Sturtevant Twins

It's Cuteness Galore. B & Q Just Turned Four!

2012-02-23T08:15:24Z

We're FOUR which means we are cuter and feistier than ever!

Here are their stats at age 3 for comparison: Two Turn Three

In terms of growth, they have really skyrocketed. In height, they went from the 3rd and 5th percentiles to the 32nd and 41st percentiles in one year. As usual, they are within 1in and 1lb of each other.

Bettie
Height 39in (32nd percentile)
Weight 34.5lbs (46th percentile)

Quade
Height 40in (41st percentile)
Weight 34.3lbs (34th percentile)

The kids are both really independent now - mostly dressing themselves, putting on their shoes, eating on their own with the proper utensils, using good table manners (this is a very recent development), clearing their plates after dinner, helping sweep the floors after dinner & last but not least, cleaning up their toys. Oh man, that last one we have been working on for y-e-a-r-s but they are finally getting the hang of it. "When you are done, please put it back." They still need frequent reminders of course, but at least they will comply and know to put back whatever they take out. Hallelujah!

We also tested Quade's allergies again and he is now down to only 2 allergies! He used to be allergic to milk, eggs, soy, tomato, carrot, fish, tree nuts, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat, citrus & sweet potato.

He is still allergic to wheat, but it is not as severe as it used to be and we've found that he reacts strongly to a preservative, Ca Disodium EDTA which is a nasty one. We've switched many of our products to organic products so we don't have to worry about harmful additives and preservatives like this one.

In the last couple of months, we have been able to add soy and sunflower seeds and sesame seeds to his diet. He no longer has any feeding or texture issues and has a hearty appetite now. That is such a blessing!

As of this Summer, Bettie started using public restrooms which has made my life lightyears easier. I can't even tell you how much easier it is on both of us. Even the loudest and most offensive places (Target, Costco) are ok now. I still need to help her on and off, but I am more than thrilled that she is able to handle the sensory overload of smells, people coming and going, automatic flushers, LOUD air dryers, etc. and still take care of business. She is also making great progress in her speech class and is working very hard on her articulation.

Andy and I are very proud of both of them!

We Be Illin'

2012-02-23T07:05:16Z

January came and went and February is nearly over. Wow!

Basically, January was a very tough month for us and I just didn't have the bandwidth to post any updates until now. **Warning: Debbie Downer Post**

Remember when Bettie caught some kind of virus the week of our Christmas travels? Well, it has taken her nearly two months to get well. TWO MONTHS! This poor kid has had fevers on and off, horrible congestion, croupy cough, a sinus infection & a double ear infection. The doctors had her on 3 different sets of antibiotics trying to clear the ear infection so it doesn't damage her hearing again, but none of them really worked. After 30 days (yes, thirty) of antibiotics we said enough is enough and took her off everything. I don't even want to know what damage all of those antibiotics did to her poor little body. Oh and she had an allergic reaction to one of the OTC cold medicines. Great.

Both Bettie and I were up all night, every night for most of January. She couldn't breathe because of her congestion and I was averaging 2-4 hours of fractured sleep every night for a month plus. It was beyond brutal!

I discontinued the antibiotics and we are using a more holistic approach which is actually working! She is off dairy completely (after a 6 week gluten-free trial failed to yield results), getting steam baths with eucalyptus essential oil, mentholatum rub, benadryl in the morning and evening to dry her out & help with allergies, saline nasal rinses 3x daily & "Just for kids organic cold care herbal tea". After just a week on this new regimen, Bettie is 90% well. It's amazing.

Quade got a different virus and was really sick for about a week. Then he had a bad reaction to his polio vaccine. He had a fever for 5 days and was just miserable. A fever for a day or so is normal, but not five. He is back to his regular, active and chatty self now.

