Animal Whisperer

Virginia certainly has things she likes and animals is one of them.  They talk to her and she talks to them.  She knows that some of them are bigger than others.  Usually if she has say a mouse and then smaller mice the bigger mouse is the mama mouse and the smaller mice are the babies.  She likes to line them all up.  I've also started rolling a dice and she'll yell out the number and then we'll count out a certain animal (yes some of the little animals are so inexpensive that I buy 5 for counting purposes). 

 Then she left the alligator (or is it a crocodile) in charge while she...

 hopped around the room as a frog. 

Olympic Hopeful or Dancing With The Stars Contestant?

I rolled over in bed this morning to find Virginia awake and smiling at me, it was 4:45am.  The no nap situation had been going really really well the past few weeks.  Around 7-7:30 she would go to bed and sleep until 7-7:30 in the morning.
Until a few days ago and she started going to sleep at 6:30 and sometimes even earlier.  Then she would wake up about 8pm crying saying she was scared of the dark so i would have to lay down with her, sometimes she would back to sleep quickly and other nights it would take forever.  And every time I would get up she would come looking for me.  UGH..Last night she fell asleep early and then woke up once scared but went back to sleep quickly and then was up at 4:45. 
I tried to convince her that since it was still dark outside we aren't allowed to get up.  She always says at night, "It's getting dark outside." And she knows that it's getting close to bedtime.  I tried to just close my eyes and see if she would get the hint but then she started flopping all around in the bed.  So I turned on a video for her (i was up way late working on a project) and at some point I woke up laying on my back and she was laying on top of me watching her video.  UGH.  Anyway, I suppose I'm going to have to do my best to keep her awake to 7:30pm.  Finally this morning after she was flopping all around and laying on top of me I said go ahead and get up.  Next thing I knew she had her whole collection of cars in the bed and was quietly playing with them.

Okay on to the title of the post.  While I fix supper I will often turn on my ipod and Virginia will dance in the kitchen while I cook.  After each song she will say, "that was a good one."  So yesterday I was in the office working on "the project" and she came in and found a roll of white ribbon.  She unrolled the whole thing and I knew where this was going.  I have looked at enough parent/teacher magazines to know that they actually sell arm thingys with ribbons attached for kids to dance with.  I also had on some piano music while I was in the office and sure enough she started dancing.  Then she wanted to take the ribbon upstairs to dance with in the kitchen.  I was tickled she let me snag some of this on video which she normally doesn't.  And I'm not sure if it still is but at one point wasn't ribbon dancing an olympic event?  I of course think she's a child prodigy.  Hope you all enjoy the videos.  The first song is Billy Joel, My Life and the second is Barry Manilow's Copa Cabana.  What? I'm trying to broaden her music repertoire from just Jesus Loves Me and the Cars soundtrack (Life Is A Highway is her favorite song).

*and please ignore the mess that is my kitchen. 

Blessed

I am blessed each night to snuggle up with this beautiful little girl. 

Dress Up

MOPS started last week and we've been busy ever since!  I had one of Virginia's favorite babysitters come on Friday morning so I could get out and do some errands on my own (she's coming next week one morning so i can get started on getting the house ready).  Yes it is MONTHS before we move but I worked hard in Leavenworth to get things semi-organized so that when the packers/movers come we would be ready and have most things in a place.  It worked really well.  Virginia's outgrown clothes and my clothes that I will fit in one day are all in totes labeled with a number and then recorded in a notebook so that we don't just have totes hanging out and not know what's in them.  Anyway, we've acquired more stuff and I'm needing to get it somewhat organized and this particular babysitter is only here until March when she heads overseas to study. 
Then on Saturday one of my dearest friends here has an AWESOME husband who volunteers on a regular basis to watch their kids and Virginia while she and I get out.  So yesterday we headed to a parent/teacher store called Lakeshore Learning.  We have several of their things here and I just wanted to go and see.  Well several hundred dollars later I now have enough manipulatives, alphabet learning games, numbers games, counting tools, craft supplies,alphabet beads, ect...to outfit a pre-school in my house!  UGH I miss teaching (some days more than others) and wow I went a tad overboard yesterday getting my "classroom" ready!  My justification for all this is that since Virginia doesn't nap I can put some of these things in her room during quiet time and she can do some play/learning while in there. I'll get a picture of what all I got. 
So after blowing all my money in the school supply store we went to the mall where I was all out of the mood to spend anymore money but I enjoyed just being out and helping my friend do some shopping.   It was a wonderful day and when I got back to my friends house Virginia was all happy and just kept saying how much fun she had had playing. 
Sorry for just the one picture.  This is Virginia one day who wanted to put on her fairy outfit with her wings and play.  Thank you Holly and Leanna for the fairy dress up chest from last Christmas she LOVES it!

Look At Me!

Awhile ago I mentioned putting together things that Virginia could do that might be fun and educational. 
I have to say that it seems like overnight her vocabulary has tripled and she just seems so much more older.  So with all the snow and canceled school days I thought it was time to put some packets together. 
This is one that I saw a variation of on another blog and she really seemed to enjoy it.  I will say though that half way through it she decided she would rather help me do it than actually do it herself. 
She would say after looking at the clothes pin, "Now where is that letter?"  She said that with each one. 

#@*# SNOW

Foul mood.  foul foul mood.  it snowed most of Sunday and sunday night.  We've gotten over a foot.  The schools are all on a 2 hour delay which means NO school for Virginia which means NO break for me.

We didn't get out today.  I had high hopes that we would be back on schedule tomorrow with a ministry team meeting in the morning for me and play time for Virginia with her friends but I just got the email saying the school district who the church follows for inclement weather with their pre-school and moms morning out is on a 2 hour delay tomorrow morning which means NO ministry team meeting for me and NO school for Virginia. 

