Grandma Blankets

My mom makes the most beautiful crocheted baby blankets. Every baby gets one. John still sleeps with his blanket. He calls it his "Grandma Blanket." When I was pregnant with Gillian my mom actually let me pick out the pattern and colors I wanted. I picked two shades of green. Gillian loves her blanket. I don't like it when kids have security blankets and I mean anything that kids become attached to (binkies, blankets or stuffed animals). I don't want her to become a Linus and therefore she isn't allowed to have her blanket outside of her bedroom. Gillian still loves her blanket. There are some mornings when she cries because I make her leave the blanket in her crib. There are other days when I find her in John's room holding his Grandma Blanket. She gets the blanket and sticks her fingers through the crotchets. She has already made a little hole in the middle of her blanket where the squares are sown together. I found her the other morning with her hand through a loop of yarn. I had to cut it so she wouldn't cut off circulation. Below are a few of my favorite pictures of Gilly and her blanket.

My Little Dinosaur

John has a book called "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight?" It is one of his favorite books to read. Last weekend he got another book by the same author "How Does a Dinosaur Say I Love You?" Again this book has moved up in status to one of John's favorites. We have to be careful with books in our house. Gillian loves looking at them but she also likes destroying them. Tonight I found Gillian reading John's book very quietly. I kept an eye on her. She was good and didn't do any damage. She did occasionally roar while flipping through the pages. She then brought the book to me so that I could read it to her. After I was done reading she leaned over and kissed the dinosaur on the last page. That's my sweet dinosaur.

Super Hero Cookies

I received Super Hero cookie cutters for Christmas this year.  Check out this link to see a sample of the Super Hero Cookie Cutters.  John has been dying for me to make them.  I have been making my mom's recipe of butter thins with a simple coat of icing for years.  They are John's favorite cookies.  Check out my previous post about Cookies to get an idea of what I normally make. These cookies are a little more complicated than my normal cut out cookies.  John has been asking and asking me to make them.  I determined that I needed a little help with these cookies.  I couldn't just do my normal icing and have him be okay with that.  I have been following SweetDaniB on Facebook for awhile now.  I know that she sells an icing kit.  I have been wanting to buy one for myself, and now was the perfect opportunity.  I got my icing kit in the mail on Friday, and this weekend was the perfect opportunity to complete John's cookies. 

I started with red for Iron Man and Spiderman.  It was my first time using a new gel dye.  I couldn't get the red bright enough, so unfortunately it is pink.  After doing the red, I moved on to the blue for Captain America.  And then the green for the Hulk. 

stage one

I had to wait a few hours for my first base to dry.  Then my next step was the golden yellow for Iron Man and white for Spiderman's eyes and Captain America's A.  John checked on me when I was doing the white and I showed him my Captain America.  Within 10 seconds of looking at it, he says "Mommy, you need to put white on his wings."  And he was right.  I totally missed the wings.  When I was done with Captain America I added eyes and a mouth to Iron Man.  Again, I showed John my cookie and he goes "but mommy, you need black to go here and here.  Mommy, look at the box."  Ugh, seriously?!?  This little boy is such a rough critic. 

stage two

I took a little break and ran some errands and ate dinner.  After dinner I tackled the black around Spiderman's eyes and Hulk's hair.  I also completed all the little details that John wanted. 

finally completed

The cookies took me all day long.  Believe me, I'm not going to open up a shop tomorrow.  But I will continue to practice and use my new skills on my cookies.  It will be awhile before I make these cookies again.  Although, I will never forget the smile on his face when he saw the final result.

One happy little boy

Super Hero Power

What's your Super Hero Power?

According to John, Daddy's Super Hero Power is jokes. When you ask John what his Super Hero Power is, he says "my super speed!" Even though I think that super power is directly related to his fast shoes. We asked John what Mommy's Super Power was he quickly responded "telling!" I think I would rather have the super power of jokes than telling! Also according to John, Gillian's Super Power is eating.

playing school

John and Gillian go to daycare during the week.  Daddy and I have been really consistent with saying that they are going to school.  We want the kids to get used to going to school and to enjoy it at the same time.  When John wakes up in the morning, he always asks "Mommy, is today a school day or a stay at home day?"  Either way he gets up excited for the day.  He truly loves going to school. 

