tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39853157524053351272024-02-07T10:32:34.974-08:00Leave It To SeaversBeth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-59447738638401128412013-10-11T13:09:00.000-07:002013-10-11T13:09:06.369-07:00SpooooookyI love Halloween. The decorations, the pumpkins, the weather. I have fond memories of carving pumpkins and of my dad and I trick-or-treating, me with my plastic pumpkin for goodies and him with his pewter mug for goodies of the adult liquid variety. Good times were had by all.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Henry's Halloweens so far have been pretty atypical. The first year he went trick-or-treating in the residence halls on CNU's campus where we were working and living. He went dressed as a banana.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="320" src="https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/33712_594327790499_3947418_n.jpg" width="213" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The next Halloween we were living in New Jersey and it SNOWED so trick-or-treating got moved and because we didn't have power we ended up trick-or-treating in MomMom and PopPop's neighborhood. Henry was an octopus.</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="320" src="https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/313665_693875795499_841669692_n.jpg" width="213" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Last year Halloween was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy. He borrowed a Thomas the Tank Engine costume from our sister-in-law Julie's family and never got to take it out trick-or-treating and also no picture.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So here we are in October again and I'm expecting a forecast of locusts, frogs or something to prevent us from having a normal Halloween this year. I am also waiting on Henry to decide what he really wants to dress up as for Halloween. So far his list is: Pirate, Doctor or Train Engineer. (He also mentioned a bat yesterday but I don't think he was serious.) Eddie and I both think Doctor would be a cute costume. He has a doctor's kit from his birthday so it would be easy to get a white coat and be done!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've started collecting Halloween decorations for the house each year after Halloween is over (clearance prices!) and I love it all. This year Henry helped decorate our spooky Halloween tree and even got a little crafty and made a<a href="http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/crafts/pumpkin-decorating-ideas-00411000069450/"> googly-eye pumpkin</a>. He is also really enjoying skulls and skeleton bones this year. (He even picked a big glow-in-the-dark skeleton that he wanted to hang in his room, which we did!)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRXQyi4Dm_HKYTt9B9gJH4aSPd5FP27fHU8pmv_z8OgTJc15YjaWpmf6iWoVB4cOhhTbTC3IC6QfPU1al5bX2CNikhPFQ0e4jDPvu2TD20sTz9jfticb83n17tPXXPJ271fuUwUQxL2o/s1600/IMG_5285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRXQyi4Dm_HKYTt9B9gJH4aSPd5FP27fHU8pmv_z8OgTJc15YjaWpmf6iWoVB4cOhhTbTC3IC6QfPU1al5bX2CNikhPFQ0e4jDPvu2TD20sTz9jfticb83n17tPXXPJ271fuUwUQxL2o/s320/IMG_5285.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Halloween display in our entryway. All clearance or Dollar Tree finds.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtDU4PvH91IojnnuXYVSoc1C1PjbOsLZ_ywVXNKyBTsRCEO3seijuOqd_FGImoQ4jiIXkizg6bQcbcRJdMGUQIpCkKTF1LYVdK8aho8I-2vOzhV1t4jZk79NxruLzT67xBaUMquEvQhA/s1600/IMG_5289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtDU4PvH91IojnnuXYVSoc1C1PjbOsLZ_ywVXNKyBTsRCEO3seijuOqd_FGImoQ4jiIXkizg6bQcbcRJdMGUQIpCkKTF1LYVdK8aho8I-2vOzhV1t4jZk79NxruLzT67xBaUMquEvQhA/s320/IMG_5289.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Henry's Googly Eye Pumpkin. He loves it.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWwhK-Srsg1f184Va90ZlrAJZCgTCcSr0gfmgIWGG5Hf4DTouYBx9fmQtiLMQFcaS4jSO75Cjt4VlpyJiyRtFhx15PwGp8UfYXIc3KnENq2LBouQ9VJvb2qyKcvEpR96w03SCYDhgAfg/s1600/IMG_5291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWwhK-Srsg1f184Va90ZlrAJZCgTCcSr0gfmgIWGG5Hf4DTouYBx9fmQtiLMQFcaS4jSO75Cjt4VlpyJiyRtFhx15PwGp8UfYXIc3KnENq2LBouQ9VJvb2qyKcvEpR96w03SCYDhgAfg/s320/IMG_5291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Pumpkin and Googly Eyes from the Dollar Store. Super easy and amusing for a 3-year old </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(and 31 year old to be honest!)</i> </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i4RyCZTJYSlwJUzaGmHUg-XZPbiNFgukc3WnTpxjo6H4ebz6_u16Nkn_c_rsnomoiWfLgj-4Vf316Bzwq_r8xL0eMjwMuEu93aa3CD4c5BkKOPHnWwuR20Z0vvLotWW7Vgcjo3shEYo/s1600/IMG_5292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i4RyCZTJYSlwJUzaGmHUg-XZPbiNFgukc3WnTpxjo6H4ebz6_u16Nkn_c_rsnomoiWfLgj-4Vf316Bzwq_r8xL0eMjwMuEu93aa3CD4c5BkKOPHnWwuR20Z0vvLotWW7Vgcjo3shEYo/s320/IMG_5292.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Bat silhouettes from the Dollar Store. We have them in our windows but Henry wanted a bat family in our house too.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SFFp2FHZaCVTH3ZDGDk88OaqauXG2-M_Stg7kg85rrsA4vX01UAY_rmZaM6wp9VPm1O8OeOZMaADW3KpgUDkauEzAwoGYeI0JhkanyoFncM1sDgpsmlu01L3eZeK9_iEL1G4uReRwKQ/s1600/IMG_5297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0SFFp2FHZaCVTH3ZDGDk88OaqauXG2-M_Stg7kg85rrsA4vX01UAY_rmZaM6wp9VPm1O8OeOZMaADW3KpgUDkauEzAwoGYeI0JhkanyoFncM1sDgpsmlu01L3eZeK9_iEL1G4uReRwKQ/s320/IMG_5297.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Henry and Bony Bob (his skeleton that was later hung in his room)</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-87659456012396559912013-10-03T20:17:00.000-07:002013-10-03T20:26:04.716-07:00Remember That Time......when I thought that the 2.5 hours that Henry was in preschool that I would have time to keep up with this blog, go out on runs, keep the house in order, etc. Turns out there is a rift in the space time continuum that makes the time between 8:30 and 11:00 each morning elapse at a faster pace than any other time of day. This is to say that things are incredibly busy and I'm going to have to manage my expectations!<br />
<br />
Henry LOVES school. This makes us very happy. He is excited to go each morning and is happy when he is done each day. The program he is in is really great. One teacher and two aides for eight 3-4 year old children. Four of the students are hearing-impaired with either cochlear implants or hearing aids. They speak and do not use sign language. The four hearing students are from our town and are in the classroom just in the morning. In the afternoon the hearing impaired students do more specialized activities like speech therapy. <br />
<br />
I like the idea that Henry is being exposed to other kids who are "different" than he is. Last week on our way home from school one day Henry told me that one of the students has blue hearing aids. This launched us into a conversation about why the student had them (because his ears need help hearing) and Henry, on his own, made the connection to his own pacemaker (because his heart needs help). Crazy how insightful a three-year old can be!<br />
<br />
Other school highlights:<br />
-Gym class three times a week.<br />
-Music class two times a week.<br />
-Each week the students have a different job. Henry got to put the weather up on the weather chart each day last week. He thought it was great. This week he is the door holder....clearly not as exciting.<br />
-Each week there is a theme. The teacher sent the week breakdowns to us with a list of vocab words they will be using a lot so that we can reinforce at home. This week they are talking about friends. Next week is family.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0K10Tp9d5tIzGfT5Ud4fNiQk-k6cMFSLEw8-0ipJRlxVJGmVuE-_cVunK5s6WGu4ftMSdx5c47I-neNr4qNmSgy_FiZ2xuDL5mK3hW4ixBpnw5KsQWkwGmuNB0Vrx3FIhEpv3aFPVqWQ/s1600/IMG_4918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0K10Tp9d5tIzGfT5Ud4fNiQk-k6cMFSLEw8-0ipJRlxVJGmVuE-_cVunK5s6WGu4ftMSdx5c47I-neNr4qNmSgy_FiZ2xuDL5mK3hW4ixBpnw5KsQWkwGmuNB0Vrx3FIhEpv3aFPVqWQ/s320/IMG_4918.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Working on his first ever school project!</i></div>
<br />
Henry has "played school" at home with us quite a few times. We have to take turns being the teacher or a student. You can tell what his teacher must usually say to the students ("I need to hear everyone's voices" or "What do you think is going to happen?") because Henry uses these phrases when it is his turn to be the teacher. It's pretty awesome. <br />
<br />
I loved school so it makes me really happy that Henry loves it too. I know he still has many years to change but for now it's exciting to watch him be excited about learning.<br />
<br />
Life goes on outside of school too...<br />
<br />
Swim lessons have started up again, which Henry enjoys. He is now in the class where the parents don't go in the pool! Big boy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6OhpyAHsYXM6THyqRvOgLBx7K8LjbGykZh_HR9QM62amH_DHRa0jdLOk31KcrCRPRt-hTNdTqzeqPHl7kfTyfcoSDV-HWWfCdrlK60jF9v8caw63ArUoJe_RcWpfvh242O5kow_CWp0/s1600/IMG_4900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6OhpyAHsYXM6THyqRvOgLBx7K8LjbGykZh_HR9QM62amH_DHRa0jdLOk31KcrCRPRt-hTNdTqzeqPHl7kfTyfcoSDV-HWWfCdrlK60jF9v8caw63ArUoJe_RcWpfvh242O5kow_CWp0/s320/IMG_4900.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qAPcStmIltm2oTrdcgLLybKb-Ww8reUE76_8audm038rYxNi7mhZQTHTv_BNlpnKYzdThklo-v_KEnAifiZeiOrN8H50OruK2z2DTSTH7LrjkKxwZKLbe4_g_iYjF8fLLCPrI5_y7wE/s1600/IMG_4903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qAPcStmIltm2oTrdcgLLybKb-Ww8reUE76_8audm038rYxNi7mhZQTHTv_BNlpnKYzdThklo-v_KEnAifiZeiOrN8H50OruK2z2DTSTH7LrjkKxwZKLbe4_g_iYjF8fLLCPrI5_y7wE/s320/IMG_4903.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We're taking another adventure into Potty Training Land. We've had numerous short trips into this mystical land without much success but Henry's teacher said that he had been doing a good job with the potty at school and we started sending him in "big boy underwear" this week. So we started the homefront battle too. Mixed results so far. I will spare you the details since Henry might read this a few years down the road...haha.<br />
<br />
I know most of you readers tune in here for Henry but there are two other people in our little family.<br />
<br />
Eddie has been keeping busy between work and reffing soccer and I've been keeping busy with the part-time work I do from home and the volunteer work I do for the concert band I play in. <br />
<br />
But it's not all work. Last weekend we got to go to Clemson for a football game. We stopped at JMU for the night on the way down and we got to see part of the marching band rehearsal. I got to go out to dinner with some good college friends. The next morning we drove the rest of the way to Clemson where we met up with friends, got to see Kevin (brother) and Julie (sister-in-law) who are at UGA for grad school, and had dinner at one of Eddie's old hangouts. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJRB-BhZfuKg8gzlIMXq-ENcMwCBNK4pr99o8nXznaAubhoc48hCZI7QP28fKSY5_kJWL4FG7m90jUqvWgH5oMn3eJphkASo2H26rlNC1kEJiaVvmkv9uESeIzhFUaA4FBZH3GnQjY1o/s1600/IMG_4929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJRB-BhZfuKg8gzlIMXq-ENcMwCBNK4pr99o8nXznaAubhoc48hCZI7QP28fKSY5_kJWL4FG7m90jUqvWgH5oMn3eJphkASo2H26rlNC1kEJiaVvmkv9uESeIzhFUaA4FBZH3GnQjY1o/s320/IMG_4929.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>During Homecoming students create HUGE displays out of chicken wire and tissue paper squares. Amazing stuff.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QEtAVLanyQCjQPABxIt_gzbmuCG1y8xi31X4bYwPRhGbw1LwesOTpuy7DxcIR-5eeIJVGdtxg8_IITHM0XEO7F8ttSSVj9uFSkTrRY4zdgcqDjw3yhBpfH6_uqQCFG5kg6uy2jCj2l8/s1600/IMG_4932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QEtAVLanyQCjQPABxIt_gzbmuCG1y8xi31X4bYwPRhGbw1LwesOTpuy7DxcIR-5eeIJVGdtxg8_IITHM0XEO7F8ttSSVj9uFSkTrRY4zdgcqDjw3yhBpfH6_uqQCFG5kg6uy2jCj2l8/s320/IMG_4932.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXYxug2UjpJYrYyXhJqV0coz3acrEZpdkbiFWT_ArWAYzeBcET0x9pZIFOaoUA7DD-F3tpijPX5AJGsWc6Bd6A-uI7GWuIMCrNkHzgtMumya1uLPzJEnizjYyslmHnvVoV6ume740ppk/s1600/IMG_4936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXYxug2UjpJYrYyXhJqV0coz3acrEZpdkbiFWT_ArWAYzeBcET0x9pZIFOaoUA7DD-F3tpijPX5AJGsWc6Bd6A-uI7GWuIMCrNkHzgtMumya1uLPzJEnizjYyslmHnvVoV6ume740ppk/s320/IMG_4936.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOp5_JK9pqLyTspD3DhJXNiUTVfsmC_31A5rFliULRYfLcjN63vmWxA2-r3pip3BTb29s95Qnr9xd_IWeH_tdK4kVoeU9dyPvhKy9otsjKkbvXfuEy2L6jLDBTDCI9uCS4PLXqlm85TxU/s1600/IMG_4943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOp5_JK9pqLyTspD3DhJXNiUTVfsmC_31A5rFliULRYfLcjN63vmWxA2-r3pip3BTb29s95Qnr9xd_IWeH_tdK4kVoeU9dyPvhKy9otsjKkbvXfuEy2L6jLDBTDCI9uCS4PLXqlm85TxU/s320/IMG_4943.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Deanna worked for/with us when we were at CNU and now she's in grad school at Clemson.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCaI340Er4YGTCowWBU33iwxvGc4JlLbIBo-kIU1yvKbOm2MriCb_e8byy9QZLFSfrFGzU5m0cRsso6L46eNGPo5dY__S5PVxlI_32qHC9Xl09LkG7PRnRYdgS4Ir7y4hx3LWr5HFkNQ/s1600/IMG_4946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCaI340Er4YGTCowWBU33iwxvGc4JlLbIBo-kIU1yvKbOm2MriCb_e8byy9QZLFSfrFGzU5m0cRsso6L46eNGPo5dY__S5PVxlI_32qHC9Xl09LkG7PRnRYdgS4Ir7y4hx3LWr5HFkNQ/s320/IMG_4946.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirblnsdGFYHVvCD4jYgpaLLdyeKFXPqHaLP_0lmKsai1MYIXPeZd3o6cjexn-5-NtTuHDwA26FXLaIkCV7DnNX40YuE4IFm-Eadt4NlxTdGUWX_yRqrPBJKZhtAVP_emoBH4TbnV34pH0/s1600/IMG_4948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirblnsdGFYHVvCD4jYgpaLLdyeKFXPqHaLP_0lmKsai1MYIXPeZd3o6cjexn-5-NtTuHDwA26FXLaIkCV7DnNX40YuE4IFm-Eadt4NlxTdGUWX_yRqrPBJKZhtAVP_emoBH4TbnV34pH0/s320/IMG_4948.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwMFwPchdsTFVCONUGnBVKNUwXJ0EYyyQ3i87gp6CfeuKhJWR-izSENQfLDhXDUCxpmb_ux_RS9-v8eGiBAbihr4T5nv83X9lM4CT8zb3fqKSOP-Q4_JbQUNp8qxjNw3ngJ7XirH5zKE/s1600/IMG_4950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwMFwPchdsTFVCONUGnBVKNUwXJ0EYyyQ3i87gp6CfeuKhJWR-izSENQfLDhXDUCxpmb_ux_RS9-v8eGiBAbihr4T5nv83X9lM4CT8zb3fqKSOP-Q4_JbQUNp8qxjNw3ngJ7XirH5zKE/s320/IMG_4950.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pPf6SvSfCszY4xlly6iixF0aBJKLk42FV-ddDhJRr8loe0fTaUXxTrOJh_VixYjb-8MCz5NdJc6ladMsB1f_8xIeHHGKJxlYfMfyk1og_ZPHbyZqBOHflQNNvr1nwU4c8LW3GiYq91o/s1600/IMG_4951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9pPf6SvSfCszY4xlly6iixF0aBJKLk42FV-ddDhJRr8loe0fTaUXxTrOJh_VixYjb-8MCz5NdJc6ladMsB1f_8xIeHHGKJxlYfMfyk1og_ZPHbyZqBOHflQNNvr1nwU4c8LW3GiYq91o/s320/IMG_4951.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Eddie and I in the spot where we got engaged.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
We stayed at the home of some friends and got to catch up with them, which was really nice. On Saturday we headed to campus for the football game. Games at Clemson are serious business.....orange everywhere you look, tailgating setups with flatscreen TVs, etc. It's quite an experience.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_hKJjMaTAeE-jvAKdvbgiRphkZEa9-K8J-8VXn5WAkZcVz7hULt85YPExdfTKBn5CCE0FXgROLJGmQ9dpZGRbmI-vN75_2t6eA9ep_hqWjOaoXvJVqrrDyHLbrVjXdOHu7QZzIlYwN8/s1600/IMG_5064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_hKJjMaTAeE-jvAKdvbgiRphkZEa9-K8J-8VXn5WAkZcVz7hULt85YPExdfTKBn5CCE0FXgROLJGmQ9dpZGRbmI-vN75_2t6eA9ep_hqWjOaoXvJVqrrDyHLbrVjXdOHu7QZzIlYwN8/s320/IMG_5064.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbN3-Muv5WXCBsv0p7czN5JDb57DzUSeWYzntL7Rv62HGObm_pP5HPFSTR1MsLL4aXSmSojU_jLoIV6eEWihxeuz4zzojau4Y-aBxqFxDz8MnAN8hspwpE2dYoXU5hZrCZ-9ETh3BUuiI/s1600/IMG_5099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbN3-Muv5WXCBsv0p7czN5JDb57DzUSeWYzntL7Rv62HGObm_pP5HPFSTR1MsLL4aXSmSojU_jLoIV6eEWihxeuz4zzojau4Y-aBxqFxDz8MnAN8hspwpE2dYoXU5hZrCZ-9ETh3BUuiI/s320/IMG_5099.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHGc1WS8TD082iZoMKM_flbF5VLuoRqKUVuqkrfgUbDcDzNPnkHKP85W66XvTEyLY-gkFZSx0it52GdCxr1PoqFFRsPLsrpbEWS7IXsCUTR3QUshnYqtBJLkF-AXn3YJqjBkMP_C_dcw/s1600/IMG_5101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHGc1WS8TD082iZoMKM_flbF5VLuoRqKUVuqkrfgUbDcDzNPnkHKP85W66XvTEyLY-gkFZSx0it52GdCxr1PoqFFRsPLsrpbEWS7IXsCUTR3QUshnYqtBJLkF-AXn3YJqjBkMP_C_dcw/s320/IMG_5101.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizQJuFzHIjKcQuKzN7wv55i7U5GZIwQUa9zDIXg7LibuUxsGcvwg0Xw5y3hZPvitQN9rOsfAteV_GaXz0iF-dLtIs5NfzRvrfqTo1yKKCs-zRGZOnTa_VuQs5LeGoifOtSNFUIoZhmX0/s1600/IMG_5114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizQJuFzHIjKcQuKzN7wv55i7U5GZIwQUa9zDIXg7LibuUxsGcvwg0Xw5y3hZPvitQN9rOsfAteV_GaXz0iF-dLtIs5NfzRvrfqTo1yKKCs-zRGZOnTa_VuQs5LeGoifOtSNFUIoZhmX0/s320/IMG_5114.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5Ct2j96WurJPcYLJ0vDjzkgxCGq_fgUr5y3pEZEskKrX8JyZpSBZi_9_8y5fniiCY1aUJJV-GKv7BnHTRTxqepsXM4gNe974RXWkTPslMePDpb15grRpwhPVdwSiMzFkLsWFj0lV4WA/s1600/IMG_5116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5Ct2j96WurJPcYLJ0vDjzkgxCGq_fgUr5y3pEZEskKrX8JyZpSBZi_9_8y5fniiCY1aUJJV-GKv7BnHTRTxqepsXM4gNe974RXWkTPslMePDpb15grRpwhPVdwSiMzFkLsWFj0lV4WA/s320/IMG_5116.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Sliding down the hill in the stadium....I may or may not have tried it too.</i></div>
