Here are a few pics from today and other recent days. Some are taken with my Ipod, so they are fuzzy and not very good quality...sorry!

Sometimes I can only get Sammy to eat things if I give him the "giant" spoon...


Sam likes to wear this bowl as a hat.


Flora loves to sit in the window at the Tri.





The fire truck at the Tri!


Sammy and Flora just decided to plop down in the middle of the floor at Millett and eat their snacks.

February 28, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 2-28-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, some oatmeal
Snack 1: 10:25, cereal
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15, most carrots, a little cheese, the rest of oatmeal, a bite of banana
Nap 2: 1:10-2:45
Snack 2:
BM: 8am, 1pm
Special notes: Flora was her usual wild-woman self at the Tri today. She loves to run! For the first hour, we were almost the only people there, but then when other people started showing up, she came and stood closer to me and just observed for quite some time. I bet she is going to be so good with a little brother! There was a tiny baby there today, and she just loved it! I bet she will be super-helpful, too.

Oh, I also keep meaning to note. Sometime last week…maybe Thursday?...Flora counted to 10! I have never worked on that with them, so you must be working on that at home with her. I was counting out something with them (blocks maybe?) and she was saying the numbers before I did! Smart girl. :)

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-28-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: 7:30am, 2 pancakes and a little bit of bread
Snack 1: 10:25, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15, yogurt, strawberries, a little bread with sweet potato
Nap 2: 1:10-2:45
Snack 2:
BM: 3:00pm
Special notes:

A few things we did today: The big event of the day was the Tri.

General notes: The kids were really good today. Poor Flora was so sad, though. Milo showed up at the gym at about 9:15 or so, and he just didn’t want to be there. After about 15 minutes of crying, Brad finally gave up and took Milo home, much to Flora’s dismay as she began to cry on his departure…The kids, however, did enjoy the gym this morning, and they especially enjoyed the little tiny baby.

Feb 24, 2012 ABC's

February 23, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-23-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, ate about one bite of egg. I even tried cinnamon! She just didn’t seem interested in eating too much this morning…(however, I didn’t try to give her the English muffin which I didn’t notice until 3pm…)
Snack 1: 10:15, cereal and raisins
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15, most grapes, a little cheese
Nap 2: 1:05-3:35
Snack 2: not yet
BM: tiny piece at 12:30pm
Special notes: I hope Flora is not getting sick. She did not want to eat much at all today. She was acting really funny at lunch. She wanted to get into her high chair, but then when I put her there she cried and said, “Poop!” So, I thought maybe she needed a diaper change. I went upstairs, and there was only one little tiny piece, so I kept the diaper on thinking she was probably not finished pooping yet. We went back downstairs, but she wouldn’t eat anything and just cried for a bit. I wasn’t sure what else to do, so she stayed there a few minutes while Sammy ate his lunch. I was finally able to get her to eat some grapes and a little cheese, but that’s all. So she had next-to-nothing for breakfast and hardly anything for lunch. She did eat a snack this morning. When I changed her after lunch, there wasn’t any more poop than before. The only thing I can think is that maybe she is constipated and her stomach was hurting…? I really don’t know. But then she took a long nap, so I am just hoping she is not coming down with something. Other than the episode at lunch, though, she seemed ok today…

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-23-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: ate before
Snack 1: 10:15, all grapes and cheese, and he was still hungry! I didn’t have anything else to give him, so Flora was nice enough to share a few pieces of cereal with him.
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15pm, most pasta, hardly any strawberries, all bread, the rest of yogurt
Nap 2: 1:00-3:15
Snack 2: didn’t want one
BM: 12:45pm
Special notes:

A few things we did today: We had a busy morning! We ran by the post office to send the Buckeyes, then we hung out at the library for a while (I discovered more things to do there that I didn’t know about before!), then we went to Kofenya for a little bit (which included a little bit of reading time), and then we visited Flora’s grandma at the resource center! I had to drop off a few things, including some of Milo’s old toys! :) It was a fun morning, and we did almost all of it before it started raining.

