From February to March

Preschool sign up .. we're in :)

St. Paul of the Cross Trivia Champs .. Year 2 :)

Stuck in the chain ladder.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! 3/2

September 2015

Here are a few shots taken over the past 2 - 3 weeks.

Kyle visited Boo and Dzia for Grandparents' Day and the Bears' Home Opener on the 13th.

Erik's now drinking water out of a sippy cup :)

Bears' Home Opener: Blocks and Bears

While Kyle was with Boo and Dzia, and I was at my friend Erin's luncheon, Chris had his friends Matt, Rob, and Bobby over to watch the Bears/Packers game. Bears lost :(

Uncle and Erik.

Erik stands whenever/wherever he can :)

Erik also reads whenever/wherever he can.

Erik's first rib bone.

Bubble Mohawk Boys

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus

"It's Llama Llama!!"

Star Wars!

Kyle loves reading his Star Wars phonics books. Even though we have read "How to Be a Jedi" at least a million and one times, he just started laughing and saying, "Yoda fighting Grandpa!" on the page where Yoda is having a light saber battle against Count Dooku. (I think it might be the white hair?) :)

St. Patty's Day Bulletin Board: Reading is GOLDEN

Advent

To celebrate the season of advent, we decided to help Kyle count down the days to Christmas by wrapping up some of his old winter/holiday books and letting him open one each night before bed. The book magically appears each night in Santa's sleigh. I think Ky's favorite part (and we've obviously only done it one night so far) was holding the sleigh and ripping off the wrapping paper.

Best Babysitters Ever! Thank you all :)

Last week I worked a crazy long, two-day volleyball tournament at work. I didn't get home from work until about 8:30pm both nights, and had to depend on different sources to help out with Kyle duty. Thank you to everyone who helped out! Kyle loves spending time with you all. Here's a pic of Kyle reading with Uncle on Monday night. What a pair.

ABC Review

Today during breakfast, Kyle practiced spoon feeding himself bananas while we reviewed the letters we've been working on: A,B, C, and K. We reviewed a few chunks too, like /all/ as in "ball" and /at/ as in "cat", as well as the vowel digraphs /oo/ in "book" and /ow/ as in "plow" and "cow". Simple chunks and digraphs can be used to form simple words.

Letter Study

Sometimes Kyle can be a really slow eater, especially in the morning, so since I'm home I decided to start some morning meal mini lessons with him. We bought a simple white board during our run to Target earlier in the week, along with a pack of washable crayons, and while Kyle munches on eggo waffles and peanut butter, bananas/apple sauce, and milk, I pull out one letter from his card pack to do a few simple activities with. So far this week we've done "K", "Y" and "A". First I review the letter/word/sound (we go through all his cards a few times a week so he's familiar with this part): "K", Kite, /k/. "Y", Yellow, /y/. "A", Apple, /a/. Then I trace the letter on the card with my finger as I say the name. Next I take the crayon and draw the same letter on the white board, followed by three words that begin with that same sound: "K", Kite, /k/, "K", Kyle, /k/, "K", Key, /k/. "Y", Yellow, /y/, "Y", Yes, /y/, "Y", Yoda, /y/. "A" was a little trickier in that this card teaches the short a sound, so I needed three words that began with the short a as opposed to the long a: "A", Apple, /a/, "A", Aunt, /a/, "A", Abplanalp, /a/. I try to bring some meaning to the words by holding up objects, pointing at things, or drawing pictures. When Kyle is finished eating, I let him hold the crayon and write on the board until he tries to eat the crayon. At that point the lesson is over and playtime can begin :)

Dear Santa

It may be May 6th already, yet Kyle managed to pull out his Christmas letter from Santa telling him what a good boy he's been all year. Apparently we have some major spring cleaning to do around here.

Reading Time

Sometimes Ky likes to pick out his own books, mostly to chew on, and then maybe to have Mommy or Daddy read to him once he's satisfied ;)

St. Nicholas Day

Happy St. Nicholas Day to all. St. Nick brought Kyle two new books today to help him get ready for Christmas, and for the entire winter season in general. He really enjoyed his early presents until about dinner time, at which point he'd much rather eat his new books than read them ;)

Reading with Auntie Robo

On Monday, Kyle and Auntie Robo built a fort in our living room. I heard they did some good reading under there. Wish I had a picture of the fort ;)

Elf on a Shelf

Last Monday I went back to work full time. Even though my new principal is very understanding and my new position is very accommodating, it was still a very tough day. I wish I could stay home. Every day. Forever. With my sweet pea. Although that can't happen, it is good to know he is in good hands. Monday my Aunt Robin watched him, and I came home to this ....

So stinkin' cute ;)

The Berenstain Bears

Ever since Halloween, Kyle and I have really gotten into reading the Berenstain Bears books together, especially the holiday ones. Last week we read one about Thanksgiving, and this evening (before catching a few funny scenes from "Home Alone" on ABC Family), we read The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear. This book is perfect considering we are taking Kyle to have breakfast with Santa in two weeks ;)

Cuddle Cutie

It rained on and off pretty much all afternoon yesterday so after a little shopping with Grandma P, Kyle and I spent the rest of the day snuggling and reading books. Not a bad afternoon at all ;)

Reading with Daddy!

Daddy's Boy

Kyle loves weekends, because it means he gets more time to hang out with Daddy, one of his best buddies in the whole wide world (besides of course Mommy, Jerry the Giraffe, Big Jerry the Giraffe, Elmo, Sock Monkey #1, Sock Money #2, Froggy, Kermy, Ducky, and pretty much anything that jingles or fits yummingly in his mouth). When the boys have time to hang out they like to read exciting books, watch fun movies, and lounge around, living a life of leisure ;) Aren't they cute?!