Come-See-Me Half-Marathon

 We are so proud of Daddy! He ran his second half-marathon this past Saturday (April 5, 2014) that was a part of the Come-See-Me Festival. This was their first attempt at organizing a race of this length and though it did have a killer hill at the beginning and end of the course, Chris said overall it was a good experience. He finished in under 2 hours and the kids and I loved being able to cheer him on at mile 10 and the finish line with our handmade posters (that also made nice mats for snacking on as you can see below).

 Ronnie ran the 5K earlier that morning and waited around to see Chris finish. He ran with him part of the way in the stadium to help spur him on to finish strong.

 Riley wrote his poster all by himself!! I love that he knows how to write his name and how to spell Daddy already. He was very excited to wear Daddy's medal and eat some of his post-run snacks.

Pint-Sized Irish Welcome Spring

 Spring has sprung and we are so thankful for the warmer weather! We are hitting up parks again and spending lots more time outdoors. Riley has taken to shooting baskets with Dad and Maggie loves going for rides on her scooter and bike.

 For Lent, the kids and I created a Prayer Chain. We listed the names of 40+ family members and friends and take one name off each day to pray for. It has been really sweet to hear Riley's prayers first thing in the morning. Most of the time he asks God that the person "do good things and be a good listener and have a good day."  I like it because it's a great way to start our day thinking of others.

 For St. Patrick's Day, we had fun with an assortment of activities. My two little pint-sized Irish helpers made a Fruit Rainbow complete with marshmallow clouds and then made short work of devouring it!

 I made some Leprechaun "Rocks" out of a water and baking soda mixture colored with green food dye and hid a coin inside each rock. Then when we poured vinegar over the top, the kids loved watching the fizzing reveal their "surprise".  To add a little more science into our day, Riley helped me make a Liquid Rainbow (see the jar on the window sill below) that explores density and how some liquids rise to the top of a surface while others are heavier (such as honey and dish detergent).
We also mixed up a batch of Lucky Charms marshmallow treats. I have to admit that they weren't quite as tasty as Rice Krispie treats, but the kids didn't seem to care. :)

 We watched a video about the meaning of the holiday and learned about the real Saint Patrick who lived long ago. And the highlight was probably going on a Scavenger Hunt after nap time using clues that were hidden around the house.  The clues led to a "pot of gold" which were Hershey chocolates in shiny wrappers. 

 I'm one LUCKY mom to have been blessed with these little angels in my life! I love being able to make holidays special for them and am so thankful that I have this time at home to spend time of these extra activities. 

 Who said you aren't supposed to "play with your food"? Between making "meatball eyes" (as Riley likes to do using round food objects like meatballs or grapes and the tongs of his fork) and olive fingernails (I think Maggie started this one), these two kiddos keep us entertained at dinner time!

 So Maggie has been expressing a lot of interest in going potty lately and by accident one night, I let her play around with the Froggy Potty while I was cooking dinner. I showed her how to sit on it and prompted her several times and read her a book to get her to stay on it a little longer. However, somehow between stirring the pasta pot and plating our food, I missed her actually going pee-pee in the potty! We did a happy dance and she earned a jellybean. About a week later, after Nan and Pap's visit, I decided to try the full-on potty training day like I did with Riley. I loaded her up with juice and snacks, bought her Minnie Mouse underwear, let her run around without any clothes on for the first half of the day, showed her several potty videos and songs, etc. She had a lot of accidents that day and when I'd catch her peeing on the floor, I'd rush her over to the potty. My analysis by the end of the day though is that while she is interested and wants to try it out on occasion...she's still a little young to know what to do.  So we'll wait and try again this summer.

Speaking of Nan and Pap...we had a great visit with them last week. The arrived Monday afternoon (Riley was so excited, he couldn't sleep for his afternoon nap) and were able to stay until Friday. Chris took off school on Tuesday and we went as a family to Discovery Place in Charlotte. The kids had an awesome time playing with all the interactive experiment stations, seeing the fish in the aquarium, riding an air compression chair up and down, and getting soaking wet at the water tables in the children's area. After changing clothes, we headed over to Rock Bottom for a nice lunch. On Wednesday, Nan and Pap entertained the kids while I taught my music lesson at Kids R Kids and went grocery shopping and later to tutor. Thursday we all went out to eat one last time at Charanda's Mexican restaurant so that Chris could introduce his mom to the fish tacos that he absolutely loves to eat there. The kids were really sad to see the go and really loved the extra attention! Luckily, they only have to wait until May to see them again at their joint birthday parties.

To wrap up, I have compiled a few more memorable moments:

• Maggie's language and learning skills continue to impress me. She likes to count as she slides down each stair from the top of the landing to the den. The other day she counted to five without any help and then skipped a few numbers and said seven, eight, nine. I've heard her count up to 12 (give or take a few missing numbers in the middle) and then she gets excited about the number 20 because that's the number we count to when we play hide and seek. 
• Her empathy skills are precious. Now when she hears someone coughing or is hurt, she asks "Okay?" as in "Are you okay?" It's so sweet. 
• Riley is still up to his some old tricks as well. He now likes to take off his socks and hide them under the couch. We checked one day and there were 3 different pairs of dirty socks just hanging out under there. He also likes to shed his socks and shoes in the car and the other day when I asked him why he does this, he responded with "It helps me relax!"  He'll then ask for the window to be rolled down when we get in our neighborhood and proceed to stick his foot out. 
• At supper time, the kids have a pattern of eating a few bites and then turning around in their seat. Maggie usually says it first..."Back". This means that she wants to have someone pat her on the back while she lets the vibrations change the sound of her voice. Then Riley will follow and ask for the same thing. 

My Little Love Bugs

 Aren't these two little loves just precious?? I love these smiles and sibling side hugs!

