Christmas 2008

The kids had a great Christmas! Santa brought Julia a trampoline, a lava lamp, and a Spin art kit. He brought Aiden a train table, a big bulldozer and Spiderman toy. He brought Lexie a HUGE stuffed bear, a baby doll, and a pink pony riding toy. Then he brought the three of them a Escalade Power Wheels car to ride with a toy gas pump! They were so excited! They promptly named the bear Rosie and she resides in Lexie's room. They tackle and jump on her. They've also had a lot of fun on the trampoline, which we put in the playroom. And of course the car has been a big hit. We took it out right away after we'd opened presents on Christmas morning. The kids each took turns driving and letting Lexie ride. We had a very good day.

On Friday we drove to Prague for the Christmas market. It was so beautiful! We bought some Christmas ornaments and a few small things for the kids then spent the night in our favorite hotel. Aiden is always so excited to go to Prague so he can ride the train! He loves any sort of transportation! We walked around some more on Saturday before heading home. It was very spur-of-the-moment, and it turned out to be a nice trip.
We are very thankful to have had such a good Christmas away from home.

The haul from Santa....you can see part of the trampoline on the right.
Julia coming downstairs.
Checking out the new car!
Aiden opening his gifts.
Lexie and Julia opening gifts.
Daddy and Lexie....Julia and Aiden are up ahead in the car.
Lexie is getting so big!
Riding in the Escalade!
Riding down our street.
Daddy and Lexie in Prague.
All of us in front of the big Christmas tree!
Aiden passed out at the end of the day!
The market.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! It's late and so already Christmas Eve here. I suppose many of you noticed that I chose to go the e-card route this year. I hope no one is offended, the truth is that I should've ordered them online like a month ago so they had time to get to me here and then back to all of you. The postal service is very unreliable time-wise. I wasn't thinking about those types of differences that I am still struggling to get used to. So e-cards it is this year. I'll have to handwrite a few letters to a few friends who don't use the internet (crazy right? but they're out there!!) I'm kinda sad about not sending out cards to tell you the truth. It feels like something's missing, but maybe that's just because I'm not in Florida for Christmas this year. :(

Anyway, here are some pics of the kids. That Christmas photo on the card wasn't my favorite....but it was the best choice when presented with the group of photos I was able to get. Aiden was so cranky, Lexie had little patience... (She was just so excited to walk on the wooden floors in her Mary Janes! She kept tapping her foot.) ...and poor Julia was trying so hard to get them to look at the right time. Lexie wouldn't give up the paci, Aiden wouldn't give up the Mee mee. What a disaster, but a funny memory. So I posted a few outtakes too, just for fun. The other pics are of the holiday party that Wally's battalion put on for the kids. It was Dec. 7th. We had a really good time, there were lots of crafts, tricycles for the little kids, and a Christmas movie playing on one whole wall from a projector. It was really cool. Aiden just rode the trikes or watched the movie. He could care less about arts and crafts right now....but he does like to cut with child scissors and he really likes to help me cook. I took a bunch of pics of him on the trike but the lighting wasn't good and our camera was acting all wonky. Wally and I got a new one as an anniversary gift to ourselves. I have NO IDEA how it works yet, but hopefully the pics I'm posting will improve and you will be able to see the difference. I will post about our Christmas in the next day or two....I should get to bed!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday Wally and I celebrated our 4th anniversary! Here is a slideshow I made of our wedding a few years ago. You may have already seen it. :)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Recent Pics

Here are some recent pictures of the kids! They're all growing up so fast! :)

Julia...can you believe she'll be 7 in April??

Lexie....she fell asleep in the car like this...hat coming off, Pink Puppy wedged up by her head, too cute!

Aiden and his latest favorite toy....his "um-bray-ya!"

Wally and the kids on a horse-drawn carriage ride in Prague!

For some reason, people here LOVE Paris....everywhere we go, tourists want to take her picture! Crazy! Wally says we should start a blog just for her! :)

This is one of my favorite pictures EVER!! I just want to eat her! :)

Julia's Winter Recital Video

When the video starts, Julia is the girl to the immediate left of the teacher. Your left, not the teachers' left. :) You have to keep your eye on her they switch places throughout the dance. We were so proud of how well she did with the dance compared to some of the younger girls. She's moving up to the next level class in January!

Daddy's recliner = private property!

