Getting Ready for the Fourth of July

Grace loved painting Jack's hand using blue paint yesterday. Grace and Jack are working together to make a flag using their hand and footprints to celebrate the Fourth of July. They make such a great team! I'll post a picture of their flag once it is complete.

Strawberry Picking (and Eating!)

Getting Every Last Bite!

Jack-a-roo had his 18 month old wellness visit earlier this month with his pediatrician. We've got one healthy boy on our hands! Here are his stats:

Height: 33 1/2 inches (85th percentile)

Weight: 29 pounds, 8 ounces (89th percentile)

Head circumference: 20 1/4 inches (100th percentile) :)

A Special Visit From Memere

Memere has been with us for the past few days. It was a special treat for us to have her visit. Our family has BIG changes coming up over the next few weeks and months~ we are putting our house on the market next month, moving to a new home and having another baby! While she was here Memere helped us do many projects around our home and she was a huge help! The best part was the time she spent with Grace and Jack. We all enjoyed working together as well as a trip to Portland, time at the lake, walks, swinging (ready, set, go!), time at Ogunquit Beach and strawberry picking (pictures to come). Thank you, Memere, for all of your help. We love you.

After the Rain...

When the rainfall finally ended this morning Grace and Jack were so excited to get back outside! We decided it would be fun to go to an abandoned basketball court located near our home so Grace and Jack could draw on the damp concrete with chalk. Grace was so excited that she skipped the entire way there while holding on tightly to her bucket of sidewalk chalk.

Jack enjoyed drawing lines and circles on the concrete.

Grace enjoyed drawing and writing her name on the concrete.

Jack had another idea about how to have the most fun after all of our rainfall ~ splashing in every puddle he could find!!!

Early Winter 2011...

Get ready to meet our newest Little Leger.

Yes, we are having another baby!
(Hip, hip, hooray!!)

Little Surfer Girl

Beach Boy!

Father's Day at Ogunquit Beach

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful father - Bob! One of my favorite times of day is when Bob's green car drives up our driveway when he returns home from work each evening. Grace and Jack are typically just getting done with their bath time. They both stand on guard on our couch during lotion time while keeping a very close lookout for the first sign of Bob's car. As soon as they hear his car approach they both sprint down from the couch to enthusiastically greet Bob. Jack typically runs out onto our porch while yelling, "Hi Daddy, Hi Daddy, Hi Daddy!" over and over again while dancing, jumping and running (at the same time). I really think our entire town must hear Jack because he gets SO excited to see Bob! Grace gets just as excited but she is never quite sure whether to follow Jack out onto the porch, sprint directly outside onto our front lawn or surprise Bob at the front door! Grace usually runs in circles until she makes her decision and immediately lights up when she first sees Bob. Thank you, Bob, for adding so much fun and so many laughs so all our our lives. You are an amazing father.

We wish an extra special Father's Day to Poppy and Pepere today. Thank you both for always having worked so hard for your families and for being such tremendous role models to us. You are the best fathers and grandfathers!

In the picture above you can see what was done with the paintings that Grace and Jack made earlier this week ~ a handmade Father's Day tie card for Bob, Poppy and Pepere. Happy Father's Day to you all!

A Day at the Lake

We dropped everything today and headed to the lake beach near our home to spend our day at the lake. We have been waiting for the past few weeks for some warmer weather and today was the day! We grabbed a few sand and beach toys, a blanket and a picnic lunch and headed to one of our favorite spots. My favorite part of today was watching Grace and Jack. Simple things in life like catching minnows, splashing water, finding rocks and sticks, watching boats, picnic lunches, building sand castles, collecting clam shells and just being outside bring Grace and Jack such great joy. Days like today are ones that I will always cherish.

Studying Flowers

We went on a nature walk this morning to gather wildflowers. Once we arrived home Grace placed the flowers into a cup of water. I gave Grace a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers so she could closely study and examine the flowers. Grace carefully dissected the wildflowers and we talked about the different parts and their functions. Grace loved this activity so much that she continued to gather flowers all afternoon to bring them back to her "work area" in order to continue studying them.

Closely examining a daisy

Removing petals using tweezers

Studying an anther

Jack's Busy Hands

Jack loves to paint. He always puts lots of time and thought into all of his paintings. This morning Jack worked alongside Grace to paint a special painting for Father's Day. Jack chose a wide range of colors and paint brushes.

I just love all of that colorful paint -- especially on Jack's forehead!

Here is a part of Jack's finished painting. I'll be sure to post what was done with it on Father's Day!

Magic Writing!

For this activity I painted the bottom of two shallow cardboard boxes -- one for Grace and one for Jack.  Once the paint dried I added just enough cornstarch to cover the paint at bottom of the boxes.  Jack used his box to practice drawing lines and circles (his favorite) as well as to dig and play.  The fun part of this activity was how the colors magically appeared underneath the cornstarch as Jack drew and played!  Jack had a great time drawing with his fingers, hands, sticks, rocks, and this shovel.

 

Grace has really been enjoying writing letters, words, and her name recently.  I knew she would enjoy practicing writing in a whole new way with this activity.  Grace loved writing her name and three letter words in the cornstarch.  Grace was so excited to see bright colors appear as she wrote her letters.  In the picture above Grace is writing the word cat.  I love how this activity encourages writing in a whole new fun way.  It's such a great sensory activity too!