Hanging with Rea-rea

Even though I miss Katya when she is at school, I have been LOVING my Reagan time. We are having so much fun together through out the day, and without a big sister to disagree with, there is very little drama. She is a three year old, but such an agreeable little thing. Craig and I admit that thus far she is our easiest kid. But one thing that I have really been struggling with is what to do about preschool for her next year.

I originally thought Reagan would follow K's path to Holy Redeemer's Pre-K program before starting kindergarten at Holy Cross the following year. But HR changed their morning pre-K from 3 days a week to 5. I have really gone back and forth but I just can't seem to settle on 5 days a week being okay. It is just not what we want. I have looked into other preschools but there is nothing that fits my list. So we are considering leaving her out all together. There is a lot of research in support of preschool, yet the studies are all of at-risk, low income (often single parent) kids which doesn't reflect our family at all. So the research is not helpful. Part of my concern of not enrolling her is that kindergarten will be full time and is pretty hard core. Ms. Baird is the first to admit that it is what 1st grade use to be. But being the second child, Reagan is doing so much more at this age than Katya did. She is starting to trace letters, and cut with scissors and all those things because Katya is. And another helpful thing is that she is really comfortable with Holy Cross, the kindergarten classroom and Ms Baird because of Katya being there.   I plan on doing some structured play for a few hours a few days a week starting next fall (at home). And I am talking with another parent in K's class who has a daughter Reagan's age about doing something like that with her. She is also leaning towards no preschool and that girl will be in R's class:-)

Some cute pictures of our silly girl (that tongue kills me) wearing one of her sister's uniform dresses.

Promotion!

Words cannot describe how proud and happy I am for Craig.  My poor mom recieved a blubering, incoherant voice mail from me Friday afternoon after I saw the offer letter from Craig's employer.  He received a very nice promotion and we are in celebration mode here!!!  A substantial pay increase accompanies the new title, but even more exciting for him is the professional development.  He has been much happier at work lately with an increase in responsibilities and challenges.  There is nothing my husband hates more than being under utilized and at work.  He is finally feeling excited and positive about his future in science.  This is HUGE. No longer a lowly technician, his new title is biologist!  I like the sound of that:-)  We celebrated this morning with bloody mary's and eggs benedict. 

A question many are probably asking is will he be quitting Widmer.  Not at this time, but he has and will be able to reduce the time he spends there:-)

Tiger ready!

Craig is getting the opportunity to do a "tiger cruise" at the end of April and he is understandably SO excited.  He will be flying to Hawaii, hopping aboard the USS John C Stennis and riding it back to San Diego!  Once in a lifetime opportunity for a civilian!  The icing on the cake is that my dad and probably Nathan are also going.  I am just thrilled that he is getting to do this.  Craig checked out a few books from the library about aircraft carriers to get ready for the trip.  He thought it would help him have better questions for Skipper Scott once aboard.  Yeah, I think he is a little excited:-)

Valentines Day and Ash Wed

Valentines was pretty low key around here.  The girls and I did some valentine crafts and cards the week leading up to the holiday.  Katya had a great time exchanging cards and candy at school.  I made the girls heart shaped soft pretzels (which were surprisingly easy) and bought them a couple of little things.  Craig brought home flowers and a new Tekka (sp?) headlamp since mine was broken.  He is so good to me!  I think it is funny how the majority of American holidays actually have Catholic roots.  It is really awesome with K going to Catholic school that she learns about the people and reasons behind the holidays.  They even celebrated madti gras last Tuesday! 

School Mass was on Ash Wednesday instead of Friday last week so of course the littles and I went.  I always love the school Mass and try to make it often.  Katya has decided to give up playing with her wooden castle (which she has not been playing with much at all, mind you) for Lent, and so far has stuck with it.  I didn't ask her to give something up, but it is fun to see her do it on her own and have a reason to talk about Lent.  My Lenten commitment is no Facebook until the kids turn in for the night.  It was pretty hard at first but I am now really enjoying it.  I may just continue that after Lent. 

Muns!

 Elsie calls crayons "muns" and she loves to color!  This morning she told Craig, "Muns, color, pretty."  I can't believe what a good talker she is.  She also loves playing on sisters beds.  She thinks it is so fun to flop down and snuggle with the animals and blankets.  She calls blankets "ni-nite" and she loves her green frog that she sleeps with.  We have so much fun playing around the house:-) 

 

Toddle time

 Elsie's baby days are melting into the past and toddler she is.  She is saying 40 words on a regular basis (yes, I counted; I was curious:-)) and attempting new ones all the time.  She loves being outdoors which has been hard lately with the never ending colds that have plagued the girls in the family this winter (me included).  But we are enjoying the unusally dry PNW winter and we are walking to get Katya from school as often as we can. 

I just love watching Elsie toddle around the house.  Early walkers are so adorable.  Here she is enjoying the backyard in the evening.   

 


I found some cute pictures of Elsie from last September and used them to work on developing a black and white action in Photoshop.  An action is a series of steps that are recorded for future use.  I love these pictures!  Though I am not sure I like them better in black and white.  I generally prefer color. 

 

We had a really nice Super Bowl Sunday in Forest Grove with the family.  But I am still kicking myself for not leaving earlier.  I don't know what I was thinking!  By the time the game wrapped up and we were on the road it was already an hour past Katya's bedtime.  And then she didn't fall asleep til after 10pm.  On a school night.  Not good.  Needless to say, all the girls went to bed early last night.