Loves this Blog Background

I decided to peruse the background possibilities for the blog and came across this one. I think it is my favorite so far. Why? It reminds me of a scrapbook paper I would use to make my Kathy Kube's. I'm having such a fun time making these. Last week, I spent some time painting and coordinating paper for some kubes I'm making. At this point, I just have to bling them and they'll be done. It is fun having a creative outlet again.....makes me want to scrapbook again, maybe this spring. Right now my kubes are my obsession.

Its only February....snow is the norm

Okay, let me preface this by saying this is not the snowfall we received last night into this morning. This picture is from our snowfall last year February 26th. I had to remind myself that we are still in February and snowfall is the norm. Last week we had a few warm days, one day getting up to 60 degrees but I kept telling myself this is not going to last, prepare yourself, but inside I was hoping it would be the end of this very snowy winter. Oh well, it is what it is but I wish I was somewhere warm and sunny.

A good point is that those warm days melted the majority of our huge snow piles from all the snow since December 26th, so at least this is "doable" snow.

Only Two

Thankfully Matt only had two cavities instead of the possible four. He was a real trooper though going into the treatment by himself. I kept him home from school because the appointment was right in the middle of the school day. The cavities were on both sides of his mouth so he was not very happy with the numbness of his entire mouth....about a half hour of complaining. Matt did bounce back quickly and spent the rest of the afternoon playing. Our goal now is to keep those cavities away.

A New Trend

It seems our little girly girl is having a change of heart when it comes to wearing pants. Recently, we went to a sports store and got her some gym pants, which she decide to actually wear to gym that Thursday.

Imagine our surprise the next morning when she emerged from her room in another pants outfit. Do not fret though, she is still very into her dresses and skirts. When the warmer weather comes and she is no longer "required" to wear tights and/or leggings, the skirts will definitely return in full force.

Happy Valentine's Day

Emily and Matt were both very excited for Valentine's day and their parties at school. As a matter of fact, Emily was sick with a cold and low fever on Saturday and Sunday but insisted that she must go to school for her party that Monday. Emily is so into the holidays and parties, she insists on having a new dress/outfit for these occasions. Matt could care less about his clothing options but does enjoy the food "rewards" of parties.

Emily is showing you our newest sign for loving each other. We make a heart out of our hands. I'll simply say her name and when she looks I'll give her the "heart" and she'll send it right back with a smile.

Oh, Matt's silly face is because he just loves when I take his picture. Most of the time I have to say "look at the camera" several times to get a picture and then I usually get the deer in the headlights look.

Report Card Time

Emily has been doing very well this year in school. We just received the report cards for the second marking period and Emily is getting A's & B's. There was little concern on how this and the upcoming marking period would be due to her teacher being out on maternity leave. Well, it has proved to be of no concern. As a matter of fact, Emily loves the substitute teacher, Miss Guido. I think what has made it an easy transition is that the substitute did her student teaching under Emily's teacher, so she knows how to "work" the classroom.

Emily still struggles in her conversational speech and you can see that in her writing but it is being worked on. She continues to have speech 3 times a week, one session being with 3rd grade students. The other area she has trouble is in reading and interpreting meanings. Emily is a very literal thinker so finding hidden "meanings" is a big struggle for her.

Matthew is doing very well too. The only area he needs improvement is on his formation of numbers. His fine motor skills when writing are still a little "shaky" so his numbers aren't as strong. He is getting very interested in sounding out letters and forming words, so reading should be very soon in his future.

It is hard to believe that there are only 5 more months of school. Then, it is off to 3rd and 1st grade.....two tough grades! We are going to so need this summer break to gear up for next year.

Where are they?

Tuesday the kids went to the dentist for their 6 month cleaning & checkup. At the last appointment, the dentist told me that at this checkup he was going to take a picture of Emily's mouth to see the status of her teeth. Emily has been very late in losing her teeth and to this day her 6 year molars still haven't come in. Well, the outcome is an orthodontist consultation. Apparently, Emily is missing several permanent teeth, mainly molars. So, we need to figure out how this situation needs to be dealt with in the future. I never thought I would be dealing with the orthodontist at age 8, even for just a consultation. The funny thing is even with all the work that has been done and will need to be done in her mouth Emily still wants to be a dentist when she gets older.

Matt, his checkup resulted in another appointment needing to be scheduled to fill 2 flossing cavities.

Sorry if the x-ray grosses you out, I thought it was pretty cool. You can see all the work that has been done to date, even the metal spacer ring.

Chinese New Year

In honor of Chinese New Year, I went back in time to when Matt's love of dumplings began. We went to NYC for the day and had lunch in Chinatown. Little did we know the obsession this meal would start. Matt's love of dumplings has increased tenfold. Today at school the Kindergarten class will be celebrating Chinese New Year with fried rice, fortune cookies and oranges. Poor Matt is missing it because he is home sick but I think if he was there the first thing he would ask is "where are the dumplings?"

Ice, Ice Baby

Another storm came into our area yesterday but this one was not snow filled it was ice filled. Personally I prefer snow. The kids ended up having an early dismissal from school which helped seeing I changed their dentist appointment from Wednesday morning to yesterday at 2 in anticipation of today's weather. Last night we had sleet which changed to rain about 9 this morning. The kids were a little disappointed to find out that they only had a late school opening while the majority of our county's schools were closed. Fortunately, Dave went to work a little later and dropped the kids off for me. This winter has been just crazy with storms and it seems that it is going to continue - they are forecasting another storm for Saturday. Thankfully, the groundhog didn't see his shadow. Do I really believe in groundhog predictions? Not really but this year I am hoping he is right.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Emily is definitely her mother's daughter even down to her newest obsession - her computer. Many a night we are a mirror image sitting on opposite couches working on our laptops. Of course, she isn't allowed on Facebook but Emily has found her own kids sights that let her dress dolls in outfits, cook recipes and so much more. Lately I have caught both Emily and Matt doing or saying things that mimic both Dave and I. It is true they are little sponges and you never know how or when you will see yourself in your child.

I00 Days of School

Monday is the 100th day of school for Matt and Emily. The Kindergarten class was given the assignment to create "something" that included 100 of an object. So, we got creative. The 100 is made out of Styrofoam pieces (1 tube and 2 circles) which were painted red. Then, Matt glued on with red glitter glue 100 googly eyes. With Matt, we keep the projects as simple as possible because he is not "into" doing projects, or homework. As a matter of fact, 5 googly eyes in he stated "this is going to take forever". It didn't. His project is safe at school and ready for their 100th day celebration. Oh, and the best part of this assignment is that Matt doesn't have homework this whole week so the kids can focus on completing their projects....now Matt loves that. We'll have to see how he feels when homework resumes next week.