<br />
We headed back north on Sunday with a pitstop outside of Charlotte to see one of my college friends and her family. We met up with them at a really cool "touch a truck" event that had all sorts of vehicles (NASCAR, Fire Truck, Bulldozer, etc.) that the kids could climb on and in. Henry loved it and enjoyed hanging out with "Nowen" (how he says "Owen"), my friend's son who is four months older, for a short bit before getting back in the car.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1I4oJU3eWDXXxmPHBBenZtUvkqeuCSai2-Pmfcv7XkmStV4lDe5J-8CZ5J0CByXsn7zLNm88AiqFZC1IH_GBwl0IV3ZSJTUVM9yxzyN6a9b-KFs7tLmKnnmJmpJwm1KDvp9cnKmpzwQ/s1600/IMG_5126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD1I4oJU3eWDXXxmPHBBenZtUvkqeuCSai2-Pmfcv7XkmStV4lDe5J-8CZ5J0CByXsn7zLNm88AiqFZC1IH_GBwl0IV3ZSJTUVM9yxzyN6a9b-KFs7tLmKnnmJmpJwm1KDvp9cnKmpzwQ/s320/IMG_5126.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6dQmqx6HRdFMTToCEdS7jtNBQYYPcmBqjOiwdbSNf7sCE74qTFvhdkWgSDXkeYrDi20Lqhr3Z_z67UEg5FMCDAjsmiL2RAdQFlWSJCZvDQkS6TCrifQssuU2wfy5rwEha2hkKKyLG60/s1600/IMG_5133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6dQmqx6HRdFMTToCEdS7jtNBQYYPcmBqjOiwdbSNf7sCE74qTFvhdkWgSDXkeYrDi20Lqhr3Z_z67UEg5FMCDAjsmiL2RAdQFlWSJCZvDQkS6TCrifQssuU2wfy5rwEha2hkKKyLG60/s320/IMG_5133.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mghXDYsnLoavRnuLw7XEfnQXOFZc7tZceeCZo84se7friOCSsf71EHnA3QfbjYAp8wP5-QxHw25RA8MYqN-o9ereWHcLtjNc0dCV4MxXIy1k-br3WJaMXpCB_RSNXk8mo5cLHuuhevk/s1600/IMG_5137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mghXDYsnLoavRnuLw7XEfnQXOFZc7tZceeCZo84se7friOCSsf71EHnA3QfbjYAp8wP5-QxHw25RA8MYqN-o9ereWHcLtjNc0dCV4MxXIy1k-br3WJaMXpCB_RSNXk8mo5cLHuuhevk/s320/IMG_5137.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Not sure why there was a camel there but I LOVED HIM!</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYBlM2OClRJL24vrAYchU82eA3Anm6nCCpCUztDviKBrojHJAgEbGqh9XIszHfBIQJCRuk_CMfkJRrVz5za82X3fILQRTmFwAiwpx197QRPOMhXScQ1QDtwy3bgRRx1U7kyeFSzxjiuo/s1600/IMG_5144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYBlM2OClRJL24vrAYchU82eA3Anm6nCCpCUztDviKBrojHJAgEbGqh9XIszHfBIQJCRuk_CMfkJRrVz5za82X3fILQRTmFwAiwpx197QRPOMhXScQ1QDtwy3bgRRx1U7kyeFSzxjiuo/s320/IMG_5144.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I can't wait for them to hang out again in November at JMU!</i></div>
<br />
It was a really great weekend and worth the time in the car.<br />
<br />
Well, I think that's about all the update for this one....here's to hoping the next one isn't three weeks from now!<br />
<br />Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-47507229870669658662013-09-09T08:55:00.004-07:002013-09-09T08:55:55.236-07:00We're Back!It has been a long hiatus for us here on the Leave It To Seavers Blog. Things have been insanely busy and, unfortunately, the blog was a victim of that. A lot has happened since the last post but we're going to start fresh starting with Henry's start of Preschool! My 2.5 hours a day, 5 days a week of Henry being at school will hopefully allow me to keep up with this blog again. (As much for you readers as for our family to look back on years from now.)<br />
<br />
So thanks for your patience and check back for (hopefully) more regular updates!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO636GYM1KeXrzOuBm63hLd7VXUBwsHxu2SbUmm46FaCr6yk8mSCDOTSiCUsuYvNQPhtjMRVZE223Ijp7IiM4wBDHDQxTLofcUm3-gz_DyqrCrp2m8TmXWnKd5eMVDba00Uv9yl9sFJQ/s1600/IMG_4851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO636GYM1KeXrzOuBm63hLd7VXUBwsHxu2SbUmm46FaCr6yk8mSCDOTSiCUsuYvNQPhtjMRVZE223Ijp7IiM4wBDHDQxTLofcUm3-gz_DyqrCrp2m8TmXWnKd5eMVDba00Uv9yl9sFJQ/s320/IMG_4851.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-79005284965583679682012-12-06T19:51:00.002-08:002012-12-06T19:51:51.507-08:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter K!Letter K week was not super exciting...seems to be a theme here lately. (Ugh...I swear, I'll get more inspired soon!) But we did do some fun activities and Henry really got into some of the K books we checked out from the library.<br />
<br />
We made cards for some of our friends with K names. We also made one to send to Coach K!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikSItm_5ePsdygp-gBuYyL-rIgMryOeJK7mBjexot2VHu87v7YgKFRXkNOBAApoEZ8mDDTerBlOKzzBNIh3cyK_z-Bsf3leX67UryLE-lxvLQXHKcMFjTSKCCfGWmOl6Zh3hLh7e-mXQs/s1600/IMG_1723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikSItm_5ePsdygp-gBuYyL-rIgMryOeJK7mBjexot2VHu87v7YgKFRXkNOBAApoEZ8mDDTerBlOKzzBNIh3cyK_z-Bsf3leX67UryLE-lxvLQXHKcMFjTSKCCfGWmOl6Zh3hLh7e-mXQs/s320/IMG_1723.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
I brought out the paints to have him paint some kites for his Letter K craft but it turned into a free-for-all so....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbx5QN4ur7H6bN_P5k6WvyBQSmPmyxpo4axufrvmAAd2shN7Et82BXVexj3Yd3iTfY4jMx2q_DEnCkMEgV2QmxkGfa97lcwA7YB9O03cVWnfidY2cT65qRVS1uo3FdTwcKf4Dgtal2co/s1600/IMG_1728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbx5QN4ur7H6bN_P5k6WvyBQSmPmyxpo4axufrvmAAd2shN7Et82BXVexj3Yd3iTfY4jMx2q_DEnCkMEgV2QmxkGfa97lcwA7YB9O03cVWnfidY2cT65qRVS1uo3FdTwcKf4Dgtal2co/s320/IMG_1728.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<span id="goog_496421640"></span><span id="goog_496421641">We glued kite pieces and fluffy clouds (cotton balls) together to make his K craft instead.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoe6cKuhWWWh10q0ZR4FweW5MVDVit3w2g7I2GcK65pF3NEWDccZyZTptAl4FUl65NC1vM1jfbgM8uGE65OBBpjRE2UoM8AF1kTpoWdjKqoKMbth_7iZvHwrqRKb4WLdTxtYnO1idWHc/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoe6cKuhWWWh10q0ZR4FweW5MVDVit3w2g7I2GcK65pF3NEWDccZyZTptAl4FUl65NC1vM1jfbgM8uGE65OBBpjRE2UoM8AF1kTpoWdjKqoKMbth_7iZvHwrqRKb4WLdTxtYnO1idWHc/s320/IMG_1771.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2obj0Nwm1oFSkJB4AkRPkwxUidHpeMsz4TUbtAaEFusYSpe2PcsppI2Q5Jc0ESEiXHHlfVsJnEOkaLn8V9OfQVotQFEWOmwtd2tHMJ1vB1XMUBzAXfAmeoKP9W9zI_sRuvTy7mKN5b9Q/s1600/IMG_1772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2obj0Nwm1oFSkJB4AkRPkwxUidHpeMsz4TUbtAaEFusYSpe2PcsppI2Q5Jc0ESEiXHHlfVsJnEOkaLn8V9OfQVotQFEWOmwtd2tHMJ1vB1XMUBzAXfAmeoKP9W9zI_sRuvTy7mKN5b9Q/s320/IMG_1772.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
We have continued getting the Sound Box books (Moncure) each week and Henry really enjoys them. I like having those books as a consistent form of presenting the letter of the week. For K week Henry also really liked "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Curious-George-Flies-Kite-Rey/dp/0395259371">Curious George Flies A Kite</a>"....so much so that we're still reading it this week. He also liked "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Counting-Kisses-Karen-Katz/dp/0689834705/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354852210&sr=1-1&keywords=counting+kisses">Counting Kisses</a>."Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-39124554652943392172012-12-04T14:36:00.000-08:002012-12-04T14:36:07.883-08:00Snow and The SeasonI realized I've been mostly recapping our Alphabet Adventure here and have neglected the main purpose of the blog...to keep you all updated as to what we're up to. While the alphabet is part of it, it's certainly not all of it!<br />
<br />
Last week we had our SECOND snow of the year! Henry loved being able to play out in the snow and asked to go out as soon as he saw the snow starting to collect. I told him we had to wait until there was a little bit more before we could play. He kept crawling up on the couch to look out the window to see if there was enough yet to go out. Thankfully it was falling at a fairly steady rate so it didn't take long.<br />
<br />
We got bundled up and headed out. Henry ran around the yard with his tongue out, trying to catch snowflakes. He even remembered how Daddy showed him how to make snow angels a few weeks before during our first snow. We had a blast just running around and having fun. I, of course, harassed him with a camera. I'm glad I did because he looks so stinkin' cute in these.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYb6jqzNYKeQqzrA0wuBenU-ob6g7vIfUHeTjXMI3e6m-VMBeteCKdNai1Juthw_TOTQUPI3pDQiy4n4RPlqxq3vbhkIN8VSocuCG6T8yVTVx6EMngCXH-8YDZNFWVonaPm1-X24Mn6k/s1600/IMG_1708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYb6jqzNYKeQqzrA0wuBenU-ob6g7vIfUHeTjXMI3e6m-VMBeteCKdNai1Juthw_TOTQUPI3pDQiy4n4RPlqxq3vbhkIN8VSocuCG6T8yVTVx6EMngCXH-8YDZNFWVonaPm1-X24Mn6k/s320/IMG_1708.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQ36dxEoyqh-3SiqvD1BOmKqt-Id0OOqx9Prw5oCoxJSfNLtzGX34ZtLiy9tSy_lhn9INkd2QKiYRV-kOI-nL_uAZ9JKS_5rVVTbrUUAEkXS2K0tVcaj1H02l0P8jkYGt44awGqZ7WBM/s1600/IMG_1716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQ36dxEoyqh-3SiqvD1BOmKqt-Id0OOqx9Prw5oCoxJSfNLtzGX34ZtLiy9tSy_lhn9INkd2QKiYRV-kOI-nL_uAZ9JKS_5rVVTbrUUAEkXS2K0tVcaj1H02l0P8jkYGt44awGqZ7WBM/s320/IMG_1716.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Later that night when Eddie came home, the two of them went out for more fun. They built a snowman, which Henry adored. (The snowman tipped over the next day and was the last bit of snow to melt. Everytime we went out he would say, "Oh no, Snowman!")<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4jhyphenhyphen-4sAihl7hKwhNRpYTZ5PueilQK5dT53EbU5z6M_vMrTl9iUYBWKDY7VqH6Pu2sUzbM8CiLo0bRcTD6KE6mYmxBz0KQ8wvoasm5J_AzzdFHUCVqPjyMyH1tOfDLsqJeehbCAFY1o/s1600/IMG_1726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4jhyphenhyphen-4sAihl7hKwhNRpYTZ5PueilQK5dT53EbU5z6M_vMrTl9iUYBWKDY7VqH6Pu2sUzbM8CiLo0bRcTD6KE6mYmxBz0KQ8wvoasm5J_AzzdFHUCVqPjyMyH1tOfDLsqJeehbCAFY1o/s320/IMG_1726.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
We've also started getting into the holiday spirit. Eddie and I put the tree up while Henry was napping one afternoon. When he came down after his nap he was very excited to see the tree. He said that it was "beautiful and bright" and enjoyed helping put some of the ornaments up. Most of our ornaments are fragile so the tree is a little top-heavy with decorations!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69N5xT4vRjcsxb1kqnarKrmIwxAQBtYAfrSHNFgnSXU2xsZk7r-w0Uiew3ygxxPLhjEc20DLWskm4aWS5PPhcbax0AqDnK5lo4-oqlqxEQSGj9Iuc0bLMIeelbDfxsFeniG1T-jDsWpY/s1600/IMG_1737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69N5xT4vRjcsxb1kqnarKrmIwxAQBtYAfrSHNFgnSXU2xsZk7r-w0Uiew3ygxxPLhjEc20DLWskm4aWS5PPhcbax0AqDnK5lo4-oqlqxEQSGj9Iuc0bLMIeelbDfxsFeniG1T-jDsWpY/s320/IMG_1737.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDpsMPnNemikQMyam1J15_EFpe7areAogiZplY16G-1T3QwUMyG28lVCbw-6LbK08-3jmqb-5v4KaoH_orVExTHjbpztQwxwKUD-pjgHDmdprKOgZOoQNFLotcdXfez6T6TWf-PCPiRBY/s1600/IMG_1749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDpsMPnNemikQMyam1J15_EFpe7areAogiZplY16G-1T3QwUMyG28lVCbw-6LbK08-3jmqb-5v4KaoH_orVExTHjbpztQwxwKUD-pjgHDmdprKOgZOoQNFLotcdXfez6T6TWf-PCPiRBY/s320/IMG_1749.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct4fzkpsx1RVkhLl2ymOA0F365AURSkKZ6k9oB12QG8vj_BSbIDGhRzuZ-i7Xd6tey_rmavzrtj8jNpazqTE06aH8CVcVkHFSJ5GpRcJ6VA1cuLYrU0MmJs9nQQ_axWTodEepkFLM9sU/s1600/IMG_1752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct4fzkpsx1RVkhLl2ymOA0F365AURSkKZ6k9oB12QG8vj_BSbIDGhRzuZ-i7Xd6tey_rmavzrtj8jNpazqTE06aH8CVcVkHFSJ5GpRcJ6VA1cuLYrU0MmJs9nQQ_axWTodEepkFLM9sU/s320/IMG_1752.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We still have our Christmas Village to set up but the boxes are up and ready for set-up. Eventually we'll get to that. For now we're enjoying having the tree up. Henry even asked me to turn the lights on this afternoon for him.<br />
<br />
Last year Henry was too little to really know much about Santa. He would say "Ho Ho" when he saw Santa but beyond that, not much. This year we started mentioning him and now Henry can tell us a number of things about him. For example, Santa is going to come bring him toys and presents. (He even pointed out some things in a catalog that he thinks Santa will bring.) Also, Santa gets cookies and strawberries. (Not sure where the strawberries came from but we may be getting some to put out!) <br />
<br />
We have an elf that will be visiting our house soon to report back to Santa to make sure Henry is being a big boy before Christmas. (Judging from how I got Henry to eat his dinner the other night by having a toy tiger "tell me" that Henry should eat certain number of bites of different foods I think the elf may be helpful around here!) It should be a fun few weeks!Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-57588516695714562812012-11-28T05:19:00.001-08:002012-11-28T05:19:12.371-08:00Between snow (twice!), a week away for fun and Thanksgiving and just life in general we've had a busy few weeks with our little family! In all honesty, I've been kind of uninspired about the Alphabet Adventure lately and am hoping that actually being at home for a few weeks in a row will help get me on track.<br />
<br />
Anyways...for those of you following along, here are some highlights from the last three weeks of Alphabet Adventure:<br />
<br />
Letter H:<br />
<br />
Letter H Week was exciting for Henry as H is his favorite of all of the letters. He has been able to write an H for quite some time now and he loves to spot it everywhere. (He loves to say "H for Henry!")<br />
<br />
During H week we read some fun books, including one of my favorites "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hippos-Go-Berserk-Sandra-Boynton/dp/0689808186">Hippos Go Beserk</a>" by Sandra Boynton. (Her books are all hilarious.) <br />
<br />
I don't have any pictures but we made a "<a href="http://funfamilycrafts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mothers-day-handprint-card-400x608.jpg">Hug</a>" to send to Uncle Chewy, who is away at college. We got one of these "hugs" in the mail from a friend when Henry had his robot surgery and I thought it was such a cute idea. We traced Henry's Hands (another H word!) and cut them out. Then we "measured his hug" (his armspan) with a colorful ribbon. We attached the hand cutouts to the ends of the ribbon and we had a Henry-sized hug!<br />
<br />
This week Henry got to have some letter and number Spaghetti-Os. He got a kick out of looking at what he was about to eat. In this picture he was saying "What letter?!"<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhg2_RThnb26PWDGQ6YM0slfpwnhhFH1tX23GFGMlMeijt2uKd7PFdTrsQOBsSGm4y9eIY09T2CyQGZOXg1NIUz8Hn-Z3EF5rkXMsGId6fUxZFEAsyZXgH5VyJ1BiMg-MbS05_gIl_FI/s1600/IMG_1606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhg2_RThnb26PWDGQ6YM0slfpwnhhFH1tX23GFGMlMeijt2uKd7PFdTrsQOBsSGm4y9eIY09T2CyQGZOXg1NIUz8Hn-Z3EF5rkXMsGId6fUxZFEAsyZXgH5VyJ1BiMg-MbS05_gIl_FI/s320/IMG_1606.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
For his letter H craft, we made an H out of handprints. Henry really liked this because I let him make a mess after we got his nice handprints done.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqB73hxUhhUZkE1LRuPB3tTgOPdzAkwiUtIQ3XZoNV98DU9fQMtl34QsQs0PHQgH6dK_zaRqtaQQVf48jFMZ4kCHGBqLpyEi2fAWrlGW7_Z4jJZ_keSHzhp535c1jxev2HveU9H8CL9c/s1600/IMG_1609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqB73hxUhhUZkE1LRuPB3tTgOPdzAkwiUtIQ3XZoNV98DU9fQMtl34QsQs0PHQgH6dK_zaRqtaQQVf48jFMZ4kCHGBqLpyEi2fAWrlGW7_Z4jJZ_keSHzhp535c1jxev2HveU9H8CL9c/s320/IMG_1609.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaMuceaYQz_RfJrDHhqskJeU-6w21LHCKg-BMSrCLNbXN1peQGr_wLh-1TDv9muejAiMGrwLvKPv34rvekBP5euT14QpXNng9CyL2yEXHRuRdk6obxjjgUUoZ3hoA-HfvDqbCnRFMGHY/s1600/IMG_1610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaMuceaYQz_RfJrDHhqskJeU-6w21LHCKg-BMSrCLNbXN1peQGr_wLh-1TDv9muejAiMGrwLvKPv34rvekBP5euT14QpXNng9CyL2yEXHRuRdk6obxjjgUUoZ3hoA-HfvDqbCnRFMGHY/s320/IMG_1610.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
He ended up touching his face after painting his hand red. He looked a little like a Halloween haunted house extra.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36EFpfN4oZ9U89EH3fNbprWxpHIzzJ9wmva-kVA0f0HTq9eK0GdYHwkpTZfwKLARYfcK6Y9xEBouCACDQ4Qz1B-rCcyqriZNxugB0813kxEO4Od9TrONtNxOhn5RNEIbjpv5xMWw3MAw/s1600/IMG_1612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36EFpfN4oZ9U89EH3fNbprWxpHIzzJ9wmva-kVA0f0HTq9eK0GdYHwkpTZfwKLARYfcK6Y9xEBouCACDQ4Qz1B-rCcyqriZNxugB0813kxEO4Od9TrONtNxOhn5RNEIbjpv5xMWw3MAw/s320/IMG_1612.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Letter I:<br />
<br />
Poor Letter I week was pretty lame. We were busy getting ready to be away for a week and I just wasn't inspired (incidentally an I word!). We had plans to make ice cream at home (science class style with the salt and ice) but never got around to it. We did read some I books, including a Clifford book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Race-Clifford-Reader-Series/dp/0439690439">The Ice Race</a>. We made our Letter I craft while at my parents' house so I'm actually in a picture:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VJw9BFJVBSGQBp0BERgaR9NBQnx4LocfBqN5Eri7gf9iKnaF-r2L9l7UWkLQ05oSn3AwrzsCScCde4e7I8eW0O38UPV5wfdzA2CNl_pjXlgc1Mgz4CRSSn7HFEp-ZmJpiP4Zf8ClJBg/s1600/090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VJw9BFJVBSGQBp0BERgaR9NBQnx4LocfBqN5Eri7gf9iKnaF-r2L9l7UWkLQ05oSn3AwrzsCScCde4e7I8eW0O38UPV5wfdzA2CNl_pjXlgc1Mgz4CRSSn7HFEp-ZmJpiP4Zf8ClJBg/s320/090.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Letter J:<br />