Yesterday I was sweeping while Aiden and I were home alone. Wally had taken the girls with him to the PX, and Aiden wanted to stay with me. He was playing and watching The Backyardigans and when he saw me move Wally's recliner he said "MAMA! Dada not happy you moo he chair! No do dat 'gain!" He shook his finger at me, and he looked so serious! It was so cute. I guess he's decided to be protective of Daddy's chair. It's his favorite place to sit, but there are certain rules he must follow like no eating in Daddy's chair. He got in trouble this past week for peeing in his underwear while sitting in it so I guess he was going to let me know that I had limits too. I made sure he knew that Daddy wouldn't mind me sweeping underneath his chair but he kept telling me "No do dat 'gain Mama!"

Of course when Wally came home and I told him the story, he gave Aiden a high five and told him "Thanks for looking out for my chair buddy!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone! This is only the 2nd Thanksgiving I have ever spent away from my mom and dad.... (tear). It went well though. Wally and I put together a nice meal. We made some things last night....I made the stuffing, potato salad, and a pumpkin cream cheese roll with Julia. Wally made banana pudding (his specialty) and deviled eggs. Today he made green bean casserole while I made mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls. And of course we had turkey, cranberry sauce, and through a combined effort we made giblet gravy. I say a combined effort because I refuse to touch the neck, giblets, or anything else that comes out of the turkey. I did it last year and vowed that I would never touch that stuff again! All in all, we were very pleased. Julia loves turkey and looks forward to Thanksgiving and Easter to get her fill. Aiden, as it turns out, loves cranberry sauce. I think he ate 4-5 helpings of that and just picked at the rest. Lexie shoveled everything in, especially the mashed potatoes (her fav), stuffing and the cranberry sauce.

We ate at dinnertime, after spending some time on the webcam with my parents, brothers and Kayla. Then we ended the day by making room for the Christmas tree and hauling out some of the Christmas stuff. Last year we bought a big pre-lit tree during the after-Christmas sales, so we were excited to put it up for the first time. It looks great! We didn't decorate it yet; that will come tomorrow. I'll put up a picture when it's done! We did pull out all of our decorations and start placing them around. Wally laughs at me every year when we unpack our Christmas boxes because I have so much snowman stuff. I love snowmen.

The kids were very excited, not just to see the decorations and tree, but because every year we pack up all the Christmas books, dvds, and stuffed animals with the ornaments and decorations. So every season when we unpack our stuff, they are so excited to see their things again! You should see their faces when we pull out their Christmas bears, stuffed Santas and snowmen. And the Christmas books! Our newly independent reader Julia grabbed a book right away and started reading. Aiden kept running around yelling "Ho ho ho! Ki-miss chee!" (Christmas tree!)

Now Wally and I are hanging out in our bed, enjoying pumpkin cream cheese roll and watching Baby Mama. I love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It's good to relax and laugh together. We have so much to be thankful for; it has been such a good year! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too! :)

Snow and Ballet Recitals

Friday afternoon we had to go for Julia's ballet pictures at 4:30. Wally couldn't come, but I didn't want to leave the kids at school until 5pm, so Julia and I decided that we'd just take them with us. We walked into the school a few minutes before 4pm because it about 15-20 minutes to get to two classrooms, get the kids, get their jackets on, and collect their stuff. When we approached the doorway of the school to leave, I saw some people milling around, but didn't think too much of it. When we got closer, I heard the word "snow" and I said "What?" One of the teachers looked at me and said "It's snowing." I looked outside and snow was just pouring out of the sky. A lot of snow. It was blowing in sideways. I took a deep breath because I knew I couldn't wait around at the front like the others. We had to go. We had pictures to take, and I knew they couldn't take the group photo without her. And I wasn't sure they'd postpone pictures for the snow....most people here are used to it.

We are not those people. We're from Florida! Aiden and Lexie have never even SEEN snow, and Julia doesn't really remember the times she did. I pulled their jacket hoods over their heads, protected Julia's ballet bun I'd just spent 15 mins perfecting and out we went. The wind was strong, the snow was blowing hard, I was carrying Lexie and the minute we stepped out, I heard her draw in a sharp breath. Then she screamed. And screamed. I tried to coax her into putting her head down on my shoulder, but she flailed back and screamed some more. Snow was pouring over us, 10 feet away from the school and the sleeves of my jacket were already covered. The van was at least 100 feet away. Julia walked ahead of me, exclaiming things like "Whoa, Mommy, look at all this!" Aiden trailed behind me, quiet at first, but the deeper we got into the snow, he started crying. "No like that! Mama, no like that!"

