Alyse's First Haircut

It finally happened. Alyse grew enough hair to need a haircut.  I liked it long, but it was getting to shaggy and messy.  She needed it evened out since the sides and top are still a little thin. 

 

Before.

During.  I thought it was going to be great.  She would sit and eat a snack and be fine.  Instead, she screamed and cried the whole time, but she sat still. She doesn't even get this upset at the doctor.

A little calmer.

After.  I miss the long, but she has a cute bob in the back and it is much neater and more even now.

 Time for James.  He did a great job!

Back home after the trauma.  Hopefully, next time will go better.  I will try to get a better after shot of her.

 



R is for Rainbow

 The past few weeks I have been doing a letter of the week with James.  He really enjoys the activies we do. 

We always make a letter craft, have some tracing sheets, or other fun games incorporating the specific letter that we are doing. I try to come up with other hands on activies when I can.

 

  For letter R I came across the idea of rainbow popsicles. I let James make them all on his own. He thought that was great. He made vanilla pudding and then we separated it into bowls where he added food coloring. Then he layered the colors into plastic bottles that I had cut in half, and used baby spoons for a stick. Then froze overnight.

Enjoying the finished product.

 They both enjoyed eating them.  It did make a big popsicle which neither of them could eat all of it, but it was a good solution since I don't have any popsicle molds.



World views from a 3 year old

Last year for christmas James got a camera.  He has been taking lots of pictures and is getting much better at framing a shot and taking his time.  I find it interesting and fun to see what he finds important and wants to take a picture of.  Here are few of his pictures that he has taken since Christmas.

 This summer.

 The ceiling fan spinning.

 Yertle the Turtle. His best friend.  He has some of dee-dee too, but they were hard to see.

 Spring.

Toys. 

 Not sure what this is from.

 Little baby sister.

 A picture of the computer looking at pictures he has taken.

Toes.

He took this around Christmas.  For some reason I really like this picture.  His feet look so much smaller to me than they are now.

Just Because

Since it's been awhile since I've had some posts here are a few random pics for those that are interested.

Chasing bubbles.

"Dee-dees"

Alyse eating her birthday cake.

 GO BIG RED!

Brother and sister.

Halloween

In preparation for halloween this year we visited two pumpkin patches.  We went to one with some friends and James had a great running around with some other boys.  Then we went on the weekend with Jonathan to a pumpkin patch that had more things that Alyse could do.  It made for some great memories (I will spare you All the pictures) and James is ready to go back.

Alyse was so excited when she managed to pick this pumpkin up.



Hayrack ride.

James with one of his pumpkins.

I let James and Alyse each paint one of their pumpkins on a nice day.  This is the finished product.  James painted his pumpkin orange with green.  (Orange is still his favorite color.) They also carved pumpkins with Jonathan.

To celebrate halloween we took an evening and went to Boo at the Zoo with friends (sadly I didn't get very good pictures) and then went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  James went to a few houses and was done.  He was thrilled to hand out candy to everyone that came to our door.  Alyse caught on quickly about getting candy and would grab a piece or just wait with a sweet look for more.  She also had her first taste of candy the other day as she chewed through a wrapper.  She was so pleased and really enjoyed her kit kat.  James keeps enjoying his candy too!

Fire

A few months ago, there was a fire near our neighborhood.  It was an illegal burn on one of those dry, hot, extremely windy Nebraska summer days.  The wind caused the fire to spread to our neighborhood.  I just happened to be outside to see a thick cloud of smoke blowing down the street.  I quick went to see what was happening, and talked to our neighbor that had just called in the fire.  (I should mention no one or homes were hurt.)  After finding out what was happening I ran back inside and got James up from his nap to see the firefighters and trucks, since this wasn't something that happens everyday.  He got to see them hook the hoses up and watch them put out the fire. It was quite exciting and he enjoyed it.  Since then everything has been about firetrucks and fire. 

 

A couple weekends ago, the local fire station had an open house so we had to stop.  James thought it was great.

 

 

He got to spray the hose.

Spray an extinguisher to put out the fire.

 



The highlight was sitting in a helicopter and watching it land.



Here he is with his fire helmet he got.  Alyse got a pink one, but is yet to let me take her picture with it. James enjoys being a firefighter and putting out the fires on Alyse's dollhouse.



Summer Fun in a nutshell

For those who have been asking, here are a few photos to highlight what we've been up to lately. We've been busy.

 This is James and his new bike that we got back in May. He enjoys riding it, but still rides a trike pretty often. He's not too fond of wearing the helmet on his bike.

Alyse thinks the scooter is pretty fun.

We've also spent a good amount of time digging.  This is James' hole outside our house.  We are hoping to get some landscaping soon, and he keeps asking us not to put rock or plants there.  We did buy sand for him to dig in that is along the house and sidewalk leading to the front door.  It's been a big hit with them and the neighbors.

We've also been to the park.  Alyse loves to swing and will stay there the entire time if you let her.

We have not been to the park lately, since it has been too hot.  Maybe we can go again when it cools off.

We have also made several trips to the children museum.  There is a new construction area that James really enjoys, and can spend a good amount of time there.  Alyse has a good time too!

We have been spending a a good amount of time swimming to cool off from the heat.  James and Alyse both enjoy the water.

We went fishing for Father's Day and caught two fish.

We have took a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo, and have made several trips to the Lincoln Children's Zoo. James always enjoys the train ride best.  He also enjoyed the sharks and penguins.

Alyse found watching the penguins and the colorful fish to be fun.

A good family photo at the rainforest.

We've also been having fun inside.  James is playing with shaving cream!  (Good way to beat the heat inside.) and spending time with lots of friends. We've had several playdates, and lots of kids in the neighborhood to play with. It's been a fun, hot, and busy summer.