Arielle's Art

I am so happy we have this magnet board so I can display my favorite pieces of Arielle's artwork. My latest favorite is the "Tinkerbell" picture on the upper right side. It is hard to tell from the picture but the wings are very detailed and she wrote the name with outlined block letters. The second picture below that with her name written so nicely on lined paper is of her and a moose playing ball in a rain storm. So cute! The picture that is on yellow construction paper next to Tinkerbell is of the "Incredibles" family. She made this one several months ago when she first started getting into drawing. Notice Elastigirl's stretchy arms that go all over the paper! Just below that is her first "book" that she ever wrote. It's her version of "Are You My Mother" and it flows over to the back side. Right under her book is a beautiful drawing of a field of flowers that she made for me followed by a coloful picture of the "Train to Pre-K" that she made at school just before she started her new class. Just thought I'd share some happiness for the day!

~Momma to Bug~

The Very Hungry Caterpiller, as written and illustrated by Arielle

On the way home from picking the girls up yesterday Arielle told me she was going to make a book. She said, "It begans with a T and ends with an R." It's called "The Very Hungry Caterpiller." The second that we got home she sat right down at the kitchen table and began making it. First she cut out the pages from a notebook and asked if anyone had a stapler. Then she made a title page naming herself as the Author and Illustrator. She knew both of these words go on the title page of a book {I had to help her spell them} but she had to ask the meaning of the word Illustrator. She remembered how to spell the word Catepiller all by herself. I helped her along with spelling on a few of the words but she did a pretty good job guessing at some of them herself. My favorite part of the story is on page six....see if you can figure out why!

I hope you enjoyed my four year old's version of Eric Carle's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpiller"

~Momma to Bug~

Four

Yesterday, I walked past the easel that so nicely {annoyingly} sits in the middle of our kitchen dining area and I found this sentence written very nicely on it. It says "I am 4". Arielle has been writing letters since before she started Pre-K but over the past year she has really improved tremendously. Her teacher, Miss Sarah, does a really good job of teaching her to write the letters correctly on lined-paper as well as knowing when to use upper and lower case letters. There are a couple of letters and some numbers {J and obviously 4} that Arielle still writes backwords but I know that if she sits down and practices writing it over and over again she'll get it right the next time. It's just getting her to take the time to practice that is the hard part.

The thing that impresses me the most is that Arielle has recently learned to READ! It all started a few weeks after Averi was born when we were out to dinner and Arielle blurted out the word "Stromboli". Zak and I asked her why she said that and she pointed to the sign behind us. We both just looked at each other with our jaws on the floor because she had read that word all by herself. I think she must have tried sounding it out in her head for at least fifteen minutes because that is how long we had been there before she said it out loud. Anyway, we kept asking her to read words from then on and she hasn't stopped. We have been told by an elementary school teacher that she is reading at at least a second-grade level. The most amazing part about it is that her words flow well and you can tell that she actually understands the concept of the book. She doesn't have to ask for help with very many words either. We are very impressed with her newly acquired skill. It couldn't have been timed any better because she is now reading books to Averi which is so cute to see!

In spite of all of her knowledge of reading and writing, I have to remind myself that she is still so young. That is why I am happy that she wrote this sentence on the easel for me to see.

~Momma to Bug~

A Beach Cottage Giveaway

Sarah at A Beach Cottage is giving away an Anthropology gift card. All you have to do is leave a comment on her AWESOME blog to enter! Who couldn't use a free gift card?


~Momma to Bug~

A letter to my blog

Dear Blog,

Please don't be mad at me for not updating you lately. I wish there were more time in the day {week} {month} so that I could write to you. If there were more time I could tell you all of the exciting things that have happened to us in the past few weeks. To start with, I would have to mention the last two weeks in December when cousin Theresa stayed with us and was so much help at such a busy time of year. I would tell you about the time that she stayed with the girls while Zak and I got to stay at a fancy hotel downtown for the annual work Christmas party and another time when she and Arielle built a snow-woman after we got several inches of snow just before Christmas! I wouldn't forget to mention Christmas Day and how nice that turned out to be. We took family pictures around the tree; in fact we took lots of pictures that I am dying to share with you.

