Emma, Johnny, and Lily in their spaceship
February was extremely busy, but also very productive. I managed to make progress on all of my goals, which was especially nice after last month’s mixed results.We’re making slow but steady progress on kids and chores, and a re-organization of Emma’s bedroom has yielded a lot less of this:
The mess wasn’t entirely her fault since there wasn’t a good system in place for her to keep her things. She was supposed to keep them in Johnny and Lily’s room, where we have the toy bins, but understandably wanted them in her own room. So on her birthday we went to ikea and picked up a 2×2 expedit organizer, as well as four bins. Then we taped illustrated labels on the bins: doll clothes and accessories, dolls and stuffed animals, toys to share, and treasures (things she doesn’t want to share). So far the system seems to be working well – and I love that it is flexible enough to last through her teens or to be repurposed in another part of the house in the future.
Emma had a blast at her birthday party, and all the kids seemed to enjoy the cupcakes, pizza, grapes, and robot decorating – as well as playing with all of our other toys, of course! =) I had had a few more elaborate ideas for her birthday, and I’m glad we just kept it simple. I was busy enough already, and the kids were perfectly happy with the simple party. Valentine’s Day was also simple. Emma and Johnny sewed small felt hearts, and Emma spent many hours cutting out paper hearts like these:
And then putting them in envelopes with the names of various family members. She usually sends valentines to friends, but she seemed mainly interested in family this year. We’ll be doing plenty of valentines for kindergarten next year, so I decided to sit back and enjoy my last stress-free Valentine’s Day in a while.
I fudged my slow cooker goal – I made two recipes, but changed them only slightly from how I’ve made the same dishes (hamburger soup and pot roast) in the past. I’ll still call it a goal met, because there were changes – and good ones, at that! =) I got my photobook made, thanks entirely to Winkflash extending their sale deadline! The photobook arrived on Thursday, and my kids have enjoyed looking through it. Linking through to the site, I realized that they have ANOTHER flat rate sale, this time for a custom cover book, that ends March 3rd. So I put together a second book, and we’re now caught up through July 2009, right before Lily was born!
March is going to be another busy month. After much careful consideration, we’re sending Johnny to preschool – for two and a half hours five days a week, through the special ed program for our town. I’ve considered preschool before, but until now it seemed better to keep the kids in classes, play dates, and playing and exploring at home. Johnny has a hard time understanding the world around him, and communicating, and I think the special ed team in our town can help him with that (they already provide his speech therapy service, so I know the team fairly well). It’s a huge change for our family – no more lazy mornings, for starters. We’ll give it a go, and hopefully it will help my sweet little boy be happier and more expressive – he’s certainly excited about the prospect! If it doesn’t work, we can always pull him out, but nothing ventured, nothing gained!
We’ll also leave on yet another cross-country flight at the end of the month, to Vegas to visit my in-laws and then driving on to Mesa for my brother’s wedding. Emma and Johnny tell me that they just LOVE flying, so I hope they love the red-eye flights we have booked there and back!
I’m keeping my March goals simple:
- Finish making Lily’s monkey (like these) – long overdue!
- Get Johnny ready to start preschool, and do what I can to ease the transition for everyone – suggestions for this are very welcome!
- Get ready for our trip to Nevada and Arizona
Bonus goal: start some geography studies with the kids (more on this soon, hopefully!)
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Oh, you are SO beating me on the photo books! Bad me! I really need to work on that!
I love these posts. It sounds like you had a good month.
We have always kept our birthday parties simple and the kids seem to enjoy it.
Good luck with preschool. Will you be able to visit the school before he attends? I found that helpful. We also read lots of books about preschool.
I only have to get out the door “early” (8:20am) one morning a week. It helps immensely for me to get up a bit earlier than normal just so I don’t feel like I’m already running behind from the get-go. The kids are usually finishing breakfast when it’s time to start using the toilet, and I set a musical alarm on my mobile phone to let everyone know it’s time to get going (it’s more official and immediately grabs their attention – I usually act surprised and say “Oh wow, time to get going!”).
It’s great that you already know the special ed team and that Johnny is excited. I hope it will be quickly obvious whether preschool is the best option for Johnny at this stage.
So glad you have enthusiastic flyers to accompany you on your cross-country trips! Have fun with your extended family. :)
Wow – you achieved A LOT in February. I’ll try to get my post out tomorrow. I hope Johnny will enjoy his preschool – good luck!
My goals are pretty simple for March but I feel I need to start planning so I’m not stressed at the end…get ready for my trip which includes what I need and some grocery shopping and meal planning for my family while I’m gone. I’m also hoping to get our taxes done and Joshua’s birthday somewhat planned before I leave. Maybe it’s not such a simple list!
Sounds like a great month, and another fun month ahead! Lily looks so grown up in the first photo — wow!!
Love the robot decorating activity, too. Looks like the kids had lots of fun at the party! I often find it is better to keep things simple. :-)
i can’t wait to see what you do for geography. Those will be fun trips