By the time we made it to the van, Aiden and Lexie were both screaming, and we were all covered in snow. I think I had an inch of it on top of my head. I got them all loaded into their seats, and then I thought, "Wow, we have to drive a quarter of a mile to the teen center and then get back out in this." Everything was already white, which amazed me because when we walked into the school a half an hour earlier, there was no snow in sight. But our second venture out wasn't quite as bad. To get to the building where the pictures were going to be, you have to park adn then walk up a hill (of course) so I got Aiden and Julia out and sent them ahead of me while I got Lexie and the diaper bag. They all did better this time.

We got in, the room was chaos, everyone was wet. I got the kids' jackets off, got Julia's boots off and her ballet shoes on, smoothed out her bun, tied her skirt on, and sent her over for pics. Aiden and Lexie wanted their jackets off and a snack immediately. Got that done. Then they wandered around, checking things out while I chatted with some moms. Ten minutes later they were done. Sigh. Packed up the diaper bag, put on the jackets and hats, had Julia change her shoes and out we trudged again into the windy snow. I had planned on going to get the mail, but decided that we were going straight home. It kept snowing. It snowed most of the night.

I don't know how many inches we got this weekend, but even a couple seems like a lot when you come from a place that NEVER has snow. Saturday morning Wally took the kids to the PX and clothing supply store (while I worked on a paper for school) to pick up some uniform stuff he needed and came home with a sled. Unfortunately we couldn't play with it right then because Julia had to go to ballet recital rehearsal. It was in Vilseck, half an hour away, and the road conditions were red, meaning you should only drive if necessary. Wally took her so she could get in one final practice, and I stayed home to work on my paper while the little ones napped. By the time they got back, it was close to dinnertime, and it gets dark now at 5pm, but after dinner we pulled on the kids' snow gear: snow pants, heavy jackets, gloves, and snow boots and headed out. We have a great hill in our yard, and Wally pulled Julia down that several times. Then we left the yard and went to the street, where Wally pulled both kids down our street and on the icy sidewalk. Julia had a blast, but Aiden's joy was short-lived. After a couple of rides, he came back to me and said "My cold, my go inside, watch My Backyard" (which means he wanted to watch The Backyardigans).

Julia would've stayed out all night if we'd let her. She played on the sled awhile longer, and when Wally was ready to come in, she asked if she could play more in the backyard. She stayed out another half hour at least, making snow angels, snowballs, and even swinging on the swingset for awhile.
Yesterday was her ballet recital and she did a really nice job. I videoed her dance, but the lighting on the stage wasn't very good so I'm hoping you'll be able to see it. I will upload it later. Her teacher okayed her to move up to the Beginning Ballet class (rather than Kinderballet, which is what she did this semester) in January, which I thought was great, considering they are supposed to be seven years old to start that class. But in the dance you will see....she was one of the oldest in her group and during a few parts, she is the only one who was actually doing what she was supposed to be doing. There's one part where she's at the front of the stage with the teacher, doing the dance, and the rest of the group is in the back, just kind of standing there. We were really proud of her for continuing on, even though the other kids kind of dropped the ball. :) I'm excited to see where she will be at the end of the school year.

As for the snow, it's fallen off and on all weekend. Julia had to get used to something new this morning: wearing snow boots on the walk to school and then changing shoes once she got to her classroom. We didn't talk about changing BACK into the boots for the walk home, but I'm hoping she figures that out on her own. She'll be home in a half hour, so we'll see. :)

I will post the video later, maybe not tonight because I'll have the kids by myself, but I'll try. Oh yeah, Wally is in Romania overnight tonight. He flew out with his boss early this morning, arrived around 1pm and will be home tomorrow evening. It will be a night filled with Aiden saying "My dada not home. My dada come home when my wake up. My dada not take me skoo. My dada not pick me up. My dada at work. My dada at hotel. Call dada, Mama. Where my dada, Mama?" He generally says one of those phrases about every half hour when dada is gone. I've only spent one night away from him his entire life, so Mommy gets taken for granted, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Birthday Kara!

Happy 30th Birthday to one of my oldest and best friends, Kara! Even more exciting is that she is having her first baby next Tuesday!! I can't wait to meet baby Kaitlyn! I am so excited and happy for you guys!

Kara, I love you so much. We have been friends for so long, I can't even imagine my life without you in it. Even though we don't see each other for months at a time, I know that I can always count on you and that when we see each other, I will still feel like we're 16 years old, wearing silver shoes and pigtails, driving around in my old Dodge Aries. Thank you for being such a great friend for all of these years. Here's to the next 30! :)

Pink Puppy is missing!

