Imagination Library

Just in case there is a reader out there who could be getting free books for his/her child, but doesn't know it, I want to mention Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. This is a program started by Dolly Parton to provide one free book every month to every child under the age of five. It started in her home county, Sevier County, and has spread out from there to include communities all over the U.S., as well as in Canada and the U.K. I don't know how many communities are included in the program, but it certainly can't hurt to go check if yours is! The books are really nice, and who doesn't appreciate free books for their kids? So if you aren't already involved, go check out the website: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

Talking with Toddlers

The mind of a toddler is a fascinating thing! The way they process information and apply it to their lives never fails to amuse and amaze me! Here's an example:

Reagan is a girl. She knows that she is a girl. Therefore, she understands that the word cowboy does not exactly describe what she is if she puts on the cowboy hat. She needs another word to describe herself. Her little mind does not yet grasp the concept of substituting girl for boy to get cowgirl, so instead she came up with cowboy-girl. Isn't that clever? And adorable?

She did the same thing with handprints. Thanks to Blue's Clues, the kids are all about clues and pawprints. (They love to stick their animal slipper-clad feet up in the air and yell, "A clue! A clue!" because there are pawprints in the bottom of the shoes. But that's beside the point.) Well, they have handprints hanging up in their bedroom. Reagan understands that they are prints of hands, not paws, but can't seem to remember the word handprint, so she calls them hand-pawprints. So cute!

And just as a sidenote, she is still calling Zachary Ya-ya, although she is pronouncing it a little differently now, rhyming more with the Za in Zachary than with aw, like she used to. Interesting!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Sorry for the delay, everyone. Things have been a little crazy here. The kids have been sick with runny noses and coughs since the first of the month, and we're just now getting past them. As it turns out, they probably have had RSV. Reagan saw the pedi who said she was so sure that this was our problem, that she wasn't going to bother testing for it. Hurrah for saving us some money!

RSV can be a Really Scary Virus if you have an infant, especially a preemie, or a child with chronic lung issues, but for older, generally healthy kids like mine it is just a Really Stupid Virus that produces a lot of snotty noses and coughing and lasts forever and keeps you from being able to go anywhere. The kids have FELT FINE the whole time, no fevers, no fussiness, no Ladies Bible Class, no playgroup, no church. So annoying! The worst it has done for us is cause some wheezing in Reagan (we have had wheezing issues with her before) that required some breathing treatments and one puny morning with Jonathan. That's it! The rest of the time has just been annoying that the kids felt fine but we couldn't go anywhere because we didn't want to spread our contagion to the world.

But that hasn't kept us from going outside when the weather has permitted! And one of those nice weather days just happened to be Valentine's Day!

The day started out with the cards I stayed up way too late the night before to make for them.

Not bad, if I do say so myself! I'm particularly proud of the puppy. Their names are on the cards, but they're kind of hard to see in the picture. They also got some candy, but not much because Bud and Kaykay had sent them some too. And Daddy made pancakes! A perfect V-day morning!

In the afternoon, we went outside to play. It had rained recently, so we went out front to run around in the driveway instead of the wet backyard.

Zachary, Reagan, Jonathan, and Thomas

Spreading the love!

We hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! Thank you Gammy, Granny Kat, Bud and Kaykay for all the cards and goodies! We love you all!

The Weirdness of Weather

Last Monday

It snowed and snowed, more snow than I've seen here in Knoxville in years! I know, I know, it hardly compares to the snowfall some of the rest of you get every year, but for us this was a pretty decent snow!



Zachary, Reagan, Thomas, and Jonathan with their very first snowman! He's just their size! We followed this snowy first with their first ever hot chocolate! Well, warm chocolate anyway! The verdict: Reagan and Thomas drained their cups. Jonathan and Zachary did not. Jonathan not drinking his was no surprise. It was chocolate after all. There might have been some calories in there. Zachary was a surprise though. I think he refused it on principle when I handed him a sippy cup of hot chocolate instead of a mug like he was expecting. Sorry, buddy, toddlers and hot liquids do not go together in this house!

So that was last Monday. It snowed. We built a snowman. It was so cold the rest of the week that our snowman stuck around until Friday.

But today? One Monday later? 72 degrees! That's right, people! 72 degrees in February! We went outside without jackets. I opened the windows. I turned the fans on because it got HOT inside.

SO WEIRD!!

Daddy's Little Helpers

Recently, the kids have developed an interest in watching Mom and Dad (mostly Dad!) cook! How cute are they watching Daddy make pancakes?

Zachary, Reagan, Thomas, and Jonathan

A Rainy Day

These pics are a little old, but so cute I wanted to post them anyway! A while back we had a run of days that were either obscenely cold (but snowless) or warm and rainy, and the kids and I started getting a little stir-crazy staying inside every day. Finally there was a day that was not too cold and although it was wet out, it wasn't raining currently, so I put the kids in their raincoats and took them out front to run around in the driveway for a bit. We had a BLAST!

On your mark...get set...

GO!!!!!

Jonathan, finding a small space to squeeze through, an easier task for Mr.Petite than for the rest of his siblings!

Zachary, delighted that he made it through that small space too

Reagan, pretending not to be having a fabulous time

I LOVE this picture of Thomas

Building Trains

When is a toy car not just a car? When it is strung together with a bunch of other cars to make a train! This has become a pretty typical sight here at our house, as you can see!

Jonathan likes to string together all the smaller cars and trucks to make his trains.

Zachary prefers to use the big ones!

And in case you missed this story in a comment to an earlier post...One day my wonderful friends Kim and Jeanette from church were here at the house watching the kids while I got out for awhile. Zachary and Jonathan constructed a train similar to the above and assumed their seats. Zachary got up to go get something and while he was gone, Thomas got his seat on the train. Naturally, when Zachary returned a minute later, he was upset to find that Thomas had taken his spot on the train. He started crying/whining/screaming. Kim calmed him down and explained to him that Thomas thought Zachary was done, and if he just waited a little bit, Thomas would get up, and Zachary could have his seat back. So Zachary ran over and stood next to Thomas and stared at him for about 2 seconds, then turned to Kim and said, "It's not working!"

Beloved Yellow Socks

I want you to take a good look at this picture. Notice the socks that Jonathan is wearing. They are white with yellow toes and heels. He is wearing them ON TOP OF his footed pajamas! Why? Because he LOVES those socks! I mean, REALLY LOVES them! If you try to take them off of him because he's been wearing them for DAYS, he cries and screams. If he sees them in a clothes hamper, he runs to them yelling, "My yewow socks! My yewow socks, Mommy!" and wants you to put them on him immediately. Just a little quirky thing I thought I'd share.