Andy and I were sick also. I got the flu and it was the sickest I've been in years. Because I was up with Bettie all night, every night, I didn't have the energy to get well myself. That and being pregnant, I'm not able to take any medicines except for Sudafed which does nothing. I was desperate to get some good cough medicine, but I just waited it out because I didn't want to take anything that might harm the baby of course. So Bettie & I were both so sick for so long. The flu cycled through the family TWICE.

Oh and we got pink eye twice also. Here I was bragging that no one in the family had been sick all year and then BAM - we got slammed.

Thankfully, we are all well now. The weather has been gorgeous and we are starting to get caught up with school activities, which means parent meetings, education classes, workshops & report writing for me but it's all really beneficial. The kids didn't have a birthday party this year, but we may have a half-birthday party in the Summer for them. We are back on track now and it feels good!

23 Weeks - Belly Photo

2012-01-14T08:17:47Z

Wow, 23 weeks already. The holidays sure made the time go by very quickly! I am getting pretty big but still feeling good. I get mild back pains every now and again but no real complaints. It feels great to have the energy to do all of the things I want to do and not have any real discomfort! I'm in maternity clothes all of the time now and am obviously pregnant. It's nice when people comment on my belly or on the baby!

It is different the second time around though. When I go out by myself or with 1 child, people see my pregnant belly and give me such an adoring look as if to say, "Awww...how sweet".

When I am out by myself with the twins (99% of the time), people see my belly and give me a look that can best be described as a combination of shock and horror. I guess I should get used to it though. In this area, a family of 5 is a large family and having 3 children in 4 years is definitely out of the norm. Yes, we'll have our hands full but we wouldn't want it any other way!

My nesting instinct is kicking in as I'm starting to collect lots of baby hand-me-downs from friends. My friends have already shared the following items with us: tons of 0-6mo clothes, a swing, bouncer, bathtub, exersaucer, bumbo seat, toys and more. This baby is already so spoiled! We are hoping to move before the baby is born so that we will have a 3rd bedroom for the baby. I am really eager to get things set up for our new baby!

I have a 24 week Dr appointment next week. I think it's just a regular check up and I expect everything to be a-ok.

Just to compare, here is my 17week photo:
http://sturtevanttwins.com/2011/12/05/17-weeks---belly-photo.aspx

Christmas 2011

2012-01-07T06:08:31Z

Our Christmas Extravaganza came and went so quickly. It was a busy but fun time! We were on the road for all of Christmas week with 5 family celebrations in 5 cities and 800+ miles of car travel. With two preschoolers and a pregnant momma, that was quite a feat!

We started out by going to Grandma Betty and Grandpa Bill's house in Waterford. Andy & I enjoyed our time and the kids did too!

We stayed the night and had a great Christmas Eve dinner with the Boyd side of the family. It was especially nice to spend some time with Great Grandpa Bill and hear about his experiences in WWII.

The cousins loved playing together and I was happy that the kids got to spend some time with the family.

Next, we had our own family celebration at home in San Jose. Bettie got a new CD player so that she can play her own music whenever she likes. Oh boy does she love this! She knew how to work it right away and plays her favorite CDs everyday (Music Together, 50 Silly Songs, Kids Express Train). Quade got a die-cast metal, battery operated Thomas. He has been asking for a "Thomas that goes all by himself" and loves watching Thomas pull the other cars around his tracks.

Then we had my family's celebration in San Francisco. Can you tell what a great time the kids had tearing up the house with their cousin? The adults got to hang out and chat for *hours* while the kids played on their own. Did I mention that they kept themselves occupied for hours? It was pretty much awesome!

One of our favorite annual celebrations is at Bonny Doon. The whole Sturtevant family comes from all over the world to celebrate this special time together. It's such a joyous time and it's wonderful to have the family all together. Great Grammy Sturtevant gave us the beginnings of her autobiography. It was fascinating learning many of the details of her early life and having them in writing is just incredible.

We enjoyed a yummy, all gluten-free meal, presents for the kids and lots of fun cousin time!

