Conferences

We had Luca's school conference this morning and he's doing wonderful at school!  His teacher told us that we should be proud!!  Luca does very well at circle time.  He's so attentive that he's always scooting up closer and closer to the teachers.  He participates, comprehends during story time, has a great attention span, is respectful, has good manners, gets along with all the kids, loves share (which is show and tell), follows directions, knows his sequencing, numbers, alphabet, can write his name in upper and lower case, can rhyme, takes turns well and is READY for.... kindergarten!  :)  She said that he is very close buds with Donovan, which we knew this because Luca talks about him all the time and says that Donovan is his best friend in class.  They did say that he depends on him a lot and will say something like "I need to stand next to Donovan"when lining up, etc.  They didn't see this as a problem because they play and getting a long so well.  She said that she HAD to write something he needed to improve on and that was the only thing they could think of.  I asked her if there was anything we could do or talk to him about at home so he wouldn't be so dependent on Donovan but she said  there was nothing we could do and it's nothing to be concerned about and that they were doing things in the class like making sure they aren't seated next to each other during circle and snack time. Overall he's doing excellent and I'm happy with his report!

Olivia also had an excellent report as well!  They just LOVE having her in class.  They told me she is always so happy.  She loves to participate and asks good questions.  They said she had a great attention span during circle time and she could go longer than what they allot for which is great.  They said she expresses herself really well. She gets a long with everyone in class.  They said she especially likes to play in the house/kitchen area and she likes to serve everyone cupcakes. :)  Sounds a little like her Mommy! ;)  They also mentioned that Owen will save her a seat during snacktime and will say to her, "Olivia, I saved you a seat!"  How cute! 

We really like the pre-school, TUMPS, that they are attending but now that Luca will be starting kindergarten in the fall we are thinking we are going to put Olivia in Grandview's pre-school.  She would be a peer mentor and it just makes sense because Corey, Luca and Olivia will all be in the same school.  I asked the teachers if they thought she would do ok going from 2 days a week to 5 days a week and they said they think she would be great and that she would be a perfect peer model.  Now we just hope she gets in, there are only 8 spots (which is good b/c it's a very small class) but it's 1st come first serve once they send out the registration! So as soon as I receive the packet I am filling it out and taking it to the post office the same day!I have to mail it, but I would prefer just hand delivering the application especially since our mail doesn't come until around 5pm everyday. Wish us luck! :)

Fun in the snow again!

My parents were just here to stop by for a couple of days before leaving to go back to Florida for the rest of the spring/summer. The kids always have so much fun with their Nonno and Nonna.

My Dad would pull both of them.  I tried this and what a great workout to pull around 70lbs of kids!

She's so cute!!!

I just love this picture of Luca.  I wanted to get one of Olivia but my battery died.

After all the fun sledding my Mom made some Hot Cocoa which Olivia LOVED because she is a chocaholic! She especially loved the marshmallows at the end.

Diva!

Olivia always thinks it's funny to wear my Ugg boots or high heels, but today she wore my boots that go to my knees but they went up to the top of her thighs. I had to take a picture and she was having fun posing for me.

I think I have mentioned before that Olivia used to always talk about Emmett in her class. Well, she has moved on and now talks about a cute little boy named Owen.  She told me she wants to marry him!  His Mom said that Owen talks about her all the time and he gets so excited when he sits next to her during snack time.

When I dropped her off school I always go in the class with her and give her kiss and a hug good bye.  As I was giving her a hug she told me "Owen's here!"  I said go say hi to him.  Instead she went right by him and said "Mrs. Brown can I go paint?"  I think she was playing hard to get, maybe to see if he would come and join her paint?  She's too cute!

Luca

This past Sunday the weather was in the mid 60's so I had to take that opportunity to take some 5 year old pictures for Luca (even though he won't be 5 until March) I needed some for his Birthday party invitations.

