Thankfully last night I had my phone handy and was able to catch the tail end of Sam and Campbell playing together. This is pretty fun for Bryan and I to watch--- Sam's understanding and interactions with other kiddos are sometimes different. He and Campbell have been slowing developing the playful part of their relationship that comes more naturally for a lot of siblings. It's fun to see them communicate their desire to play together and then watch them have fun doing so! We're close to another huge victory for our sweet boy--- the hop in his step is getting closer and closer to a JOG!!!!! He so badly wants to run but that silly right side is just a few steps behind. He's getting closer to a run and beams with joy as he feels himself moving more quickly! Bryan and I couldn't be more proud of these two. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Weekend Accomplishments
I decided to put the blogger app on my phone in hopes of posting things I'd like to remember about the kids and pictures I take on my phone in a more timely manner. I read that you can't format text or pictures or even add captions to pictures but I'll give it a try and see how it goes.
Weekend success #1
All of the school stuff I purchased and accumulated in my four+ years of teaching is kept in an L-shaped closet under our stairs. This weekend we pulled it all out, I sorted through half of the boxes and totes and threw a bunch of stuff away! I love to purge (belongings that is)! You can't tell from the picture but anyone that's peaked in there can tell you this is a huge improvement!! I'm pretty excited about the white drawers on the left- full of office supplies, colored paper, craft materials and a drawer to keep a few files of family stuff in the bottom! Good thing we cleared out a space before the bad weather hit Saturday night- but thankfully it wasn't needed!
Success #2
Bryan has long been wanting me to find a way to make the perfect crispy homemade pizza crust. We found a recipe online and my partner and I (my one and only) learned making dough was really simple and really delicious!! The recipe makes two crusts so we have one in the freezer ready to be enjoyed at any time! Next time I think I'll make a double batch to end up with four crusts since they supposedly freeze so well. The real key to our pizza success was using a pizza stone. My mom had given me one years ago but I had never tried it- no directions and I didn't know how to use it properly. Thanks to some google research I'm now in love with this thing!!! I know some of you have probably done it this way all along but it's new and exciting for us! The crust was perfect! I mean PERFECT! Golden brown and the perfect crisp!! We are sold!!
PS as I'm writing this I want the pictures to be up in between paragraphs but it looks like they're goin gto post below my writing. No perfect to do it on my phone but convenient so we'll give it a go!
Weekend success #1
All of the school stuff I purchased and accumulated in my four+ years of teaching is kept in an L-shaped closet under our stairs. This weekend we pulled it all out, I sorted through half of the boxes and totes and threw a bunch of stuff away! I love to purge (belongings that is)! You can't tell from the picture but anyone that's peaked in there can tell you this is a huge improvement!! I'm pretty excited about the white drawers on the left- full of office supplies, colored paper, craft materials and a drawer to keep a few files of family stuff in the bottom! Good thing we cleared out a space before the bad weather hit Saturday night- but thankfully it wasn't needed!
Success #2
Bryan has long been wanting me to find a way to make the perfect crispy homemade pizza crust. We found a recipe online and my partner and I (my one and only) learned making dough was really simple and really delicious!! The recipe makes two crusts so we have one in the freezer ready to be enjoyed at any time! Next time I think I'll make a double batch to end up with four crusts since they supposedly freeze so well. The real key to our pizza success was using a pizza stone. My mom had given me one years ago but I had never tried it- no directions and I didn't know how to use it properly. Thanks to some google research I'm now in love with this thing!!! I know some of you have probably done it this way all along but it's new and exciting for us! The crust was perfect! I mean PERFECT! Golden brown and the perfect crisp!! We are sold!!
PS as I'm writing this I want the pictures to be up in between paragraphs but it looks like they're goin gto post below my writing. No perfect to do it on my phone but convenient so we'll give it a go!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Fun and Not So Fun
This week at our house we've had some fun and some not so fun moments as most do with any week.
