Summer play time

We're in a little routine now that summer is well under way. We spend our AM at home to get H a really good nap. J and I do fun activities while she sleeps, then once her AM nap is done- game on-- we're out and about, swimming, running errands or playing loudly in the house!

H eating one of her "cookies"- she's getting better picking up the foods and putting them in her mouth.

Being silly ~ J doesn't believe this was his bed at one time. He tells me: this is H's bed!

H getting better at stretching / moving ~ she can scoot backwards, but not forward.

J sorting fruit loops to make his cereal rainbow.

I put the glue and he did the rest including the order of the colors.

J finished product ~ he gave his picture to Teresa ~ the lady who cuts his hair!

We made a semi-tent to hide from the monsters!

Bro & Sis

Jonah 3 years old & Harper 8 months old

Harper ~ 7 and 8 months

Dad's Day!

Rick got breakfast in bed (migas - his favorite) and opened up his gift. J helped make the breakfast and enjoyed taking it to Daddy. H enjoyed sitting on the bed and "talked" to us the whole time. We headed over to Justine's house for a late lunch - early dinner -- good times!

If you give a kid a camera......

here's a pic of how excited he was to be taking pics!

here's a pic of what H did most of the ride to and from OK

here's a pic of what we don't want to see on a 'fun' roadtrip- so out comes the camera for him to enjoy ~

So on our 4.5 hour trip- we had to make sure J had things to do or else it would be miserable for everyone. So he took a 30-45 minute nap (that was his max- wish longer, but not so), he watched Toy Story (for the one hundred millionth time which was 1.5 hours), he read his books, eating, sang to his songs on CD and colored, etc. (for almost an hour), he was fine looking out his window and commenting on everything he saw ( 30-45 minutes), and then I gave him our "fun" (not the expensive camera) to entertain him the rest of the time. He had a full battery and he snapped away- I must say he did pretty good-- and he absolutely LOVED it! He thought he was hot stuff pointing the camera. He was so distracted by his taking pics he didn't complain about his car seat and we were able to keep driving home- win / win for everyone!

Roadtrip #2 this Summer

We headed to Tulsa, OK for a quick family get-away. It was 4.5 hour drive and that is about our (Jonah) limit in the car. We visited the aquarium, the zoo, a park and ate out a lot- loved it. We stayed at a hotel and J really liked the elevator and jumping on the bed (that is the only bed he can jump on). H did well being on the go - she is so passive - just going along with the flow! We celebrated my b-day too- Rick did a great job in catering to me and making sure I got to relax and enjoy the day.

trip to the OK Aquarium:

trip to the Zoo & park:

hangin' at the hotel:

Hangin' with the family

Summer roadtrip #1

Off to Tyler, TX- to visit the zoo! We had fun. J is really into animals, so this was perfect! It was amazing- we saw an anteater, 2 white tigers and 2 black bears. And it had so much shade---OMG- we didn't even break much of sweat even though it was 95 degrees!

Sensory play

J doesn't like to get his hands "dirty"- he immediately wants to wipe his hands off. So I have been working hard to get him used to having his hands dirty. We practice cracking eggs without wiping them off right away, painting with paintbrushes, shaving cream (this didn't go well at all), etc. So this night I pulled out some fingerpaint in the bathtub--- and he LOVED it! This is huge-- because he wouldn't normally do this. I am so proud of him- next up cool whip, pudding and then fingerpaint with paper.

Grammy & the kids

Grammy came over to play - J got a new Doctor kit so he was checking on H.

Filling our Days

Now that summer is here and Rick is currently working in the AM, I am trying to fill our days with fun. J is harder to entertain than H. H just goes with the flow- J has more of an agenda. H looks just like me, but has the personality of Rick- laid back and passive. J looks like Rick, but has my personality- busy and nonstop!

Pretend Play

J is really into pretend play- which is really cool to see it evolve. So in this pic- J is driving me and H to "Ole' McDonald's" for a "nila" milkshake!

Story time really means playtime

I've always wanted to participate in a story time at the Rowlett Library, but since I've always worked summer school this has never happened- until now. H & J both have their own times / days. We did H's so far and she loved it! Actually J loved her story time too. The story time consisted of books, puppets, bubbles, music and movement and ending with the parachute. It was fun and we're excited about going back. H's story time is on Monday and J's is on Friday- so needless to say going to hers is much easier as our Fridays are currently spent traveling somewhere. And J really liked "checking out" books- he got 3 books: Dinosaurs, Curious George, and Trucks!

"Let's do cars" ~ Harper wants to do cars

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for the race tracks~ we play them all the time! J will always want to play and then creatively tell us Harper wants to do cars too (since he knows H goes wherever we play).

Mrs. Julie's (Jonah's school)

Jonah & Mrs. Julie then (summer 2009) and now (summer 2011)

Wow- 2 years went so fast! Jonah went to Mrs. Julie's right at 1 years old. What a wonderful and loving place she provided so we could go off to school without a worry. Mrs. Julie helped J in so many ways-- she taught him lots of songs, giving praise to God, sharing, some Spanish, hugging him all the time, pushing him to do things out of his comfort zone (like shaving cream), holding him when he didn't feel good, praising him when he did oh so good and lots more. We are very proud parents to share that the 2 years J was there---- he NEVER had a color change! WOW!!! He stayed on 'green' the entire time. That means his behavior was good all the time (or not so bad that he needed to have his color move to 'yellow' or 'red'). Rick says-- "well if we had color changes at home, he'd never be on 'green' color." So at least he's good for others and out in public!!!

So we celebrated J last day at 'Old McDonald's' and said good bye to all our friends (at least we'll still see some of them) and looking forward to a fun summer at home with Mommy, Daddy and Harper. Both J & H will start a new school come August 1st, but until then it's at home. We haven't told J about his new school and won't do so until late July. He will just ask 20 questions everyday about it and well the 'good parents' we are just want to enjoy playing all day with thing 1 and thing 2! So come late July, we will spot visit our new school for J & H and really sell it to him that he has to help H at her new school and hopefully it will be a smooth transition.

Junk is Up

Funny how no matter your age, you still sleep with your butt in the air!

"now we go swimming"

This is what we hear everyday from the time Jonah wakes up until he goes to sleep. He loves swimming and so does Harper. She likes to splash the water with hands and get her face all wet.