The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday

Kids seem to go through phases of obsessions. Ellie settled in on the Disney Princesses very quickly and is somewhat stuck there. Matthew on the other hand, has been through Elmo, Thomas and now the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I have to admit that I am indulging this one just a bit :) It's a literary obsession, instead of a commercial one, and it's a great book! He can recite the entire book, and thanks to a book on CD we have, adds "by Eric Carle...that's me!" to the end of every recitation. Pretty adorable.

So around comes his birthday and I couldn't help but find all sorts of Hungry Caterpillar gifts. We started off with a cupcake-cake that I saw a picture of. I have to say I am pretty proud of this one!




And then the gifts...

Hungry Caterpillar "Ouchies". The intructions say "for covering real or imaginary boo-boos"

His costume for Halloween, or any other dress up times. He wanted to wear it to Chucky Cheese's that night but we managed to peel it off of him.

Nana made him some curtains with "one piece of cherry pie, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese..."!! And I heard that Santa's Elves are working on a hand made quilt to go with it. We can't wait!

The day ended with a visit to Chucky Cheese's with a few friends. All the kids LOVED it. All the adults needed a vacation after two hours there. Phew!




And today has been a day full of playing trains, playdough, megablocks, puzzles...all the loot from his birthday. I'd say birthday number three was a success!! My sweet boy is three!

Back to School

This year brought a first for all of us. Back to school for everyone in the family! Tony started his eighth year at the Child Study Center, which means we've been in TX for eight years now, wow! (and while we love it here, I must complain just a little bit...we are still in the middle of the hottest summer in 3o years). Matthew and I are attending school together two days a week, me as a pre-school teacher, and Matthew as a student in the 3 year old class. But, our biggest claim to fame this school year is our very own Kindergartener!!! Ellie started Kindergarten this year at a very small private school that is only one mile from our house. While she is not quite five, we really felt that she was ready to start school. She's reading, writing stories, and most of all, asking to go to school! I couldn't have found a better place for her, one mile from our house, with only eight kids in her class, and a teacher as sweet as pie. I am so happy she is there. In the few days leading up to the start of school I let her pick a few favorite things to do....


Ice cream and an indoor play place (she knows when it's too hot to play outside!). And of course we had to bring this guy with us...


Who is this kid? Where is his mother? Doesn't she know how to keep her kids clean?

The first day of school! So sweet in her uniform. Notice the patent leather mary janes, and white socks. How cute!!!



Proud Daddy!

There's that kid again! and if the picture were closer you'd see his breakfast all over his face, and the remains of yogurt on his shirt.

On our way into the building. It looks like the sun is just rising in this picture because...it is. She starts very early. Her hours are 7:30-2:30. Actually, this is really perfect for all of us. Tony takes her on his way to work, I pick her up on my way home from pre-school, and she's really at home with us for a nice chunk of the afternoon each day.



She is really loving her school. She is extremely tired when she comes home though. I do miss her, and have had several, "did we do the right thing?" moments in the past few days. I even crawled into bed with her while she slept last night. Yesterday, she cried when I picked her up because I was on time...she had wanted to sit outside with her teacher a little longer and wait for me. I guess that's a good sign, right?

The aftermath of a whole day in Kindergarten...

East Coast Tour - Part 3, Aunt Jill and Uncle Nabil and Sesame Place!!!

For the last leg of our East Coast Tour, we headed to Aunt Jill and Uncle Nabil's house in Princeton, NJ. They were great sports to have all three of us, in their beautiful and clean (and child free) house. Within seconds of arriving, both kids exploded their backpacks of toys all over the living room floor, left unflushed treats in the potties, and a path of little dusty foot prints all the way across their shiny hardwood floors. But, like a good Aunt and Uncle they just smiled through it all. Most of our short visit there was consumed by our visit to Sesame Place!! For those of you not tuned in to all things child-centered, Sesame Place is basically a Sesame Street Themed-Six Flags, for kids under 10. All rides and games, and shows are meant for young kids. There is nothing there they couldn't do!


