Thank you Denise for everything. We really appreciate everything you have done for our children. I know my kids will always remember the time they spent at Montessori Home. Good luck on the next chapter in your life.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Last Day of School
This week was the kids last week of school at Montessori Home. Starting in September they will be going to Parkcenter Montessori. This week has been bittersweet. The kids have learned so much from Montessori Home. Denise, their teacher, has been so good to them. I believe my children were definitely her favorite.I am positive Pennington was. I'm sad that Denise is moving to Michigan but at the same time this works out really well for us that the kids can both go to Parkcenter Montessori together. Below are pictures of the kids last days at Montessori Home.
Thank you Denise for everything. We really appreciate everything you have done for our children. I know my kids will always remember the time they spent at Montessori Home. Good luck on the next chapter in your life.
Thank you Denise for everything. We really appreciate everything you have done for our children. I know my kids will always remember the time they spent at Montessori Home. Good luck on the next chapter in your life.
Fair 2012
On Monday night we met the Saks Family at the Western Idaho Fair. The Saks Family is moving to Salt Lake City so we wanted to get together one more time before they leave. We spent time seeing the farm animals, butterfly exhibit, and going on rides. Oh and of course eating fair food. This time Pronto Pups. Below are some photos of the kids at the Fair.
Thank you Saks Family for coming to the Fair with us. Hope to see you soon in SLC.
Daddy and Pennington on the Train
Piper on the Train
Piper on the boat ride. Not sure who the boy is but his expression is funny.
Piper, Emma and Pennington
Thank you Saks Family for coming to the Fair with us. Hope to see you soon in SLC.
Piper Turns 2
Piper turned 2 years old on Saturday. I realized a few months ago that Piper is definitely no longer a baby she is full on toddler.
Piper is finally (let me repeat that for you . . . . FINALLY) sleeping through the night. She does sometimes wake up in the middle of the night. Usually she come walking into my room and just wants to sleep with me for the rest of the night. I would say about 75% of the time she sleeps from 9 to 6:30 at which point she comes to join me in bed. Being able to sleep for at least 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep makes a huge difference in how I feel when I wake up in the morning. It is amazing how much better you feel when you actually get real sleep.
At school Piper is doing really well. Denise mentioned that Piper hasn't regressed at all. She just keeps moving forward learning all sorts of new things. She continues to bring home lots of work (paintings, stringing work, stickers workbooks, ect).
Piper continues to be totally obsessed with her clothes and dressing herself. This includes hair ties, necklaces, bracelets, basically all accessories. For her birthday she got all sorts of new toys and accessories (purses, blow dryers, straighteners, curling irons, ect). She is definitely turning into a little girl.
Piper is definitely on her way to being potty trained. I would say she goes on the potty about 3 times a day. She still has wet diapers after nap and bedtime so she isn't quite ready for all on potty training.
Piper is becoming quite the little swimmer. She is staring to kick her legs and arms when she is under water. She is not afraid of jumping into the pool or lake water.
Piper tries to be funny. She will knowingly repeat something I just said but say the opposite. For example I will say Piper don't go outside. She will turn around and say something like Piper go outside and then start laughing. She thinks she is so funny.
Piper also likes to through tantrums. If I do something she doesn't like she totally loses it. I have learned the best thing to do is just ignore her.
Overall, Piper is one of the biggest joys in my life. She is such a sweet little girl that knows what she wants. I am so excited for what the next year will bring.
Piper is finally (let me repeat that for you . . . . FINALLY) sleeping through the night. She does sometimes wake up in the middle of the night. Usually she come walking into my room and just wants to sleep with me for the rest of the night. I would say about 75% of the time she sleeps from 9 to 6:30 at which point she comes to join me in bed. Being able to sleep for at least 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep makes a huge difference in how I feel when I wake up in the morning. It is amazing how much better you feel when you actually get real sleep.