<br />J week took place when we were at my parents' house for Thanksgiving so we didn't really do much (not that being home helped out H or I week!). Henry did get to help make a special Jell-O treat:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2Pa5UuFs9iLSpn8lbGa-s7RzB-md3S29gFkmeHs_fr991jzCf5V860yBHGLrwIrQAoJZ51CDEg0OE4cHMJcdWejLYki-49fwTxqERLxCxfVx6uYa0J8LCUeFFd6VHgz6h5wV3BwklRA/s1600/091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2Pa5UuFs9iLSpn8lbGa-s7RzB-md3S29gFkmeHs_fr991jzCf5V860yBHGLrwIrQAoJZ51CDEg0OE4cHMJcdWejLYki-49fwTxqERLxCxfVx6uYa0J8LCUeFFd6VHgz6h5wV3BwklRA/s320/091.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpx0cWtmeAfr-w-NM_vgdrxhpsJ4foW1lgXg4sw_5a-uEDTUbPzcREn6Jne-dq2JV-rC0VZ4endHpDhkkFw4bQXTozZHHVFrjOeTP3Qa5YPaoEi1aRvO9QWlTs9-ICHJmTikILM1jgRM/s320/092.JPG" width="320" /></div>
<br />
We also made a neat J Craft inspired by Henry and Grandad's special book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pout-Pout-Fish-Book-Set-Adventure/dp/1427221995">Pout Pout Fish</a>" that has a page where the title character meets a jellyfish. We made a Jellyfish J using construction paper for the body and yarn for tentacles. Henry enjoyed making it and the final product is pretty cute.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA6rt7xMVNyUdIKRAevFmHc4kCTf5owOBYn9XAmOIc2qpzPH1iQyIJHI_M76LuOqKDRf1GLrbK5DtgfoOm2G6aH8D-bqnImOQgwojuZ8gI-Y6fxhnBs-a6ZHoWdq79frlAensUSsOztk/s1600/IMG_1700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA6rt7xMVNyUdIKRAevFmHc4kCTf5owOBYn9XAmOIc2qpzPH1iQyIJHI_M76LuOqKDRf1GLrbK5DtgfoOm2G6aH8D-bqnImOQgwojuZ8gI-Y6fxhnBs-a6ZHoWdq79frlAensUSsOztk/s320/IMG_1700.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKv_moNiSmJva58hl4cVLn97EvL0Bcz71xN8zLpkauX1PXs3Qhm2G37juq0jOLuNmqC_MXGMzDqimz7PftMqLwhoJeHZFmm8tQtQdCvLIOY036ttfgxdhz0eEsVmcl-4xW8KxPydBmuk/s1600/IMG_1701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKv_moNiSmJva58hl4cVLn97EvL0Bcz71xN8zLpkauX1PXs3Qhm2G37juq0jOLuNmqC_MXGMzDqimz7PftMqLwhoJeHZFmm8tQtQdCvLIOY036ttfgxdhz0eEsVmcl-4xW8KxPydBmuk/s320/IMG_1701.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4piig7rN2TirdENrARrrVPShm5aHwXrxT-EPtfXVVafcN06UThCfzGZxFgYbTIGJhRWbS8s5uiJ_nidI4lx__JHOFKA669rBIX6yfsXuaEEOZz661HZFpwkuAUPwn3nzd4qftYd_dH6M/s1600/IMG_1702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4piig7rN2TirdENrARrrVPShm5aHwXrxT-EPtfXVVafcN06UThCfzGZxFgYbTIGJhRWbS8s5uiJ_nidI4lx__JHOFKA669rBIX6yfsXuaEEOZz661HZFpwkuAUPwn3nzd4qftYd_dH6M/s320/IMG_1702.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-22571783259168675502012-11-06T20:40:00.001-08:002012-11-07T12:13:25.358-08:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter GPoor Letter G week got interrupted by a hurricane and so it was pretty relaxed and, honestly, pretty lame. Silly storm kept us from visiting goats at the local farm, the big ghost cutouts at the local park and since we were back and forth between our house and Eddie's grandparents I didn't bother much with putting together G activities for him to explore throughout the week. We didn't even take any pictures of the things we DID do. (Or so I thought...)<br />
<br />
Thankfully with Halloween falling in this week we could take advantage of things like <a href="http://store.offbeattreats.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/candy-ghostpeeps.jpg">Ghost shaped Peeps</a> for a tasty treat. I had also gotten a set of little plastic bag ghosts from the Dollar Store that we made while hanging out with family. (Basically just white plastic bags you stuff with a newspaper ball and hang up with twist ties.) We made them and hung them around the room where we spent most of our time at Eddie's grandparents' house. <br />
<br />
We spent the last part of G week at my parents' house in NC. Turns out that my mom did snap some picture of Henry with Grandad that we can put here to show some G fun! They helped Henry use glue (another G word!) to put small pictures of Grandad's face around a letter G we printed out. It's a fun addition to our craft alphabet. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsQwmYxJX4F1cpIJzmhKQT3mWCap1AzOPhqhZmyPkQs5yAxDzYmHmxquPAi1OEFkOqrDmfw2Qe7WvpJwv2b4y4A0PibiOjZdQdoO-qAO4qNTKfQyVnRRZUm6YGvg0Z-SIgWpjLzo6Xzk/s1600/121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsQwmYxJX4F1cpIJzmhKQT3mWCap1AzOPhqhZmyPkQs5yAxDzYmHmxquPAi1OEFkOqrDmfw2Qe7WvpJwv2b4y4A0PibiOjZdQdoO-qAO4qNTKfQyVnRRZUm6YGvg0Z-SIgWpjLzo6Xzk/s320/121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Henry and Grandad played the piano together:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHbNig6gMPa-CwOnKeFniMVhme3BZOrRKkwx-D7nq_76BK7jpUTX401aTnnp2JgXNfskS6YfkFVz24akE0EofM1BmWqUVqJzhRPPvz5Q3WOQga-FFLmnJou2p-BUdbAcBQRypNj7Vc74/s1600/114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHbNig6gMPa-CwOnKeFniMVhme3BZOrRKkwx-D7nq_76BK7jpUTX401aTnnp2JgXNfskS6YfkFVz24akE0EofM1BmWqUVqJzhRPPvz5Q3WOQga-FFLmnJou2p-BUdbAcBQRypNj7Vc74/s320/114.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And of course they spent time cuddling and reading Pout-Pout Fish, their favorite.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHTZjwqeqStDwoAk9PaO7UqnSVFPwRYUFyKJPKsfygsorVse5vk6VGOBCtqyxJcT3HpJ-ak41pstos94E8MPB29rBJIayJ1jnbi-W1qdtZyEpwMXOED2qofYTLUdxpfHQU2vx0VXHVMM/s1600/116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHTZjwqeqStDwoAk9PaO7UqnSVFPwRYUFyKJPKsfygsorVse5vk6VGOBCtqyxJcT3HpJ-ak41pstos94E8MPB29rBJIayJ1jnbi-W1qdtZyEpwMXOED2qofYTLUdxpfHQU2vx0VXHVMM/s320/116.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Thanks, Mom, for the pictures! Here's to hoping H week is a little more constructive and well-documented!Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-9642385236670353592012-11-06T20:12:00.003-08:002012-11-07T12:14:30.101-08:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter FThe Alphabet Adventure continues though I'm a little behind on the blogging of it.<br />
<br />
Letter F week brought some fun activities though I missed out on taking pictures of some of them. His everyday activities (the ones I leave out for him to play with on his own at his leisure throughout the week) included:<br />
-We played with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/FLAT-FISH-PHONICS-SET-K-3/dp/B0017S0BUI">Phonics Fish</a> that we had found at the local high school's yard sale for a dollar! He is obviously too little to really understand any of it but I liked that they were fish and he could pick out the letters on them.<br />
-Fishing with a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Magnetic-Fishing-Game/dp/B00000JBL7/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1352260106&sr=1-6&keywords=melissa+and+doug+fishing">magnetic fish puzzle</a>. (This was a freebie we picked up from someone in a neighborhood getting rid of stuff a long time ago.)<br />
-He has a little playset called "Forest Friends" that includes a plastic mat with a forest scene and a bunch of plastic animals. He wasn't interested in the mat but did like putting the animals in the ladder basket on his play firetruck.<br />
<br />
Also without a picture is our lunch date to Burger King for French Fries and then visiting the fish at the local pet store. (Though he was more impressed with the cage of mice since they were flying around the wheel.)<br />
<br />
Now onto things we did that I have photos of:<br />
<br />
Henry had his first experience with stamps and ink pads. He did remarkably well with them (read: he did not make a HUGE mess). I had picked up an F stamp and a flower pattern stamp at Michael's a long time ago in the clearance bin!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKn2DCW_MYIv-i-sPm4KLhyzuEbTKtwDr7iPH_vAHHsGSWXl1YFsuMGNTBeBhNYgRRO7L9WFmbsvtA7cf9mHeiTF53xFeznmMMR5nF_I2D3iKJgtK51AoSyfIGAOALpGc6G6wrn5Eq5As/s1600/IMG_1560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKn2DCW_MYIv-i-sPm4KLhyzuEbTKtwDr7iPH_vAHHsGSWXl1YFsuMGNTBeBhNYgRRO7L9WFmbsvtA7cf9mHeiTF53xFeznmMMR5nF_I2D3iKJgtK51AoSyfIGAOALpGc6G6wrn5Eq5As/s320/IMG_1560.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
I introduced Henry to Eric Carle's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQjhsslpAH0">The Very Lonely Firefly via YouTube video</a>. (We read a lot of books so I don't feel bad throwing in videos. YouTube is awesome!) We watched it a few times during the beginning of the week and then later in the week we made a glowing firefly craft. (And by "we" I mean, I made a glowing <a href="http://www.crafts-for-all-seasons.com/images/163.pop-bottle-craft-09.jpg">firefly craft</a> and Henry played with it.) Once again, glow sticks come in handy! Henry really liked this little firefly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsPvPWfmO6jJx8YdOc9ZmMwq2a05ojFNzxARDp0Ec0B22Gd2fFfBzHIV5GziRnMqYsYZuT2ctKRS2I3bCIDyRaUwkF7fU-a0boq4Dl7PupgdfT7rFkiLl0w0dDH4nTUN_sCs3J3IdNMo/s1600/IMG_1569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsPvPWfmO6jJx8YdOc9ZmMwq2a05ojFNzxARDp0Ec0B22Gd2fFfBzHIV5GziRnMqYsYZuT2ctKRS2I3bCIDyRaUwkF7fU-a0boq4Dl7PupgdfT7rFkiLl0w0dDH4nTUN_sCs3J3IdNMo/s320/IMG_1569.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0rd7o920GU7e2QL0VqMOHHz_483Xf0PJsuhjpqGakD7xKHWcNmqXM29l9H5HxDxNY9k5T3iX4YyrpzrLcT4Rj35mgCZ_psGqKdd_wqqeO0Q6qxugJz7-P31EUJNZ-HO6XyFfyjtsWeA/s1600/IMG_1574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0rd7o920GU7e2QL0VqMOHHz_483Xf0PJsuhjpqGakD7xKHWcNmqXM29l9H5HxDxNY9k5T3iX4YyrpzrLcT4Rj35mgCZ_psGqKdd_wqqeO0Q6qxugJz7-P31EUJNZ-HO6XyFfyjtsWeA/s320/IMG_1574.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Another fun part of F week was the colored ice fish I made. (Thanks to <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60138113/">IKEA</a> for this easy activity.) I filled the tray with water, put in a small drop of food coloring in each and stuck it in the freezer. I pulled them out on a bath night. Henry really enjoyed playing with the ice fish in the container at first and then experimented with them in the bath water. We had bubbles in the tub so the food coloring from the melting fish left little colorful trails. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfak8RxAlVMpXuoGzVIXMLnj-wkVbmoSmRiK772ORknDgU3SnWmNfAa5jQiubqDsutme2JNhypltu16eiImtuAvSq5MMb2AzlFcVFKYA8PMsR-sZ0Q5OXCE6kQFBALHHSTOVpHD0JFYI/s1600/IMG_1576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfak8RxAlVMpXuoGzVIXMLnj-wkVbmoSmRiK772ORknDgU3SnWmNfAa5jQiubqDsutme2JNhypltu16eiImtuAvSq5MMb2AzlFcVFKYA8PMsR-sZ0Q5OXCE6kQFBALHHSTOVpHD0JFYI/s320/IMG_1576.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SUpBiFOTIKRf8Sw4jWYuiYWRYTZOneT5FObZrO-IGRB821g3LU9qfq90hwUCRqxalD8XyNuTyDfFmpNkG1RcuYLB9Z3kEazFsUEycyuI0zV51i9e0rPRypnx6h3Y1DY6CTcCv_wTO8w/s1600/IMG_1577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SUpBiFOTIKRf8Sw4jWYuiYWRYTZOneT5FObZrO-IGRB821g3LU9qfq90hwUCRqxalD8XyNuTyDfFmpNkG1RcuYLB9Z3kEazFsUEycyuI0zV51i9e0rPRypnx6h3Y1DY6CTcCv_wTO8w/s320/IMG_1577.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiaKIxghEzu7i2ixjcsJQMJX9kwsT1UwZpnLPZHwlf9F0WIokBYw6DG3Vq_kQSPjjZb2KlMrnqbQlNt3X7q2g1Um_69fXVvVpxi_AIOPLwwyjte2dNeRieyHOJoGuPSJ3Y-3W2JNB8n0/s1600/IMG_1579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiaKIxghEzu7i2ixjcsJQMJX9kwsT1UwZpnLPZHwlf9F0WIokBYw6DG3Vq_kQSPjjZb2KlMrnqbQlNt3X7q2g1Um_69fXVvVpxi_AIOPLwwyjte2dNeRieyHOJoGuPSJ3Y-3W2JNB8n0/s320/IMG_1579.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Hurray for F week!Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-42580142541277593872012-10-31T15:01:00.003-07:002012-10-31T15:01:34.291-07:00Hurricane SandyHaving lived in the Hampton Roads area and my (Beth's) parents living in NC for the last number of years we are no strangers to hurricane warnings, gusty winds and flooding. When we moved to New Jersey we thought we traded in our hurricanes for blizzards. Apparently we were wrong!<br />
<br />
The forecasts started looking pretty menacing at the end of last week with landfall predicted for somewhere in our fair state of New Jersey, storm surges of historic proportions, wind gusts and rainfall on top of it all. Last year we had the experienced one of the joys of home-ownership....a flooded basement following the rainfall from Hurricane Irene. So this year we were more prepared. We had gotten a big wet-vac for Christmas (thanks Karen and Mike!) so we pulled that out of the garage and set it up, ran the hose from the basement window to the street for easy drainage, pulled everything off the lowest shelves, etc. We located our box of candles (apparently we could open our own small Yankee Candle-esque shop!), checked batteries in flashlights, bought some canned food and wine and hunkered down, ready for the storm.<br />
<br />
Sunday night into Monday weren't bad at all. We spent Monday cleaning the house, organizing things that had been neglected, vacuuming and all that fun stuff; basically taking advantage of Eddie being off of work. (This was the kind of work we usually have to do at night after Henry goes to bed, which neither of us ever feel like doing!) As the day progressed the winds started to pick up and the rain started falling (but not much). We kept the TV on all day and were amazed to see the flooding along the shore and coast even well before high tide. It was clear that it wasn't going to be a good night for many people.<br />
<br />
By nightfall the wind was getting pretty strong and we were thankful that it did not rain much. Karen and Mike joined us for the evening (since the in-laws had lost power) and they reported lots of downed trees already. We put Henry to bed, broke out the moscato and hunkered down to watch the TV reports. (Sidenote: There was some hilarity when I discovered the twitter profile of "<a href="https://twitter.com/ElBloombito">El Bloombito</a>", which is a fake twitter account of NYC Mayor Bloomberg who always speaks Spanish at the end of his press conferences. The fake account is a spanglish version of a mixture of real things he might say along with some humor. It has made me laugh many times over the last few days.) We went to bed around 11pm and as I climbed into bed the power went out. <br />
<br />
The wind howled and I had a hard time falling asleep with visions of flying debris and eventual flooding of our basement in my head. Thankfully when we got up in the morning we found only a few small branches and twigs down in our yard and a dry basement. We were still without power but we felt pretty lucky considering what we had prepared ourselves for.<br />
<br />
We packed up some things and came over to Eddie's grandparents' house since they kept power. We've enjoyed just hanging around with family, playing with Henry and found out this late this afternoon that our power has returned to our house.<br />
<br />
Seeing the reports from around the states really make us feel very lucky that we are all well, our house is safe and we had a warm place to stay. <br />
<br />
Thank you to all of you that called, Facebooked, etc. your concern for us!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-33980593561518870832012-10-24T20:45:00.004-07:002012-10-24T20:45:57.937-07:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter EI'm not sure if it was the letter itself or just our moods/schedule last week but Letter E week was not very exciting. I had grand plans to do superfun activities with plastic Easter Eggs (like<a href="http://playinghouseinmaryland.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-fun-learning-games-using-plastic.html#comments"> these</a>), make a <a href="http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/category/elephants">cute elephant craft</a>, etc. but Henry was more interested in playing with his trains (he's OBSESSED right now) and I wasn't feeling creative so we had a simple week.<br />
<br />
The Letter E craft for the week was an easy one. I used <a href="http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/03/letter-of-the-week-e.html">this</a> as my inspiration but just had him color in <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2tVyxCo-ngT1nzy3rHXEjbIadI4wt310hvPtUQW5qUEopYrI-m6Fzq3BHVXuIEBhXGyioER5zlN59TCQLGG1cFqlfc-iddE0QbD1kFjxlrT6Fvj5cw3X3w3OmHFFcRetLRKkEsV41F9V/s1600-h/coloring-8-easter-eggs.jpg">these eggs</a>, I cut them out and Henry glued them on a big letter E that I had cut out ahead of time.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZrirtTEINcWD0j1zntexARHbbWGTh3HszywRzOwtadq-e2G5mEG15rvyd2k5Lpe5sz8B9B3M2lGljq0LiX2SQJ_0XxmgUrL_LBm67r0AoErP4XfwHPJ-_3Hs2yHrooXHliM-VHbq3wI/s1600/IMG_1539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZrirtTEINcWD0j1zntexARHbbWGTh3HszywRzOwtadq-e2G5mEG15rvyd2k5Lpe5sz8B9B3M2lGljq0LiX2SQJ_0XxmgUrL_LBm67r0AoErP4XfwHPJ-_3Hs2yHrooXHliM-VHbq3wI/s320/IMG_1539.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteuo3LK-qFGacWtBRLZTJMQhVbk3TKadoL7qKLeyEmT_be-U5bFrY0ZN220U7j8qOqtNWcy-Mi6fnCxIo82dh1trB-sV8oWa-6rKcbqPmg12EVlV0E_Q2rVja-k325pBAsC64XIB0pA4/s1600/IMG_1542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteuo3LK-qFGacWtBRLZTJMQhVbk3TKadoL7qKLeyEmT_be-U5bFrY0ZN220U7j8qOqtNWcy-Mi6fnCxIo82dh1trB-sV8oWa-6rKcbqPmg12EVlV0E_Q2rVja-k325pBAsC64XIB0pA4/s320/IMG_1542.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