This morning he woke up and found Daddy playing video games in the basement.  And that's where I found them this morning.  I woke up Gillian and got everyone upstairs for breakfast.  During breakfast John says, "I know!  Let's play school."  We played school last weekend too.  Basically it is just an opportunity for John to boss Gillian and I around.  Plus he always has art and I get to color too.  So of course we played school.  I love to stretch the kids imagination any time possible.

We go into the living room and the art supplies are all over the coffee table.  He is sitting on the love seat and Gillian is standing on the window seat behind him.  I asked him why Gillian was in the window and he says "Cause that's where I have the little kids stay."  I got Gillian out of the window seat and we all sat in circle time on the rug.  He starts with "Today we are going to talk about pom-poms.  Pom-poms are really soft.  Feel them."  And he proceeds to have Gillian and I touch the pom-pom.  He then says "They are soft not sticky like stickers."  And that concluded the lesson on pom-poms.  He then asked us what we had for show and tell.  I was totally unprepared for show and tell.  Gillian had a baby (no surprise there).  Luckily for me, John supplied me with a blanket that I could use for show and tell.  After show and tell it was art time.  Yay!  I love art time.  We got to work on a new picture. Gillian would steal a couple of markers and just walk around the room.  Mommy is very lucky that Gillian has not figured out how to get the top off of a marker yet.  We got to color for a little bit, while the teacher got to put stickers in his sticker book.  After coloring, John decided it was time for free play and we got to go downstairs to play.  Before going down stairs, both Gillian and I got stickers because we were really good in school today.

Gillian and her sticker

the proud teacher holding up our artwork

bath time tears

Bath time started like normal tonight. John and Gillian were well behaved and were playing nicely together. John started using a cup to deflate the bubbles. While pushing the cup into the bubbles he was getting water all over the tub and some out on the floor. Daddy told him to stop. John continued and proceeded to get water all over the floor. Daddy said "that's it. You are losing a friend tonight!" John immediately said "no. I won't do it again! I promise!" After the water incident, we stopped play time and started to actually wash the kids. John and Gillian got Mr. Bubble foam soap for Christmas from Mimi. John has a blue one and Gillian has a pink one. A few weeks ago Gillian threw her foam soap out of the tub and broke the top off of hers. It still works but it is broken. We washed the kids and somehow Gillian got John's blue foam container. John started yelling at Gillian saying "you aren't going to break mine Gilly!" Gillian burst into tears. I said that's it. You are losing another friend. Never mind. You aren't losing any friends. You cannot have your light up turtle tonight. The kids were each given new night lights for Christmas from GiGi. John has a turtle that projects stars on the ceiling. As soon as I said that John said "but that my greatest thing ever!" And that's when he started to cry and argue with us. Daddy told him to stop arguing there was no reason to be this upset and that Gillian didn't break anything. John responds "well you broke my heart!"

fast shoes

John got new sneakers for Christmas.  They are black with flames on them.  He thinks that they make him faster. 


fast shoes

Every morning he puts them on and then does a few laps around the kitchen.  The first morning he put them on and tried them out.  He said "I'm so fast.  When I run you see a hundred of me!"  We think he got that idea from watching super hero shows.  Whenever you see Flash run, they make it seem like it is slow motion.  And you see a bunch of him. 

Here is a quick sample of Flash in action.  Let me know if you think John looks like the Flash in the next video.  I personally love his stance at the beginning.  He is so prepared. 

