Olivia's First Homework

Olivia's first homework assignment was sent home with us at the meet the teacher night.

It was a flower.  She was suppose to either draw or paste a picture of herself in the middle.  Then on each petal she was suppose to draw or write something that she likes.

Seeing as she won't even draw a circle (or can't?), we went for pasting the picture and writing what it is she loves. (I'm still trying to figure out if my child is that far behind, or if this was a little much to expect from a newly turned 3 year old.  Can they really draw themselves and all the things they love?)

She told me the things she loved, and I wrote them down. Then she colored away.

The things she loved: Mommy and Boppa, Logan, Princesses, coloring, reading, and flowers.

She had fun doing her little homework project. She couldn't wait to show it to Boppa and take it to school.

House Tour--Family Room

I've mentioned that we are slowly but surely getting our house decorated.  I shared the kitchen already, so I thought I'd share our family room for those interested.

Our house is a split level.  You walk in on the main floor (living/kitchen/dining room), and then you can go up to the bedrooms or down to the family room.  This is looking down into the family room.

This room is definitely the most used in our house and leans more towards function than beauty.

That door is to the half bath

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but when we left Texas we sold a lot of our furniture to save on moving costs.  We didn't plan on moving into a house in December.  As it turns out, my friend Laurie's bosses were getting new couches and were getting rid of their (three year old custom made) couches.  They let us have them for free.  Blue is not likely a color I would ever pick out for a couch, but free is free.

So I tried to work around it and we went with a turquoise and yellow color scheme.

(Don't mind the slide.  It will eventually go outside!)

Starting from left to right--Door number one is the fourth bedroom.  We currently use it for our guest room/office and the closet is used for all of my educational games/kid craft supplies, etc.  Door number two is our laundry room.  It is unfinished, but pretty good sized.  Door number 3 is the bathroom.  Door number four opens to a set of about 6 stairs and they go down into our unfinished basement, which is just a huge storage area for us right now.

My sort of Pinterest inspired gallery wall.  Some of the items are new, some are old, and some we made. :)

I know it sort of looks cluttered in places, but that is just life.  We use Olivia's little chair and that baby swing most days.  We never use the fireplace.  And it is our toy room, so the shelves filled with books and toys are inevitable.

The mantle was another one of those things where I bought a few things and the revamped items that I had and just kind of threw it all up there.  For now it works.

So there you have it.  It works.  It may not be the most elegant or orderly, but it is cozy and functional.  With two small children, that is exactly what we need!

PRESCHOOL!!

The moment we have been waiting for all summer is finally here.  It's time for preschool!

We had meet the teacher night on Monday night.  Olivia got her fingers and toes painted in preparation for the big day!

There was a little informational parent meeting first, which Olivia was bored with.  But then we did get to see her classroom.  I stopped to take a picture in the hall and she slithered on through the adults into her room.

She found some toys to play with right away and made herself at home.

We were up bright and early for her big day.  No one in our family are morning people.  She kept saying over and over how tired she was.  Me too, baby girl.  Me too!

We had a minor meltdown while getting ready, but other than that things went off pretty well.

My beautiful little girl!

Being silly with the sign...

and then laughing at herself.  A girl after my own heart. ;)

Showing off her backpack

Michael went into work a little late so that he could be part of the big day!  Olivia is definitely a daddy's girl, so I think it was special to have him there.

She was just a little excited!

She ran right in, sat down and started playing.

She did cooperate and come hang up her backpack.  Yes, right next to the other Olivia.  She is already "Olivia S". :/

And she went right back to playing.  I told her that I wanted to take her picture with us and then say good bye.  She said, "Good bye, Mommy and Boppa!"  I said, "No, after we take pictures."  Clearly she had no problems with us leaving!

Our girl is growing up...

When I picked her up, the teacher said she did pretty good, but she had a little trouble following the directions.  This didn't surprise me at all.  I didn't feel too bad about that, since she said the same thing to 3 out of 4 of the parents in front of me. :)  That is exactly why we are sending her to preschool!  The teacher also said that Olivia kept complaining that she was tired and laying down on the rug.  Apparently the 12 hours of sleep she got the night before wasn't enough. ;)  Actually, that might have been my fault.  I had mentioned that she might be tired after preschool and that she would be needing to go to bed early and take good naps.  I think she just decided that she needed to talk about being tired all day long.  Oh, and she didn't nap.

As we were walking to our car I asked her if she had listened to her teacher.  She said, "Yes. I listened.  The teacher didn't listen."  Oh boy. 

It just keeps growing...

I posted a few months ago about Logan's first haircut.  I cut it again about a month ago, because it was hanging over his ears and it starts to look funny.  Well, over the weekend he got his THIRD haircut.  Yes, he is only 6 months and has now had THREE haircuts.  That is obsurd, right?

But seriously.  Can you see that?  It was like 4 or 5 inches long in the middle.

It kept falling on his forehead and I was constantly having to brush it to the side.  Also those sides have been cut twice. Yet it is still sticking out almost two inches.

And just because he makes crazy faces... :)

Haha.  He is such a goof.  But the haircut looks good, right?

At this rate, I'm going to need to go to cosmetology school.  I can only pretend I know what I'm doing for so long. Eventually it's going to have to look good. ;)

Taking on the Splash Pad

We finally made it to the splash pad!  We've been to the fountains at the mall multiple times, but I think there is something way more fun and magical about going to the splash pad.  I use to take Little Man back in the day, as it is pretty close to where he use to live.  Unfortunately, it is rather far from us. But we made it happen at least once this summer and that is what I was going for!

Olivia and Michael got right to it, and before I even had Logan out of the car seat she was soaked.

It was the perfect day for it too.  We've had a somewhat cool summer, but it was close to 90 when we went--and that was at 5 in the evening!

Going later in the day helped with the crowds.  I've been before when it was absolutely packed.  It wasn't bad at all.

Logan liked watching the buckets dump the water and seeing the water shoot up.

The splash pad is right next to a playground, so it wasn't long before she headed over there to check things out.

She played for a bit, then went back to the water, then played for a bit, and then went back to the water.  It's nice that they are so close.

Stud muffins. :)

Trying to get a bucket of water dumped on their head

Michael taught Olivia how to use the shooter

Then he made himself a target

Logan got a little wet.  I took him in a few times and got his legs wet or let him stand it some of the water (no pictures though, since I was holding him in water) and then Michael held him in a few light splashes as well.  He will have lots of fun next year, I'm sure.

We saw a butterfly on the way back to our car!

Olivia had a great time.  She told us multiple times how she had so much fun and that it was such a fun day. :)