Pink Puppy was lost at the PX last night, and we can't find her anywhere. No other lovey will do. My mom sent Lexie a different one a few months ago; it's very soft and snuggly in brown, green and white. The verdict? We give it to Lexie, she looks at it in disgust and chucks it on the floor. She actually slept okay last night, but was up at the crack of dawn and seems restless. She has a soft pink rabbit lovey that we also tried giving her, but it was met with the same disgust as the soft snuggly blanket. With two teeth coming in, it was not a good time to lose Pink Puppy. (She actually lost it with Daddy, as I was at HSM3 with Julia, but we're pretending that doesn't matter!:)

So what's a mom to do? I got on the computer last night and Googled all the key words I could think of "pink poodle lovey blanket baby." The VERY FIRST thing that came up was an ebay link so clicked on it, and there was Pink Puppy!! She was $25 and listed as from a company called "Angel Dear." (It occurred to me that in all this time I never looked at Pink Puppy's tag!) After some research, I found Pink Puppy for a more reasonable price, so I ordered 2 right away!! I am so stoked to have found a replacement!

It's heartbreaking for your child to lose their security object! Julia has had her soft babydoll, Annie, since before she was born, but she just sleeps with it, she never carried it around with her. Between Lexie and Aiden, I'm in a constant state of "Where's Mee Mee? Where's Pink Puppy?" Mee-Mee, for those who don't know, is Aiden's fleece security blanket. It's navy blue, covered in trucks, and has already been cut in half to make 2. He's been sleeping with it since he was about 6 or 7 months old. We thought we lost Mee Mee in Prague once, and I literally thought I was going to cry. We didn't have the second half with us, and there's no way Aiden will sleep without Mee-Mee. Luckily we found it, but now I'm thinking I'd better start trying to find that pattern of fleece in case we need to replace one (or both) halves at some point.

Now we're stuck waiting on our package of Pink Puppies. Only standard delivery was available so who knows how long it will take? It's probably a good thing that the company didn't offer express....I wouldn't have been able to resist and it probably would've cost a fortune!
Keep your fingers crossed that our Pink Puppy-less days pass quickly!!

Julia!

It wasn't so long ago that Julia looked like this! What happened to that little girl?

Julia is getting so big and learning so much! In fact, at her parent-teacher conference, her teacher called her a superstar! She said that Julia is doing amazingly well in 1st grade. She's reading at a 2nd grade level and is excelling in all areas! We couldn't be more proud!

She's also branching out socially. She's made some close friends here on our street, and twice now, she's spent the night at a friends' house. She had a really great time on both occasions and didn't seem to get homesick at all. I admit, I kind of hated her spending the night out....I don't want her to grow up!

Julia is an amazing big sister, always reading to the kids, always helping them out. This is from when she was younger, but now that she is actually reading, she's doing it even more. Aiden and Lexie both adore her. Lexie will walk over and just lay down on Julia's lap, and Aiden will seek her out for comfort at times, telling her "Sit me, Yaya!" ("Sit with me, Julia!") They are all very loving kids.

I'm happy to say that Julia has dealt with the move really well. I think it helped immensely that she met these other girls who live on our street. She had built-in best friends immediately! She tells me that she really likes her school and teacher, and doesn't refer to her old school and friends as much as I thought she would. I'm proud of her for also making other friends, outside of our neighborhood, through her activities. She's really starting to become more outgoing. She's made friends of all ages, through Brownies, ballet, cheerleading, and school in general.

We're still learning all of the exciting changes that come with being the parents of an school-aged child, but she is such a good girl. We're such lucky parents to have this amazing daughter! We love you so much, Julia!

Julia and Daddy on a Ferris Wheel!

Belated Halloween Photos

Here are some Halloween photos. It was very cold that night! We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, to our neighbor's Haunted Backyard, and to the local celebration that included games and candy in the gym. The kids had a blast and got lots of yummy candy! Aiden made a great Buzz Lightyear, Julia was a Bratz pirate, and Lexie was a ladybug. They were so cute!

Hi!

Here she is. Lexie Lu. She is so funny and getting so smart. She walks all around this house, and she knows where things belong. She will put dvd cases back in the entertainment center. She will bring you your shoes or your jacket. Her favorite thing is her own shoes though. She loves to wear shoes. She has 2 pair right now, white velcro New Balance sneakers and a pair of pink cloth-type boots. She'll bring you her shoes and sit down in front of you and give you this LOOK, like "Put on my shoes!" After you put them on, she gets up and walks off, happy as can be. She loves her shoes.