At school Piper is doing really well. Denise mentioned that Piper hasn't regressed at all. She just keeps moving forward learning all sorts of new things. She continues to bring home lots of work (paintings, stringing work, stickers workbooks, ect).
Piper continues to be totally obsessed with her clothes and dressing herself. This includes hair ties, necklaces, bracelets, basically all accessories. For her birthday she got all sorts of new toys and accessories (purses, blow dryers, straighteners, curling irons, ect). She is definitely turning into a little girl.
Piper is definitely on her way to being potty trained. I would say she goes on the potty about 3 times a day. She still has wet diapers after nap and bedtime so she isn't quite ready for all on potty training.
Piper is becoming quite the little swimmer. She is staring to kick her legs and arms when she is under water. She is not afraid of jumping into the pool or lake water.
Piper tries to be funny. She will knowingly repeat something I just said but say the opposite. For example I will say Piper don't go outside. She will turn around and say something like Piper go outside and then start laughing. She thinks she is so funny.
Piper also likes to through tantrums. If I do something she doesn't like she totally loses it. I have learned the best thing to do is just ignore her.
Overall, Piper is one of the biggest joys in my life. She is such a sweet little girl that knows what she wants. I am so excited for what the next year will bring.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Fall Scrimmage
On Saturday we rode our bikes down to BSU for the Fall Scrimmage. As you can imagine Pennington was really excited to be at Bronco Stadium. He would turn to Johnny and myself and say things like "Look Mom they are tackling" or "Look Dad they are kicking off". Seriously this kid knows the football lingo. Piper had a good time as well. She didn't sit still for very long but she did enjoy looking around at everything going on. I know the kids are looking forward to football season. Below are some photos of the kids at the game.
August 2012 Trip to the Cabin
After we went camping at Ponderosa we decided to stay a night at the cabin. The highlight of this cabin trip was getting the kids out on the tube behind the boat. Piper went as well but the camera died before we got a photo. Both the kids enjoyed tubing. Pennington wanted to go longer than Piper but Piper did like it. Both kids continue to be fearless of the water and were willing to jump off the back of the boat into the lake or off the dock at the cabin.
Below is a picture of Pennington and Mommy in the tube.
Below is a picture of Piper holding the flag.
First Camping Trip
On Thursday Johnny and I took the kids on their very first camping trip. We reserved a tent camping site at Ponderosa State Park in McCall. We arrived around 1pm and set up our tent. Then the whole family rode our bikes down to the lake for a nice swim and building of sand castles. The kids rode their bikes. I did have to push Piper on her bike but she did her best to ride over half of the trip to the beach. I love Payette Lake. It is colder than Cascade Lake (the lake that my parents cabin is on) but it is soooo much cleaner. The kids weren't at all afraid of swimming in the lake. They just walked right out into the lake (with life jackets on) and started swimming.
After a nice swim we went back to the campsite to get ready to head out for another bike ride (this time the kids were in the bike trailer). We decided it would just be easier to head into McCall for meals. So we headed out on our bikes to have dinner at the Toll House. Pennington fell asleep on the bike ride in so he took a nice little nap in the booth at the restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the campsite.
When we got back to the campsite we decided to go for a little walk before it go to dark. On our walk we started to hear some music. Turns out there was a Viola Camp. We ended up stumbling upon a mini concert. The kids were so intrigued with the orchestra. We can already tell Pennington has a really love for music. Both kids sat there for at least 5 songs adsorbing everything. At one point two deer walked by behind the orchestra. It was so awesome. We then headed down to the lake to watch the sunset. After watching the sunset, we headed back to our campsite for Smores and bedtime.
The kids were really excited to sleep in the tent. It was hard to get them to go to bed. Finally they fell asleep and pretty much slept the whole night. For the kids birthday's my parents got them each there very own sleeping bags. The kids were really excited to sleep in them. Pennington loved it so much he didn't want to get out of it in the morning.
