February 2012

February got off to a warm start, so we took advantage and headed to the park.  I don't know the last time I was able to go out in February without a coat.

Groundhog Day!  I enjoy any excuse to have some fun so the kids and I enjoyed making groundhog puppets and coloring pictures to celebrate this "holiday".  Annabelle was ready with the Groundhog's predictions when Daddy got home that night.

With their puppets

Saw its shadow

Happy Birthday Oma!  Now that Annabelle is able to write (I do the spelling for her) she is all about making cards for people's birthdays.  She also enjoyed putting together a nice birthday package for her Oma which included Tinker Bell sandwich baggies, PB and Jelly hand sanitizer, and gum just to name a few.

Annabelle with her handmade card

Connecticut had its first Take Your Child to the Library Day, and being the library lovers we are we were there most the day.  Sam was able to take a break for work for a special Daddy & Me storytime with Annabelle.

Drawing a picture of her Daddy

Storytime craft

Picture with the library frog out for the special occasion

Annabelle made the front page of the local paper

covering Take Your Kids to the Library Day events

We wanted to send out a few valentines and while Annabelle took the time to make some, I "simply" took pictures of the kids and headed to Costco. Here are some of the pictures I got that day.

Hudson's kissy face

(he made this multiple times, right before getting up and running away)

Hudson showcasing one of his talents: making noise

Hugs

The "winning" shot

Happy Kids

As I said earlier Annabelle made cards to send out.  I learned a couple of things during this project. One, to let go.  I cut out the hearts and let her at it, putting on as many or little stickers as she wanted.  Two, I should have her start this a month ahead of time so she doesn't burn out and write a full sentence on some and a single purple line on others.

February brought a milestone birthday for me, the big 3-0.  I celebrated in style by taking the kids to a playdate at an inflatable plaground (I got to play too).  The rest of the day we relaxed at home before enjoying a delicious dinner, wine, and cake.  To give him appropriate credit, Sam spoiled me I got both jewelry and a laptop.

Hudson racing friend Harper

Big Slide

"Rowing" the boat

Chocolate Cake! made by friend (yeah for not having to make my own cake)

The Sunday following my birthday Annabelle and I went on a mommy-daughter date to see Pinkalicious the Musical.  Until that morning she didn't know where we were going, and was very excited.  We got there early to take part in crafts and stayed late to enjoye a pink cupcake.  She enjoyed the show and was a perfect audience member.

Decked out in our pink

Hard at work on her craft

Her cupcake creation

Waiting for the show to start

Waiting some more

Enjoying a pinkalicious cupcake after the show

Hudson might have missed his sister a little bit

Getting closer to Valentine's Day we got our packag ready to mail to the cousins in Washington.  We enjoyed our Valentine's Day by celebrating in our favorite way: food.  Since it was Annabelle's last winter storytime we had her storytime friends over for lunch and to play as well

Decorating cookies for the cousins

Breakfast: heart-shaped cinnamon roll

Lunch: heart-shaped: mac 'n cheese, chicken nuggets and jello

Dinner: heart-shaped lasagna and breadsticks

This month we finally got the chance to check out the local children's museum.  We met some friends and spent a lot of time exploring the place before we were all ready for a nap.

Since we had a dinner-playdate on Mardi Gras, Annabelle and I decided to do lunch and a movie.  We made and enjoyed jambalaya while watching The Princess and the Frog.

Seasoning the chicken and shrimp

Little Chef

February gave us an extra day of fun this year.  Using a theme of frogs we packed in more fun on Leap Day by visiting our favorite frog at the library, doing crafts, and again with the food.

As you can see we did get some snow this month

Lunch: Apple Frog on Lily Pad Quesadilla

Frog Craft

Dinner: Frog Taco (made with ground turkey)

Dessert: Frog Snowball

Coloring Leap-Day Pictures

Thought I'd take some pictures, probably should have done it prior to bedtime, maybe I'll remember that in four years.



As always, some of my favorites from February:

Enjoying his apple behind the couch

Dress made from receiving blankets

Talking with Opa

January 2012

January was your average month for the Fleetwood Four.  We continued to enjoy the mild winter as we stuck close to home and were entertained by our favorite people: Annabelle and Hudson.

 Annabelle starting 2012 off right with exercise to "keep her healthy"

Hudson giving it a try

The next dozen pictures were all taken in a day, really just a few hours.  I am sure those of you who are in the toddler years or have lived through them can appreciate the following.

My climber getting into "trouble"

Trying to climb in the sink

At least he is trying to clean up the mess he made

Playing together nicely, for the moment

Playing Mommy

Playing Drum

Punching Time

Hudson's Turn

Punching wasn't enough

Time to get outside

Working on spelling her name during "school time"

Hudon with baby Watermelon (Annabelle named her)

He is obsessed with all babies right now

 

Happy Birthday Daddy!  Sam celebrated his 31st birthday, Annabelle helped to make the cake and was very excited that she got to use her pink 3 and Hudson's blue one to make "Daddy's number". 

 

Sam and I have always enjoyed cooking together and like to get the kids involved whenever we can.  On this night Sam and Annabelle prepared ratatouille, we enjoyed it while watching Ratatouille.



Supervising Daddy as he cuts the veggies

Chef Annabelle

Enjoying her food and the movie

January also brings with it Sam's busy season at work, and this year was a very busy one.  Lucky for us he is able to work from home on the weekends so Annabelle still got her Daddy cuddles.  (Yes, she loves her My Little Pony shirt and wears it whenever she can)

Blocks, Mommy helped build this one

Daddy took a break from work to show Annabelle how to build "it right"

With the one Daddy helped build

Sneaking up on Daddy

Hudson found his sister's vest and hat and wanted it on, we put it on snapped pictures and took it off.  He damanded that it be put on again.  What he really wanted: to go outside.



He got what he wanted the next day, with a nice snow storm over the weekend we enjoyed a couple of days of snow before it all disappeared.

Family Walk

On the move

All bundled up

Enjoying the opportunity to make snow angels

Sledding with Mommy

So happy to be outside

Following our walk we warmed up by the fire and enjoyed roasting and eating marshmallows.

Allowed Hudson to give it a try, came out black from the ash

Skipped the roasting step

Annabelle had a first this month: Kool-Aid.  She recognized the Kool-Aid man on the package from the Macy's parade.  She picked her flavor and helped  make it.

Mixing it up

First sip

She likes it!



We decided not to put Annabelle in pre-school this past year, so we have been having "school-time" at home.  I leave it up to her to ask for it, which she does most days and we both enjoy spending the time together (we usually get it in while Hudson is napping). 

Having mastered spelling her name, we are working on writing it

She spelled her name, while I wrote it and then she traced it.

The love at the bottom was all her.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the month:

Hudson using a DVD box for a hat.

My favorite part is Annabelle asking if he is selling fries, I get it, but where did she?

My silly little man

Nothing like playing in the sandbox in January

 

Trying out the goggles she found earlier that day

Annabelle and her library