Next I would tell you about how Averi turned {two} three months old and has stolen my heart! Oh and I can't forget about the time when she went from sleeping 7-9 hours at night back down to waking up every 3 hours and that is what she has been doing ever since. It couldn't have been better timing since I had to go back to work full time on December 28th. Now that I think about it, this coincided with when she got another cold one week after starting daycare. This time it was worse then before so I took her to urgent care only to find out her temperature was 102 degrees {apparently I wasn't using my thermometer correctly}. The poor little thing had bronchiolitis and an ear infection.

And since I'm writing a letter to you now, I thought I would let you know that Arielle went skiing today for the first time in over a year. I didn't get to go but Zak texted me and said I wouldn't believe how well she was doing skiing by herself down the beginners slope. He even sent me this cute picture of her and friend Olivia. Don't they look cute? He is going to show me a couple videos that he took and maybe I can post those too!

There has even been some decorating that I would have mentioned such as the new curtains that I hung in the living room. It took me over three years but I finally bought them and hung them up. Boy do I love them! This inspired me to purchase a new console table which I can't wait to accessorize but first I have to find a new home for the pack and play that Averi has grown very fond of...that could be a challenge. Plus we rearranged the furniture in our study and it looks like a whole new room with a lot more space on the floor and on the walls. I'm still trying to figure out how to fill it up. Lastly, I got myself this gallery frame for Christmas. Can't wait to {order pictures} put pictures in it and hang it up on the wall!

Alas, being a full time working mother of to two little ones has really chewed up my free time and creativity. Hopefully I can adjust to this new way of living and find time in the {near} future to let you, my dearest blog, back into my life.

Sincerely,

~Momma to Bug~

I know it's late but...

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We are looking forward to the New Year...

~Momma to Bug~

I like to describe Averi as a very happy baby. She really only cries when she is hungry and tired and even then her cries sound more like tiny sobs. Oh and she cries in the car if she is awake and it's not moving but don't they all at this age?

Today Averi was not a happy baby. She had her two month immunization shots and they made her very sad. I have discovered over the past several weeks that Averi is a sensitive girl. She doesn't like to be touched or held too much. Averi cried for ten minutes after she received the shots, unlike her big sister who forgot about them after one minute or so. She didn't even smile after she woke up and saw me staring at her which she ALWAYS does. I knew she was really unhappy when I tried to feed her and she still cried and cried and cried. Nothing soothed her so I had to use the Tylenol. It worked and she slept through her sister's entire Pre-Kindergarten Christmas show this evening.

Did I mention that for the past two nights Averi has slept for about nine hours straight?

Good night Averi Bear...I hope you feel better in the morning!

~Momma to Bug~

Disney World 2009

We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take Arielle to Disney World again this year...

Arielle got to meet most of her favorite princesses for the third year in a row {lucky girl}...

Momma and Averi did not go but Zak, Arielle and Gaby had a great time! Zak took Arielle & Gaby on Space Mountain {she was barely tall enough}. Had I been there I would have convinced Arielle otherwise seeing how she was so afraid on the little kids roller coaster at the pumpkin patch. Needless to say, Arielle was very scared but she was proud of herself for trying it out! Gaby didn't enjoy it much either.

The teacups and Winnie the Pooh rides were much more enjoyable!

The day ended as they watched the parade go by...

~Momma to Bug~

A Walk on the Beach

We enjoyed a nice walk on the beach at Siesta Key...

~Momma to Bug~

On Vacation in Florida

Hello from Florida! We are on our 7th day of vacation visiting the Beach Family. The weather has been cold and rainy for most of the time but we managed to get some warm weather yesterday. Averi stayed home while Zak and I took Arielle to the beach. She was ECSTATIC! She loves the ocean, sand and salt! Earlier yesterday morning we were at the park right next door to Gaby & Tee's house and while Arielle was picking flowers she stepped into a pile of fire ants and got stung. You wouldn't believe the crying and screaming that followed {who can blame her?}. A little mixture of bleach and water applied to the bites seemed to sooth her but according to her this was "the worst day ever".



Averi seems to change every day while we are here. She is becoming more alert and playful. Her head control has improved significantly too. The best thing she has done so far is put herself to sleep occassionally for naps and bedtime. She just goes to town sucking on her fist and sleeves until she tires herself out. This morning Averi woke up with a little cold and has been sneezing and coughing. This cold has been going around the house so I'm not surprised; I'm just hoping it doesn't turn into anything worse {fingers crossed}. Averi has also pleasantly surprised us a couple of nights by sleeping without eating for over 7 hours!

I'm looking forward to Christmas decorating when we get home!


~Momma to Bug~