Williamsburg VA

Mark is the co teacher for the Model Un (United Nations) club at his school. The students meet weekly to research and practice debating.  They are assigned countries and research their stance their on common issues.  He really likes it.  I think it is a great way to teach geography and remind kids that there are other view points bedsides what they hear on the news. This weekend they had a conference down at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.  Mark had a hotel room assigned to himself so he encouraged Jared, Lydia and I to come join him.  I drove down Saturday morning at the start of this weekend's huge snowstorm (Charlottesville got 2 big snowstorms in less than a week! I didn't think Charlottesville would get this much snow but it really has and apparently Colorado is getting a lot of snow too. We will see if school is out for another week... I don't think they will miss as many days but I am not a Southerner so what do I know) I was slightly nervous driving out of town as it was really coming down but once I got about 30 minutes out of Charlottesville it stopped snowing.  The roads were perfectly clear all the way (its just under 2 hours from here).  We met Mark downtown and headed over to the college.  Jared and Lydia are dying to get to the hotel but we decided we should eat lunch and then explore first.  They were not thrilled but eventually got over it.
We didn't really do Colonial Williamsburg (which is what most people of there for) at all. They got a lot of snow this week too and it was just so cold.  We did enjoy the campus of William and Mary though.  It is very historic (2nd oldest school in the US only beat out by Harvard).  I can imagine that it is super pretty in the spring but not so much in February.  We took a tour of the Wren building which is said to be the oldest college building in the United States and the oldest restored building on public record in Williamsburg which itself is very old. William and Mary was founded February 08 1693.  We had a super nice tour guide and enjoyed some history. Classes and professor offices are still located in the building. It is sort of the building you try your best to get at least one class in if you attend the school.  The school holds several different subjects there so your chances are pretty good.  There is also a chapel and if one of the people getting married is an alumni they can use the chapel.  I think they have a super  strong alumni association....  They also hold weekly organ concerts on  Saturday morning. We just missed it.  The chapel is also a crypt for prominent Virginians' and people who served/worked at the college.  Their are currently 15 people buried there so you really have to be famous to get a spot. So, fun facts.  She really was a great guide.  All the doors had these huge key holes that Jared and Lydia were fascinated by and she went out of her way to find the set of keys for them to check out.  It was nice to be somewhere so historic.  We haven't gone to many of the historic sites in Charlottesville (might as well wait till family comes) so it was a nice little history lesson.

 Jared and I holding a great debate (on why we were not at the hotel yet where he and Lydia wanted to be...)

They loved this giant snowball. What really matters to a 5 and 3 year old (also why we have yet to visit the more historic sites here.)

 Wren Building.

Wren Chapel on the right, Grand Hall on the left. 

 Wren Chapel. 

The chandelier is original to the building and the organ is still going strong.  The individuals are buried under the slate pictured. 

Dances are still held in this hall which is surprising because it is not that big. They teach English "court" dances. 

 These keys were they favorite that and the giant snowball in the sunken garden. 

Jared and Lydia also really wanted to go to our hotel so they could go swimming.  To get to the indoor pool you had to walk outside so we looked awesome going through the lobby to get to the pool.  We all hung out in the hot tub and Jared, Lydia and Mark braved the indoor pool that was really cold.  They had a great time and I am glad they could swim.  The latter also hung out in the sauna room for a few minutes.  I always end up light headed in such places so I opted out. We went out to eat with the students from Mark's school.  Jared and Lydia were super excited to ride the school bus. They thought it was great. As we walked into the restaurant an older coupe passed Lydia and Mark who were a little ahead of us and asked Lydia if she wanted this stuffed turtle they got.  She was thrilled. Jared was devastated he did not get one. He broke down crying and was so sad.  I felt really bad for him.  It took him a few minutes to collect himself but he really did pretty well.  That couple was just trying to do a nice thing but it was so sad for him.  One of the parent chaperones felt so bad for Jared that she bought him a little stuffed dolphin so he was very happy. I am glad they waited till he calmed himself down to give it to him.  It was hard for me because I did feel bad for him and was proud of him for calming down and it was so thoughtful of them to get him a stuffed animal but kids do need to learn that life is just like that sometimes.

I really like traveling and going new places but I do not really like staying in hotels.  We just happen to have a really nice bed that I love. Poor Lydia is still getting over her cold and has this horrible cough throughout the day but especially at night when she lays down. She woke up around 11:45 Friday night at home coughing and coughing so I brought her into bed with me and last night was much worse.  She just could not stop coughing. It doesn't sound like croup which Jared always got she just has all this crud in her chest and she can't get rid of it. Every time she coughs I feel like she is going to throw up and throwing up is much worse at a hotel than at your own house.  So Lydia and I hung out in the bathroom a lot (she never did throw up but scared me at least a dozen times).  We cuddled together there and in her bed and just tried to make her less miserable.  Poor girl. I hope she can get rid of that stuff soon.

