Spanish lessons

Aiden and I had so much fun today in the car playing the game, "What starts with the letter ___?" It was right about the letter m when Aiden says something like, "ma-hoo-wee - that's Spanish." I know from recent conversations that his friend, Theodore, at school has been teaching him "Spanish." I also know enough about those lessons to remind Aiden that "just because you say something that doesn't make sense doesn't make it Spanish." He was not convinced. He decided to try it out again when we got around to the letter d, informing me the "dough-wee" was Spanish, too. Too funny.

Same time, same place

Today we went to the pumpkin patch we've gone to for a couple years now. Here's a couple shots from today, along with a comp photo from last year (1 year ago tomorrow!). It's fun to see the shots together to realize how much the kids have grown and changed in a year, yet see the similarities, too. We've gotten the pumpkins, had our costume pictures taken, and are just about ready for the big day! Especially after our fun Halloween playdate with friends yesterday, we are totally in the spirit of the holiday and can't wait until trick-or-treating on Saturday.

Parent Perspective

Last night I was watching Andrew help Aiden read an easy-reader book I checked out of the library. I had an ear out because, as a mother, I'm always curious to see how they interact, but, as a teacher, I wanted to hear what Andrew said to prompt him and how Aiden would respond. Listening confirmed what I already know about most parents - they don't really have a lot in their bag of helpful tricks beyond "sound it out" and just telling the word. Andrew shot me a look when I pointed out to him that letter-by-letter sounding out of the word "way" is "w..ah..yuh" - not going to get you to the end result. I kept my mouth shut after that, thanking God that I do have a spouse that wanted nothing more than to just sit and enjoy reading to and with his child. But it did leave me thinking a lot about what I saw. My husband is a smart man, yet I know from many experiences that this is pretty typical of how he reads with Aiden. On parent nights at school, teachers often give big program overviews and want parents to leave with lots of make-and-take activities they can do at home. But knowing my husband and the hours we work and what we do, I envision that the best thing I would want him to learn is just a few ways to guide Aiden when sitting on the couch at the end of the night having Aiden try to read to him.

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Found another...Someone pass this to Andrew. :) Love the ring. Maybe will have to gift one to myself with "Aiden" & "Gracie."

Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Found this blog through another I read. Beautiful top and skirt! It's things like this that make me wish I had time to take sewing classes and the time and talent to make unique pretty things such as this. Maybe someday soon...

At least I tried, right?

I have been a long-time admirer of the blog Make-and-Takes, along with a few others that regularly inspire me to think, "Wow, I'd really like to do that if I had a lot more time and a little more motivation!" Andrew and I have had lots of conversations recently about taking a hard look at how much sugar and artificial ingredients Aiden and Gracie have been getting. So, I was inspired to try to make Strawberry Fruit Leather. Three ingredients, two steps - how hard could it be? Apparently harder than I thought. Was it cooking it in the oven that did it? Maybe turning the oven off and on in order to a) sleep and b) go to work? Maybe I just didn't have that magic I-make-homemade-snacks-for-my-kids touch. (above - Marie's version). Here was mine - so, so sad...



I am destined to feed my children fruit juice from concentrate, high fructose corn syrup, pectin, citric acid, dextrose, etc. Sorry, kids!

Enjoy -

Can't think of anything creative - why not copy an idea?

Thanks Jess and Ang -

A - Age: 32
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Hard to pick just one...dusting??
D - Dog's name: nonexistant
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee
F - Favorite color: Green
G - Gold or Silver: Silver lately, but still like gold
H - Height: 5'3+
I - Instruments you play: Scary-sounding piano
J - Job title: reading coach
K - Kid(s): Aiden - 5, Gracie - 2 1/2
L - Living arrangements: 4 bedroom home with husband and kids
M - Mom's name: Gloria
N - Nicknames: Baby, Mommy, P.I.A.
O - Overnight hospital stay: Lucky - only twice - delivering children, once - on awful chair next to Andrew
P - Pet Peeve: hearing someone chew with their mouth open
Q - Quote from a movie: blanking right now. think more of songs from movies
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: 1 brother not too far away, 2 sisters close by, 2 half-brothers much farther away
T - Time you wake up: work days - 5:30ish, home days - when I have to (7:30 or later on a lucky day!)
U - Underwear: clean
V - Vegetable you dislike: beets
W - Ways/Reasons you run late: any way possible, it's really a way of life
X - X-rays you've had: teeth, knee
Y - Yummy food you make: Jan's lemon bars
Z - Zoo animals you like: meerkats