Summer Visit with Oma, Part 1

My mom came up for a week in the middle of July.  I didn't take as many pictures as I should have--Of the 7 days that she was here, I have pictures from only three--but I do have some to share.  She flew up on the 9th, and we were very, very glad to see her.  Elora barely left her side.

Momma's been doing the superman thing with the little ones since I was a little one.  She also puts them up on her feet, and flips them from her knees over her head.  She said that Elora is the first one to ever try flipping backwards.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get the whole week off from work.  The annual inventory was scheduled for the morning of the 12th, and since mom was there to stay with the girls, I went in both that morning and the one before it, to help.  So, knowing that those 2 days would be out for going and doing, we took advantage of the days we did have free.  We went to the zoo:

The kids got to play in the water again, which was great.  It was really hot that day!  I should have worn a swim suit as well, so I could cool off too.

Our friends met us there:  Rebekah and "Big" James, and Lydia and "Little" James.

The girls were in rare form that day, especially Kaylie.  I could get Elora to stay put by one of the fountains, but Kaylie was all over the place.  I was going a little crazy trying to keep an eye on them both.  At least until Kaylie threw a tantrum over returning a toy to another family, and I put her in time out, over by Momma and Aunt Bekah, who had given up on the fountains in favor of the shade.

She ended up being distracted first by the birds fluttering around in the areas behind them, and then by all the fun games on her Oma's phone.  We went to get lunch not long after that, and then walked around to visit the animals.

Oma's phone was in high demand.  It got put away during lunch, and then it was Elora's turn.  Why the phone was more exciting than the zoo, I have no idea.  Miss Kaylie continued to be in her funk for the rest of the day.  Maybe she was working on molars?  Maybe it was the heat?  Or maybe it was just that she's two.

The baby giraffe was out and about with its parents.  It's so stinking cute!  Just like a tiny version of the adults, but brighter and fuzzier.

The last thing we did was to visit the tigers.  Momma absolutely adores tigers!  We only got to see one of them, being lazy in the shade, and I didn't get any pictures.  She had to settle for pictures of the statue.  :)

We went to the aquarium, too, but I'm thinking that maybe I ought to make that another post.  Stay tuned.  :)

June.

A photographic sampler of the month of June.

June 1: Water Play

June 2: Chuck'E'Cheese

or, More On Potty Training  Reinforcement

Elora, while fully capable of using the potty, has consistently shown a lack of enthusiasm for doing so.  Why gt up and go to the bathroom, when it doesn't seem to bother her in the least to have wet pants?  So, we've been trying to inspire the proper enthusiasm in her, both punishing her bad choices and rewarding her good ones.  This reward chart is actually something that I made for her back in January, but that I never blogged.

Note:  I made this exclusively for our own personal use.   I do not own the rights to any of these images.

These are the counters.  

I made 3 for Chuck E Cheese, 5 for the ice cream, and 7 for the movie.  I printed it all out at home, then took them to Office Depot to have them laminated.  I cut out all of the counters, and used Velcro in the squares on the chart and on the backs of the counters so that they could easily (and repeatedly) be moved around.  Then I hung it all on the wall right next to the potty, right at her eye level, with the card board sleeve from the movie hanging over it all so that she would be able to see that, too.

Based on advice I'd received and articles I'd read, I thought it might help to give her something to work toward, and for her to be able to see it and be reminded of it every time she went to the potty.  Initially, she was really, really excited about it, but she would never go more than a day or two without an accident.  Fast forward to June, and she FINALLY got her 3 days in a row!

June 6: At the Zoo (with Aunt Bekah)

We've been zoo-ing about once a month or so, since it got warm.  By this point, it had gotten hot, and knowing that they have these awesome water fountains just inside the zoo, we dressed the kids in their bathing suits.  We ended up getting there shortly before story time, though, so we did that first.

The kids could not wait to go play in the water, but when they got there, they were super shy about getting in it.  Elora, in particular, does not like to get water in her face, so she just kept backing into the fountains.  And of course, whatever Elora does, Kaylie must also do.

And then we learned that a baby giraffe had just been born that morning.  Have I ever mentioned that giraffes are Elora's favorite animals? These pictures aren't great, because they were taken through the glass and my camera kept wanting to focus on the fence rather than the giraffes (I forgot about manual focus), but isn't he sweet? Only about 7 hours old here, and already standing and walking around.  So, so cool.