 And look how much they've changed in just one year? Amazing!

 So, we made Valentines for each other and we also mailed a few to some church and family members.

 Two weeks after our Winter Storm 2013 that I blogged about, we got an actual real snowfall of 5-7 inches. Riley went out sledding in this outfit above and had a great time! And school was closed Wednesday-Friday. Friday happened to be Valentine's Day, so we celebrated with some small gifts (see pictures below) and by the 3rd day of being "snowed in", the kids and I were ready for some fun. So I found a few cute ideas online and we invited Callie over to join us. We "painted" cotton balls and then baked and smashed them. Then we played tossed pom poms through heart-shaped holes hanging from the doorways, hopped along with Heart Hop Scotch, did a heart/cup relay game, rolled the dice for a heart candy trading game, stacked the heart candies into tall towers, and danced around and followed crazy directions while we played Musical Hearts.

 I added some "heart"-felt love and craziness to our lunch plates today.

 Here are the boys shoveling the snow off the steps. Or as Riley put it, he was "getting the snow on the road". Always the big helper!!

 Maggie is double-fisting it here with one of our favorite snacks--"yogurt and crunchy things". She also really loves applesauce too!

And here are the latest highlights in our family this month:

• Riley is super sensitive to smells, especially for foods he doesn't like. We often hear him ask, "What I can smell?" To which is followed by, "I don't want to smell that." And then he'll try to get us to move our plates or eat somewhere else!
• For those times when the food is acceptable to his nose and his taste buds, Riley will give me the highest compliment of all time--"Mom, this is the best food I 'never' had!" At least, I think it's a compliment! 
• Some of us (I won't name names) have gotten a little too comfortable with each other and sadly flatulence has become more common place in our home. Upon hearing one of these sounds, Riley remarked, "That was a serious toot!" 
• Signing up for the Dolly Parton Library and having a book mailed to our home each month is really an awesome way to add to our home collection.  Riley fell in love with this month's book Night House, Bright House by Monica Wellington. It uses some rebus pictures to complete each rhyming line and one phrase in particular tickled Riley's funny bone. "Poppycock, said the block." Not sure why, maybe because it's such an obscure, random word, but Riley could not stop giggling the other night. He requests this book often and will then go around shouting "poppycock" to you for the next several minutes and then burst out laughing. It makes us all smile.
• Riley has a remarkable memory. The other day, he was telling Grandmama that he wanted to go to the park with the big ship where you feed the ducks. This is the park in Union that we've visited only 1 or 2 times with Mommaw and Poppaw. Riley pays attention to things like this and in fact knows the names and playground equipment of various parks in town as well for Cherry Park, Manchester Park, and Cedar Crest. 
• Our little Mags continues to amaze us with her sweet manners and thoughtfulness. Chris handed Maggie her juice cup the other day and without prompting, she responded, "Thank you, Daddy." She is quick to tell anyone "bless you" each and every time you cough, hiccup, or sneeze. 
• The other funny Maggie-ism lately that we have fallen in love with is when she is watching something she likes and responds with "Whoa....Cool!" 
• It is quite evident that Maggie gives Irving the most attention of anyone in our family. Besides constantly bringing him his bone and sitting beside him while he lies in dog bed, she also loves to greet him in the morning with a cheerful, "Hey-ee, Dog-gie!" We love the inflection in her voice when she does this! 

 And this just about sums it all up! All you need is LOVE!!

The Great Winter Storm of 2014

Last week, we experienced Winter Storm 2014 which brought us less than an inch of snow. It barely covered the ground, but schools shut down early on Tuesday, closed on Wednesday, and had a 3 hour delay on Thursday (Rock Hill schools closed completely). Gotta love the South! The kids had a great time playing in it. This was Maggie's first real experience with it and while she wasn't too thrilled with the actual snow, she did enjoy the sled rides (despite what the picture below shows).

 Our little snow angels! Riley and Callie had liked leaving their mark in the snow.

Now for some more cute kid antics:

• We listen to a lot of music on the local Christian radio when we're in the car together and Maggie has picked up on the call station jingle and always chimes in on the last number..."New Life, 91 point 9". I love it!
• Maggie is picking up on a lot of things lately. While playing hide-n-seek (Riley's new favorite game), Maggie will try and count. She fills in just about every other number. Riley has been working on his counting skills too. I helped him the other night try and count to one hundred. My favorite part was when we got to the 70s and he said "seventeen one, seventeen two," etc. Pretty cute!
• Another favorite game lately that the kids have been playing and Maggie helped invent is to sit on the toy box together and then run and tackle Dad. Then Maggie will rush back, climb up on top of the padded leather toy box and pat her hand on the spot next to her to signal for Riley to join her. The game goes on and on for quite some time. 
• I love how sweet these two are to each other. Maggie is starting to talk in longer phrases/sentences now and just last week she said as she was heading to bed, "Night, night Ra-Ra, wuv you." It sure melts our hearts! The other day, it was past Maggie's usual nap time and she was rather grumpy on the car ride home. Riley decided to sing her a lullaby to help calm her down and sure enough--it worked beautifully! 
• Riley and Daddy have been working on projects around the house lately (cutting and sanding dowels for ribbon sticks that I use when I teach music and fixing the gate upstairs).  Riley talks non-stop to Chris and really loves the idea that he's helping. Chris is so patient with his little helper.  Every so often, Maggie will wander over and Riley will declare, "Stay back and stay calm, Maggie!" 
• Maggie has been coined her own saying as well. About 2 weeks ago, she started saying "I gotch you" to everybody she sees.  We think it may come from when we try and tickle her and say, "We're going to get you." Wherever she got it from though, she loves to say it and it brings a smile to our faces to hear it.