This "Hi!" thing is new. She waves at us all the time and says "Hi!" over and over. It's adorable. She waves goodbye too. Her two must-have items are her pacifier and her Pink Puppy. You can see Pink Puppy in the "Lexie Walking" video I posted a few days ago. She loves that thing. She drags it around everywhere with her and holds it up to her face for comfort and while she is sleeping. Pink Puppy gets DIR-TY from all this love, so we have to sneak it away to be washed. Pink Puppy goes to school everyday and comes back home. We've tried other "lovies" that she has, but to no avail. Pink Puppy is non-negotiable.

Lexie is a stubborn little girl. Much different than Julia was at this age. I always say her mantra is "I will not be ignored!" Because you can't just let her cry it out and expect her to get over it. I'm not talking in bed (cause you would be crazy to think that would work!) I'm talking about, I'm cooking dinner, Wally is not home from work yet, Aiden and Julia are playing in the living room, and Lexie is sitting at my feet screaming. Not just screaming. SCREAMING horrible loud ear-piercing shrieks that make me sure the neighbors must think I am beating her. She will scream like that until I hold her. And I will. Because you can only take so much and she knows that. Lexie will not be ignored.

She isn't sleeping through the night yet, but she's getting much better. Our fingers are crossed. Aiden finally did at 14 mths and Lexie is reaching that age this week, so....here's hoping she follows her brother's lead.

Her most frustrating habit, though, has got to be this business with her hair. When she's finished with her meal, she wants to get out of the high chair. Right then. If you say "Just a minute Lexie, Mommy/Daddy's still eating. Hold on and then I'll clean you up." To her, that must sound like "Mommy/Daddy can't get you yet, so smear your food into your hands and then rub it in your hair." Her hair is finally starting to grow a little bit, so Wally and I jokingly tell her it's because of all the "fertilizer" she puts in it when she eats. What a mess!

Anyway, please enjoy this video. Hi!

Aiden ...what can I say?

I know I keep posting about Aiden lately, but the kid is just so funny! He's at that age where he's learning new words all the time, and we're constantly laughing at the things that he comes up with. I feel so lucky to be his mom. :)

So he's invented his own suffix....he now adds -ree onto the end of a lot of words. We don't know why. But stickers are "stick-ree" pumpkins are "pump-ree" pants are "pants-ree" potatoes are "tay-ree" No it's not just with "p" words, I just happened to think of a lot of "p" examples at the moment. Who knows what the boy will come up with next?!

Wally has been telling him about snow lately. He told him about making snowballs and throwing them at Mommy and his sisters. So this morning, when we awoke to snow falling, he kept yelling "MAKE BALLS! MAKE BALLS!" We had to tell him that we can't make snowballs yet, there is not enough snow on the ground....it just melted right away. We told him when there's a lot of snow and the ground is white, THAT'S when we can "make balls!" LOL

The word "my" is interchangeable with "me" or "I," He'll say "my turn!" but also if he wants to do something "My do that!" or "My want that" or sometimes simply "My do!" (rather than "I do!")

He's constantly asking us "What you doin?" He loves to watch me cook and comes into the kitchen with his step-stool and says "What you cook, Mama?" LOVES to help unload the dishwasher!

He used to always call Julia "Ya-ya!" but now is saying "Jew-ya" quite well. He can say Lexie, but it's kind of garbled. He still mostly calls her "Woo woo" or "Yoo-bee" because we're always calling her Lulu or Looby (as in "Here we go Looby Lou")

He is still really into fruit, especially grapes and strawberries ("Gapey's! Strah-beez!") He also loves gummy bears (gumby bears) with a passion. His daddy's gotten him interested in Cocoa Puffs, but he usually only takes a bite or two out of Wally's bowl. He's not asking for his own. Yet. He calls cupcakes "pupcakes" and french fries "dench ryes" Geez, it sounds like all we feed him junk, but I promise he eats healthy meals! He eats chicken, beef, pork, mashed potatoes, rice, peas, corn, broccoli, and bread. Loads of other stuff too. But for some reason, he can say all of those things pretty well. It's the junk food he can't pronounce!

I went to the store tonight and got a few things. When I came back, he helped me carry in the bags, which he loves doing. He saw the bag of grapes and yelled "Gapey's!! Dat for when my wake up" Wally and I laughed so hard!

