Happy Valentine's Day

We made cookies yesterday and let the kids help ice them . . . they need practice. I came through and touched them up a bit. They were doing more licking than icing! Pickle sat down and announced that all the heart cookies were for her . . . really?

The kids had made picture frames and cards for us when Cee- Cee sat with them last month. Pickle has been keeping her cards not so hidden in her closet but Bubba surprised us by putting his cards under our pillow on Saturday night. Now that is how you surprise someone; give them something early! They will each have their respective card exchanges at school today which means they will come home with a bag or box full of "crunk" that will need to be tossed or recycled.

JP and I have never been big on Valentine's Day. In our early years we exchanged gifts and there was that wonderful gift that I wrote about here; but after spending so many years together every day Valentine's just loses its luster (if it ever had luster). We had an enjoyable weekend together including a wonderful "at home" date on Friday night that involved steak, wine, bruschetta, and House Hunters International!

We hope you have a wonderful day and don't get wrapped up in the silliness of Valentine's . . . it's just another day of the week.

9 Months?

Seriously? I know it sounds cliched but time is absolutely flying by. When the boy was a wee tot it seemed that time could not go fast enough. This little lady is 9 months old today. In the last month she has learned to clap and still really enjoys mimicking the noises she hears from her siblings.

Grease?

Oh the wonders of letting your children dress themselves.

The Parent Teacher Conference

We had a parent/teacher conference for the boy today. It was not the impromptu, your child has goofed off too much type but rather the semi annual, perfunctory variety. We were told nothing we didn't already know.

His teacher started off by showing us some reading evaluation scores. Knowing the boy as you do, you know he is a fan of the written word. His scores were off the charts high. We continued through the usual banter of math and his lack of organization and then we asked the teacher if she had any concerns. She said he was not a behavioral problem and she didn't have any issues other than his inability to switch gears from reading. She said she has to routinely collect multiple books off his desk in the middle of the day and put them back on the shelf. It takes multiple requests to get him to produce a sheet of paper for a spelling test as he is nose down in his book and can't let it go. This information too came as little surprise to us. There have been occasions at home when he has been sent to his room to get dressed or clean up and he is found sitting there reading a book quietly on the floor. At times he is fresh out of the shower sitting only with a towel and stuck in a book apparently to enthralled to bother putting clothes on.

8 Months

Seven months came and went while I was busy with jury duty and then the holidays. I didn't want another month to go by without sharing Baby C's latest milestones. She had a check up right after her 7 month birthday and was still measuring at the 95th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight . . . same as she has pretty much all along. Crawling since before Thanksgiving it did not take long for her to attempt pulling up on various things; the low-to-the ground cloth cubes in the den were an easy start. Then there was one day where we found her in her bed like this:

She has been standing at anything she can get her hands on - dishwasher and oven are two of her favorites. It's tough to sit on the floor without getting attacked . . . just ask Bubba. Still so happy, she smiles all the time and loves playing with her brother and sister; but her favorite place is asleep in her bed.

Friday Photo

Christmas morning . . . new bathrobe from us, apron from grandparents, shoes from grandparents, headband from Santa and what you can't see is the ribbon tied around her shoulders that she had on before all the other items.  Really perfecting her Hobo look.

Spelling Words

Bubba has a new teacher this semester. (For the record we really liked his original teacher, but after she made the decision to leave I attended a parent meeting where there were more than a few unhappy parents.)  We can already see a BIG difference with this teacher as she has come out of the gate swinging with spelling tests, math assessments, science lessons, and LOTS of homework. On Monday they took a spelling test and some of the students were given an advanced list of words to study throughout the week. Part of the study process requires them to complete 3 activities that they choose from a list; Bubba chose to type his words on Tuesday, yesterday he wrote them in alphabetical order, and today he looked for anagrams and smaller words.

And during dinner tonight I quizzed him on his spelling words. I think this is one of those parenting activities that I have been looking forward to the most. Helping him with his homework and studying for spelling tests makes changing all those diapers and cleaning up all that spit-up kind of worth it. Here are his spelling words for this week:

Adequate

Reluctantly

Perhaps

Comedy

Husband

Tangerine

Thermostat

Crimson

Oath

Ruckus

Orderly

Quill

Vandalism

Linoleum

Preliminary

Cameo

Gazette

Essential

Fluorescent

Superintendent