We had "breakfast for dinner" one night and experimented with <a href="http://eggs.ab.ca/kids-stuff/egg-cellent-recipes/picture-frame">Picture Frame Eggs</a>. I could only find our music note cookie cutter so that's what we used. Henry enjoyed the process but didn't care too much for the final product. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6oHe_7oH1zYeNPiCsya_kqSRuqjtYW65EM61AAzYFgftG2szsMEHQ4ZT65swrINnYRylUCBCbdMUDax4LrKtuoa59P1_fD9LzzU_ZRvjyRJSxzkX4RsAkfZXz8PB1WJYjAf9mSlikwmc/s1600/IMG_1545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6oHe_7oH1zYeNPiCsya_kqSRuqjtYW65EM61AAzYFgftG2szsMEHQ4ZT65swrINnYRylUCBCbdMUDax4LrKtuoa59P1_fD9LzzU_ZRvjyRJSxzkX4RsAkfZXz8PB1WJYjAf9mSlikwmc/s320/IMG_1545.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pmgAdxBV1ochjx6O5Nw7S0Y8d5eiuJuq9dQ5oKga7dtAZqz2zpDpMMjC9lHZXpqu7suHW4dWkCCYjO4tbgU-jKQxxF-THMcLdjniv97RYL88KQ8ucr6bAFvPzC8MQOk8tj8tyq6VC2k/s1600/IMG_1546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pmgAdxBV1ochjx6O5Nw7S0Y8d5eiuJuq9dQ5oKga7dtAZqz2zpDpMMjC9lHZXpqu7suHW4dWkCCYjO4tbgU-jKQxxF-THMcLdjniv97RYL88KQ8ucr6bAFvPzC8MQOk8tj8tyq6VC2k/s320/IMG_1546.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZyFO3qwk6EjBvtqFOGQ89XClU_xnMzacGa5uZJcJzpjz11W6AQ9b-Bx-0mp4OvD-VzR757waHT0PQ0wzk8A2_VmQWjoxcSFjAb4cPtpL6vAM7Nnld-6VgwN_rbevhjIHCNMrU-XP0aw/s1600/IMG_1547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZyFO3qwk6EjBvtqFOGQ89XClU_xnMzacGa5uZJcJzpjz11W6AQ9b-Bx-0mp4OvD-VzR757waHT0PQ0wzk8A2_VmQWjoxcSFjAb4cPtpL6vAM7Nnld-6VgwN_rbevhjIHCNMrU-XP0aw/s320/IMG_1547.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Another E activity we did was playing with envelopes in our little mailbox. I wrote the uppercase letters that we've done so far with different colored markers on some small envelopes. I used the same markers to write their lowercase counterparts on a few sheets of paper and put them in their matching letter envelopes. I wasn't expecting Henry to actually sort and do much with these but wanted to have some lowercase letters hanging around since the majority of what toys, videos, etc. have is all uppercase. He enjoyed playing with the papers and putting them in and out of the mailbox. (This is an activity we will bring back at some point when he's older.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ODAPS-f9H_jq6i9Dk8HxvNyzRBOdQ_zTTGvB-2ETxUBEi6xYQOfHbWOnQt-jcSDxE_4KcT_RLp5_BNOa_707jyFDXHxJ3Rjeki9pHPAk1fuuys9pGm_Z_ufKYLiEyeA1dwow9JboZcU/s1600/IMG_1544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ODAPS-f9H_jq6i9Dk8HxvNyzRBOdQ_zTTGvB-2ETxUBEi6xYQOfHbWOnQt-jcSDxE_4KcT_RLp5_BNOa_707jyFDXHxJ3Rjeki9pHPAk1fuuys9pGm_Z_ufKYLiEyeA1dwow9JboZcU/s320/IMG_1544.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Other random notes from E week:<br />
-We rode on an escalator and in an elevator at IKEA on Tuesday. I note the day of the week because they have free kids meals on Tuesdays. So we had some E fun (Henry loves escalators) and free lunch.<br />
-I printed out the E sheet from the <a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotTimeNotebook.html">Tot Time Notebook</a> ABC Tracing and Coloring Sheet. I've been doing this each week and Henry likes the pages. We're not pushing learning how to write the letters right now but he does like to try to trace the shapes and color in the pictures.<br />
-The libraries in our area all have the alphabet book by <a href="http://www.janebelkmoncure.com/fsrsbbhome.htm">Jane Moncure</a>. Each letter book tells a story about a character that puts things that start with that letter in a "sound box". Henry LOVES these books and they are an easy way to illustrate letter sounds with familiar objects. <br />
<br />
That's about all for E week!Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-23003775055310933852012-10-16T14:10:00.001-07:002012-10-16T14:23:40.470-07:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter D!Another week is done...crazy. I can't believe that we're halfway through October, the leaves are falling off the trees and Christmas decorations are out at some stores. Where does the time go?!<br />
<br />
We had another good week at Henry's Alphabet Adventure. This week we talked a lot about Ducks, Dinosaurs and Dirt.<br />
<br />
Our Letter D craft this week turned out to be probably my favorites thusfar in our adventure. We turned a <a href="http://www.tipjunkie.com/paper-crafts/papercraft/letter-d-duck-preschool-craft/">letter D into a Duck</a>. This one turned out to be done mostly by me so that we didn't end up with a Picasso Duck, which I guess wouldn't have been the end of the world but I wanted to make sure Henry associated Duck with D.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2OkMP9hOIMl1PRLJUAwHcENbE3A0s9TFu9YTs3wWm7IXr3pDGNuT6ihFkEyZBbsErdBY3YrXCUt-9XgkV_X4VtF8hHVjkAm__b5u36Lo-y6t169G9HyvXQmKlS5G56tlZ5Znp2nc4vc/s1600/IMG_1505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2OkMP9hOIMl1PRLJUAwHcENbE3A0s9TFu9YTs3wWm7IXr3pDGNuT6ihFkEyZBbsErdBY3YrXCUt-9XgkV_X4VtF8hHVjkAm__b5u36Lo-y6t169G9HyvXQmKlS5G56tlZ5Znp2nc4vc/s320/IMG_1505.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<em>(I noticed when posting this online before that he is drawing with his left hand. He usually draws/writes with his right hand but does other things lefty like batting and golfing. I have a picture from later in the week where he's using his right hand with a marker. Funny.)</em><br />
<em></em><br />
D week was quite Delicious! Henry and I made <a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1613,151183-255201,00.html">Dirt Dessert,</a> which is such a fun thing to make and to eat. Henry was in charge of smashing the cookies to make the "dirt". He really enjoyed this part of the activity.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLm6y70HPhooaTArfNJrDYWx6YsRWulYeHbPyYzrsNnowa5sKjx6-bGvgw4Ee5-p48KxMEsBSPTa3rE3AlIaq33hVfSSDoeSjYSdvKbvigo4RwobMdBf8Itl97UAjAWhiJlid-po92aI/s1600/IMG_1524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLm6y70HPhooaTArfNJrDYWx6YsRWulYeHbPyYzrsNnowa5sKjx6-bGvgw4Ee5-p48KxMEsBSPTa3rE3AlIaq33hVfSSDoeSjYSdvKbvigo4RwobMdBf8Itl97UAjAWhiJlid-po92aI/s320/IMG_1524.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
He also really enjoyed being on Worm Duty. He didn't last long on this duty because he realized the gummy worms were delicious and started eating them instead of putting them into the dirt. (Smart boy!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgxd9nL0Cc5mNUr-e1_rKQW8GXkT5LXEysfxMGeJfEHgVh9WHNy62FUSOA02iB77gn_RLsmAO-Dba99cPCFE_XnK8y6_rj-n-8bfo4PhBxDeAWsxYoi6X1aTnb5NeASnKyFpvO_QVVwA/s1600/IMG_1527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgxd9nL0Cc5mNUr-e1_rKQW8GXkT5LXEysfxMGeJfEHgVh9WHNy62FUSOA02iB77gn_RLsmAO-Dba99cPCFE_XnK8y6_rj-n-8bfo4PhBxDeAWsxYoi6X1aTnb5NeASnKyFpvO_QVVwA/s320/IMG_1527.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
We got to share the Dirt with Eddie's family that night. They all enjoyed it but Henry didn't care about the dessert except for the worms, which he insisted be cleaned off before he ate them. (Strange boy!)<br />
<br />
One night during the week Eddie and I took Henry to the local firestation because they were holding an Open House for Fire Prevention Week. We all had a really good time. Henry LOVED it all, especially getting to ride around the block in a fire truck! (I know Fire Truck has nothing to do with D week but he was so cute I had to share!)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWqt6Zp3s2mGCb68IMrNq7m3cvzrLHcqdSmxMOz06gZP3ozpDAc0augN9f0rpahNfeLllWsEFvx1tXfzFfQt7TwMhZbVp60gCsa2rTca6AZNSrNzTdcMuwfA7ra4SHjjIJk7cqPscARE/s1600/IMG_1515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWqt6Zp3s2mGCb68IMrNq7m3cvzrLHcqdSmxMOz06gZP3ozpDAc0augN9f0rpahNfeLllWsEFvx1tXfzFfQt7TwMhZbVp60gCsa2rTca6AZNSrNzTdcMuwfA7ra4SHjjIJk7cqPscARE/s320/IMG_1515.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
After the adventure at the fire station we went to Dunkin Donuts so that Eddie could partake in some D Week fun too.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LQb2eAEK6JIgaE56xQnI-zOpY1dw24jdVjUPlYVDbcogy528QyyawGMZ-7JTjrpV35HYPtyF1lZ3j-ysT4mtKuEW5N8EQcOUqKb0h2sSJGIoN52zeqAfU8vobz6jaKUvNcvFTUSBC2E/s1600/Donut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LQb2eAEK6JIgaE56xQnI-zOpY1dw24jdVjUPlYVDbcogy528QyyawGMZ-7JTjrpV35HYPtyF1lZ3j-ysT4mtKuEW5N8EQcOUqKb0h2sSJGIoN52zeqAfU8vobz6jaKUvNcvFTUSBC2E/s320/Donut.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
<br />
We also took a trip to the Dollar Store and found a fun pack of little dinosaurs that we brought home. We had some fun making dino footprints in Play-doh.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxS_FD8AGV3gNpleKrPE44t_DaT_eF5mQ5f7-6NGPDnMeMLkOh-waEKjBxeVAQduZaZaeJeF_EygmuIJkebHNqT1GgTwljD9eS6exU3ux3ycWAK49xPcvD4wS9BEVAYu3hfDssddaUpY/s1600/IMG_1531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinxS_FD8AGV3gNpleKrPE44t_DaT_eF5mQ5f7-6NGPDnMeMLkOh-waEKjBxeVAQduZaZaeJeF_EygmuIJkebHNqT1GgTwljD9eS6exU3ux3ycWAK49xPcvD4wS9BEVAYu3hfDssddaUpY/s320/IMG_1531.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Henry has loved using bingo markers/dabbers for quite some time now so I was excited to find out that there are a lot of free printables on the internet that have the kiddos use their bingo markers to follow patters, make letters/shapes, etc. (They are frequently called "Do A Dot" in case you are googling for them.) I found a<a href="http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2010/10/do-dot-alphabet-printables-m/"> neat set on another mommyblog</a> that goes with the alphabet that we haven't used much yet but I tried them out with Henry this week. He had fun and after going nuts on the first one he was more thoughtful/careful with putting the marker down only on the dots. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuGznOjgR07LrG3EiAEics4ooZXB7jz-3LYn6qTzIbMrK_PPrE8QDZTB9ywEp2SjSy_Cxjhp3GUtNx9o9_ezpqOeQDjBtsFh8KfqtxhAQS6fvxtkgnahJxoYOjt4A7zS61q3gboEDYZw/s1600/IMG_1537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuGznOjgR07LrG3EiAEics4ooZXB7jz-3LYn6qTzIbMrK_PPrE8QDZTB9ywEp2SjSy_Cxjhp3GUtNx9o9_ezpqOeQDjBtsFh8KfqtxhAQS6fvxtkgnahJxoYOjt4A7zS61q3gboEDYZw/s320/IMG_1537.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
One thing that I loved about us working at a college (and now just Eddie working at one) is being able to be involved on campus in fun ways. I remember working at CNU pre-Henry and loving seeing our colleagues bringing their families to various campus events. The kids always thought it was really cool and the students (I think anyway) liked having little kids around. I am enjoying being able to bring Henry to Eddie's office for lunches now and again and also taking him to events on campus. One of the highlights of this week was getting to have some fun at Octoberfest at Ramapo College (where Eddie works). The event was for students and their families so there was a plethora of fun things to do like inflatable obstacle courses, balloons, carnival games, etc. Henry was in heaven! <br />
<br />
One of his favorite things actually fit in with D week! It was a giant inflatable dragon that you could walk through!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYiejhVas2SP8wDPqBeURsoRspH-C6T8p4j_gAg3hY-oUTeHG0ke-Vs_idBv0244pzW3VlgK7wTg4ELpQJuWpXyjwhgRHaG4TABX_MuLTv9O6g9RiYxZgK_6ha_LT29eb0q1szPGQ1p0/s1600/Dragon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYiejhVas2SP8wDPqBeURsoRspH-C6T8p4j_gAg3hY-oUTeHG0ke-Vs_idBv0244pzW3VlgK7wTg4ELpQJuWpXyjwhgRHaG4TABX_MuLTv9O6g9RiYxZgK_6ha_LT29eb0q1szPGQ1p0/s320/Dragon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1LJzUmhTQzell1uaet17hRWm7loDKpp7ywWZNnIaQ6Yo5ViWws5hyphenhyphenojqkbtravtHiLjiupPaZKudmCsQkyvwpbiBu8GyoHGOz49yTGNwqVQlIkx2u-xQl9GmliuTR6lPPYh7orBcuRc/s1600/Dragon+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1LJzUmhTQzell1uaet17hRWm7loDKpp7ywWZNnIaQ6Yo5ViWws5hyphenhyphenojqkbtravtHiLjiupPaZKudmCsQkyvwpbiBu8GyoHGOz49yTGNwqVQlIkx2u-xQl9GmliuTR6lPPYh7orBcuRc/s320/Dragon+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_30ckjHtrH2biJIXN7LEuO7d2CaoQfi0fEQbIFgkvEuN7MVjm1Royuh-KgRgjdWI26yWCDQBD-4Om2_L_YdCEzUVEoFJvdjR6oW3Sa4Q_y3GMxZ5arXdJ0MgsaD6BQXOk3XLUT2sj28/s1600/Dragon+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_30ckjHtrH2biJIXN7LEuO7d2CaoQfi0fEQbIFgkvEuN7MVjm1Royuh-KgRgjdWI26yWCDQBD-4Om2_L_YdCEzUVEoFJvdjR6oW3Sa4Q_y3GMxZ5arXdJ0MgsaD6BQXOk3XLUT2sj28/s320/Dragon+3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>(Thanks to Kat for being our official photographer!)</em></div>
<br />
We had quite a few D books in our collection at home (Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs by Sandra Boynton is a Henry-favorite) but I also got a few at the library. Turns out that there were two superpicks out of what we brought home! (We've even had to read them into E week!)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dimity-Duck-Jane-Yolen/dp/0007802765/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350421366&sr=1-1&keywords=dimity+duck">Dimity Duck by Jane Yolen</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goes-Potty-Hello-Genius/dp/1406226696/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350421408&sr=1-1&keywords=duck+goes+potty">Duck Goes Potty by Michael Dahl</a> were both hits. We read them dozens of times and they made Henry giggle, which made me giggle so everyone wins! <br />
<br />Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-23642805067409124192012-10-09T13:12:00.003-07:002012-10-09T13:12:51.366-07:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter CLetter C Week started out with a spur-of-the-moment trip to a local Craft fair. We didn't purchase any crafts or really talk about what a craft was so this doesn't really count. The only thing Henry got super-excited about was getting to climb in and on a firetruck (NOT a C word!). But he sure looked cute (c word!) doing it! (Thanks to M for taking this picture on her phone.)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyN-SlLGOlBhsFdpxfI7RSe0tgWe5Xm2SmCCJ-Ncg4nmAnlcdSHmmAsfS5zf0djWLCoJv6cKHzX-_j8f2qIxEVN2Mco6gzgKWbt3OV036URpSI3N_Gl4Sq9RRuHG4WOAc2Osl9WuXoU0U/s1600/Henry+on+a+firetruck.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyN-SlLGOlBhsFdpxfI7RSe0tgWe5Xm2SmCCJ-Ncg4nmAnlcdSHmmAsfS5zf0djWLCoJv6cKHzX-_j8f2qIxEVN2Mco6gzgKWbt3OV036URpSI3N_Gl4Sq9RRuHG4WOAc2Osl9WuXoU0U/s320/Henry+on+a+firetruck.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
Our Letter C craft this week was a <a href="http://be-it-ever-so-humble.blogspot.com/2009/09/letter-c.html">Caterpillar shaped like a C</a>. I printed the circles on cardstock and then let Henry paint them. This week we experimented with sponge painting. Henry didn't really want to stamp the sponges but liked smearing the paint around with the sponges. After the paint dried I cut the circles out and then we worked together to glue them to a C that I had cut out. He kept calling it his "hungry petapillar" so we made sure to watch an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdQvON7XIoQ">animated version</a> of the story online and read the book after we finished the project.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvIRTG1GYg67wIRbMZNBzdQp4-L9qCNo8sq_eXrnNzwF6Hs4y6Q3fzkmsMm0UFSO7V88c2tz-do7KDgbLp_jYrK9HXbWJLFZl5qQUT35BGV1UbAOEs8HxnZ1ng57f4ak4rukGs7b2_uU/s1600/IMG_1400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvIRTG1GYg67wIRbMZNBzdQp4-L9qCNo8sq_eXrnNzwF6Hs4y6Q3fzkmsMm0UFSO7V88c2tz-do7KDgbLp_jYrK9HXbWJLFZl5qQUT35BGV1UbAOEs8HxnZ1ng57f4ak4rukGs7b2_uU/s200/IMG_1400.JPG" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSX7NTgaauJdBIveO4s3Glk4FGJjHUGK8qW5w9afRvUk7Tzyce3fDoNS_1DpRnGy9Z3fXmN0VGGllNbheKkz_XibstqAxbJqHQOrNCF4nm1uagkOGMNlX0LZVNXanumtVxxG97Ch6PZMc/s1600/IMG_1396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSX7NTgaauJdBIveO4s3Glk4FGJjHUGK8qW5w9afRvUk7Tzyce3fDoNS_1DpRnGy9Z3fXmN0VGGllNbheKkz_XibstqAxbJqHQOrNCF4nm1uagkOGMNlX0LZVNXanumtVxxG97Ch6PZMc/s200/IMG_1396.JPG" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhP1lZ3pKD6fpuDAl2JOerbKo5Z29WJ98L8uklgEVq0VShmvW10EKkHU5kKQAzRwY7GSYpWpgn73S7jXUvXRePLl80QpfgLTaLtRSO6q5Aw1ct7ZLJHNx012Xc52shIDa4pbWMF9Q5-fk/s1600/IMG_1405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhP1lZ3pKD6fpuDAl2JOerbKo5Z29WJ98L8uklgEVq0VShmvW10EKkHU5kKQAzRwY7GSYpWpgn73S7jXUvXRePLl80QpfgLTaLtRSO6q5Aw1ct7ZLJHNx012Xc52shIDa4pbWMF9Q5-fk/s200/IMG_1405.JPG" width="133" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm trying to do more cooking with Henry so this week we made cookies and also carrot bread. Henry didn't really do much assisting with the carrot bread as he was too busy chomping a giant carrot and Skyping with my parents while I did the rest of the cooking. (I had never made carrot bread before but it is pretty tasty. It was a good way to use up some carrots that were just sitting in the fridge.)<br />
<br />