The purple dragon

We have started a new project at our company. Internally we have been referring to it as "The Purple Monster." One of the managers gave each of the managers a purple monster toy. My boss, Mike, has had his purple monster sitting on his conference table for months now. Last week he gave it to me to bring home to the kids. I gave it to John. Immediately John says "I remember this from your work!" He loves it. I forgot to mention, it squeaks. And when it squeaks its tongue and tail stick out. John loves to make it squeak. I told him that it was a purple monster and he looked at me as if I had two heads. "No Mommy, it's a dragon."

Today at school John's class was celebrating Chinese New Year. They were having a special lunch of chicken, Lo mien and veggies. As I was getting him ready for school I was explaining their special lunch and told him that it was the year of the dragon. John's face lit up. "I know Mommy. I can bring my dragon that Mr. Mike gave me!"

video game helper

Daddy got a PS3 for Christmas and has been playing some new games.  John loves to watch.  When John was younger, he would get a spare controller and think that he was actually playing along.


John & Daddy playing video games



my guitar hero

John now has a Leapster and plays games regularly on it.  He understands how some video games work and it always willing to offer a suggestion to Daddy.  "Daddy, go up the stairs.  No, Daddy, hit the other guy.  Daddy go that way."  I thought he was just being annoying and driving Daddy crazy.  Well this morning, John woke up and found Daddy downstairs playing a video game.  Daddy was getting stuck trying to do something.  John said to him "Daddy just use the rocks."  Well John was right.  I am thankful, because now hopefully Daddy will just ask John for advice instead of buying a video game guide.   

snow day

This winter has been pretty mild.  We saw a little bit of snow in October but that has been it.  Last night it snowed.  I didn't tell John about the possibility of snow.  I didn't want to disappoint him.  He woke up this morning and came running to find me.  "Mommy!  Mommy!  It snowed!!!"  He was so excited.  He found Daddy and made him look out all the windows to see the snow.  When Gillian woke up, he saw her and said, "Mommy?  Did you show her the snow?"  I had a hair appointment, so I left the kids with Daddy.  When I got to Point Pleasant and it was snowing, I text Daddy to let him know that he should try to get the kids outside to play.  I was afraid that it would start raining and they would get to enjoy any of the snow.  Daddy took the kids out for a little bit. 

The kids had a little snow fight with Daddy and they tried to build a snowman too.  Daddy said that Gillian not too fond of the snow.  But she did try to make a snowball.

I got home from my hair appointment, made the kids lunch and put Gillian down for her nap.  Gillian didn't want to go to sleep.  I tried to rock her.  As I was rocking her, I told John to read books in his room.  After a little bit, he came into Gillian's room and said "Can I rock too?"  I let him climb into the chair.  He sat right next to me.  I thought he was just going to be silly and wake her up.  But no, he climbed into the chair and patted Gillian on the back.  What a good big brother.

John and I got to play outside while Gillian was napping.  Our goal was to clear some of the snow off the deck for Duncan.  That didn't take long and we got to play for a little bit.  John wanted to go by his swing set.  We walked all the way there, and he climbed on top.  "There is snow up here?"  Silly boy.  He sent me back to get his little snow shovel.  He had to clear off his swing set. 

He worked really hard to clear off the top of the swing set.  Then he had to go down the slide (which was covered in snow).  He got stuck and then giggled and giggled.  He loved it. 

After playing outside, we watched Yogi and made super hero cookies.  Overall a really good snow day. 

wrong lyrics

I love to sing.  I don't always know the words.  I like to think that I know all the words, but in reality I just make up my own.  I have had the song "Tonight Tonight" by Hot Chelle Rae stuck in my head all day.  I heard it in the car on my way to lunch and all day long I have been singing "tonight, tonight. There's a party on the roof and I've had the time of my life."  Like I said, I make up my own lyrics.  Well the apple doesn't far from the tree.  I started singing "Tonight, Tonight."  And I heard another little voice go "There's a party on the top of the roof."  As soon as I made eye contact with John, he stopped and said "what?"  First, I was impressed that he didn't yell at me.  Normally if I am singing and there is no music on, John tells me "mommy, the music stopped.  you gotta stop too!"  And if I continue to sing he says "mmmmooooommmmmmyyy!!!!!!!!!"  Second, I looked at Kyle and said, "see maybe I do know the words."  Oh well.  Both John and I had the words wrong.  Check out the video below, because I still have the song stuck in my head.  I hope it invades someone else's brain instead. 

