Ian and School

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted anything about Ian's schooling. I think I've mentioned we're studying American History and that's been fun. We've both been learning lots and especially as some of our American holidays come and go (Thanksgiving) it's nice to know the WHOLE story behind the tradition! Ian continues to amaze me with his creativity that goes beyond his actual assignments. Let me give you an example. A couple of weeks ago he had to write a paper as a speech writer for George Washington based on a book he read "Phoebe the Spy" that is about a young black girl who saves George Washington's life by being his housekeeper and keeping her eyes and ears open. Well, he wrote his speech and didn't stop there. He came into the area where we were and opened up his box of scrap paper and started tearing and stapling away. I had NO idea what he was doing. Then, he digs out the hat we bought him while we were at Williamsburg, grabs one of Ellie's bows and Voila!

He is now George Washington ready to give his speech! Notice the paper is curled and the bow is in the back. AND he did this without us ever actually talking about the wigs the men used to wear - he just has seen all the pictures and created it from paper. Wow. I was VERY impressed!

Ian's favorite subject, though, is science because he LOVES all the experiments and hands-on stuff. So far we've been learning about electricity. We've been doing experiments with batteries, foil "ribbons" and light bulbs. He's really good at trying all sorts of different ways to make the bulb light up. We've also learned about magnetism and energy.

This is a picture we took when Ian first figured out how to make the bulb light up without any help! And, yes, the picture was from September shortly after his "hair cut!"

Ian memorized all of Psalm 103 and it was fun to hear him come back from church or Wednesday nights and say, "Mom, we were talking about ____ and they started giving us a verse and I thought, hey, I know that one! It was from Psalm 103." Then some of the other ones he's learned have also been timely - isn't God amazing?!

He also continues to be quite the playmate for Ellie. The other day while I was busy doing something, they were busy in his room and kept telling me not to come in. Then, they came out ready to "jog" with Ellie's jogging stroller! One day this past week they were dressed as a king and a princess. He wouldn't be able to do all of that if he were in school all day and Ellie wouldn't be able to spend all of that time with him, either!

Halloween 2009

We have had a fun halloween just being able to hang out with friends while enjoying some festivities. Last year I wanted Ellie to be a ladybug but couldn't find one here that I wanted in time, so this year I was a little more proactive about it and found her not one but TWO ladybug outfits. She was able to wear both of them. One was a little more suited for warmer climates so she was able to wear it to the trick-or-treating that the medical clinic puts on here. Ian had a tough time deciding what to be this year. Everything he kept deciding on they didn't have in his size (even on-line) and there were a couple of things I just didn't want him to be. Finally one day after trying two stores for costumes he finally says, "What if I just dress up as a hockey player?" I said, "That would be great!" So, that's what he was this year. Here's a picture of him and Ellie at the clinic yesterday. Ian's not smiling because he said you couldn't see through his helmet!

Here's a picture of the back of Ellie's costume - just because I think it's cute!

Here's a picture of Ellie in her costume to actually go trick-or-treating tonight. This outfit is a little more suited to the cooler weather! This is her with our neighbor - ready to go!

Just in case you can't really see her costume in the above picture, here's one of her by herself!

For Ellie this was the first year she really was aware of what to do and she really enjoyed carrying around her bag of candy!
Well, it wouldn't be halloween without a costume for the dog, right?! So, here's Bella in her pumpkin costume. She did really well having it on she just kept pulling my arm off wanting to go! What a little ball of energy!! But, a cute one, though!

Fun Fall Photos

I was heading home from town one day last week and was really appreciating and enjoying the bright flaming colors on some of the bushes right as I headed into the neighborhood. I remembered that Ellie had on a colorful halloween outfit so I decided to stop right then and there and get some photos before it was too late! Here are a few that I took:

What I love about these pictures (other than the fabulous colors) is that Ellie's not giving me one of the cheesy smiles she loves to give but it's a pretty genuine smile! In case you can't read what Ellie's shirt says it says, "Who needs a costume when you're already a princess?" A friend gave it to me and it's been fun during this time of the year!

Eliana and her paci

Well, the day finally arrived for us to say goodbye to Ellie's pacis. We had planned to take them away after her 2nd birthday like we did with Ian but because she was still teething and really seemed to "need" them more than Ian, we kept putting it off. I did keep telling her that they were going to have to go soon because she is getting to be a "big" girl and we discussed giving them to a baby. Well, a boy in her Sunday school class, Jacob, must have a new baby sister because Ellie has talked about giving her pacis to her. Yesterday as we were getting ready for church she said, I give my pacis away? I asked her, "Are you ready to give them all away?" She nodded her head so we got them ready and put them in a plastic bag to take with us the downside was (we have four of them) we were missing one - couldn't find it anywhere! On the way to church, though, we realized we'd forgotten the bag BUT Ellie didn't seem to remember. When we got home from church she was in the play room and got all excited and came to show me she'd found the missing paci! I said, well, we should put it away, too! So, Brian put it in the bag with the others and hid the bag somewhere. After we got home from the pumpkin patch and tried to put her down for a nap she asked for her paci. I said, "Remember we gave them away?" To which she replied, "I want the yellow one (the one she'd found)!" I said, "No, I put that one away, too." Needless to say she cried for quite a while before she finally went to sleep and then we had to wake her up around 5 because we had some company over for dinner last night. Boy was she grumpy when we first got her up! Last night I put her to bed without her paci and wondered how the night would go. She did cry for a while before she went to sleep but I didn't hear her in the middle of the night and she wasn't up early asking for it, either! YAY! Today there has been no mention on the paci but at naptime she cried for TWO hours before she finally gave in and went to sleep! I will say, though, that she never asked me for the paci! I'm hoping that she'll be like Ian and after a couple of days of this, she'll get over it and not have to cry herself to sleep every time. So, we're definitely making progress and she's becoming a "big, little" girl!