June 14: Hopscotch

It was late in the day, either just before dinner or just after.  The girls and I had been inside all day--we hadn't even changed out of our PJ's.  It was a beautiful afternoon. not too hot, and Brandon decided it would be criminal if we didn't get at least a little fresh air.   We opened the garage door, set out the blue lawn chairs, and watched the girls play.

I didn't really take any pictures of their faces.  I was fascinated by the light, the nightgowns & boots, and the chalk lines.  Is it weird that I'm kind of in love with this picture?

June 28: Farmer's Market & A Speech Therapy Update

There's a farmer's market at the local park every Wednesday and Saturday during the summer, and Rebekah and I finally got around to taking the kids to check it out.  

We ended up eating half of our strawberries right there, they were so good!  We haven't made it back yet, but I'm thinking we really ought to.  

That afternoon, Kaylie had therapy.  We're still going twice a week, and Kaylie is making great progress!  She's added lots of new words to her vocabulary, and is signing for a lot of things as well.  Jennifer has moved from just trying to get Kaylie to repeat simple words to focusing on specific letter sounds and final consonants.  For example, Kaylie says "eee" for "eat", dropping the T and speaking only the beginning of the word.  We're trying to teach her to say the whole word.  At the end of each session, Jennifer always makes suggestions for what we can do with Kaylie at home, so that she continues to learn in between visits.

Elora always goes with us, and is always very good while we're there.  Jennifer either brings something special for Elora to play with, incorporates her into the lesson, or allows her to play one of the kid's games on her tablet.  Frankly, I think that might be Elora's favorite.

And that brings us to the end of June.  Next time, I'll try to bring us up to date in July.  :)

So Far This Year

If I had to name the girls' favorite Christmas gifts, I'd have to say the princess dresses that they got from "Santa".  They spend as much time as possible playing dress up, and if at all possible, in those dresses.  

Dress up can be combined with pretty much anything--which is why they spend so much time in the laundry. Santa was a smart fellow.  Rather than the flimsy costume dresses, he chose nightgown dresses and they are much more durable.  This is a very, very good thing.  Now, if only he'd had the fore sight to get duplicates...

We've also spent some time playing with Aunt Bekah and little James, who isn't so little anymore.  He's almost as big as Kaylie--they now wear the same diaper size, and the same shoe size.  We haven't spent as much time with as we usually do, though, because I am now working part time at JoAnn's.  

It was a decision prompted mainly by two things.  The first was a desire to contribute to our family's finances, to give us a bit more wiggle room.  The second was for my mental stability.

Really, that's overstating it, but I was definitely stagnating.  Going back to work has helped to revitalize me, to get me moving.  It's a simple thing, really, but it has been so good for me to get out and interact with other adults, and to do something that I know I'm good at.  And moreover, I have to keep doing it, for as long as I want to keep the job.  If I'm feeling all "meh", I can't just not go, and that's a good thing. 

We're all still adjusting to the change.  I'm working evenings and weekends, when Brandon is home, so the girls aren't going to a babysitter.  They gave me way too many hours at first--my first weekend I had back-to-back shifts, closing Saturday and then opening (7am!) Sunday.  I didn't even realize that I'd need to work the following morning until I was gettting my stuff together to go home Saturday night, and I kind of freaked out a bit when I realized that after not seeing my girls all night, I wasn't going to get to see them the next morning, either.  Now the schedule has been straightened out, and I'm working right around 20 hours a week, with no back-to-back shifts, and it's a lot better.  

I was supposed to work last Friday evening, but they called that afternoon to tell me that I didn't need to come in, because it had been so slow.  It worked out really well, because we ended up getting 3 inches of snow that evening and I was only too happy that I didn't need to go out in it.  And, since I was home, I got to go out and play in the snow with Brandon and the kids.

Now, dealing with snow is not exactly my favorite thing.  I'd normally rate it somewhere in the vicinity of getting a cavity filled, on the scale of things I'd like to do.  But, it was the only real snow we've gotten all winter, it didn't last long, and it was the perfect opportunity to play and the girls loved it.  

There's more (apparently, January has been an eventful month) but I think this is enough for now.  For one thing, I don't have pictures for any of the other stuff, and for another, well, it's 10:30 and I still haven't packed Bran's lunch for tomorrow.  :)  Goodnight!

Command Family Day Picnic

Brandon's command put together a family day picnic last Friday.  We'd never seen Brandon's workplace here, so we went in before the picnic to have a look around.   He's an instructor at a training facility, so a lot of what we saw were just classrooms and offices.  If you've seen a class room and an office before, then you know what they look like.  Just imagine military gear piled up here and there, along with some large, official looking manuals, and you've got it.  But a lot of their training involves hands-on practice, so much of it happens outside a classroom.  That was the really interesting stuff.

