Spring Break Part One

Last week at dance class, Miss Andrea asked the kids to say what their favorite zoo animal was when their name was called. Tessa shouted goat, and our recent zoo trip definitely confirmed this. While we went to spend time with Aunt Cortny, Elliott, and the Zimmermans and snap some pictures with the beautiful flowers, we also spent some Q.T. with the goats.

Yes, this is both my children hugging a goat. So dirty!

They also both sat and listened to a zookeeper talk about a wallaby. It was so cute!!
Here was our one and only attempt at a mom and children photo. Neither of my children would oblige by joining me, hence a picture of mama by herself.
The beautiful zoo flowers! It was the perfect time to go! I hope we can get Daddy down there while everything is still in bloom!
Another attempt at a sibling photo...
And then Morgan got distracted by the train.
A great day at the zoo! We are having a lot of fun this week. A long bike ride at the park, trip to the zoo, night out at Hunger Games...all sorts of fun and three days to go!

Summer?

Yesterday, my car read the outside temps at 88 degrees. In March. While I love summer and warm weather, this is a bit nuts. Where was Spring? Regardless, the kids are loving all the time outside. We even got out the sprinkler on Tuesday. It is that warm. Unlike last year, Morgan actually enjoyed the sprinkler and spent a decent amount of time running around.

It was so hot I had to buy Tessa a new dance outfit, as the school where she takes dance turns off the air in the evening and it is quite warm in the building, not to mention the car ride and being outdoors en route. She wasn't too bothered by it though; she was actually thrilled to have a second leotard!

Morgan, however, was thrilled with his new shoes. My parents joined me for shoe shopping with the kids this weekend and once Morgan has this spiffy pair of sandals on, he wouldn't take them off. In fact, he's virtually refused to take them off since getting them on Sunday.

The birds are particularly enjoying our backyard. We put out our regular birdfeeder with seed, plus Morgan made the orange one at daycare. We've had so many birds that I've actually already had to refill the feeder. At this rate, I'll have to budget for birdseed...

Our new neighborhood sports some lovely statues at the intersections (not sure why) but the kids enjoyed posing with the mannequins another afternoon this week.

And here is the "After" picture of the repurposed sandbox turned garden. In fact, five days after planting, we already have something sprouting. Now, if I could just remember what I planted where...

Stay tuned for an Easter basket post!

Spring has Sprung!

It's March. It's pretty warm. I feel like spring has sprung! We've been spending a lot of time outside, both playing and working in the yard. My goal is to have a vegetable garden planted by the end of this weekend. To do this, we are repurposing the sandbox the sellers left at our house into our new garden. We ripped the top off, emptied the sand, and took off the wood on the fron (where Tessa is standing in this picture).
The end where Morgan is standing now holds a windowbox with with herbs. And the middle, once we figure out what kind of soil mixture to fill it with, will be planted shortly. So excited about it!

It was hot enough earlier in the week that I created a "mystery" activity for the kids where I froze a variety of small toys and other things into a giant block of ice and they had to chisel their way to treasure! A great summer activity for sure!

Tessa was a bit "better" at it than Morgan.

Here it was before the demolition:

And I'll round out with a few more pictures. I love this one. Morgan chose to continue wearing his sunglasses for quite some time after coming inside.

And finally, Morgan showing Lucy some love.

Have a great weekend!

A Day at the Zoo

Morgan was napping, the kids were holding hands,the wagon was rolling, the polar bears were swimming laps,

the fish were swimming,

The crocodiles were biting,

the kids were smiling,

the flowers were blooming,

and the weather was gorgeous! Pretty much wraps up our Sunday at the zoo!

Formal Dance

Last night Kids R Kids put on a formal dance for the two oldest age groups. It was simply adorable and totally modeled after prom night, with a photographer and everything!

Tessa had a blast running around with her friend Lauren.

