Goof Ball.....

 

Love that my shy, little reserved gal has started to REALLY come out of her shell lately!!!

Painting Workshop....

Last Saturday afternoon we took the girls to a painting workshop at our local cupcake shop.  It was a cute little project where the girls used wine corks to paint.  They had a great time!

 

Love it when they play together well....

Hope they continue to be best friends......right now, it all depends on the day!!!

Whatever works....

 

Just like every place in the mid-west right now, it's been beyond cold, snowy and just blah.  We are definitely ready for warmer weather.  We've been blessed with a super nice older gentleman who is the bus driver for the girls.  He pulls right up to the end of our driveway to pick them up each school day.  At the beginning of winter, he told us to stay inside the house until he comes.  He said that as long as he sees our front door open he will wait for the girls to come outside.   These pictures are what a typical morning waiting for the bus looks like.  Due to the extreme cold lately, our glass storm door fogs up.  The girls like to "draw" in the fog.  This morning I took advantage of their willingness to want to write on the door and made them practice their spelling words.  Hey, whatever works right?

 

 

More from the pen of Addison.....

Addison like to make "books".   Here are a few pages from her most recent creation:

 

 

 

Translation:   "You are soooo pretty".

 

Translation :  "You are sooo sleepy".

 

At school they are really working on writing sentences, using periods, question marks etc.  This was something that came home in her backpack the other day.

Translation:  When I am 100 years old I will have a lot of junk. 

The past few days I've been fighting a nasty ear infection and have felt yucky. The girls made me this card.  Translation:  I hope you feel better. 

Alexis was driving Addison crazy.  Addison made her own naughty list with one single name on it.  Translation:   naughty list.... Alexis.  

Valentine's Day at Kindergarten 2015....

 

Definitely a little late in posting...... But I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the girls V'Day parties at school.  It was a little challenging bouncing back and forth between two classrooms but we made it work!   Due to the chaos I didn't get too many pictures but here are the ones that we did get...

 

 

Side Note:  Addison decided recently that she wants to grow her hair long and grow out her bangs, thus the fact that she currently looks like she needs a hair cut.  I have a feeling it will be like that for a few months until we pass that transition phase. 

 

Love...

My sweet little Addison loves to read and write.  There is rarely a time when she doesn't have a pencil, marker, or some form of writing utensil in her hands.  Over the past few weeks I've found the following around my house.  She is trying so hard to spell without asking for help.  I think she is doing a pretty darn good job.  And yes, most of these make me teary eyed.  I can't help but think back to those days when we were told to "prepare to care for a child with special needs".  Little did they know that this child tagged as "special needs", would be one of the most special things to ever happen to our lives. 

 

 

Empty boxes make the best blank canvases!  

 

Translation:  I love Alexis, Mom, Dad, the people in my family.

 

The girl's school was having a book fair.  They each had $10 to buy the book(s) of their choice.  I told them they needed to write their name on the bag, so that the teachers would know the purpose of the funds being sent. 

 

Translation:  Addison Smith  book fair money

 

Addison loves to use old envelopes to "write letters" to people.  In this case she was making Valentine's Day cards.   This particular card is "For Everyone".

 

Addison forgot that Gramma was going to be visiting on Valentine's Day and she hadn't made her a card.  She wrote herself a note so she wouldn't forget to do it the next day.

 

Translation:  Do Gramma's Valentine's.

 

And my personal favorite:  Terry's Valentine from Addison.

 

Translation:  I love you to pieces.  Terry always tells both girls that he loves them to pieces.  This one was definitely a tear jearker for me!!!

Spiderman....

Last Saturday we took the girls to our local Children's Museum.  I knew in advance that Spider-Man was going to be making a special appearance.  Ever since Alexis was about 3 1/2 she has loved Spidey!  You may even remember that she dressed up as Spider-Man for Halloween in 2013.  She was beyond excited to actually get to meet him in person.

 

We arrived a few hours before our scheduled time to meet with Spidey.  The girls were happy just to run around and play.  Addison informed me that you are never too old to ride the carousel.

 

 

We played in the music room for a bit.  It makes me sad that these toddler/kid rooms are getting a little small for my big girls.

 

And of course, the reason for our visit.....

 

Addison cracked me up!  She was practicing her web fingers the whole time we were in line.  Then when she got up to meet Spidey she couldn't remember how to do it!

 

 

 

I absolutely love this last photo.  I only wish it wasn't blurry!!

HELPERS....

100th day of kindergarten....

Last Tuesday, (January 27th, 2015) was the 100th day of school.  Addison was super excited about all the fun stuff her class was going to do.  Unfortunately, Alexis' teacher didn't share the same enthusiasm about the day.  :-(

 

I'm not sure why I can't get this picture to flip the correct way?  

