousand words, but apparently Loren feels that I am not writing enough. So I am going to try to re-incorporate a little bit of an update once a week, probably on Mondays. We will see if this lasts.

We have been busy around here--holidaying it up to the fullest. We enjoyed such a lovely vacation and Christmas. Mike took 2 weeks off of work and just stayed home, which means he got to see the kids when they are pleasant instead of only at 6:00pm when all hell has broken loose at our place. We did some really fun things, went for lots of bike ride/runs, played games, and enjoyed being together.

After Christmas we had company. Aunt Karen popped in for a night before leaving for Mexico. I had a nice visit with her. I always enjoy talking to her, and Sylvie especially took to her. Yesterday morning when I got home from the Farmer's Market she ran to the door shouting "Karen!" Now, Karen was here at least 3 weeks ago. Mom, Dad, Peter, and Loren also joined us. The kids loved all the extra excitement of company. I noticed today that our house is a huge disaster and realized that while we had people visiting, the kids hardly played with any of their toys. They were so busy being social they didn't have time to make a mess. Now that no one interesting is around, they are back to being mess makers.

We didn't do a lot of exciting things while company was here, mostly we just enjoyed being together. We did get in a few walks, a few trips to Apple Hill (the amount of cider Peter consumed was impressive), a morning at the train museum, 5 trips to the airport, and some time at the park. We ate some really good food: aebelskivers (or as Jens calls them, maple skeevers), fondue, tri-tip, homemade pizza, Chicago Fire, and lots of dessert. LOTS. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I still have a lot of treats left--a freezer full of ice cream courtesy of Jessie, and a box of Joe Joes that I am working my way through. I am going to need to go off sugar or something. But not until the goodies are gone.

Projects of the week included rearranging the furniture in the office for a more attractive, larger feeling space (plenty of room for setting up the bike and trainer!) and printing pictures to hang above the sofa. Loren helped me with both things. We also made cheese successfully, which was fun because the last several times I've tried it things didn't work out.

In the upcoming week I am going to go a whole week without spending money except on groceries, although I think I will try to only go to the farmer's market. We got in to some pretty bad habits this fall and need to get back to more responsible living.

Some New Year's resolutions: eat more vegetables (for dinner tonight we had carrots, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, AND onions!) be on time for church, write better updates, and read the Ensign more faithfully.

January 1st Happy New Year!

To bring in the New Year we watched LOTS of football and ate a lot of food.

Sylvie dressed up for the occasion. Good thing, since the Gators were terrible and just eked out a win. I am sure that her extra spirit really helped.

Gator girls!

Loren and Grammy made the mistake of giving airplane rides. Then they had to give a lot of them. I was just glad it wasn't me.

December 31st

For New Year's Eve we were real party animals this year. Mike and I went out for lunch, then we hung around and made pizza for dinner. We watched Rudolph and at 7:15pm we did party poppers and the kids went to bed. Grammy and Papa turned in at 9:30, Mike and I were in bed by midnight, although we did hear all the people with noise makers being boisterous.

Some fun moments from this week: Sylvie loved her Uncle Peter, and he was so sweet to her. She loved playing with him.

She also got lots of story time in this week, bouncing from Papa to Grammy to Peter to me and Mike. She enjoys reading so much!

She refused to take her new kitty shirt off.

December 30th

While Grammy, Papa, and the Uncles went to San Francisco, we stayed home and enjoyed more toys. Jens built legos all day and Sylvie wore her jammies/Gator dress all day.

Christmas Part 2 December 29th

Uncle Loren came! Now the party can really begin.

And by party I mean a second Christmas. SOMEONE's grandparents got a little carried away.

Jens and Sylvie got all sorts of fun things: snowglobes

NYFD sweatshirt

Lots of new books

and of course, Gator paraphernalia. We are very spirited now.

December 29th Apple Hill

Gray, cloudy weather couldn't keep us from making a trip up to Apple Hill. We had treats, bought produce and pies, and we bought 2 and a half gallons of apple cider. And it is all gone (I am writing this 4 days later).

Sylvie was trying out my HD sunglasses, a special dollar store purchase from Mike.

Jens loved his hot cider.

December 28th Train Museum

We managed to get dressed and out of the house. We went downtown to the train museum. Everyone had a great time, even though it was pretty crowded. We definitely weren't the only ones with this idea!

Jens really liked the presidential cars.

Sylvie couldn't quite see over the edge.

Trying out the passenger train seats.

Waiting for our turn to go into the huge engine.