We started them off small (and tame), on the Merry-Go-Round. It was a HUGE hit. When given a choice to pick their favorite thing to do one more time before leaving at the end of the day, they both chose the Merry-Go-Round again.


Next were the spinning tea-cups. Aunt Jill was smart enough to opt out of this one, and wave to us from the side. I came off of it, on the nauseous side. The kids, of course, loved it.


Matthew, the dare devil, loved the swings, while his sister white-knuckled it, but made it through.

The hot air balloon ride was more her style, gentle and calm. Now, I have to tell you all that the most traumatizing ride of all was.....The Lazy River....no joke. Ellie was NOT happy with that ride. Once you are on, you are on. There is no getting off halfway. She got hit with one of the waterfalls shortly after we got in the tubes, and she cried the entire rest of the ride. Poor Aunt Jill did her best to keep them against the wall and out of the way of oncoming waterfalls...wow, that was a traumatic ride. Looking back, I can understand. That water falls with quite a force, and for a child who doesn't quite understand that this is "fun", it can be kind of scary.



We saw shows with the "real" Sesame Street characters. Matthew touched the "real" Elmo and said, eyes wide,"I touched Elmo. He was...so soft". We saw a parade, sat on the "real" Sesame Street stoop, ate ice cream, climbed in Big Birds Nest, and on our way out, seconds after our last ride, Matthew passed out cold. My original thought had been that this would be a one time trip, perfect for their ages now, but in the car back to Princeton, they were already taking about "next time". What fun!

East Coast Tour - Part 2 Nana's House!

Once we said good-bye to Daddy, who headed back to TX for work, we headed south to Unionville, PA to see Nana and Grandpa. Within moments of walking through the door, Matthew had already convinced Grampa to "play trains" with him. They have a set of brio trains that are as old as...well, me. After trying to talk me into the train museum several times, Grandpa asked the two year old boy in the room if he wanted to go. You should have seen Matthew's face light up....TRAIN!??!? MUSEUM!?!?!?! And then you should should have seen Grandpa's face light up, once he realized he finally had a partner in his enthusiasm for old trains. And old keys, and old locks, and old...well, anything. At one point these two disappeared into the barn and came back with a ring of skeleton keys and some old glass frog eyes. Matthew was thrilled!


The train museum was a big hit. There were model trains. Real, BIG, trains...


A train bell, just waiting to be rung...
And then we got to go on a ride, on a real, old, working, steam engine train, through the Amish countryside.



Corn and farms...

And corn and farms...

And a little living on the wild side.

After Nana's explanation to the kids about who the Amish are, about the farms they run, about why there are no power lines, about how the kids help out with the animals, and the gardens....Ellie declares, "I wish my mommy and daddy were farmers so I could help with the cows.". Ellie, you might like it for the weekend, but I don't think the Amish would think too highly of your princess dresses, or your ipad, or your neon pick nail polish. It's always nice to visit though....
And then there's always art to do at Nana's house. A never ending supply of paints, and clay and paper, and scissors, and glue, and pastels, and colored pencils...While Matthew was off with Grandpa finding old stuff, Ellie and Nana were painting in the garden. Two matches made in heaven!

East Coast Tour - Part 1 Grandma's House!

This summer we headed back east for our little Nephew, Shane's, baptism. I thought I might take my chances and see if I could continue on with the kids, after Tony needed to get back to work, to see some more people, since we had already come so far. So, our two week vacation had three parts. Grandma and Pop Pop's in Oneonta, NY. Nana and Grandpa's in Unionville, PA, and Aunt Jill and Uncle Nabil's (and Sesame Place!) in Princeton, NJ. We are back now, and I survived traveling on my own with two toddlers...phew! They were actually, very, very good. As we got off our last plane after landing in Dallas, I had a uniformed US Army soldier come up to me and say, "Ma'am, I just wanted to say what a great job you are doin' raisin' those kids, they were great." That was some nice icing on the cake.

