Super Stuff on a Saturday

Beginning with the girls’ dentist appointment on Monday, and of course SCHOOL on Tuesday and Thursday, it’s been a very full week!  I think we’ve done a great job of balancing our “busy” with lots of fun time at home…outside of where we had to be, we haven’t left the house!   I’m very thankful for such a super-fabulous week!

1)      We’ve had such a hot summer that we haven’t been able to spend much time outside.  On Sunday morning, though, the weather was pretty pleasant.  After a big breakfast of banana pancakes, the girls and I went for an extra-long walk in the neighborhood.  We came home and played in the backyard.  It was bliss!  The girls asked to play ball with their Velcro mitts.  After a break of a few weeks, I was pretty impressed at how well they were throwing.

2)      I took the girls to the dentist on Monday.  I meant to schedule the appointment during the summer, so that Daddy could be with us, but I was only able to get our time after he’d started back to school.  I was a bit nervous at how it would go, but the girls did fantastic!  I talked it up really big.  On the way, I asked the girls, “Who’s excited for the dentist???”  They both shouted, “ME!!!”  The girls followed directions from the hygienists really well, and by the end of the appointment, they were downright chatty.  B finished a few minutes before her sister.  She walked towards A, in a nearby chair, and said, “You’re doing a great job of being patient, Sissy!”  The ladies in the office got quite the kick out of that.  :)

3)      It’s no surprise that the girls have started playing “school” as part of their pretend play.  I loved seeing them try to recreate parts of their classroom, and instructing me on how to help them.

4)      The girls’ school provides a supplement to the parents to note what the teacher will be focusing on each week.   One of the suggested home activities this week was to find pictures of things that start with the letter “A”.  The girls had such fun going through magazines.  I ripped out entire pages, and then they cut the pictures out.  They did such a good job with their scissors, and they had a blast!

5)      Once the girls had their pictures cut out, I gave them each an envelope and told them to pick one crayon to write their name on it.  Baby B chose a turquoise color, but A insisted she needed both purple and red.  While I was helping B write her name, Baby A wrote hers with no direction.  (She’s been doing that for a couple of months now.)  What surprised me, though, was that she perfectly alternated the colors for each letter between red and purple.

6)      Baby B has been asking to do finger paints.  It’s not something I particularly enjoy, so I don’t set up for that activity very often.  On Wednesday, though, the girls got their wish.  They had such fun doing handprints and making a mess on their papers.  And…to Mommy’s great surprise…it wasn’t even all that stressful!  ;)

7)      I’ve been meaning to buy new crayons for a while, as we’ve been working with this same batch all year.  They’re in really poor shape, and as the girls are writing more and more, they just don’t do the job.  I bought two new boxes and gave them to the girls on Thursday afternoon.  They were so excited to try them out.  They drew for a bit, and then I asked if they’d like to color.  They did the best job to date of working in a coloring book, actually sorta-kinda (relatively speaking) staying within the lines!  [I cannot wait until they take more of an interest in coloring…this mama loves to color!]

8)      I was getting some things ready for a consignment sale this week, and I ran across a couple of little chunky plastic cars the girls got for their first Christmas.  Months ago, they told me they were baby toys, and that they didn’t need them anymore, but I’ve been hanging onto them.  I got them out, thinking they might like to play with them a little differently than they did at a year old.  Sure enough, we’ve had tons o’ fun this week racing those cars!  We’ve mostly set up at night, after supper, Mommy and a baby on one side of the den, with Daddy and the other baby across the room.  B said last night, “This is such nice family fun!”

9)      On Friday, I intended to take the girls out for a morning snack treat (I really had Panera in mind for a bagel!), and then go to the craft store to pick up something to finish a little project we’ve been working on.  They were playing so very well, though, I decided not to disturb them.  We had a great morning at home, full of lots of imaginative play, and we also put together four puzzles (60 pieces each) in quick succession.  It so warms my heart to see the girls so engaged.

10)   We are working on a new “game” at home.  Daddy introduced the idea of alternating words in songs.  (We each take a turn saying the next word in a song.)  The girls don’t always get it right…they sometimes get carried away with the melody…but they are having such fun trying!

And that's how we roll at A&B Enterprises.