Call Day #98, 2/19/12

 Eleanor eats her self-made breakfast.  Like a little oatmeal with your raisins?

 After breakfast, Claire enjoyed the leftovers of the lollipop Daddy brought home on Valentine's Day.

 Eating lunch after church.  Eleanor wears her "tiara."  That's what headbands are good for around here.

 Saying a very big "cheese" for the camera.

We all got a case of the giggles at lunch today when we just could not understand what Claire was trying to say.  When her word "how-ie" didn't make sense to us she tried to get emphatic "how-IEEEE" (didn't catch that on the video) but that only made us all laugh more.  Thankfully, she thought it was as funny as we did.

 After nap and a bath.

 Eleanor in time-out after disobeying during bathtime and then arguing about it disrespectfully.  Thankfully, she seemed actually sorry when we talked about it and the bad attitude passed.  Things don't always get resolved this readily.  Glad it went well today.

 Writing a whole sentence out as I helped her sound out the spelling of words.  Thought the outfit of bathrobe, underwear, socks, and shiny shoes was funny.  (The sentence was "I am not going to get Claire's bottle" that belongs to her doll and had gotten lost under the couch.  Eleanor had eagerly tried to get it out for Claire but couldn't.  Not sure why the desire to write this out.)

 Meanwhile, Claire looked at her books.  By the time she was done she had every single book off the bottom shelf.

I realized recently I'd never shown this but this is a part of every call day:  Not too long before bedtime, Erik calls to chat with the girls, say goodnight, and tell them he loves them.  I am so thankful for his dedication to doing this!  They get excited when they hear his ringtone and start jumping around.  This picture is classic talking to Daddy--while still in the midst of a given activity and not paying attention to how far away the phone is so that Daddy can hear.  (Precisely why I don't have other pictures of these moments--too busy trying to remind them to not walk away from the phone etc.)

Call Day #97, 2/15/12

 This is how many mornings start.  As we go to Claire's room to get her up, Eleanor brings out a basket of treats since we let them both get a treat if Eleanor is dry all night AND does not wake anyone up.  (For a while she was waking us up for all manner of things.  The promise of a few gummy bears or pez in the morning seems to be motivation to not wake us.  Hooray!)

 Practicing letters in a book Grandma and Grandpa sent this week.  She just sat down and did the whole book!

 Even though Erik is on call tonight, he didn't have to go in til the middle of the day.  Eleanor enjoyed some time with him this morning.

 The girls got a sweet Valentine's gift from Clif and Corrin.  They immediately set to work on their new puzzle.

 Claire tries to help.

 But gives up and crawls on me.

 Eleanor happily finishes it.

 Eleanor asked for some music and they "danced" (Read: ran around in circles laughing.)  Eleanor is still a fan of Rich Mullins, her pick for today's music.

 Checking the weather chart to see what to wear outside.

 It was warm enough to go to the park and actually enjoy being outside.  (It's hard to see, but notice that Claire brought her fuzzy purple purse with her to the park).

 Headfirst down the slide.

Snacktime.

Call Day #96.5, 2/11/12

 Eleanor draws faces on the characters on the back of the cereal box.  She always finds things to do before she is ready to eat breakfast.  Claire is usually done before she starts.

 Reading while I did laundry.  Check out the stripes!

Claire's new storyline for playing with her car?  Not going to Chick-Fil-A as before.  No, now she plays "van on fire, mama, van on fire."  My favorite part?  The "shhhhhhh" sound she makes right after.  Yep, that would be the fire extinguisher.

Would have had more pictures but I quit taking them because Erik was coming home.  He still put in a full day but thankfully did not have to work overnight because he just felt too bad.  So glad he was able to come home and that someone could cover for him.

Call Day #96, 2/7/12

 We didn't have the van back this morning and decided to head to the Museum of Science.  Eleanor holds on tight on the T ride there.

 Checking out 1-2 day old chicks.

 Smiley.

 Apparently, Eleanor has about 3 units of blood.

