Blogging break

I just wanted to give a heads up to those that check this page often that I won't be updating for a little while. I'm going to take a little blogging break. I'm so sorry to those that live in other towns; we will have to update by phone/e-mail! Thanks.

School days

Not the best shot to be sure, but it is hard to get a picture of a three-year-old during the morning hustle and bustle.

Yesterday we discovered that one of Lily's favorite friends from her old school now attends her new school. Unfortunately, they are not in the same class, but they combine rooms in the afternoon, so they typically get to see each other for part of the day. Because Lily was a little young for her class in her former school, her friend is a full year older than her. In this school, they group children in classes based on 6-month age increments (3 to 3.5, 3.5 to 4, etc...). Lily was placed in the 3.5 to 4's class so she is just below her friend's class.

Lily did great yesterday but was a little fussy today (I think that she wanted to be in her friend's room). We are both still evaluating the school to see if we are both happy there, but it is going well so far.

Lily, The Baker

This weekend, Lily and I made cookies together. Its amazing how far her skills have come; she was definitely a serious little baker.

Rolling out the dough with her kid-sized rolling pin.

I love Lily's expression in this picture. She clearly is not pleased with the way the dough is rolling out and brainstorming about how to fix it.

Lily diligently pats down the dough.

Lily is much happier with her results now.


After rolling out the dough, Lily used the cookie cutters to cut the shapes. Then she pulled the dough away from the shape, used a spatula to take it from the counter and placed it on the cookie sheet. She did everything from beginning to end on her own and really enjoyed the process. I'm so proud of our little chef!

Dance class video

Dance class pics

As promised, here are the dance class pictures from Saturday.

Frolicking fun

Little dancers in "train"-ing (Cheesy, I know, but someone has to do it.)

One of these things is not like the other..... Besides being the only purplicious one amidst a sea of pink, Lily also likes to stand out by doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

Oh so happy to be in dance class

More smiles

Listening games are so much more fun with bean bags!

Ta da! Always our little performer

Who likes a participating dad among all the moms? We do! We do!

Hi ho, hi ho...

This week we have been very busy. I am going back to work and Lily starts school Monday, so I guess this week was our last hurrah. On Monday, we did our weekly trip to the library, Tuesday was a 2-hour Gymboree class called "school skills" and a visit with Grammy & Papa, Wednesday was a Music Together class, Thursday was our errand day, and then today we went to the St. Louis Gym with WUMCHA. The gym was really something to see. It was a "real" gym that trains kids who are serious about gymnastics. They did a great job with plenty of age-appropriate activities. We started out in the big gym with some warm-up exercises, playing in an enormous foam pit, jumping on a huge trampoline, walking on low balance beams, and playing with balls & hula hoops. We then headed to the little tots gym area for some free-for-all fun.

Tomorrow we have dance class again which Lily is really enjoying. (Thanks Grandpa Deetz for the great birthday gift!) She tells everyone that she is in dance class and clearly looks forward to it all week. This week, the parents are invited into the class for a little demonstration so we should get some cute pics of her in class. Tomorrow I'm also getting together with some friends for our own version of "Let's Dish" or "Supper Thyme". Each person is bringing 3 frozen meals and then we are exchanging (great idea, Sara!). I used to go to "Let's Dish" with my friend, Jen, in Baltimore, and it was really nice to have ready-made meals during the week. This is perfect timing with me going back to work as well.

I have decided to take a job teaching at a nearby preschool. I was really impressed with the school when I visited there a while back and decided this is where I would like Lily to go. As you know by now, I don't take Early Childhood Education lightly and am pretty picky about the schools Lily attends. Frankly, many, many schools just don't make the cut in my book. So what do I like about this school? Basically, it is all the enrichment programs built into the children's day. They have a full gymnasium with a gym program run by a gym teacher. They also have a cooking room with a cooking teacher, a computer lab with a computer teacher, a music program run by a music teacher, and I think a foreign language program as well. What it boils down to is that the children change rooms frequently which I think is nice, and they value these enrichment programs enough to have a specialized teachers on staff. As with anything, there are some compromises. The nutrition program is not anywhere close to where her former school was, and this school is theme-based vs. the Reggio approach of her last school. All-in-all, I think that it will be a good school, and I always feel better being there and knowing what goes on "behind the scenes". The very best part is that I will be working 4 days per week and will still have Fridays off. I have really wanted to work part-time for a while now, so I am extremely happy with the four-day work week. Lily will also have Fridays off so that we can still have our mommy & me time. You never know how things are going to go, but I'm optimistic about this and hope it is the right decision for Lily, me, and our family.

Softball sweetie

Getting into serious game mode

A hit!



She rounds third and is coming into home.

This weekend we enjoyed some nice weather again which has come and gone. Luckily, we have some indoor activities planned for this chilly day. Lily and I were reading a book about Groundhog's Day last night, and I kept thinking to myself: 6 more weeks of winter? I feel like it hasn't really begun yet. Not that I'm complaining. I would be very happy with one good snow for some snow-playing fun and then move right along to Spring.