I couldn't resist posting pictures of Bettie & Quade in their matching outfits. Aren't they adorable? I'm afraid my days of matchy-matchy clothes are coming to a close as I got a bit of push-back from both Bettie & Quade this year. I talked them into wearing these outfits by calling them "Pingu" and "Pinga" (favorite cartoon penguins) costumes.

Last but not least was Grandpa Mike and Grandma Dorothy's celebration in Sonora. With all of that exposure, travel, no naps & late bedtimes, Bettie got very sick. Our poor little one had a double ear infection plus a virus and was such a trooper even though she was ill! We weren't sure if we would make it to Sonora, but we did. We had such a relaxing time with Grandma & Grandpa once we got there.

Andy's brother and sister and their families are such a blast to be around.

The kids got to spend quality time with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Dorothy going for walks, playing ping-pong (read: throwing pp balls at each other), enjoying their cousins and new presents of course!

Holiday TAXI

2012-01-04T07:53:45Z

So we have this Cozy Coupe car that the twins got for their 2nd birthday. You know the one...the bright, plastic, kid-powered car (think: Fred Flintstone style) that most every kid has played with at some point.

When Bettie is driving the car, it's name is "Cozy Coupe" and when Quade is driving, it's name is "Taxi". I have no idea why.

At some point last month, Quade told me that his Christmas wish was to decorate Taxi for Christmas and drive him around Christmas in the Park at night. Quade was just sure that everyone would marvel at Taxi and say, "Wow! Look at that Taxi. He looks so great!"

We thought it would be pretty cool to make his wish come true.

We took the kids to the Dollar Store and let them pick out all of the decorations they thought Taxi would like. They got ornaments, lights, garlands and more.
Bettie & Quade decorated Taxi with our help. Can you say...WAY too much tape?
We drove Taxi (and the kids) to Christmas in the Park one evening after dinner and let Bettie & Quade take turns showing off their creation.

We got many adoring looks and tons of smiles. Really, it was just too cute.

Here is Quade ready to head out

Crusin through Christmas in the Park just as proud as could be

We ran into friends Margot and Finn there who sufficiently Ooohed and Aaaahed over Holiday Taxi and how great he looked. That was exactly what Quade was looking for and it totally made his night!

We were happy that his Christmas wish came true.

Half Time Baby Update

2011-12-31T06:19:30Z

I can't believe that I am already 20+ weeks pregnant. Halfway there! It has gone by so incredibly fast and I really just want time to slow down. It's such a special time.

I spend an inordinate amount of time in the evenings just marveling at our new baby. Most evenings you can find me with my feet up, surfing the interwebs and watching my tummy with a stethoscope around my neck. I love listening to her heartbeat! Every few minutes, I shout out to Andy, "OMG did you see that?! Wow! That was amazing! Come here, you have to feel her!"

I stare at my belly and watch her poke my belly and feel her dancing in there. I talk to her and feel her respond. It's such a gift. I feel that I am bonding with this baby already because there is only ONE baby to talk to and when I feel movement, I know exactly who it is! It sounds funny, but it wasn't the same when I was trying to get to know TWO different babies at the same time while they were in my tummy.

She is so incredibly active! She kicks and moves so much. I feel more movement with this baby than I felt with the twins at this stage. To be fair, she has a lot more room to move. She is amazingly strong and sometimes the kicks are so hard that they stop me in my tracks. It's reassuring to know that I have a healthy, strong baby girl growing in there.

Andy was able to feel the movement at 16 weeks which is almost unheard of. Andy & I can WATCH her move my tummy with little jabs from 19 weeks on. Crazy! She already has a schedule and is awake and moving from 9:30pm to at least midnight or sometimes 1am. I'm sure that has nothing to do with my nightly hot cocoa with marshmallows and whipped cream. Pure coincidence, I'm sure. hee hee

My next check-up is in 3 weeks.

1st Nutcracker Ballet

2011-12-31T05:30:18Z

I have been itching to take the kids to the Nutcracker ballet but wanted to wait until they were mature enough to really enjoy it. This was the year! Instead of a children's theater production, we sprung for the real, full-length, adult performance at the Center for Performing Arts put on by the San Jose Ballet.

