Christmas Tree hunting

Having had so much fun last year, we headed to the same Circleville tree farm we had luck at last year. 

With the arctic winds picking up, we actually went the day after Thanksgiving to get our tree, because the next day was supposed to drop by about 20 degrees!

We got bundled up and headed south--movies on and snacks in hand.  We found a tree relatively quickly--Amara picked it out, a beautiful 12 foot Naan pine tree.  I am pretty sure that is the variety we had last year too. 

It smelled great in the house and towers perfectly in the living room.  The needles are short, yet soft, and just the right strength for hanging most of our ornaments too.

Thanksgiving dinner

This year we were so lucky for Thanksgiving, that the girls were joined by both their grandparents for dinner!! 

It was a beautiful, warm day too, so Grandpa Young took the yearly shot mom insists on and we caught one or two before Cora decided she had had about enough.

Amara enjoyed playing with Hannah and Haylee, and also watching all the boys toss a football.  Both girls pestered uncle T while he was trying to watch football, and we all enjoyed seeing friends and family we don't get to see a ton.

Thanksgiving crafts

Thanksgiving morning we decided to get up and take advantage of our time off and occupy the girls with something everyone would enjoy at Thanksgiving dinner too.  

Mom had asked to borrow my cloth napkins, so Amara and I grabbed up all the paper towel and TP holders (yes, we save them) we had around, some buttons, leaves from the yard, felt, and glitter, and get to work.

She loves to cut right now, so she was happy to cut up the rolls and I helped her with attaching the different decorations.

Shortly after that, Grandma Young came with her cookie crafts--one was an acorn and the other a pilgram hat.

Amara loved those and got right to work with her!!  She was very patient at first, but then lost interest--but circled back after a bit (pretty standard for her).

Everyone loved both her crafts and we enjoyed having a fun craft time with all of us together.

Fiona's 4th!

Fiona invited us to her 4th birthday party, a very cool Wizard of Oz themed event, complete with costumes, great friends, weather and treats.

Fiona invited us to her 4th birthday party, a very cool Wizard of Oz themed event, complete with costumes, great friends, weather and treats.

The kids played inside a bit, then we went on a fun walk down the yellow brick road (in the back yard) and collected tokens along their trip for bravery, a heart and brains--just like the movie.

Inside, the kids had fun heart shaped sandwiches and lollipops, and Fiona loved all her gifts--and she seemed to really enjoy the ruby slippers the girls got her.  She was the cutest little dorothy in her dress and Colin was the tin man, Robert a scarecrow and Annie the witch.

They are such an awesome group and the kids really all had a blast ;)

Ladybug girl!

We read a book to Amara, called Ladybug girl, sometimes at bed.  She likes it--it's about a bored little girl, finding some ways to occupy herself and in such--creates a sort of superhero persona.

Today was Amara's first day at Grove City Christian (daycare) and she is in the ...Ladybug class. 

The teacher is Mrs. Misty, a sweet lady who has gone out of her way to make Amara feel welcome, called us twice before 12:30, and seems like a great lady.

Her class has some new friends of course, and some old ones too--Landon and Saphira from Primrose.

But now, Amara is ladybug girl.

She has already asked to make a shirt with a ladybug on it, and one for Mrs. Misty too.  And "maybe," she says--"one for everyone in the class?" 

"Of course, honey."

So, day one--even though apprehensive with daddy at dropoff, has been good by all accounts--and our ladybug girl is rolling with the punches and moving on.

Gymnastics: Fall '12

If you count The Little Gym and the red barn, The Cheer Center marks our third gymnastics venture in the girls' short lives.  TLG is just too far for us to make it to, and Amara REALLY wanted to learn cartwheels, so we did some digging and got the girls enrolled.

Cora's class is Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:15 with parent...tumbling, walking the balance beam, climbing, trampoline, and some kind of bounce track they run and tumble on...the usual, and Amara's class starts stretching at 5, then works through tumbling, and on to cartwheels and more advanced tumbling.

Eric had to take the first week, as I was tied up in a conference at work.  He said it was rough, but having them both by himself didn't help--so I tried to reserve judgement.  Last night was the 3rd class and they both are doing REALLY well! 

Cora leads me around the obstacle course-type set up, climbing where she needs to climb and reaching for my hand when she needs to help up.  Her favorite so far seems to be the stars on the mat, where, as she approaches--she knows to hop/jump to the next one, and boy is she ever proud of herself to jump!

Amara ran out into the viewing area last night shouting "I just did my first ever cartwheel all by myself on the trampoline!" with about as much excitement as I've ever seen from her--that melts my heart.

Ms. Leah is the coach for both, and she is great with the girls.  She's tiny, so they aren't intimidated and she's patient and gets on the floor and helps them.  The classes are both super small too, so they get lots of attention and lots of turns at the activities.