Pumpkin Patch

The kids and I were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch with MOPS on Thursday last week but we woke up to the ground being covered in snow so I said, "Think I'll pass!" I told Ian we would try to go over the weekend. Well, yesterday ended up being an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day and we were able to go to the pumpkin patch after church yesterday. Here is a slide show with the pictures we took. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Minneapolis over Columbus day weekend

I'm a week late but I did want to post some pictures from our trip to Minneapolis over the Columbus day weekend. We realized on the way there that the last time we were in Minneapolis as a family was Thanksgiving! WOW!! Still can't believe that! We were so happy to be able to get away and enjoy some down time together! We left here Friday night and got home Monday night. Saturday we went to Ikea first then spent the rest of the day at the Mall of America. One sad thing we discovered while at Ikea is that Ian is now too tall to be able to go to the kids play area while we shop! Hard to believe he's getting that big/old already!

At Ian's request we had lunch at Bubba Gumps at the mall (see picture on top). The rest of the day we enjoyed going into various stores. Later in the day, we divided up a little and Ellie and I went to the American Girl store to look around and have some fun. While there, Brian took Ian to go ride the rides at the park. Ellie had fun playing with the babies and I ended up buying her her very own Bitty Baby to bring home! She has named her baby Amy (after going through a list of names with her she decided she liked that name) and she's pretty cute playing with her but still gives equal attention to Essie (the 1st doll we bought her when she was around 3 1/2 months old) and her "cat" which was mine that my dad gave me back when I was in college! We also got to have Ellie's picture with Dora! She loves Dora and wasn't afraid to hug her and have her picture with her!

Sunday we went to a nice place for breakfast in downtown St Paul then headed to the Children's museum! The kids had a great time there for a few hours then we stopped in at Mickey's Diner to have a milkshake (Mickey's Diner was shown in the Mighty Ducks and has been featured in various Food Network shows). After that, I did a little more shopping then the boys dropped Ellie and I off at our hotel then headed to the Twins/Yankees game - game 3 in the playoffs and the Yankees were 2-0! They were in the "nosebleeds" but had a great time and enjoyed seeing the Yankees win - plus the crazy fan that jumped on the field in the 9th inning added some extra stories for them!

Monday we started loading up the car and walked out to - SNOW!!! YES, snow!! It continued to snow for most of the morning. I just can't believe it wasn't even the middle of October and it was snowing! Pretty sad to see leaves on the ground (before it snowed) that were still GREEN - they hadn't even had a chance to change colors yet!! Anyway, after we loaded up, we went to the Minnetonka General Store - what a neat store! I loved it but Brian was a little disappointed (I think he was looking for a little more nostalgic sort of stuff). It had a lot of unique stuff that I could have spent even more time than I did going through! From there we went to the outlet mall and then headed home. While we were gone, Bella was at a doggy-hotel. I was a little nervous about leaving her at first but she did well and has done a great job adjusting to being back home.

Wondering

Well, I am starting to wonder if, perhaps, I've missed a window of opportunity with Ellie and potty training. Last week she peed and pooped in the potty (not all day but once or twice each day) and now she'll sit on the potty but then she'll say I don't have to go. Perhaps I didn't push it enough or maybe I pushed too much?! We bought big girl panties hoping it would motivate her even more but it really didn't seem to do anything. We've talked about being able to paint her toenails once she goes potty all the time but, again, doesn't seem to matter. I did start giving her a gummy bear when she goes on the potty but even that doesn't seem to make her want to do it more - although she definitely wants it when she goes! Both the boys were almost 3 1/2 when they were potty trained so I didn't even have it in my mind - she's the one that started. I suppose we'll see. I did buy her some pull-ups today and we may try those tomorrow just to see.

The other day in the car (Saturday) it was just Ellie and I and she was being quiet. Then, all of a sudden she asks me "Are you little?" I have no idea what might have prompted her to asking me this or in what way she was thinking so I just said "Well, I'm short but I'm a big girl." I can't help but wonder what goes on in her two year old mind! She just amazes me with her vocabulary and her level of understanding.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions on how to make a child STOP talking when he shouldn't be? That has been mine and Brian's biggest frustration with Ian for the last few months. He argues and talks when he really shouldn't and we'll tell him to stop talking and he'll just keep going or have ONE more thing to say. Hmph. I'm at my wits end. I feel like we're constantly telling him to STOP talking but I'm afraid that could backfire. We give him Bible verses and he prays about it but he continues. I pray I'm doing all that I should be to help him learn how to be obedient and not always talk when he shouldn't be.