   

the flag

The kids' new school is in the annex of the The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County. I do not know much about the church, but I do know that they welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families. Their first principle is "Respecting the inherent worth and dignity of every person." They also have a LGBT pride flag hanging out front by the driveway. I often wonder what John thinks of the flag, if he know what it means. Well I got my answer today. As we were waiting to turn into the driveway, John pointed to the flag and said "mommy the rainbow flag tells everyone that John and his friends play here." I hope he continues with his open mindset.

different strokes

i love how different my kids are.  they are similar in many ways, but they are so different.  gilly will come running towards you at pick up and want to snuggle and squeeze you.  john will tell you "mommy, i'm not ready to go.  can i stay longer?"  both kids are dramatic.  gilly cries when you tell her no.  john will cry when you take away a stuffed animal. 

tonight is the perfect example.  after dinner, the kids and i went downstairs to play.  after a few minutes this is what the kids were doing.

john quietly reading a book

gillian in the middle of a big pile of toys

the best part is that shortly after my kids were in the above positions, both of them were jumping on top of fernando.  fernando is john's giant stuffed bear that is perfect for wrestling.

cookie snob

i had a tupperware party on saturday. in order to save myself some time, i bought a box of italian cookies. we had some leftover cookies and after dinner last night i offered them to john. he looked at the box with this crazy stare. "mommy, what are those?"  i explained to him that they were cookies.  "where did they come from?"  again i explained to him that i bought them at the store.  he had a look of utter confusion on his face.  "mommy, YOU bought cookies?"  i've created a cookie snob! 

chuck-e-cheese & stealing

yesterday, i hosted a tupperware party.  daddy decided he was going to take john out after dinner so that mommy could hang out with the ladies.  early in the morning daddy told john that if he was good they could do something special.  i suggested to john that maybe they could go to the movies.  john immediately said "i know.  we can go to chuck-e-cheese."  and then all day long that's all we heard about.  "mommy, have you ever been to chuck-e-cheese?  it's really cool!"  "daddy, we should go to chuck-e-cheese.  they have lots of games."  "basically, it's awesome."  all day long.  it started around 10 am and he didn't stop.  and then after dinner, he kept asking daddy when they were leaving to go to chuck-e-cheese.  don't worry.  daddy did end up taking him to chuck-e-cheese and john had a great time. 

this afternoon john was not listening, and we punished him by taking away his leapster.  daddy took it and kept the leapster next to him on the chair.  john then pouted and started mumbling under his breath about how he wanted to play his game and that it wasn't fair.  finally he got up and said "daddy, i want to talk to you about something."  his face was real serious and he was talking very softly.  "daddy, it's not nice to steal.  you just stealed my game.  that means you steal stuff.  you steal all the stuff that i have!"  it took a lot for daddy and i not to laugh at him.  we listened to his story and then daddy told him that he didn't steal the game, and that if john was a better listener he would get the game back.

babies

i think that gillian needs to work on her mothering skills.  she quite frequently puts her babies in the microwave of her little kitchen. 

yesterday i was super excited to find on of her babies in the sink.  i assumed that she was giving baby a bath. 

i was curious, so took a look around her kitchen.  the microwave was empty.  so was the cabinet under the sink.  unfortunately, i found another baby in the oven.  i personally think the best part is that she considerately gave baby a blanket.  you know, in case it got cold in the oven.

changing weather

i got to pick up the kids from school today.  there is nothing better than picking the kids up and having one come running towards you with open arms.  you get the biggest, longest hugs when you pick up the kids.  as i was hugging gillian and walking down the hallway at school i said i missed you gilly.  i looked over at john and he was pouting.  i said john whats the matter?  he says, "well i missed you too!"  aww my heart just melts.  then he says "no i just missed daddy!"  ouch.