They call this the climbing tower.  One of the courses they teach here requires that students be able to climb this 30 foot rope ladder while wearing weighted vests, to simulate being weighted down by full gear, in 2 minutes or less.  It looked easier than it actually, was, I'm sure.  I found myself wishing that I hadn't worn a dress that day, because I wanted to know if I could do it.

This is the "ship on land",  a mock-up of an actual ship, with orange cones to designate "piers", used for practicing certain security techniques.  (They also have a real ship in Norfolk that they practice on.)  The best part, though, was getting to check out the FATS system.

M4, top; M9, bottom.

The FATS, or Fire Arms Training Simulator, is basically a giant video game.  Real weapons were modified for use with this arcade-style target practice simulator, which is controlled by someone at a computer set up at the back of the room.   On the opposite wall, there is a floor-to-ceiling screen, divided into several narrow sections, each with its own target, so that multiple people can practice all at once. When "fired", the weapons recoil and you hear the sound of a gun shot, and a "hole" appears on the "target".   It was really neat!  And I did pretty well, for someone with approximately 0 weapons experience, no glasses (I'm near-sighted), and 2 children pulling at her skirts.  But then Brandon picked them up and squeezed off a few rounds, and I knew precisely how awkward and inexperienced I am.  Is it odd, that I hate violence, but I think my husband's obvious expertise with weapons is sexy?   There's just something about a man who knows how to handle himself--and a weapon--that is incredibly attractive to me.  But I digress.

He showed Elora the pistol and let her "shoot" it, but she only did it once because she didn't like the noise.  Kaylie didn't like it either, for that matter.  That's why she was clinging to my skirt while I shot the M4, and why I was holding her when I shot the M9.

The picnic itself is barely worth mentioning.  The food was good, and they had several corn hole stations set up in the shade, and a fire truck for the kids to check out, but it was so ridiculously hot that pretty much everyone just ate and then went home.  

A few of us stuck around and went in the pool to cool off, but we didn't stay too long.  It was just so hot!

Stay-Cation: Pool Day

We're not going to the farm in Alabama for the Fourth, like we have the past few years, so we're having a "stay-cation", a little mini vacation, right here at home.  We went on Wednesday to paint pottery, but I forgot to get pictures.  Thursday, we went to the pool at Aunt Bekah's, and I took a ton of pictures!  We got there early,  to avoid the heat, but we didn't realize that the pool didn't even open until 10.  We spent the hour or so waiting in the club house, putting on sunscreen and such.

Kaylie was totally fascinated by that crane.

Elora just could not wait to get in the pool.  She's not very comfortable in the water, though, and she hates to get her face r hair wet, so as soon as she was in, she was scrambling to get out.  She spent the rest of the time playing right next to the pool, or right on the steps. 

Kaylie loved her little floating cabana--at first.  She splashed and giggled and played.

She threw her sunglasses in the water. (Because simply taking them off wasn't good enough.)

Then she decided to get herself out of it, and nearly gave me heart failure in the process.  She is my little daredevil child.  She wasn't at all afraid of the water!  

Rebekah and James sat in the shade and kept us company, and helped keep an eye on the girls.

Especially Kaylie.  

About half way through the morning, a few other families with children came out to the pool, and invited the girls to play with them.  They shared their toys, and Elora was really good about taking turns.

We packed up at about 11:30, and headed to Sonic for some limeade and a picnic lunch.  It was a good day.

Father's Day 2012

I found a list of photography tips on Pinterest, and I wanted to try some of them out.  Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, so we went outside an hour or two before sunset, and played.  (As always, click on the pictures to see them larger.) 

   

One suggestion was to take photos from behind, which I already do from time to time, but I don't think I do it enough.

Another was to shoot with the sun behind your subject, and another was to play with the exposure. 

Brandon said that trying to get the girls to cooperate for pictures is like trying to herd cats.  He's right.  I'm sure this is true of all small children.

Brandon doesn't really like them, he says they all just look over-exposed.  Some turned out not-so-great, but I think some of them are definite winners.  I really, really need to just suck it up, and put myself in a photography course.  Or two.  I hear that the Art Institute has a decent photography program...

Anyway, when we finished with the photo session, we put the girls in play clothes, and let them enjoy the last of the beautiful day outside.

  I hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend!!