Call Day #39, 1/25/13

 Saturday is ballet day.  The girls look forward to it.  We got there a bit early and they spent the minutes before class running around the large classroom.  Oliver watched and crawled after them a bit.

Claire's class is first, then Eleanor's.  After finishing her class, Claire spent some time coloring a picture to give to her teacher.

 She and Oliver played ball.

 A peek into Eleanor's class.

 Nice form!

When we got home and were putting all the ballet gear away, we couldn't find Eleanor's ballet shoes.  She looked in the car and found one, but the other was nowhere to be found.  We called the ballet place, but it wasn't there.  We decided to go look for it on the sidewalk after nap.  Everyone was getting in the van when Eleanor discovered the other shoe in her car seat (despite both of us having looked in the van repeatedly).  Yay for finding the lost shoe!  Since we were already heading out and had planned on visiting the Main Library after hunting for a shoe, we decided to just go anyway.

 Our first visit there.  Eleanor picking out books on the easy reader shelf.  There were a lot!

Oliver watches Claire do puzzles.

Playing.

Ice cream sundaes after dinner!

Call Day #38, 1/17/14

A book about ants this week prompted a trip to the museum to see these creatures.  Have you heard of leaf-cutting ants that use leaf bits to grow their own fungus gardens?  Claire watched them excitedly.

 On the way to the museum, Eleanor was already talking about building a rocket and shooting it up in the air.  We had to visit this part of the museum right away.

 Blast off!

Oliver crawled through a tunnel, ball in hand.

Actually, he LOVED watching the balls today.  This switchback was a huge hit with him.  As balls came down, he'd scream and get so excited, catching them when they got down to his level.

He played with the tiny beads in this exhibit.  He had a great time enthusiastically banging them and pushing them around.  It was a lot of fun to watch him really play today and realize he's not just riding around in the baby carrier the way he was just a few months back.

Science experiment time.

The science side of me loves seeing these little heads checking things out.

Lighting up a Christmas light with a battery.  On the way home, Eleanor asked "Do you think we could do that at home, Mommy?"

A tube that lit up when the circuit was completed by placing a hand on each end.

Building with little wooden planks.  These three were sweet together.  Claire would get pieces out of the big bin and give them to the little girl who would share with Oliver.

Eleanor worked for a long while on this structure.  Right after I took the picture a little boy came over and pushed the whole thing over.  Though I know she was sad, Eleanor was calm and handled it really well.  Good job, kiddo.

After studying snakes some weeks back, they were happy to visit the snakes again.

They each brought money to buy a lollipop.

Ready to head home.

 Yes, another shot of the boy in the car seat.  I don't often get shots of him this clear because he's always moving and/or trying to grab the camera.  So here's a few in a row.

 Cute little teeth.  There are eight of them now.  Eye color still undetermined.  Brown in the center, bluish on around the edges.  Sometimes looks gray?

Dinner and grocery shopping at Sam's before heading to church for evening small group meeting.

Call Day #37, 1/4/14

Boy surrounded by toys.

 He was playing so intently this morning!  Legos and beads in and out of a box over and over again, cars rolled around, loading up a dump truck, and playing with these strings for stringing beads.

 It had been a while since we'd gone to the library and books are a must.  Claire used the automated return which is a hit with both girls.  It's fun to watch each book get sucked in on the conveyor belt!

 Oliver checks out the book selection.

Doing puzzles and coloring at the library.

Eleanor's gingerbread house coloring with lots of peppermints on the roof.

A package from Nanny and Papa was waiting for us when we got home.

 Holding up a sparkly tutu.

The whole ensemble:  leotard, tutu, and leg warmers.  They were so excited.  Claire wore this for nap time.

The best $20 ever spent?  Eleanor thinks it's an exciting privilege to use the new vacuum.  We were tired of lugging out the big vacuum to keep cleaning under the kitchen table daily (or more frequently--we have messy eaters!).  This stick vacuum can fit in the pantry and is easier for the kids to use.  They actually had to debate who could use it!  If only the newness would never wear off...