in the car, i asked him what he did today.  he says "i don't know."  so i start suggesting things: did you have a snack?  did you play games?  did you read books?  did you play outside?  when i got to the last question, he says "mommy we had changing weather today!"  "mommy, did you know that it was raining, and then it was snowing and then it was sunny.  and then there was a rainbow on the other side of the school.  but only miss lissette saw it." 

dress shopping

tonight was a girls night out. gillian and i went to david's bridal to try on bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for aunt missy and uncle t's wedding. we met the girls at david's and started with dresses for mommy. gillian was a good girl. she patiently waited on a chair. she loved watching the girls walk around in the pretty dresses. after we decided on my dress, gillian got her turn. it was her first time in a changing room. she stood there in her diaper shrugging her shoulders as if to say "come on mom i'm ready for my dress!" gillian loved the dresses, but the second i would turn my back she would try to put her shoes on. i guess she needed shoes to complete her outfit. the outing was a success for the ladies, but we did not settle on a dress for gillian. luckily we are looking for something simple and comfortable. we have enough time before august to find one.

static electricity

last night we put the kids to bed. after about 20 minutes of being in his bed, john comes running into our room with a lightening mcqueen pillow. "did you know that my pillow lights up?" daddy and i looked at each other. i am pretty sure that the pillow is just a pillow, but maybe it glows in the dark. we tell john to turn off the light in our room. then john hands daddy the pillow and says "you gotta squeeze it real hard." daddy plays along and squeezes the pillow and nothing happens. so we send him to bed (he also turned our light back on and turned the fan on too).

about five minutes later, he comes running into our room again. this time h has his "johnny blanket" with him. "my blanket lights up too!" this time we didn't even humor him, we just sent him back to bed. daddy turns to me and says "is he awake?" unfortunately john talks and sometimes walks in his sleep (gets that from me). nope, not this time. our little guy was wide awake.

daddy and i discussed the possibilities of what he was seeing. we only came up with a few: glare from the neighbor's porch light, headlights or the hallway light. i went to check on the kids a few minutes later. i found john still awake. again he tried to tell me that the pillow lights up. as he was describing it, he sat up and there was a spark of static electricity. he said "see i told you it lights up!"

career path

daddy picked up the kids from school today. they started talking about school. john is in pre-k now and next year he will go to kindergarten. john asked about what grade came next. daddy explained all the grades thru college. daddy then said after college you get a job. john replies with "can i just stay in college?"

daddy quickly changed the subject to careers and all the fun jobs you can have. john can now explain what daddy does: "daddy puts people in jail if they break the rules." he can also explain what mommy does: "mommy makes sure all the money is in the right spot." he knows that poppy and uncle t sell cars. he also knows that uncle joe flies helicopters and "when he is flying he looks for dangerous stuff. like rocks on bridges." he learned that grandma and aunt betty are teachers. daddy and john also talked about other career opportunities such as: policeman, bus driver, truck driver, construction worker, soldier, iron worker, mechanic, doctor or firefighter. it is hard to say which career is most appealing to him, but i know he will succeed in anything he does.

playing outside in january?

this winter has been unseasonably warm.  we have been very lucky.  daddy & john put the christmas lights up on a warm day and daddy took them down on another warm day.  this saturday was gorgeous out.  gillian wasn't feeling well in the morning and after nap time, i found john and daddy outside.  gillian and i decided to join them.  i brought gillian's doll stroller out and john pulled out his various bikes. 


gilly and her baby

john on his bike



gillian only took a couple of laps around the driveway before she got bored with baby and decided to move onto bigger things. 

on the tricycle

on john's quad

she quickly realized that she can't pedal the trike, but she was able to use john's power wheel's quad.  luckily for mommy, the battery has not been charged for the quad since this summer.  so it wasn't going fast.  gillian wouldn't be afraid of it, but i wouldn't be able to catch her.  john was perfecting riding his bike.  he is getting really good at pedaling and is working on his steering.  we only had two crashes with the two of them.  that's not too bad. 