For breakfast we decided to drive into town to eat at the Pancake House. After breakfast we headed back to the campsite to pack up everything and then head out on a bike ride to the top of Ponderosa State Park. I don't think we realized that it was going to be 3 mile bike ride with about a 1000 foot elevation gain. Lets just say I think Johnny was a bit tried of pulling the kids in the bike trailer by the time we got to the top. The view from the point was incredible. The kids enjoyed getting to see all the boats on the lake. The bike ride down was really fun since it took about 20% of the time it took to ride to the top.
After our bike ride we headed to the Groves Family cabin. Below are some pictures from the first camping trip.
After a nice swim we went back to the campsite to get ready to head out for another bike ride (this time the kids were in the bike trailer). We decided it would just be easier to head into McCall for meals. So we headed out on our bikes to have dinner at the Toll House. Pennington fell asleep on the bike ride in so he took a nice little nap in the booth at the restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the campsite.
When we got back to the campsite we decided to go for a little walk before it go to dark. On our walk we started to hear some music. Turns out there was a Viola Camp. We ended up stumbling upon a mini concert. The kids were so intrigued with the orchestra. We can already tell Pennington has a really love for music. Both kids sat there for at least 5 songs adsorbing everything. At one point two deer walked by behind the orchestra. It was so awesome. We then headed down to the lake to watch the sunset. After watching the sunset, we headed back to our campsite for Smores and bedtime.
The kids were really excited to sleep in the tent. It was hard to get them to go to bed. Finally they fell asleep and pretty much slept the whole night. For the kids birthday's my parents got them each there very own sleeping bags. The kids were really excited to sleep in them. Pennington loved it so much he didn't want to get out of it in the morning.
For breakfast we decided to drive into town to eat at the Pancake House. After breakfast we headed back to the campsite to pack up everything and then head out on a bike ride to the top of Ponderosa State Park. I don't think we realized that it was going to be 3 mile bike ride with about a 1000 foot elevation gain. Lets just say I think Johnny was a bit tried of pulling the kids in the bike trailer by the time we got to the top. The view from the point was incredible. The kids enjoyed getting to see all the boats on the lake. The bike ride down was really fun since it took about 20% of the time it took to ride to the top.
After our bike ride we headed to the Groves Family cabin. Below are some pictures from the first camping trip.
Watching the Sunset
Break on the Bike Ride at Lily Marsh
Hanging out on the Beach
Eating Smores
Checking out the view
The Family at the top of Ponderosa State Park
Kiddos at the beach
Our campsite and mode of transportation while camping
Monday, August 13, 2012
Summertime
Many of our summer nights consist of ridding bikes to the park and eating Popsicles. Oh summertime please don't go we really enjoy being outside. Below is a picture of the kiddos on "big hill" (aka - the mini hill in the neighbors yard) eating Popsicles.
Pennington 3 Years Old
I can't believe Pennington is already 3 years old. I was recently told that he is going to start transitioning from being a toddler to a preschooler. In September Pennington starts at Parkcenter Montessori and will be a class with 3-5 year olds which definitely means he will be around other preschoolers. Where did the toddler years go? I can't believe how fast that went by. The toddler years have been by far the most fun but I am excited for what lies ahead.
Pennington is about 90% potty trained. He still has the occasional accident but he hasn't worn a diaper since June. If we remind him he needs to go to the bathroom he will go. There are sometimes when we forget to remind him or he gets distracted and has an accident. Most of the time it is a poop accident. I am a little nervous about this when he starts at Parkcenter since he is suppose to be potty trained but I'm guessing other children have likely had the same problem.
Pennington continues to be totally obsessed with sports. This kid has about every piece of sporting equipment you could imagine. There are a few pieces of equipment that he doesn't have. For those he is constantly asking me to make them out of construction paper. You should try making hockey skates out of construction paper, it is quite a task. He is going to start the Boise Nationals Super Soccer Tykes program in September. It is one night a week during September and October. As you can imagine, Johnny and I are really excited for him. He has been talking about it ever since I signed him.