I am so glad that we didn't cheap out, because the performance was breathtaking! It was truly a delight to watch and we were all entranced by the music, the story and the costumes. This will definitely be one of our annual holiday traditions!

Ready for the performance to begin

Posing in the gorgeous new holiday outfits that Great Aunt Geraldine sent

I'm rockin' the 19wk belly and Andy is sportin' the famous "Holiday Mustache" that only makes a brief appearance once a year around the holidays

I was impressed that Quade remembered the whole story of the Nutcracker from the puppet show we went to & followed along the whole time. He thought Clara was a "beautiful ballerina"

Bettie and Quade were perfect little theater patrons for the first half but were rather squirmy for the 2nd half. Squirmy but quiet. I can't blame them though. By the 2nd hour, even Andy and I were having a hard time sitting still!

This is what intermission is for, right? Andy and the kids ran and ran. He's the best Daddy ever.

Just give these kids a patch of grass to run around on and they are as happy as clams!

Fantasy of Lights / Holiday Train

2011-12-26T05:29:33Z

One of our favorite traditions of the season is to ride the Holiday Train in Los Gatos. I think that Andy and I get more excited than the kids do about this train. We bundle up after dinner and ride the open air train cars admiring the larger-than-life holiday light displays. Afterwards, we each have a hot cocoa & ride the carousel. It's magical.

waiting for our turn

'
ready to roll

This year, we drove through the park to see the lights in addition to the train ride, mostly because I goofed up. We intended on riding the train and even invited friends John, Margot, Finny and Henry to join us. They arrived at the park first only to find that the train was not running that day. Doh! I guess I should have checked the schedule first! I felt awful, but all was not lost. We all grabbed a quick bite to eat and then hopped in our warm cars to drive through the "Fantasy of Lights" while listening to holiday music on our car radios. The kids were happy that they got to see the animated light displays (especially the dinosaurs) and we ended up going on the train a few days later. Whew! #disasteraverted

warm & comfy in the car singing along to holiday favorites such as: Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey, Feliz Navidad & Jingle Bell Rock.

Last School Day Before Winter Break

2011-12-22T06:33:15Z

Here are a few pics from the kids' last day at their nature school before their winter break.

To be completely honest, I have a love/hate relationship with this school. It is A LOT of work for the parents (twice as much for twin parents) and there are a few kids there with big behavior issues, but days like today make me fall in love with the school all over again. Bettie and Quade simply adore it and are so happy there. I love watching them blossom!

Bettie starting out her day on the rocking boat - a great sensory activity!

Each child rolled, cut & decorated their own gingerbread cookie. Bettie picked the baby gingerbread cookie cutter and put just a few raisins on as buttons. Sweet and simple.

Quade made a big gingerbread boy & covered it in coconut and cranberries - a very fancy cookie. When it came time to eat, Quade had his gluten-free sugar cookie version of the gingerbread boy.

He saw that everyone else had a brown cookie, so he got a cinnamon stick and started grating it over his cookie (2nd photo) in an attempt to make it brown. Very clever & a little sad too. #mommyfail. Next year, I promise to make him real, gluten-free gingerbread cookies!

Bettie and her friend were playing Bakery, buying & selling cardboard gingerbread "cookies"

Each child made their own candle holder by using the hot glue gun (with help) to affix a candle, brechts, leaves, sweetgum fruits, fir cones & moss to a tree round which they called a "tree cookie". Bettie, once again, chose to keep hers simple with just a candle. Quade's was very ornate and had at least one of every item on it.

At circle time, each of the children sat with their candles as the teacher lit them. They were in awe! We learned about how different cultures celebrate with lights during the short, dark days of winter. The kids spoke about how lights are used in their family traditions. It was a very rich experience. We loved it!

Race Video (better quality)

2011-12-21T06:39:41Z

I love, love, love this video. It says so much.

