Saturday, July 27, 2013
ABC Dancing Fun
Enjoy a little video of these two cuties being cute...they started this a week ago and it's still going strong. Glad we finally got it on camera!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Ice Skating
Daddy is now working 9/80 which means he works 9 hours a day M-F, but gets every other Friday off. This was his first Friday off and we decided to do something special instead of the piles of projects around the house...we went ice skating! We didn't think that the kids would last very long so we went for the last portion of the public skating time which is much cheaper.
Skates were put on...
Enough sitting around Mom...let's get on with this!
Skates were put on...
Enough sitting around Mom...let's get on with this!
Their first time walking on the skates was fun (video)...
Daddy had the "honors" of taking the girls onto the ice for the first time (video).
Unfortunately, this is the only picture, or rather video I have of Daddy with Sweet Pea. She did much better than this video shows as this was her first attempt. It was really good exercise and a great experience for her and I'm positive that we will be going again soon. Maybe next time I will take more pictures of her!!!! (Thanks Daddy for being so good about taking pictures of Mommy when this was YOUR day!)
Angel was a natural from the start...(video)
And Daddy might have been most surprised by the fact that Mommy could skate! I'm by no means good, but I can get around at least! I have more admiration for my grandmother every time I think about her going out on the ice with me and helping me get around the rink! I love and miss you Grandmother!!!! (video)
And finally, the girls improved their ice skate walking as well...(video)
It was a great morning and I look forward to the next time we have Daddy home for an extra day! We love you Daddy!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Climbing a New Ladder
I've been MIA for a long time and I think the only way I'm going to
continue posting is if I do posts without much content. I know that life
is already too filled with such short interactions, but at this point, it
is better than nothing!
Here is a video
of Sweet Pea climbing a difficult ladder. She has worked on it for a couple of
weeks, but has finally mastered both the ladder and her fear! We used to have to hold her completely and encourage every next move...today she was doing it all by herself.
Friday, March 15, 2013
1st Regular Therapeutic Riding Lesson
When we got to the stables she was almost immediately comfortable and walked away with strangers to go mount her horse, Gracie. She was grinning from ear to ear for the entire lesson and looked so confident and comfortable on the horse. This lesson confirmed my original feeling that these lessons are going to be amazing for her. Between the confidence that it is building and the muscles that it is working, it is a no brainer. Ellen is a generally a fairly happy girl, but when she is on that horse, she is the happiest girl in the world. It makes me so happy watching her be so happy!
Thank you to those that are helping to make these lessons possible!!!! We are going to be attending weekly sessions for the time being.
Enjoy this compilation video:
Friday, December 21, 2012
Sweet Pea Starts Therapeutic Riding!
Today was our trial of a therapeutic riding facility not too terribly far from us. I've heard about the wondrous things that horses can do and was hopeful, but cautiously optimistic as Sweet Pea has NOT been a fan of horses (or ponies) recently. A friend had recommended the facility, Dream Catcher of LA, and their fees were somewhat reasonable since it's only therapeutic riding and not full hippotherapy. Our lesson was this afternoon at 3:30 so we left in what should have been plenty of time...except that it was Friday afternoon and even worse it was the Friday before Christmas and even worse...I took a wrong turn because Google Maps didn't give clear directions. Oh well...turned out to be okay as Sweet Pea got to sleep an extra 20+ minutes and they were running late so it all worked out.
When we arrived Sweet Pea wanted nothing to do with any horse and kept saying "all done horse". Having a little free time to just sit and watch the horses, have a little snack and just hang out was by far the best thing we could have done. By the time it was Sweet Pea's turn she was willing to have me carry her up to a horse. I would put my hand out for the horse to smell and she would watch, but wouldn't do the same. She wouldn't pet the horse or touch her in any way. I just held her and talked about the horse. One of the ladies brought over a helmet and so we made a game out of putting it on and that didn't work real well, but I think she finally forgot about the helmet.
We then took her over to a ramp and I carried her up it and then passed her to Joan, the owner of the facility, at which point Sweet Pea started freaking out. She had clearly dealt with lots of fighting kids before because it didn't phase her one bit and she got her on the horse with ease even though Sweet Pea was struggling against it. I walked down the ramp as soon as I passed her off and got out my camera to photograph whatever was about to occur. I honestly was not expecting much success! Here is the video that started recording about 10 seconds after she got on the horse:
She is doing it!!!!
Hi Mom!