We are really enjoying our time at TCS.  I'm not buying any bows the size of their little heads or leos (leotards) or booty shorts (the pants that go under skirts, apparently) ...but I'm enjoying watching them enjoy themselves :)

End of an era (Primrose)

Tuesday marked Amara's last day at Primrose, a decision none of us took lightly. 

She started at Primrose in May of 2011, after we went back to work (after our maternity leave with Cora) and she has been there a year and a half since.

She started off with Miss Shirey in the early preschool class and met her first (and still) friends, Irelyn and Landon.  Eric and I remember that day like it was yesterday.  We all remember the anxiety of it and the tears, but also looking back, a year and a half of good memories.

Next was the early preschool 2's and new teachers, Mr. Ericson, Mr. Reese and Mrs. Thompson.  She had some combination of those teachers for about 6 months or so, and met even more new friends, like Alex--gaining her independence as a bigger kid in a new classroom.

We also enjoyed our time with Ms. Cannon and Ms. McClaren, sweet ladies who always had smiles for Amara and hugs--no matter how rough the morning.

After the division of the PreK classes this fall though, and without a teacher whom she'd built a solid relationship with, we started looking for change.  Irelyn had left--having been put in a class without any of her friends, and Landon was soon to follow...leaving not much for Amara to look forward to in the day.  We noticed she didn't seem that happy to go to school anymore, and wasn't really building new relationships or growing.

We wanted our little butterfly back.

So, with that, and a new visit to a new (potential) school, Amara turned the corner to her new school.  She went into school, "one last time," she insisted--saying goodbyes to friends and her latest teacher, Mrs. M...and with that, it's over. 

We have had a lot of great times at Primrose.  We've learned a lot about ourselves, about our family, and about Amara.

She too has learned a lot about change.  About building relationships and making friends.  About dealing with things she/we can't control, and about turning pages.

Thanks to Primrose and all the great teachers who have helped shape and mold her--and us.  We'll miss you.

Riding the tractor with Grandpa Jahn

We decided to head over to Grandma and Grandpa Jahn's to play in the leaves this weekend, but when we got there, the wind had carried most of them out into the field.  Instead, the girls headed towards the tractor and decided to make lemonade out of lemons.

Grandpa rode them around the field, and up and down the driveway as long as they wanted.  Mom commented "he'll have Amara driving that thing next year!" ...and she would love that!  Cora didn't stay in as long as Amara, but they both had a great time being up high and out of the wind.

Gotta love Grandpa Jahn and his tractor.

Dancing with the Nutcracker

Last year (too late) we heard about an event that Ballet Met hosts called Dancing with the Nutcracker.  The gist of it is that kids can come, see some set pieces, and hear the story of the Nutcracker read--while some of the dances are performed in front of them.  It sounded great, so we decided to try it this year.

We all headed to downtown to the Ballet Met studios and the place was packed!! Amara got her red dots for her cheeks--just like the soldiers--and we headed to the studio, first to color, then dance.

All the kids were whirring about when the story would give direction to do a certain move or take action.  Amara particularly liked the snowing simulation that used paper streamers that we all waved in the air, first slowly then fast.  Cora, on the other hand, just did a little breakdancing while the others were more structured.

When it was time to settle down though, the girls took their seats.  They watched the mouse king scene, the Chinese doll, and they loved the pages--who seemed to be just a wee bit older than Amara!

Just as quickly as it had all started, it was also over.  The story ended with the kids all lying down on the floor and going to sleep--Cora even slid down into my lap and closed her eyes, it was too cute! 

All the kids jumped up, applauded, and raced to the doors to get their shoes on and go see some of the cast in the lobby.  Amara wanted to see the giant nutcracker, while Cora wanted no part of him.  None of them got close enough for photos, but it wasn't like a bad Easter bunny scene or anything :) They both went skipping out to the car and we all really had a fun time with it and hope to do it again. What a great community event.

We voted!

At Primrose, Amara's school does an election each November.  Last year, they got to vote between their room mascots, who would be the lead one for the month, and this year was similar.  They set up a voting booth behind a curtain and the kids get to vote.

I decided then, that since Amara had had some exposure to it, that I'd take her voting with me this year.

Tuesday election day just happened to be pajama day at school also, so we got ready and headed out around 7:45 to the fire station to vote.  We actually followed our neighbors Roger and Susie all the way to the polls, so I think she appreciated that she knew someone. She also spotted a friend from school in line with his mom, so there was a lot for her to take in.

The machine was electronic (like a big iPhone) so I let her do all the voting (button pressing) for me, and when we were done she got the famous voting sticker.