 

 

Addison hates this next photo.  She actually hid it from us.  If her teacher hadn't sent out an email with a list of all the fun things they had done, I wouldn't have known about it.  Addison thinks she looks creepy, but this photo is supposed to depict her as a 100 year old woman.  I think it's adorable.

Love....

About two weeks ago, I found these three little pieces of paper clipped together in Alexis' back pack.  Let me tell you.....This little girl has the biggest heart of anyone I know.

Kindergarten field trip....

I was fortunate enough to be able to chaperone the girls first official school field trip last week. (Wednesday, January 21st, 2015)  They attended a play at Butler University.  The girl's teachers were very accomodating by allowing Alexis to move from her class group into Addison's class group.  I was in charge of three other kiddos as well as my own two.  While we had a great time, it just definitely confirmed that I'm not cut out to be a teacher of any kind!!! 

 



 

Not the best photo, but the theatre was fairly dark.

 

 

That same week, I was the mystery story time reader in Addison's class room (Friday, January 23rd).  To say that Addison was surprised was an understatement!  I stayed and had lunch with the girls afterwards.  Alexis actual did a double and triple take when she saw me walk into the cafeteria.  It was so adorable, she let out a little squeal of excitement.  Again, the teachers were very accomodating in allowing the girls to move from their assigned tables so we could all eat together!

No cab it tease....

My big girls just got another clean bill of health from the dentist.  As Alexis would say, "I have no cab it tease".  AKA cavities!  Dentist did tell us once again to start saving our money for Alexis' braces.  :-(       But all and all a good check up! 

Don't let Alexis do your hair.....

Documented photo proof as to why you shouldn't let Alexis attempt to style your hair......

 

Hearing Check.....

Long story short, we've been wondering about Alexis' ability to hear for a little while now.  She has some minor speech issues that we thought could be related to hearing.  She's been struggling with her spelling tests at school.  Like having trouble differentiating between "hop" and "hot" or "map" and "mat".   I've been on the fence about scheduling a special appointment for her, but finally just broke down and did it.  She's always passed her routine hearing checks just fine. 

My little peanut and I loaded up and headed out to the doctor.  It was nice to just spend some one on one time with her.  She has so much to say all the time!  Turns out her hearing is perfect and we are just monitoring an ear wax issue for now.  Because it was the week before Christmas (12-22-14) the office was totally empty and Alexis got so much attention from all the doctors and nurses.  She was definitely a rock star and was charming the pants off of everyone!

 

Throwing balls at pins 2014.....

Still playing catch up here on this 'ol blog.  Hope by the end of the week to be back on track, but not promising anything....

Keeping with our annual tradition, we took the girls bowling on Christmas Eve.  I can not even express how much fun we have doing this.  Regardless of our bowling expertise (or lack there of) we still have an amazing time.  We were having so much fun that I neglected to take a lot of photos, but here are the few that I did take:

 

Not sure I could love these two more!

 

Game One:  Alexis 85, Addison 79, Terry 103, Janet 107

 

Game Two:  Alexis 82, Addison 70, Terry 76, Janet 100

 

 

Addison is so super teeny tiny that she had trouble getting much power behind the ball.  We kept telling her that if she could throw it or push it harder that she could knock down more pins.  She decided that if she took a running start that would help her.  And also for some reason, she said having her hood on helped her throw the ball better.  Whatever works right???

 

Kids say the darndest things....

I'm way behind on my blogging and need to catch up, but between school delays due to snow and cold temperatures, work, and life in general I just don't have the time right now.  I will soon!  I promise!   I just want to document a few things at the moment:

• This morning the girls school was cancelled due to sub zero temperatures.  Last night they had called a two hour delay, but this morning they closed all together.  I explained to Addison that they no longer had a delay (which they have had everyday this week due to snow) and that now they get to stay home all day because it's too cold to go to school.  Addison then proceeded to ask me at least 5 times "why is it too cold for me to go to school, but not too cold for you to go to work?".  I had no reasonable answer!

• Alexis asked me the other evening why we do not have a butler.  I was unable to give her an acceptable answer.

• Alexis lost tooth #2 one day last week.  Addison still has yet to loose any.  A few evenings ago, Alexis asked me how many days until they go to the dentist.  Both my kids LOVE the dentist.  I told her that her appointment was on January 15th.  She then asked me if it was going to cost the same amount for her to go the dentist as it will for Addison.  I didn't understand her question at first.  She explained to me that it shouldn't cost as much for her because she has less teeth for the dentist to clean.  Sounds reasonable to me!!  Doubt the dentist with think the same way!!