In Other News...

Lots of other things have been going on here that I haven't had the chance to blog about. 

First, Rylee's beloved VPK teacher took another job (outside of teaching).  Here is a phone pic from the goodbye party on her last day.  Rylee misses her so much, but she likes her new teacher and still loves going to school so that is the important part.


Second, Rio has had a string of unfortunate events.  She had an ear infection which bothered her for about a week and then scratched her cornea.  The cornea injury required her first ever "conehead" experience.  (We just finished one week in the cone and we have at least one more to go.)  Poor baby!


Third, about a month ago, Rylee joined Awana Club (basically bible scouts) with her friend from school, Asrielle.  The kids learn different bible verses, earn patches and just plain have fun.  They meet weekly and each night has a different theme.  Here is cell phone pic from their Thanksgiving-themed class.  Rylee went dressed as an Indian.  (I got to put my Kindergarten crafting skills to use). 


Let's see, what else?  I hosted my book club on Thursday.  Big shout out to Jon for watching the kids and doing all the cleanup and another to my Mom for making the dinner (I made the dessert).  My Mom and Dad also watched the kids this weekend so Jon and I could do some Christmas shopping and go out to dinner (something we haven't done since last winter).  It was so nice to get away just the two of us.  Thanks babysitters!

I'll leave you with this random cell phone pic of the kids watching TV in bed.  Fun times!  And most of the popcorn kernels ended up on Jon's side of the bed so that was a plus. 


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Shaggy No More

I have a good reason for my latest blog break: Gaga and Papa finally arrived in SoFla!  The kids are ecstatic, as am I.  Between spending time with them, fitting in our regular activities, and scheduling end of the year doctor appointments, we have been busy (duh!).

Let's see... my parents arrived about a week and a half ago and the first thing my Mom did was cut Jace's hair.  He desperately needed it!  Here's the before...

And the after...

 

 

He actually needs it trimmed a little shorter even, but that was all he could sit for.  Doesn't he look handsome?  :)

 



Jace @ 18 mos

Jace had his 18 month checkup today and, due to a shot shortage, managed to escape with only a finger prick. Below are my big boy's stats:

Height: 34 inches (91st percentile)
Weight: 27 lbs (64th percentile)

*Just out of curiosity, I looked back at Rylee's stats from her 18 month visit: Height: 33 inches (83rd percentile) Weight: 23 lbs 6 oz (35th percentile)*

I feel like I never have time to post about Jace's adventures.  He and I have had lots of fun lately while Rylee is at school.  We found an awesome story hour to attend on Wednesdays (reminds me of Hallett's story hour back in MN) and now that the weather is nicer, we've been hitting the parks.  It's a bit of a workout chasing him around - he's a daredevil on the slides and everything else.  :)

Last Friday, we went to a park with a splash pad.  Jace loved playing in the little fountains.   Check out the new hands-on-hips pose he picked up from his sister!



 

Both kids made the most of their long weekend.  On Saturday, we had Rylee's best school friend, Kenzie, and her sister, Mikaela, over for a playdate.  Sunday was a fun park day with Rylee's friends, Alexa and Ryan.  Jace had a great time trying to keep up with everyone.  Yesterday the kids got some much needed Miller, Norah and Caleb time at Monkey Joe's.  We even braved lunch out at Panera afterward.  Fun times! 

 

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Fall Fest Dance

There was a Fall Festival in Weston on Sunday and Rylee's dance school had a little performance.  Rylee's class danced to the "Witch Doctor" song and wore their Halloween costumes as their outfits.  We decided to go with Doc McStuffins again since it has pants for easier dancing!  The pics aren't the greatest, but you can see some of her moves.  :)

Wave your hands in the air!

 

 

 

Not sure what this is called - a go go move?

Arm rolls (aka the wheels on the bus!)

The arm wave

 

 

They didn't really have a number choreographed, the teacher was just calling out moves from the side of the stage (which is why Rylee is looking to the side in all the pics).  It was still friggin' cute!

 

After her performance, Rylee got to partake in some of the fun like face painting...

 

games...

and crafts.

 

Weekend Update

On Friday, Rylee dressed up as Princess Leia again for the costume parade at her school.  A lot of kids were absent from Rylee's class (too much Halloween fun the night before?) but we got to see all the kids from baby on up so it was fun to see everyone.  Not sure if I mentioned, but her school had a big party day on Halloween.  The kids rotated through all the different classrooms playing games and making crafts.  They emptied most of the furniture from Rylee's classroom since their room was the dance party.  So fun!

Friday afternoon, we attended a park birthday party for Rylee's friend, James.  It was fun to go, but Jace didn't have the best time (he was overtired and missing his nap).  Luckily, he transferred to his crib for a late nap even after he fell asleep in the car!  Now that he's older he doesn't do this as easily.  :)

Saturday morning, Jon and Rylee had some father/daughter time at Home Depot where they tried the kid's project class.  Rylee made a Pilgrim ship - our new Thanksgiving centerpiece!  She even got a Home Depot apron and project pin.  They had fun (minus the heat from working outside) so I think they'll be making this a regular outing. 

Venessa invited us girls over to swim on Saturday afternoon.  Their pool is heated so it was quite pleasant and Rylee loves any time she can spend with little Madison!  :)




Sunday was jam packed too.  Rylee had a dance performance in Weston (more on that later) and then I had dinner out for Venessa's surprise birthday party dinner (the big 4-0!).  It was a great weekend all in all!

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More Halloween

A couple more Halloween pics before we get on to November.

First, a couple closeups of my awesome R2D2 costume...

 

 

 

 

 

Jace, in one version of his Ewok costume.  The Ewok hood is actually from one of Jon's stuffed Ewok animals.  It was a perfect fit too! 

 

 

 

I forgot that originally I wanted Rio to be R2D2, well "Rio2D2" actually, but I couldn't find an R2D2 dog costume.  Anyway, here's a better look at her as Yoda.  :)

 

 

 

This year's collection of pumpkins.  I'm not sure what the toilet paper monstrosity was supposed to be (I'm guessing a mummy), but Rylee brought that home from school.  :)

 



 

 

I loved Jace as a Jedi, and I'm a sucker for the group costume, but I really should have dressed him as something that roared, ruffed or mooed (three things he can actually say!).  I was surprised how much he enjoyed Halloween though.  He actually tolerated wearing his costume, he spent part of his time chillin' in the wagon eating cereal and the other part walking and getting candy at people's doors.  He totally figured that part out and wanted to be part of the trick-or-treating action.  He was adorable!

 

And as you can see by their loot, both kids made quite the haul...

 

 

It took us about an hour and a half to make our loop of houses, and when we returned, the cauldron of candy I left out was empty!  I guess the kids didn't heed my "take two" note (go figure!).  Next year, I'll only put out half our candy.  Lesson learned!  On the bright side, we closed up shop and got the kids to bed by 8:30.