Pennington is fully capable of dressing himself. As you can imagine his favorite things to wear are sports clothes. It is really nice being able to tell him to go get dressed and he will do it.
Pennington has become quite the little swimmer. If he can figure out how to come up for a breath and then swim some more he will be fully swimming. Right now he can swim about 15 feet without taking a breath. I'm hoping by next summer he will be swimming by himself.
At school Pennington is starting to become more interested in painting. Over the last month or so he has painted a pigeon, elephant, and snake (and yes you can tell what he is painting). I am really excited he is painting again because for a while he only wanted me to paint for him.
Pennington is starting to be interested in the alphabet. He definitely knows how to count from 1 to 15 and can recognize a few numbers. Learning his letters and numbers is definitely something we will start to work more on in the coming year.
Pennington is definitely going through the "what's that" stage. I love this stage. It is so interesting to hear what he is curious about.
For a while there he started to only name about 50% of the time. Right now he is napping more like 75% of the time. I'm thinking over the next year or so he will probably transition to no longer taking a nap. To be honest I am okay with him not taking a nap if he goes to bed around 8. If we need him to be up later then I would prefer he naps.
Pennington is starting to try more foods. I have mentioned before that he isn't the best eater but he is getting better and seems to be willing to try some new foods.
Overall, I have to say that I just LOVE this little boy. He is such a joy to be around. I feel so lucky that Johnny and I got a sweet little boy who loves his family, is curious about everything, and enjoys being active. I love you my little Pennington.
Pennington is about 90% potty trained. He still has the occasional accident but he hasn't worn a diaper since June. If we remind him he needs to go to the bathroom he will go. There are sometimes when we forget to remind him or he gets distracted and has an accident. Most of the time it is a poop accident. I am a little nervous about this when he starts at Parkcenter since he is suppose to be potty trained but I'm guessing other children have likely had the same problem.
Pennington continues to be totally obsessed with sports. This kid has about every piece of sporting equipment you could imagine. There are a few pieces of equipment that he doesn't have. For those he is constantly asking me to make them out of construction paper. You should try making hockey skates out of construction paper, it is quite a task. He is going to start the Boise Nationals Super Soccer Tykes program in September. It is one night a week during September and October. As you can imagine, Johnny and I are really excited for him. He has been talking about it ever since I signed him.
Pennington is fully capable of dressing himself. As you can imagine his favorite things to wear are sports clothes. It is really nice being able to tell him to go get dressed and he will do it.
Pennington has become quite the little swimmer. If he can figure out how to come up for a breath and then swim some more he will be fully swimming. Right now he can swim about 15 feet without taking a breath. I'm hoping by next summer he will be swimming by himself.
At school Pennington is starting to become more interested in painting. Over the last month or so he has painted a pigeon, elephant, and snake (and yes you can tell what he is painting). I am really excited he is painting again because for a while he only wanted me to paint for him.
Pennington is starting to be interested in the alphabet. He definitely knows how to count from 1 to 15 and can recognize a few numbers. Learning his letters and numbers is definitely something we will start to work more on in the coming year.
Pennington is definitely going through the "what's that" stage. I love this stage. It is so interesting to hear what he is curious about.
For a while there he started to only name about 50% of the time. Right now he is napping more like 75% of the time. I'm thinking over the next year or so he will probably transition to no longer taking a nap. To be honest I am okay with him not taking a nap if he goes to bed around 8. If we need him to be up later then I would prefer he naps.
Pennington is starting to try more foods. I have mentioned before that he isn't the best eater but he is getting better and seems to be willing to try some new foods.
Overall, I have to say that I just LOVE this little boy. He is such a joy to be around. I feel so lucky that Johnny and I got a sweet little boy who loves his family, is curious about everything, and enjoys being active. I love you my little Pennington.
