Library Field Trip

 Sorry for the lack of blog posts.  I've been bogged down with the drudgery of daily life.  Plus, it's a busy time at the preschool since we just completely registration and I'm chairing the nominating committee for next year's board.  I'm also holding another fundraiser next week.

Of course, we also have all the regular preschool activities.  Today the kids took a field trip to the library and it was my turn to work.  Serafina was so grumpy all morning.  She cried about everything - she didn't like her shirt, her shoes weren't strapped tight enough, etc.  I was worried about how she would do at the field trip.  When the crowd started to gather, she wanted me to hold her, but then she sat with her classmates and listened to the librarian.

She didn't give me one smile in all the pictures, but that didn't stop me from taking them.

Waiting for story time to start.

 

 Lined up to get a sticker from the librarian.

 Waiting for snack.

 Walking to the playground.

Skiing with Grandma Carrie and Aunt Maggie

We drove up to Tahoe on Friday afternoon.  We hit traffic, but we still got to the house at a reasonable time instead of the middle of the night, which is when we typically arrive.  Saturday we all went to our usual ski spot (Sugar Bowl), but headed home early because Grandma Carrie and Aunt Maggie had arrived for a visit.

On Sunday, the kids woke up very early.  We headed back to Sugar Bowl and suited Serafina up for her first time on skis.

So cute.

Ready to start the day with Grandma Carrie.

Daddy is proud of his little skiers.

Grandma Carrie tried to get Serafina in the skis but she wasn't having it.  

I suggested we go to an open space with no people where we usual play in the snow.  Grandma Carrie talked up skiing to Serafina but she wasn't convinced.

We coaxed her into putting one ski on at a time.  We let her "scoot" back and forth holding our hands over and over.  It took a while, but she finally felt comfortable enough to scoot while holding only one hand.  

Then she tried it a little with no hands.  It was major progress, but she was still refusing to put on two skis at once.

So like a good mom, I tricked her into it.  I told her I just wanted her to put two skis on so we could take a picture for Nana.  Carrie took a picture and then I slid her over to where Carrie was standing.

Then Carrie pulled her along.  

She like it.  A lot.  She wanted to do it over and over.  

She even let go for a split second.  

Carrie thought she was ready for the magic carpet.  She looked like a little peanut riding up it and of course, she fell getting off it.

But Carrie got her to go down the hill.  

It was good progress for the first day.  But since the kids were up early, we went in for lunch and then I took the kids home for a nap.  

Hanging with Aunt Maggie in the lodge.  

Thank god they had a good nap because we went out to dinner that night and had a huge wait.  We weren't even seated until 8pm.  The kids were total troopers, but you can see Serafina is pretty tired at the table.

But they had a good night's sleep and were ready to hit the mountain the next day.  We went to a different spot on Monday, but luckily it wasn't crowded.

Here they are showing their "pizza feet" (the position their feet need to be in to stop their skis).

Serafina claimed she wanted to ski with Grandma Carrie again, but when it came to putting on the skis, she refused.  We decided to find a mellow spot to get her warmed up.  Unfortunately it was a little ways from the lodge and Serafina wasn't interested in walking there in her ski boots, so I gave her a lift.  Grandma Carrie snapped this with her phone.

We had to start with the one ski scooting again, but then she was ready to go.  

In fact, Carrie took her on the ski lift.  

And came down with her like this.

When she got to the bottom the first time, she said "I want to go on the chair lift again."  And she did! 

We came in for lunch and when she was done eating, Grandma Carrie was willing to take her out again.  She wanted to wear her sunglasses instead of her goggles.

I sent her off with Carrie and she got towed over to the lift.

She had fun and was a good sport about waiting for her brother and the rest of the grown ups to finish their ski day.

Tuesday morning Carrie and Maggie headed to the airport and almost immediately it started snowing.  We headed back to Sugar Bowl so Tom could attempt skiing with Serafina.

Getting some instructions and love from dad. 

Here's the thing...it was snowing, hard.  I was freezing standing out there and Leo was a good sport about waiting for Tom to take a run with just Serafina.  

Tom took two more runs with Serafina, and Leo joined them.  Tom said he really liked having his two kids on the lift with him.  Leo was able to zip down the beginner hill quickly and waited for them at the bottom.  But after the second run, Serafina was cold and crying.  I took her inside and she was still upset.  She said she didn't want to ski again.  I told her she could only ski on sunny days.  