General notes:

February 22, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-22-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, all French toast (with honey), a few grapes
Snack 1: 10:15, cereal and a few nuts and pretzels
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:35, all cheese, grapes, hummus, carrots, and blueberries
Nap 2: 1:45-3:20
Snack 2: 3:25, mix
BM: 8am, 1pm
Special notes: I need to start writing things down during the day. The kids do so many cute things but I can never remember them by the end of the day! Flora is definitely learning to communicate well. Today in the car, she said “Book, please!” It was understandable and I knew exactly what she wanted. So nice when they can use words rather than playing a guessing game. :)

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-22-12
Arrived: 7:30, woke up at 7:50
Breakfast: 8am, all oatmeal, most of banana
Snack 1: 10:15, all graham crackers
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:35, some fruit, all PB sandwich, all sweet potato
Nap 2: 1:40-3:45
Snack 2: didn’t want one! Crazy…
BM: 1pm
Special notes: It was so cute this morning. Flora could hear Sammy waking up on the monitor, so she said, “Mimi! Mimi!” and started running to the gate. Well, we could then hear Sammy on the monitor saying “Fwoa! Fwoa!” and so continued the callings. They really are good buddies. Even when Sammy woke up from his nap today, the first thing he said was “Fwoa, Fwoa!” I had to explain that she was already gone for the day…

A few things we did today: Grocery store, Millet (briefly…see below!), went for a walk, and the kids helped me mix up the peanut butter part of Buckeye balls that Ben and I are making tonight to send to one of our friends as food for his Appalachian Trail hike.

General notes: Well, we hit up the grocery store before heading to Millet. After unloading and moseying up to the front doors, we noticed some people setting up jump ropes and balls inside. Flora was hilarious…she walked in the door and literally wouldn’t move as she just stared at the people and the toys for probably 2-3 minutes straight. I finally had to just pick her up and carry her away! Anyway, the kids and I went to our usual spot. I got out the ball and we were about to play when I saw busloads of kids getting off at Millet! Come to find out, Talawanda 7th grade was having a field trip to Millet! Yikes! Needless to say, I figured it was best for us to get out of there, so we did. We’ll have to wait and hit up Millet next week.

February 21, 2012 PICS

From this weekend...Sammy making pizza with Mommy!


Sammy was sharing his pancake with Flora this morning.


I am so sad these are fuzzy! What's wrong with the photographer?? :) Oh well. At least you get the idea. The kids are really enjoying holding hands. They even ask each other to hold hands sometimes!


After Flora left today, I was showing Sammy how a bottle can whistle, so he was making his own attempt... :)

February 21, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 2-21-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, all oatmeal, a few grapes
Snack 1: 10am, cereal
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:20, some cheese, all hummus, all carrots, all blueberries, some grapes
Nap 2: 1:20-2:40
Snack 2: left with Grandma
BM: 11:30am
Special notes: Flora was chanting Milo’s name all morning, of course. :) I’m glad he made it this time. It was quite a sight to see the reunion. She yelled his name and ran across the gym to him.

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-21-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: 7:30am, a few bites of pancake, a bite of eggs
Snack 1: 10am, mix (he also ate the rest of both of his pancakes at about 9am)
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:20, couple bites of eggs and broccoli, couple bites of white chicken chili, all yogurt, all pineapple, all grapes, 1 banana, half of sweet potato
Nap 2: 1:10-2:20
Snack 2: 3:20, potatoes and cheese
BM: not yet
Special notes: After Flora left, Sammy and I worked on spelling his name. I think he knows all the letters in “Samuel”! Of course, he’s not spelling his name, but he can identify all of them. He also just cracks me up when he takes too big of a bite of something. I’ll say, “Sammy, that was a big bite…” and then he will stop chewing, look at me, and spit some of it out. I think it’s the look on his face that gets me every time.

He was also SO excited for me to play violin for him. It was great…I asked him if he wanted me to play, and he smiled and laughed and ran over to the gate to go upstairs.

A few things we did today: We ventured to the store and to the Tri.

General notes: The kids had a great time at the Tri! Milo did end up coming this time, and they all seemed to have a blast. For the first hour there were mostly little kids, and it was a nice change as we were all able to talk and play together without the older kids running around (not that I dislike the older kids!). :)

February 16, 2012 PICS

Flora was so funny today with her bluegrass dancing, I had to take some pictures. Most of the shots are fuzzy, but I am posting them anyway because you can at least get the idea...looking at them makes me grin. :)

February 16, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 2-16-12
Arrived: 7:10am
Breakfast: 7:15am, some cereal and raisins, milk
Snack 1: 9:50, cereal and raisins, a few pretzels
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:20, all hummus, all carrots, some cheese, all blueberries, some grapes, a little yogurt (before dumping some on the floor…ha)
Nap 2: 1:45-3:35
Snack 2: 3:40, mix
BM: 12:45
Special notes: Flora was a wild woman today when I played bluegrass on Pandora. It was great! She was just dancing all over the place and running around. Loved it!! :)