we also got out a couple of balls.  john found a soccer ball and a kick ball.  gilly found a tennis ball. 

no day outside riding bikes is complete without some sidewalk chalk.  i had john write his name out really big on the driveway. 

today was colder, not as nice as saturday.  daddy and john started working on their new project ~ a step stool for john to reach the fish tank.  i got john ready and put him in old ripped jeans, a sweatshirt and work boots.  he kinda looked a little like uncle t when he was all dressed. 

mini uncle t?

daddy had john set up with a very important mission.  his job was cutting.  and i think he did a pretty good job with it. 

not a bad weekend for the kids.  i am thankful that gillian is feeling better and eating again (a true sign that my little girl was sick).  we are truly lucky to be able to play outside on our bikes in the beginning of january!

french toast

john's favorite breakfast food is french toast.  john decided this morning that he wanted french toast for breakfast.  and of course he wanted to help.  we got the eggs, cinnamon, bread, butter and frying pan.  guess what john was in charge of...

check out all the cinnamon

i can't get mad, because he eats it up.  he loves french toast and so does gillian.



being shy

sitting in a big chair

friday night

daddy got stuck in court today therefore i had to pick up the kids. friday nights we normally treat ourselves to a meal out. since it was just the kids and i, we went to mcdonald's. i know. not a very nutritious meal, but our mcdonald's has an indoor playground. normally, i wouldn't attempt to go without backup, but i know that john needs to get some exercise. it has been cold the past couple of days and they haven't been able to play outside. we got there, ordered food and sat down. within 15 seconds of sitting, john says "potty, potty, potty!" i quickly grab gillian and we run to the restrooms. and luckily it was quick and we got back to our food a few minutes later. we ate and played with the touchscreen computer at our table. then john got to play on the playground.  he would climb up a level and then shout "mommy, do you see how high i am?"  gillian got to play too.  there is a small area for toddlers.  daddy called and said he was almost home and decided to meet us there.  john kept playing, but gillian immediately ran to daddy when he walked in.  after daddy ate, we headed home.

when we got home, we fed the fish.  feeding the fish is john's job, so we have to move a chair next to the tank so he can reach.  gillian immediately climbed into the chair and pointed at the tank and said "fish."  we then went upstairs to get the kids in their jammies.  i was changing gillian and daddy was in charge of getting john changed.  john was in gillian's room and was arguing with daddy.  he wanted daddy to change him in gillian's room.  daddy said to john "get your ass in here."  and without fail, john says "ass."

you would think that daddy learned his lesson after the last time (check out this post the parrot). 

timeout

we use timeout in our house as a form of discipline. we base the length of time in timeout on the age of the child. john is four years old and spends four minutes in timeout.

i had to put one of the kids in timeout tonight. i know you are expecting that i had to put john in timeout. not tonight. my sweet little gillian bit her brother. he was sitting on the couch with me and she wanted to get in my lap. as she was climbing on the couch she leaned over and bit his leg. i immediately put gillian in timeout while daddy examined the wound. gillian's timeout spot is john's chair. it's soft and easy for mommy to keep her in the chair. as i am trying to keep her in the chair (for the whole minute and a half), john comes over and tells me "mommy you are punishing her and thats not nice." he continued "it's not nice to punish her in someone else's chair."

dinosaurs

john loves dinosaurs. he got a triceratops pillow pet for christmas this year. along with some dinosaur books. yesterday he was reading gillian one dinosaur book. she loved the snugglely time with her brother. later in the day, we caught her reading the book by herself. all we heard was gillian growling. we like to think that she was making noises like the dinosaurs.

tonight after bath time, gillian had the monkey towel and john got the monster towel. john pretended to be a scary monster and was growling at gilly. she wasn't afraid of him. she laughed and laughed. after a few minutes, she started to growl back at him.