Morgan, by default, was allowed to tag along since his big sister qualified for the event. It was adorable! Here they are all decked out, ready to dance!

Morgan wasn't too into dancing...

but Tessa sure did have a blast!
Thanks, Kids R Kids! We had such a fun Friday night!

Thank You, Pinterest!

My kids love to play outside and Wednesday afternoon brought sunshine, temperatures in the 70s, and a whole lot of wind. It's almost like we never even had winter...

Anyways, for those of you who aren't on pinterest, it is just about the most addicting site ever. I have completely increased my meal plan variations and have come up with lots of ideas (and even done some of them) for the house and with the kids. One of those being, sidewalk paint. Simple as can be: mix 1 cup of cornstarch and 1 cup of water together. Spread into various containers and add food coloring as desired. We started with red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and purple...all the colors of the rainbow.

Before long our paint colors looked like this:
But they could have cared less. Tessa and Morgan both had a blast painting our back patio with all sorts of letters (some forwards, some backwards), pictures, and scribbles.
I was shocked Morgan liked it as much as he did. He is a pretty active little fellow and this painting activity captivated him for an entire hour. It was awesome being able to sit and paint with my peanuts!
Here are those backwards letters I was talking about. What is it with preschoolers writing from right to left? It's so odd - 90% of the time, she does it right and the other 10% it is backwards.
Morgan (before the mess!)

And, just in case you were wondering....the rain washes it completely away! Thanks, Pinterest!

Low Key Weekend

We didn't do much this weekend. We stayed inside and near our house for the most part, with a few quick side trips. The kids jumped on the bed with Daddy (no, we do not normally let them jump on the bed). But at least it has a guard rail, right? Ha ha...

Tessa was really into puzzles this weekend. We did several over the course of the weekend, sometimes having two going at the same time.
They attempted to watch a show together in one sleeping bag. (This did not last long).
Probably one of the highlights was an impromptu visit to the Disney store. I read an online tip that when traveling to Disney a good cost cutter was buying souvenirs ahead of time from the Disney store because the prices are significantly cheaper than in the parks. I never would have thought of this on my own, even though it is amazingly simple. So this weekend, I got them each 4 keepsakes from our trip (that we haven't even been on, but I know they'll love). I kind of watched what they had their eye on and then ordered it online later, plus personalized mouse ears for both of them. We also happened to walk in as they were about to start an in-store parade. Unfortunately Nate was still parking the car, and these were the best pictures I could get, juggling two kids, three coats, a diaper bag, and trying to help Morgan with his mask. Anyways, it was pretty adorable. My shy one walked right up to the Disney employee in charge when she held up the Cinderella mask and raised her hand saying, "I'll take Cinderella, please." For a girl who doesn't like to talk to strangers, this was pretty great.
Morgan hung back and took Winnie the Pooh. He was super excited to put on his mask and surprisingly also enjoyed marching (they must march at day care? Will have to ask today..)
Afterwards they sat down for some good 'ol Buzz, Woody, and Cars coloring. Morgan actually recognizes and names most of the Toy Story characters now, so I think those will be his favorite at Disney. He does (to Nate's dismay) also enjoy the princesses. Last night was Morgan's night to pick a movie before bed. Of all the movies we have, he chose....Tangled (or 'Punzel according to Morgan). Love it!
Saturday night we visited with my parents for awhile and had a yummy dinner and Sunday consisted or some more puzzles.
And some professional salon quality nail-painting. Tessa polished every single one of my toes. Not too bad (if we're talking about staying on the nail). A bit colorful, but they'll be covered, as it has finally decided to snow, in March mind you!
Today marks the first day of the third trimester and I get to meet my last group of students for the year. I loved my second trimester students and was sad to see them go. I'd like to thank pinterest for my two new get-to-know you games - Jenga with get-to-know you questions (C.P.) and www.tagxedo.com for silhouette-inspired wordles (Honors). Hoping third trimester is just as great as second!