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-16-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: 7:30am, about half of banana PB oatmeal mix
Snack 1: 9:15, ate the rest of breakfast, 9:50, potato
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:20, some rice, all fruit, some salmon, all biscuit, didn’t eat broccoli
Nap 2: 1:35-2:45
Snack 2: 3pm, half of a banana, I don’t remember what else! Ha sorry…
BM: 12:45
Special notes:

A few things we did today: Today was an around-the-house kind of day. We’ve gone out every day so far this week, and probably tomorrow, so today was just be-here day. Despite a few tiffs, the kids played pretty well!

General notes: Heard from Brad! Looks like we will probably go over there tomorrow.

The kids were just randomly hugging and kissing today, and then pointing out each other’s eyes and noses and ears. They were so cute, just giggling and enjoying each other. Sometimes I wish life could be that simple for the rest of us. Hugs and kisses and giggles.

February 15, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-15-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, a little egg, most of English muffin
Snack 1: 10:20am, cereal and raisins
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:30, most of hummus, all of edamame, most blueberries, all of yogurt, the rest of English muffin and eggs, all carrots
Nap 2: 1:45-3:00
Snack 2: 3:00, mix
BM: 12:45
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-15-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: already ate
Snack 1: 10:20, pretzels
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:30, all cottage cheese, all pineapple, didn’t want cauliflower, all sweet potato, all cheese
Nap 2: 1:35-3:35
Snack 2: 4:00, banana and some bread from Dad
BM: 11am, 3:45pm
Special notes:

A few things we did today: Our big events for the day included the library and making biscuits

General notes: The kids were very well-behaved at the library. Flora was fascinated with a baby doll that had a Velcro diaper. Samuel loved the little box cars. We stayed around for about an hour. The kids also both enjoy baking…the pouring and stirring seems to be rather entertaining for them, though sometimes it is hard for them to understand that the stirring devices need to stay in the bowl!! :)

February 14, 2012

No Pics Today.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Name: Flora
Date: 2-14-12
Arrived: 7:10am
Breakfast: 7:15am, little over half of oatmeal
Snack 1: 10:25, chex and crackers
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:20, most grapes and some blueberries, most cheese, some quinoa and veggies, the rest of oatmeal
Nap 2: 1:30-3:00
Snack 2: 3:10, mix
BM: 12:45
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-14-12
Arrived: 7:30am, woke up at 7:45
Breakfast: 8am, 2 pancakes, cottage cheese
Snack 1: 10:25, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:20, half of fruit, all applesauce, most of bread and broccoli, something else that I can’t remember!
Nap 2: 1:30-2:45
Snack 2: 3:10, banana, pretzels, a little bit of carrot cake
BM: 12:45
Special notes:

A few things we did today: grocery store, and our big event was the Tri. The kids did great today!

General notes:

February 13, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-13-12
Arrived: 7:10am
Breakfast: 7:15am, most of egg (she wanted cinnamon on it! Haha), some grapes
Snack 1: 10:15, cereal mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:20, all cheese, carrots, and hummus, most blueberries, most yogurt and granola, rest of grapes
Nap 2: 1:30-2:35
Snack 2: 3pm, mix
BM: 11:45
Special notes: Flora was so funny today at Millet. At one point, she was walking around the floor and finding trash and then carrying it over to the trash can and throwing it away!! You’d think her parents were environmentalists or something… ;) She is also saying “au-bey” for “heavy” at appropriate times, i.e. when she grabs a large book off the shelf and brings it over to me.

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-13-12
Arrived: 7:30am, woke up at 7:50am
Breakfast: 8am, most of eggs, all of bread, all of yogurt
Snack 1: 10:15, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:20, half of potato soup, all of cottage cheese, most of fruit, a little rice, didn’t want peas
Nap 2: 1:25-3:35
Snack 2: 3:50, graham crackers
BM: 10:30, 3:50
Special notes: Sammy took a decent fall today on the hard floor at Millet…busted his lip a bit, in case you were wondering what the little mark is. Poor guy…he rebounded quickly, though.

