Its HOT!!!

Its hot!! Way over 90! So we had some fun in the backyard pool. Glen cooked brats over the bbq, Sean splashed near the water (too cold to get in), and Maggie painted a birdhouse shaped like a camping trailer.


It looks like the camera washed the vibrant colors out. Oh well. We hung it next to the weathervane hoping the rooster would encourage someone to move in.

And lest you forget who takes all the photos of the cute kids, its the grubby parents next to the grill. :)

Lazy Saturday

Sean is sooooo soooo mobile! Gone are the days of plopping him in the grass and him staying there. Today I plopped him down and he immediately headed for the regions I personally would not like a baby to play in. But I let him go, because I understand the need for freedom to explore his little world. Here he is heading away from the grass. Note Maggie is in the background happily watering the flowers with her wheelbarrow. She would use the watering can to water the wheelbarrow, then the wheelbarrow to water the flowers.



Here is Sean making it as far as the wagon. Trying to figure out how to pull himself up into it. He got as far as his knees. (He later pulled himself up into standing while in the crib tonight -- a first!)

Ahhhh...made it to where mom doesn't want me! In the dirt and gravel getting all dirty and trying to eat rocks. But mom! This is where dad keeps his frisbees and I want to chew on them!

I tried to block the sun from Maggie's eyes in this picture, but she squinted none-the-less. Artichokes and lettuce are producing well right now. Squash and peas are looking healthy, but our tomatoes are not doing so hot. I think they have shrunk... Well, we had artichokes for dinner anyway...

End of school countdown... 1.5 weeks until the AP exam and 3 weeks until graduation. Yay!

Caught him crawling!

Got Sean crawling on video today. He's getting better every day. Nothing like a loud, noisy toy to inspire movement!

Sean is mobile! (Almost)

Sean is crawling! Sort of. It takes him about 5 minutes to move across the 8 foot rug, but he can do it! He is working sooooo hard to push his 22 pound body up and move. Its easier going on the wood floor where he can slide around in an almost sitting position. Sitting on one foot and dragging himself with his hands. On the rug, he has to hold himself up on hands and knees and then move each appendage at the appropriate time. He gets tired and either lies down or sits. I haven't been able to get a good video clip of it yet. They are just too long to post. So you will have to be satisfied with Sean and the coke bottle. :)

Busy day today. Glen played in the first 2 rounds of a frisbee golf tournament in the west valley. Final round is tomorrow, but he isn't doing as well as he'd like. He is having fun though. This is the last "real" tournament in Phoenix until September. Sean and I took Maggie to her dance class at ASU. We walked the campus while Maggie was in her class. They danced in the dark with glow sticks today. The teacher filmed them as well, while the ligths were on, so we should be getting a copy of that next week. This is a creative dance class where leotards are sooooo last month. Everyone wears shorts, t-shirts, and goes barefoot. Maggie is loving this class more than her ballet class. Its more active. Last week, they all ran around wearing capes and danced like superheros. The week before, they danced while hitting balloons in the air. Lots of fun. I know Maggie will be disappointed when the class is over...which is next week. We are going class free here during May. Its just always super busy for us that month. We will start swim lessons up in June.

Well, after dance class, Maggie's school had their spring carnival. So the three of us went. They had inflatable bouncies, face painting, dunk the teacher, and various games like cakes walks and ring tosses. Only saw one of Maggie's classmates there, which I was suprized about. Didn't see her teacher either, but did see the crossing guard, whom Maggie loves. Got home around 2:30 pm and Sean was beyond bushed. I got him down for a nap while Maggie watched Cinderella. Phew. I was able to actually read for 30 whole minutes while the kids were occupied. Amazing! :)

Maggie had her first standardized tests the other day. Her scores came home this week. She "exceeded the standards" for all the math and logic type tasks, but she "falls far below the standards" for reading. Apparently, she has trouble "blending" which means that if you sound out the letters in a word, such as "dog", she doesn't hear that that is the word dog.

Here are some photos of them after dinner.

I'm a negligent little blogger...

...sorry! Not too much to report here. Just more of the same. Maggie is starting to pick up on reading and writing. She can recognize around 25 words and also our family's names, and the words for the colors and some of the months and days. She is also into subtracting numbers from 0 to 10. She is not as excited about adding. *shrug* She is continuing to have fun in her creative dance class. Its been in the 90's here, so we are breaking out the swimsuits and playing in the sprinklers. Grandma Nancy's pool is still on the chilly side, but it will be swimable before we know it. Grandpa David continues to heal from his operation so we are trying to give him space. Grandma Nancy has been missing everyone though, so she agreed to babysit tomorrow while Glen and I are at a Xavier function in the evening. It will be Sean's first evening without his mama. We'll see....

Glen continues to find more things wrong with his car. He is currently putting together an entirely new engine. We still have the rental car for him. Next weekend is the last frisbee golf tournament in the area until September. He has been practicing extra putts to get ready. :) Next weekend is also Yavapai's spring carnival and Faith Lutheran's end of the year picnic at the train park. So, we will be busy. Haven't had the kayak out in over a week. Its starting to get too hot in the afternoons to boat. And evenings are no good on a school night. So we are currently relegated to Saturdays EARLY morning. Looking forward to summer when we will have the freedom to go any day we like. Yaya!

What Sean is up to.

Still not crawling, but trying oh so hard. He pushes himself up and scootches backwards. He can also get up onto one knee, but will wobble precariously, and falls down onto his tummy again. He has been big into learning to communicate with gestures. He now waves hello and goodbye, will raise his arms up if we wants to be picked up, and loves to clap. He squeals with delight and has cutest, husky little laugh.

Sean is starting to enjoy his food. He loves to feed himself pears, bananas, peas, zucchini, peaches, rice puffs (in lieu of cheerios--wheat allergy), rice pasta shells, cooked carrots, yogurt (plain whole milk with peach jam mixed in), and applesauce. He will eat avocado and broccoli, but they aren't his favorites. He will also sip water from a cup, but I have to be careful as he gets so excited, the water usually ends up all over him. He really doesn't each much. Maybe a teaspoon per sitting. But he is so focused on picking the food up and getting it into his mouth.

Not sure how much he weighs...he was 20 pounds at 8 months old. He is now 10 months! I can't believe it! He is still fitting into some of his 18-24 months old clothes, but new clothes I am buying size 24 months. It has gotten HOT here so I've been looking for shorts and shirts for him. I actually prefer the little one piece outfits, but they are hard to find in his size. And I am picky. No sports themes, no camoflauge, and no dark boring colors like navy or grey. I want my baby in cute, colorful, baby clothes. I will stop here as I think I have ranted about this before...

Here is movie of Sean and Glen. Sean looooooves to be tossed. He started crying when Glen stopped. :)

Miscellaneous News

Not much to report this week. Glen's new engine arrived in the mail today. He is still missing parts. We decided to get him a rental car until the vw is fixed because it was causing too much stress trying to get everyone to and from work at the appropriate times. Maggie has gotten all stars on her daily communication chart from school. Sean is loving feeding himself. He will happily sit in his high chair for an hour working on picking up diced peaches or rice pasta shells to eat. It may take him awhile, but he sure is having fun. Peas are another favorite. Glen and I, and the rest of the teachers and students, are having a hard time getting back into the swing of things after spring break. Only 4 weeks until the AP exam, 6 weeks until graduation, and 7 weeks until the end of school. Yippee!!! Hoping to take the kayak out tomorrow after school.