Since I have two weeks, and three locations, of pictures to share, I'll do it in three posts. Here is part 1 - Grandma and Pop Pop's house....

We had a full and exciting and crazy week in Oneonta. All three of Tony's sisters and families were able to make the trip, so that made five grandchildren under five, and too many grown-ups to count! We ate, we played, we ate, we swam, we went berry picking, we ate berries, we ate pizza, we had camp fires, we ate s'mores, and we ate some more. Between Grandma's famous meatballs, and all the NY pizza and bagels we could stand, I am sure we all gained a few pounds!


Best Friends!!! While technically Ava and Matthew are the same age, it was Ava and Ellie who hit it off the best. "I'm going to miss Ava", Ellie said as we pulled down the driveway. Awww...we'll see her soon when she comes to TX in September!
This was our Little House on the Prairie moment. Grandma has a huge hill in the front of the house, and the girls, Ava in pigtails, with their denim dresses (and Matthew), found such joy running down the hill, breeze blowing and hair flying. I could almost hear the theme song to Little House on the Prairie playing in the background.


Sweet girl :)


These two pictures were taken while on a hike in the woods. They were taken with my iphone, and no photography skill, yet they have something about them that makes them look like an old photo the kids will find on someone's piano thirty years from now, and they'll say, "I remember that...we were..." What sweet kids!!


Face painting at the fourth of July party down at the local park.

And LOTS of ice cream eating. (the kids always picked what kind based on the color, not the flavor)

Phew! That seems like a lot, yet, we continued on. Part 2 and 3 to come....

Father's Day

What would make the perfect father's day? Fishing...steak...boating...cigars...big breakfast...and your kids. Well, we did it! We were so lucky to get the chance to spend Father's Day weekend with some of our best friends, at their lake house. And I mean good friends all around. Sara and I have taught together for several years and see or talk to each other just abut every day. Tony and Dustin have their own picnic table business together. Ellie and Tanner were practically born on the same day, and today, started playing "married". And Garrett and Matthew get to tag along with the big kids, trailing behind them, in awe of everything they do. It was a weekend full of boating, fishing, grilling, playing, and hanging out!

Could this picture not go in the "perfect father's day" hall of fame photos?


I see this picture and can't help but think the "Three Stooges", umm, I mean, the "Three Amigo's"


The two youngest ones, hands in the live minnows, and loving every second of it. Matthew reeled in his line at one point that had been baited with a live minnow, and apparently forgot that that little fish started out on his hook, and was SO excited to have "caught" a fish. He made us save it in the bucket of ice right along with his Daddy's fish. So sweet.


Enjoying what she kept calling the "beautiful, beautiful morning". (ahem...it was 6am)

Again, the Three Stooges. Matthew needs a little conversation bubble here saying, "hey guys, let me in too!"


Dirt. Sweat. Sand. Chocolate doughnut. Fish slime. Happy boy.
Cleaner. Cute. Enjoying the atmosphere.

Happy Father's Day, Tony! And thanks, Pierces, for a great weekend!

Life Lessons

Ellie's new love/obsession is writing letters. She has been using up all of my stationary but I suppose there are worse habits for a four year old to have. Just about all of her letters say, "Mommy please come to Ellie's tea party." We've have a LOT of tea parties and a LOT of invitations. The other day I was encouraging her to branch out in her writing, telling her that she can sound out just about anything she wants to write. This morning she took a leap and wrote a letter to her meddling brother....


For those of you who aren't elementary teachers, and may need a little help translating, it says, "Matthew can you stop touching my drum". Not only am I proud of her for such great writing, and I am also proud of her for taking an approach other than yelling at him. She is learning that the pen is mightier than the sword!

And here is Matthew, busy with his newest obsession...MESS. Well, really, Playdough. This boy can play Playdough for a long time. And make a BIG mess.


Notice Piglet under the table, hoping that some of that mess is food, and that some of it will fall off the table soon.