Katie Had a Little Lamb

Anyone who knows Kate also knows Lambie.  Lambie is her favorite thing in the whole world. 

 Well yesterday we got word that Fox Hollow Farm had a new baby lamb.  Sadly her momma couldn't produce enough milk to take care of her, so the Scuderi's were bottle feeding the lamb every three hours.  They invited the kids over to pet the newest member of their family.   The first lamb of the season (Adam) was born about a month ago; however, he was nestled in the back of the barn with his momma.  So Kate could only get a glimpse of Adam when he was born.  Today, Kate had a front row seat to see four day old Bummer the Lamb (yes, really.  my guess is their daughter named the lamb because it was a "bummer" that her mom couldn't take care of her.  Regardless of the silly name, Kate absolutely loved petting the lamb. I'm so grateful that the Scuderi family is so welcoming to our kids.  They love to go to the farm. 

Are we in Maryland anymore??

I posted a few weeks ago about how mild our winter weather has been this year. Did I sleep through January and February and March, to awaken in April?   I keep finding myself asking if I am still in Maryland?  I think my dear friend Peggy has been having similar temperatures in L.A. as we've been having in Maryland.  Maybe our wind is a little nippier here, and the occasional flurry does awaken us from the dream that winter has disappeared from the calendar completely.  But in all my years of living in the Old Line State, I have NEVER experienced such a mild, beautiful winter!!  Today I just had to get out in the sunshine and fresh air.  So inspite of a little bluster here and there, we ran (or drove as the case may be) as fast as we could to a park to meet up with some friends.   Kate, Georgia and Laney quickly settled in on the tire swing, and there they stayed for most of the time we were there.  They called it their "girl party", and they screamed and yelled and sang as loud as they could. It was a picture of pure joy!   Have at it girls!  

While the girls dizzied themselves with laughter and circles, I chased after a very mobile Nathan!  That boy is fast!   But I loved that he got to get outside and run around today.

 
I did finally find a way to confine him, but much to my disappointment he wasn't too thrilled with the swing.  He was off and running again soon!

 

So I hear they are calling for snow on Sunday.   Snow. What's that?   I'll believe it when I see it.

Monday at the Soccerplex!

We've been going a little stir-crazy.  After a weekend of bitter cold weather and arctic blasts of wind, we needed to get out of the house.  A friend of mine introduced me to Monday morning playtime at the Soccerplex.  The kids can run wild in one of their indoor "fields"; and they have piles of balls, toys, scooters, and fun things for the kids to play with.  Here a few fun pics from our morning today:

 (not sure if you can see the static in Kate's hair; apparently astro-turf and winter hair are highly incompatible!)

The parachute is always a huge attraction for all the kids.  Today my kiddos managed to score a lot of parachute time.  And since that usually means mom dragging them around the field, I got a great arm workout too!

 After awhile, Kate took over the dragging.  Apparently, she can do it better than I can.  Of course, she can.

Oh, and time-outs still work at the soccer-plex.  Kate found that out a few times this morning!  All in all, it was  fun morning for everyone.  It's nice that they are contained and can feel some freedom to go where they want and do what they want.  As long as you dress them in bright colors or vivid patterns as to easily spot them, it is a pretty stress-free morning.  Thank goodness!!

Where is the snow?????

Poor Katie!  She has been waiting and waiting for the snow to fall.  She wants desparately to make a snow angel and a snow man.   She wants to catch snowflakes on the tongue. But the snow has eluded us all winter!  We had one day in January when the snow fell for a few minutes, and I scooted the kids out as fast as I could so they could feel snow this winter.  I think it was Nathan's first time really being in a snowfall.  They enjoyed it, even if it was only for a few minutes.

 

 Kate got the chance to catch a few snowflakes on her tongue.  We'll have to wait for another day for snow angels and snowmen.

 It did get a little cold, so the kids found shelter in Kate's play house.   And after a they had enough, we went inside and made hot chocolate, curled up under blankets, and shared an afternoon snack.  

This was a good day.

Source: Uploaded by user via Sarah on Pinterest

Christmas Sing

Kate has been practicing her Christmas songs for months now.  And today her day to shine finally arrived; it was the Covenant United Methodist Preschool's Annual Christmas Sing.   Kate was beside herself with excitment.  She practically skipped down the center aisle to her front row stage seat.   (Notice the orange heart sticker on her sweater; that is her self-appointed good luck charm for the day.)

 This shot is so blurry, I almost didn't even include it.  However, you can still see her about to burst she is so excited!

 And well now, 8 songs in, she's not so trilled anymore.  Is it time for cookies yet?

A Baker in the Making

Kate loves her baking projects with Mom.  So much in fact, that she asks to bake almost everyday.  Santa brought her an early Christmas present this year:  an apron of her own.  Now she can be just like Mommy when she bakes.   And we had the perfect project to use her new apron for:  gingerbread men cookies!   

 

 And Kate even does the dishes!