I didn't post some of the pics I took because I will post them on his Bday, BUT, I will tell you that my friend who is a Math teacher and went to OSU knew about "The Fountain of Numbers" on OSU's campus. There are 9 GIANT #'s displayed in the Math Departments Campus. She has a tradition with her kids on each Bday to take a pic by their age. So I am starting the tradition, too! The only thing was Corey and Olivia were waiting in the car for us and I took about 10 quick shots and Luca was a little distracted from all the numbers that I didn't get a great pic, most of them were blurry b/c my camera kept focusing on the number instead of my subject. But, I have some time to take more pics before his big day!

Olivia was very upset that she had to stay in the car. She wanted to take pictures, too! I told her I would take her when she turned 4, but for some reason I couldn't find the #4! I asked my friend and she said 4 was lying on the ground so I'll have to find it the next time.

Mommy Daughter Day!

I planned a little Mommy and Daughter day with Olivia yesterday and we both had such a great time! The library had Snow White and some of her dwarfs from the Columbus Theatre to do a 15 minute sneak peek of their Snow White performance that they do. Olivia was very happy to see Snow White!

I also had a little lunch date with her, too. I have never just gone out to lunch with JUST Olivia.  It was really nice.  I think when I have both kids with me they both want to talk and will fight over who gets to talk first.  Olivia will always talk about what Luca talks about, so it was nice that we had a meal where she could just talk about whatever SHE wanted. She definitely enjoyed the lunch date at Bravo.  They give her a little piece of pizza dough to play with. :)

This pics are not in order.  I definitely see her as a good Mommy because she can sure multi-task, just look at this pic!  She has two babies, one in the stroller and one in the car seat.  She's walking her dog AND on the phone! :)  She will be such a great Mommy someday.  She's so caring with her babies and calls them "sweetie pie" and is always feeding them or holding them.  Another thing she likes to play is Beauty Shop.  She sat me in a chair and asked my name (event though she knows my name).  I told her Joanna and she started to write it on the board she said "G?" Then after I spelled it out for her  and she wrote it, she asked me how I wanted my hair cut.  She also likes to play teacher and doctor, too .  It makes me wonder what she's going to be when she grows up? They say to do what you loved doing when you played as a kid.  Then she'll definitely be a princess!

Olivia with one of the dwarfs. Look at her hair and how straight it looks!  Her curls are starting to loosen a lot.  

After lunch, we went to one of her classmates, Emmett's Bday party.  She loves Emmett and talks about how he protects her.  His party was a pirate theme.  Isn't this cheese dip such a cute idea?

Emmett's Mom Nicole did a great job with his party!

This was before their treasure hunt!  They also painted and did crafts  Olivia had fun.

Everyone got these cute pirate hats and swords!

The Bday boy! 

I have to say that one of my recent resolutions this year is to stay away from my computer/phone when i'm with the kids and the past two days I did great.  Just posted a pic of Olivia on FB while she was crafting at the library but that was it!  I noticed that in those 2 days the kids behavior was really well, no one was in time out and they just loved that we gave them our FULL attention ALL day long.  Olivia was even so grateful on her little day.  She said all on her own "Thank you mommy for taking me to lunch, you're a good mommy and papa is a good papa."  She also told me she loved me!  I love them!

Scooters!

As I had mentioned before, the kids asked Santa for scooters and they just LOVE riding it. Here's some shots of them in action. They sure learned quick how to balance on those scooters!

This is in our basement.  Since it's way to cold and snowy out to ride, the can ride for hours down there. The wheels even light up. It's also a great work out, I know this because I had to try it.  I want one! :)

 

Isn't he handsome?

I can't believe he's turning 5 two months from Sunday!  Time sure does fly.  At this age, he is already planning his own party.  I was hoping to do a Pirate theme for him because I saw all of these super cute ideas on pinterest and my sister has a bunch of fabric and signs that are red and white from the Olivia the Pig theme, BUT, he is insisting on a Batman theme party.  He says that Batman is his favorite Superhero.  He told me all of his friends he wanted to invite and that he wanted Batman treat bags and cookies and the girls can have princess bags.  So into the details! 