*Quade and Bettie are in yellow*

Off To The Races

2011-12-21T05:46:06Z

Mid-December kicks off birthday season for us. Most of Bettie and Quade's friends have their birthdays within the next few months so we will be doing lots of partying!

Their friend Ryan had a relay race birthday party with a real track coach and everything. Bettie and Quade have zero exposure to track and field events or sports of any kind, but they sure did love it!

Here are the 3 year olds (and one brand new 4yr old) warming up

Bettie had a blast! I had no idea that she would love it so much. She did every single event. It was so much fun to watch her.

Quade insisted on wearing his Cal track suit because he wanted to be "Number 1". He was ready to win!

Bettie & Quade's first ever long jump. Quade was really good at it but jumped from too far back this time. Next time for sure! Bettie did more of a long hop but was very proud of herself nonetheless. I was very proud of both of them for trying something new and doing it with such gusto!

Quade's favorite event was the hurdles. He got to use his "big legs" to clear the hurdles. Look at him fly!

Baby's 18 Week Ultrasound (photos)

2011-12-20T08:23:00Z

Our ultrasound was all good news.
The ultrasound tech is certain that we have a Baby GIRL!!!

We are very excited but Quade insists that the baby is a boy. We kept telling him that he is having a baby sister and he kept saying that he is having a baby brother. We were going back and forth and his final response was priceless:

"I'm not going to argue. We will just have to wait and see when the baby comes out."

The baby's anatomy appears to be completely normal and she is still growing a few days ahead of schedule. She reminds me a lot of Bettie in that she has the same big tummy, super long legs and is very active just like Bettie was.

Baby is lying transverse, across my tummy and pressed right up against the placenta.

This was supposed to be our last ultrasound, but I don't want to go another 20+ weeks without seeing my baby again. I was so spoiled with the twins because I got to see them at least once a month and every week towards the end. When baby is bigger, we will probably get one of those fancy 3-D ultrasounds in the next month or two just like we did with Bettie and Quade. so.much.fun.

Kaiser Ultrasound Drama

2011-12-20T08:13:03Z

Andy and I were so excited to see our baby again. The kids were so tired after a day at preschool and no naps and no lunch but were champs. Andy took time off work & met me at Kaiser. We check in and they tell us that we don't have an appointment. Wait...what?!

They said that somehow our appointment was moved to another Kaiser facility without our knowledge or consent. Oh and we had already missed said appointment. I had just confirmed my appointment at my facility with my doctors the day prior so I asked to see this information in writing. Of course, they would not provide it. I accessed my account online and lo and behold, the appointment that was there the day prior had been erased. There was no longer any record of it or of the other appointment I supposedly had. Very strange!

Long story short, the manager said that she couldn't fit us in until the end of January. Oh H-E-double hockey sticks No. In terms of prenatal screening, it is very important to have measurements taken within the next 2 weeks. Andy and I insisted that we weren't leaving until we got our ultrasound.

They agreed to have a tech work overtime and see us at 5pm. They were booked solid with techs working through lunches and breaks for the next month plus. Kaiser has so many members now and apparently not enough resources. The scan was rushed and we were distracted trying to keep B&Q quiet and out of trouble, but it was still great to see our baby and get the report.

They got the measurements they needed for the 2nd Trimester Screening results. I was "screen negative" for the common genetic conditions & birth defects. Great news!

We finally got our 18 week ultrasound and anatomy scan.

Fighting Irish

2011-12-17T06:15:16Z

One of Nanny's lifelong dreams has been to take the whole family to a Notre Dame football game and she made it come true at this year's Notre Dame v. Stanford game. The whole family went to the game held at Stanford stadium except for Uncle Josh who was out of town.

We were all decked out in our Fighting Irish gear and had a lot of fun cheering on our team even though they lost miserably. This was the first football game we have been to as a family and the twins' first football game ever.

Andy walking Bettie and Quade in to the stadium

Our seats couldn't have been any better. I took this pic from my seat. Look at how close we were to the field! Sitting on the ND side of the stadium & being with fellow Fighting Irish fans was awesome.

