This and that

Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dane gave the kids their Christmas presents this past week (remember how the flu messed up all of our plans?) and Jack was thrilled to receive a Star Wars lego set. He promptly put it together and loves the action component of ejecting the pilot :)

I made the boys chili and gave them little cups of grated cheese and saltine crackers for dinner last night. This is their absolute favorite meal from Cedarwood and I have not been able to find a chili that is as good as Chef Pearl's (must ask her for her recipe). They barely touched the chili but managed to make a MESS with the grated cheese and crumbled up saltines. I let Jack help with the cleaning up so here he is vacuuming up the floor :) My future daughter in law will thank me some day!

Hooked on reading

Jack's reading has really taken off. We've been careful not to push him so he'll always have a love for reading. He's been reading simple readers since last year but now we've moved on to more complex stuff. I bought this phonics program that is a no-frills, no games type of deal to help reinforce what we've taught him at home all along. Jack really regressed with sounding words out and would just guess random words based on the initial letter. Very discouraging to me!! Now he's back to sounding out his words and I hope we "never look back". If you are interested in the program, it's Ultimate Phonics by Spencer Learning. See it here

Painting by numbers

Jack has been dying for a kit like this forever so I finally gave in and got him one. He LOVED painting after school yesterday and today and just finished up! Pictures to come later.

Theo's old playgroup toured the fire station today and we tagged along. The kids got to see the parts of the station and then the trucks and gear. Isn't Theo a handsome fire man?

Crafting

Jack's 100th day of school is Friday and we had to do a project for it on a poster board. We didn't end up using the whole thing so I cut it in half and let Theo have fun with the rest. He put stickers all around and surprised me by writing his name in the upper left part (just like Jack does for his school work). He's been writing his name for a while now but it was just a sweet surprise to see he had done it all on his own accord. He also drew a picture of me. Aren't I beautiful??

Lately

We've been staying busy around here. We cheered the LSU Tigers on to victory at home and then mourned the Saints loss with friends. Theo couldn't resist the urge to play princess with his friends. He even donned high heels. It was all in good fun :)

I took Theo to Toddlearn today to play indoors. It's been so cold and windy here so we're sticking to the warm places we know and love. He carried this guitar around and played songs for 15 minutes or more. It was the most darling thing. He's such a loving, sweet boy. And the dimples.... well, they definitely help!

One of our favorite haunts on Tuesdays is The Beach House by the lakefront. They have Taco Tuesday with $1 tacos. There is a sandy area for the kids to play in but tonight the kids didn't last long. They mainly stayed indoors and ate up. Jack had 3 tacos. I think that boy is growing!!

Touchscreen

Theo loves playing games on the touchscreen computer. Here he is playing a Dora game :) Of course, the touchscreen doesn't work as well when he sucks his finger and it's wet. Eww.