Luca likes to tell me when I drive to go faster!  I explained to him it's against the law to go over the speed limit and that I could get a ticket from a policeman.  He then asked me well, what happens if you don't pay your ticket.  I told him I could go to jail.  He said what would they do with us?  I said they would find someone to take care of you.  Olivia was very upset and said what about my baby!?

BTW, I love getting a good deal!  I got this sweater shirt at Old Navy for $2.49!  They had a ton of stuff on clearance after the holiday and i have a bin full of Gap and Old Navy stuff for them this summer and next year. I even got Olivia nice pj's for 50 cents!  You can't get that deal at a thrift store plus it's brand new! I love a good deal!!! :)

2013 Goals

I love to reflect on my goals from 2012 and to see where I am at.

2012 Resolutions


1.  To take a photography/photoshop class.  I recently received Lightroom as a Xmas gift which is a Photoshop program and I am looking forward to learning how to use it.  I wouldn't mind getting into photography maybe by the end of the year as a small side business. I did take a class and I did get into photography the end of 2012.  I had a total of 29 "clients" that I took pictures for.  How exciting!!  Since I didn't "officially" own a business when people asked me what I charged I told them I would take a donation and I used all that money to invest in a new computer, a new lens, some more props and equipment. 


2.  Continue to work out at least 3 to 5x a week. I did work out 3-5x a week last year but I have to say that I feel like I'm at a plateau.  Need to work on a different plan for next year and do more weight lifting to see more results.


3.  Take Luca to swim lessons to learn how to swim this summer. Luca DID take a swim class, he did not learn how to swim BUT he definitely is way more comfortable in the water which makes me happy. He will now put his head underwater (with his scuba goggles that covers his nose) but he will jump in the water and can float with his floaties and tread water pretty well.  He even jumped off the diving board in the deep end!!! Overall I think this is a huge accomplishment b/c he's always been afraid of water, even in the bathtub he would cry when we would wash his hair.  He no longer cries. I think setting the expectation for him to swim might have been a little to high for a 4 year old, but hoping next year he can do it. 

I didn't have a swim goal for Olivia, although, I have to say she really surprised us at how well she goes under water WITHOUT scuba goggles.  She didn't even take a swim lesson and I would have to say she probably would qualify for the step above Luca.  Luca would not go under water without his scuba goggles so he wasn't able to advance to the next swim lesson level.  Olivia will put her entire head under water with no problem.  I'm hoping they both can take swim lessons next year in the same class!


4.  Read at least 1book a month. YIKES I failed on this goal.  I did really well the begginning of the year but then I got my kindle and couldn't figure out how to download books from the library.  Oh well!


2013 Goals


1.  Have a name for my photography business and officialy register my business with the state.

2.  Have a FB page for my photography business with 500 fans.

3.  To have at least 60 clients.

4.  Enroll Olivia in a dance/gymnastic class.  She has taken a dance class in the summer and a gymnastic class that I got through Groupon.  They are just such a big monthly expense that I need to find out which one she likes best (even though I would love for her to be in both b/c I think she'd be great at both).  

5.  Enroll Luca in a soccer league this spring and maybe something like T-ball in the summer.

6.  Luca and Olivia being able to tread water without their slim life jacket this summer.  

7.  Luca will  learn how to ride  a bike without his training wheels.

8.  Checking out and getting some information on modeling for the kids.  Since I've taken so many pictures I realized that my kids are really great at taking direction with a camera and they love getting their picture taken.  Plus, they are pretty cute, too!  I have no set goals other than checking into it.

9.   Take some measurements of my waist and lose a couple of inches also get back to my pre-prenancy weight of 105 pounds  So I need to lose 8-9 pounds which doesn't sound like a lot, but that is a lot for me and really hard especially since I work out so much.  Not sure if that's possible because before I was pregnant I never worked out so I do feel like I have gained more muscle but if I could be 107-108 consistently, and my size 0 pants not feel so snug meaning my muffin top not hanging out of my pants, I will be happy.

10.  To have a date night with Corey once a month.  I've talked to Corey about this and told him my idea about how we each have to plan a date night.  So the 1st month, I will plan it, then next month he will and so on.