Fun. Sam doesn't choose to walk down the steps when we go downstairs (split level so stairs, turn on the landing, stairs). He is plenty capable but with all things Sam, he has not felt sturdy enough to walk down unless he holds one of our hands. The norm is for Campbell and I to hold hands and walk down in front of Sam. I encourage him to stand and walk down vs sit and even get him started but he almost always plunks down and goes on his buns. This week I think he had a big if-she-can-do-it, I-can-do-it moment. Out of the blue Monday before school he decided to stand up and went down a few on his own on the upper stairs. On the landing I cheered a bit and told him to keep going and Campbell and I kept moving down the lower stairs to see what he'd do. He hesitated for a second with the first step but then walked down the rest of the way. We cheered and danced at the bottom and I headed into the garage to put Campbell in her carseat, assuming he'd follow and climb in. Instead I heard him tromp up the stairs and then come back down again on his own... I wasn't even within his sight! We cheered and celebrated a second time and then I took his hand to load him into the van. He wasn't interested in coming with me but instead pulled me back inside pointing up the stairs and he went up and down a t.h.i.r.d. time!!!!!! This time I cried a little. It's a huge victory for Sam. He decided all on his own he had the confidence and ability to walk down and there's been no turning back. You can just see how proud he is and it's so exciting to watch. As with everything Sam has done, he did it when he was comfortable and ready. He can't be rushed- he knows the right time.
Not so fun. After that exciting victory on the stairs we drove to Walgreens to lovingly pick up Bryan two jugs of Arnold Palmer Zero (iced tea/lemonade drink- his favorite since the man gave up soda over four months ago! and Walgreens is the only place around here that carries the zero calorie in gallon jugs). As it's not exactly easy to hold two children by the hand and carry two gallon jugs at the same time, I reached to put Campbell in the cart. She's pretty hell-bent on walking during outings these days so she immediately goes into full-volume-high-pitch-girly-scream-freakout-mode! I manage to keep her in my arms as Sam helps me push the cart past the many onlookers that had the great luck of witnessing this lovely incident. We get a few aisles over and grab the drinks. Campbell goes into round two of I-want-down-protest and Sam sees his opportunity to zip around the corner to the next aisle. I turn the cart around and turn the corner to grab Sam just as I hear a Walgreens employee say 'oh a little boy probably should have that!' He of course had grabbed a glass bottle of some liquid. I grab his hand and he gigiggled and tried again to escape. This is the moment where I stood for a second holding both of my protesting children and thought should I just leave the darn cart and drinks here and leave empty handed?! : ) I decided that Mom should push on and win so I plunked Sam down in the cart next to the jugs and squeezed Campbell a little tighter and marched toward the checkout counter. Of course there were seven people in line ahead of us! After a bit of struggle and embarrassment, I made it out with two jugs of AP and two children- a success!
Fun. Sam continues to do wonderfully at school. We couldn't be more thankful for his teachers and are so glad we decided to send him! These last few weeks he's seemed like such a big boy when I drop him off--- I put him down, put on his backpack and give him a kiss. He happily smiles and waves to Ms. Jodi, grabs her hand as to escort her in the building, waves once to me and marches towards the door. While he walks he's confidently watching the other kids and buses and holding his own in the midst of all the morning commotion. This part of the day used to overwhelm him but that's not the case anymore. He's such a good kid. It's a great feeling to see and know he's comfortable and happy to be there. Sam's main teacher is retiring and the district is really changing the structure of preschool next year. We're disappointed he won't be able to go back to the same room with the same lovey faces but know he'll do well regardless. It's been a great year and I hope these next couple of months don't go too fast. He will really miss school this summer.
Not so fun. Tuesday morning I woke to find our refrigerator had died over night. Awesome. Threw a bunch of stuff away, put the rest in coolers on ice and we had a new one in place by early afternoon. Not the way I envisioned the day going.
Not so fun. Dumb but I stubbed my big toe on the bottom of the kitchen cupboard and cracked the toenail all the way down to the middle. Oh so tender and terrible! By the end of the week I was able to wear tennis shoes but there's no jumping, running or yoga going on for a few days yet. Silly how something tiny like this can cause such drama! Bryan's pretty sick of hearing me complain but it hurts! : )
Fun. My friend Kate and her daughter Olivia came over Thursday morning to play while the boys were at school. It had been a while since we've done this and it felt great to spend some time gabbing. As a fellow stay at home momma, she understands how a morning spent with an adult friend is such a nice break from the normal routine. I'm thankful for her for sure!
