Little Gym and Headstands

Kylie attends a Little Gym gymnastics class on Saturdays. And yesterday I signed her up for a sports class on Wednesday afternoons. The teachers at her Little Gym are really good and Kylie always gets a great workout.





But it's a bit disconcerting (yet funny and impressive) when I walk into a room and see the kiddo doing this.

She summersaulted over, sat up and looked at me sweetly and said, "Now you do it Mommy".

Oh boy.

Big day at the park

It was overcast and out of the 80+ degree temps we've gotten used to...a perfect day to play at the park after school.


Kylie crossed the pole-platform bridge by herself for the first time.


And she finally went down the biggest, twisty slide.


Oh, for those of you who might be wondering, the playground is a giant sandbox (this is Florida) so Kylie prefers to go barefoot. I snapped this picture before reminding Kylie (for the fifth time)not to toss sand down the slide.


It was great to stand back and snap pictures while my little monkey played for two hours.

Homecoming

Homecomings. A day to be grateful for our Florida home. Saturday I caught up on a week's worth of laundry here at the house while Karen flew to TN to pick up Kylie. Thanks again to Karen's mom for taking such excellent care of Kylie. And to Aunt Amy for sending us updates and phone pictures. Karen and Kylie flew home today. I couldn't wait to sweep my girl into my arms. Kylie seems taller, longer somehow, more talkative and still just as sweet and bossy.

At home we played with the flashlight we got her from the San Fransicso Bay Aquarium, the 3D glasses and matching nature book with stickers that I picked up today. We colored a groovy butterfly mask together.




We enjoyed a yummy, home-cooked meal of roast, potatoes and carrots. And finished off the evening with some playtime at the park.



Oh, I'm so very happy for us all to be home.

More pictures from vacation

And time to make some scrapbook pages:

San Francisco

On Sunday, Karen and I flew to San Francisco. Look, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge (barely, it was foggy) behind me in the picture. Karen is here for a business conference and I got to tag along. We are staying at a hotel located right on Fisherman's Wharf. Lots of fun shops and great restaurants within a short walking distance. We had the most amazing bowls of clam chowder the other night. And I've got a great series of books to read. I read the first two "Hunger Games" books by Collins while on the plane to CA. Just devoured the books. I'm reading the last one now. I think a great series of books makes a vacation all the more enjoyable.

I had an incredible run yesterday. Five miles along a running path by the water to the Golden Gate Bridge. The fog was rolling in and there were lots and lots of bikers and runners. It was exhilarating and so memorable. I did the same course today but ran a little further--nine miles in total. And it was a bit brutal. I could barely feel my legs at the end of it. That will teach me to not let me legs heal properly between runs.


Sweet Kylie is staying with Karen's parents in TN. Her Nana, Aunt Amy, and cousin Emily took her to Dollywood on Sunday. Kylie loves Dollywood so I'm tickled that she got to go. At Dollywood, Kylie happened to see a woman walking by wearing a burka. Kylie loves to pull blankets over her head and pretend to be a ghost. She didn't understand why Nana wouldn't let her run over and say, "Boo" to a person who she thought was pretending to be a ghost. Kylie rode lots of rides, found some money on the ground as she's prone to always do, and had a fabulous time. She settled right into her "Nana routine" with Karen's mom in TN. I'm so grateful for Karen's mom and to have this wonderful alone time with Karen.


Not sure if I'll get a chance to blog again before we head back home this weekend. Just know that I'm thinking of you dear blog readers. Have a great week.

Goodbye naps

Yes, Kylie has officially stopped taking her nap.

I wanted so desperately for her to keep napping through the month of September--through the start of school, through my Dad's Florida visit, through my trip to CA. I kept praying, "Can she please just nap until October?"

But it was not to be. When I put her down, she would pop up ten or more times. I was getting frustrated and so was she. So last week, we said goodbye to the the nap. And once again, I'm trying to find my way with a change in our schedule. I miss our pre-nap ritual. We would read 3 or 4 books and have some snuggles. I miss being able to do chores around the house for an hour without Kylie asking to "help" or to play with her. I miss my computer time. I miss the quiet.

