Friday, April 29, 2011

Fall here, Spring there


Flying solo out here, night number 3.  So far so good, I'm hoping for some sun tomorrow so I can take the kids down to the pool.  Speaking of which, I was recently thinking about the weather.  Here in Brazil it was rather cool yesterday, mid 60s -- similar to the the weather back in MI this time of year right?

I quickly observed that everyone here was dressed as if a blizzard was on its way -- thick jackets, scarves, boots, etc -- then I thought about what it's like when the weather hits the 60s in MI for the first time of the year.  A switch goes off and all at once the armchair quarterbacks automatically transition their wardrobe over to their favorite summer cargo shorts, everyone's outside in tee shirts getting things done, one guy down the street will bust out the lawn mower to trim his lawn down by the 1mm it's grown for the year, maybe an ice cream truck will hit the streets, the list goes on.  Where we live there really isn't a significant transition during the seasons, at least not for us.  The other Brazilians clearly notice the difference though , breaking out the winter clothes to tough out the peak cold months where the average temperatures are 55-70. Maybe they are just excited to be able to wear a different style of clothing, I don't know.  I guess it's all about the internal thermostat -- cold here is 55, cold in MI is 15.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The hunt





The Easter egg hunt was a success this year.  Today was the first holiday where Maddie was actually anxious in the morning.  Dylan really didn't know what was going on -- he did enjoy his M&Ms though.

Disney Trip


I'm a little late in posting this -- I received this pic a couple weeks back (as 50% of my regular blog viewers are probably aware).  Anyway this is from the WNY family vacation down south.  I don't know much of the details regarding the trip but imagine there was plenty of fun had by all.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Expanding her palate




Here are a couple random shots on the couch before bed -- needed to get Dylan in a couple pics before I spent some time writing about Maddie.  So we received Maddie's first report card for the 3rd quarter -- the report out was a good one.  I have to say it's a very thorough summary (for a 3Y10M17d old kid) that breaks down and rates the following high level areas:
  • Social and Emotional Growth
  • Practical Life/Hygiene and Self Development
  • Work Habits
  • Fine Motor Skills
  • Learning Centers
  • Oral Language/Comprehension
  • Science/Social Studies
  • Sensorial/Math Readiness
  • Religion
  • Movement
  • Physical Education
  • Art
  • Music
  • Attendance
There are about 5 line items for each of those high level areas -- making up about 60 total lines supported by a grade.  One line did get an N (for "Needs Attention"), it was:  Tries new food without hesitance.  This one does not come as a surprise, it's been quite the challenge at home with her lately as well.... of course I did not expand my own palate until 5 years ago.  I'm glad I finally did and at the same time upset that I waited so many years -- so this is one area where I hope to wipe the "Needs Attention" off of her report card so Maddie can enjoy all sorts of tasty food in the future.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Easter time








The first of three Easter egg hunts this year -- next one is with Madison's class on Wednesday -- followed by the grand finale hunt at our place Easter morning. Madison had a great time, Dylan was more interested in the food selection.

Excusez Moi


Little Mermaid is on and I would like some more breakfast please.

Cheap Shot



I don't think Madison has ever watched her Uncle Jeremy play hockey, so where did she pick up this subtle elbow maneuver?

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Where's Dylan?


At least once a day there's a moment when one of us asks -- where's Dylan?  Then for the next minute or so we both wander around a bit until we find him.  We definitely let him roam around (unsupervised) more than we used to with Madison at this age.  Why not, what's he going to do right?  Well, during one of my recent searches, I walked in to find Dylan coloring with Madison's markers on the wall!  After a thorough scrub-down, I was able to knock the tone down by about 50%.  Lesson learned! 

Even at 1Y7M, Madison would never have attempted to pull such a stunt -- Dylan on the other hand is always testing the waters.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Dharma Initiative

The park at our place looks like a scene straight from Lost.






The kids visit this place quite frequently, both during the week and on weekends.  They seem to enjoy it -- aside from the sand which requires a bit of clean up, it makes the perfect pitstop during the day.

Another birthday celebration






Dylan kept himself occupied in this area during the princess show.




We went to another party for one of Madison's friends from school.  Activities were tailored more towards what a 4 year old girl likes to do, but Dylan still found some things to have fun with.  Majority of these pictures have Maddie sporting an orange pop mustache and princess lipstick on her cheek.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Home within a home


Is this how these tent/tunnel contraptions are supposed to be used?  I am not a fan of this thing -- it takes up way too much space, easily filling up half the room it occupies.  How this pre-assembled fort found its way down here is beyond me.  I basically let the kids have their way with it, hoping that it will eventually yield and find its way to the trash.  

Sunday, April 3, 2011

No dice

Toy squabble.








I gave up after 20 minutes of unsuccessful attempts to get just one pic of them looking at the camera together.