A Tree for Christmas

We took the plunge tonight and decorated the tree. The kids have been super excited for it for a few weeks now and once they heard that we were going to do it tonight they almost drove us insane all day long!

It is amazing how quickly a tree can get decorated when you have a lot of little hands to put the ornaments on.

The boys were instructed to focus on the middle of the tree and leave the bottom branches for the girls. Eric and I were in charge of the top third of the tree. It is woefully empty in comparison to the bottom.

Reid did not help with the decorating process. Although he watched with great interest to see what we were doing.

Zane was probably the most excited decorator of all. He was also one of the quickest decorators. I had to tell him to slow down to be able to get any pictures of him at all.

Once the tree was up and ready we released Reid from his saucer. He is VERY intrigued by the tree and wants to touch all the lower ornaments. At least everything on the bottom is very kid safe and non breakable. And we attached the tree to the curtain rod with some fishing line to keep him from pulling it over. We may regret putting it up this early this year but I still think it will have been worth it.

Long Wet Afternoon

Time for some Play-doh!

Reid supervised from the floor.

Lucy made some delicious food.

Zane decided to make some spaghetti.

Gwen practiced her knife work.

Self Feeding!

Mr. Reid Isaiah (Did you know that is what we call him about half the time?) has finally begun picking up cereal. Of course it is more the rake it up and stuff it in mouth variety than the pincher grasp but whatever gets him eating on his own is alright with me.

And of course any excuse to get another picture of him in that adorable turkey hat!

My Little Turkey

Tackling a Challenge

Zane got his speech assessed last week and finally on Thursday I found out the results of the assessment. The results were very good news/bad news. The good news is that although he does have significant speech sound delays, they are not in any way affecting him academically or socially.

Zane is incredibly social, has lots of friends at school, is a leader in his class and is thriving in about every way imaginable for kindergarten. This is all extremely good news! However, because there is no link between his speech issues and his ability to succeed in school, Zane does not qualify for school speech therapy. This is bad news. Especially since the speech pathologist feels it is highly unlikely he will ever correct the speech sound issues that he has on his own without intervention.

Melonie (the speech pathologist at the school) said she would be willing to have Zane and I come in and work with her once a month. I jumped on that possibility and yesterday we had our first meeting. I can not even begin to describe how impressed I was with Zane's willingness to work on his speech sounds. He was able (with instruction) make almost every speech sound that he was missing at least independently. Including the always difficult "R" sound. We were sent home a packet of practice sheets and instructions to keep on working. Our next meeting with Melonie is in January. Hopefully we will have some good progress to show. 

We are also going to go forward with private therapy as well. I know we will have insurance to cover the service through June so we will hit that hard while we have the chance. So proud of my boy. And a wee bit nervous for me as I have to be the one to keep him honest during our practice times to ensure he is making the sounds properly.

Taking Care of Daddy

The kiddos decided to give Eric a massage this morning. They intended for it to be relaxing.

He said it actually was pretty good. We have found a way for the kiddos to be very useful! 

Silly Sissies

Anything my sissy does is worth copying. She is just that cool.

They love each other lots and lots.

Best Friends Forever

Outlaw Awards

This year for soccer Andrew's team decided to get sweatshirts instead of trophies. A much better option in my opinion. Andrew had so much fun playing soccer this year and has now worn the sweatshirt to school 3 days in a row. I will need to peel it off of him to wash one of these days. Hooray for another great season of soccer!

Two Little Monkeys

Two little monkeys jumpin' on the water.
One jumped in and bumped her head.
Momma called the doctor and the doctor said
No more monkey jumpin' on the bed.

I have no photos for it. But Lucy and Gwen have been playing swimming lessons with their toys in the tub at night. They don't exactly have the rhyme correct but I know what they are doing. One bath tub princess is the instructor and the other one is the person in the class. And they take turns jumping from the side of the tub into the water. It is unbelievable cute.

These are the memories I never want to forget.

Another Trip for Madame Tooth Fairy

Another tooth gone from Zane's mouth. Andrew pulled this one too. It really is hysterical to watch them together. Zane shrieking and crying.

Andrew pausing and convincing Zane to just let him wiggle the tooth a little bit more. (He really can be quite persuasive.)

Finally the tooth coming out and both boys looking proud as can be. I think Zane's loose teeth are as much joy for Andrew as they are for Zane!

They Love Him So Much

On Your Feet Soldier!

I was hoping this whole pulling up business was a random fluke.

Apparently not.

We are in such trouble....