Here is Chef Henry on cookie day, wearing the apron and chef's hat that our friend Meredith made for him for his birthday:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKdFjON8v_zYYqB-PgOFGw5NoNGDFCbthpsTIDHz4n0mv6IAc8Tev2gchm-x0_jSWVwar7AKMw4CEvHsd3TIo8i4ZHq0QyMvVVGW8IzxvmT4Y8OQhjkyW6hBGia898NeIVAP22aW8wxw/s1600/IMG_1406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKdFjON8v_zYYqB-PgOFGw5NoNGDFCbthpsTIDHz4n0mv6IAc8Tev2gchm-x0_jSWVwar7AKMw4CEvHsd3TIo8i4ZHq0QyMvVVGW8IzxvmT4Y8OQhjkyW6hBGia898NeIVAP22aW8wxw/s320/IMG_1406.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
We finished up C week with a big road trip south to Clemson! Eddie and I had not been to campus since 2009 so we were excited (especially Eddie) to share it with Henry. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with a former student that we worked with at CNU who is now going to grad school there. She was a perfect hostess and even helped us celebrate C week by having cookies for Henry to decorate!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zoj1s56n_aAhu2bn1F6WVkWqmtTTqzq3wZYH6QbATS1V59eP-KCL9FvJbSQbYRy6eUulsA_dgsTkSTlqhyphenhyphenPZ3Ur7qETxvFPClr4HdxygcIm7LUozlAQ4i-hWKt3mDAF5Dk0UA-he89U/s1600/IMG_1411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zoj1s56n_aAhu2bn1F6WVkWqmtTTqzq3wZYH6QbATS1V59eP-KCL9FvJbSQbYRy6eUulsA_dgsTkSTlqhyphenhyphenPZ3Ur7qETxvFPClr4HdxygcIm7LUozlAQ4i-hWKt3mDAF5Dk0UA-he89U/s320/IMG_1411.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
We all went to the big football game on Saturday. We headed to campus early to enjoy some tailgating and to watch the marching band's pre-game performance. Henry was a trooper all day, especially considering he had to skip his nap because of game time. His favorite parts of the game were the balloons they let go at the start of the game, the fireworks after each score and getting to spell C-L-E-M-S-O-N over and over again during Tiger Rag.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VEKkfiMTILWSccAsz_VkkzCYzYOHVIw8yrvmV7U4KGWZu-EAoPQW_hcqNxSjvOwVcggy5AfDFKap9LSeL8OTHKAomlzOo4IFbDBMm5Z2KTiyB8oWOKkhCclL6PRjmaeoUcmmPyg9Z38/s1600/IMG_1446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VEKkfiMTILWSccAsz_VkkzCYzYOHVIw8yrvmV7U4KGWZu-EAoPQW_hcqNxSjvOwVcggy5AfDFKap9LSeL8OTHKAomlzOo4IFbDBMm5Z2KTiyB8oWOKkhCclL6PRjmaeoUcmmPyg9Z38/s320/IMG_1446.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjfgVGO9ex0iHGX7KCUOaLiKZscLrkElTfS6DyribG-a0lDlLo4NsT-YhyphenhyphenKciAHShN-VY0RKlPX8WjAjyzza95XoejXcr8Mw-LXUuvrQtUhI2L0bmvVDFMWyI9y28_5XjyjPTeIHhwsvE/s1600/IMG_1466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjfgVGO9ex0iHGX7KCUOaLiKZscLrkElTfS6DyribG-a0lDlLo4NsT-YhyphenhyphenKciAHShN-VY0RKlPX8WjAjyzza95XoejXcr8Mw-LXUuvrQtUhI2L0bmvVDFMWyI9y28_5XjyjPTeIHhwsvE/s320/IMG_1466.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It was a really great weekend for our little family. Henry was a super-trooper in the car and it was fun to share things with him. He and I looked through the pictures from the weekend on the computer this morning and he got excited about everything all over again. It's fun to know that we are building memories.</div>
Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-1145854689923671302012-10-01T05:34:00.001-07:002012-10-01T05:34:06.512-07:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter B WeekAfter a successful Letter A week we bounded into B week with a trip into the city (New York City) to the <a href="http://www.broadwaycares.org/fleamarket2012">Broadway Flea Market</a> with some friends. We checked out the flea market and then met up with another friend in Bryant Park. Henry LOVED chasing the birds (another B word!) and got to ride on the carousel (not a B word but it was a fun thing for him to do). It was neat to watch him looking around at everything in the city. It will be fun to do this more as he gets older.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-3Ep6gg_dAzFhZUJewP4Gb3Lh2AY15pK5lLfKwBQNPEOj5GMyYl0YWtNSqoihMXfEd5l3v5MAhA5UxOE-cXV9F49ioHVXkEL1u-zHIJbAdo_zwBKEyJlsDLT5xS5fRAtB-KI0DvfhII/s1600/IMG_1297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-3Ep6gg_dAzFhZUJewP4Gb3Lh2AY15pK5lLfKwBQNPEOj5GMyYl0YWtNSqoihMXfEd5l3v5MAhA5UxOE-cXV9F49ioHVXkEL1u-zHIJbAdo_zwBKEyJlsDLT5xS5fRAtB-KI0DvfhII/s320/IMG_1297.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXYgaU7PSfWmTW1DoyNHcYFnu_kKFVEVyahTGyWvMNatG1wIzItxR1sVwC_Lo1tfoAY68SFcjiU_RxacNrOVAC4OXycoMbxhYkq2CJ7nL4k6RJCJHioUeWHjcbma6-viWuW_7ToHwcsU/s1600/IMG_1299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXYgaU7PSfWmTW1DoyNHcYFnu_kKFVEVyahTGyWvMNatG1wIzItxR1sVwC_Lo1tfoAY68SFcjiU_RxacNrOVAC4OXycoMbxhYkq2CJ7nL4k6RJCJHioUeWHjcbma6-viWuW_7ToHwcsU/s320/IMG_1299.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
For our B Week Letter B craft we decorated a <a href="http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/206884176601855450_MgVd9Vf4_b.jpg">B to look like a bee</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbJnJO_CQEE6EElgPcrzI3Adq45gicdDeMBonYtgl_T3s5kseRJDSYfQJAmlXzKCe6kggrClVLdfYARpzcZbFdQBJhZ2q3cAapabPDA7Ztcg3osfG9wwW2WaqcX2b8vU_I-PdWQziHHU/s1600/IMG_1321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbJnJO_CQEE6EElgPcrzI3Adq45gicdDeMBonYtgl_T3s5kseRJDSYfQJAmlXzKCe6kggrClVLdfYARpzcZbFdQBJhZ2q3cAapabPDA7Ztcg3osfG9wwW2WaqcX2b8vU_I-PdWQziHHU/s320/IMG_1321.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
My parents came into town on Tuesday so they got to have some Letter B fun with us.<br />
<br />
We made a delicious Banana Cream Pie. Henry had fun making the pie (especially smashing the graham crackers for the crust with his hammer!) but didn't really like the product. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rr_gd6ZulHxIS-KIzG36tDJOkNG3BOZIe5ApP7TEgadDkgwsPaL5fTwwBg55zZ-KHfWtenV0_vR3MaaKwn361V-sJo5r3q8v8e86uImWlXqfK4RZ73KUEJtx-pSAbyw9ZI6RGZnw7xY/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1rr_gd6ZulHxIS-KIzG36tDJOkNG3BOZIe5ApP7TEgadDkgwsPaL5fTwwBg55zZ-KHfWtenV0_vR3MaaKwn361V-sJo5r3q8v8e86uImWlXqfK4RZ73KUEJtx-pSAbyw9ZI6RGZnw7xY/s320/IMG_1324.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnqc91NJD8hFBDWs7bx4rhOswacIF8JrePoiXMmgyeygNMAPSvo6t-dIZemC0MeJ__B1hryoEI2tOXuHrxJGO04oRyQcsjn1I7AmWIh52qyWsmeo8Xhvy2Q7m0EALdb-BUhvx2qBA75E/s1600/IMG_1325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnqc91NJD8hFBDWs7bx4rhOswacIF8JrePoiXMmgyeygNMAPSvo6t-dIZemC0MeJ__B1hryoEI2tOXuHrxJGO04oRyQcsjn1I7AmWIh52qyWsmeo8Xhvy2Q7m0EALdb-BUhvx2qBA75E/s320/IMG_1325.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4a6rXXv0cDy_EUVkeiMV3I37OVF-8RUhsw0yJDyEAYgJmKxEqZbTRVd77-CrTwc7jOQNc3G8L6pQjVjUOrDhOUt7lDE57ZqYxuczZfbwijm2XPe-C8PuO2PC0yREt5JvC9nlj18thkw/s1600/IMG_1328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4a6rXXv0cDy_EUVkeiMV3I37OVF-8RUhsw0yJDyEAYgJmKxEqZbTRVd77-CrTwc7jOQNc3G8L6pQjVjUOrDhOUt7lDE57ZqYxuczZfbwijm2XPe-C8PuO2PC0yREt5JvC9nlj18thkw/s320/IMG_1328.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
We experimented with a Glow Bath. This was Henry's favorite activity of the week. I found the information about it <a href="http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/03/outer-space-themed-bath.html">online</a> and thought it looked and sounded awesome. I used a few highlighters to make the water black-light reactive, tossed in some glowsticks and glow in the dark animals (both from the dollar store) and flipped on the blacklight. The water did not glow brightly like I hoped but it still looked pretty cool, mostly because of the glowsticks. <br />
<br />
Henry played for a long time in the glow bath. We ended up draining out the highlighter water and filled the tub again and put some Johnson and Johnson vapor bath soap in (Henry had a stuffy nose last week) and the glowsticks looked really neat under the bubbles. In the future we'll just skip the highlighter part of the activity and use bubbles.<br />
<br />
Note: The Dollar Tree around here has packs of 15 glowsticks for a dollar. We did a second glow-bath later in the week sans-hightlighter water and three glowsticks with some bubbles were enough to amuse Henry for quite a while.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7pbNOJIj1jQ3zY2AZw3AaWch7Ch9mI2RngUK2cW4K7-G2YTaYfj70LkyjFFaL1I7N15-ZmEWmUr8QmJXdvUlke3eNFsmOQVfuG-x7Q1XbS0xjENEo_du08ywcbRFxJBpBZMrYjvF4fA/s1600/IMG_1343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7pbNOJIj1jQ3zY2AZw3AaWch7Ch9mI2RngUK2cW4K7-G2YTaYfj70LkyjFFaL1I7N15-ZmEWmUr8QmJXdvUlke3eNFsmOQVfuG-x7Q1XbS0xjENEo_du08ywcbRFxJBpBZMrYjvF4fA/s320/IMG_1343.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBrpb9zcaLzUyrEij9YXgEvZW78h4IW7hQbaUJROh_yg36C-Gwfu2dbsGRPq4pT1d8x7yUlw2PMbyxpUoQCIAHM5igVuuPB8ZJXdUO0RGihkb2jT98MgGW5sFbzQ34aYfhzXC3Yh4fco/s1600/IMG_1345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBrpb9zcaLzUyrEij9YXgEvZW78h4IW7hQbaUJROh_yg36C-Gwfu2dbsGRPq4pT1d8x7yUlw2PMbyxpUoQCIAHM5igVuuPB8ZJXdUO0RGihkb2jT98MgGW5sFbzQ34aYfhzXC3Yh4fco/s320/IMG_1345.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Bubble beard in the bath:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKFFIDZ6s2mPVTW8mpeFAmZGv2_JgW_x4aUGQoPb1WQz1w-Uo9TQZkcDvagdB2M9ZKhVFifSy4-lM35W6pMXYPMvVQ9huA43RD9r1BpbCS0FdioUDGETnl9pO_V5SbHYFQF_LilokarE/s1600/IMG_1392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKFFIDZ6s2mPVTW8mpeFAmZGv2_JgW_x4aUGQoPb1WQz1w-Uo9TQZkcDvagdB2M9ZKhVFifSy4-lM35W6pMXYPMvVQ9huA43RD9r1BpbCS0FdioUDGETnl9pO_V5SbHYFQF_LilokarE/s320/IMG_1392.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We also experimented with <a href="http://www.simplyalicia.com/2012/06/recycled-marker-bubble-painting.html">painting with bubbles</a>. It took us a little bit to get the technique down but once we figured out it worked best to get clusters right down on the paper and let them sit until they popped we had some success. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNHzFCz9pmV22JsbnPb1Cqd5aumhwKJM0QRJMdELg5CVoJetsVXA32Z6A110hJ7NT1g45Q9M4EydRmyBARyv32Rvu2AGob5I_FDIxEvdKGAkOj1b485hBy4ktg15Wzy1CxZi63s8LbUk/s1600/IMG_1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNHzFCz9pmV22JsbnPb1Cqd5aumhwKJM0QRJMdELg5CVoJetsVXA32Z6A110hJ7NT1g45Q9M4EydRmyBARyv32Rvu2AGob5I_FDIxEvdKGAkOj1b485hBy4ktg15Wzy1CxZi63s8LbUk/s320/IMG_1381.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BXBeK4OVOzty6Dv2FQU7m8YO48wG5LdMUGwvM1pvW1e8vWvedstcA2sJ1L9HOVo_8oaZYUSSYk_VPprrRoV4PCcZy0DGyzbIeZJhdyTLfQDy1Yhba-ddl3kCrOaCjxZavg94TYfMlkE/s1600/IMG_1385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BXBeK4OVOzty6Dv2FQU7m8YO48wG5LdMUGwvM1pvW1e8vWvedstcA2sJ1L9HOVo_8oaZYUSSYk_VPprrRoV4PCcZy0DGyzbIeZJhdyTLfQDy1Yhba-ddl3kCrOaCjxZavg94TYfMlkE/s320/IMG_1385.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLeS0lsLOBg6rZSEWDhnnq4M6byRGVaVV85Ao6JnbbbH_o_LImEHgelAukltdHLElx6eOpZl_Haick9mTmWajBWH6jpSYGuyxd5PxsfDvObB39tCP8lMAWiN_f3mXVjBAGNCsSkXBH_8/s1600/IMG_1389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLeS0lsLOBg6rZSEWDhnnq4M6byRGVaVV85Ao6JnbbbH_o_LImEHgelAukltdHLElx6eOpZl_Haick9mTmWajBWH6jpSYGuyxd5PxsfDvObB39tCP8lMAWiN_f3mXVjBAGNCsSkXBH_8/s320/IMG_1389.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We also read lots of books that featured the letter B like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Beluga-Raffi-Songs-Read/dp/0517709775/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349092929&sr=1-1&keywords=baby+beluga">Baby Beluga</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-LITTLE-Costello-Author-Jul-01-2011/dp/B009CRQYZ2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349092955&sr=1-2&keywords=little+pig+joins+the+band">Little Pig Joins the Band</a>.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Overall, another good week of Alphabet Adventure. On to Letter C!</div>
Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-83028046039539784892012-09-27T14:37:00.003-07:002012-09-27T14:37:53.306-07:00Alphabet Adventure: Letter A Week!Note: The draft of this entry has been in my blog all week and I kept forgetting to post! We are already almost done with B week but here is A week!<br />
<br />
A while ago I stumbled on some really great websites and blogs of other stay-at-home mothers that are doing "tot school" with their little ones. These varied from really structured curriculums to loosely themed weeks for the kids. I liked a lot of what I was seeing and decided that once Henry turned 2 that we'd embark on an "Alphabet Adventure" where each week we would concentrate on a different letter. He's always seemed interested in learning new things and has a tremendous memory so I figured we would both benefit from adding a "structured" part of our days at home.<br />
<br />
I've collected a good deal of supplies, learning toys, games, etc. over the summer and have planned out a lot of what we're going to do over the next 26 weeks. It's been fun seeing what other mothers are doing and putting together plans for what Henry and I can do together. <br />
<br />
Each week will have consistent components:<br />
-Letter and shape dry-erase activities (a lot of tracing and circling) having to do with the letter of the week and various skills (like straight lines, curved lines, shapes, etc.). These are compiled in sheet protectors in his "school book" that I made for him. I printed the coversheet with some things that he really likes (train and Little Einsteins' rocket). He can write right on the sheet protectors and we can wipe them off so he can do the worksheets over and over throughout the week.<br />
-Letter of the Week craft: We'll make a craft that incorporates the letter using something that starts with that letter. (i.e. apple print A, a D with feathers and a bill to make it a duck, etc.)<br />
-Magnet/Dot Sheets: Henry loves playing with small magnets that I got at the dollar store and also bingo dotters/daubers. I've found that there are a lot of printables online that offer shapes, letters, etc. with open dots for kids to fill in with magnets or dots. I taped a sheet protector to an extra cookie sheet that we had and I can slide the worksheet into it and Henry can move the magnets around as he wants. (He LOVES this. I will probably post about this again later.)<br />
-Three different "tot trays" with activities corresponding (when I can) with the letter of the week. These trays have activities that he can do by himself or with a little guidance from me. I have them in baskets under our coffee table for him to explore as he wants.<br />
-Practical skill practice activities like gluing, hand washing, spreading butter, cooking, etc.<br />
-Books gathered that go with letter of the week<br />
<br />
This week we started our Alphabet Adventure with the letter A! <br />
<br />
We got an early start since the family had their annual trip to Masker Orchard for apple picking. Henry got really into it and practically ate his weight in apples! When we got home Henry helped make an apple pie! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kT635-5NWpx00yIdwgYYKJv0qvIrz__oghm6TOJ5BtTd_JpduwGeNWqsnC51tw8MQ9HO4Xw4eLp2Vp3vHrSFd7ZKIkjMLv_QFTPlgQNy7UW0L0GReL1WsIe7pabrYZS1I0-l967XVWA/s1600/IMG_1175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kT635-5NWpx00yIdwgYYKJv0qvIrz__oghm6TOJ5BtTd_JpduwGeNWqsnC51tw8MQ9HO4Xw4eLp2Vp3vHrSFd7ZKIkjMLv_QFTPlgQNy7UW0L0GReL1WsIe7pabrYZS1I0-l967XVWA/s320/IMG_1175.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
His "school book" had some uppercase and lowercase letter As in it that have dotted lines to encourage tracing. He's been calling them "railroad tracks" and is actually doing okay tracing the lines. He's used his book on his own this week, which is fun to see! <br />
<br />
Other things we did:<br />
-We used an apple cut in half to make an apple-print A craft for the alphabet book we'll put together as we go through the adventure. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GAI8apuj3TIL5fEkfyfpSVjEVX264Qe5XuD4bDpMcor_q1zjwKeB6rIsE4-6mp8Yc7X4p96bH8koU6Q6ufnkqfXAVpsEsqDFgnbVoikWtcwQBzM7ZhTTVleiRVuYkQHz-4uQP5LPj4U/s1600/IMG_1283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GAI8apuj3TIL5fEkfyfpSVjEVX264Qe5XuD4bDpMcor_q1zjwKeB6rIsE4-6mp8Yc7X4p96bH8koU6Q6ufnkqfXAVpsEsqDFgnbVoikWtcwQBzM7ZhTTVleiRVuYkQHz-4uQP5LPj4U/s320/IMG_1283.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
-He practiced using his "chop sticks" (giant wooden tweezers) to transfer acorns from one container to another.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjHgKdB7go9E4ZlPt9Q_x2fFM-yJ9LVc1WNadA_lb7HkxvsJNN_heQxg1_GscN8oyfuERlI9y9Xh0jE0wdcGOg0YPhD3W0rajbG7OEIQf6YNekwRUHkGdGxh2eg9pqgaHuSb9NPoT3n8/s1600/IMG_1278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjHgKdB7go9E4ZlPt9Q_x2fFM-yJ9LVc1WNadA_lb7HkxvsJNN_heQxg1_GscN8oyfuERlI9y9Xh0jE0wdcGOg0YPhD3W0rajbG7OEIQf6YNekwRUHkGdGxh2eg9pqgaHuSb9NPoT3n8/s320/IMG_1278.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
-His animals went on airplane rides during playtime.<br />
-We read A books we got from the library like "Amanda and Her Alligator" by Mo Willems.<br />
-We visited the animals at the local nature park.<br />
-He and Daddy made a construction paper ant.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zxhA7beWt5Q3wK7j6nzTIhT6yhbYnlja9sem8K5o4M1XO2X2W_SFiqBf-oFGsRo1Zdu-RTB9COxfOi90gbO1UI0zpFcrFMYajVQxZXcayWathmY-IaaM3jVGIGjwszr7YHYrPx6qYzA/s1600/IMG_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zxhA7beWt5Q3wK7j6nzTIhT6yhbYnlja9sem8K5o4M1XO2X2W_SFiqBf-oFGsRo1Zdu-RTB9COxfOi90gbO1UI0zpFcrFMYajVQxZXcayWathmY-IaaM3jVGIGjwszr7YHYrPx6qYzA/s320/IMG_1295.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
