Walkin' in the rain

After our park day, it started raining, which did a great job of getting rid of a lot of the snow!  Yes, there's still snow on the ground mid-March.  But it was mid-50s and kinda humid because of the rain.  So again, when opportunity presents itself to get outside, we do!  We put on our rain boots and take Taylor for a walk.  Everyone was so happy to get outside for some good ol' fashioned puddle stompin'  :)

The beginning of March

The first two weeks of March, we saw more snow.  Surprise, surprise.  We didn't do much except the usual trips to the gym, library, school, and the occasional trip to DMNH.

 She's actually taking a nap!!!!  (This is probably the last nap picture I will get- from early March)

Devan's last floor hockey (tear... I miss my girl time....).  They rose the divider to the gym and played one giant game.  It was hilarious to watch :)

The the library, they read books about building, and then brought out these connectors so the kids could make their own building.

Then, because it was nice (55 but cloudy and breezy), I packed a surprise lunch and after storytime we walked to the park for lunch and some play time.  They were so surprised- and super excited!  I was cold, but we desperately needed out of the house.

 Of course she picked the ladybug :)

 Digging for gold, Lexi? Hahaha

A rare warm day in Feb....

On Feb 22nd, we had a rare warm day.  I think it was 50!  Brianna and I took the kids to Longwood, while our hubbies went to the Kennett Winter Brewfest.  The kiddos had fun, even though the darn snow still covered everything and all the treehouses except for one were blocked off due to ice.  Oh well.  At least we got out and ran around a little :)

Tulip Treehouse.  Lexi did not like being able to see down to the ground.  It is kinda scary....

Devan and his best buddy Adam having a good conversation.  I think Brianna was disciplining Brandon for something, so I had the kiddos until they caught up.

This is Devan's favorite pond- the one with the bullfrogs.  Devan didn't believe me that there wouldn't be any tadpoles yet.  So we had to check it out anyway.  It was very pretty- all iced over except for this perfect ring where the fountain was running.

Reading

Back when Devan was around this age, he loved to do this too.  He loved to look at books and "read" to you.  It's just so adorable :)

Birthday

So....  going back over a month....  On my birthday we had a gorgeous day!  It was 50 and sunny!  So, we headed outside to soak up all the Vitamin D we could get.

 On our walk of the neighborhood, we found this really cool fort!

 And we were on the hunt to find the tallest snow pile

 After a nice walk, what do you do?  Take a nap, of course!

Late afternoon, Devan had hockey.  Meanwhile, Dustin left work early, went to Giant and bought cupcake mix, and made cupcakes for me secretly!  He even got rid of all the evidence and put the cupcakes in the basement.  After meeting us for dinner, I sat down to work while he was on kid duty.  He showed them his basement progress, but really they were icing and decorating the cupcakes.  Sneeky sneeky.  The kids were tickled to death, and they got to enjoy a cupcake before bed :)

Teacher Conferences and Potty Time

Jumping ahead....  We've had a very exciting week. 

 

Friday was parent-teacher conferences at preschool.  Of course, Devan is awesome :)  She said he is definitely ready for kindergarten.  He knows more than is expected (if you ask me, they have pretty low standards.  I mean, come on, she was surprised when he could name all 26 letters of the alphabet and write his name without assistance.)  She said he gets along with everyone in the class.  And is a great listener.  He is always the first to clean up and transition activities when it's time.  She also said that he's pretty shy and doesn't like to stand up in front of the class and talk, but will do it because he knows that you want him to.  I am glad that my views were the same as hers.  That means I'm realistic :)

 

Lexi has had an exciting weekend too.  Grammy was here and we went hard core on the potty training.  It was very defeating after a long weekend of accidents and hours in the bathroom.  (Glad my job was mostly to entertain Devan to keep him out of the way).  After Grammy left on Monday, I was ready to give up, thinking maybe she's just not ready, or maybe she's being difficult on purpose (because that is her personality).  But, I think things might be clicking.  So I've stuck with it.  It's been frustrating, for sure.  I mean, I know she has to go but she just holds it and holds it and holds it!  And we sit in the bathroom forever!  Devan was upset we missed story time at the library yesterday.  And they haven't gone to the gym at night (which also means I'm missing out on my uninterrupted work time).  But it's for a good cause.  Yesterday was the best day yet.  So, we will continue on.  Fingers crossed!

 

Doing pearler beads.  Lexi got frustrated that they kept falling over, so then she knocked Devan's and messed his up.  That made him VERY mad...  So, I don't think we'll bring this out for awhile (at least with Lexi around).

 Lexi set up lunch for her animals

Devan's story

So, one of the activities for the Dr Seuss themed winter reading program at the library was that they had to take Thing 1 or Thing 2 on an adventure and write about it.  I thought for sure this would be hard for Devan as he's not the most creative kid.  But, he really surprised me!  He drew a picture and told me a story as he was drawing.  Of course, it had a lot more words than what I wrote down (you know how he can talk in circles sometimes), but I tried to remember it all.  When he was done, he was so proud!  It was adorable :)