It was fun to get out of town but sort of crazy timing too.  It was not ideal weather to be walking around outside, Lydia was still sick and this morning I was asked to call all kinds of people from church (church was canceled because of the weather, I am the VT coordinator and they wanted to check on people through VT)  to check on them because of the weather so our morning at the hotel was not fun at all. Oh well. We survived and got back safely. We will go back one day with nice weather and see even more.

Sledding!

Charlottesville got a really nice snow storm this week, 5.5 inches. (Mind you it only snowed Monday afternoon but school has been out this whole week. Presidents Day on Monday then snow days T W Th which really could have just been 2 hour delays but we have really enjoyed having Mark home with us)  I believed it would snow but I did not think it would snow as much as it did. Back in December there was talk of a big storm so I went ahead and bought 2 sleds.  We maybe got a flurry or two. Ever since then Jared and Lydia have been asking to go sledding but there has been no snow.  We finally got to try out our sleds on Tuesday and had a blast.  I really did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did but it was awesome.  We went over to Charlottesville Catholic School which is maybe a 1 minute drive from our house to sled because they gave a sunken field.  We got there around 10:00 and we were the only ones there.  It was so so fun.  I think Jared and I liked it the most. I was just like a little kid asking if I could go one more time. It was not too cold and we just enjoyed our selves.  We went sledding, made snow angels, threw snowballs and drew pictures in the snow.  It was great, way more fun than I expected. I love sledding at that school because it was a playing field so you didn't have to worry about any cars.  It is really good sized too so there was lots of space to keep sliding after you made it down the hill.  Such fun! After sledding we went home and had some hot chocolate.  We put Lydia down for a nap and when she got up we went back to the school and sledded some more.  We will totally go again if we get another storm.  I have never really "played" in snow like that at least not for a really long time.  The strangeness of having so much fun in the snow in Virginia instead of Colorado has not been lost on me. One would think Colorado would be a great place for snow but we were really just in the wrong spot and now Jared and Lydia are such prefect ages for so many things. Lydia enjoyed sledding but not quite as much as Jared and I. It was so fun that Mark could go out with us.

M heart A 

It's hard to read but I loved this message that Mark stamped out for me. 

He was impressed because he jumped from one letter to the next so there were no footprints between the letters. 

Mark and I went down first to break a "track" to sled down

Lydia preferred to have her eyes covered. Mostly because it was so bright but also because the first time down she got lots of snow in her face which she did not love. Eventually we got her sunglasses from the car and she was a happy sledder. 

Lydia enjoyed running in the snow then flopping down. 

 Almost time to go home. It was such a perfect sledding spot and so much fun. 

Red Lobster, pajamas, Curious George and a real haircut

Jared filled his charm jar again last week and he chose to go out to Red Lobster for his reward.  We live fairly close to a Red Lobster so we drive by it a lot, almost daily.  He has been talking about wanting to eat lobster for over a month now.  Whenever we go grocery shopping he always asks if we can walk really slowly by the seafood section so he can see it all.  I have no idea where this desire came from. I do not like seafood and we rarely eat any fish besides salmon yet he has wanted to eat lobster for a good while now.  So on Valentines Day Mark and Jared went out to eat together. (Mark and I did go out to dinner the week before).  They got a sample plater and then added a lobster tail.  The waiter was very thoughtful and actually brought out a live lobster for Jared to "pet".  He told me he was so brave and was thrilled he got to touch it. He actually loved the lobster! They had some clam chowder and tilapia too.  He liked it all.  I guess he will be the seafood lover in this family.

Huge props to Mark for taking these pictures without me even asking him to.

Sometimes I just sit and think about how weird my kids are. Lately Jared has been rather against wearing pajamas. I guess I don't really care except for the fact that this week's been so cold.  Pretty much every night this week we put Jared to bed fully clothed and when I go to check on him before I go to bed he is completely naked. He isn't even wearing his underwear. He likes to take off his pajamas and put them on his stuffed animals.  The first night he put his underwear on his bear, his pajama pants on his pout out fish and his shirt on his crab.  Lydia has been joining in on the "game" th last 2 nights.  Last night we put them to bed (fully clothed even though we knew they would not remain that way) and they actually took off their pajamas and underwear ran over to their door to put their underwear in the hall way then put their pajamas back on.  I walked upstairs and just saw sitting their outside their door.  So weird!  Its just a game to them because its no like they are fighting us when we get them dressed.  They happily get dressed and get in bed. Minutes later it happens then they fall asleep.  This is not exactly a new thing for Lydia. Last Spring (March-April-May) she was always taking her underwear off when we put her to bed. We thought she had moved on but Jared has brought it back.  At least they are in bed.