Our first of many Notre Dame football games

One of the highlights was seeing Nanny cheering on her team with a giant "Erin Go Bragh" flag draped around her!

December Fun

2011-12-16T07:13:36Z

Bettie and Quade got a chance to play with all of their twin buddies. They have had the same group of twin friends since they were 6mos old. It's hard getting all of the kids together with different preschool schedules, dance classes, work, etc. but we all meet up at least once a year. Here they are, the 4 sets of fraternal twins born all within 2 mos of each other!

After reading "The Gingerbread Boy" book at school, Quade was begging me to make him gingerbread cookies with eyes, a mouth and buttons. I was having a really hard time finding a good GF gingerbread cookie recipe, so I hadn't made them yet.

The last straw was when, at school, the kids all made and ate gingerbread cookies and he couldn't have one because of the wheat flour and tears came to his eyes. It was the one thing he had been asking for. "Why do I have to be allergic to wheat?! Why can't I be allergic to something else like blackberries or something?" It was heartbreaking. I always find out what they will be cooking at school and make the same thing gluten-free for Quade so that he is not left out. This time, the cookies were not on the schedule and it took us by surprise.

As soon as we got home, I whipped up our favorite gluten-free sugar cookies and the kids made their own "gingerbread" boys and girls. They love cooking and helping in the kitchen and were so happy to make their own cookies.

They rolled the dough and cut out the shapes

After baking, we added buttons and faces with icing. They were just as good as gingerbread cookies and maybe even better because they were safe, tasty and made with love. Quade was finally satisfied that he got to have his "gingerbread boy". Andy was pretty happy too when he came home from work to a plate full of cookies!

Bettie and Quade got a wonderful package of goodies from Great Aunt Geraldine. I'm pretty sure that opening the box, pulling everything out and crumpling up the tissue paper were just as interesting as the contents themselves. For these 3yr olds, process > product.

There is so much I love about this photo: Andy reading to his princess, the way her head is resting against his, our well-loved copy of "On The Night You Were Born", and above all - Bettie's perfect little feet and toes.

17 Weeks - Belly Photo

2011-12-06T04:48:41Z

Here I am at 17 weeks and feeling fantastic. I love the 2nd trimester! Even though I was so tired and sick in the beginning, I am happy to have a new little life inside of me and I'm really enjoying this special time. I'm sad that it's going by so quickly because this is definitely our last baby and it's almost half over already. I'm also savoring these last few months with just Bettie & Quade. It's about to get a whole lot crazier around here and the precious, one-on-one time that we have now is going to be much harder to come by. That being said, we are really excited to welcome a new baby into our family. All four of us have so much love to give and I can't wait to see how our family of five blossoms.

I have another ultrasound next week where we will look at the baby's anatomy again, make sure baby's growth is on target and hopefully find out for certain if Baby #3 is a girl. I'm dying to go shopping

A Day On The Farm

2011-12-06T00:12:22Z

Today was Christmas Day at Ardenwood Farm which is an organic, historic farm in Fremont. We had the best time there!

Our trip started out with a train ride (I'm using the word "train" here very loosely) because we can't go anywhere without riding a train. Bettie & Quade still get terribly excited about riding trains.

The train took us through groves of eucalyptus trees where we saw over 1,000 monarch butterflies. This grove is one of their overwintering sites. The site of these butterflies was breathtaking!

What appeared to be clumps of dead leaves were actually clusters of hundreds of monarchs.

After the train ride, we listened to a live jazz band playing Christmas favorites and then the kids did a Christmas decoration craft. Bettie & Quade never used to like crafts, but now they love doing projects. I'm pretty happy about that!

We watched a real blacksmith at work. Predictably enough, the fire was the best part.

We bought hot dogs & chips (their only offerings) and ate a picnic lunch while listening to the music.

Afterwards, we watched a puppet show based on the Nutcracker. We saw our friend from school, Charlotte there and we all sat together. The puppet show was fantastic!