he said what?

john says a lot of funny things. here is a short list of his funniest:

anatomy: in john's world a forehead is called a "poi-head"

flatulence: "when you toot, your tushy is saying: go potty, go potty, go potty."

obedience: "it's hard to be good when gilly is around."

famous people: "wait a minute. did you say yoshi? i know him!"

introductions: after meeting gillian for the first time, he said "where's cooper?"

bieber: "i don't like justin bieber. only girls like justin bieber."

furniture: john don't sit on the table. "but mommy, it's my table!"

yard work: "daddy, we need a monkey to help us. he could climb up the tree and cut the branch."

television: "daddy, do you want to watch clues clues? it's really cool!"

hot food: "mommy, my dinner is hot. put it in the refrigerator it will make it cold. you gotta trust me."

pets: "i wish i had a dragon."

proper names: john thinks and says his full name is "john daniel locascio big brother to gillian"

grandma's house

i am very lucky. my parents and daddy's parents are local. and both sets of grandparents love to watch the kids. we started a new school in december and i was told that the school was open the week in between christmas and new years. unfortunately i discovered (after i submitted my vacation request) that was not the case. the kids school was only open on wednesday and thursday of that week. we had off on monday, so i needed sitters for tuesday and friday. mimi and poppy (daddy's parents) took the kids on tuesday and on friday the kids went to grandma's house (mommy's parents).

gilly eating her sammich

the kids had a great day at mimi's house on tuesday.  they were able to spend some quality time with gigi (their great grams).  plus they got to go to the "grilled cheese sammich store"  (aka panera).  gilly and gigi tried to take a nap, but got interrupted with a little messy diaper.  after a quick change of clothes, gilly was not willing to go down for another nap.  so they got to play and they also got to take gigi to meet pop-pop so they could go home to their puppies.   

gillian and aunt betty outside

i dropped the kids off at grandma's on friday and john was able to wake up aunt betty.  they immediately settled in and ate their breakfast.  i left them.  after breakfast, john got to watch the dinosaur train show with grandpa.  he loved the dinosaur train.  they got to watch it again later in the day.  they had played outside with chalk.  aunt betty put together some betty's clues for john to solve.  all the clues directed john to making pretzel dough.  john and gillian gave aunt betty a hot pretzel maker for christmas.  and as we all know, john loves to cook.  making pretzel dough was a perfect project.  the dough needed to rise a little bit.  they had lunch and then it was time for gillian's nap.  gilly is a good napper.  well, she needs to fall asleep first after that she can sleep for two hours or so.  aunt betty tried to rock her to sleep, but she called in the big guns: grandma.  grandma rocked gilly and got her to fall asleep. 



making pretzel dough



sleeping angel



while gillian was napping, john and aunt betty played betty's clues again.  this time the clues directed john to watch a movie with aunt betty.  they started to watch cars 2 and i guess my little critic decided that he didn't like that movie and they had to switch to something else.  sorry, i can't seem to remember what they decided to watch.  they had a great day at grandma's house!

john playing his "ds" in grandpa's chair

popcorn

i love popcorn. john and gillian love it too. we occasionally do movie night and make a big bowl of popcorn to go with it. aunt missy and uncle t gave us a popcorn maker. daddy and i knew right away that it would be a big hit.

early this morning we promised john that we would have a movie night and use our new popcorn maker to make our snack. john was super excited to use the new popcorn maker. at one point today he was misbehaving and we threatened to cancel movie night. he burst into tears. "but i wanna make popcorn!" don't worry we didn't cancel movie night.

after dinner, john quickly got the box with the popcorn maker in it. and we started the process. john and gilly pulled a chair over and watched the maker in action. i wish i had it on video. the two of them jumped when the first kernel popped. and then after that they laughed and jumped up and down in excitement. john kept saying "and it goes pop pop pop!" who would have thought that the popcorn maker would have been more exciting than the movie.