Then & Now

This picture was taken in August 2005



This picture was taken February 2009



Izzy used to sleep with her blanket pulled up over her head quite often as an infant. I might go so far to say that she did it as a defense mechanism once she started daycare. In Denver, once Pete left for training, Izzy went to daycare two days a week while I worked. I had not seen her sleep like this since we moved. Three days ago I looked in on her before bed and saw her this way. Then again for the next two nights. I have a theory, but am going to give it a few more days before I share it.

Here is a picture just cause it is cute. The kids got these capes for Christmas and insisted on wearing them to the birthday party yesterday.



Cute, huh?

The Valentine Tree

When Pete and I lived in our apartment in Denver, we didn't have the room or money for a Christmas tree. So, I bought us a small fake tree for Christmas 2002.

Fast forward to February 2009 and here it is


It is now our Valentine's Day Tree. As goofy as it sounds, and as much as Pete hates that I didn't let him pack it away with the Christmas decorations, Izzy had so much fun decorating it.

We cut out hearts, painted on some glue, and then went to town with the glitter.







My thought behind keeping the tree out year round is...well, why not? Izzy loves to do crafts and at least it will be fun to make decorations for on various holidays, right? She was so proud as I handed her the heart ornaments and she ran into the other room to hang them on the tree. Drew was the only one allowed in the toy room with her while she was decorating. Pete and I had to wait for the big reveal.

The final product not only had the hearts we made on it, but also a couple personal touches from the decorators.

A bug box was Izzy's personal touch

She told me then the bugs will have some place to rest while they look at our tree. Ummm, how many bugs are we expecting?

Here is the personal touch that Izzy chose to add for Drew


Tomorrow we are all going to a really fun birthday party at the Science Center. It will be a great day to be outside as we are expecting temps in the mid 60's. Hopefully I will have time to share all those pictures tomorrow evening!

More on Drew

This kid may very well give me gray (or is it grey) hair. So yesterday was a "snow day" here. Izzy doesn't go to school on Tuesday so it was no big deal. By 9:15 Delaney and gang were all here. Around 11, Rylie had joined our party. So, there were 3 moms, and 5 kids hanging out having a good time. Pete was also home and would pop out of his office to say hi and update us on his new facebook friends.

Anywho, Jen left with Mia around 11:30, but Delaney stayed to play. After the girls, and Drew, had lunch, Stephanie and I sat down at the counter to eat. While eating Drew came into the kitchen with a cup of water in his hand. He took a sip; looked me dead in the eyes and then spit the water out. I calmly said to him, "Drew, we do not spit out water. If you spit water out again then you will sit in a time out." So...

Drew takes another sip of water and holds it in his mouth all the while looking at me. I calmly repeat, "Drew, do not spit out that water. You need to swallow it or else Mommy will put you in a time out" The booger spits it out. Here is the kicker...

I stand up to go put him in a time out and he starts to run in place and take another sip of water and then spit it out! He was laughing the whole time - almost like since he knew he was headed to a time out why not get one more quick spit of water out?

To time out for 2 minutes he went. Honestly, it really does not phase him. I almost feel like he is mocking me. He sits in time out, and remains quiet for the most part. When the timer goes off, he apologizes and says he is sorry. He knows the routine and almost just goes through the motions for my sake. Part of me just wants to be like screw the time outs cause he doesn't even care! But, I know he is just trying to establish boundaries so I will play along and let him know who is boss :)

Boys are Gross at Any Age

Boys are icky. ...and it starts at a very young age!

Despite Drew's love of singing, dancing, tutus, and role playing, he is all boy. He, like most males, finds it hysterical to burp, fart and pick boogers. So tonight we are having a nice family dinner around the dining room table and here is what happens:

Drew burps, and then laughs at himself.
Molly: "Drew, after you burp you need to say excuse me."
Drew: "Excuse me. ...now can I laugh?" ...and he busts up laughing at himself and so do we.

I am the first to admit that I have a really have a hard time disciplining Drew. He is so darn funny and so stinkin cute! Thank goodness his sister sets such a good example.



...and handsome guy got a haircut today. Pete took him and said he whined a bit, but the barber is awesome and cuts his hair in like 4 minutes!

Izzy Celebrates at School

On Monday, February 2nd, Izzy had school. She got to bring in a special birthday treat. Typically the teachers request healthy snacks, which I think is great, but I like that for special occasions the kids can bring a sweet treat.

Last year Izzy took the heart shaped sprinkled doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. This year she originally was going to take the same kind, but once she got hold of the chocolate sprinkled covered doughnuts from the day before she quickly changed her mind.

So, Drew and I dropped Izzy off at school and then headed out to pick up the doughnuts. We returned in time to catch the kids doing a craft/free play before joining them for her celebration snack. Izzy sure has a great class this year. The dynamic between the all the students is really sweet. I was looking at a calendar with Izzy and telling her which student was having a birthday next, and when I turned around all the students were silently standing behind me just listening.

So, after the kids cleaned up and got sanitized, Izzy hopped into the leader chair for us to sing Happy Birthday.



