Alphabet Walk

Simone wanted to go on an alphabet walk yesterday. While on the walk she wanted to find something that began with each letter of the alphabet. We had a such a good time.
These are the things we found:
Awning
Blue
Car
Doors
Eight
Five
Grass
Houses
I in Oakside (streetsign)
Simone said she saw J in a patch of snow
Kitten
Leaf
Mom
Nose
O (streetsign)
Puppy......we asked the owner if the puppy's name began with a Q.....it didn't
Quick....we saw a car going quickly (we had to improvise)
Road
Snow and Simone
Two
Under and Up....we looked Up in the sky and Under a car
Van
Wet Water
X is always for Xylophone, but we didn't see one of those, so I drew an X in the snow
Yellow
Zipper
We accomplished all this in a walk around the block and had a wonderful time. Simone had an alphabet stencil with her so she could keep track of what letter we were on.

In a World of Their Own

Last night Michael and I went out with Carl and Julie Farmer to a Deaf Performance. It was part comedy, part story telling, part improv. It was Wonderful!! We were definitely in the minority as hearing people. The whole room was almost quiet and groups of people were signing to each other all over the room. I had even gone to the restroom and a lady was chatting with a little girl, she turned to me and signed a question, I signed back and she turned around and continued talking. It was assumed at this event that you were deaf, and if you weren't deaf, you knew sign language. All 4 of us have had some form of rudamentary training in sign language so we would have been able to communicate somewhat had anyone approached us. I have studied sign language for 13 years on my own and can translate almost anything into sign, but reading another person's sign is a whole different world for me. I realize how much that that skill needs to improve. The whole evening was great and it was wonderful to see the Farmer's again. Do you know how to show applause in a deaf community since they can't hear the clapping?????

4 Snowmen in a Row

Simone and I went for a walk today in the slushy, wet wonderful 45 degree weather. When we got home, we weren't ready to go inside yet so we made a snowman. Then Simone decided we needed to make a snowman for each of us.

The first snowman is Simone, the next one is me, the next is Michael and the last is River. We made him a small snowman on purpose. :)

They are all decked out with eyes, carrot nose, mouth, twig hands and a hat. It was perfect weather for snowmen today.

Sledding Day at School

I went to pick up Simone at school Wednesday and the teacher told us that they decided to spend the morning outside sledding. How fun! Here's a pic from the school website of Simone and another gal in her class sledding. Simone said when you went down the hill you had to open your mouth wide and scream, "AHHHHH". She talked about it the rest of the day. Sounds like all the kids had a great time. Simone is the one in purple. :)

Simone had her first sleepover

Simone went to the McGuires the other night while Michael and I went out of town. 2 other girls had come over to spend the night as well, so in total there were 7 kids. Joyce Mcguire showed me the pictures she had taken of the sleep over. The kids played for awhile outside. They did some crafts. The girls all took a bath and had their hair up in curlers. Simone's hair looked so cute. I looks like the kids had a lot of fun.
Simone slept well, but we came and picked her up early the next morning as she was suffering from homesickness. Overall, I think it was a good first experience for her.
Tonight we got dumped on with snow. Michael and Simone bundled up and headed out to tackle the snow. Simone has her own little shovel and works hard right along side Michael.
The hard workers were rewarded with hot chocolate and strawberry milk when they came inside.

Simone is 4 1/2 on Sunday and I'll be "just older"

Simone turns 4 1/2 on Sunday. Sunday happens to be my b-day. So Simone and I kind of share birthdays. She was born August 24th and I was born February 24th.
Since Simone's b-day is in the summer she'll always celebrate it on her 1/2 b-day at school. That is exactly what she did this past week at school. She was so excited and the school put a blog picture up of her day. It was extra special for her. Tonight we had church mice (awana without the games). Since church mice is only through the winter months, they celebrated and sang for Simone tonight. It was extra special to me knowing how much is meant to her.
Simone is quickly picking up reading and has read her 3rd book. She's so thrilled and I'm excited for her as I love to read and the world of reading is opening up to her.
This weekend is also special since Michael proposed to me on my b-day back in 2001. So Michael and I usually celebrate my b-day and our engagement with something a little extra special each year. We are going to Chicago and we'll see a couple of shows. We love theater. The kids are each being watched so we'll have the weekend to ourselves. :)

Puzzles

Today was puzzle day. Simone used some of her saving to buy a new puzzle today. Puzzles are her new thing right now that she enjoys doing. She especially enjoys doing them with daddy.

Today, Simone also read her first "Bob" book. We were so proud of her and the look on her face showed how excited she was to read her own book.