She looks so small on the big horse!
Having a good time!
Half smile:
They walked her around for quite a while getting her more accustomed to the horse and I loved how they aren't really holding her directly. The sidewalkers (amazingly that is what they call the people walking on the sides of the horse) hold the saddle and kind of trap her leg under their arm in the process. I think that will make it much easier to move away more and more as she gets better (yes, that would be WAY down the line, but I always think way too far ahead).
This video is from just a couple of minutes into the session and you can see a marked improvement in her confidence on the horse.
Then they had her do a small amount of movement on the horse as you can see in the below video. Joan was doing an evaluation of sorts on Sweet Pea to see what she could do and what kinds of activities would be best for her. She had her put rings on a pole and you could see how unsure Sweet Pea was about leaning very far to reach the stick in the below video:
After they were done in the ring they went on a tour of the stables and Sweet Pea never once complained or whined at all. The horse even tripped a little at one point and she just kept on going! I was so proud of her!!!!! It was amazing to see the change from when they first put her on the horse until they took her off about 20 minutes later. I am excited to begin doing sessions regularly (or as regularly as finances will allow at least) as I know that this is going to help her in so many ways! Here are a few that I am hoping might be impacted:
When we arrived Sweet Pea wanted nothing to do with any horse and kept saying "all done horse". Having a little free time to just sit and watch the horses, have a little snack and just hang out was by far the best thing we could have done. By the time it was Sweet Pea's turn she was willing to have me carry her up to a horse. I would put my hand out for the horse to smell and she would watch, but wouldn't do the same. She wouldn't pet the horse or touch her in any way. I just held her and talked about the horse. One of the ladies brought over a helmet and so we made a game out of putting it on and that didn't work real well, but I think she finally forgot about the helmet.
We then took her over to a ramp and I carried her up it and then passed her to Joan, the owner of the facility, at which point Sweet Pea started freaking out. She had clearly dealt with lots of fighting kids before because it didn't phase her one bit and she got her on the horse with ease even though Sweet Pea was struggling against it. I walked down the ramp as soon as I passed her off and got out my camera to photograph whatever was about to occur. I honestly was not expecting much success! Here is the video that started recording about 10 seconds after she got on the horse:
She is doing it!!!!
Hi Mom!
She looks so small on the big horse!
Having a good time!
Half smile:
They walked her around for quite a while getting her more accustomed to the horse and I loved how they aren't really holding her directly. The sidewalkers (amazingly that is what they call the people walking on the sides of the horse) hold the saddle and kind of trap her leg under their arm in the process. I think that will make it much easier to move away more and more as she gets better (yes, that would be WAY down the line, but I always think way too far ahead).
This video is from just a couple of minutes into the session and you can see a marked improvement in her confidence on the horse.
Then they had her do a small amount of movement on the horse as you can see in the below video. Joan was doing an evaluation of sorts on Sweet Pea to see what she could do and what kinds of activities would be best for her. She had her put rings on a pole and you could see how unsure Sweet Pea was about leaning very far to reach the stick in the below video:
After they were done in the ring they went on a tour of the stables and Sweet Pea never once complained or whined at all. The horse even tripped a little at one point and she just kept on going! I was so proud of her!!!!! It was amazing to see the change from when they first put her on the horse until they took her off about 20 minutes later. I am excited to begin doing sessions regularly (or as regularly as finances will allow at least) as I know that this is going to help her in so many ways! Here are a few that I am hoping might be impacted:
- Core strength
- Sensory integration and willingness to try new things
- Confidence
- Speech & Language (she was chatting up a storm tonight after the session!!!!!)
Monday, November 19, 2012
Tiny Prints Holiday Cards to the Rescue
Disclosure: This sponsored post was written for Tiny Prints and I was
compensated. However, all opinions expressed are completely my own.
I'm not sure about you, but in our house getting the annual Christmas card ordered is a big accomplishment and sign that the holidays are almost upon us. While I'm old fashioned and the Christmas season doesn't really start until the day after Thanksgiving, I think I can start to knock a few things off my to do list without the holiday cops being called on me. Today was a productive day and thanks to Tiny Prints, I was able to create our Holiday Cards.