Overall it was a good week for the Rempts. A few big things are happening for Bryan at work this week and next so it's been exciting to watch it all start to shake out. We are planning to lay low this weekend which should be perfect because it's supposed to rain. We might even tackle the closet underneath the stairs that houses all of my school stuff! I watched with a two week old babe in my arms as Bryan and my parents shoved four+ years of teaching into boxes in one quick evening before we moved from FL. Things aren't exactly organized and I'm sure I can purge a little plus rearrange and make use of some of my stuff. Kind of weird to imagine being a teacher again and using all those dollars worth of teaching stuff... thankful thankful thankful that's not my job today!!!!
A few pictures from my phone taken this week---
And one from Easter...
Fun. Sam doesn't choose to walk down the steps when we go downstairs (split level so stairs, turn on the landing, stairs). He is plenty capable but with all things Sam, he has not felt sturdy enough to walk down unless he holds one of our hands. The norm is for Campbell and I to hold hands and walk down in front of Sam. I encourage him to stand and walk down vs sit and even get him started but he almost always plunks down and goes on his buns. This week I think he had a big if-she-can-do-it, I-can-do-it moment. Out of the blue Monday before school he decided to stand up and went down a few on his own on the upper stairs. On the landing I cheered a bit and told him to keep going and Campbell and I kept moving down the lower stairs to see what he'd do. He hesitated for a second with the first step but then walked down the rest of the way. We cheered and danced at the bottom and I headed into the garage to put Campbell in her carseat, assuming he'd follow and climb in. Instead I heard him tromp up the stairs and then come back down again on his own... I wasn't even within his sight! We cheered and celebrated a second time and then I took his hand to load him into the van. He wasn't interested in coming with me but instead pulled me back inside pointing up the stairs and he went up and down a t.h.i.r.d. time!!!!!! This time I cried a little. It's a huge victory for Sam. He decided all on his own he had the confidence and ability to walk down and there's been no turning back. You can just see how proud he is and it's so exciting to watch. As with everything Sam has done, he did it when he was comfortable and ready. He can't be rushed- he knows the right time.
Not so fun. After that exciting victory on the stairs we drove to Walgreens to lovingly pick up Bryan two jugs of Arnold Palmer Zero (iced tea/lemonade drink- his favorite since the man gave up soda over four months ago! and Walgreens is the only place around here that carries the zero calorie in gallon jugs). As it's not exactly easy to hold two children by the hand and carry two gallon jugs at the same time, I reached to put Campbell in the cart. She's pretty hell-bent on walking during outings these days so she immediately goes into full-volume-high-pitch-girly-scream-freakout-mode! I manage to keep her in my arms as Sam helps me push the cart past the many onlookers that had the great luck of witnessing this lovely incident. We get a few aisles over and grab the drinks. Campbell goes into round two of I-want-down-protest and Sam sees his opportunity to zip around the corner to the next aisle. I turn the cart around and turn the corner to grab Sam just as I hear a Walgreens employee say 'oh a little boy probably should have that!' He of course had grabbed a glass bottle of some liquid. I grab his hand and he gigiggled and tried again to escape. This is the moment where I stood for a second holding both of my protesting children and thought should I just leave the darn cart and drinks here and leave empty handed?! : ) I decided that Mom should push on and win so I plunked Sam down in the cart next to the jugs and squeezed Campbell a little tighter and marched toward the checkout counter. Of course there were seven people in line ahead of us! After a bit of struggle and embarrassment, I made it out with two jugs of AP and two children- a success!
Fun. Sam continues to do wonderfully at school. We couldn't be more thankful for his teachers and are so glad we decided to send him! These last few weeks he's seemed like such a big boy when I drop him off--- I put him down, put on his backpack and give him a kiss. He happily smiles and waves to Ms. Jodi, grabs her hand as to escort her in the building, waves once to me and marches towards the door. While he walks he's confidently watching the other kids and buses and holding his own in the midst of all the morning commotion. This part of the day used to overwhelm him but that's not the case anymore. He's such a good kid. It's a great feeling to see and know he's comfortable and happy to be there. Sam's main teacher is retiring and the district is really changing the structure of preschool next year. We're disappointed he won't be able to go back to the same room with the same lovey faces but know he'll do well regardless. It's been a great year and I hope these next couple of months don't go too fast. He will really miss school this summer.
