Happy Valentine's Day!

February 13--So is anyone else concerned that this is yet ANOTHER snow in NC that we have had?  This is like PA weather this year!  So, to combat the depression, Paul took the kids out sled riding in the yard with the tractor.  Lauren wants to drive and Logan likes to ride.  When they were through, we had mud in the yard rather than snow.

Later that day, Lauren found some of my reading materials and decided she'd like to read them, too. Suzy and I are chairmembers of South Newton's Battle of the Books team, so we're reading a variety of novels to help our students prepare for the battle.  Paul and I often lay on the floor and read, just like Lauren is doing.  It cracked me up!

February 14--Happy Valentine's Day!  Lauren gave Mommy a HUGE present--SHE POOPED IN THE POTTY ALL BY HERSELF WITH NO ONE ENCOURAGING HER!!  As a result, we went to pick out big-girl panties.  What did Lauren want...MINNIE MOUSE!  Here she is checking out her panties!

"Yea, Mouse, Mommy!"

Grandpa O.F. came later that afternoon to visit with "Lil' Stinker".  Lauren just LOVED playing with Freddie!  He read to her and they snuggled some.  It warms both of their hearts!

After Lauren was supposed to be down for her nap (which she didn't take), we decided to try on the Mouse Panties.  Here is Lauren modeling for us.

"Hi, Minnie Mouse!"

The week of the 15th was hectic, so minimal pictures were taken.  On the 19th, we met up with the Cadwalladers for dinner.  Lauren and Harris are something else together...Lauren was wrapping her arms around Harris and KISSING him!  Then they'd laugh hysterically.  We were in shock.  It was funny...but I had to ask how their behavior at school was and was told that they don't kiss like that at school.  WHEW!!

Shelly, Logan, Lauren, and I decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese's because the kids had been asking to go.  We planned to go to have fun!  Lauren's hair looked super cute that day, so I tried to take pictures.  She wasn't having it!  However, look how curly and soft her hair looked in this photo!  I had to post it!

Then she decided it was okay to look at me.  Is she not precious?!

While at CEC's, Lauren "talked" to the mouse, as she calls him.  She had a blast, even though she didn't have tokens to talk to him...I got a glimpse of the future in this photo!

While at CEC's, they played the ABC song, Twinkle, Twinkle, and something else, all songs Lauren knows.  We were excited and began to sing.  Lauren looked at me, very seriously, and said, as she reached out to put her hand over my mouth, "No, Mommy.  I sing, not you."  Every time I interrupted and sang along, she'd do the same thing!  I was in stitches!

We are attempting to do more potty training but with minimal success.  I'm trying to encourage her to go.  I think we will need to let her run around naked and try.  We did that last weekend and I had a few puddles to clean up, but she tried.  Her pooping is still touch and go, but we'll keep trying!

Lauren still loves Tyalor Swift's song You Belong With Me.  Now when we get in the car, she says, "You play my Taylor song, Mommy."  It's a statement, not a question, and she shakes her head yes so I'll agree.  Hysterical!

We are on a Sandra Boynton reading kick right now, too.  We have 7 of the 8 books on the back of Moo, Baa, La, La, La.  Lauren knows which books we have.  I plan to get her Opposites this weekend so we'll have all 8.  When she points to the book on the back, she finds it in her basket and we read it.  Then she'll say, "I no have Opposites.  Mommy get soon."  She shakes her head yes...There is one book, 'Blue Hat, Green Hat" that Lauren likes.  A turkey puts clothing on wrong.  At the end, he's dressed correctly, except that he jumps, completely clothed, into a pool.  Lauren says, "Oh, no!  He jump in Aunt Suzy's pool.  No, no, Turkey!"  So she associates pools with Suzy.

Have a great week!!

First Week of February

Starting February 1st, I've posted our week in review!  We have been out of school more than we have been in!  We had a snowday on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!  School was cancelled for staff and kids both Monday and Friday.  I worked teacher workdays on Tuesday and Wednesday.  It's been a mess!  There was a reason why I moved 10 hours from my family!  We've had snow, sleet, freezing rain, and plain rain.  Right now the roads are dry and we've been in the mid-40's so the snow is melting.  Yea!  However, I hear we're scheduled to work on Feb. 15 and Good Friday.  We have two more days to make up days.  We aren't sure when we'll make up the other two days, but I expect I spent some of my spring break in February.

So, on Monday, Suzy and I went to Hickory (with Logan--school was cancelled but Lauren had a 3 hour delay for school).  As usual, if Lauren shows an interest in something, I do my best to saturate her in it.  The most recent thing is MOUSE (Mickey or Minnie).  I found her some Minnie mouse utensils, a plate, bowl, and cup.  She, of course, LOVED it, especially since it was purple.

She had a cupcake icing mustache!

February 5--Lauren and I were both home due to the weather on Friday.  Cara's 1st birthday party was on Saturday, so Lauren and I made the cupcakes so that Paul could decorate them Friday night when they were cool.  Lauren LOVED to help put in the ingredients, but the best part was when she was able to lick the beaters!  (Notice her mustache again!  I think she does it on purpose!)

Lauren was bit rambunctious as the day progressed and REFUSED to take a nap.  She asked me to polish her toes, so I did.  Then she wanted her fingernails done!  She was very still and listened well to my directions. 

Here is a close-up of her hand.  Too tiny, right?

February 6--Cara's first birthday party was on Saturday.  Paul made the cupcakes--aren't they adorable!  He matched them to the cupcake rings Suzy picked out.  Everyone made a fuss over his cupcakes and several people voiced to Suzy that they want Paul to make their next cakes!

