A Look Back at our Week

Sunday evening, as soon as my head hit my pillow, I remembered I had volunteered to make play dough for Reid's preschool class. So guess what we did first thing Monday morning? And of course I had to make two batches so we could keep some at home for little sister. The kids were occupied for hours and hours on both Monday and Tuesday. My kitchen transformed into quite the little bakery. Nell even began carrying a tray of samples around the house, and she couldn't wait for daddy to get home and try one of her free samples.
 


Reid and Nell have also been color maniacs lately. I unpacked a Sesame Street Christmas coloring book when we pulled out our Christmas decorations a couple weeks ago, and they have been coloring non-stop. Reid keeps reminding me that coloring is good for his muscles. He's never been that into it until now, and I must say -- he's pretty good for a five-year-old. Like most artsy-crafty things we do, he can be too particular and become easily frustrated. But we are working on that.

We've gotten back into Wiggles and Giggles at the YMCA now that the temperatures have dropped (only slightly --it reached 55 today).

This is how I push both my girls on/in the Little Tykes car. My favorite thing about wiggles and giggles is watching my big kids playing and working together. They made villages, forts, castles, and obstacle courses. It wasn't long before they attracted the attention of several other little kids. I also love watching how well they play with others. Reid is always eager to make friends and Nell can fit in with just about any little kid age group.
 

This evening we attended our Church Christmas party. There was a fancy dinner followed by a spiritual program. The primary kids were asked to act out the nativity. Reid and the two other boys in his class were asked to dress up as wisemen. I wish I had snapped a picture of them all together -- he was so excited to dress up with Ben and Alex. He also took his role very serious. The day before he asked me, "what are we going to give baby Jesus; we can't steal any gold from the jewelry store?" He seemed really perplexed by this dilemma until I told him he could take one of my jewelry boxes, to symbolize the gold.

When the narrator read the scripture verses about the wisemen Reid went and placed his gift by the doll that lay in the manger. One of the younger kids immediately went and picked up his jewelry box and started dumping out the change he had placed inside. This set him off a bit, and he couldn't really focus on the song he was suppose to be singing. For once, just once, I'd love for him to behave properly during one of their singing performances. Sigh.
 

Nell wasn't even actually suppose to be in the performance, but the moment we started talking to Reid about his part she wanted to know what she could dress up as. We figured it wasn't the end of the world if she joined the angels and just smiled at the audience. She did just that through the first verse, and then sucked her thumb and twirled her hair through the next two. Grandma and Grandpa Szilagyi were there to watch it all, which made it extra special.

They came to Oshkosh to pick up Reid and Nell for the weekend. Nell was beyond excited. Reid was happy to go as well, but he seems to have a little anxiety. I don't know, maybe he's just too much of a mamma's boy. It's interesting how they each have their own little personalities. We ended up leaving the program a little early so we could get them on the road before it was too late. I'm certain they will come home Sunday with lots to say. I know they are going to love their special time at Grandma and Grandpa's house without mom and dad around.