January Recap

I'm not a huge fan of January, but I guess I could have blogged ONCE in the long, cold month.

Oh well. I know the winter months are tough on my blog...I'm just not inspired to take pictures of our indoor activities. But, we have a had a great start to 2012.

Matt brought home this activity for Devin & they spent a good 2 hours working with the beads. How's that for fine motor control?

We also started gymnastics again. It's a wonderful program, just a mile from home and Dev takes a class with her old friend from preschool. Watching her now is amazing, so much bigger and stronger than just a year ago.

Devin continues to flourish at Montessori & I've started substituting on a fairly regular basis. Every time I spend a day working in the school, I learn something new. And, it's almost always something that makes me love the program even more. The children are treated with such respect and have very high expectations placed on them. It's so exciting to watch, even the toddlers (18 months-3 yrs), make free choices and explore an activity at their own pace.

Devin started really reading recently, which is a proud moment for her and us! It's as if something "clicked" in her head and now she gets the concept of making the sounds in the words etc.... I made another Mom laugh when we were discussing our kids and school. I told her that I'm sure people say, "Don't ask Shannon anything about Montessori....she'll talk your head off!" It's just so cool to see the concepts, the science and research and the actions all come together in one place.

Another recent article!

Christmas 2012

This is a picture heavy post, as I learn to use my Christmas present: A new telephoto lens for my Canon!!! Come to find out, Matt really does listen:)

We were looking for any way to get out the pre-Xmas excitement, so Matt started cutting down our overgrown Burning Bushes. It was a chilly day and Devin's eyes were watering. She discovered that her swimming goggles are excellent for cold, windy days.

Even the next day, she still wanted to play in the sticks.

The big morning finally arrived & she was thrilled with her doll. It was the only thing she asked for from Santa & her favorite part is dressing alike.

The tennis never stops around here...we've been playing nearly everyday. I was testing my new lens by watching Devin run around the court. The lens is great, but best used outdoors for super-sharp pictures of action.

We made the trip to Papa and Grandma's over the break & had a great time! Devin was more than happy to get a second Christmas. As you can see, I've been washing the cowgirl dress everyday. She received a few of Grandma's keepsakes:

But, best of all she opened 2 more (handmade) matching outfits. She's already wearing the dress in this picture and this skirt has a matching doll skirt. Now, we have a 3-day rotation of matching doll outfits!

She showed off her chess skills with Papa.

Gaga went with us and got a nice greeting from Maxwell.

The long drive home from Illinois went fast and we didn't (for once) get stuck in bridge traffic. After sitting for so long, we decided to take a walk at the park. There are some awesome nature trails less than a mile from home & Devin's big enough now to handle the rugged terrain. With the sun out, the day felt perfect and we ended up walking over 3 miles!

We investigated the old Central State grave stones.

This tunnel of brambles seemed so cool!

Until, one jumped out and scratched Dev:(

We sat for a few moments, before the final walk to the car. Devin was certainly in a silly mood!