Don't get me wrong Virginia really is not a problem.  But she has demanded alot lately that I play with her.  So I go to where she is and try to play with what she's playing with only to be told, "Don't touch my animals/cars/fairies."  I have lots I should be doing while we are homebound but I'm just in such a foul mood that I don't want to do any of that either. 

But while these days are LONG and seemingly ENDLESS the weather forcast is calling for some super warm (50's) weather later in the week so I'm just going to focus on that. 
Here are some random pictures I snapped of Virginia around Christmas.  They do look very similar but they are different pictures.  Well 1 in color and then 1 in black and white.

And then one of her many "looks."

And while Virginia is still obsessed with cars and fairies she has also developed an obsession with animals.  Here is a gathering.  We've picked up a few more since I took this picture.  She wanted an ostrich the other day and was very tickled when we picked up a group of animals and there was a hedgehog in it. 

The Loot

*Again I'm not showing all that Virginia got for Christmas to "show off" just so Chris and family can see all of her Christmas.

This was one of the presents from Santa.  We have a teacher/parent store here and one day Chris, Virginia, and I went to browse.  Well they had one of these out on a table for the kids to play with and Virginia would NOT leave the table.  We were probably in the store for over an hour and she played with this little sandbox the entire time!  So at the point I knew this would go on Santa's list.  It's hard for the "garage sale" girl in me to get something "new" but I knew she would love this.  So I patiently waited until the parent/teacher store had their big before Christmas sale and Santa got it.  They have all different "themes."  One set is little dogs another is a volcano and dinosaurs and one that is earth movers and a few others.  It comes with the mat you see (just plain old plastic).  Virginia did a pretty good job of keeping the sand at least on the table/mat/sandbox.  But I knew that would happen and I was okay with it.  Ideally this would be something I set up on her little table in the kitchen since we have carpet all over the house.  And it's not a toy that I keep out all the time.  So she's not tempted to load up something with the sand and carry around the house. 

The whole stash.  The weebles set I got at a garage sale for $5.  The big rig truck full of cars I got at a garage sale for $1 and the cars I collected during the garage sale season. The garage behind the big rig I got also for $1 and the doll house I got for $5 and it's pottery barn and in immaculate condition.  The fairies are new and the cars set is new.  And she has loved all of it.  She's downstairs right now playing with her cars and the garage. 

Update on napping and big girl bed.  I have pictures to post of Virginia's new room.  Right after Christmas i decided that since she's not sleeping or napping in her crib anymore then it was time to take it down.  It almost broke my heart to hear her cry and whine that that was her bed but that lasted only a short time before she found something else to cry and whine about.  We are doing quiet time/rest time now instead of naps.  And it is going okay.  She stays in her room and like this picture shows, sometimes she falls asleep but most of the time she plays.  I'm working right now on putting together "activities" for her to do during rest/quiet time.  In other words things she doesn't always play with because they are out of sight (puzzles that are put away, blocks, ect) I'm going to bring out and put on little rugs in her room as a "new" quit/rest time activity.  And I usually put on a word world, veggie tales, or little einstein video while she's in there too.  Her bed was FULL in this picture and I have since cleared it off so she has room to actually sleep.  And I didn't tuck her in like this this is how I found her.  so cute.  Next week starts our full schedule of moms morning out, ministry team for mops, mops, and wed. night bible study so we'll see how the whole no nap plan goes. 

My Old Kentucky Home

We are Virginia's Best Friends and we are moving to Kentucky in the summer!  Out of the blue Chris calls and says he has been offered a job so we will be relocating to Kentucky this summer.

I'm excited!  I was just reminiscing last night about some of the places I've been in Kentucky.  Right when I graduated college my parents "forced" me to go on one last "vacation" with them.  One of those "educational" vacations.  So we traveled to Lexington, KY and toured a horse farm and went to a bourbon distillery.  Then we went to Berea, KY the folk/craft capital of the world.  I am excited to go back and explore more of Kentucky.

This is one of Virginia's Santa presents.  It's the complete set of Fairies from the Tinkerbell movies PLUS Lizzie the "human girl" from the movie Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue. 

Warm then Cold Then Warm

We are in the midst of what I think of as a typical Colorado winter.  If the sun is out (especially where we live in southern Colorado Springs) it is WARM and if the sun isn't out and it's snowing it's COLD.  So we have had some very warm days (50's) and some super cold days (-teens). 
And we have enjoyed them all! 
I was very excited about a break from MOPS and other duties BUT I can honestly say that I am SO READY for Mops to start back! 
Here are just a few pictures from our warm pre-snow weather and some snow pictures.  I haven't forgotten about all my Christmas pictures.  I'm just slow.  They are coming.

Do A Dots

I have had my eye on these do a dot markers for awhile.  You could also use bingo markers the same way.  I'm always looking for crafty type things that I can pull out on a snowy day and give to Virginia to work on. 
It worked out that before Christmas Michael's Craft Store had several 50% off coupons in the Sunday paper and since I didn't really "need" anything from Michael's I thought with the coupon I would give these a try. 
Virginia did great with them on the day before Christmas Eve which is when these pictures were taken.  I found a few websites where you could print off for free some do a dot coloring pages.  She was so particular about putting putting the color right on the circles.
So I thought yay a success.  So yesterday I pulled them out again and then I left her briefly to do something and when I came back she had colored both her hands with the blue marker.  ALL of her hands.  It is washable paint but it takes some washing!  So lesson for me learned is not to leave Virginia unattended with the do a dot markers!

Happy New Year

Here are a few pictures of our New Year's snow.