Pirate and Princess Party
This last Saturday we celebrated Piper turning 2 and Pennington turning 3 with a Pirate and Princess Party. We invited all of there school friends, friends of ours that have kids, and friends from K'tanim. Around 10 of there friends were able to attend the party. We started the party off with swimming in the pool along with eating food in the backyard. After swimming we headed inside to decorate cupcake and open presents. The kids had a great time. I have to say that trying to open around 15 presents for each child was a complete chaos. Not sure how to make that process more enjoyable next time. Below are some photos from the kids Pirate and Princess Party. Note to self: Remember to have someone be assigned to take photos during the party. It is super hard to remember to take photos. This is why there are no photos of the kids swimming or wearing their pirate hats.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Boobies
WARNING: Don't read on if you don't want to hear about Boobies.
This is one of those posts that I am a bit embarrassed about but it is a huge part of what Piper talks about right now so I just had to write about it. Since I breastfeed Piper until she was 19 months old she definitely remembers how I used to feed her. Piper talks about Boobies ALL THE TIME. It is a comfort thing for her to be able to touch my breasts when she is sad. I have been working really hard on not letting her touch me any more. She now tells me "Your boobies hiding from me?" She also likes to talk about who has boobies and who doesn't. She told me the other day she wants big boobies. Oh, Piper I know you will hate me for this posting when you are a teenager but that fact of the matter is you LOVE boobies.
This is one of those posts that I am a bit embarrassed about but it is a huge part of what Piper talks about right now so I just had to write about it. Since I breastfeed Piper until she was 19 months old she definitely remembers how I used to feed her. Piper talks about Boobies ALL THE TIME. It is a comfort thing for her to be able to touch my breasts when she is sad. I have been working really hard on not letting her touch me any more. She now tells me "Your boobies hiding from me?" She also likes to talk about who has boobies and who doesn't. She told me the other day she wants big boobies. Oh, Piper I know you will hate me for this posting when you are a teenager but that fact of the matter is you LOVE boobies.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Crist Family Comes to Dinner
Last weekend the Crist Family was in town. I LOVE the Crist Family. Johnny and I have very few friends with children. When you have children you will understand how important it is to have friends with children your children's ages. Between the two of us we have four children that are almost exactly 1 year apart from each other. Maggie just turned 4, Pennington will be 3 in a week, Piper will be 2 in two weeks and River just turned 1. I very much admire how Melissa and Zac are raising their children. It is all about having a more simple life and encouraging learning. I am always reading Melissa's blog to find out new idea on what to do with my kids.
Melissa, Zac and River were able to come over for dinner on Friday night. Maggie was not able to join us as she was spending a lovely time with her grandma who she only gets to see every few months. We went swimming, had dinner and made smores. Below are some pictures (that I stole from River's blog).
Pennington is getting really good at swimming. He can drive for an object at the bottom of the pool (with a little help from Mom and Dad by pushing his body down to the bottom). As you can see from the picture below he is fearless of the water. He will jump/run right in. It is very important to have one on one attention with this child when he is in the pool.
Thank you Crist Family for coming to visit us. We miss you and hope you will move back to Boise someday. In the meantime I really think we should plan that camping trip for next summer. :)
Melissa, Zac and River were able to come over for dinner on Friday night. Maggie was not able to join us as she was spending a lovely time with her grandma who she only gets to see every few months. We went swimming, had dinner and made smores. Below are some pictures (that I stole from River's blog).
Pennington is getting really good at swimming. He can drive for an object at the bottom of the pool (with a little help from Mom and Dad by pushing his body down to the bottom). As you can see from the picture below he is fearless of the water. He will jump/run right in. It is very important to have one on one attention with this child when he is in the pool.
Piper is eating her smore in this photo. I have to say this is a very typical Piper face. It is so hard to get her to smile for pictures. She always has this look on her face.
