Ruby and Graham. They are such a pair. Ruby saves some of her biggest smiles and giggliest giggles for this little man as seen in these pictures. I am so grateful he lives right next door and that they get to hang out a lot. Ruby said in our "thankful circle" during dinner the other night, "I am thank you that my friends come over all the time." Me too, Ruby, me too.
One of my new years resolutions was to be more active in having dinners with other mom's and their kids. It is such a unique set up here that many families work odd schedules and have dinners without dads. I grew up eating "family dinner" most nights. This has been a routine and ritual that, despite all the extra time Chip's odd schedule affords us, I have missed. I needed to make it something special and meaningful in a new way, and it has been great so far. So easy to make dinner for a few more people when it is at our house, and SO nice to have nights where I don't have to think about "what is for dinner" when we go to their houses.
Kids in Summit Park can't go to the park, but sometimes we can snow swing in the back yard or....
Snow bike or...
go to the art museum with our cousins and make really fun Valentines's gifts for our dad!
Sometimes we put the backpacks that Aunt Mindy got us on and walk around the driveway and yard.
Good times were had at the local Home Depot who hosts "kid activities" all the time. I just love how they get to wear a work apron, sit at a little bench and create something in the middle of the lumber isle. They built (with some help of course) and painted some cars that they then got to race down a track. yahoo!
Yumm....my new favorite- spiralized sweet potato fries. Kids don't eat them much, but I can not get enough. Plus, let's be honest, eating is not our forte these days. Ruby and Owen are decent eaters for three year olds, but man, I just look forward to the day that we all eat normal amounts and combinations of food, together, at the same time, without six million interruptions and corralling, and requests, and negotiations....ugh.
Owen LOVES to paint and color in black. If you have been the recipient of a thank you note or something like that from us, you know. I struggle to find artwork to share that is not just a page of all black. Sometimes he will paint something incredibly colorful and just when I think "he is past the black stage" he says, "mom, I need black"...and he covers all the color and work...in black.
We have been doing swim lessons the last few months. We started with group, which Owen cried for most of, but by the end it wasn't horrible. So, we decided to pursue this en devour through private lessons with one of their teachers, Ms Jamie. She is AMAZING and the kids LOVE swimming. They can back float on their own, swim under water by themselves for a certain distance, jump with enthusiasm off the edge, and just can not get enough of it all. A lot of mornings Ruby wakes up and the first thing she asks is, "are we going swimming today?" I don't love getting wet and full of chlorine all the time, but it is worth it to see the joy in their faces and the progress they are making.
We are really into rain gear lately. I left them downstairs for 10 minutes one afternoon only to find that they had gone into the storage room,dug out their rain boots, climbed up to get their rain jackets and were parading around as seen below and above. We haven't had a huge winter here, so I guess wearing rain gear vs winter gear is not a battle I am choosing right now.
Ruby and her buttons. She says things like, "mom, aren't they beautiful?, they make me smile." She loves small, colorful, interesting and intricate things.
We went through a rough stage where they could not be left unsupervised for 5 minutes before the hitting, biting, and crying started. SO much fighting. But lately, we are friends again...not ALL the time, but definitely more often than not I can trust them to play well, adorably well, together. This makes mom SO much happier and more sane. Let's hope it lasts. :)
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