-We made and ate "Ants on the Log" using celery from Eddie's parents' garden. (Henry LOVED this!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Ai5duyr8xFk7_21FYaLi3ZsJ3NE7vWM4D6uTBsYp6nvpOnj-cFnIbXxN_P0-AAyJIsW8vpZa88KsIX9FJMm7MEK8XUw6u6WiZL9XDWKKTr8MTp3XpT-DABC-9W2c5no3WTpdK7L-wUg/s1600/IMG_1293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Ai5duyr8xFk7_21FYaLi3ZsJ3NE7vWM4D6uTBsYp6nvpOnj-cFnIbXxN_P0-AAyJIsW8vpZa88KsIX9FJMm7MEK8XUw6u6WiZL9XDWKKTr8MTp3XpT-DABC-9W2c5no3WTpdK7L-wUg/s320/IMG_1293.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
-We made an apple tree using a recycled toilet paper roll, some cardboard from our recycling bin and a few red pom-poms. The finished product was pretty cute.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Fb3l8FeIyrDfCcSzckVCErYSF9ZQDIMusfHh5lp8kQP5OK6uvG0M3NhiSn0c_tYadmSIilvfgwQsVv-rJL1nZU_ToCMGpXz5HfBUQzOietacTAtGSXv36dj_0EzSOBNlQFinn0nc0Ic/s1600/IMG_1296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Fb3l8FeIyrDfCcSzckVCErYSF9ZQDIMusfHh5lp8kQP5OK6uvG0M3NhiSn0c_tYadmSIilvfgwQsVv-rJL1nZU_ToCMGpXz5HfBUQzOietacTAtGSXv36dj_0EzSOBNlQFinn0nc0Ic/s320/IMG_1296.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Here is a picture of Henry "working" at his desk.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx5TbMnNYRAQNZZASXmA0Jx31XNpFMWfGBZBW-tRPs9GW4HHADYFWfG4UiT9AGfrfryI2UOwtDPFTk9YeRBQD2LSAlydFf915IioSF6kpy_jRf10fhSZerRkWVWenpL9tqhD3O1zkZY0/s1600/IMG_1288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx5TbMnNYRAQNZZASXmA0Jx31XNpFMWfGBZBW-tRPs9GW4HHADYFWfG4UiT9AGfrfryI2UOwtDPFTk9YeRBQD2LSAlydFf915IioSF6kpy_jRf10fhSZerRkWVWenpL9tqhD3O1zkZY0/s320/IMG_1288.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
One Letter Adventure Week down, 25 to go!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-64974264452261159442012-09-08T21:29:00.003-07:002012-09-08T21:30:56.574-07:00Disneyland Half MarathonFor you blog-regulars you may remember reading a copious amount of posts leading up to the Disney World Half-Marathon late last fall. You may be surprised to read that I ran another half-marathon last weekend! I didn't write much about it here mostly because I wasn't writing much here, about anything....also my training was sporadic.<br />
<br />
But I do want to write about my experience to share it with my readers but also for myself to reference in the future.<br />
<br />
After we finished our races at Disney World in January, we (the Seavers Siblings) decided we wanted to take on Disney's Coast to Coast Challenge. They offer a bonus "Coast to Coast" medal to runners who completed a half-marathon (or longer) at Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California in the same calendar year. Yes...we were suckered in by the bonus race "bling". But you have to admit, it's pretty awesome:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD95NeE5ZnTAo4PoiVsZs0lWhJrlc70WXyPtzD3sexD1LGer1ErMaW3XQUvB3NdZwievWiaRE8fIHyScU32TGRq-HD_bGz8z7Pd_wcU-M3gMTlXvKVnbHhHQcnVXvX1PgVNihtThNDI60/s1600/Coast+to+coast+medal" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD95NeE5ZnTAo4PoiVsZs0lWhJrlc70WXyPtzD3sexD1LGer1ErMaW3XQUvB3NdZwievWiaRE8fIHyScU32TGRq-HD_bGz8z7Pd_wcU-M3gMTlXvKVnbHhHQcnVXvX1PgVNihtThNDI60/s320/Coast+to+coast+medal" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As I noted before, my training for this half-marathon (13.1 miles) was sporadic, disorganized, lazy, etc. Part of the issue was the fact that I spent a lot of the summer away in VA/NC where I was busy with work/family/friends and it was approximately 402 degrees with 140% humidity even at 6:30am. Also, I didn't feel much inspiration to run and didn't really get back into my stride (get it...stride?!) until August, which was a little close to the race! My longest training run was only 10 miles because my 12 mile training run was scratched due to a hard lesson learned about putting Bengay-esque muscle cream on your feet the night before you run. (It makes your feet feel like they are on fire, causing you to douse them mid-run with the grape flavored sports water in the middle of the running/walking/biking trail....twice. I also ended up walking part of that "run" barefoot. Ugh. It was not fun!)<br />
<br />
I went into the race weekend knowing that I wasn't going to be near my time from the Disney World half from January. This was disappointing in many ways but there wasn't anything I could do about it so I set a goal of 2:10 (that's two hours and ten minutes), which I wasn't even sure I could do based on my pace from my longest training run of 10 miles.<br />
<br />
Ellen, Karen, Kevin, Mike and I got dropped off at the airport on Friday afternoon and started our journey west. We flew American Airlines and enjoyed their <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3e0WSiBti8">pre-flight safety video</a>. (The man around 2:55 was our favorite part and we quoted his safety tip often during the weekend.) We had a short layover in Dallas before making it to California. (Ellen and Mike checked two states off their list that day!) Karen had arranged a shuttle for us to take us to our hotel so we met them and began our drive to Anaheim from LAX airport. We made it to the hotel around 1am local time, which felt like 4am home time! After dealing with some confusion about our reservation. (They told us that they room "held 5" but only had "two queen beds"....I mean, the room could have held 30 people but that doesn't mean there would be a place for everyone to sleep!) We got a roll-away cot delivered and had to rearrange furniture and put some chairs in our closet in order to make room. But at that point it was like 4am and we were a bit punchy (everything was hilarious!) and we just wanted to get to sleep.<br />
<br />
The race expo opened at 9 so we planned to get there in time for that. It didn't turn out to be so bad getting up for it since our bodies thought 9am was noon. We had free breakfast at our hotel and then headed to the Disneyland Resort Hotel to get our race bibs and see the expo. Our hotel location was PERFECT as it was literally across the street from the Disney Parks and a short walk to Downtown Disney and the expo site. We picked up our bibs and explored the expo. For those of you non-runners reading this, the expo is a big convention hall full of vendors selling all sorts of running paraphernalia ranging from athletic wear (including running tutus) to energy bars, custom medal framing and muscle stretchers. <br />
<br />
After the expo we headed into Disneyland. I had visited the park back in November 2009 when I was there for an orientation conference. The park has some of the same rides and attractions as Disney World but feels a lot different. The castle, for example, is TINY. I enjoy the park but find it a lot less magical than Disney World. Small castle aside, we enjoyed riding the rides, looking for hidden Mickeys and figuring out what we should eat with the race the next morning. We ended the night with a delicious meal at a Panera-esque restaurant in Downtown Disney. I really enjoyed my day with everyone. Since I am an only child I enjoy getting to have siblings of my own now thanks to marrying Eddie. <br />
<br />
We headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime since we had to be in our starting corrals for the race by 5:00am. <br />
<br />
The alarm went off at 3:35 and we started getting geared up. The hotel provided "breakfast" early for runners but it turned out to be some fruit and granola bars. It wasn't bad, I suppose, but no bagels, oatmeal, etc. that they had offered the day before. We headed out of our hotel around 4:30am and joined a sea of runners heading towards the start. When I say sea of runners, I'm not exaggerating. 14,836 people FINISHED the race so add on however many people started but didn't make it to the end!<br />
<br />
We hit up bathrooms along the way (integral part of race prep!) and made our way to our starting corrals. Runners are broken down into a handful of groups based on either previous race times or estimated times. This keeps the elite (read: FAST) runners in the front where they aren't going to run over those less fast runners. Disney does things right: The National Anthem was complete with red rockets glaring at the appropriate time, there were countdowns for each corral's start, characters at the start, etc. <br />
<br />
The weather was cool and not humid, which is my favorite! I was feeling really good at this point, both mentally and physically. (For me, mental state is almost a bigger deal than physical state when I run.) I started my watch, turned on my iPod and was off! <br />
<br />
I had looked at the course map the night before and determined that the race had three parts:<br />
<br />
<strong>1) Miles 1-4.something: Through The Parks</strong><br />
I enjoyed this part of the run, especially the part that took us through the California Adventure park because I had never been to that park. I really liked seeing all of the various sections of the park, especially the new Cars-land. (We had watched the movie for the first time the week before the race and I'm really glad that I did....that part of the park looked JUST like the movie!) The sun hadn't really come up yet so the lights were really neat. There were a handful of costumed characters in the parks. There were not a lot of spectator spots, which was very different from the race in Disney World. One frustrating part of this leg of the race was the first water station, which was set up in a narrow spot of the course and so it caused a bottleneck. I ended up having to basically slow to a walk because of the amount of people. <br />
<br />
I knew that I wanted to keep a 10 min/mile pace and not push too hard towards the beginning. I was feeling good so I started to keep a faster pace.<br />
<br />
<strong>2) Miles 4.something - 9.something: Streets of Anaheim to Angels Stadium</strong><br />
I expected the streets of Anaheim to feel like running through a city but really it was just like a normal town and pretty boring, really. Disney did coordinate local high school marching bands, cheerleaders, dance teams, mariachi dancers, and quite a few Antique Car Clubs to have things to hear and to look at along the way. My favorite part of this leg of the race was watching the sun rise over the mountains in the distance. It was beautiful.<br />
<br />
I was still feeling good at a little faster pace and didn't even start to think like I was tired or didn't want to run anymore. I don't think I've ever felt so good mentally during a race! <br />
<br />
In the last month or so I've realized that because my days are usually busy running has become a time for me to be alone in my thoughts and to think about my friends, family and others. Along the race route I found motivation for running by thinking of others that I was reminded of along the way. Things like the antique cars reminding me the strength of a friend who lost a car-enthusiast father to cancer or the sign from a cancer survivor reminding me of my cousin and her family, and even the headband I wore with tiny hearts on it to remind me of Henry and how amazing he was this past spring when he had to get his pacemaker really kept my mind in a good place as I ran. <br />
<br />
<strong>3) Miles 9.something - 13.1: Stadium to Finish Line</strong><br />
We got to run into Angels Stadium, which was pretty cool. We came in the back right field gate, ran around the perimeter of the field, around home plate and back out towards left field. There were a lot of spectators here and they had the jumbotron on with a video of us running through the stadium. I liked this part of the run a lot and it really pumped me up to push towards the finish. <br />
<br />
I still felt pretty good and pushed my pace a little bit more during this last part of the race that took us back towards the parks and to the finish line. I hit the 13 mile marker and pushed for a strong finish. Goofy was hanging out right before the finish so I gave him a high five and finished the race! My running GPS watch said that I had run 13.19 in 2:07:56 and my official Disney time was 13.1 in 2:07:53. Either way I beat my goal time by 2 minutes and felt great! (Seriously, I can't say how good I felt considering I had just run 13.1 miles...runner's high I suppose.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSntELsnXmcEkLFlObt3U9QFcri9L16WTIh2gBNTC-Ae11FI4SoIPVysSToEY-7X6kOrAhqvteXamXfuVcKaC3jXRaKjCdPX_OYQ83ltH1-UqLthzr9539kWfO0gjJvlznmaI0RhH-29g/s1600/Picture1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSntELsnXmcEkLFlObt3U9QFcri9L16WTIh2gBNTC-Ae11FI4SoIPVysSToEY-7X6kOrAhqvteXamXfuVcKaC3jXRaKjCdPX_OYQ83ltH1-UqLthzr9539kWfO0gjJvlznmaI0RhH-29g/s320/Picture1.gif" width="198" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqAAt7VjzimMGpXJflBvjY49uSAv_HnpkhNznHZlWei_N0JGgCdbfgFMtyOPL1uj0Hc0yAyJipv3HGH3h-M5PxGMFCWIOlVK5JSeb6FbfhdQOm-gg4L5b5t8mNi-LVqIeocW5rzlKqB4/s1600/Beth+finisher+stats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqAAt7VjzimMGpXJflBvjY49uSAv_HnpkhNznHZlWei_N0JGgCdbfgFMtyOPL1uj0Hc0yAyJipv3HGH3h-M5PxGMFCWIOlVK5JSeb6FbfhdQOm-gg4L5b5t8mNi-LVqIeocW5rzlKqB4/s320/Beth+finisher+stats.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I collected my finishers medal and then stood in a long line (obnoxious!) to get my Coast to Coast medal. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsKoIKaX06flvNmHBrIPNSj9niXeYMhu_XFcyRocr25Abvb-RIh9-6_Q1hEGuo99Mqc5ZDYkD9nYRGcbgxBEIxp1TUT80sxct-giOwRnajvFsGQkwQQUDCd3A3d4HHDIFmLp_MXq6D5I/s1600/bethfinishers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsKoIKaX06flvNmHBrIPNSj9niXeYMhu_XFcyRocr25Abvb-RIh9-6_Q1hEGuo99Mqc5ZDYkD9nYRGcbgxBEIxp1TUT80sxct-giOwRnajvFsGQkwQQUDCd3A3d4HHDIFmLp_MXq6D5I/s320/bethfinishers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I picked up my water and snacks and headed to meet up with Kevin and Ellen who had finished ahead of me. We walked back towards the finish and heard them call Karen's name as she finished. We met up with Karen and then found a good place to watch Mike finish. It was his first half-marathon (and only his second race ever!) and he did it...and with a smile on his face! It was a good morning to be a Seavers-Mendez!<br />
<br />
We got a post-race picture taken and we walked back to the hotel for showers. Once we were all de-stinkified we headed back to the parks! That's right, we had just completed a 13.1 mile race and we headed out to WALK AROUND the rest of the day. Crazy, but we did it! (That's what happens when you spend the money to fly across the country and get a two-day park pass....you get out there and take advantage!) We finished up what we hadn't done at Disneyland and then went over to California Adventure. I liked seeing that park without having to run through it! The park was fun (though not a place I'd want to spend more than part of a day) and we ended the night by watching their World of Color show, which was really neat. Think Bellagio fountain show with colored lights and Disney soundtrack music.<br />
<br />
After the night show we walked back to the hotel, packed our bags and fell into bed since our airport shuttle was picking us up at 4! We all woke up on time and got into the shuttle for the airport. We made it to the airport and through security in plenty of time for our flight. We all wore our medals and race shirts and had two different people ask if we were Olympians.... seriously. <br />
<br />
Our flight took us through Chicago's O'Hare airport, which added another state for Ellen and Mike! After a little layover we got on our final flight from Chicago to New York. We landed a few hours later and met up with Eddie's dad, who was our ride home.<br />
<br />
All in all, it was a really fun weekend. I really enjoyed spending the time with the siblings and outlaw (what Mike and I call ourselves).<br />
<br />
And now starts a new countdown.....126 days until the Disney World FULL Marathon. I've already started my training and am actually looking forward to the whole thing...I may not feel the same way when my long runs are 14..15..16..20 miles. But for now, I'm keeping my positive attitude and enjoying my runs!Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-53522541647125111422012-09-05T13:20:00.000-07:002012-09-05T13:20:35.575-07:00We have a two year old....Somehow almost a month has gone by since the last blog entry....time is doing some serious flying around here!
Since the last post our little Henry has turned TWO! I can hardly believe that two years have past by already. Poor Henry spent most of his actual birthday in the car as we traveled south to my parents' house. We were able to, however, sing him Happy Birthday, blow out candles and eat cupcakes upon our arrival at their house. He was actually excited about the candles and the cake, which is an improvement on last year when he wouldn't even touch his cake!