Not so fun. Tuesday morning I woke to find our refrigerator had died over night. Awesome. Threw a bunch of stuff away, put the rest in coolers on ice and we had a new one in place by early afternoon. Not the way I envisioned the day going.
Not so fun. Dumb but I stubbed my big toe on the bottom of the kitchen cupboard and cracked the toenail all the way down to the middle. Oh so tender and terrible! By the end of the week I was able to wear tennis shoes but there's no jumping, running or yoga going on for a few days yet. Silly how something tiny like this can cause such drama! Bryan's pretty sick of hearing me complain but it hurts! : )
Fun. My friend Kate and her daughter Olivia came over Thursday morning to play while the boys were at school. It had been a while since we've done this and it felt great to spend some time gabbing. As a fellow stay at home momma, she understands how a morning spent with an adult friend is such a nice break from the normal routine. I'm thankful for her for sure!
Overall it was a good week for the Rempts. A few big things are happening for Bryan at work this week and next so it's been exciting to watch it all start to shake out. We are planning to lay low this weekend which should be perfect because it's supposed to rain. We might even tackle the closet underneath the stairs that houses all of my school stuff! I watched with a two week old babe in my arms as Bryan and my parents shoved four+ years of teaching into boxes in one quick evening before we moved from FL. Things aren't exactly organized and I'm sure I can purge a little plus rearrange and make use of some of my stuff. Kind of weird to imagine being a teacher again and using all those dollars worth of teaching stuff... thankful thankful thankful that's not my job today!!!!
A few pictures from my phone taken this week---
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| quick snooze in the warm sun while we wait for Sam |
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| what a smile this boy has <3 |
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| so thankful Bryan loves that I can sit and love on Sam on days like this |
Thursday, April 5, 2012
---Phone picture post---
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| nudie after a bath... this is how I found them playing! they'll hate me! |
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| they like to hold hands and run! |
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| I think it's grown Dad! |
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| rocking the boots |
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| cartoons in their lawn chairs before school |
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| both wanted their boots this day |
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| snack before bed |
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| she can already do many things with a baby in her arms <3 |
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I've been MIA from this blog for the last few months and a few have gently reminded me how lovely a place this is to keep up with us and most importantly, for Bryan and I to look back and remember as our kids are growing and changing so quickly. Our computer ended up with a virus and has kicked the bucket, things are the normal busy, the weather has been nice, blah blah blah. I am going to be a better blogger. I'll regret it later if not.
So I'll start with a sweet Campbell story. She's such a fun little thing right now. She is full of life and joy and fiesty energy! Last night she was pretty revved up at their normal bedtime. She ended up on the couch with me so I could encourage her to settle down and get ready to sleep. I decided to rub/tickle/draw on her forhead softly with my fingers- a trick Sam loved loved but it's never really done much for her. She dramatically closed her eyes and relaxed back in my arms. After three or four minutes I was sure she was alseep so I stopped. As soon as I did, she opened her eyes, sat halfway up, signed more and said 'more momma'. She then laid back down and closed her eyes- ready for me to resume! Bryan and I both laughed out loud. Thought she was asleep and instead she sat up and cutely told me she'd like some more of that love. She was in bed sound asleep five minutes later. She's a funny kid.
So I'll start with a sweet Campbell story. She's such a fun little thing right now. She is full of life and joy and fiesty energy! Last night she was pretty revved up at their normal bedtime. She ended up on the couch with me so I could encourage her to settle down and get ready to sleep. I decided to rub/tickle/draw on her forhead softly with my fingers- a trick Sam loved loved but it's never really done much for her. She dramatically closed her eyes and relaxed back in my arms. After three or four minutes I was sure she was alseep so I stopped. As soon as I did, she opened her eyes, sat halfway up, signed more and said 'more momma'. She then laid back down and closed her eyes- ready for me to resume! Bryan and I both laughed out loud. Thought she was asleep and instead she sat up and cutely told me she'd like some more of that love. She was in bed sound asleep five minutes later. She's a funny kid.
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