Afternoon Reading Time

How long do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition? I don't know, but the last couple of weeks Stefan and I have been adding something into our daily routine and we're both loving it. Maybe it has something to do with it being apple season? I'm not sure. Anyway, when Stefan wakes up from his afternoon nap we always sit down with some cut up apples and peanut butter (Love that combination, and my son is following in my footsteps!) and a stack of books. You'll just have to imagine me sitting there with Stefan because I couldn't take a picture of us together. Anyway, we have such a nice time reading together and we usually get through a lot of books in the 20 or so minutes that we do it.

Besides being a good Mommy/son time, good for reading, etc, it also helps the rest of the afternoon go smoothly. I've heard it called the "witching hour" but in any case if you are a parent of small children you know that the late afternoon time can be the fussiest, crankiest time of the day. Usually this is the time that the most whining takes place, discipline issues increase, and of course this is when the littlest member wants to be in my arms and not playing on the floor. Not to mention that as a Mom you're pretty tired out yourself and dinner needs to get on the table. Somehow. Yes, it can be a frustrating couple of hours. Everyone is ready for a change of scenery (i.e. Daddy coming home!). I've found that I can either get cranky right along with my children, or I can embrace that time and find ways to make it better. This is when I need to be the most on my guard as a Mom to be preventative. Seeing discipline issues before they arise. Doing what I can to make those couple of hours go smoothly.

This is one of those things. It is amazing how when I give Stefan 20 minutes of focused time he is much happier for the rest of the afternoon. It's kind of that transition from nap time back to the reality of the day. He will usually very willingly either play on his own while I get dinner, or help me ~sweetly!~ with the dinner prep once he has had some "special" time with me.

I don't know how long we'll keep up this little ritual but for right now I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is so rewarding. We've gotten through books that at other times are more difficult to sit through (like three French books right in a row!). We just enjoy being together, and then I have a happier, sweeter boy, to boot! I'd say it's a good routine and it's working for us right now.

Our budding reader!

Thursdays with Patience

Every Thursday Patience comes over after school for a piano lesson, homework help, and whatever else we decide to do! We all enjoy it:) Today Stefan and Patience were playing duets on the piano for awhile. I had to take a picture!

No stopping her!

Olivia gets around!

Here is a very short video clip to show you how Olivia gets around these days. Just this week she kind of took off. Though it isn't a real crawl, she definitely can get to whatever she wants with no problem! My life just got more complicated;)

Happy Birthday!

Wife, mommy, best friend, teacher, nurse, cook, cleaner, etc...Johanna is all this and more to the three of us. We love her and aspire to model the same grace and mercy she has displayed in our home. We hope that today will be a special day for you, Johanna! Happy Birthday!
Love,
Brian, Stefan, and Olivia

Visitors!

We enjoyed a brief visit from Erik and Bethany this weekend. It was great to see the newlyweds. We only wish it could have been a little longer. Here are a couple of shots of them with the kids.

More shots of Olivia!

Because we all know that for every one shot I post, I took (precisely) a gazillion others.

I can't get enough of this smile.

This is for all of you that thought I might have waited too long to start her on solids. Ummm check out the thighs!

The thighs and the giggles. More cuteness than one girl ought to be allowed.

Family picnic

A couple of weekends ago we went on an impromptu family picnic. It was a fun evening, though the mosquitoes were quite pesky. We ate, watched Stefan play on the playground for awhile and then finished off the evening with a Sonic ice cream cone. Compliments of our local library's summer reading program. Olivia got her own too, but Daddy and Mommy shared hers:)

Six Months Old

It is so hard to believe that Olivia is now half way through her first year. Wow. Time has flown. Olivia is such a sweetheart.
She rolls all over the place and can get to nearly anything if she really wants to, but isn't actually crawling yet.
She smiles and giggles and, hands down, her big brother can get the BEST giggles out of her.
Up to this point Olivia has been 100% breastfed. Her entire world will be opening up as we start introducing her to the world of different tastes and textures in food.

Mudpies!

Another one of our fun activities this week was making mudpies. There is definitely a reason why mother's of toddlers don't get manicures done. It wouldn't last more than a day! Anyway, sometimes I wonder at myself, because I was teaching him how to make the mudpies. But he had a blast and eventually was able to make them mostly on his own! It was so cute to watch his face every single time he picked up the bowl and saw the pie firmly in place. It was like it was new every time. My camera wasn't fast enough to catch the "in awe" look, but you get a small idea in the picture in the collage. He felt the need to water the flower afterwards too.

We also talked about squares and circles while we did this. I know. But, I really couldn't help myself.

Playing is learning!

My motto when trying to teach Stefan is that "playing is learning." With a toddler there is so much to learn just by playing. Really, nearly anything can be a learning experience if you are in tune to seeing it and maybe just a little imaginative/creative. What I love is that Stefan is learning without even realizing he is.

The other day we did this great activity/game together. We were given these mini-vehicles (along with some other pre-school type materials--yeah!) from another Mom who no longer needs them. Stefan loves them! Stefan already knows his colors, and is really good at sorting by color or type (airplanes, firetrucks, cars, boats, trains, buses) so we made this into a French game.

On one end of our living room we had the bucket of beans with all the vehicles. On the other end of the room we had a table with the same color bowls. He would reach in and get a vehicle and then run (and I mean run!) across the room to the correct bowl. Before he could go get another one, he had to say the color/vehicle in french. He had a blast! Before we knew it we had spent over an hour together and had not spoken a word of english. Of course many other french words were used besides just the colors and vehicles so this was a great activity. He then spent almost another hour just playing in the beans. Playing in beans or rice is a great sensory activity for toddlers.

VBS Carnival

Last week our church had Vacation Bible School. Brian helped all week, but the kids and I were home. However, on the last night, which was carnival night, the younger kids were invited to come. Stefan loved it!


Trying out cotton candy with Ms. Lacey. That was the only bite he took. He did NOT like it! (Apple didn't fall far from the tree there--neither Brian nor I like it!)

Enjoying some of the games and getting lots of little prizes. He even aimed perfectly and dunked "Uncle" Jeremy (one of our pastors) in the dunk tank. Olivia spent most of the evening in Auntie Jennie's arms and fell right to sleep!

Auntie Donna Recap #2

Stefan really enjoyed Auntie Donna this visit! As he gets older it is really fun watching him develop a bond with people. He definitely picked up really quickly that Auntie Donna would do just about anything he asked. They did lots of playing and reading together. She's a fun Auntie!

While Donna was here we also got to meet up with our good friends, Michael, Liz, Viviane, and Adeline. Brian wasn't able to go to the gardens with us, but he did meet up with us for his lunch break. It was so much fun catching up with them and I'm looking forward to being with Liz and the girls again this week.