Dance class

Ready to go!

Practicing after class...

Zoo pics

Today we took advantage of an unusually warm day and headed out to the zoo.

Our first stop was the Zoomagination Station with Jack & Molly.

Then we headed outdoors to the Insectarium.

When walking through the Rivers Edge to get to the elephants & hippos, we went through lots of bamboo. Lily commented, "I see lots of bamboo, but no panda bears eating it."

Raja, a daddy elephant

A cute sun bear

Lily in the reptile house with the cayman

Walking with the hippos at the Hippo Harbor

Up close and personal with a very cute black lemur

Chatting with another lemur

The bird house was quite impressive. We usually don't stop in there on our visits to the zoo, but after having seen it, I am going to make it a point to see it on future visits. The layout is so beautiful, and the birds are stunning - even the vultures were amazing, and that's saying something!

Lily, The Storyteller

Lily, The Flower Girl

Today we went to a bridal shop with Angela while she tried on gowns for her fall wedding. Lily had a ball trying on flower girl dresses with Grammy. She is definitely no stranger to the camera and hammed it up the whole time.

Umai!

On Saturday night, Carl, Lily and I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. Although this outing was dubbed a learning experience to expand upon our theme, really it was just an excuse to go out and get some great sushi. Lily enjoyed the experience and the food but insisted on searching the restaurant for the Fuku Wari game that she was convinced was at all Japanese establishments.

A brief tutorial on the use of chopsticks

Of course she immediately claims, "I can do it my own self".

Not too bad but...

...Lily's got an improved method.

See mom! The two-handed method is sooo much better!

Enjoying a boatload of sushi

Three and thirty-three

As Lily continues to figure out the world, Carl and I enjoy all the things Lily says that are close but just a little off, like the "roller coaster shoes" instead of "roller skates". I thought that I would share a couple of my favorites.

• When Lily asks for "rubber tails", she actually wants a ponytail holder, or rubberband.
• Lily told Carl that he needs to scrape his face, a not-so-subtle reminder that he needs to shave.
• Lily has been singing "Pat-a-Cake" to her babies a lot lately. Instead of "put it in the oven", she sings "shove it in the oven". It just gives the rhyme a little extra umph.
• Speaking of being "a little off".....When we leave the house, Lily likes to push the button on the garage remote to make the garage door close. There are three buttons on the remote: 1 big and 2 small. When Lily asked what the small buttons do, Carl responded, "I don't know". Lily replied, "Maybe they burn the house down". As I was trying to process this statement, Carl responds, "That's my girl. If you don't know what something does, always assume the worst and act accordingly...just like daddy." Oh my.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we hosted a New Year's Eve party for little ones. We counted down to noon instead of midnight. This was really a last-minute idea, so I was very excited when every person we invited said "yes"! I guess lots of parents of young children want to celebrate, but like me, don't find it possible for various reasons to go out at night. It is also nice to be able to celebrate the occasion with your children which is hard to do at the typical evening parties. In sticking with our international theme lately, we decided to have a New Years party that celebrated traditions around the world. So, we had crafts, games, and food representing different cultural traditions.

The dining room craft table with Nigerian masks to ward off evil spirits in the new year and shakers (made from plastic Easter eggs and rice) representing the musical instruments made for Homowo celebrated by the Ga people of southern Ghana.

Party-goers crafting away

Nathan and Monica working diligently on their masks

The kitchen craft table with painted pasta and twine for making gold bracelets worn by people in Chile while celebrating Ano Nuevo.

Ali helps her daughters, Julia and Jenna, make bracelets.

Fuku Wari, a game played by children in Japan to celebrate Oshogatsu. It is very similar to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" in which children are blindfolded and try to pin parts of the face onto a blank face. Thank you to Molly for putting together this game. This picture was taken after Lily pinned on all the parts while blindfolded. She really enjoyed it and didn't do a bad job either.

Molly's son, Jack, cooking up a storm for the guests

Among the menu items were apple slices dipped in honey in honor of Rosh Hashanah for a sweet upcoming year. Tori will be glad to know that we also included Greek fare, namely Vasilopita.

Mary's son, Patrick, making sweet music

Jenny and her son, Julien, with Joe, Michiyo and their son, Hiroki. I love how Julien and Hiroki seem engrossed in conversation in this picture. Too cute.

Women of the Word (high school friends). Ali, Jenny, me, Critter, Molly, and Bev (Missing from the picture: Mary, who had to leave early to get back home to her one-month-old, Luca.)

Joe, an entertainer by trade, was the hit of the party

Group shot: Ali with Julia and Jenna, Jenny (with Julien crawling away), Bev with Monica and Ethan, Nancy (with Margo not pictured), Mary with Patrick, Critter with Makayla (and Nathan not pictured), Joe and Michiyo with Hiro (Molly with Jack and me and Lily not pictured)

The countdown: