playtime and a picnic

We stopped taking gymnastics for a few reasons (tired girl after school, and their schedule changed to something we don't care for). But, they have a preschool playtime every week, and Gage and I stopped by for it this week. He had a blast swinging, balancing, bouncing, and playing.  And, he got four leaf clover stamps on his hands and feet at the end, so he was all jazzed to have such good luck :-)

 

 

After playtime, we went to Subway and then had a picnic lunch in the "Courtyard of Wonders".  Downtown Northport is a very cute (and very small) old-feeling "downtown" right near his school.  It's actually my favorite part of the area - it has an old-fashioned hardware store, a few cafes, antique stores (one of them that buys all of their stuff from the flea markets in Paris - I love to browse in there), and random shops. They have an art center next to this little courtyard, with a working blacksmith artist shop set in the back. The courtyard is full of random art (mosaic walls, bottle trees, rusty giant metal bugs, etc.).  Our favorite is this giant red dog that's on the top of the art gallery.  He may be my favorite thing in Tuscaloosa, actually.

 

 

green eggs & ham

A few weeks ago, Savannah's school had a green eggs & ham breakfast to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, but I forgot to post pictures...and I realized that all of the pictures I took of Savannah were on video mode (duh!), so all I have is Gage!  

 

 They served green eggs, ham (that looked disgusting), grits and biscuits with gravy (that thick white southern gravy).  Gage LOVED the gravy (he called it "dip) and happily dipped half of his biscuit in the gravy, while slathering jam on the other half.  Savannah actually ate the green eggs and the disgusting looking ham, although she won't eat eggs at home (maybe I should color my eggs green at home?), and I ate all of the grits because well, I love grits and they were slathered in butter.  

We left school just ask the principal was doing morning announcements, and reading a Dr. Seuss book over the PA.  As I listened to her Alabama accent, I was reminded again of how Savannah is surrounded by that accent all day at school, which is giving her a bit of a southern twang. Five = Faaahhhhhhhve, there = thayyyyyer.  I try to correct her and she says that she HEARS the "alabama talk" but it goes in her brain and gets stuck there,and when she goes to speak, alabama talk comes out sometimes, even though she doesn't mean it.  Silly girl. Even Gage will imitate Alabama talk for you if you ask him to. 

The "new" truck

For months, Adam was driving by this old 73 Ford pickup truck wanting to buy it. Why, you ask? He thought it looked like a fun old truck, and figured he could use a truck. He parked it in the garage, and when he went to start it up to show me how well it runs, it wouldn't start ;-)  Well, it's up and running again, but it's just been sitting in the garage for a month because Adam is ridiculously busy lately. Savannah is thrilled because our garage now smells like an old truck, and we KNOW she loves how garages smell for some reason. Gage has been saying "If I ask Daddy politely, do you think he will take me for a ride in his new truck". 

 

So, Saturday was the day.  We dragged sicky Savannah out of bed (she had a stomach bug) to go ride around the neighborhood. 

 

Mama, I so lonely...

Every night, around 2:00 am lately, I feel this little monkey tap me on the shoulder as he climbs into bed next to me. As he settles in, she says "mama, I so lonely up there, I love you". How can I say no, he's growing up too fast :-)

Good end to a rough day

On the way to Gage's school on Friday, Gage said "after school, let's zip to yogurt mountain, get a yogurt mountain, and then zip home. That a deal??"  I said maybe, but never agreed. Later, I got a call from Gage's school that he had an accident (peed his pants) and was really upset. And, to make matters worse, the only extra clothes left in his bag were shorts. AND, this is the big one, his new Spiderman shoes got peed on, and he was really upset about that. So, I decided to go pick him up early, and YES...we went to Yogurt Mountain so he could make a chocolate yogurt mountain with all of the toppings that he wanted.  And then..we decided to stop by the pottery studio and do some painting. 

 We usually save those things to do with Savannah, but hey..she had 2 years doing fun things all by herself, so it's only fair that Gage gets some alone time with Mommy too.

Fort Rapp

Gage made a big fort the other day and played it for hours. He was so proud when I told him it was his best fort EVER.

Picnic

One afternoon, the kids asked me for a picnic blanket, telling me they were having a picnic out front. When I went to check on them, this is what they had set up on the front sidewalk. Savannah must have been in charge of snacks because she had a bowl of dried apricots, a bowl of walnuts, and a bowl of crunchies  (aka, croutons). Gage certainly would have chosen dookies (aka cookies)!

Savannah's favorite things| 6 years old

A few years ago, we started asking the kids their favorite things on their birthdays -- the same list of 20 some questions. We think it will be fun to look back on and see how their answers change over the years. Here are Savannah's answers this year:

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink, purple, and yellow

2. What is your favorite toy?  Barbie dolls

3. What is your favorite fruit?  Bananas

4. What is your favorite tv show?  Pup Named Scooby Doo

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Macaroni & sauce

6. What is your favorite outfit?  Cheetah dress

7. What is your favorite game?  Hide & seek

 8. What is your favorite snack?  Banana chips

9. What is your favorite animal?  Cheetah

10. What is your favorite song?  Jingle bells

11. What is your favorite book?  I wish I had duck feet

12. Who is your best friend? Kelsie

13. What is your favorite cereal?  Booberry

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Run

15. What is your favorite drink?  milk

16. What is your favorite holiday?  Valentine’s Day (because you get to have a double party)

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My two kitties

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  bananas

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Macaroni & cream sauce, like Gram Rooney makes

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Fashion designer

21. What is a place you would like to visit someday? Hawaii

22. Where do you want to go to college? Disneyworld

dino dig

One of Savannah's birthday presents was a dino dig kit. They keep asking to do it on crappy, rainy days, and I keep putting them off, because I do not really want them chiseling dino bones on the dining room table. But...today was a beautiful 60 degree day...perfect for a dino dig.  We got our tools all set up in the driveway, and donned our safety goggles.  The goggles. That was quite an endeavor. Savannah is sporting the goggles that came with the kit. Gage wanted to wear them. I tried to tempt him into wearing a pair of yellow safety glasses Adam has by telling him that he would look like Cyclops (a super hero who wears yellow glasses). That did not work. So, I finally remembered that he had a pair in his big of toy tools. Phew...disaster averted.

They were looking sharp, don't you think...

Speaking of sharp, Daddy came by and decided they needed more serious tools for the job. THIS is what he gave to Gage...Oh yes...that is a VERY SHARP metal pick. Against my better judgment, I told Gage to be careful and not bang the brick when anyone else had their hands near it. Low and behold...he ended up stabbing both me and Savannah so we were both bleeding. I finally told him it was time to put it away. WHAT was Daddy thinking?!?!

So...they banged and picked and shook the dino brick, and little by little, bones appeared...

Adam came back from a run and checked it out.  You all know that he is uber efficient, completely focused on getting tasks done in the least amount of time and in the most efficient manner possible. So, he got yet more tools -- metal chisels and a real hammer. And he started going at it. Savannah whined NO DADDY...DON"T DO ANYMORE...I WANT TO DO IT.  Daddy was taking over her project!!! But, they ended up finding a way to work together so Daddy could make it a little more efficient and she could feel like she was doing the bulk of the work. Piece by piece, she got all of the bones out, and then we got to put them together!!!

 

This turned out to be a fun little project :-)

time to make the donuts

Heading home on Sunday morning, I passed Krispy Kreme and decided to pick up some donuts for the kiddos. Gage requested a chocolate donut, and Savannah wanted something with sprinkles. I have never been to KK before, but you can buy glazed donuts hot out of the oven (or fryer...however it is they cook donuts). 

Still, Gage loved his donut-maker hat...and his donut...

 ..and so did the Donut King (aka Adam).  He also happens to love donuts....

my sous chef

Lately, every time I say it's time for me to make dinner, Gage yells "I help you, mama!" and runs to get his stool and stand next to me at the counter. I was peeling cukes the other day and he realllly wanted to help.  I guess he is growing up, because I agreed, and just showed him where to hold the peeler and what not to touch, and away he went. He did a great job :-) Now...if only he would actually eat vegetables.  I got him to eat cukes one day by dipping them in honey mustard (and never ate them again!), but he typically sees a veggie and says something along the lines of bleck, ick, yucky, or get that green thing off my plate!

Birthday Party

We had Savannah's party today at All Fired Up, the local pottery studio that has a great party room. She picked a beach/luau theme for her party! No big surprise -- she does love the beach like her mama! This morning, we worked on beachy cupcakes that that had beach umbrellas (okay, they are cocktail umbrellas, but she doesn't know that!), flip flop gummy candies, surf boards, and sand (crushed graham crackers).  

We had hula skirts, hibiscus clips for their hair, flower leis galore, and even coconut cups to drink out of. Even though I told the boys that boys in Hawaii wear grass skirts and leis, they didn't buy it and not one of them wore them (even though they were green & blue). Boys.  

We had preschool friends, kindergarten friends, neighbors, and dancing friends.Somehow we ended up with a girls' table...

 and a boys table... (plus our neighbor Katie & mom Evan)

We even had a buddy for Gage.  This is Rush, he is Gage's friend in preschool. His brother Reed (who was in Savannah's preschool class) is also in her Kindergarten class! Gage was so excited to have Rush there! The boys finished their pottery painting pretty fast (Gage painted a car and Rush painted a hedgehog), these two little buggers swiped their moms' phones and settled in the corner to play games while the girls finished their painting.

Savannah painted an owl plate. And, the pottery studio painted a whale plate for her that all of her friends signed before they left. We sang happy birthday to our sweet 6 year old, blew out 1 candle (we were afraid 6 candles would catch the umbrella on fire!) and then she busted into some presents. 

So, she ended up with Legos, Easy Bake oven refills, crafts, a handmade necklace from Rush & Reeds' very talented jewelry making mom, some baby doll stuff, and an Ariel swimming pool. And, she is such a good sister she shared her crafts with her brother when she got home so they could both work on them. I'm afraid he would not have done the same if the tables were turned! 

It could only have been better if Daddy could have been there (he is at a conference).
Six years old. Unbelievable.

birthday bus stop

And, we thought we'd surprise Savannah with some balloons at the bus stop. There were supposed to be six, but Gage threw his balloon in there for an extra surprise for his sister. The bus drives past us first and then turns around in the cul-de-sac -- we could see her looking VERY excited as she caught sight of us out the window :-)

 It was pretty windy out, so she laughed the whole way home saying that it felt like she was walking a balloon dog on a leash!

Now she's upstairs playing with her new toys. I don't expect to see her again until she's ready for her birthday dinner -- creamy macaroni (she asked for it, "just like Grandma Rooney makes").

Happy 6th Birthday, Savannah

Six years ago today, during the Valentine's Day Blizzard, we welcomed Savannah into this world!  She was a tiny tiny little very alert baby.  I always love this picture because it reminds me how small she was (her head is smaller than Adam's hand!), and that he was so terrified to hold her that he gripped her by the neck!!!!  Best Valentine's Day gift ever :-)

This year, we celebrated her birthday the night before, because Adam had to leave for a conference this morning. After dinner, we had cake (purple heart shaped cake with pink frosting). I think she was excited..

She must be growing up, this year she did not tell us what she wished for (she always used to!)

she is such a good sport, she let us light the candles again so her brother could blow them out...

and she even let him cut her cake with a sword :-)

A pink and purple heart shaped cake -- it's not my fanciest ever, but she was excited.

And, she was VERY excited to get a purple ipod! She also got a little silver necklace that has a mouse with her birthstone (amethyst). Adam picked it out for her and she LOVES it.  She got some "cheetah" gear (leopard print) from Grammy that she loves, legos, moster high, a squishy dinosaur anatomy kit (thank you Grandma & Grandpa Rapp!), and a dino dig kit!

and she got The Sleep Book (Dr Seuss) from Gram Rooney, and thought it was very silly to read it at the dinner table EVEN THOUGH it warns you on the first page that the book should only be read in bed! 

She opened about half of her presents last night and saved the rest for this morning. She had cake for breakfast (of course), did some more opening, donned some "cheetah gear" and headed to school.  Gage and I stopped to have lunch with her today. We brought cookies in today, and the kids all sang her happy birthday in class. Her teacher apologized to me that they didn't wait until lunch to eat the cookies -- she said they all got so excited about having a Valentine's birthday that they sang her happy birthday early and ate cookies in the morning! Savannah was thrilled.  All the kids were talking over each other to talk to me about what they got for Valentine's Day goodies.  Big Casey sat next to me and rubbed my shoulder the entire time (?). They were all so excited today, it was really cute. It is so much fun to have lunch with her at school -- never a dull moment at the kindergarten table!

look-a-likes

I often think about how much Gage & Adam look alike, what do you think!?!

 

musical extravaganza

For the first, time, Savannah's school held a "Musical Extravaganza" this year to show off what they have been doing in music class! The kids have been practicing their songs, and they held the musical at the local small theater venue - Bama Theater.  She sang 3 songs (my bonnie lies over the ocean, you are my sunshine, hello/goodbye" and then topped it off with a finale "would you be my Valentine." When I asked her what her favorite song was to sing...her response (of course!) was the Valentine song (Savannah is a stern believer that she has a very special birthday, so she loves all things Valentine's Day!). This is her and a few of her classmates that I have gotten to know a little by having lunch with her at school. Aiden (the boy with glasses to her top right, apparently does NOT listen to her teacher and often gets put on red), Casey (two over from her on the left, is who she calls "big Gage" because Adam hand lunch with them and thought he reminded him of an older Gage). This was a mix of half the kindergarten classes.

The dark theater and apparently lulling music knocked Gage out, so he was a sleep on Daddy's lap at 7:10.  It was quite an event to pick Savannah up from the stage door!  I stood in line for a long time while Gage slept soundly in the car and Adam texted me asking how many feet I had moved in the line.  Luckily, I happened to be standing near some people that I know and like (one mom I am in a bookclub with) so waiting wasn't that bad.

When we got home, I put Gage to bed right away and Savannah and I snugged in her bed (with Lola of course) and her busy little brain was working overtime. I cannot even remember the minutia that she was preoccupied with last night - she was asking me question and after question and telling me about things she learned at school. I am always amused at how her brain does not settle down at night.  Thankfully, when her brain finally lets her go to sleep, she sleeps all night. Her Mommy falls asleep quickly and then often wakes up for several hours a night to "work". Let's hope she doesn't follow Mommy's footsteps in that way!

homework

Savannah has homework nearly every day. She has far more homework than I ever suspected she would have in Kindergarten, but....we try to make it fun and she's pretty smart, so she blows through it relatively quickly.

Lately, Gage wants in on the action! He wants to do homework. So, I made up his own little worksheets to do for homework that have shadowed gray large letters and his name for him to trace.  He does not have a very good pencil grip (neither does his father) and he's very stubborn (so is his father), and he refuses to let me adjust his pencil grip. So, his letters are a little shakey looking, but at least this is a first step....I am very excited that he is showing an interest in writing his letters!  He has been very interested in doing the alphabet puzzle lately, but this is the first interest he has shown in writing letters. At Gage's age, Savannah had been writing letters and her name for a while, but they all grow at different paces, I have learned. Here is Gage showing off his name homework :-)

magic school bus

Savannah loves the Magic School bus.  Somehow, Santa knew that and bought her a MSB science experiment kit about the human body.

Tonight, we finally got to our first few experiments. She formed a hypothesis about how synovial fluid helps a ball & socket joint to move smoothly, by taping a paper "bone" onto a ball (ping pong ball), greasing it up with veggie oil, and setting it into a little plastic socket to see what happened (it moved more smoothly). We also stretched tubing along a hinged leg to see how your muscles contract and relax to help move your bones. Looks like we need some more material for the next experiments -- I saw a chicken bone and 2 liter bottles listed in the material needed for the next experiments! 

I have to say -- I never expected a 5 year old to be interested in doing human body science experiments.One thing Savannah is not, I think, is your "average" 5 year old!  Thank goodness we got her out of the Baptist preschool that actually tried to "teach" (I use that word loosely) about her how her heart works by telling her that "God recycles your blood through your heart." Yeahhh....what a way ridiculous way to "educate" our little people! I made sure to explain what is really happening in her heart. I'm so happy that since she is actually interested in anatomy and biology, we have fun "tools" like this to help her dig deeper and keep her interested, but still lets her "play"! I'm kind of hoping that the soda bottle experiment will be for us to mimic the digestive system eating up some food - that would be cool!

We'll keep you updated. 

And Gage will just keep eating.

our pirate girl

Well, we had a follow up for an eye issue Savannah had when she was 1 1/2, and got news that we were not expecting. It turns out she has a problem called fourth nerve palsey. The muscle that controls the vertical (up/down) eye movement has too much slack (like an elastic band), so it has trouble keeping her (left) eye focused at the same place her right eye is focused. That makes her left eye work really hard to (a) keep vertical alignment, and (b) focus on what the right eye is looking at. It causes eye strain, and is making her favor her right eye to see, since the left is always trying correct its vertical alignment. It has to be corrected, and the only option is surgery (they will make a small incision in the tissue at the top of her eye to expose that muscle and shorten it so she can control that muscle). That will happen this summer.

After hearing the word surgery she bolted to the door and tried to leave, begging to go home. But, after we got home I talked her through it, let her look at the inside of my eyelid/top of my eye, and looked in the mirror with her to show her what her eye is doing, talked about surgery, recovery, and what happens if we don't do it. I emphasized that it's always better to have a problem that we can FIX, and even though eye surgery sounds scary, it is only outpatient surgery, and recovery is easy -- one day home and then returning to normal activity except no swimming for 2 weeks. Later, she admitted her eyes get very tired at school sometimes when she is reading and said she gets headaches when that happens. After trying to be as positive as possible with her, she finally came to me and decided that she does want to do surgery to have it fixed (not like she had any choice, but that's okay, I'm glad she is feeling "good" about it).  

The eye doctor (a pediatric ophthalmologist) said she is favoring her right eye now, and is in the window of time when she could develop lazy eye, so she suggested Savannah wear a patch 2 hours a day, 3 days a week. Savannah has been very excited about the patch and about "making her weak eye muscle stronger" - so she is wearing it every day after school (my overachiever) and  I let her pick out some cool girlie patches online. So...not the best news, but thankful that it is a relatively minor outpatient procedure that does not involve operating on her actual EYE, and that she is being brave and positive. Proud of her.