We headed to Starbucks to get our free election day "indivisible" bracelet and then we had fun reciting the pledge of allegiance as we pulled up to her school.

She headed inside proudly wearing her bracelet and voting sticker, jammies and all.  I told her "everyone gets to vote, and it's important that you do." I have no idea if she'll remember going with me, but I plan on taking her with me as long as I can.

xoxo

Trick-or-treat '12: A cold one!

Hurricane storm Sandy blasted Ohio (and the Northeast coast) a few days before Halloween, and while we all braced for the worst, we hoped for the best (weather.)

We didn't get it....though, it wasn't the worst.

The day before Halloween, we actually had snow in the morning it was crazy!

Irelyn and her mom and dad came over and we got everyone ready to go, then out into the cold we went.  It hovered in the high 30's, low 40's with wind gusts and drizzling rain the whole time, but our little ice cream cone, Minnie Mouse, and pink power ranger headed out.

They made it maybe a half hour or so before the bigger girls got cold and got in Grandma Jahn's car.  The older girls layered in coats over their costumes, but Cora was so layered and had the ice cream over top, she didn't even seem to GET cold.  Cora followed shortly after and we all headed home.

After a half hour or so to thaw out, they wanted to go back out!!  Natasha, John and I took Amara and Irelyn while Cora entertained Eric and the grandparents.  The girls hit maybe 10-12 more houses, then were officially done.

Everyone had snacks, queso, pizza and enjoyed all the playtime on a school night ;)  It was a nice end to a cold, dreary, dark Ohio trick-or-treat night.

Our pumpkins welcomed us back home and onto the porch where everyone quickly got inside, shoes off and comfy for some fireplace time.  I really love our jack-o-lanterns...Eric and Amara did an awesome job this year!

The girls crashed (and I heard Irelyn did too) shortly after everyone left, and we packed up the costumes for this year...they were pretty cute though, so I have a tall order to fill for next year!

Connells kids club, Thanksgiving episode

We were so excited to see that our local Connells store was having a fall kids club event--we signed up even though we had a busy weekend planned.  This was something Amara and mom got to do together--not quite for Cora yet, and I think she enjoys some big-girl time alone.

Amara took right to the arranging.  Our pal Melissa wasn't there this time, but a nice lady named Grace helped us.  Amara kept spying various flowers around the shop, some we'd never seen, and Grace just kept giving them to Amara for her arrangement...I think it helped that we were the first (and only) ones there too.

Her favorite parts were the special rose that Grace gave her--she placed it right in the top middle and the faux mini harvest corn bunches--I think she stuck three of them in there before the arranging was all over.  She'd keep thinking she was finished and then find something else that caught her eye :)

At the end, she of course took advantage of the coloring that was offered.  The picture was of a turkey and she and I both colored one, and we also grabbed some flowers for Grandma before we left.  I am glad she wanted to spend the morning with me and even more-so that she likes to try new things and get that little mind of hers turning--not that it needs any help!

Halloween shirts

The girls are starting to sit together in this chair when they watch a show--normally A.N.T. farm, while we get dinner ready or before bedtime.  I am not sure why I've noticed, but it seems Cora is always sitting to Amara's right side. It could be a preference by one of them or just pattern...but this is also the way they sit in the backseat--the way their car seats are positioned...coincidence?

Anyway--Amara helped me make these shirts for the girls!  She picked out the designs and the fabrics and with Eric's help in getting me a new machine and all his wonderful encouragement, we made these (and about 20 other ones in total) together.  We are so proud of our new hobby and I hope it continues for both of us.

Carving pumpkins

After scoring our awesome pumpkins from Grandpa Jahn's patch earlier this month, we were ready to carve when the time came!  We got out the tools and assumed the position on the kitchen floor.

Eric cut the tops off of the pumpkins--Cora mostly watched, she wasn't so keen on the whole messiness of it all and the crayon wasn't working so well for her. She's a better supervisor anyway...Eric carved the larger of the two with a silly face and Amara got a little more abstract with hers.

While Cora kept watch over all the pieces and parts, Amara went to work mapping out her design. She used the little saw and poker tools with the precision of a surgeon (maybe we will get a doctor after all!!)

Amara was so focussed--her attention span has really been growing lately, especially while there is a task she is interested in.  Cora, on the other hand, provides her typical comic relief with the ever-present shirt raising "see my belly" move...Amara still focusing.

Amara didn't even mind scooping out the pumpkin--in fact, she just kept drawing shapes (hearts, stars, wiggly lines) and then cutting them out. It was amazing to see her so interested...it made me want to let her carve pumpkins all the time.

After all that hard work, it was snack time.  It seems they always have a bowl of something in their hands on the weekends.  We all enjoyed some clementines and then dug out the lights to get ready to show off our fabulous creations!!