Randomness, Part 1

Although last week was spring break, most of the time it was too cold to play outside. There were two afternoons that were nice, and the rest of the time, the kids ended up playing with all kinds of random things around the house. After all, anything can be a toy when you are three years old! For example, Gavin was fascinated with my potholders and jar openers, and had to spread them out wherever he went in the house. He even drove his cars on them:




Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with Grandpa after bath time...that game is still as noisy as I remember! Although, it is great for counting and for fine motor skills, especially for Evie:







Climbing into a 5- gallon bucket...does there have to be a reason why?




Stay tuned to see what else Evie and Gavin entertained themselves with last week!

Playdate!

Last week we went over to my friend Laura's house to play with her triplets (Lindsey, Maya, and Brandon, age 4). We always have a great time with them!




Gavin loved their racetrack:




He loved this pink castle just as much!




Snack time!




Gavin cracked up when one of the kids said a silly word. At this age, ANY word can be silly!




All of the kids were a tiny bit grumpy - we'll blame it on cabin fever. Next time we'll meet up at a park so they can run off all their energy!

Sports Day

Every now and then, the preschool has "spirit days." Last Wednesday was Sports Day, and Evie wore her new White Sox T shirt from Grandma Cordes (purchased at Grandstand Sox, right next to the ballpark). Gavin just wore a regular shirt, because he is so picky these days.

This week, the kids have been on spring break. We have gone on a few playdates but really wish we could get outside. I happen to like the cold weather in this climate, but I am tired of the kids getting so many colds and passing them around. And when it's warmer, Gavin can run off some of his energy at the park. Maybe next week!

My Morning In The Bluebird Room

Last week, I got to volunteer in Evie's classroom. It is really fun to see her going through the class routine, playing and learning and interacting with the other kids. The first thing she did was a counting and sorting activity, below:



That yellow bin next to her has many small square cubes. The kids are supposed to line them up in the gray trays, which has columns numbered one through ten. Evie decided that she only wanted the red cubes, as you can see. Another boy was doing the activity with her, and he gave her all the red cubes that he could find.


Below, Evie did another counting exercise. She had to place a bean on each animal in the picture and then count then. This time, she only wanted to use black beans.





Here we are at snack time:



After snack time, we both ended up coloring:

I got to watch the speech therapist play a rhyming game with the entire class, then we went into the hallway for motor time. While the other kids jumped on a trampoline, Evie hung out in her wagon and watched Gavin. His class just happened to be in the hallway too, for their own motor time. (Gavin's classroom is across the hall from Evie's classroom.) Then it was time to go home. What a fun morning!

Thursday Cuteness

Here are some random pictures from last week:

Evie poses with her hedgehog toy and wears a new outfit from Grandma Cordes:



Gavin loves playing with the gas station from the movie "Cars." It is called "Flo's V-8 Cafe," and is run by Flo, a big green 50's sedan. Gavin's Transformer truck (aka Optimus Prime) is too big to fit in the gas station, so Flo brings gas out to Optimus:

Outside Fun

We had some decent weather last week, so we were able to get outside a few times. I got out the chalk and the kids' chairs:




Gavin loves squirt bottles. He sprayed the bushes, rocks, driveway, bricks, you name it!



Evie wasn't interested in squirting anything:




Later on, we got out Gavin's watering can (it looks like an oil can from the movie "Cars") and again, everything in sight got watered:

Kids-n-Cats

We had another fun visit to Auntie Di and Uncle Kevin's house last weekend. The cats know that when we come over, they are going to get treats. And the adults know that when the visit is over, the kids and the cats are going to sleep very soundly!

Fern and Fergie waited for Gavin to give them treats (notice that Gavin brought his own toy cat, named "Baby Cat," along for the visit):




Evie giggled as the cats chased (and fetched) little puffy balls that Auntie Di threw:




Gavin knows that he needs to be very gentle when he pets the cats. He even tried putting his toy cat on Fergie's back, but she wasn't too interested.

Thursday Cuteness

Francis got the twins a game called "Let's Go Fishing." Evie will sit and work through it, while Gavin ends up taking the fish out and playing with them. This is a really good OT (occupational therapy) exercise for Evie. She has to get the fishing pole into the fish mouth (she uses two hands to do it - eventually she'll be able to do it with one) and then she has to lift it up and out of the water.



Evie is very determined to get the fish out!

Francis happened to be near a Disney store last week, so the twins got spontaneous gifts. They both love the movie "Bambi," especially Gavin, so Francis got him a Flower and a Bambi toy. (We already had Thumper.) Evie got a stuffed alien doll from Toy Story 3. Below Gavin is taking a rest with his new toys - Thumper is under his head and Flower is by his knees:

Nana & Grandpa's Anniversary

On March 6, Nana & Grandpa Cermak celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! (Sorry I am a little late with this post.) Evie and Gavin colored cards for them before they came over to our house:

Gavin helped me make cupcakes. He loves to help prepare food! I measured the ingredients, and he carefully poured them into the bowl and then helped me stir.







Once the cupcakes cooled, I frosted them. Then the twins poured the sprinkles on. And I do mean "pour!" There were sprinkles everywhere, even though we kept the cupcakes in these plastic containers (see below). I gave them a spoon to scoop the sprinkles out, since the bottle didn't have a shaker top. This was definitely their favorite part of the day!

Then Francis grilled steaks and asparagus and we made baked potatoes. After we ate it was time to start a dvd for the kids. Gavin decided to climb on Grandpa's back and take a rest.

It was quite a fun day! Congratulatios to Nana & Grandpa!

Evie Rides A Bike

I had heard about this bike that Evie rides at school. It's a tricycle with a long handle on the back, for an adult to use to help push. Well, imagine my utter surprise when Evie came out at the end of the day last week, not in her wagon, but on this tricycle! She was so proud of herself, and so happy to show me what she could do. I'm pretty sure I jumped up and down in the parking lot - who knows what all the other parents sitting in their cars must have thought, but who cares? Evie rode a tricycle!!!

Evie's nurse is pushing her along. Another reason this is so incredible is that at then end of the morning, Evie is usually drained of energy. She loves school, but after 2.5 hours she just has nothing left. Ususally!

Her feet are taped to the pedals with special purple duct tape:



This was on Monday. When I talked about it with her early Tuesday morning, she signed "more bike" for me, and Tuesday when I picked them up from school she was on the bike again! Woo-hoo!