Here they are. THE BOYS. I just love this photo.
Thank you Crist Family for coming to visit us. We miss you and hope you will move back to Boise someday. In the meantime I really think we should plan that camping trip for next summer. :)
Trip to the Cabin - July 2012
A few weeks ago I took the kids up to the cabin for the weekend. Johnny was not able to join us because he was working. The kids were able to get out on the boat for the first time. I was able to get them to jump off the back of the boat with life jackets. I was really impressed because we were way out in the middle of the lake. Piper LOVED it. Pennington wasn't to sure about it. Poppy and Nonni came along for a nice day hike to Duck Lake which is about 30 miles outside of McCall. The hike to Duck Lake is pretty short (about 2 miles round trip). It was nice until we realized that the mosquitoes were out in full force and we had no bug spray. Pennington was able to hike a 3/4 of a mile. Piper on the other hand preferred to be carried in the backpack. Looking back now I am not sure we took any pictures. We did swing by the Haller's cabin while we were boating and Kaitlyn Haller did take a photo of the kiddos. Here it is.
Side note: I got up on water skis for the first time in 4 years. It was amazing.
Run Wild at Zoo Boise
Last weekend the kids participated in Run Wild at Zoo Boise. It was a 1/4 mile race through the zoo. Since Johnny was going to participate in a golf tournament I was very lucky that one of the kids friends from school Harrison's parents were able to help me out. Pennington ran with Harrison's mom Emily and I ran with Piper. To be honest the kids were totally distracted trying to run through the Zoo. But it was really fun to walk around the Zoo after the race. The kids got medal with a snow leopard on them as well as t-shirts. I have found that even though some of these events are a little pricey they are totally worth it when you get a shirt. The kids LOVE getting shirts to wear that they can tell people about. Below are a few pictures of the kids at Run Wild. The other little boy is their friend Harrison from school. The last photo was actually taken at Banbury Golf Course. After the race we went to meet Daddy at the golf tournament foundraiser for the Jeret Peterson Foundation. The kids had a great time.
First Trip to the Dentist
A few weeks ago I took the kids to their very first dentist appointment. I was specifically told not to have high expectations that they would actually get their teeth cleaned. But rather that they would just get familiar with the dentist office and the idea of people looking at their teeth.
Pennington went first. The dental hygienist explained to Pennington what they do at the dentist office. He listened very well. Piper in the meantime was listening until she found the goodies draw. Pennington was able to get to sit still long enough to have them look at each of his teeth, clean all of them and put on a fluoride treatment. I was so impressed with him. Pennington does have what I would like to call a freckle looking thing on two of his top teeth. The dentist didn't seem to be worried about it at all. Come to find out it is more like a shadow on him tooth because there is a little indent.
Then it was Piper's turn. Surprisingly Piper did just as well as Pennington. She was also able to sit down long enough to have them look at each of her teeth, clean all of them and put on a fluoride treatment.
Both kids got goodies to take home as well as a new Pooh toothbrush and mini toothpaste.
The first trip to the Dentist was a huge success. Below are some pictures from the appointment.
Pennington went first. The dental hygienist explained to Pennington what they do at the dentist office. He listened very well. Piper in the meantime was listening until she found the goodies draw. Pennington was able to get to sit still long enough to have them look at each of his teeth, clean all of them and put on a fluoride treatment. I was so impressed with him. Pennington does have what I would like to call a freckle looking thing on two of his top teeth. The dentist didn't seem to be worried about it at all. Come to find out it is more like a shadow on him tooth because there is a little indent.
Then it was Piper's turn. Surprisingly Piper did just as well as Pennington. She was also able to sit down long enough to have them look at each of her teeth, clean all of them and put on a fluoride treatment.
Both kids got goodies to take home as well as a new Pooh toothbrush and mini toothpaste.
The first trip to the Dentist was a huge success. Below are some pictures from the appointment.
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