Thursday, August 23, 2007

good habits


You can't start too young when it comes to teaching kids to help. Just this week Ruby has started sweeping the floors with me. When I make a dust pile, she pushes it around for a few minutes. Ruby has claimed this broom as hers, Alli can't use it without a fuss from Ruby.
Alli is into folding clothes now. She does it a little differently than I do, but I appreciate her help just the same. She also likes matching socks.
Next I'll be teaching Ruby to do dishes, and Alli to make dinner :)

Thanks!

Thanks Grandma! Alli and Ruby pose in their new hats. Adorable!

*Alli has a cool Strawberry Shortcake bandage on her chin from a rough landing today. Ouch.

Watch out World!

Would you want this girl in your class? She is bursting with excitement for school.

Alli attended Vacation Bible School this week at the church affiliated with her school. She met her teachers and other children in her class. She didn't have to wear her school uniform, but she really wanted to despite the 100+ degree temperatures. She picked this outfit and accessorized on her own. Too cute.

Alli enjoyed VBS very much. She learned some new songs, and she has been singing them. I have had some fun Christian songs stuck in my head this week. She enjoyed some time away from mommy, she asked that I not come with her the second day. Independence can be good.


Here she is during closing with the big pink flower on her head. Temperatures were in the 100s and the humidity was choking. She was a bit warm with the knee-high socks and layers on. She looks like she is about to melt.

Real school starts next week. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Sunday School Sub

Saturday night I was preparing to teach Sunday School and Ruby came to help. She was so interested in what I was doing, and especially interested in my pen.
I was very nervous about teaching Sunday School; I have never taught before. The lesson was on Acts 10-15, which is full of amazing stories of the early Christian church (I highly recommend reading it). Once I got going into the lesson at church, teaching wasn't so bad. I am glad I was just subbing though.
Ruby is such a sweetheart. She loves to be right by my side.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Alli goes to school


Okay, so school hasn't officially started, but today Alli went to Vacation Bible School at her school. She was very excited to go, but turned shy when we arrived. She loves her teacher, and she has a good friend in the class already. She played with the other kids, learned new songs, played games, had a snack, and did a painting project. They only had 15 minutes or so to paint a little wooden car, not nearly enough time for Alli. Most of the kids' cars were thickly immersed in many colors of paint within two minutes. Not Alli. She meticulously painted thin layers of paint and mixed her colors as she painted the car. She didn't have time to finish her car. She got about half of it painted. She was extremely neat and clean and careful. Her plate of paint looked untouched, the blobs of paint weren't messed up at all. The teacher's assistant had to take Alli's project to get her to stop.
Part of me was very pleased. We paint together regularly, and she takes very good care of her art supplies (and mine). But then I worried that she will take too long to get her school projects done, or she will not want to do anything but art, or she will ignore everyone when she is working... (sigh)...relax Karyn, she is just in preschool. It's okay.
I can't believe she is a preschooler!

She speaks!

This morning as we were saying our goodbyes to Andy, Ruby said, "Have a nice day." Clear as a bell.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Crayola Milestone


Ruby drew on the wall with a crayon tonight.


I'm glad she loves to draw.


I'm glad it washed off.


Monday, August 13, 2007

The Mars Family comes to town

We had visitors this weekend! Erik and Lois and their family came to visit us for a few days. We kept them busy. We played at the neighborhood parks. We played catch, frisbee, soccer and paddleball. Ruby watched the action and chased after stray balls.

The kids ate outside on the patio for almost every meal. They really enjoyed sitting together at the little table with little chairs. So cute.

We spent a few hours at the beach. Kim helped a boy dig a deep hole. Josh, Aaron, Jared and Erik made several impressive sand structures. Alli and Kim waded out into the lake to practice swimming and splash around and collect little shells. Ruby loved playing in the waves, especially when Andy helped her jump over the incoming waves. The sun was warm, the water was refreshing, and the sand got everywhere!


*Check out the curls in Ruby's hair! In the last few weeks, her hair has turned curly in the back.
We also went to the Lincoln Park zoo. We only made it through part of the zoo before most of us got really tired.
It was wonderful having Erik and Lois, Josh, Kim, Aaron, and Jared here. Alli and Ruby had so much fun bonding with their cousins.



Adventures of Ruby

I love this picture of Ruby! She is growing so quickly. Lately she has been saying new words almost on a daily basis. Her newest vocabulary: bottle ("bobble"), cheese, yea, no-no, down, grandma, more, uh-oh. She loves to sing. She tries to whistle (she puckers up and hums). Ruby loves to play peek-a-boo and chasing games, read books by herself, dress up, and climb as high as possible. She is a very active little girl. We love her so much!

You Are My Sunshine!

Yes, Alli wore this outfit to the park. It is easy to keep an eye on her when she wears this outfit.
She calls it a "ballerina dress." I think of it as a fireball dress. Either way, she looked radiant.

*Thank you Grandma for interesting costumes that bring out Alli's imagination and shining personality.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Hand-Me-Downs

Ruby grew into some old shoes of Alli's, they were pink leather, and they were a little scuffed up. So I covered them with red sequin trim to freshen them up for Ruby. Everywhere we go people go nuts over Ruby's shoes. Not bad for leftovers.

Hula Birthday


Alli's friend Elijah had a birthday party last week. She was so excited for the big event. She picked out her outfit the night before: a hula skirt, tank top and matching bead necklace, and sparkly sequin shoes.
The party was great. The kids played in the playroom, made pizzas, helped Elijah open presents, and ate lots of cake.
Elijah was the only boy, he didn't seem to mind at all. Alli was the only hula dancer. She didn't mind either.

Vampire Books

Many of my friends have been freaking out about Stephanie Meyer's books Twilight and New Moon. So I borrowed them from Chelsey to see what all the hype was about.

The books are about a vampire and a teenage girl and their families and community. (Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars combined.) I am generally not into vampire stories, but everyone was obsessing over these books, and Stephanie Meyer is a fellow BYU grad, so I gave in.

I started into the book, skeptical. It was a fun story, but I wasn't overly impressed. I thought the characters weren't being developed well. Then I realized I had started with the second book, not the first. Oops.

I finished the second book. So should I go back and read the first book? Is it worth it?

The third book comes out later this month. (Check out Stephanie's blog for a countdown.)

Surviving the Dog Days

Ruby fell down a few steps this week and scraped her nose. As soon as she recovers from one injury, she gets another. She is so adventurous and active. She doesn't seem to mind the bumps and bruises, they don't slow her down at all.

This week the heat and humidity topped out. The sweltering weather was unbearable without a few trips to the beach and several hours of playing with the hose on the patio. We invested in some ice cream bars to help us keep our cool.
I really love Chicago summers. The heat is so much better than the inevitable bone-chilling cold of winter. There is so much going on here in the summer.
Other fun things we did this week:
We went to the baby shower of our friend Joy who is having triplet girls! Alli and Ruby had to come with me. They especially enjoyed the plentiful cupcakes and cookies. Good luck Joy!
Andy started a new diet. We all went shopping for diet-friendly food. Alli loves pushing the kid shopping carts at the grocery store, but she constantly runs into my ankles with her cart. I left the store with bruises around my ankles.
We had lunch with our friend Alison and her three little girls. Between the two of us there were five little wiggly girls... all under four. We were outnumbered! It was a short, eat-quickly-or-else lunch, but it was fun to get out with them.