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-PhK_v5R5_Ab0ErXurw12uwB31hsukijNbzJ6hnEb7rvvdOC4Y6J8dB0aoKUvkX_68nPCDabyJErgKwFjpRAPookbu4rWWIhxqAGh5h3DoFW_q_S7IaJFqY5enELCzsOwpYBBSfS1i-w/s1600/IMG_1044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-PhK_v5R5_Ab0ErXurw12uwB31hsukijNbzJ6hnEb7rvvdOC4Y6J8dB0aoKUvkX_68nPCDabyJErgKwFjpRAPookbu4rWWIhxqAGh5h3DoFW_q_S7IaJFqY5enELCzsOwpYBBSfS1i-w/s400/IMG_1044.JPG" width="267" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The trip south was for us to attend a wedding of a former student we worked with. We saw a bunch of students we used to work with at the wedding, which was nice. While I am thankful for being able to stay home with Henry, I do miss the student aspect of what I used to do. I really loved the students I got to work with from my job, my time with the marching band and band service fraternity, and the Eddie's RAs. (So if you are a student from CNU that I used to work with, just know that I miss you!) </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We also used the trip as an opportunity to see a lot of our friends. We had people over to my parents' house for a birthday party for Henry, which was also an excuse just to relax with friends. It was the first time we had a lot of little kids over and it was a lot of fun! Henry enjoyed himself and so did we! The theme of the party was Robots for two reasons: 1) We call Henry's pacemaker his "robot". 2) Michael's (the craft store) had a boatload of Robot stuff on superclearance over the summer. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTSFMceX1kQCKwBN_hyphenhyphenHY1e8BQWxzJrTobWvQyrDz_XTnfUld00k3pWpdpUwlb0FTXbx5zovKy2Vm1gWAWnv4codUtVip7QYgg6m4qFnFwDOJR-YNJew17neCsNLXieY9NSfgNYBSR4o/s1600/IMG_1068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRTSFMceX1kQCKwBN_hyphenhyphenHY1e8BQWxzJrTobWvQyrDz_XTnfUld00k3pWpdpUwlb0FTXbx5zovKy2Vm1gWAWnv4codUtVip7QYgg6m4qFnFwDOJR-YNJew17neCsNLXieY9NSfgNYBSR4o/s320/IMG_1068.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid78KWMmNGO38IbkrBKEVdixgFdUTTPDZzMrGbq0Vrw-aEaXvxw4-liVKcV86q9I1goNo9WRz1l9ta3jE441FOLqoTSWg8aMzxQp7GFStzWQl1DaIiSmo-Q6_gvEwy3GV_pReqakTP8Bs/s1600/IMG_1076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid78KWMmNGO38IbkrBKEVdixgFdUTTPDZzMrGbq0Vrw-aEaXvxw4-liVKcV86q9I1goNo9WRz1l9ta3jE441FOLqoTSWg8aMzxQp7GFStzWQl1DaIiSmo-Q6_gvEwy3GV_pReqakTP8Bs/s320/IMG_1076.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj58YUbGQfm1rNqz2a130DZYKGaJf72yURx6lEBZ9amQ9Q2YA1WDmRqor6MgyXpxPshcYSY9iZt2YfTOYpzK8gzXDQSZxwZQl_64fy0G6bLPMOE4IzHI7z3ADpqhruuzCNkhiz5Zyqmodg/s1600/IMG_1085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj58YUbGQfm1rNqz2a130DZYKGaJf72yURx6lEBZ9amQ9Q2YA1WDmRqor6MgyXpxPshcYSY9iZt2YfTOYpzK8gzXDQSZxwZQl_64fy0G6bLPMOE4IzHI7z3ADpqhruuzCNkhiz5Zyqmodg/s320/IMG_1085.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6oKMdlposp3KH-biOA_DAvHg18IPRRzajQ5VdZlVHt_Z_w0qGJ1lUtxGniB31MIG6lABq9JBrAU8HBjSCKS8xJ6ljjkISUMK3C5UqxIt0FkU8y59uE4EEBUK-oaPo5Fs9Gyd4NR2zPw/s1600/IMG_1091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6oKMdlposp3KH-biOA_DAvHg18IPRRzajQ5VdZlVHt_Z_w0qGJ1lUtxGniB31MIG6lABq9JBrAU8HBjSCKS8xJ6ljjkISUMK3C5UqxIt0FkU8y59uE4EEBUK-oaPo5Fs9Gyd4NR2zPw/s320/IMG_1091.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Last year we snapped a photo of the kiddos of my close college friends so we took another one this year for tradition. Trying to capture the photo was hilarious as there wasn't much child-cooperation going on but we managed to get a decent one of everyone looking mostly toward the camera. I hope put last year's photo with it for comparison:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PlKk_Q1DVOuHsNCek0EAKYURYVEqpda-Dp1faFF98Y4KvchYTsYwqUAPMztf7ONF0Kz6O7FzUzyUNA32pzAqNjDYAmX6D9Bqv3S1-Z7-n1r7id1IKQeMronDsecq2OS-cHyA9ya5Qm4/s1600/kiddos+two+years.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PlKk_Q1DVOuHsNCek0EAKYURYVEqpda-Dp1faFF98Y4KvchYTsYwqUAPMztf7ONF0Kz6O7FzUzyUNA32pzAqNjDYAmX6D9Bqv3S1-Z7-n1r7id1IKQeMronDsecq2OS-cHyA9ya5Qm4/s640/kiddos+two+years.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It was a really fun weekend and we were glad we could celebrate Henry's birthday with our VA friends. We even got a bonus visit with my good friends that live in Chicago but were visiting home (VA) that weekend! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We got back to New Jersey and the following weekend we had another gathering for Henry's birthday. It was the first "event" we have hosted in our home and I think it was a success. Everyone had a good time, Henry was a happy camper and he even ate his cupcake again!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3i4KBLyK5gOBe6CvXN934EKwUmnQrPUV0Gwu6ghQoOW5YIf7qDPf7jhw3IKH_QZ9s0vlKN8Fyu3CBb_f5eNtz2Gx9X0X7Giq0zcreVlFQhh1SvhWi4NurPaqqrGAQ6UuFNP7l-VJ5J_M/s1600/IMG_1110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3i4KBLyK5gOBe6CvXN934EKwUmnQrPUV0Gwu6ghQoOW5YIf7qDPf7jhw3IKH_QZ9s0vlKN8Fyu3CBb_f5eNtz2Gx9X0X7Giq0zcreVlFQhh1SvhWi4NurPaqqrGAQ6UuFNP7l-VJ5J_M/s320/IMG_1110.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Henry entertained everyone with his block-stacking skills. He got the blocks as a gift that night and was VERY excited about stacking them. He kept shouting "LOOK AT THAT!" after he stacked a few. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY-8srqH9DdaXLKA19shSBBlYui84TjuioxjvcdAJayeN-mHtbsga8jwovocFNsj5SI59YTWE7duxQvUkJZTJLb2dLGHY4DZbLqBo8aWylysohiBo3zwyAyacTZ-qAFFfA3Avg5ZyT90/s1600/IMG_1132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY-8srqH9DdaXLKA19shSBBlYui84TjuioxjvcdAJayeN-mHtbsga8jwovocFNsj5SI59YTWE7duxQvUkJZTJLb2dLGHY4DZbLqBo8aWylysohiBo3zwyAyacTZ-qAFFfA3Avg5ZyT90/s320/IMG_1132.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY-8srqH9DdaXLKA19shSBBlYui84TjuioxjvcdAJayeN-mHtbsga8jwovocFNsj5SI59YTWE7duxQvUkJZTJLb2dLGHY4DZbLqBo8aWylysohiBo3zwyAyacTZ-qAFFfA3Avg5ZyT90/s1600/IMG_1132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div style="text-align: left;" unselectable="on">
</div>
</a><br />
<br />
We are really lucky to have really amazing family and friends and were glad that we could have them together to celebrate Henry.<br />
<br />
I have another blogpost coming up about the Disneyland Half Marathon that I ran with Eddie's siblings over the weekend.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-62712455486291782332012-08-09T06:08:00.000-07:002012-08-09T06:08:02.767-07:00Henry: Teeth BrushingI realize that some of the posts I enjoy most on my friends' blogs are the ones where they write little snippets of funny things their kids have done. And since this blog is somewhat of a "baby book" for Henry, I will follow suit.
When we were on vacation on Cape Cod we got to visit a large inflatable whale. Henry enjoyed petting the whale and even had a snack while sitting inside of the whale! The marine biologist host shared with us a lot of neat information about whales, most of which was above Henry's head. However, we've been talking about whales on and off since our visit and Henry's vocabulary now includes "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baleen">baleen</a>" and "plankton", when prompted with questions about whales and their eating habits.
Bedtime toothbrushing had become a little bit of a challenge in the last few weeks. So the last couple of nights I have told him that he was a whale and I had to get all of the plankton out of his baleen. He is amused by this and we've gotten some good teethbrushing done! Funny kid.Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-6377116928208996352012-08-06T14:44:00.001-07:002012-08-06T14:44:40.779-07:00Henry as Drum MajorThis weekend we took a little field trip to West Milford HS to watch the Phantom Regiment Drum Corps rehearse in preparation for their competition at Giants Stadium. For those of you not familiar with Drum Corps International (DCI), it is like major league marching band. The music and movements are unbelieveably difficult and are unlike anything you probably think of when you imagine a marching band. The corps involved are made up of students aged 16-21 and they travel, rehearse, live, perform, etc. together all summer. It is an amazing organization and it is something that I love to watch. <br />
<br />
We took Henry with us to the rehearsal and he LOVED it. We happened to have his baton in the car so he used it to "conduct" during rehearsal. He was amazingly adorable (as usual) and I loved watching him get so excited. I hope that this excitement doesn't fade as he gets older!<br />
<br />
I posted a video on Facebook but not all of you have Facebook so I've managed (I think) to upload it to YouTube and can put it here on the blog (hopefully!):<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<object width="480" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pwzyH8TWl18?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pwzyH8TWl18?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-42315016399214875222012-08-01T06:05:00.002-07:002012-08-01T06:05:38.883-07:00Still here!Apparently our blog has gone on summer vacation! My apologies to all of you who follow our little family here. We've been quite busy this summer!<br />
Henry and I headed south shortly after the last blog post to spend a month in North Carolina/Virginia for a combination of work and play. I had the pleasure of seeing three dear friends get married (not to each other! Three separate weddings), worked my last CNU freshman orientation and spent a lot of quality time with friends and family. Many thanks to Eddie for keeping the house in New Jersey in order and even driving down for a surprise visit partway through our time away!<br />
<br />
We got home and spent just 13 days at home before heading to Cape Cod for a 6-day vacation. We drove back to NJ, switched suitcases and kept driving to NC/VA where we spent a long weekend with family and friends...and went to another wedding! We got back on Sunday and will be home for a couple of weeks before heading back south for the last of our summer weddings. <br />
<br />
We've had so many adventures over the summer including:<br />
-Henry's first trip to the beach where he could play in the water! He wasn't so sure about it at first but warmed up to it and didn't want to leave.<br />
-Henry's first attempts at using a big boy potty (we're not pushing it since he's so young...just embracing his interest when he shows it).<br />
-Portsmouth Children's Museum: I think my parents and I enjoyed it more than Henry did!<br />
-A day trip to Pennsylvania to visit a good friend and her son...and while there we went to the Martin Guitar Factory. Henry was pretty excited to play the little ukulele they had....so much so that he had NO interest in the factory tour and we had to exit early to avoid mayhem.<br />
-While in Cape Cod we went inside an inflatable whale, took a harbor cruise and rode on a train. Henry went absolutely bananas over the boat and train rides. We visited the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory, the Cape Cod Beer Brewery and saw four Chatham A's baseball games. <br />
<br />
Besides these adventures we've been having everyday fun like making pizza at home, taking trips to the library, swimming at MomMom and PopPop's house and just generally enjoying daily life.<br />
<br />
Henry has grown up so much this summer. His vocabulary has exploded and his memory continues to amaze us. He has such a funny little personality, is naturally curious, loves learning, makes us laugh everyday. Don't get me wrong, it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows....he has learned to throw fits, tries to scratch faces off when he's overtired, sometimes refuses to put on clothes....but generally, he's such a good kid.<br />
<br />
This month we look forward to some time at home, another wedding in VA, celebrating Henry's 2nd birthday (holy cow!) and enjoying the end of summer. (And getting back to regularly updating this blog!)Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-56662941277796693562012-06-06T11:45:00.001-07:002012-06-06T11:45:27.344-07:006 Weeks RobotiversaryHenry had his follow-up appointment with his electrophysiologist (robot/pacemaker doctor) on Monday, which was six weeks after his surgery. The trip into the city was easy and quick, as was his appointment! Henry had his bloodpressure taken and had an EKG before having his pacemaker "read". It is pretty amazing that they just had to put a special monitor over the part of his stomach where the pacemaker is and they can get all sorts of data. Henry's doctor told us that at his current pacemaker usage (it only goes off when needed) that the battery would last for TWELVE years! It is likely that they will have to adjust the pacemaker's settings as he gets older and is doing more active things (i.e. soccer, ultramarathons, etc.) so that timeline will probably change. But for now we are really happy to hear that things are going well and that it'll be a while before he'll have to have anything done again.Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-65872316139176314912012-05-30T09:05:00.000-07:002012-05-30T09:05:00.091-07:00Little Chef<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Recently I've been inspired by a friend's great home-schooling blog to do some new things with Henry. Today we ventured into the wonderful world of "cooking" and made <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/peanut-butter-cheerios-treats-185909">Peanut Butter Cheerio Treats</a>. We had a great time doing it, too! He was surprisingly focused and followed directions really well. (He didn't even lick or eat things he wasn't supposed to so we can share these treats with friends.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here are some pictures from our cooking adventure:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1Ihswa55Kl-OAZ7AhaMaWkcUCjvz8yXFJ9SJEdU_1kKVWFTXBa-9SoU1CdVsvLssg7sT-9zRsKnfCI39U0WPMmH2jypJFB_S00pDIlZxhs6F6a7A7V4WP0ZfgZskXWaXVXqCDnGmHxQ/s1600/IMG_9886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1Ihswa55Kl-OAZ7AhaMaWkcUCjvz8yXFJ9SJEdU_1kKVWFTXBa-9SoU1CdVsvLssg7sT-9zRsKnfCI39U0WPMmH2jypJFB_S00pDIlZxhs6F6a7A7V4WP0ZfgZskXWaXVXqCDnGmHxQ/s320/IMG_9886.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>I let Henry lick the measuring cup we used for the peanut butter. He thought this was a delicious and fun treat!</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3W5lTYOKtA4CYDQak8D_uz8nkps6W1zFp5jZXhHKLsRGuwmrpe9GCG6J6LTFFCxWY787hv7niYu3y6sF7sFP05zWj35oSBPG8rKEDYuYBOxlTy1tIsUX-91EMZqZiEx3kXSB0AjKiLvc/s1600/IMG_9887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3W5lTYOKtA4CYDQak8D_uz8nkps6W1zFp5jZXhHKLsRGuwmrpe9GCG6J6LTFFCxWY787hv7niYu3y6sF7sFP05zWj35oSBPG8rKEDYuYBOxlTy1tIsUX-91EMZqZiEx3kXSB0AjKiLvc/s320/IMG_9887.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Henry transferred all of the marshmallows from the purple bowl into the white bowl. First he used his hands...</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaILnB5lybhcE2CyTmoVuST4QJ650Stt_O5b4o5KdGORu13aRAPKI5DuHBeJAoYr3II307am2pJKEcRnSoEPme4APIifdxXPxX8_tcjSXcENQ4fX5LzWuQKXpefu6A7KSsVMAE_JRojko/s1600/IMG_9889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaILnB5lybhcE2CyTmoVuST4QJ650Stt_O5b4o5KdGORu13aRAPKI5DuHBeJAoYr3II307am2pJKEcRnSoEPme4APIifdxXPxX8_tcjSXcENQ4fX5LzWuQKXpefu6A7KSsVMAE_JRojko/s320/IMG_9889.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Then he used a measuring cup.</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9VKU3zVyYtl4gLS_CsQBJcDA33qpGXrCsYG36lu_B7Rnh5lUS1b2uML5laH4ufVzr-Wh4ZQercPNRRCoib0-UAyHz8Yla50QGnOOkPIQBvKth3EaCp2WV5WPJWMO_fyKIR8YrlPt146o/s1600/IMG_9898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9VKU3zVyYtl4gLS_CsQBJcDA33qpGXrCsYG36lu_B7Rnh5lUS1b2uML5laH4ufVzr-Wh4ZQercPNRRCoib0-UAyHz8Yla50QGnOOkPIQBvKth3EaCp2WV5WPJWMO_fyKIR8YrlPt146o/s320/IMG_9898.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Henry wasn't so sure he liked how sticky the mixture was but he did help me stir a little.</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEavoKvoyp0MmAxPfDdYM-iJ-P-b2_gRvuMAKzvYU0CNC602rUjtcAX_NqRgwqa0TqG3Iz6R5RgPKTqNVl38lLtSMfSMbM92kkP2MGpsiuV_Wv0zHhyphenhyphenl-nK_FUfiVGqs-aZm8i_V5UMIU/s1600/IMG_9899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEavoKvoyp0MmAxPfDdYM-iJ-P-b2_gRvuMAKzvYU0CNC602rUjtcAX_NqRgwqa0TqG3Iz6R5RgPKTqNVl38lLtSMfSMbM92kkP2MGpsiuV_Wv0zHhyphenhyphenl-nK_FUfiVGqs-aZm8i_V5UMIU/s320/IMG_9899.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Henry with the finished product.</em></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikstlhMni87TX0HnHomaqwCaKEq43Z80wCU-U-0i8oBirLKzNNT4U0YlOPQk3LM0bN83Tg2pr-PN-U-l3ubN0HTp85J7WJCTXvHCNn93BlEZ4vZRFLb_xCSwHIn_67qokt43V8lbGtYyk/s1600/IMG_9904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikstlhMni87TX0HnHomaqwCaKEq43Z80wCU-U-0i8oBirLKzNNT4U0YlOPQk3LM0bN83Tg2pr-PN-U-l3ubN0HTp85J7WJCTXvHCNn93BlEZ4vZRFLb_xCSwHIn_67qokt43V8lbGtYyk/s320/IMG_9904.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em>Henry wanted to use the bowl and spatula more but they were sticky so I gave him some of his fuzzy pom-poms and a new utensil. He played with it long enough for me to write this blog post!</em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" style="text-align: center;">
</div>Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-4484920700594049922012-05-29T12:08:00.000-07:002012-05-29T12:08:07.357-07:005-Week Robot-iversaryYesterday marked five weeks since Henry got his robot (pacemaker). He celebrated by participating in the Ridgewood Memorial Day Fun Run (one mile). He ran/walked/meandered about 70% of the mile and took his time to play in the hoses and sprinklers people had out along the route. He finished in 27:56.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtG5u37i025zVxaT6JSTi-wzEYVMSTvgVnWbIHWKQbQu8Hz5SIZogIXlve_7YEo6jhVli3Du9XwrwcQWaEXdG8zcJ7RgfAfHmLVr-EbaMW-SNpGB9Nl3DC9-9E8JUHZlZlN6-KOMzgJwc/s1600/IMG_9838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtG5u37i025zVxaT6JSTi-wzEYVMSTvgVnWbIHWKQbQu8Hz5SIZogIXlve_7YEo6jhVli3Du9XwrwcQWaEXdG8zcJ7RgfAfHmLVr-EbaMW-SNpGB9Nl3DC9-9E8JUHZlZlN6-KOMzgJwc/s320/IMG_9838.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Lots of energy at the start!</em></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4qdH7-Zev6YgOCZNZRPq6nB134vms6-uZnknSR5l_mNuKqB8Vof3GY07uJpuA38od0fkVkXn_h0pZzOCfPfr9aOLcO6WKlRAGaWQ57g70FA1Kjuw-VRS9IA92K0bsXiKkEvcGi1o6lM/s1600/IMG_9870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4qdH7-Zev6YgOCZNZRPq6nB134vms6-uZnknSR5l_mNuKqB8Vof3GY07uJpuA38od0fkVkXn_h0pZzOCfPfr9aOLcO6WKlRAGaWQ57g70FA1Kjuw-VRS9IA92K0bsXiKkEvcGi1o6lM/s320/IMG_9870.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Proud Race Finisher with his medal</em></div>
<br />