 In a section on models, Eleanor did a pretty good job laying out her room.  I put the door in and she correctly put in bookcases, dresser, and bed.  I was impressed until she said "Where should I put the windows?  I don't have any windows in my room."  Guess we should open the blinds more often!

 Eleanor liked this display where you design your own fish.  You can then name it and send it out to swim around on the screens.  Trouble is, her two promptly got eaten.  Guess she makes tasty fish (who aren't fast swimmers).

 We HAD to go see the dinosaurs.  They were the one thing they remember from going to the museum the one other time we'd been.

 T Rex is ready for cold days in Boston.

 For Christmas, Eleanor got capsules that expand in water to give foam dinosaurs.  Here she is showing the triceratops sponge to the triceratops skeleton.  Or vice versa.  Clearly, she planned this in advance, and we took our sponge dinosaurs along so they could meet their counterparts at the museum.

 Perhaps next time we should head to this room first.  A play area set aside for the younger crowd, it was a hit with them both.  They both enjoyed the water feature.  In retrospect, I should've been spending less time taking pictures and more time making sure sleeves were rolled up.  Then, Claire wouldn't have required a wardrobe change before lunch.

 Thankfully, Eleanor was smart enough to roll up her own sleeves.

 While Eleanor was still playing with the water, Claire enjoyed this abacus for quite a long time.

 Any part of the museum that had buttons to push and a listening device to hold was popular with the kids.

 Even though we ate lunch at the museum, snacks were still popular on the way home and made the walk back from the train a lot smoother.

 Eleanor follows the lines on the sidewalk.  It's some anonymous art installation thing that's been going on in the neighborhood.  New lines show up every so often and go for blocks and blocks.  I love them because they keep (otherwise sluggish) kids walking as they happily follow to see where the lines lead!

 AND... after 10 days or so, we got our van back!  The repair on the rear tail light looks good.  As we rode home, Claire kept saying "Van on fire."  It IS hard to forget what happened.

 Taking a cue from the Super Bowl party we had, Eleanor wanted to have a We Got the Van Back party tonight.  I couldn't blame her--I'm happy too.  So, we had our dinner party-style in the living room.

After baths, they wanted to pose in their pajamas.  All clothes are still new and exciting these days since they've been tucked away in the attic for so long.  Glad they asked.  Love the sweet picture.

Call Day #95, 2/5/12

Starting out the morning with games. 

 Claire too.

 Having been officially cleared of bed bugs, we've been working on the process of putting everything back where it belongs.  Eleanor happily carries shoes back to her room.

 Claire too.

 Claire peers in to see what might be in the latest bag brought down from the attic.

 After emptying it, she kindly takes it to the recycling bin.

 Putting cushions back on the chair in her room.

 Being still without the van, we decided to visit the church we go to every week for church playgroup.  It was a familiar place for the girls, but Claire seemed really thrown off by how many people were there and how different it was from our normal experience there.

 Both girls picked fancy dresses for church.  I think this stemmed from the excitement of having a few dresses hanging in their closet again.

 A cold walk/ride home.

 A special cookie eating technique?  Yep, pick out all of the chocolate chips!

 After nap, we tried our hands at pointillism, the style of art in this week's book.

 Eleanor's verdict?  Pointillism is super tedious.  Why not just mix the colors together to get the color you want?

 The finished products: my attempt at true pointillism (maybe filled about a square inch or less of space) and Eleanor's paintings.

 Claire wakes up.  For the first time I find books in her crib--she made use of the nearby bookshelf.  Like big sister, like little sister.

 And that wasn't enough.  Reading some more.

 And "cooking water."

 Learning about the Canadian flag.

 Eleanor proudly set up a spot for our Super Bowl Party.

 Eleanor helps make pizzas.  Claire steals pepperoni.

I don't how or why, but these girls get excited about football.  They always point it out when they catch sight of it on a TV somewhere, and sometimes even just ask out of nowhere if it's on TV.  Eleanor's opinion of the Super Bowl:  "I don't like how long it takes (meaning all the pre-game and commercials).  I just like it when they play football."  Are these our kids?!?