Enjoying life together

Lance and Ivy are pals. If one is doing something the other is sure to think they’re having fun and will want to join in.

Life constantly provides a chance for entertainment.

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Sometimes Lance wants to join Ivy, other times Ivy copies big brother and braves the scary cow.

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Of course, if mommy does it then it must be fun!

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They believe in equal opportunity.

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They will be unbeatable as a team (once they learn how to play).

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They support each other in their endeavors.

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And they both eat fast to ensure the other doesn’t come begging for leftovers.

Story Time

Lance and Ivy love books. Whether looking at them by their self or listening to someone read to them, they love books. Lance likes books about trucks and cars but these bore Ivy. She prefers books about animals and will bring me the same book over and over.

Following the tradition of my childhood and the last two summers, we enrolled in the Library Summer Reading Program. So far we have finished almost half of the time required!

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A new favorite is the weekly story time at the library. We sing, dance, count, listen and have a great time!

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Each week has a theme that the stories and activities are centered around. The amount of movement involved makes it perfect for toddlers and I love seeing Lance watch the other kids for cues on what to do next.

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Ivy enjoys the coloring at the end.

Here at home the repetition of reading is starting to pay off and Lance might put mommy out of a job as storyteller…..

…or maybe not.

If we are ever visiting you, and there’s a book around and an open lap – watch out! You could get drafted as the next story time.

So much has happened!

While taking time out to post on special events like VBS and birthday parties our kiddos have been undergoing a lot of change that I’m sure the grandparents (and the rest of my reading audience) would like to hear about.

Starting with the youngest: I’m now almost 17 weeks along and feeling pretty good. Last Sunday night Brian and I both got to feel our little one kicking for the first time – very fun! I tell Lance that mommy has a baby in her tummy and he will say “hi, baby” and kiss my belly. I don’t think he has a clue what I’m talking about but it sure is cute! Brian and I think it’s a boy because that’s the only name we have settled on and each time the name we liked best turned out to be the gender of the baby.

Now for Ivy: She’s 11 1/2 months and changing every day!   

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Her smile is making a big change with four new teeth peeping in on top.

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Her walking skills are perfected, she can squat and stand up on her own. She cannot run however which leads to frustration when playing with the “big kids”.

She’s starting to talk a little – her first word was “clap” – go figure. She has also learned a few signs; ‘more’, ‘please’ and we’re working on ‘all done’. She does ‘more’ at the beginning of this video and if you listen closely at the end she says “all done” which sounds like “nnnnnnnn, da”.

She loves to “read” books, both on her own and with mommy or daddy. She can do a lion growl which is really cute as well as saying “mmmmm” for moo. It’s amazing to watch how fast she picks things up!

On to Lance: I had someone comment on his smile “I looked up little boy in the dictionary and there was your picture.” His grin is so big and infectious that everybody loves him. The little girls at church rush past Ivy and zero in on Lance.

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Of course, one can’t smile all the time. Lance wet his pants while at the park and totally broke down – I took the picture because I loved the display of raw emotion.

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Lance is very serious about his work or play. In the first photo he has lined up cans after I showed him they could be drums. We checked out “Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb” from the library and it is now his favorite book. He loves the monkeys and can even drum with “one thumb”. I wonder how many times we can recheck it before we have to give it back :-)   He loves to throw and pour and will repeat those actions over and over.

Lance loves to rough and tumble and has learned to do a somersault….well, almost.

He also continues to learn sign language. I’ve employed the help of some baby sign videos from the library and Lance knows over 30 signs. Here he shows off about 15 of his new ones.

We sure do enjoy watching our kids grow and learn. What a blessing be with them every day and be a part of each new stage.

Playhouse

Last weekend our friends, Addison and Landon, celebrated their second birthday at a kids playhouse.

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Lance like the individual trampoline, the coop cars and the kid sized bounce house maze (Daddy liked the maze too).

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Daddy’s favorite was the ball pit – he had a regular war zone going in there; he and the kids against mommy.

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Lance liked this “do it yourself” roller coaster. He would ride the car down, jump off and push it back up the runway to ride again.

Ivy preferred a little more thrill to her ride – as long as daddy was holding her hand :-) Mommy and Daddy think this would be a neat thing to have once they get a house.

More from the week

My 5th grade group is a lively bunch – with anywhere from 20-27 kids, things stay hopping.

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Generally we open with a quieter activity – here some girls do a Bible scavenger hunt.

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Craft time is always popular and provides a good break between “teaching” moments. Here the girls show their marshmallow animals.

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We’ve also made “rustic” crosses with foam and pine cone chips, personal journals and tin can lanterns.

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Snack time is a cookie fest for the kids so we’re glad rec comes next to run off a little bit of that sugar!

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Today we had a bounce house

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and obstacle course!

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When rec is over we come back to the room for a wind up session before they leave. Here the kids are doing a wildlife ID challenge.

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Of course, my kiddos are having a great time as well. I catch glimpses of them throughout the day. Here Lance is putting pennies in the boys collection bucket while Ivy checks out the supply of donated Mac and Cheese. Meanwhile Addison and Landon enjoy the bounce house. I’ve also seen them heading for the playground and enjoying snow cones.

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