A few things we did today: Stopped by the grocery store, quick swing through the bank, and on to Millet! Otherwise, the norm

General notes: The CUTEST thing happened today…we were heading out the door, and I was helping Flora and Sammy get out the screen door. They were both waiting on the porch for me to get by so I could help them get down the big cement step. As I reached for Flora’s hand, Sammy reached out for Flora’s hand, too, and they held hands down the stairs and all the way to the car. It was priceless! Where’s my camera when I really need it?? :)

Flora at the Oxford science museum...


Sammy helping me mix bread!


Bath time for the kids...all giggles! They had such a great time with each other playing in the water.

February 9, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 2-9-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, all oatmeal
Snack 1: 10:15, cereal and dried fruit and nuts
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15, all grapes, cheese, and carrots, some blueberries
Nap 2: 1:25-3:00
Snack 2: 3:10, mix
BM: 12:45
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-9-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: ate before
Snack 1: 10:15, graham crackers
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15, a little pasta and sauce, a little broccoli, half of sweet potato, couple bites of potato and cheese, half of fruit, all of banana
Nap 2: 1:25-2:50
Snack 2: 3:10, tiny bit of potato, mix from cabinet, a couple bites of broccoli with rice and cheese, and a banana
BM: 12:45
Special notes: Sammy helped me mix up the levain for bread tomorrow and really enjoyed it! It was hard to pull him away when it was time to stop mixing… :)

A few things we did today: We made a trip to the store, and we took a bath! Also worked on colors and alphabet.

General notes: Bath time was quite entertaining. The kids, naturally, loved their time in the water. They were really good…lots and lots of giggling! Flora was hilarious. She was playing pretend and giving Sammy and I blueberries and nuts to eat! Sammy didn’t seem to want any (not sure if he grasps the concept of pretend yet), but I was happy to eat blueberries and nuts. :)

February 8, 2012 PICS

Sorry, I forgot I had just a few pics of the kids with Milo. Those are posted, as well as one from today.

Milo now hangs out with on on Fridays...which is garbage day! The kids are always fascinated...


The kids enjoyed playing the spoons today to some music.

February 8, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 2-8-12
Arrived: 7:10am
Breakfast: 7:15am, about half of egg, a few grapes
Snack 1: 10:15, cereal and dried fruit and a few other things mixed in
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15, all of grapes, cheese, carrots, hummus, most of yogurt and granola
Nap 2: 1:15-2:25
Snack 2: 3:00, mix
BM: 8am
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-8-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: 7:30am, already ate mostly beforehand, but had a couple grapes
Snack 1: 10:15, pretzels
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15, all of sweet potato, yogurt, and PB bread, most of banana
Nap 2: 1:20-3:35
Snack 2: 3:55, potato and cheese
BM: not yet
Special notes: Poor Sammy…I can tell he is just tired! He fell asleep on the way home from Kofenya. I hope he finally got caught up on his missed sleep! :)

A few things we did today: we did some of the usual, then I decided we needed to get out of the house. The plan was to go to Kofenya and hang out, then possibly swing over to the library, but the kids were having so much fun at Kofenya, I just decided to stay. This morning, the kids also enjoyed playing some percussion with spoons.

General notes: I may start going to Kofenya once a week until the kids finally get tired of it. They were great today, and it’s a nice atmosphere for me, too. They spent a lot of time looking out the front window and getting really excited every time a semi drove by. People often walked by and smiled or waved at them, so they had fun with that, too. I also took some books with us. It really was a great time…I think we were there for an hour and a half, and the kids didn’t get bored! Plus, I got to drink good coffee. A definite plus. :)

February 7, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-7-12
Arrived: 7:10am
Breakfast: 7:15am, a little cereal, multigrain bar
Snack 1: 10:15, cereal and dried fruit
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:05, most grapes, all yogurt and granola, about half of mac and cheese mix
Nap 2: 1:15-3pm
Snack 2: 3pm, mix
BM: 3pm
Special notes: I am not sure if you have seen her do this yet, but today was the first time I have seen Flora be able to use the slide at the gym all by herself! She climbed to the top, was able to get her feet around, and went down without help at all. She’s growing up!

Also to note, she fell down today while pulling around a toy, and her hand was caught when she fell. I think she is just fine, but just in case she whines a little about her finger, that’s why. I thought maybe it looked a tiny bit swollen or bruised. To make sure she was fine, I pressed on it lightly and asked her if it hurt, to which she nodded, but then started giggling… :)

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-7-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: most of eggs and veggies, and I can’t remember what else you gave him Andrea…but no need for a pancake today. He was done.
Snack 1: 10:15, pretzels
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:05, a few green beans, most of the chicken, the rest of the yogurt and oatmeal, all of pineapple and melon, didn’t want peas or pasta
Nap 2: 1:00-2:05
Snack 2: 3pm, potato and cheese, blackberries
BM: 12:45, 2:30
Special notes:

A few things we did today: went to the Tri! We also finger-painted, played music, and the usual.

