What's Happening Around Here

Since I haven't blogged in such a long time here's some bits and pieces of life around here lately.

Hannah--

  *Words/phrases:

     -- I not.

     -- Pock (pocket)

     -- Jack (jacket)

     -- Thomas teeth (brushing her teeth with thomas toothpaste)

     -- I pay yegos (She wants to play legos.)

     -- Pease (please)

     -- Shawser (shower)

     -- Mato (tomato)

     -- Babow (strawberry) (not sure how she got that one)

     -- Ereal (cereal)
     -- Zert (dessert)

     -- Shawshores (dinosaurs)
     -- Apress (stickers)

     -- She is still babbling constantly and I'm sad that that phase is going to end soon.

     -- H loves counting.  It's still 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11.  But's she's now pointing to objects and counting them.

     -- We try to call Troy at work each morning while we're eating breakfast.  Hannah loves this and talks super fast to tell Daddy what she's eating for breakfast.

     -- When we pull into the garage, Hannah always says, "HOME!"

  *Singing constantly

     -- The alphabet is becoming much more clear and is understandable through the L, M, N, O, P section.

     -- Hammer, hammer, hammer, saw, saw, saw, Daddy built a house that's big and tall.

     -- Wheels on the bus is still a favorite.  She started doing the motions now.  And last night when I sang it before bed she had her doll do the motions--so cute!

  *Other

     -- Imaginative play is really developing for Hannah.  She likes to play with her dolls, take them shopping with all of her purses and play in her kitchen.

     -- Hannah loves to play outside.  Thankfully it's been warming up and we've been able to be outside using some new "bikes" and stuff from Christmas.

     -- Hannah is really loving school.  She is constantly asking about Janice and Lisa, her teachers.  On Monday and Wednesday when we drop off Luke, she always asks to stay and is bummed when she can't.

     -- Hannah sometimes asserts her independence in getting dressed.  It's not everyday but she will occassionally demand to wear a certain thing.  It's a sign of things to come I'm sure.

Luke--

  *School stuff

     -- Luke is writing all of his letters and numbers really well.  He's wanting to write more too which is great since that hasn't always been the case.

     -- Luke has had a few play dates with some school friends and he's getting to be a slight bit more social.

     -- Luke's teachers have told me that he has been standing up for himself more and doing so in a positive way.  That makes us very proud!

     --  We have enrolled Luke in a private school for kindergarten next year.  It's called Oklahoma Christian Academy or OCA.  We're really excited about it.

  *Other

     -- Luke decided to try out soccer again this spring.  A classmate's dad is the coach and Luke thought it would be fun to be on Nick's team.  I'm hoping he'll learn a bit more this time around and enjoy playing more in the games.

     -- Legos, Legos, Legos!  That's LJ's main focus these days.  He's really gotten into building things from his imagination.  It typically has something to do with robbers and their hideout and taking treasure from the good guys.

     -- Arts and crafts are also pretty high on the list.  He has asked to find projects on Pinterest a bunch lately and we've found some fun stuff.  

     -- Luke is also really enjoying our large, flat driveway.  He quickly figured out how to spin out on his bigwheel and he's been really having fun playing basketball.

     -- Luke has been demonstrating his compassionate heart a bunch lately.  He is always the first to try and comfort Hannah if she's upset.  He brings her his stuffed animals or blanket to cheer her up.  And the last few times I've had a headache he'll make me some sort of heart.  Yesterday he cut a heart out of construction paper, colored it and presented it to me.  We've been playing on the playground after school and almost every day we do, a mom will comment to me how apparent it is that Luke loves Hannah.  We are so proud of Luke in this :)

Troy--

  *Work

     -- Troy had a big presentation last Wednesday.  He worked a lot of last weekend to get prepared and it went really well.  

     -- He is really enjoying what he's working on right now. 

  *Other

     -- Troy has been doing some small projects around the house.  We have a long list of things we'd like to change/fix so it'll be an on-going thing for a while.

     -- Troy also enjoys playing Legos.  He's definitely been encouraging LJ in making all kinds of creations.

     -- Almost every night after dinner, Troy plays hop on pop with the kids.  I love watching all of them and listening to them laugh.

Amy--

  *House

     -- I've been debating starting some painting projects, mainly the kids' rooms.  I'd really like to get their rooms finished before doing anything else around the house.

     -- I feel like we're completely settled and really liking the new house.  We are all excited for some warm weather so we can enjoy the pool.

     -- My craft room still needs work.  It's taken a back seat but I know I'll get to it eventually.  It's awesome to have so much space dedicated to my art stuff.

  *Other

     -- I was able to go to Tybee Island, GA for my mom's birthday at the beginning of February.  It was a wonderful getaway for me.  I was truly able to relax and recharge my batteries plus I got to enjoy some one on one time with Mom and Dick.  We are all looking forward to our trip there as a family at the beginning of June.

     -- I've done some volunteering at Luke and Hannah's school lately.  I'm really enjoying it!  It's so nice to contribute and feel useful outside of our home.  

     -- I'm super excited that in two weeks I get to go on another scrapbook retreat.  I'll leave Friday morning and come back on Sunday afternoon.  I'm hoping to get as many if not more pages done than the last time I went (it was 36).