Our local library hosted a fun activity 2 weeks ago.  They had a Curiosity Day with Curious George. They set up a lot of cute activities that went along with different Curious George stories.  It was a really fun idea but there were so many people there! So many!  It was crazy! It was hard to enjoy any of the activities because of the crowds.  Curious George was scheduled to arrive at 11:00 with The Man in the Yellow hat so a few minutes before 11 I took Jared and Lydia into the lobby to take a break hoping we would catch them as they walked in.  We totally did.  It was nice to have a chance to see them without all these other people around. We didn't stick around too long after that.  The library closest to us is actually closing for the next 3 weeks as it moves to their new building.  We will miss our weekly story times but are excited for the new building.

Last week I took Lydia to get her haircut at a kids place in town. She got it cut for the first time in June by Mark's sister Shannon but it was getting a little stringy so we went to place here.  I wasn't sure how she would react but she did awesome. She sat so still and did just what the hairdresser wanted.  After she was done she got to put her little card in this machine and got a prize.  They also have this silly little video about a pair of scissors and other hair salon things that she had fun watching.  I am glad she handled it so well.

Valentines and the other side of Lydia as a three year old thus far

I really love holidays. I don't know how many times have written that on here but I do. They make me happy. I love how they can change up routines just to add a little extra fun.  Valentines is an especially fun one with young kids. Having Jared and Lydia has also brought in the new fun of holiday themed learning activities.  I was excited to do them with them this Valentines season and sadly they were just not that interested.  We did most of the ones I planned but I thought we would do them a lot more.  We had fun heart shaped meals and made our favorite cookies. each day of the week I had a little gift an valentine for them and they loved coming downstairs and seeing what was in their mailboxes.  It was fun to have Jared be able to read what I wrote on the Valentines as well. We also heart attacked Mark's car at school and then Mark and I decorated Jared and Lydia's door and placed some heart shaped balloons in their bedroom. I found them at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago when I went out with some friends which I don't know if I ever blogged about.  (We drove over to Short Pump by Richmond and went to the new Cafe Rio, Hobby Lobby and Costco. It was sort of a West Coast girls shopping day. We also stopped for cheesecake at the cheesecake Factory. It was a lot of fun. I have never really done the girls day outings and it is fun to be in a place in life to have friends to go with and have children at an age where it worked well. I am thankful to Mark for encouraging me to have a girls day out and for the really great people I have met since we have moved here)

Valentine Highlights:

Heart shaped french toast. 

Yummy Sugar cookies.  We made them for Mark to take to a YM's activity. 

 Morning Mailboxes

Each morning Lydia would ask me, " Did you get us chocolates today Mama?" They each got a little chocolate box on Valentines morning. *Side note she has ben calling me Mama pretty regularly the last 2 months or so.  It's fun. I do wonder where she got it from though.

We also made my favorite cookies, peanut butter blossoms with Dove milk chocolate kisses. We went over to Mark's school to heart attack his car and drop some off to him but the secretary would not let us take them up to him! She said they did not like to interrupt classes unnecessarily. I was really bummed and (irritated if I am being 100% honest).  There was about 20 minutes left in class, they were not testing and it was the day before Valentines.  So much for trying to surprise your spouse and let your kids see their dad.  The 2 other schools Mark has worked for didn't care at all if we came in. It was sad and annoying. We dropped some off to some friends here as well. 

I really loved these balloons. 

Pink heart shaped sprinkled pancakes with a pink smoothie for Valentines breakfast. 

We did get some fun activities in.  We did most of the ones I planned I just wish they would have wanted to do them more often. Not just once. 

 These hearts had actions on them so I played music and when it stopped we picked a heart and did what it said. This was act like a cat.

Finding hidden hearts

 Matching letters. 

 Filing in letter S and one to one correspondence

 Beginning sounds Conversation Hearts.

 Counting (one day I know she will figure out number recognition it is not today) 

 Graphing conversation hearts

 Color sorting and counting

 M & M hearts

We also did an activity for FHE where we wrote out one thing we love about each other and handed them out. 

Jared:

Lydia: he shared his workers with me

April: Listened well and said "yes Mommy"

Mark: Asked me to play with him

Lydia: 

Jared: Plays pirates with me

April: Give me nice culled

Mark: Gives me big bear hugs

April: 

Jared: Takes me to preschool

Lydia: Plays with me

Mark: Buys me 2 of the same things on Amazon for Valentines

Mark:

Jared: Takes me fun places

Lydia:Keeps us healthy with yummy green smoothies

April: Made us dinner

We ate dinner by candlelight and had our Valentine floats. I could not find strawberry soda in a 2 liter bottle but I found some raspberry soda so we use that with vanilla ice cream.  It ended up tasting like an Italian cream soda and was so good. I made chicken tetrazini which is actually a pretty romantic meal for us as Mark made it for me the first night he kissed me. I think we have maybe had it one other time since that dinner 11 years ago. It was well received so it will be making more appearances.  We finished the night with some valentine stories. 

