We're off to see....

Glenda the good witch and the scarecrow...constantly!!!

We love to read chapter books to the kids at night. We have an obsession with finding books that also have movies. We read the book and then we watch the movie. A few books ago we read the Wizard of Oz. The kids LOVED the book and the movie, so when Matt noticed that his high school's drama department was doing the Wizard of Oz, we decided to take the kids (and Matt's grandma) and make a day of it! We had a wonderful lunch at Big Boy (my personal favorite!!) and then went to see the show. The kids got green glasses (thank you Meemo!!) and we had popcorn at intermission. They sat totally still for the almost 3 hour production. It was a very good play, but still, the kids are only 3 and 4....their behavior was amazing!! Since then, we see at least 3 "shows" of the Wizard of Oz during any given week....it's adorable and very creative ~ I love it!! This was exactly what we wanted to happen with our book/movie obsession!!!

Puzzle man!

If you meet my handsome son for the first time, I can almost guarantee that within 10 minutes he will tell you what an "excellent puzzle do-er" he is. I am going to have to agree with him. The workers at church know that a puzzle will distract him on a "missing momma" day. Delaney's teacher knows they will keep him occupied while I help other kids in the class with reading. I know that a puzzle will entertain when I need a few minutes.

And, as you can see, sometimes I need a lot of minutes :-)

When doing puzzles on the kitchen floor has lost its challenge, he resorts to trying to do them on the wall. This was unsuccessful, but he did have fun trying!!

My American Girl

For some reason, which Matt and I will never understand, an American Girl catalog came in the mail the other day. For another reason I'll never grasp, I handed it to Delaney without thinking twice!!! WOW! I am all about encouraging reading and writing, but I NEVER would have guessed the amount of reading and writing this catalog would encourage. Delaney very carefully evaluated every picture in the catalog and made of a list of her favorites so she could ask for them for her birthday. This was all done on her own. The list is currently 3 notebook pages long (yes, there is writing on EVERY SINGLE LINE). After she ran out of the paper I gave her she started in on single sheets from her smaller notebook. Each item was written on it's own piece of paper. I believe that stack was currently up to 20 or so, last time I counted. It is adorable to watch, and yes, we've talked to her about the fact that she will NOT be getting all of it for her birthday. (Furthermore, Target sells similar things for a fraction of the price, so if she gets anything, that is where my purchases will be made!!) But wow the reading and writing she's been practicing!!!

Calling all Royalty

The Lego castle is open and we love it! We have made it there twice now. The first time we went with Aunt Cara, cousins Seth and Luke, and Grammy. The last time we were able to take Daddy and Aunt Shannon. The area is, of course, full of lego areas where you can build, but I chose to highlight the other activities available. A very cool (all Lego) queen and king "picture"
A magnetic castle with magnetic royalty, dragons, etc... The kids were having a great time creating a story with their "people"

A very cool reading area with some fun chairs....fit for a princess or ready to give a rotten prince a dragon hug!!

A computer where you build your own castle wall and then see if the (also computerized) rock that you shoot at it will break it. This requires a lot of analyzing. Unfortunately is it also very popular, so the line was very long and Matt and Carson were not able to properly analyze the structure and the choices they made, so their wall crumbled. You can imagine that one of these boys was more upset about this outcome than another :-)

The disappointment couldn't last long when you are sitting upon your own throne (also a hot spot in the area which required a fast picture taker so as to not get someone else's child in with yours!!)

Date night at the Dillard house

Matt had a GREAT idea to take Delaney on a date. She has been acting like a typical 13 year old girl trapped inside a 4 year olds body lately, so he thought a little daddy-daughter bonding might be good for their relationship. Delaney and I spent the afternoon getting her ready (notice the nails).

When he came home from work they went to Pizzeria Uno. Her hilarious moment from the night was this observation/question, "If baby chickens are called chicks are baby roosters called roosts?"

Then we met up with them at Ritters for some frozen custard - we couldn't miss out on all the fun!

May I have this dance?

Delaney has been begging to take dance again. We took her out because she showed very little interest in it. Then we had her in gymnastics only to have to take her out because my coaching schedule was too hectic to get her there every week. The child dances her way around the house singing and making up moves and songs, so we decided to give it another whirl, only we were MUCH smarter this time. We enrolled her in a 7 week class at the YMCA. It is very inexpensive and she absolutely loves it!