Samma & Papa Visit!

Jack and Malynn got a chance to share some special Samma & Papa time when they came to visit this past weekend. The kids were eager all week for their arrival. Jack had made plans for reading stories together, and Malynn was planning on making tea for everyone.

Samma & Papa must have been just as eager, because they were making plans, too! Samma brought some special new stories and an art project, and Papa brought ingredients to make his famous sugar cookies.  :)

I think it must have been within 5 minutes of their arrival, that Malynn and Jack had Samma and Papa reading to them on the couch.

There was so much to learn in the new fireman book!

Lunch, naps, more story time, and dinner filled up the rest of the day.

The next day was jam packed! We started with a trip into town for breakfast bagels, and when we got home it was project time.

First we did the hand printing project. Samma got big frames with wide matting to hold special art from Malynn and Jack back at her house. She had the idea of doing colorful hand prints on the matting. It turned out really fantastic looking!

 

Jack moved on to playing cars, but Malynn was feeling inspired. She painted this wonderful picture with a sun, flowers, and a red M&M (bottom left).

 

I think she kept busy at the easel until the paint ran out! She's doing a great job remembering all the little pointers we give her from one painting session to the next.

After painting it was cookie time!

The kids picked vehicle cookie cutters, so we had train engines, 18-wheelers (which we call Peterbuilts for now), regular cars, and fire engines too.

We finished out the morning with cars, Legos, and puzzles.

Jack was getting a little sad, and we suspect it was because he knew Samma & Papa had to leave soon. So, we all put in some special car-play time with the big guy. When the kids were just learning how to make car noises, Malynn would say "werrrrrm," and it stuck. Now "werm" has expanded from just being an onomatopoeia to being a new vocabulary word in our house. When it's time to play cars, the invite is usually expressed as, "You come werm cars with me?" And, when we're driving in the real car, I'll hear things like, "Those cars are werming fast." or "Where are those cars werming to?" One of Jack's favorite things is making a long line of all his little vehicles. I'm glad I finally got a picture of it.

Then we spent a good bit of time around the Lego table. Here Malynn is showing her boo-boo. This is a terrible, freak story. Mike pulled a glass baking dish out of the oven and set it on the stove. As soon as it touched the stove the sides splintered and shattered! (Must have been a hot/cold issue.) Malynn was standing farthest away. I swooped in to pick up Jack who was closer and didn't have shoes on. Once he was away from the broken glass pieces on the floor, Malynn started crying, saying, "Ice in dere! Ice in dere!" She was holding her arm and we knew right away a shard must have shot all the way over to where she was and gotten in her shirt sleeve. She probably didn't even realize it until she moved her arm and it touched her skin. Poor thing had two little spots with 2nd degree burns. She was SO tough. Burns hurt! But she only cried that little bit when she first got hurt, and she let us take perfect care of it with aloe, band-aids, washing, and kisses. I'm so proud of you my brave, strong, little lady!

We finished up the morning with our new favorite floor puzzle: the ABCDs train. The kids do an amazing job singing the ABC song over and over to check and see what letter they need next as they string it together, and I'm so impressed with how well they are recognizing all the letters now

It was a fun, special weekend for everyone!

 

Halloween 2012

This was a fun Halloween, because Jack and Malynn really came to understand what it was all about. I asked the kids weeks ago what they wanted to be. Malynn was adamant about wanting to be a cupcake. I planned to make the costume for her. Samma even found a very doable pattern online for me. But, when I found a cute one available via Amazon Prime, that was a done deal. Jack thought he'd like to be a car. We planned to make that, too -cardboard box, right -couldn't be too hard. Well, when I found a car costume online, we caved. Then the car wasn't going to come in time, and Daddy found a fireman costume (Amazon Prime of course) and after our recent visit to the firehouse near Samma & Papas house, it was an easy sell.

And there you have it...one cupcake...one fireman...two super adorable trick-or-treaters!

We maxed out our Halloween experience. The librarian had invited Malynn & Jack's story group to wear their costumes today -so we did!

 And so did Dylan!

Now we're up to three adorable trick-or-treaters!

That afternoon we drove to a community Halloween event at the Lawn. It draws families from near & far. The crowds are worth it for us since ambling around is just the right speed and we always enjoy seeing so many different costumes.

We were lucky enough to bump into Beckett and Emerson, who were the best Woody and Jessie I've ever seen!

That makes five adorable trick-or-treaters!

 Malynn has been struggling with her bottom two molars coming in, and we had woken her up from her nap to get here, but that didn't keep her from mustering up enough energy to get excited about going, transform into a cupcake, and enjoy a couple pieces of candy!

While there, we ran into Dylan and caught him posing with a fellow pumpkin!

Jack doesn't often say much about what he's thinking, but sometimes his actions speak for him. At home both kids have loved wearing their costumes, but Jack would never keep his hat on. However, he didn't take it off once while we were at the Lawn. I think it was feeling important and he was proud of the compliments he was receiving.

I'm so happy you had those feelings Jack -you deserve it.

 In closing, I share a candid of the kids walking together on the Lawn -just a "meant to be" moment!

For those of you wondering...

For those of you wondering why there's been such a gap in posts lately, I have three words for you...


...TWO YEAR MOLARS!

Our Little Rudolph

So we bundled up and headed out for a walk. Half way down the driveway Malynn took a tumble. It was right where the downhill steep part gets steeper, she lost her footing, her hands weren't out enough to break the momentum of her downhill fall, and she hit the driveway (literally) face first. Nose first to be exact! It was a horrible moment. My sweet angel was so hurt and all I could do was scoop her up and hold her tight. She lost a mitten in the fall and Jack brought it over to her with big eyes -clearly worried. Then my tough little cookie caught her breath and when I asked if she still wanted to go for the walk she said, "yea." From then on it was like it never happened. There's no way it hasn't been hurting some, but she hasn't complained once. I got worried that she might have broken her nose, but she didn't end up with a bump or even any bruising.

So now we just have our own little Rudolph until the scabs heal up!

Salmonella

Right on the heals of being sick with nearly three days of HIGH fever, poor Malynn got sick again. The fever came back, the diarrhea started, and she seemed to have terrible stomach pains from time to time. After a couple more tough days and tough nights, it was back to the doctor. While I took Malynn to her appointment Jack was home with Melody and they made this sweet, sweet card for Malynn. Another couple days went by before we got the lab results that showed that Malynn had salmonella! It has driven me crazy trying to think of how she might have been exposed to it, but evidently it will remain a mystery.

Just One Day

A few great pixs, thanks to Melody.

When you have a collar, it's hard to resist popping it!
Malynn loves to do faces with her tongue.
Playing in the tunnel, and, yes, that's a bite on Jack's cheek. He got into Malynn's space last night at bedtime and she wasn't feeling particularly tolerant at the time. Thankfully she doesn't have a pattern of dealing with frustration this way (knock on wood).
Plus, we found out the next day that Malynn wasn't feeling so great. She spiked a fever later in the day, and this face says it all.

Ups and Downs

Just today:

One of the best feelings you get as a mother...

...that tight little squeeze that says, "I'm curious and ready to explore...as long as I can keep a death grip on your finger while I do it."

One of the worst feelings you get as a mother...

...when your child sits down on your lap, and you lean together, and you feel a blazing hot head against your cheek.