March 2014

Wow it is almost April 2014 and I don't think I have used my camera since Christmas!  Here are some more phone pictures of what we have been up to.  It includes a lot of snow days.  I think we are up to 11 missed days not including several 2 hour delays.

 Liam received a space model and a big book about outer space for Christmas.  Since then he has been very interested in the planets and space.

 At the beginning of the year we started a reward system with Liam.  The first reward was a trip to the air and space museum.  He was so excited to see everything related to space and even saw the sun through a large telescope.

 Another reward were number bots.  Liam saw them at Lakeshore Learning during their weekly craft.  We discussed how we weren't going to buy a new toy but he could earn it from his reward chart.  He worked hard all week and then we went back the next weekend to buy them.  He was so excited and played with them for hours.  He hasn't spent that much time with a toy in a long time.  Not sure if he played with them for so long because he thought about it all week or if they were that interesting.  Either way, I was so proud how hard he worked to earn them.

 This winter Liam took a weekly sports class.  Each week they played a different sport and skill building drills.  At first he was really excited about the class but as weeks went on he wasn't as interested.  Here he is learning to control the tennis ball with a raquet.

I also signed Emily up for ballet.  She was too nervous to go in and we have since cancelled.  In March we started My Gym.  She loves to participate, listens well, and has fun.  A couple of her friends are also in the class too.

 On a non school day we went back to the big gym to give our scooters a try.  Our local rec center opens the gym in the morning to preschoolers for play. 

 Our new play tent and tunnel.

 When we first received our new box of little legos for Christmas Liam did a lot of whining and asking for help.  Here is the first truck he built by himself.  Since then he has become so good at putting things together and taking them apart.  I think these are great learning toys and have given me many hours of quiet time.

 Liam blowing up a balloon.

 Another reward.  After Liam started building legos on his own he asked for a new set.  This one came with over 200 pieces but he learned to put it together.  I am impressed that he will sit down for over an hour, follow 40 step directions, and finish his creations.

 More snow

 Another snow day.

 My little explorers.  One of our snow days was warm so we went out to play.  The neighbors down the street built a fort and let the kids play in it. 

 More snow.  This has been a very snowy winter.  I would guess we had snow almost every week since the beginning of the year.  Including today.

 Working on our fine motor skills.  Emily's fine motor skills are amazing.  She can sit down and put together puzzles independently.  She is also really good at helping Liam find his lego pieces.

 Another completed lego reward.

 A tea party.  With Liam at school each morning Emily and I usually go to play dates, the gym, or to run errands.  This was a tea party she and Liam set up before he went to school.

Since we have started lego rewards he hasn't asked for anything else.  It is convenient that in each instruction manual they put pictures of more models you can buy.  So he keeps picking out more sets.  Right now he is interested in the creator sets.  They are one package of legos that can be built 3 ways.  I've started a lego organization system to keep the pieces of each set together so he can quickly build what he wants to play with.

 A couple weeks ago we gave Emily this big bike to try.  She is doing awesome already.  She can speed away, has no fear of hills, and likes to chase her brother.

 

Friday we went outside to enjoy the 60 degree weather and the kids played with bubbles.  I laughed so hard at my nearly 5 year old chasing bubbles and screaming with delight.  It reminds me how little they still are and how they can find joy in something so simple.