General notes: Finger painting was finally a success! Sammy wasn’t too terribly interested, but he didn’t seem completely grossed out this time, and Flora really got into it! Granted, it only lasted about 5 minutes, but it was 5 minutes of joy rather than 5 minutes of torture for them this time. :) I think this will just keep getting better as the kids are more willing to explore new things.

Also, we were a little more intentional about colors today than normal.

February 6, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-6-12
Arrived: 7:00am
Breakfast: 7:05, all of French toast
Snack 1: 10:20, cereal and raisins
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:30, all of cheese, grapes, blueberries, hummus, and carrots
Nap 2: 1:50-3:20
Snack 2: 3:20, mix
BM: 8am, 1pm
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-6-12
Arrived: 7:40am
Breakfast: 7:30, most of eggs and veggies, al pancake
Snack 1: 10:20, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:30, some veggies, all rice and broccoli, all grapes, all applesauce
Nap 2: 2:35-3:55
Snack 2: 4pm, banana
BM: not yet
Special notes:

A few things we did today: We went grocery shopping, drove through the bank, played in Millet, went for a walk uptown, and other fun things.

General notes: We worked a little bit on “slow” and “fast” today. Flora really seemed to enjoy the fast parts. :) The kids were cracking me up after lunch. I let them play on their own while I cleaned up, and all I could hear were little giggles from the other room. :)

February 2, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 2-2-12
Arrived: 7:05am
Breakfast: 7:10am, a little egg
Snack 1: 10am, mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15pm, all cheese, all carrots, all yogurt and granola, all grapes, all hummus
Nap 2: 1:35-2:30
Snack 2: 3:00pm, mix
BM: 11:15
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-2-12
Arrived: 7:45am
Breakfast: already ate
Snack 1: 10am, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15pm, a little of everything…and not a lot of anything! :)
Nap 2: 1:20-3:15
Snack 2: with Mommy
BM: not yet
Special notes:

A few things we did today: We hit up the co-op for a few minutes as I needed some rye berries to grind for bread this weekend. I was a little concerned about the kids getting into everything there, but was pleasantly surprised to find carts. Yay! The kids were great. We also went to the Hanover Park on 130. We weren’t there too terribly long (20-25 min?) because it was a little colder than desired and also hard to keep the two kids together and from one climbing too high while the other was on the ground. A bit tricky with two kids who want to explore different things! :)

General notes:

February 1, 2012

No Pics Today.

Wow, February already!!!!!!! :)

Name: Flora
Date: 2-1-12
Arrived: 8am
Breakfast: already ate
Snack 1: 10:15am, mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: left with Dad!
Nap 2:
Snack 2:
BM: 11:15am
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 2-1-12
Arrived: 7:45am
Breakfast: already ate
Snack 1: 10:15, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:10pm, most fruit, all blueberries, a banana, some rice and veggies, a few carrots and cauliflower
Nap 2: 1:35-3:05
Snack 2: 3:25
BM: 11:15am
Special notes:

A few things we did today: Went for a long walk in the sunshine!

General notes: I packed up the kids this morning with the intention of using our nice new parking pass to park and take them to the zoology museum. Well, I am still grateful for the pass, but I did not consider that even though I can park anywhere, there may not be any spots available! So, I drove around for about 20 minutes to no prevail, and slightly frustrated, instead of parking in the garage I just decided we could do the museum another day. I’m glad we decided that anyway, because it was much too beautiful to be inside. Instead, I drove uptown and parked, and we walked for over an hour. The kids were well entertained with all the traffic and exciting views, and we even went into the engineering building to visit Spencer (though sadly he was not there…but many others enjoyed seeing young faces!). It was a lovely morning.

So, as stated in the blog, it was difficult to get good pictures while caring for both kids, and when I did, it was usually a picture of their backs as they looked at the animals, but regardless, you can at least get a sense for our time together yesterday.



I caught Flora at an inopportune moment... :)


This little guy was cracking us up, especially Flora. He was continually splashing and swimming, and Flora would periodically giggle and and shake the fence.


This was Sammy's face as he looked at the elephants. :)


And here are just a few pics of some of the animals we saw.