Sunday, April 28, 2013

Clase de Espanol

Everett just finished 5 weeks of spanish classes.  We had a pretty small class, it was close to home, and Maestra April was muy agradable!  So, it was a good experience and we will probably do it again when things settle down.
I took a few pictures of the class on April 17th, so you can see Everett playing with scarfs, 
playing instruments,
and playing with the parachute.


I also took a few pictures of the kids gathering for their daily sticker...


or two.  :)

(an open mouth squinty smile - new!)

Everett was clearly the youngest, but since he is one cool cat...
Maestra April praised him at our last class for doing so well!!  Hurra!

We Are What We Eat

And, thankfully, Emily's list is growing!!  As of March 13th, Emily is finished with her OT for feeding.  She went to see a therapist twice a week for 4 months and once a week for 2 months.  After 6 months, she has made some great progress.  It started with cheese and crackers and cheese sandwiches.
She included apples with peanut butter...

as well as a bunch of other little victories.  The most important thing is that she is now willing to give any food a taste...
and her "graduation" food was a hamburger.
Now she loves hamburgers and is ready to take on the food world!!
Slowly.  Very slowly.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

"Coo Coo" Concentration




*Coo-coo = choo choo in Everettese ... a favorite for sure
**I like it when it falls off the track and Everett calls, "uh oh, coo coo bro!"  (bro = broke)

Life Lessons

If you make a mess, you need to clean it up.


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Summer Is Coming!!

If you ever wished you could see the ins and outs of our biennial family vacation (haha), this is your video!
* I put this together for the family to remember last summer.

Yes, if you are with me for a major life event, there is a good chance that I will make a video with you in it.
C FAMILY VACATION VIDEO

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

To Know Him Is To Love Him

I was taking a picture of the ocean as Everett was walking up.  He thought I was taking a picture of him.
Everett, I adore you!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

This Week

As with any proper week, this week started on Sunday.  That morning we got up bright and early to meet friends at Disneyland/California Adventure - our first friend meet up there. 
(We lovingly refer to them as the Rat Pack - you can't see James between Jeromy and Holly, but he was there.)
Emily enjoyed showing Emory a new ride and being the brave one (since she usually assumes the other role).
She told Emory, "See, that's it, up and down.  I told you, there was nothing to be afraid of!"
The girls enjoyed several rides on their own.  They were both feeling quite "big!"
(I don't think Everett minded being stuck with Mama and Daddy though.)
It was a fun but tiring first half of the day...
and that afternoon we played outside.
On Monday morning, we invited some other friends over and Everett showed Riley how to cover your eyes and count during the egg hiding game...
and that afternoon, Emily and I watched two roadrunners hang out in our yard for an extended time.

Our house also went "live" on the internet this week...
so on Tuesday morning, Emily took it upon herself to take some pictures of the house with my phone.  Here are a few favorites (from the 30+ that she took).
Then we went on a big walk/hike and played at the park.
On Wednesday, we were off again for a magical day and Emily was excited that she got to "hold Everett" for the first time on the tram.  (She was feeling like QUITE the big sister... very proud.)
I had received word that some long lost friends would be appearing at a special event, so we invited the Rat Pack to join us as we saw...
some rarely seen characters!!  (Emily was especially happy to see Pocahontas and Everett LOVED Meeko...
but her favorite from the day was Peter Pan.  It IS her favorite movie these days.)

On our way out of that area, we ran into Woody...
before Emily bravely agreed to ride Peter Pan for the first time.  
Peter Pan verdict: she didn't like it.
We did a few more things before loading back on the tram and heading to the car.
On Thursday evening, Emily was allowed to play in a Playplace for the FIRST time!
She had seen them before at various restaurants but I told her that you have to eat their food before you can play.  Well, since she is finally eating hamburgers, she told me that we needed to go there so she could eat a hamburger...
(Where'd my burger go?!)
and then play!  I had no argument left... we had to go.

Then we went over to Target for a couple of things and Everett felt the need for a snack even though he had just finished dinner.
That night, Daddy was out of town, and Emily always wants to snuggle Everett on those nights so she sang him a good night song.
(my phone couldn't focus in the dark)
On Friday morning, we had an open house (showing our house) and so we met some friends at the park for some play and a picnic.  That afternoon, Everett showed me a new pose he has come up with...
and we hung around playing.  That night, I took pictures of the kids sleeping to send to Daddy who was still out of town.
(Everett asked to sleep with a picture that Emily had drawn for him just before bed.)
On Saturday morning, we went to the grocery store and the kids got stickers as we checked out.  That made Everett want more when we got home and he decorated himself with a few truck stickers.
By late Saturday afternoon, I was looking through the week's pictures and decided that with our week, the packing, and my allergy head, it was no wonder I was feeling so tired!
Of course, that just meant that we needed to pick up a couple of pizzas, meet Daddy on his way home from the airport, and head to the beach!!!  Ahhhhhhhh!
(Cloudy and cool, but still great!)
What a week!  What a fun and full week!  And, while we all missed Daddy, Emily and Everett (who are not used to him traveling a lot any more) were REALLY missing him.
Now - on to this new week...