santa success!!!

Last Saturday, we attended a pancake Breakfast with Santa at our local high school. While we had already visited with Santa the week prior and gor some great photos, this was another chance for both boys to have some more time with the guy in the big red suit. And, it was another success!

We have been teaching George about Santa and the Christmas story for the past month. The preparation all paid off! After two years of crying and fear, this year he was so excited to meet Santa. And Jack's first time? Complete awe!

project life: wrapping up the year (part two)

Part two starts off with Hurricane Sandy and leaves off on December 9th...in the home stretch!
This has been such a rewarding process and I hope you enjoy this peek into our family's every day life. I'm looking forward to documenting the holidays with our two boys and capturing the little bits that, without this system, would surely be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

project life: bringing the year to a close with a huge update (part one)

I have kept up with Project Life this year. Kept up, enjoyed the process and am ready to go ahead in 2013! I haven't shared here since the summer (oops!) since I just didn't think to photograph the pages as I went along. So, here, part one brings us through the end of October...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

home preschool: getting started...

We are starting some organized learning around here this fall. Since we have been house hunting for a long, long time it didn't seem the best idea to enroll G in a preschool program, only to potentially pull him out or take on a longer drive mid-year. So, we've started some homeschool lessons.

We are focusing on the uppercase alphabet and sounds right now, pairing each letter with a book and letter craft project following the inspiration here found at Totally Tots. We are using library books (love our library system!) and fun foam, google eyes and a bit of imagination for our craft projects.

I present our first lesson, D is for Dinosaur:

G had a blast creating his dinosaur, using glue and making lots of loud dino sounds.

And, we loved this super cute book. An added bonus? G can now recognize and name a Triceratops and Allosaurus :)

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen

project life: saying goodbye to summer, part 2

I promised an un-official end of summer re-cap and, sharing my Project Life pages from August through Labor Day weekend seems to be the easiest way to do so!  As of last night, I am current in my album through September 2nd, with a plan for the past two weeks (to be completed shortly). Part of the lag was that SO much took place in the past month. Thousands of photos to sort through and choose and many stories to tell. I got a bit bogged down in the process. So, here we go...

{Aug 6-12}
My in-law's left on a five week vacation and we sent them off with a barbecue, Jack turned 6 months
 

We spent lots of time outside and the US won the 2012 summer Olympics
 

{Aug 13-19}
The weather finally gave us a break, documenting some of the boys' personality traits right now,
George lost a beloved toy at the park and we found a cool yellow caterpillar at the park
  

Frozen yogurt, one of our favorite, easy go-to meals, the joy of a carousel and a visit from my parents
 

{Aug 20-26}
Jack's first time in a pool, more frozen yogurt, a conversation with George, and some favorite snaps
 

More from the pool, Jack tries (and loves) pizza crust, and a journaling card that still needs to be completed...oops!

{Aug 27-Sept 2}
A trip to a local farm, sunset strolls around town, and what we did during the un-official last week of summer
 

Weekend at the lake. a praying mantis outside of your house, and little bits of life that week
 

Part of the insert from this week with many more photos of family at the lake
 

And, with that, summer comes to a close and I am so much looking forward to autumn with our boys!

saying goodbye to summer, part 1...

Our family packed so much in to the last few un-official weeks of summer that I am still busy processing the memories, both in my head and in photographs. But, these? Two of my favorite shots from our first time setting up the little pool this year. It was Jack's first "swim" so, we let George at the pool first to go nuts and get all of the splashes out before his baby brother joined in. They both LOVED it. 

And, Project Life. With my in-law's out of the country for the past several weeks I've been a bit slower in keeping up. I have a few more weeks in my album to share but, need to get them photographed first.

{July 30 - August 5}

George's very first haircut and, of course, a few curls tucked safely in a glassine envelope, a little photo shoot with Jack and saying "bon voyage" to my in-law's before their long vacation.

 Jack's first solid foods, some favorite phone pics from the week and bit about the 2012 summer games.

Part 2 coming soon with photos from our trip to the lake, the Bronx Zoo and Jack at (gasp!) SEVEN months...stay tuned!