The good news is that Kylie is more than ready to go to sleep at 7pm (our usual time) if not a little earlier. We are getting no resistance about going to bed then. The bad news is that she can get a bit grumpy in the late afternoon.

I can hear some of you out there in blogland scoffing a bit because your babies stopped napping at two years old or earlier. So I do feel incredibly grateful that I got 3 years and 4 months of naps. I promise I'll try to stop whining soon.

Do any of you have a "quiet time" or "story time" as part of your routine? If so, will you share the steps or process of your quiet time with me in the comments along with the time that you have it and how long it lasts? I think it would be good for Kylie and I since we lost our scheduled story time before her nap.

Here is a recent scrapbook page.

Grandpa and Kylie

Here are a few pictures of Grandpa and Kylie having fun at the ocean.

Little Chef Helper

My little chef helper washes grapes and puts them onto paper towels.



She brushes oil on vegetables for roasting.


She reminds me that she should have worn an apron for those earlier tasks. She dons her apron and sets the table.


She helps make banana pudding for my dad (while wearing a mermaid outfit, no less).


Sometimes its a bit of a challenge to come up with ways she can help but I'm pleased that she's interested.

Bento lunches week of 9/6

Only four lunches this week due to the Labor Day Holiday on 9/6.


Grapes, strawberries, clementines, wheat roll, macaroni, granola bar, chocolate-covered plum bites.


Turkey, pretzels, cucumber flowers, honeydew stars, blueberries, craisins.


Dried apricots, yogurt raisins, banana, chocolate-covered plum bites, dried apples, bacon, pretzels, bread.

And this was the first week using Jane's gifted bento box. Oh, this was fun to play with!

Ham sandwich, pirate booty, fruit leather rolled up, watermelon, grapes.

Thank you Jane!

Like I wrote in yesterday's post, I have the best blog readers and friends.

Jane, from London, sent Kylie, Karen and I an incredible gift in the mail. I've never met Jane and yet we've touched one another through the magic of blogging. From a continent away, Jane sent Kylie these two wonderful books and card,

which Kylie asked me to sit right down and read to her.

And some stickers (I adore these and saved some for myself!)

Kylie immediately put some of them in her special sticker book.


And this incredible, adorable bento box and bento-style silverware.

I'm in love with this sweet panda face. Just looking at it makes me smile!



I packed a lunch in the box this morning (stay tuned for pictures tomorrow). Kylie was so tickled. "I love Jane," she exclaimed. "Who is she again Mommy?" Laughing I replied, "She's a lovely, generous woman who enjoys seeing our family on the blog." "Oh, she likes my pictures!" said Kylie. "You should post more pictures Mommy."


Thank you Jane!

Right now 9/9/10

Right now...I'm excited that my dad and his girlfriend are coming to visit. They plan to arrive on Sunday and stay with us until Saturday.

Right now... I'm continuing some minor house improvements. I've painted the concrete floor of our front porch; I've started painting our garage. I've finished weeding and mulching. We had our palm trees trimmed.

Right now...I'm proud of my running progress. I had my nine-mile long run on Monday. I'm averaging around 25 miles per week.

Right now...I'm pleased that I went to the eye doctor and got my new contact prescription. Things were getting a bit blurry. And I'm also pleased that I got a new pair of glasses to wear at night.

Right now...I'm in desperate need of a haircut or I would show you my cute glasses in a picture.

Right now...I'm knitting a pillow case cover out of Rowan All Season Cotton. It's soft and comforting to knit with.

Right now...I'm thrilled that Karen's finished writing the technical book she's been working on for the last five months. I'm so proud of her.

Right now...I'm grateful for sweet moments with my family. Last night, the three of us sat watching "Olivia" on the tv together. Kylie was sitting between us and was holding our hands. So loving.

Right now...I'm thankful for all my blog readers. You leave the most wonderful comments and you light up my day far more than I can explain. Thanks for being a part of our lives.

Here are a few more pictures and scrapbook pages.