Call Day #106, 5/26/12

 The kids played together SO well this morning.

 It was so nice that I didn't even mind Claire's writing on her face.  (It came off really easily.)

 We went to a birthday party for a friend from church held at a park behind our friends' house.

 Birthday hats are always popular with kids.

 Eating lunch.

 We spent LOTS of time not at the party, but making trips to the potty.  Thankfully, there was a shortcut through the backyard and basement.  There were a few (ok, many!) extra, unproductive trips inside but Claire did a good time staying dry throughout the party.

 Messy cupcake face.

 Playing.

 After nap, baths were definitely in order for these dirty kids.  I let them blow their bubbles from the birthday party in the tub which they thought was pretty fun.

Is this starting to become a tradition?  Our Saturday-it's-a-call-night-movie-night.  We did it last Saturday and Eleanor even asked to have the same dinner we had last weekend before the movie (because, of course, she remembers).

Call Day #105, 5/19/12

 Claire is learning to help put away silverware.  Her second try at it.  Didn't last long.

 Eleanor volunteered to finish.

 Eleanor spent most of the morning doing crafts of her own creation.

 Claire spent a little bit of the morning melting down over the smallest of things.

 It was a beautiful Saturday and we headed out to the Kite Festival in a local park.

 I told Eleanor to hold on to the string and start running.  She took off with such enthusiasm, with the kite banging all over the ground, just running and running.  I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

 When I finally got her to come back, I told her you have to hold onto not just the spool of thread but some of the thread near the kite as well.  She took off running again.

 Such delight.  SO fun to watch!

 I think this is as high as our little kite got.  Probably part wimpy kite, part user's lack of skill.  I fared no better when I tried.

 We ate our lunch on a blanket in the shade.  Maybe they were already tired?  I looked away for a minute and found them both lounging.

 Eleanor was back at the kite flying soon though with two of her friends and a more successful kite.

 Some of the crew of friends.

We were hanging out behind a table set up to let people know about a new church just getting started in our neighborhood.

We had "Make your own PB&J, Free Cookies" to offer and were happy to meet the people who came by.

 Look who was set up next to us--Children's Hospital.

 Eleanor draws a rainbow-colored brain.

 And the kids play with the brain puzzle.

After a great day in the park and "naptime" (during which no one napped and at the end of which I found Claire happily sitting on her changing table), we had baths and dinner.  Claire spent most of dinner crying.  Yes, we did have to talk at the end of bath time about something she had done wrong, but the crying that started then just didn't stop for quite a while.  There was no discernible reason for it and no real resolution.  After a good 20 minutes or more, she just decided she was done.  

Thankfully, the end of the day was scheduled to be movie night.  That's about all any of us was good for by that point.  It was a day full of real highs and lows (and I didn't even show Eleanor's really rough moments).  That is how our days often are.  But looking at these pictures just now, I know what I'm going to remember most is laughing at Eleanor and that kite in the park.

Call Day #104, 5/8/12

 We were going to go to Bible study at church this morning but the van wouldn't start. So, we headed back inside for a day at home.  Claire decided to play music with her new music toys (Thanks, Katie!).  I love that she is wearing her recent daily wardrobe fixture, the stethoscope.

 Since we were home, I decided we could do some of the activities I had planned for Five in a Row this week.  Eleanor seemed eager to participate as we've let lots of weeks pass without doing much on this front.  Today we tried drawing a story on a big piece of paper.  Eleanor's story started with a turkey made from tracing her hand.

 Claire wanted to join in too.  Inspired by Eleanor's hand tracing, Claire tries to trace her foot.

 Eleanor draws the ending to the story I was working on since her story didn't make it too far.

 After drawing, Eleanor wanted to play a game from her High Five magazine.  There were many pieces to cut out and she asked to do it.  I haven't really seen her use scissors recently, and she did a surprisingly good job.

 After her rest time, we talked about colors, starting with primary colors.

 Then, she did some color mixing.

We played a memory game where the pictures illustrated the concepts we'd just discussed.

Eleanor was quite excited to learn that the AAA guy would come and try to jump our van.  It was a new concept to her and sounded really exciting. 

Watching him in action.  Thankfully, I think that's the extent of the van's problem as it started again after driving around for a while.

Call Day #103, 5/6/12

Everyone was ready for church with time to spare so the kids got to play.  Claire played with her new flyer toy from a birthday party yesterday.  Or, as she called it, a pinwheel/windmill. 

Coloring too.

 Dancing to her ABC Bible verse CD before we leave.

 After lunch is nap time, as usual.  Eleanor rarely naps, but today when we were ready to go somewhere this afternoon, this is what I found in her room.  All lights on, blanket draped across the bed--couldn't see Eleanor.

 Fast asleep on the other side of the blanket.

Kids playing outside in our friends' backyard after an evening Bible study.

Call Day #102, 5/4/12

Claire and her craft from church playgroup this morning. 

Eleanor wants to show hers off too. 

We can have the longest meals around here.  I think they took nearly an hour to eat lunch!  Eleanor started counting her money to see if she has enough yet to go to Dis-e-ney World.  She's pretty resolute in her desire to go. 

Claire and the stethoscope.  She wore it to the doctor's office when Eleanor went for her checkup earlier this week and has been pretty attached to it since.

 One of our errands this afternoon included getting a birthday present for a friend at the local toy store.  Eleanor and Claire were both drawn to the little umbrellas and spent quite a while opening and closing them.

We also went to get some cards for mother's day.  Eleanor asked to take pictures while we looked for cards.

She found princesses. 

And shiny ribbon.

 And captured me holding on to a squirming, kicking Claire who was pulling cards out of the rack (after being repeatedly told not to) and trying to tear envelopes.

 Walking home from errands, stethoscope still at the ready.  You never know when you might need one.

Stopped by the park on the way home since there were other kids around. 

Erik called while we were there to say hello to the kids.  He didn't get much talking out of them though.  Hard to when they're playing at the same time.