Jared and Lydia are really good at independent play.  I have always wanted my kids to be able to entertain themselves.  Not that I wouldn't play with them but I wanted them to know how to have fun without an adult.  So they have learned this really well and since they do play well together and independently I have a hard time interrupting them. I read most of this parenting book awhile ago (the title is totally escaping me I like some of the ideas but is was definitely more of a "shock" kind of book the whole I don't make my kids share or make them say sorry approach) and it talked a lot about how "bad" it is to interrupt kids from playing and how important it is to let them have free play to use their imagination more. I do agree with this but I also feel like since we have lived here Jared and Lydia have had too much free time.  I am sure it doesn't look like it from these pictures but these activities rarely take more than 5 - 7 minutes. They play a lot! I just feel like they have too much free independent time and now they are not listening as well. I wish I was better at just sitting and playing with them. It is an area I truly struggle with as a Mom. I like to be doing things (see above for evidence) so to just sit and play is so hard to me.  Ever since Lydia's birthday I have felt like she especially does not listen or care what I want her to do. Lunch was a perfect example today. She had yogurt and some chicken nuggets on her plate.  I was in the kitchen cleaning up some stuff and when I looked over she had decided to "paint" with her yogurt instead of eat it. She was using a divided tray and just smeared it all around her tray and her arms and hands were covered in it. She wasn't the least bit sorry. She has known since she was like 18 months old that this was not okay.  She has been taught the correct way to eat. It was what she wanted for lunch. It was not like I was forcing something she didn't like on her.  I really struggle with things like that. Just blatant disobedience really.  She totally knows better. I feel like we are in a constant battle and it makes me angry and then I feel guilty for getting so mad.  Much as I love Lydia, three has not been fun at all with her. I am so tired of her ignoring me and purposefully doing things she shouldn't and then feeling horrible all the time because I get so frustrated.  I really hope that if I spend more time with them (less time playing alone) and show them I care and can be a good listener then they will get back in the right groove. I need to somehow find the right balance and be less selfish with time to myself something I have always struggled with.  Looks like I am also going to be spending the next few night reading up on how to not let your kids control how you feel and how to encourage listening.

Lydia at 3

Lydia had her 3 year old well check up today. She did really well until the end and then I think she was just tired of having people in her space.  She is 36.5 inches (35%) and 31 pounds (61%).  She is a healthy little girl which is great.  Her Doctor even complimented her on her teeth.  She is a sweet silly girl.  Her vocabulary is great and she does well having good manners. I asked Mark how he would describe her and he said chatty. She still takes a 2 + hour nap each day and often has to be woken up when we have to go pick up Sam. She will tell me she does not want to take a nap but I still think she needs one and I make her take one. She pretty much always falls asleep right away. She and Jared often keep each other up later than I would like at night but she is sleeping well which is so great. She loves having stories read to her which is pretty much my favorite thing to do with a child.  We go to story time each week at the library and she really enjoys dancing around and doing the little songs/poems. I am starting to really think her love language is touch.  She will often ask to be held or for "a little cuddle" which is something Jared really never did.

Likes/Interests:
Princess's/Fairies.  The day has come.  She enjoys dressing up and playing with her princess's much more now. Her current favorite is Princess Aurora.  (Having Sam around has definitely increased her awareness of princess's and dress up).  She really loves her Little People castle and playing Fairies with Jared.
Food: Carrot and zucchini cream cheese filled muffins, waffles, beef stroganoff, ham, broccoli and potato soup and meat rolls, and TREATS.  She has quite the sweet tooth. She often asks for macaroni and cheese for lunch and does a great job eating different fruits.
Jared:  she really enjoys being with Jared and often talks about how she will miss him when we take him to preschool.  She willingly plays whatever he wants whether that is pirates, (most often) planes, hunters, animals, or shooting Nerf guns.
Being outside:  We go on walks whenever it is warm enough and she loves riding her balance bike and does really well.  She and Jared also frequently ask to go to his hideout.
Shows: Lydia would be so happy if she could watch a show each day.  In a way she does because I let her watch a 5 minute clip or so while I do her hair.  She always asks for more! She loves our family movie night. Most often she wants to watch Jake and Neverland Pirates but lately Princess Aurora has been the most requested.
Letters:  she has begun to show a real interest in letters lately which is nice. (Still no interest what so ever in numbers/counting even though she set a goal to learn them)
Room Time:  Lydia really enjoys room time where she plays in they room by herself.  She is always happy when I have her do it.

We love her to pieces!