We headed home after that and the boys continued to ski.  That turned out to be a bad idea since it was very hard to get back due to the weather.  In fact, I wasn't sure if I was able going to be able to get to them.  It was one of the worst feelings ever.  The weather made the drive very scary for me.  I preserved and Serafina napped.  I was so relieved when I finally got there; I cried when I finally saw them.  It took three hours to pick them up when it usually takes about 20 minutes.  We made a pact not to separate when the weather is bad.  The boys weren't even able to do that much skiing because the visibility was bad.  

But the next day, the skiing was great.  They just took a quick trip to the nearby spot since we were leaving in the afternoon.  

Here's Leo in the powder.  

Serafina and I took a break from cleaning and packing to play in the snow.

We had an easy trip home yesterday, though I did catch a cold while I was there and still feel pretty crappy.  We really enjoyed have Maggie and Carrie visit, and I'm glad Carrie was able to introduce Serafina to skiing.

I'm glad to be home though.  Tom wasn't thrilled to return to work, but he only has to survive one more day before the weekend.  Plus, it will be a Nana weekend, which is always good for us.

Happy Valentine's Day

 The kids were excited to go to school today and celebrate Valentine's Day.  They started the day with some sibling love.

 Serafina's party and Leo's party were happening at the same time, but I felt like Serafina's class needed more help than Leo's.  His class is smaller and more mature; they had it covered.

She was in some dress up clothes when I came back after dropping off Leo and running an errand.

 She then proceeded to have a huge meltdown.  The teacher said I could leave since she never does that when I'm not there.  I decided to stay.  I want her to be able to handle my presence in the classroom without being so clingy and emotional.  She insisted on sitting on my lap but didn't do any more crying, and she eventually didn't even need to sit with me.  Due to switching work days, it's been a while since I helped in the classroom and I thinks she's out of practice.

I also felt I needed to stay because it becomes pretty chaotic once the kids start passing out their Valentines.  They don't address them to specific classmates so they can just walk around and drop them into the bags.  Here she is ready to receive a Valentine.

She did a great job passing out her Valentines.

She enthusiastically wished everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.  

 At snack time, the kids wore their Valentine crowns and necklaces.

 Then they went out to play.  Natalie and Serafina made "ice cream" with the tan bark.

 Some of the ladies ready to go back inside.

Walking back to class.  

 I'm not sure how Leo's party went but I'm pretty sure it included lots of sugar.  Here he is when I picked him up.

There was some fighting over that balloon, of course.  

 Here he is checking out his loot.  We had some beautiful weather, but unfortunately they keep their backpacks outside most of the day and all the chocolates he received turned into a melty mess.

But since it was so nice out, we took a little walk.  Serafina played with the bubbles she got in her Valentine bag and Leo had a lollipop.  

They both ate much more sugar than usual (confession: so did I), but they were much better behaved than usual.  They played really well together this afternoon and were pretty pleasant all the way until bedtime.  That's rare around here and I enjoyed it.  Maybe I should rethink the healthy, balanced diet and pump them full of candy every day.

Tomorrow we leave for an extended Tahoe trip and Grandma Carrie and Aunt Maggie will be joining us for most of it.  The wireless up there isn't great so I'm not sure if I'll get to post.  We plan to get Serafina up on skis so that will be an adventure.

Be My Valentine

Serafina's class walked to a nearby mailbox yesterday to mail Valentines to all the parents.  The teacher wanted to photograph the kids dropping the letters in the mailbox, but she forgot her camera.  She asked if I could bring over my camera for someone to use or join them for the walk.  I thought about joining them for the walk, but since I have such a small window of time when both kids are at school, I realized that was a terrible idea.  I swung by the school and handed my camera off to a dad that was working in the classroom and headed off the the grocery store to shop all by my lonesome.  

He did a pretty decent job with the pictures.  Here are the kids leaving the school.  

Serafina dropping in her letter.  

 Getting ready to cross the street to come back to school.

 Tomorrow both kids will hand out Valentines to their classmates.  Last year, the kids made their own Valentine and I thought it might be the last time.  But they were willing to do it again this year, which made me very happy.

Here's Serafina's batch.

 I'm so charmed by these little faces.

 Leo's batch.

He wrote each kids' name and his own on the back.

In past years, I've included some type of organic candy but this time I just got Dum-Dums since those are my kids' favorite.