Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Christmas Time

We had a great Christmas this year!  Grant's favorite things are sharks and dinosaurs these days.  And they make a ton of robot dinosaurs so he really loves that!  He has them all lined up on the floor in his bedroom.  And Sloan loves her doggies that bark and all of her dolls.  She also loves to play doctor and do everyone's hair.  We went and looked at Christmas lights a lot over the holidays, we visited a couple of different petting zoos and we went to Snow Mountain.  Snow Mountain was really fun this year.  Grant really got into the tubing and Sloan wanted to do it too.  As I walked her up there with her tube, I honestly thought she would back out at the last minute.  But she got on that tube and said "now push me!" and she was off!  And then she begged to do it over and over.  They went down over 10 times and would have stayed all day if we let them.  They also got to build igloos and snowmen. 
 
Our elves visited us again this year.  Grant's is named Buddy and got a middle name this year....he is now "Buddy Hotshot" and Sloan named her elf "Elsie".  They had a lot of fun every day finding their elves and talking about Santa.  Christmas day was so animated this year.  Both of them were so into it......it made it really fun to watch.  Almost every gift Grant opened he would say, "this is exactly what I wanted! I love it".  He said he "loves Christmas and Santa" numerous times.  Sloan keeps asking where Elsie is now though and wants me to bring her back, ha.   
 
Grant is really enjoying Kindergarten but he doesn't like getting up so early...the bell rings at 7:50am.  He has liked being home for a couple of weeks and sleeping in, lol.  He loves to count to 100 now and is reading a ton of different words.  This is interesting now though because he can read some of the signs as we are driving.  And I can't spell simple words without him knowing what I am saying, oh well.  He gets to go to the library every week at school and pick a new book to bring home.  It is always sharks and dinosaurs!
 
Sloan keeps us busy with her personality!  Her most common thing now is to say she wants something and then immediately say she doesn't and then again say she does, ugh!  It is slightly frustrating.  Luke was joking with her about something the other day and she looked at him and said "don't start that dad!".  Her other favorite phrases are "definitely yes" and "definitely no".  No clue where that came from but we laugh every time she says them.
 
Sloan finally got the bottom 2 year molars in but still nothing on the top.  Maybe by the time she is 4, they will come in, lol.  She is weighing in at a hefty 23lbs these days, ha.  She is still in her crib and I am in no rush to move her to a big bed right now.  Grant moved to a queen when he turned 3 with no issues.  Somehow I think Sloan may not be as easy to transition.  She gets very hung up on things and doesn't like change at all.  She has a few changes coming this year though....ditching the crib, ditching the pacifiers at night, and starting preschool.  I am currently looking for a preschool for her similar to what Grant did.  She will start in August but will be put in with 3 year olds because of her birthday.  Her attention span is getting better.  She will sit and watch cartoons for about 20 minutes.  She really likes to paint and color.
 

At school with Grant for his Christmas party
 
 Sloan jumping in the bed!
 
 Sloan with our lighted deer

Christmas Cookie time
 
 Grant in some fake snow (dish soap foam)

 Petting Zoo


He got a Gamecock!

 
 At the petting zoo with a Llama.  It made a weird noise and showed its teeth after this picture....freaked both kids out, ha!




Straightening her hair like I do

 Luke and some turkeys....they were aggressive birds too.  One of them grabbed the map out of Luke's hand and he had to chase it down to get it back, lol!
 
 Snow Mountain...tubing and building snowmen


 Christmas Day

Sloan with her FurReal Dog

 Sloan looking at what Santa brought her
 
 Grant opening the first gift!


 Grant and one of his new dinosaurs

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Thanksgiving, Santa and more

We had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed visiting with everyone.  The kids had a great time playing with Jon Walter.  Grant had a cute little presentation/song at his school with his class.  And he got to dress up as an Indian and a Pilgrim.  We got to go and cut a tree down for CC and Papa Bill's house.  Grant and Sloan both picked out a nice (and heavy) tree.  We stick to the fake ones at house for now, lol.
 
We took the kids to see Santa and they really enjoyed it.  Sloan was still a little apprehensive but once Grant got up there she was fine.  They both told Santa what they wanted and are very excited about Christmas.  Grant is more excited this year than he has been ever before.  He keeps saying "I just can't wait until Christmas!".  We have been having fun putting up all of the Christmas decorations too.  We have multiple blow ups outside and a ton of lights.  The kids have already started to count the presents under the tree and compare....could be interesting this year, lol. 
 


Crazy Santa Picture!


 
Sibling love
 
 Happy Thanksgiving

Go Gamecocks.....too bad we still lost this year

 Grant's class singing at their Thanksgiving program
 
 Our little Indian
 
 Our little Pilgrim

 Santa with live reindeer in the grocery store parking lot!


 Papa reading to Sloan

 Cousins acting crazy on the bounce house!

 Cutting CC's tree

Sloan taking her turn to cut the tree

 


Monday, October 20, 2014

Tellus Museum, Apple Picking, Sloan Turns 3, Pumpkin Carving and Costumes

Grant loves dinosaurs so I took the kids to the Tellus museum where they have lots of dinosaur skeletons.  He loved the gigantic TRex and the Megalodon shark jaws.  They got to pan for gemstones and dig for fossils too.  It was a pretty fun time. 
 
We went to an apple farm for the first time and we all had a great experience!  There were multiple types of apples and you could try them as you picked them to see what you like.  Grant and Sloan tried a ton of apples and Sloan has my taste in apples, Golden Delicious all the way.  There was also a petting zoo with baby goats and pony rides.  Sloan loved riding the ponies this time and almost had a fit when she had to get off.  They also got to milk a real cow which was kind of gross. 
 
Sloan is now 3 years old!  Her doctor's visit went well.  She is 23lbs (less than 1%) and 35 inches tall (10th percentile).  She also received 2 vaccines (Chicken Pox and HepA) and is now all caught up.  She is definitely a light weight but is growing at her own pace so all is well.  Her personality continues to grow more independent and she is very bossy these days.  She wants to do everything herself and then dictate what we all do at the same time, lol.  Chocolate continues to be her favorite thing so we got her a big chocolate cake.
 
We got a chance to get the kids in their costumes and take a few pictures at my parent's house.  Grant is a transformer, Sloan is a witch and Jon Walter is a UPS man.
 
We went and got a pumpkin and they had a great time carving it together.  Grant asked to cook the seeds so we did that and he ate enough to grow a pumpkin in his stomach!
 
We just got the kids a new swingset and they absolutely love it!  The hard part now is getting them to come inside.  We got Sloan a toddler swing and she demanded to use a regular swing.  We didn't think she could really swing in a real swing since Grant just learned to really do it by himself.  Ahhh but every child is different and she is sooooo independent and stubborn.  She watched Grant and then got right on the swing and started kicking her legs the right way......and she was swinging herself.  She promptly says, "see, I can do it, I can swing myself!".  She never ceases to surprise us.
 
 
Apple Picking and Eating!







 
Panning for gemstones at the museum


 
Grant's favorite was the huge TRex


Petting some goats and one was a precious baby
 
Milking a Cow
 
Milking a Cow
 
Riding Ponies
 
Sloan did not want to get off this time!

 
Luke made a friend...

 
Happy 3rd Birthday to Sloan!



 
 
Halloween Costumes



 Pumpkin Carving!


 Lots of decorations around here

 Our new Swingset