Their new 2012 holiday cards have been released and there are some wonderful options to choose from. Tiny Prints site is easy to use and I love that I can select how many pictures I want included and it will narrow down the search of cards for me. Who has time to waste looking through cards that only have space for one photo when I know I want six this year! Their collection includes all sorts of designs from traditional to modern, flat to tri-fold, and themes that include, among others, Happy Holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, and even New Years (makes me think of the year that I didn't get them sent out in time so they turned into New Year's cards). One new feature they are offering for 2012 is their Premium DoubleThick™ Matte Paper, their most luxurious cardstock yet.
And now...drum roll please...here is the card that I put together to showcase our girls playing in the snow last weekend. We were in our local mountains celebrating Thanksgiving with our extended family (yes, it was a week and a half early, but it is better than not getting to celebrate it at all!) and a cold storm had dropped some snow the day before. It's a little early for snow there, but we will take it! The only other fun/good photos I have are from Halloween or summer pool time...somehow, neither of those seemed fitting for a Christmas card. (Thanks Uncle A for taking most of these photos!)
Go take a look at their designs and I know you will find the perfect one for your family too! While you are there, be sure to check out their Special Offers Page for the latest deals.
I'm not sure about you, but in our house getting the annual Christmas card ordered is a big accomplishment and sign that the holidays are almost upon us. While I'm old fashioned and the Christmas season doesn't really start until the day after Thanksgiving, I think I can start to knock a few things off my to do list without the holiday cops being called on me. Today was a productive day and thanks to Tiny Prints, I was able to create our Holiday Cards.
Their new 2012 holiday cards have been released and there are some wonderful options to choose from. Tiny Prints site is easy to use and I love that I can select how many pictures I want included and it will narrow down the search of cards for me. Who has time to waste looking through cards that only have space for one photo when I know I want six this year! Their collection includes all sorts of designs from traditional to modern, flat to tri-fold, and themes that include, among others, Happy Holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, and even New Years (makes me think of the year that I didn't get them sent out in time so they turned into New Year's cards). One new feature they are offering for 2012 is their Premium DoubleThick™ Matte Paper, their most luxurious cardstock yet.
And now...drum roll please...here is the card that I put together to showcase our girls playing in the snow last weekend. We were in our local mountains celebrating Thanksgiving with our extended family (yes, it was a week and a half early, but it is better than not getting to celebrate it at all!) and a cold storm had dropped some snow the day before. It's a little early for snow there, but we will take it! The only other fun/good photos I have are from Halloween or summer pool time...somehow, neither of those seemed fitting for a Christmas card. (Thanks Uncle A for taking most of these photos!)
Go take a look at their designs and I know you will find the perfect one for your family too! While you are there, be sure to check out their Special Offers Page for the latest deals.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Announcement: New Family Member
When you have a sun room that looks like this...
And the kids have to climb into and on top of boxes just to reach their climbing structure...
You never know what you will find has moved in...
in addition to a few spiders (luckily no black widows were found)...
and a few silverfish (yucky things that they are)...
we found that this had decided to join our family...
We sure were lucky it was only a strong willed tomato plant!
It took me quite a while to notice it initially when I was cleaning the sun room and it took quite a while longer to get the area cleaned enough to see how it got there. When I did I was pleasantly surprised that it hadn't done any damage, but had casually climbed through a tiny gap between the screen frame and the window that was open. I haven't had the heart to cut it off yet, but the plant should be dying soon enough now that fall has finally arrived!
(Oh, and no...our house is a mess, but it isn't normally this bad! This was everything from the attic and other rooms that had to be moved out when we had a little construction done a couple of months ago. I wanted to get it organized before putting it away again and that kept falling lower and lower on my priority list. Finally got to a good chunk of it this past weekend.)
And the kids have to climb into and on top of boxes just to reach their climbing structure...
You never know what you will find has moved in...
in addition to a few spiders (luckily no black widows were found)...
and a few silverfish (yucky things that they are)...
we found that this had decided to join our family...
We sure were lucky it was only a strong willed tomato plant!
It took me quite a while to notice it initially when I was cleaning the sun room and it took quite a while longer to get the area cleaned enough to see how it got there. When I did I was pleasantly surprised that it hadn't done any damage, but had casually climbed through a tiny gap between the screen frame and the window that was open. I haven't had the heart to cut it off yet, but the plant should be dying soon enough now that fall has finally arrived!
(Oh, and no...our house is a mess, but it isn't normally this bad! This was everything from the attic and other rooms that had to be moved out when we had a little construction done a couple of months ago. I wanted to get it organized before putting it away again and that kept falling lower and lower on my priority list. Finally got to a good chunk of it this past weekend.)
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