Dear Spring,

Dear Spring,

If you could please hurry up and get here that would be great. I am losing my mind with these children of mine.  One is an energetic little boy that is always getting into mischief. The other is an inquisitive little girl that is forever talking, asking questions, and wanting to "do a project." I could really use some fresh air and time to let them run around and play OUTSIDE! I'm running out of things to keep the kids busy and under control. I'm also getting really, really tired of cleaning every room of the house every hour.

Sincerely,

Mommy

Some Behavioral/Motivational Things Happening in the Wiegman Household: 

Calendar of Events for Mya... Mommy got REALLY tired of answering certain questions. Now she can go to the calendar and look!

"What do I have today?"
"Do I have school tomorrow?"
"How many days until vacation?"
"How many days until Mimi and Papa get here?"

Mya's Marble Jar: Mya now earns (and loses) marbles for helping (or not helping) Mommy. GREAT INCENTIVE for her! She loves this!

No Whining Clips:
Mya starts the day with 5 clips.  When caught whining, she loses a clip.
All 5 clips by bedtime = prize from prize box
No clips the end of the day = No show before bed, no prize

Learning:

Right now, Mya is a SPONGE for learning. ALL DAY she is asking me how to spell words. I quickly realized that now is the time to really work with her while she enjoys it! We do lots and lots of activities with letters, sounds, and spelling.



I bought these great blank books at Lakeshore Learning. Everyday, during Luke's naptime, we work on a new letter. We talk about the sound the letter makes, how to write it, and words that start with the letter. After she writes the words, she gets to "find" pictures. We look on the computer, stamps, photographs, or stickers.



Practicing our words on a dry erase board. Writing on anything but regular paper is more fun!

Projects:

Cheap and easy valentines: Use an empty toilet paper roll and bend to make a heart. Dip this and other cookie cutters into paint!  

Stamping
(What the heck is Mya wearing?)

Making pizza



YUMMY!
*Note to readers: This entire pizza is from Trader Joes items. It's SO good! We rolled the dough and added our own toppings.



Trouble:

Basically, while Mya is learning and thriving, Luke is getting into mischief!!!!! See below.



Yup. He emptied ALL the puzzles and dumped them on the floor. I should've known when he was quiet for so long.
Mr. Touble.



Bathroom Remodel... it's about time!

The biggest (well...maybe second to our kitchen) eyesore of our house has FINALLY gotten a make-over! Our guest/kids' bathroom was totally disgusting! However, because we moved into a "foreclosure" there were SO many other projects on our list. But, it was finally time to address the rotting floor, missing tiles, piece of crap vanity, peeling mirror, and HORRIBLY uncomfortable bathtub! :-)

THE BEFORE: 

 

I ONLY let my children bathe in this bathroom, all other guests were more than welcome to use our master!

Not so bad, you think??? Just wait.



Check out the floor. Ew..... The subfloor was totally rotten and the tiles were peeling up. If you were lucky, you would walk away from the bathroom with a couple of the mini-tiles stuck to the bottom of your foot!



Bye Bye shell-shaped sink.

DEMO DAY and RENOVATION: Took a total of 13 days

 



Single sink turned into a double sink



Removed all shower tile and hardware



New floor tile

FINAL: I Love it!

New glass tile behind the vanity

Jack and Jill with a carrara countertop

Hard to tell in this lousy picture, but the paint is a beautiful greenish-grey called Melodic.  Very soothing! ;-)

Some Firsts.... Meet Logan

Yesterday, I did my very first indoor, newborn photo session for one of my besties, Katie. Her little Logan is an absolute doll and I am so honored to have been asked to photograph him (and his spunky big sister Kylie!).

 

SNOW!

Believe it or not, we got our first REAL snowstorm of the year. This is the first time the kids have gotten to go outside to play in the snow. Unfortunately, it takes longer to get the kids ready to play outside than it does for them to actually play outside! Regardless, they loved it while it lasted!

Since it's been SO cold the last few weeks, I've had to think of things to keep the kids busy... especially Mya! Luke still takes his long afternoon nap, so keeping Mya entertained during this time is a challenge.

Today, she colored on her windows with window markers.  It was a great way for her to practice her letters too!

Grandma's Birthday

Today we celebrated Grandma's birthday! It's always so fun to get everyone together and catch up!

A few pictures from the party... wish I had taken more!

Grandma had some help from Mya and Quentin when it came to blowing out the candles!

Birthday banner, tissue balls, and pictures I made for decorations

Craft time with these CRAZY kiddos!



Good picture... bummed I didn't think to take it when Andy was still here!



Dress up time! Love that Quentin is wearing a baby costume and thinks it's just GREAT!



Dates with Daddy

Mya loves her Daddy. She craves his attention and loves spending time with him... especially without her pesty little brother!

VIP Day at Messiah Preschool


Mya was able to invite anyone she wanted to VIP day at her preschool. She chose her Daddy.  He got to spend the morning in her class and see what kinds of fun things they get to do! She loved it.

 Date with Daddy to the Bulls Game

Later that week, Daddy invited Mya to her very first Bulls Game! They started their date at The Billy Goat Tavern. After dinner, they made their way to the pregame show at the United Center and watched the Bulls beat the Bobcats (well they left at half-time but Mya thought it was over)!

For all you Cub fans out there.... Ronnie Woo Woo consoled Mya after her balloon hat popped! I about DIED when Matt sent me this pic! It took me a few seconds to figure out who this was and WHY in the world was he holding my sobbing daughter! Once I realized it, all I could do was giggle to myself!
From Wikepedia: Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers (born October 31, 1941^[1]) is a longtime Chicago Cubs fan and local celebrity in the Chicago area. He is known to Wrigley Field visitors for his idiosyncratic cheers at baseball games, generally punctuated with an exclamatory "Woo!" (e.g., "Cubs, woo! Cubs, woo! Big-Z, woo! Zambrano, woo! Cubs, woo!") Longtime Cubs announcer Harry Caray dubbed Wickers "Leather Lungs" for his ability to shout for hours at a time.