Best Summer EVER

 We have had the BEST SUMMER EVER!

Playing at the pool

Taking nautre walks

Practicing Karate

Moving onto a new big girl bed 

Eating ice cream on the front porch after dinner

Playing bakery and baby dolls

reading LOTS of books (and not napping for the last 2 weeks)

playing dress up

Dressing ourselves

Playing ball with Mommy and Daddy

Collecting natural materials and making art 

Picking blueberries

Hamming it up for the camera

Christmas in July

Busch Gardens

Spending time with Field and Melissa 

Kissing Daddy

Hiking and picking raspberries with friends 

Wading in the river

Going out with friends

Beach trip with friends

and family :)

Ferry Rides

Best of all...watching my babies grow up!

Sarah Kat is 2 and Landon is 6!

July 8, 2016

Landon has certainly grown up quite a bit in the last year.  He still loves Legos, video games, karate and games, but he's becoming more and comer capable of more complex adventures. 

He is reading at a fifth grade level and is working on his writing skills.  He LOVES to play video games, but also loves to spend time with his friends outside, making up games and playing pretend.  

He and Sarah get along very well.  He loves her so much and she looks up to him for all things, coping his responses and actions most often. 

He truly is my best friend.  We love to stroll along and chat, me listening as he explains all about the latest happenings in games he plays, TV shows he watches, and Lego adventures he's made up.  He is looking forward to 1st grade as well as Cub Scouts.  

Sarah Kat is our brave, independent, smart and free spirited little girl.  She talks constantly, loves engaging in pretend play (especially camping trips and birthday parties).  She loves to sing, dance, dress up, put on lip gloss and nail polish, play outside, swim, and read.  She looks up to her brother and loves to pick on him already.  

Her most frequent phrases are "Watch this," and "I do it self."  

She is am amazing hiker.  She LOVES her Daddy to pieces and asks "uppie" most of the time when he's around.  

She loves dogs and other animals and bugs.  She still naps most days and sleeps very well, as does her brother.

We had a Back to the Future themed birthday party for the kids.  It was a blast!  

Sarah Kat is 22 months old

My how quickly the days go by!  Sarah is now 22 months old and talking up a storm!  She talks in broken sentences and her vocabulary is impressive!  She loves music, dancing, puzzles, books, coloring, bubbles, and imitating EVERYTHING her brother does!   

The love she has for her daddy is truly special. She loves to be held by him and carried around, but most of the time she is incredibly independent.  She frequently says, "Do it Sarah's self!"

She and her brother love each other very much as well.  They get along really well most of the time.  Landon is enjoying having a play mate and Sarah is enjoying having someone to emulate and frustrate at times :)

 Sarah Kat has sped through potty training, catching on quickly!  She loves to help me cook and prepare food.  She also loves to dress baby dolls and pretend tea parities.

Landon has become incredibly interested in drawing video game panels and then creating them.  He still enjoys Legos, reading, and playing Ninja.  He tests for his Orange Tip in karate tomorrow and he and his daddy are really enjoying this sport together.  

Snow Days!

Landon's Snow Days through the years

I remember the first snows in Harper's Ferry when Landon was 6 months old and how cold and long the days felt.  The world out there was so still, magical in its quiet and solitude.  Here in Salem there are so many people around, busy digging themselves out of the snow, friends to sled with, cook with, share a bottle of wine with, and spend the days with.

Sarah's first experience last year with snow was probably like many other babies, indifference.  

This year, she was DEFINITELY not happy with the whole snow process.  Putting on the snow suit, boots, gloves, hat, and layers of clothing was distressing.  Once outside, she ripped her gloves off, plunged her fingers into the snow and promptly began wailing. I brought her inside and this was not where she wanted to be either.  After almost an hour of crying, she finally calmed down and returned to her "happiest baby in the Roanoke Valley" status (this title was given to her by friends who are convinced she never cries haha!).  A little compromising (minus the snow suit, gloves and only one layer of clothes later, she was content to walk (not be carried) along the plowed road. 

Day 2 was a little better.  she allowed the boots, but still no gloves.  

Snow indoors was much more fun, though she insisted on a towel to dry her hands with every time they touched the snow (I seriously don't blame her at all).

This guy is a snow enthusiast.  For the second year in a row he enjoyed sledding with his buddies, shoveling snow, throwing snow balls and making colored snow.  Getting ready for the snow is so much easier this year too.  We are definitely enjoying snow days with this guy!

SK's Language Development

Magnatiles

January 18, 2016

Language Development

          Sarah Kat's vocabulary is expanding daily.  She is now using concept words such as "In, on, again, and close."

While laying the Magnatiles flat on the ground to create a continuous "road like structure, Sarah Kat and Landon had the following conversation.

SK: "Mine.  Yellow."

Ashley:  "What are those?"

SK: "Those" (the tiles fall)

SK:  "Again, again, again."

Ashley:  "Did it fall?"

SK:  "Fall. Fall. It Fall."

Ashley:  "Do you want to build it again?"

SK:  "Yes.  Help. (I help).  Thank you."

Landon joins the play.  "I have a better idea, Sarah."

SK:  "No! No! No!"

Landon:  "I have an idea."

SK:  "Okay, K. K."

Landon:  "This is a house.  This is where X Po lives."

SK:  "Wall. (breaks).  Oh no!  Oops. (Landon helps to build it back).

Ashley:  "What do you say, Sarah?"

SK:  "Thank you.  Thank you...boom! Boom!"

Landon and SK: "Ahhh!"

Landon:  "Oww!  Sarah you hurt my ginger."

SK: "Sorry, sorry....In. car in.  (Puts square Magnitile on top like a roof.) Top. Close.  (adds a triangle). Hat."

Updates

January 11, 2016

Sarah and I read Runaway Bunny tonight. After wards I held her in my arms as she smiled up at me and labeled all my facial features "eyes, nose, ears." Her eyes brightened and she pointed to herself saying "Saysay (Sarah) fly ears bunny." For those of you who haven't read Runaway Bunny the rabbit flies away using his ears as wings. I asked her if I could fly with her and she put her arms around my neck and said "yes."

This sweet boy is my best friend.  He loves to play videos games, Legos ride bikes and read.  

We had a blast visiting Mama Sissy and Papa Mike over Christmas Break.  

Love!

Christmas 2015

New bike from Mom and Dad.  New backpack and lunch box from Santa for SK.