She also got to choose the which blessing the class would say before snack. She chose "God is Great Boogie". The teachers wanted Drew to sit next to Izzy, but he refused to move until they addressed him as "Alex". He character choice for the day Alex the lion from Madagascar.

Here he is sitting in his own chair.




Izzy told her teacher to call him Alex. As soon as the teacher said, "Alex, can you go sit by your sister?" he hopped right up and took a seat next to her.



Once all kids were seated for snack, we sang Happy Birthday one more time.



Drew took a seat right next to his big sister. It is hard for me to imagine him doing this next year. I am SO not ready to let him go :(



After snack, I had the chance to talk to Izzy's teachers about what class she should be placed in next year. We have a choice of 4 or 5day for 4 year olds. Registration is tomorrow and I am really undecided as to what I want to do. I either want 4 days for Izzy and 2 for Drew or 5 for Izzy and 3 for Drew. At first I thought I wanted 4/2 so that Fridays we could just chill. BUT ...then I think about Izzy going to full day kindergarten the following year and think maybe I should sign her up for 5 days? I can always keep the kids home on some Fridays for a break, right? The flip side is that Drew will be in the 2 year old class, but turning 3 a month after school starts. So...I think he would be better off in the 3 day cause it typically consists of the "older" 2's. Let's face it, there is a big difference between age 2 and 3. One last thing, if Drew goes 3 days a week then he will have the teachers Izzy had last year and I love them! You will have to stay posted for tomorrow blog entry to see what days we ended up with. I am so conflicted! Can you tell?

Well, Izzy's teachers think I should put her in 5 day. I think to help prepare her for kindergarten and she will "mesh" better with those teachers? I heard the 5 day teachers are really really great. Very kind, caring, compassionate, gentle, and do a great job trying to get the kids ready for school, all while having lots of goofy fun. And honestly, I just want her to have fun. I want her to LOVE school. She would probably go 5 days a week this year if I let her. Everyday she asks if today is a school day and is upset when I tell her no.

Okay, this wasn't supposed to turn into an entry about school, but rather Izzy's school celebration. Here is one last shot from the day. This is the best shot her teacher could get of the three of us - and she took like 10!

New Skill

I can't say that this was a milestone I was looking forward to. As a matter of fact, I was dreading the day that Drew figured this out. With this new skill has also come a much cleaner hardwood floor!



Can you tell that Drew has been well trained? Every time a camera is aimed in his direction he says, "cheeeeese".

Izzy Turns 4

Sunday is one of the greatest days of the week to celebrate a birthday. Izzy woke up at just after 7 this morning and came into our room looking just a little bit older and wiser. She immediately wanted to go downstairs and open presents. ...she's not fool, she knew what awaited her below.

Pete made a quick run to Krispy Kreme for a birthday breakfast of donuts.



I just grabbed a candle for the donut and guess what...it was a trick candle. The kids thought it was hysterical! Every time Izzy blew it out, *poof*, it would come back on. I think she blew it out nearly a dozen times.

After breakfast we moved on to more important things like presents.



She told Drew she wanted a spotting scope and a magnifying glass. Thank goodness for the dollar store! Drew also got a spotting scope for himself. And my mom had bought the kids each a pirate costume that I didn't give them for Christmas so I decided to wrap them up for each of them today.

Here she is with all her loot! ...we went a bit overboard this year.



A last minute grab at Toys R Us yesterday were a couple puzzles. One is a 25 piece Strawberry Shortcake puzzle and the other is a map of the United States. She has gotten so good at doing puzzles and really enjoys doing them on her own. Score for me! She completed the Strawberry Shortcake puzzle in 10 min. ...guess I need to move onto the next level of pieces. The US puzzle is a lot more challenging. The pieces don't fit together very well, rather they sit next to one another matched up by edges. She insists on doing it herself, and with little frustration, is doing a really good job.

Izzy chose our dinner tonight. She requested steak and pizza. We ended up with just steak (tenderloin in fact) since we recently had pizza. With her steak she wanted egg noodles and broccoli. Here she is eating off the special plate.



...with one more bite


The special plate is something my family used growing up and a tradition we will continue with our children. On special occasions the designated plate is used. A journal then has an entry in it regarding the date and the reason the plate was used. I don't know if it was because she chose the meal, or because she got to eat off the special plate that she then became a member of the clean plate club!

After dinner Rylie and Stephanie stopped by to drop off a present and have some cake. It was so nice to have a friend of hers help celebrate her special day.









Rylie brought her some really cool dot art markers and dot art book. Izzy has been eyeing dot art for quite some time and immediately wanted to play with this gift.



Rylie's attention quickly turned to some of Izzy's newest toys.



This Cool School Computer is a hit among all the kids in our house!



Rylie left around 7:30, and then it was off to bed for Izzy! Happy Birthday my sweet Isabelle. We love you~

(added note: all of these pictures were taken on Izzy's actual birthday. For one reason or another Izzy wore many different shirts throughout the day.)