Suzy has a bouncer for the kids. Mary Grace, Harris, and Lauren played well together.  I wish I had a close-up of this shot--Harris and Lauren had just fallen down and were laughing hysterically!  Talk about a photo for the high school year book!!

Lauren really loved the bouncing...and sliding out!

Getting back into the bouncer was a little more difficult. Paul helped Lauren and Harris in.

Mary Grace had fun with the older kids!  It's so strange to think of Lauren and Harris as being the 'older kids' but such is life!

Lauren loves to slide!

Paul didn't make Cara's cake itself.  After the older kids sang Happy Birthday, they stole the large sprinkles off the side and dashed away for cupcakes.  Poor Cara was exhausted!

Six of the kids hung out on a mat and had a picnic.

Lauren has just started sitting "criss-cross applesauce". She learns SO much at school!  After the kids had eaten their food, they jumped up nad left their plates on the mat.  Lauren was still eating (she's such a slow eater!).  When she was done, she picked up the other kid's trash, sampled the left-over food on their plates, then stacked the plates together for an adult to take care of!  (I had to exclaim,"That's my little OCD!")

February 7--This is what it looks like when Lauren is SUPPOSED to be taking a nap.  She made the fatal mistake of dropping something and I went to check.  She had an "Oh, crap!" look on her face and she KNEW she had done wrong!  She had a poopy diaper which I changed, we picked up the floor, and we rocked.  She was out cold in 15 minutes and napped for about 2 hours.  I made sure that I put up any creams, cleaners, or things Lauren could get into and ruin something (Nick and Harris--thanks for the head's up!).

Since our teams weren't playing in the Super Bowl, we decided to have a VERY small party consisting of Paul, Lauren, and me as well as Shelly and Logan.  Lauren and Logan bring out the deeply seated monsters in each other or something because as soon as they get their coats put away, they run all around the house, spinning this way and that, chasing the cats, etc.  It's great to see that their relationship is so solid, but Shelly just shakes her head and says, "WHERE did that come from??"  Snuggling is something that always happens.  Here are Lauren, Shelly, and Logan snuggling one another before Lauren had to take her bath.

And Lauren tickling Logan to make him laugh.

jAs I was getting Lauren to bed that night, I asked her what her favorite part of the day was.  She told me, "Lovey's piggy-back ride."  (Logan learned how to give Lauren a piggy back ride!  They both loved it!)  I asked Lauren why and she said, "Lovey's arms" (wrapped around her so she was safe).  Talk about love.  These little conversations are just precious!!

So Sad!

Talk about pathetic~I have only TWO, yes, TWO pictures to post this week!  Lauren ate some Oreos the other night...like her mustache?

Paul made spaghetti noodles from SCRATCH.  Here are noodles hanging to dry.  (By the way, like the new lighting fixture in the kitchen?)

Sadly, this is all I have!  It was a busy week last week.  Lauren has become something hilarious while hitting a growth spurt.  Her clothes took a sudden leave of fitting.  (Cara ended up with several new pajamas as a result!)

Lauren has become obsessed with several things lately:

• She LOVES Mickey and Minnie Mouse and MUST watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on a daily basis...or ELSE!  (Her Aunt Sherry had gotten her an enormous Mickey Mouse and friends Tony and Sheila found her a Minnie Mouse...so on my lap the three of them go when the Clubhouse comes on!)
• She is stuck on me reading certain stories to her at bedtime which include: The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle; A to Z by Sandra Boynton; Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse by Laura Numeroff, and her children's Bible.  (Let's say that I can read these books in the dark...)  What's even more fun is that Lauren is starting to remember the sequences of the stories and will "read" them to herself or to me when she can.  She's associating pictures to the story line and she's even POINTING to words!  (I, of course, thinks she's brilliant, but I point to the words as I read them as a habit and Lauren's started it, too!)
• "I pee, Mommy!  On your potty!"  Lauren's friends at school are starting to use the potty more often during the day.  This has really inspired Lauren.  Can I tell you how many times I have cheered for her to want to be on the potty (even though nothing has come out)?  It's a start at least!
• DADDY!!  Paul cannot be in the house without Lauren being under foot.  She about has a meltdown on the nights Paul has class and she can't see him.  She always wants a hug and a kiss from Daddy, even if she just got one.  As soon as we're in the car to come home from school, Lauren says, "My juice," takes a drink, then asks, "Where's Daddy?"  "At work."  "Daddy home soon?"
• "Je-ep!  Where ARE you?"  Insert any word into the first part of the sentence.  She likes to look for things and then say, "THERE you are!"  Her favorite things to find are: Daddy, Jeep, Daddy's trucks (back to two--both run, though), cups, juice, Mommy, Lauren, the cats, books, baby dolls, food, etc.  It's a bit funny to watch as she invents things to find!
• "Time out!" I try to ask Lauren if she needs a "break" rather than using time out.  Funnily enough, Lauren often puts herself in time out if she's sitting on the couch.  Time outs work great to get Lauren back in control and ready to play!

So what I lacked in pictures I have made up in stories.  I hope you enjoy!  I'm on a snow day today--we got 9 inches of snow--our THIRD snow of the winter--and the roads outside of Conover are yucky!  We're forecasted to get freezing rain tonight...and Thursday and Friday, too.  The sky is a brilliant blue, the sun is shining, and it's 34` outside.  I'm wondering if we'll have school any this week...