He's doing really well on the potty. We're on week 3 of being in underwear all day at school, and he's averaging about 1-3 accidents per day. I'm pretty impressed with that. But if he wets himself, you have to change him IMMEDIATELY! He has always hated his clothes being wet, so he completley flips out if he's wet. "My wet! Change me! Change me! CHANGE ME MAMA!!" (or Dada, whoever is closer!) It's kind of a pain, but I think the hatred of wet clothes is speeding up the process of potty training. His teachers are phenomenal and are doing such a good job with him.

Ok, I've bragged about my boy enough tonight. I'll have to dedicate posts to each of the girls in the next week or so too. They're all such amazing kids.


This is Aiden's very favorite thing to do...."BUMPY CARS!"

Lexie walking!

Mannheim...I thought I already posted this!

So I thought I'd already posted this but apparently I only saved it as a draft.

We went to Mannheim this weekend and had a great time. Julia and I hadn't been back since 2005, so it was fun to see how it has changed. We went downtown and walked around...it was so nice. We ate at Pizza Hut, which was so good, I can't even tell you!! Here all we have is this place on base called Anthony's Pizza, which is....not good, to say the least. Off base there are a few Italian restaurants, but it's not quite the same as good old American Pizza Hut pizza. I ordered my favorite pizza that they serve here....tuna pizza! I know you're going to think it sounds disgusting, but trust me, it's amazing! It has red onions on it too.....mmmmmm.

We went to Luisenpark on Friday afternoon, this huge park that we used to take Julia to all the time. It was so fun. We saw lots of animals...owls, fish, birds, butterflies, etc. We also rode a boat around the park and saw some huge fish! They swam up to the surface and opened their mouths so wide. I've never seen such big fish in a pond or river. We also played on a few of the playgrounds that are spread throughout the park. Julia loved riding the zip line!

We went to Heidelberg and walked around on Saturday. We had a great time seeing the sights, the castle, a little market, shops, etc. I had forgotten about the downtown area. We also drove by our old place in Viernheim. Julia really wanted to see it (and go inside!) and we were glad to see that it pretty much looked the same. (For those who don't remember or didn't know us then, we lived off base.)

On Sunday we headed out to yet another park we used to take Julia to, I don't think I ever knew the name of it. We fed all sorts of animals....buffalo, deer, pigs, goats, etc. The kids loved feeding them, even Lexie. We played on the playground...I had forgotten there was on there...it was really cool, all natural wood. Then we got some lunch and headed back home. We had a great time. There was nothing major that we had to do, so it was nice just relaxing and showing the kids around the place we used to live four years ago.

Bat-weez

According to Aiden, anything that does not make noise "need bat-weez!" Everything needs batteries. EVERYTHING!! Matchbox cars, stuffed animals, everything! Such a boy!

Julia's Open House

The Open House for Julia's school was a few weeks ago. Wally was unable to get away from work (it was at 1pm) so I went by myself. Her teacher, Mrs. Weight, went over the curriculum and rules. She mentioned that since Kindergarten is optional here, some of the kids have never even been in a classroom environment before now. She said she only has three readers, and I felt very proud because I knew Julia was one of them. Mrs. Weight sends home a paper with a paragraph on it, along with some word family words and a few fill in the blank sentences. Julia is to practice reading it to us every night, and then on Mondays and Wednesdays she reads whichever paper she's on to Mrs. Weight...if she "passes" the reading with 80% accuracy, she gets the next paper in the series. I like that she's not forced to stay on the same level as the class or even as a reading group. She's working at her own pace and moving along pretty fast!

Wally went to lunch with Julia on Friday and stopped in to see the teacher. It was the first chance we'd had to touch base with her since this reading program began (it began at the time of the Open House) and she assured Wally that Julia is one of her top three readers and is doing very well. She told him that she has papers in this reading program up to the 3rd grade level and she expects Julia to be reading at that level by the end of the school year. We're so proud of her! She's already reading anything she can get her hands on. I'm teaching her how to break bigger words down into smaller words and how to sound them out piece by piece. She read the word "crunching" the other day by sounding out "crun" then "ch" and adding "ing" to the end. Otherwise when she sees the "ch" in the middle and starts making the "c" (hard c) sound instead of recognizing "ch" as a blend. I give her reminders when she's sounding out unfamiliar words like "What sound does 'ou' make?" and then she can sound out "loud." She's doing really well.

Here are a few pics of her work that was hanging around her classroom that day.

Lexie

...is starting to walk! Video to come! YAY!

Prague

Here are some photos of our two trips to Prague. So far we've been twice and love it. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.