Happy Birthday Parker!, Jackson's a Big Brother!, Valentine's Day, visits from Owen, Drew & Luke, and a warm welcome to Baylee & Livy!

Lots has happened around here in the last couple of weeks!  Here are the highlights:

Parker celebrated her first birthday! Yay Parker!  She seemed to love her present--it plays music--which she loves!

Parker wanted to try out her new gift.

She was so excited when she heard it playing music!

She's getting to be such a big girl now.  More teeth keep popping through all the time!  She is standing all by herself for longer periods of time now too.  I had to post these adorable pictures of her with the snowman chair.  Too cute!

Point

Touch

Awww, hugs!!!

Another big highlight was that Jackson's baby sister Hayden was born!  He loves being a big brother.  I'm so happy for him and his family!  Jackson got to come and spend the day with me last Friday and I got to meet his precious little sister when he was being dropped off.  She is adorable!

Jackson was the only one here that day so we got to spend lots of quality time together reading stories and of course, playing with the Toy Story toys!  My friend gave me this neat Hallmark book and interactive stuffed animal puppy.  When you read the story to the children, there are certain phrases in the book that are highlighted in red.  When you read those phrases, the puppy responds with different barking sounds!  Jackson loved the story and we read it together several times.  Here are a few pictures of him reading to Jingle the puppy.

Jackson reads to Jingle.

He really liked Jingle's collar.

Hugs for Jingle!

Valentine's Day was on a Monday so we didn't have a party this year.  I did continue the tradition of buying heart-shaped balloons for the children to take home with them though.  It's always a favorite with the children!

Owen got to be the first to pick out his balloon.

Parker was fascinated with her balloon!

Spring gave us a tease with the temperature reaching 50 degrees one day!  Of course it didn't last long but it was wonderful to be able to go outside for longer than usual and actually enjoy being out there!

Alex stops for a quick picture before heading
off for more climbing in the snowbanks!

Parker enjoyed watching Andrew and Alex play in the snow.

I had to post this picture of Alex.  It is one of my favorites!  He is so funny!  That boy is the happiest when he is helping to clean something.  His favorite thing to do is vacuum!  Gotta love it!  This boy just might be a very successful owner of a cleaning company someday!!!

Alex loves to help clean!  Look at that happy face!

We had a nice all day visit from Drew and Luke recently.  They were excited to be able to play with Andrew's Star Wars toys.  I was really proud of the boys and how carefully they played with the figures.  They look forward to being able to play with them again the next time they come over.

Luke and Drew loved playing with the Star Wars toys!

Parker is busy sorting the shapes.

Our featured book over the last two weeks was: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.  The boys each got to make their own Mouse puppet to decorate and take home.  The book is a favorite here and has been read many times!

Alex wanted to add teeth to his mouse.

Drew and Luke show off their Mouse puppets (and the storybook).

I am so excited to be able to welcome a new family who will be joining us on a drop-in basis.  We warmly welcome Baylee and Livy!  Baylee is 3 years old and Livy is 14 months old.  They are friends of Jackson, Drew and Luke.  The girls were both able to come over for a couple of hours last week and see how they liked it.  As you can see from the pictures, they seemed to have a great time!

Welcome Livy and Baylee!

Such cute girls!

Parker liked having some new friends to play with.

The Rose Petal Cottage was a popular place to play.

Look at all the pretty girls!

Having fun!

Finally, I had to include this picture of Alex.  His favorite activity this last Thursday was playing the dice game.  We played that game a whole lot that day!!!  I found these great foam dice at the dollar store!  They are just the right size for the younger ones to toss.  Alex LOVED them!  We each took turns tossing the dice towards the wall and then Alex would count the dots on both of the dice to see who had more.  He really loved playing this game.  He was amazed when I showed him the patterns of the dots on each side.  It didn't take him long to figure that out and was then able to tell what the number four and five sides were without having to count the dots!  I'm so proud of him!

Alex loved the big foam dice!

 Well, that's about it for now.  It's hard to believe it's already just about March!  My jury duty is scheduled for the end of March.  I have sent a letter asking to be deferred from serving.  I don't know how long it will take to hear back from them.  I'll let you all know as soon as I find out!  See you all soon!

A Busy Beginning of February!

Here we are already into the second week of February!  Things have been busy for me here on the home front.  I've had my tax appointment and just need to follow up with a few things to finish everything up--yay!  Now if I could just try to stay caught up with the paperwork for the rest of the year, things will be much easier for next years tax season! 

The other thing that has required a lot of my attention has been my mother's back surgery.  Although the surgery itself went very well, her recovery has not.  She is still having a very difficult time and isn't able to do too much on her own yet.  My younger sister has been wonderful and been over to my parents almost nightly to help out.  I've been trying to get over there during the weekends and on Monday's.  Please keep my mother in your prayers.

Here are a few pictures from the end of January:


Parker loves the telephone!

Jackson and Alex check out the new toys on the train table.

Look who's using a sippy cup!

Trying the new cup...

Taking a sip...

Success!

Jackson experiences his first fire drill at Ms. Margaret's!

Where oh where is Alex???

So far, February has brought us a couple of quick visits from Owen, a visit from Shelby, and even a visit from Drew and Luke!

Parker loved following Owen's every move.

What a Cutie!

Playing with the kitchen set.

Groundhog's Day brought a visit from Drew and Luke.  Drew and I enjoyed playing a groundhog game together.  A little later, the three boys had fun coloring and cutting apart their shadow activity fun sheet.

Drew wins the groundhog game!

Awesome coloring job Drew!

Alex colors his paper.

Luke and Drew-such handsome boys!

Last Thursday, Owen was back for another quick visit.  Shelby was here too.  Their favorite activity that day was playing a game of animal charades.  Here are a few pictures:

Shelby pretends to be a cat.

Owen says he is a "poisonous snake".

Alex is...a kangaroo(I think)???

Group shot. Aren't they cute?

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I'm hoping my personal life will settle down here soon so we can get back into some sort of regular day care routine once again.  I'll keep you posted!  Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!