And just for a little walk down memory lane, here are two photographs from last year's Memorial Day Fun Run.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvueW9Log1AjvoZ78AX_ZwWCpO8OqSgorC0kyFMwmlIy8O2-FJeTUjKQGTjGALLdjMdKI5S87Jr456HVMYzx7ppHnfxyyFP50Iwc8eBLk7q-pJE4i_d9YjLdMb6krlC_8iNTGYv654798/s1600/Memorial+Day+2011+Henry+in+Grass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvueW9Log1AjvoZ78AX_ZwWCpO8OqSgorC0kyFMwmlIy8O2-FJeTUjKQGTjGALLdjMdKI5S87Jr456HVMYzx7ppHnfxyyFP50Iwc8eBLk7q-pJE4i_d9YjLdMb6krlC_8iNTGYv654798/s320/Memorial+Day+2011+Henry+in+Grass.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02BY0yKPxR59i9WumMq8mXPziLdb6NRFCoF9c_EAtzWZTxU3pOU5GB43iQolwtN710ZalYmUAv712P9Qnk2b2y4G6T8F7or05D_hMDvMLWE4RoK5F2ggJhosFsHwCztMulzlernkNHnw/s1600/Henry+Memorial+Day+Run+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02BY0yKPxR59i9WumMq8mXPziLdb6NRFCoF9c_EAtzWZTxU3pOU5GB43iQolwtN710ZalYmUAv712P9Qnk2b2y4G6T8F7or05D_hMDvMLWE4RoK5F2ggJhosFsHwCztMulzlernkNHnw/s320/Henry+Memorial+Day+Run+2011.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<em>Daddy helping Henry finish the race. (He rode in a stroller the rest of the way last year.)</em></div>Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-91050107430248778542012-05-23T13:40:00.002-07:002012-05-23T13:40:49.427-07:0021 Month UpdateIt's hard to believe that Henry is now 21 months old (as of the 16th) and than in just three months we'll have a two-year old on our hands. I know it sounds cliche but time really does fly!<br />
<br />It's been four weeks since Henry got his pacemaker. Besides the scar we haven't noticed any difference in him. He was a super-trooper during the whole ordeal from the initial testing to the surgery to recovery. We feel very lucky to have such a "go with the flow" kid who is generally happy.<br />
<br />In addition to keeping our family and friends up to date with our activities, this blog is an electronic baby book for Henry so I want to keep up with his milestones. Here are some lists to help us remember what he's up to these days:<br />
<br />Things Henry Loves:<br />
-Going to the library<br />
-Playing with balls<br />
-Doing puzzles<br />
-Reading<br />
-Dancing<br />
-Going to music time at the library <br />
-Watching the videos of himself that we have on our phones<br />
-Drawing/Coloring<br />
<br />At 21 months Henry seems to genuinely love learning and is very curious about almost everything. (I hope this continues!). We've always been good about reading to him, pointing out letters and being fairly educational even during play with him. We never expected it to pay off so young. <br />
<br />
He can:<br />
-identify the letters of the alphabet by pointing at them and/or saying the names of letters we draw or point out to him. His favorite is spotting H's.<br />
-can draw an H (with such flourish on the horizontal line!)<br />
-identify basic colors (though blue and purple get mixed up sometimes)<br />
-make most animals sounds (including a peacock!)<br />
-sing the "Hey" part of the "Hey Song"<br />
-do the motions for many songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, etc.<br />
<br />He still uses some signs and some in conjunction with words (like saying More while doing the sign for More). We've found that he has his own Henry way of saying some words right now like a weird gutteral Kkkkkkk sound for Milk (not sure why he fixated on the end K sound) or "BoBo" for Toby the Turtle (his stuffed animal). Though we never set out to teach him signs beyond the basics, I am glad that we did because I feel it has really cut down on the frustration level of both Henry and us as he is able to communicate most things using some combination of sign, word, gesture, pointing, etc. <br />
<br />Some spoken words he uses (not including the signs he knows):<br />
-Most of our family names (Mama, Dada, PopPop, Ellen, etc.)<br />
-logo (as in the Mets logo in his Hello Mr. Met book....very useful word...haha)<br />
-guitar ('tar)<br />
-car<br />
-ball<br />
-Devils (du-dus)<br />
-bubble<br />
-turtle<br />
-spoon<br />
-tree<br />
-poop and pee-pee (though he sounds like he's saying tse-tse,which is funny)<br />
-moon<br />
-yes<br />
-no<br />
-more<br />
-up<br />
-down<br />
-Go go go! (Horse races, Devils hockey, getting ready to go in the car, etc.)<br />
-choo-choo<br />
-vroom (for cars, motorcycles, etc.)<br />
-He also makes an intense siren sound for fire trucks, ambulances and police cars<br />
-Bye-Bye<br />
-"That one" (dat-uhn)<br />
-uh-oh<br />
-two (his favorite number apparently)<br />
-baby<br />
-Body Parts: eye, nose, ear, toes, feet (he can also identify others but doesn't say them yet)<br />
-Food & Beverage: Banana, Apple (ah-ah), Juice, Water, Cheese, Tea<br />
-Colors: Blue, yellow, green, and purple all sound like they should. Red sounds kind of like red. Black, white and pink all are very abbreviated sounds like "ck", "ttt" and "nk".<br />
-He's just now starting to say his name on occasion, though he has to break it down into "hen" and "ry"...and sometimes he forgets the "ry" part!<br />
<br />Henry also can, in his own way, relay stories by using key words. Examples: pee-pee, feet, Bobo (To tell about how on Mother's Day he peed on my feet and on Toby the turtle!) and Ding Dong, *vomit sound*, uh-oh (to tell how he threw up on my mom when she was visiting after his surgery).<br />
<br />He will try to repeat words we use and has his own way of saying some other words too. It's amazing how quickly his verbal skills picked up in the last few weeks. I'm sure he'll be talking non-stop pretty soon.<br />
<br />During our visit with my parents he was reading "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" with my mom and she left out the last words in the lines and he was able to say most of the missing words. It was amazing. I had no idea he knew that story that well. We had him do it again before we left and I caught in on video:<br />
<object height="240" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" />
<param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/797324518429" />
<embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/797324518429" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="240"></embed></object>
<br />
<br />I'm amazed every day by the things he has learned that I don't even realize he's learned. It's a real testament to the sponge-like nature of little ones.<br />
<br />
I feel very lucky to be able to be home with him to watch him learn and grow. We also have gotten to do some fun things. This morning we went to see the Parade of Sail come up and down the Hudson. I had scoped out a shopping center with a big parking lot right along the water (thanks Google Earth!) and it was perfect. We had a great view and it wasn't too crowded. Henry enjoyed saluting the flags he saw flying on the boats and got to dance to the music of the band that was playing on one of the ships. It was a really neat way to spend the morning.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1-lF20xRRsUEitC8BSa_gpGE6hQXLCTMnQEPNxG2gYzsexoKuHPn7SBdHXMoIny6I2XxfoILfo5M1Pf8D6xl1xM6Tu31QxKgY_GPsZp5MhEVgFI1MUNc6EjJ-hae59JJoEva9XknmOU/s1600/IMG_9753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1-lF20xRRsUEitC8BSa_gpGE6hQXLCTMnQEPNxG2gYzsexoKuHPn7SBdHXMoIny6I2XxfoILfo5M1Pf8D6xl1xM6Tu31QxKgY_GPsZp5MhEVgFI1MUNc6EjJ-hae59JJoEva9XknmOU/s320/IMG_9753.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6cDBaxCl7ZIZnXZ4eM5WprtjNq9Sw8yOZn6Dq5_lkVfhtIyCr6Tn86So2nh_HMYgQFvpNJ3sW6odXvFidRIwoWyPj-O9fSZFkd_nDhlT0L2fZ9uQRXTZ7l5pUTr-g6nIuWbGs-IlpJM/s1600/IMG_9778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6cDBaxCl7ZIZnXZ4eM5WprtjNq9Sw8yOZn6Dq5_lkVfhtIyCr6Tn86So2nh_HMYgQFvpNJ3sW6odXvFidRIwoWyPj-O9fSZFkd_nDhlT0L2fZ9uQRXTZ7l5pUTr-g6nIuWbGs-IlpJM/s320/IMG_9778.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-89462241117482945352012-05-08T13:20:00.001-07:002012-05-08T13:20:14.163-07:00Almost Back To NormalI apologize for the lack of updates in the last week or so. We've been busy getting back to normal after Henry's surgery. If you couldn't see his incision, you'd had no idea he had anything done! He's up to his old tricks like standing on his Sit & Spin, running around, dancing, etc. It's amazing how quickly he recovered. We are so thankful that he handled everything so well and had a relatively easy recovery (once he didn't have to take his antibiotics anymore...let's just say our garbagemen probably passed out from our trash during those few days!).<br />
<br />
He had a follow-up appointment with his cardiologist to make sure things were going well and that no fluid had collected around the heart. Everything looked great and he was a trooper again during his echocardiogram. (The cardiologist called him "mature for his age"!) We won't have to see his cardiologist anymore. Instead, his appointments will now just be with his electrophysiologist to make sure the pacemaker is working correctly.<br />
<br />
He's able to take baths and do just about everything we usually do. I'm holding off on playgrounds for now and we haven't really wrestled just yet. The surgeon told us we could keep the bandages off his incision after the first few days but Henry's been itching it a little at night so until it heals a little more we're going to keep it covered so he doesn't hurt it at night.<br />
<br />
We are back to our routine of library time, music time, grocery shopping, playing, etc. Right now he is really into doing puzzles and practicing his letters, especially drawing Hs. (He's getting quite good at it!) I will write a more in depth "developmental update" later this month when he hits 21 months (holy cow!).<br />
<br />
Today Henry and I ran some errands and then went to a library in a neighboring town that we don't go to very often. They have a fishtank there and Henry loves fish so we checked it out. When we first looked in there was a dead fish in one of the plants at the bottom of the tank. Henry pointed at it so I told him that the fish was taking a nap. Henry pointed at the fish again and said "Night Night." I guess the librarians heard me because when we were doing puzzles (away from the aquarium) I heard them discuss it and remove it from the tank. As we were leaving Henry wanted to look at the fish again. He looked around the tank and then pointed to where the dead fish had been and said "Bye Bye, Night Night." Cracked me up.<br />
<br />
To close this post, here is a picture I took yesterday morning of Henry in his PJs doing his tool puzzle:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQstr8BkSqzShbsP10rlF7rV7Aw_E5R6OUhUATQUYhDZI19DAy4D08Y7NaO2UD4C18suIgevsf-DfAYye-zf-AVYHFxDiCvZ9G37u2gQkUbK9XHiW8Ck5pm_KvV28-r-rhoDEJmP0K_c/s1600/Henry+Puzzle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQstr8BkSqzShbsP10rlF7rV7Aw_E5R6OUhUATQUYhDZI19DAy4D08Y7NaO2UD4C18suIgevsf-DfAYye-zf-AVYHFxDiCvZ9G37u2gQkUbK9XHiW8Ck5pm_KvV28-r-rhoDEJmP0K_c/s320/Henry+Puzzle.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3985315752405335127.post-5179046900129067802012-04-26T17:08:00.000-07:002012-04-26T17:08:42.301-07:00Robot Day 2 and Home!When we last posted Henry was napping nicely in his 9th floor ICU room. A few hours later they told us that we would be moved to his new room soon. Before we left, though, we noticed he was starting to be a little upset again and we found he still hadn't gone to the bathroom on his own and his bladder was getting large and hard again. The nice day nurse Betsy gave him a quick catheter (first try!) and provided him some much needed relief before heading down to the 6th floor.<br />
<br />
Henry must have thought he was in a parade while being wheeled through the ICU, to the elevators and to his new room. He was sitting up and very smiley. The new room was certainly much less fancy than his ICU room. It was a big space shared by four patients, separated by a few little walls and curtains. Henry made his grand entrance into his section of the room and found his entourage waiting there! The day nurse (Annie...she was awesome!) was amused to see everyone there waiting for Henry. It was nice, though, to have family there so we could take turns being with Henry, eating, etc.<br />
<br />
Around 3:30 they came and removed the chest tube that had been used to drain the excess fluids from around the area where they put in the pacemaker. There was a surprising amount of tubing in there! We were excited to have the tube removed because it meant that Henry could walk around. He kept telling us "down, down" but when he was finally down to walk he wasn't too happy about it. We persisted though and managed to walk to the play room....which we found out had just closed! Ack! So back to the room for books, DVDs, toys, etc.<br />
<br />
Here is Henry, happy to be in his new room:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz9SQRese-qc-E-nuITPjRPQPkcCEFid1eg_GgaElaGb3lufP_suwiVzJoLcKEYbJnMjmOY2SD3RF-76SqyHLqi7P9wJMVYMVRjP8Snu-WIHaIk9VWcCGdusFjHyX7ihiyujDUxjoLmg/s1600/New+Room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpz9SQRese-qc-E-nuITPjRPQPkcCEFid1eg_GgaElaGb3lufP_suwiVzJoLcKEYbJnMjmOY2SD3RF-76SqyHLqi7P9wJMVYMVRjP8Snu-WIHaIk9VWcCGdusFjHyX7ihiyujDUxjoLmg/s1600/New+Room.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Our families left around 8 or so and we settled in the room for the night. Henry was off of the IV pain meds and was taking some by mouth. It must not have tasted good because he was not a fan of it! Poor kid was also constipated so the night nurse had to give him a little help. Later he drank some milk and we though he was ready for bed. Apparently he had other plans... For some reason he would not settle into a deep sleep. He would doze off and then his whole body would jerk and he'd wake up upset. This went on for hours. Eddie and I finally started doing shifts so that we could at least get some sleep. We let the nurse know what was going on and one of the cardiologists on call came in to see Henry. She was great with him and after looking told us the sleep issue may be his reaction to pain meds, being overtired or being "hyper-vigilant" (meaning he was paranoid someone was going to poke or prod him). <br />
<br />
After what seemed like a long night the sun was coming up, the day nurse returned (we really liked her). She got us started with his prep to go home! His bandage came off his chest and we were able to see his incision for the first time. It is very thin right in the middle of his sternum and about 2-2.5 inches long. They use stitches much like plastic surgeons use so the scar should be very thin. Once he was de-bandaged he had an EKG, echocardiogram and chest x-ray that the surgical team reviewed to make sure things were going okay. We were pleased to find out that things were looking really good (a few different doctors remarked about how well things had gone) and that he'd be released around lunchtime! <br />
<br />
But before we left we had one more projectile incident (fun!) but he finally dozed off after it. So while we waited to be be released he slept on Eddie's lap and then mine. One of the last things they did for Henry was disconnect all of the IV tubes and sensor cables. Henry was really glad to be "freed" of all of the IV tubes because that meant they could take off the little boards that were holding one wrist and the other elbow straight.<br />
<br />
We packed up our belongings, changed Henry into his "real" clothes and headed out to meet Eddie's dad who drove us home. <br />
<br />
Here is Henry in his cool dude sunglasses, happy to be going home:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4srmegnBt9B1UVOqIVg8Km-baADQMg9KpjhbtFrR1bU3UlZE6CXN68eUdxx1hbBMH7j0QQ9shYzQf1EsQDNLuvcvUu1m5T5q8zqcBmisTcnNYNRHWOwQAlHE4ec0Y2Nxnu5LWJZKuIBY/s1600/Going+Home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4srmegnBt9B1UVOqIVg8Km-baADQMg9KpjhbtFrR1bU3UlZE6CXN68eUdxx1hbBMH7j0QQ9shYzQf1EsQDNLuvcvUu1m5T5q8zqcBmisTcnNYNRHWOwQAlHE4ec0Y2Nxnu5LWJZKuIBY/s320/Going+Home.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
<br />
We got back around 1:30 and we were so happy to be home! Henry seemed to be happy to be home too. He drank a little juice and then needed a nap. He took a nice nap in his crib while Eddie showered and I snoozed. <br />
<br />
My mom made a delicious meatloaf dinner for us and we enjoyed it. Even Henry felt up to sitting at the table like a big boy and had a few bites of food. He really perked up after dinner and enjoyed playing "catch" with Ding Dong (my mom) and then went nuts when Aunt Kitty brought him balloons!<br />
<br />
Here is Henry have some fun at home:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVg1nEooyulwjsa3aUN1u_oNA7EOSX8nF4DoVS8xf5OKKgN0BGyWK_NE8ODiQEYXZ_feykadhh8fXr8SVrOwfvEpurLHfyFZQSitcRAFakCy_TsZJRZmC1gd3MHe_DngHpZhfxL2ZOvw/s1600/Balloons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVg1nEooyulwjsa3aUN1u_oNA7EOSX8nF4DoVS8xf5OKKgN0BGyWK_NE8ODiQEYXZ_feykadhh8fXr8SVrOwfvEpurLHfyFZQSitcRAFakCy_TsZJRZmC1gd3MHe_DngHpZhfxL2ZOvw/s320/Balloons.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNZhJM79JPN0eV6F60iCUpi0BBTffcvv4UM4NETZgOSFZxfEhpWh-ugTVNwiUl_bu-INa5thFAAOOeYOshdWhlNG-TbW6nJtfPXNfMvXUz8P5OW-NoAL7p9h0N2kVxo3_HK3gaDtZQ3g/s1600/Puzzle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNZhJM79JPN0eV6F60iCUpi0BBTffcvv4UM4NETZgOSFZxfEhpWh-ugTVNwiUl_bu-INa5thFAAOOeYOshdWhlNG-TbW6nJtfPXNfMvXUz8P5OW-NoAL7p9h0N2kVxo3_HK3gaDtZQ3g/s320/Puzzle.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
We gave him his first dose of antibiotics and quickly saw them again as he did his Exorcist impression. (Poor kid!) We got him cleaned up and did bedtime as usual. He was fussy on and off while sleeping and Eddie and I were thankful that my mom had a "sleepover" with Henry and kept him calm so we could sleep. We did have some "fun" in the middle of the night when Henry had some milk and promptly did another Exorcist...all over my mom! Thankfully we all have a good sense of humor about everything and he was cleaned up and back in bed in no time.<br />
<br />
This morning he was cuddly when he got up and had some quality time with Eddie on the couch. He perked up again and played with some puzzles, his dry-erase board, etc. MomMom and PopPop came for a visit and he liked having them here. They played with his piggy bank and threw the ball around. MomMom even got him to eat a little lunch! It was a small victory until we tried his antibiotics again....same result as last night after just one little taste! (The texture is kind of gritty.) I put the rest of the dose in a spoon with some apple sauce and we had good results. We gave him some milk and he was down for a nap. <br />
<br />
It's nice to have him back at home and getting back to his normal everyday activities. Tomorrow we'll be able to give him a shower, which should make him feel much better! We are just hoping his appetite and "drive to drink" (a phrase one of the doctors used...made me laugh a little) return some more and that he can keep his medicine down.<br />
<br />
Thank you again for all of your support and kind words! It has made a huge difference for us!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Beth Seavershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14709733236049897047noreply@blogger.com1