Playgroup Preschool

Lacy and I are not able to attend our awesome playgroup preschool as often as we would like(many times are traveling home Monday mornings from Portland), but we always have such a great time when we do!

Today I brought my camera because I thought it would be cute to see all the kiddos in their Jammies. Today at playgroup preschool the kids were focusing on the letter J! I am the lame-o mommy that has not contributed yet, but the other moms pooled together and had stories, songs, crafts, toy exchanges, and even theme-related snacks! Not too mention the impromptu tumbling session:) Hopefully they all will enjoy the photos, so I won't feel completely worthless! Thanks for hosting Leah!

Mommy Leah holding her daughter Gretchen and Ashley. 

Silly Gretchen

Buddies

Yes, that would be my Lacy pouting and glaring right at me, being ungrateful for the provided snack. She did well and changed her attitude quite quickly. Still...this photo cracks me up!

Can rough-housing be left out when boys get together? ;) Karis obviously loves to join in with the boys as well!

Will in mid-somersault.

There is always room for a friend.

Printable copies HERE 

Pump-E-Up round 2!

Lacy had such a great time at Pump-E-Up(aka Pump It Up Jr.) with Sophia, I decided to take Lacy again while we were in town. We needed to take advantage of Portland's great indoor activities while we could! This time, Uncle Cory joined in the fun. Also, it was completely less crowded, which made it a lot more fun AND easier to communicate! Another perk, I was able to take more photos...and I did take a LOT. I know, I know...big surprise;) And, in all following photos, you will spot that Ashley even got in on the fun!! And in case you can't tell how fast we are going, click on the photo to enlarge and check out her hair! Cracks me up. Good times at Pump-It-Up.

THIS ONE. check out Ashley's hair...awesome.

FYI-looking that cool while going down the slide does cause rug-burn!

So much fun!!!

Pump-It-Up first visit...

A little over 2 weeks ago and while in Portland, I met my friend Shannon and her daughter Sophia, at Pump It Up Jr. Honestly, I love this place. And by that, I mean, this mommy completely loves to go screaming down the slides too! I had to laugh when Shannon said she wants her 30th birthday party at Pump It Up...I'm not the only grown up that really loves it! The only reason I was able to take the few photos I did was because Shannon's mom and sister also came to watch and they took turns with Ashley. So nice! Shannon's sister is also a Lacey! My Lacy still is talking about 'lady Lacey'(aka grown-up Lacey). I also stole a photo from Shannon's blog..it was just so cute:) I think my favorite part was when they turned off the lights in one room and Shannon comes to tell me the girls were climbing and sliding down the massive slide IN THE DARK! Shocked me that Lacy was SO brave.

Photo from Shannon-how much fun are they having?!

Lacey, Susie, and Ashley. Lacey just came from the gym...wouldn't be great to look that great AFTER a gym workout? 

Lacy and Lacey. How sweet is that look?!

The girls played forever at the drinking fountain. Sophia told Lacy, "Let's drink together, Lacy" cute:)

OFFICIAL TRICYCLE RIDER!!!

What a milestone Lacy achieved today! Look at my little girl whizzing by in the photo on her tricycle! I am so excited and proud of Lacy. If you know Lacy, you are aware of how incredibly physically timid she is and, in addition, so easily overwhelmed and quick to panic(for all things gross motor). I honestly don't know the average age of when little ones begin to ride tricycles, especially as many of our neighbor kids are older and then some of the younger ones have older siblings, which I know speeds up the learning curve! It just seems that all the kids are SO far beyond the trike days, even Lacy's little buddy who is only 2 months older is riding a TWO-WHEELER with training wheels! Granted, he is boy number 3 and is keeping up with his brothers. So, I think you can see why it may seem like it's taken Lacy so long to accomplish this milestone. But, now, I don't think she is that far behind the curve. It used to be my running joke that Lacy would not ride a trike until she was 5. However, three and a 1/2 is really not too bad for peddling and steering at the same time...right?

She was so excited and proud of herself, we had to call Daddy at work and then each grandma to tell them she was riding her trike around and around the cul-de-sac! Then when our neighbor Chris came out, she yelled to her telling her the big accomplishment and demanded that Chris "look at me!!"  :)

Lacy has 2 tricycles(and HOT WHEELS!), and I prefer she uses the other one, that is smaller, lower to the ground and has a little wider frame. BUT, as soon as she realized this trike had a bell...DONE DEAL, the new fav.

Lacy had to work VERY hard to fight back tears when it was time to come inside. She was happy to run upstairs and jump in Ashley's crib and tell her sister all about her new achievement. Yes...precious.

Curly Temple

It's amazing to me that THREE generations of my family have fallen in love with Shirley Temple. My mom loved her, I LOVED her, and now Lacy has been bitten by the Shirley bug. A couple years ago, Eddy bought me a massive set of DVDs, with tons of Shirley movies. You name, I probably have it;) Just over the last year has Lacy gotten old enough to begin watching, some keep her interest more than others.

So, Lacy has been asking to have REALLY curly hair 'JUST like Shirley Temple'. I was thinking on a nice rainy day, we would tackle that big job. Well, I was crunched for time one morning, but really wanted to give Lacy some curls when she asked. This first photo is from doing spiral curls with a curling iron. She LOVED it, but wanted to try the styrofoam ones I had told her about a long time ago.

One weekend morning, we went for it. We grabbed the curlers, popped in Bright Eyes and started rolling! I don't even know where to start, the day was just packed with special memories!

First, I had given Lacy the nickname 'Curly Temple' and she insisted that I call her that for the entire day...EVEN if she was getting scolded! haha.

Once the rollers were in-she REFUSED to allow me to take them out! She kept dashing to the bathroom and smiling at her reflection of roller-head.  Lacy tried to lay down on the couch with her roller-head while watching the movie and said that it was not comfortable. I got this brilliant idea-tell her about how 'little girls had to sleep that way and we should take out your rollers so you don't have to be uncomfortable sleeping with your rollers.' She LIGHTS up and asks oh, so excitedly, 'MOMMY! May I sleep with my rollers too?!'   DOH! Backfire.

Then, she decides that she is NOT pretending anymore and she IS Shirley Temple, NOT Curly Temple, and I must refer to her as SHIRLEY. She was VERY serious about this!

FINALLY at 3:30, I convinced her to let me take out her rollers. Let me tell you that for 10 minutes, she literally kept going back and forth on her decision and I was walking on egg shells trying to convince her that she had made the right decision to take the rollers out! The minute she looked in the mirror, she BEAMED and immediately started jumping, loving how her hair bounced. I need to buy more rollers and do her entire head in small rollers next time, but mission accomplished. We both had a very fun and memorable day...next time we'll have better curls;)

Multitasking gone awry

I was feeding Ashley, cooking Lacy's dinner, and Eddy came to the door with groceries. I go to help and was about to go back to feed Ashley a couple more bites when I see....

Yes, that's right. I left the cereal bowl on the tray! I jumped up to help Eddy and the cereal did not even cross my mind! Since the damage was done, we just took a few photos and let her enjoy and explore. She was headed up for a bath after this anyway;) She got a big kick out of the spoon as well! Oh, Ashley.

ALL DONE!

I should not have been surprised by this as Ashley is proving to be quite the little visual learner, but here she is at dinner time, doing the baby sign for 'all done'. I only had my phone, which takes TERRIBLE video, but I think you can at least see enough to make her out. So fun! (Ashley 7 months)


ALL DONE! from tofslie on Vimeo.