11. Spend less time on electronic devices, IE my phone/computer whenever I'm around the kids and use that time to play and teach them!!  Only check FB/meetup site/emails in the morning to see what eveyone else in the Moms group has planned for the day. (15 minute)  Check it during the kids quiet time in the afternoon and when they go to bed. (30 minutes)  Then after bed I can check it once kids are in bed.  Hopefully this will help me spend more precious time with my kids and keep me less distracted!! I have to admit this will be hard for me becuase I am addicted to online stuff, plus I feel like I have to be on when I do photography stuff and post sneak peaks and communicate with people.

12. Give up Soda.  I drank about 1 can of Coke per day last year and I would like to stop drinking it which I have started since December but allow myself a soda drink on Sunday.

Let it Snow...for real this time!! :)

I have to catch up on my blogging because I've been out of town and with a sick kiddo! It snowed here in Columbus so the kids FINALLY get to use their snowboots we bought them last year that they never got to use and their sleds, too!

They just love sledding!  I have to say I am so proud of Luca.  He has really been getting better at reading.  For a while he's been able to spell out three letter words and the other day I wrote down 4 letter words and he's usually intimidated and says "those are too hard" but I bribed him with a mini marshmallow for every word he could read.  He earned 10 marshmallows and I told him I'd give him 5 marshmallows if he could read a sentence and he did!  "The cow was in the barn." He also read "Luca can read."  Then the next day he was writing on his new art easel and he wrote "Luca can red"  even though he spelled read wrong, I am so proud of him!!!!

This was the 1st day that we had of snow.  You'll see as I post more pics that we got more.

I love that we have a hill right in our side yard!  The only bad thing is they go so fast they can go right into the street, but Corey has taught them how to stop themselves so they are getting better.

She LOVES sledding so much! I have been trying to work on the sounds of the letters with Olivia.  She knows some but not all.  I will keep working with her to get her to learn more.  We also played hide n' seek and was surprised that she was able to count to 30.  She does skip 2 numbers in her teens, but Luca did that, too.  She also was signing Xmas cards and it was so cute because she would write her name and she also wrote "baby" and i was shocked that she sounded it out and knew how to spell most of it.

WEE!

Let's do it again!

This was a Christmas Eve pic that I never posted of our Elf, Buddy.  This was his last day so he was silly and put some Christmas lights in the kitchen and was hanging upside down.  The kids got a kick out of it! Luca started crying b/c he accidentally touched Buddy and if you touch Buddy he loses his magic.

Christmas Eve pic

Luca asked me to take this picture of him like this...um ok?

This is when we got more snow and they were making snow angels.

My poor baby, this was before we went to Michigan and she was all healthy.  Then she got the nasty stomach bug the day after we celebrated Christmas with my family, we left the kids with my parents because they just love staying at Nonno and Nonna's house and we just love getting a little break.  Olivia ended up getting the bug about a day later.  My poor Mom was up with her from 10pm until 6am because she kept vomiting in bed. :(  My Mom changed the sheets 3 times that's how sick she was.

I was hoping Luca wouldn't get it, and so far (knock on wood) he hasn't gotten it.  Olivia called me when she was sick and she was so upset because she threw up all over her 2 babies (one of her favorite babies that she carries everywhere and her brand new baby she got from Santa.  She was very upset about it and told me that her babies got her sick.)

More snow angels. 

Luca asked me during dinner today what Nonno and Nonna looked like when they were our age.  I told him we would show him pictures and that they had less wrinkles and Nonno's hair wasn't so gray.  He asked us if we were going to get old.  I told him that everyone gets older and that he was going to turn 5 which is older than 4 in March.  He said "I don't want you to get old, I'll be sad."  So cute.

My little dare devil.

They were all giving me the grinch face. 

I'm so excited that I'm finally using our NEW computer we got.  Our old one was soo soo slow especially with editing pictures it would literally take me hours.  These pics downloaded instantly on the blog which normally takes several minutes.  So excited to have a faster and quiet computer finally!!