We, of course, had to visit all of the animals. Here are some of the better looking ones...

Isn't this peacock gorgeous?

Bettie was begging Andy for a horse drawn carriage ride, but at $40 a ride? I think not.

When I was tucking Quade into bed, he said, "Mama, I had the best day EVER. Thank you for taking me to the farm!" Of course, I just completely melted and told him that I had a wonderful time also.

I'm always probing for more information, so I asked him what parts of the day he enjoyed the most. His reply? "The Doritos you gave me at lunch"....Classic!

Our Tree Lighting

2011-12-05T05:23:55Z

Oh happy day! We anxiously await the day we put up our Christmas tree. Bettie and Quade enjoy placing (and endlessly rearranging) the ornaments. Andy and I like looking at the special ornaments that we get for the children each year.

Their 1st Christmas, their cousins Kaeli, Dayne, Carter and Lily made personalized ceramic star ornaments for Bettie and Quade. Their 2nd year, we took the gingerbread people from their Hansel/Gretel costumes and made them into ornaments. Bettie and Quade also made ornaments from their "Little People" animals since they loved playing with their Little People sets that year. This year, Bettie and Quade will be painting ornaments since they are both very interested in painting right now. We may also get a train ornament and a guitar ornament since those have been Bettie and Quade's passions this year.

The best part is when we are all done decorating, we turn off all of the lights and send the kids in to their room momentarily. When they come back in to the living room, the tree is fully lit & looking magical. The awe and wonderment in their eyes is precious!

Quade Loves School

2011-12-03T03:05:14Z

Here are a few, long overdue photos of Quade at his nature school. Can you tell how much he loves it there? He goes to this school and also a structured, more traditional preschool but this is his favorite. Quade loves the outdoors, loves running and physical challenges but also loves being able to use his creativity here with the endless projects & crafts.

I am the "cooking mom" and am busy cooking gluten-free waffles for & with the entire class...outside! Cooking is a big part of the curriculum. Quade is the "cooking boy" and gets to ring the snack bell when it's time to eat. This is a very big deal. He is so proud.

enjoying the fruits of our labor

Quade is climbing up the hill by grabbing onto the roots of the tree...

and sliding down the backside of the hill on his bottom

Here is Quade riding his stick pony and shucking corn for another meal. He likes to be involved in everything.

The zip-line is one of his favorite activities! Can you blame him?

Quade is slowly but surely warming up to the guinea pigs. I'm glad he's getting this exposure at school, because there's no way I would have a rodent at home!

My big guy climbing rocks & loving the outdoors

Bettie Loves School

2011-12-03T03:04:18Z

Bettie asks me every day if she is going to her nature school and if Nanny is going with us. She asks me every.single.morning. She loves her school. It is highly nurturing, there are no right/wrong answers and no child is pushed or encouraged to do anything they don't want to do. They just play and play IS learning. Being able to do her own Bettie-thing at her own Bettie-pace is just what she likes!

Bettie also goes to her speech class where she is learning SO much and doing extremely well. She has also made some friends of her own there and loves her amazing teachers.

She also attends the structured, traditional preschool with Quade and does very well there also. Bettie likes all of her classes and really enjoys them which is of primary importance to me. She is one busy girl!

Bettie is working on an apple seed project with her teacher

Here is Bettie climbing up the hill by grabbing on to the tree roots and then sliding down the other side. The adults give her a little bit of extra guidance along the way, but she is so proud when she makes it to the top of the hill!

hammering pegs into pumpkins & styrofoam

Bettie is riding her stick pony & leading the "train" sliding down the hill. Gettin dirty!

Playing with trucks in the sand and when she gets bored of sand play, she turns the rake into a guitar!

Bettie & Quade have their own, very LOUD, drum circle going on here...

Musical circle time has to be her favorite

My beautiful girl is ready for the "umbrella parade" where the kids marched around in the rain with their boots and umbrellas. So cute!