A Visit from Nana

I was chatting on the phone with my Mom a few weeks ago and she mentioned she might be able to come and visit us in a few weeks.  The next day I got an email from her with flight information and she said she could spend a full 5 days with us and 5 with Corie and her family.  Yipee, the boys and I love when Nana comes to visit.  She got in late on Tuesday night and when the boys got up Wednesday morning they were so excited to see her.  She went right to work, dropping Ian off at school while I took Ryan to school.  Afterwards we hung out at home and she got to spend some good QT with Ian while Ryan was in his therapy session.  Thursday was a fun and special day.  After Ryan got out of school we all went to lunch at Roxy's Hawaiian cafe because they were excited to show Nana how to use chop sticks.  It is pretty funny.  Here is a picture from us at lunch.

After lunch we went to the toy store so Nana could spoil the boys with new trains.  Ryan has been dying to get this new Thomas train called Luke and they had it at the local toy store so we had them hold it and we went there after lunch.  Once we got home the kids wanted to build tracks and race their trains with Nana.  Here are some pictures of them playing.

We had a really fun visit and are so lucky to have such a great Mom/Nana.  The kids miss her a ton and they are counting the days until May when she comes back.  The night before she left I made my famous RED dinner for them to cheer them up.  It is always a hit.

Valentine's Day & Other Stuff

We had a really nice Valentine's Day.  The boys were excited to get some treats.....actually they got a TON of candy.  I swear, they got as much candy for Valentine's Day as they got for Halloween!  I loved looking at all the cute cards they got from their school friends.  That was the best part.  I was proud of Ian because he signed all 20 cards himself this year, a big accomplishment for him.  Ryan signed 1 card and got bored.  Luckily there are only 5 kids in Ryan's class so I just signed the other 4 :-)  I surprised Greg with a ski trip for next weekend....thanks Mom in advance for watching the kids.  I made a pretty uneventful dinner for the grown ups, but the kids got a home made heart shaped pizza.  They loved it.

The rest of the week has been pretty normal.  Just school and therapy.  I am thrilled because we decided on a school for Ian and I officially got him enrolled.  YAY!  Today, Saturday, we decided to divide and conquer to get some extra one on one time with the boys.  I took Ian out early and we went and got a cookie (he wanted that instead of a donut) and some bubbles.  Then we went to the playground and blew bubbles for all the other little kids. It was wonderful to see Ian interacting with the other kids and laughing with them.  He is getting pretty good at blowing bubbles.

After about an hour he ate a snack and then we went to sports class where he played tag, shark and minnows and attempted to play some hockey. It was quite hilarious. 
Greg said he and Ryan had a great morning.  He gave Ryan a buzz cut and they went to K-Mart....Ryan's favorite place and then to swimming class.  It was a fun day.

Chop Sticks Experts

Ryan and Ian talked me into taking them to lunch at Roxy's Hawaiian Grill on Monday afternoon. I hadn't been there before and neither had they, but they were very insistent so we tried it out.  Using the chop sticks became the highlight of lunch.  It was fun to watch them trying so hard to pick up their food. They were both very patient and didn't want to give up so it was a LONG lunch but a lot of fun.

I love that Ian is wearing his hat. So stylish!
In other news....we had a VERY busy week.  I am grateful it is Friday.  Greg got home from traveling on Wednesday night which was a very welcome sight for all of us.  We have really missed having him around these last few weeks. Last night we attended an open house for Bright Horizon's.  It was a great school but I still liked Touchstone better so I think we finally have a decision made about Ian's schooling next year.  It is official....neither of them are going to our public elementary school until 2014 in which case they will start Kindergarten.  We have decided to hold them back next year so Ian will attend a Pre-K program and Ryan will continue on with his current school Play Connections.  We both feel it is the right decision for the kids.  I have been a little uneasy about the whole thing and am finally feeling like we have made a choice and can move on to focus on other things. Ian's speech is making improvements daily and Greg noticed a difference from just being gone a few weeks.  That is great news.  His speech therapist recommended looking into occupational therapy for him because he is so sensitive about EVERYTHING.  We haven't decided on that yet, but it is probably in his future. He can also write his name now, which I love.  His favorite thing is to do my workouts with me(push-up's, etc.) and count to 100 and backwards again.  
 ended up parent helping today in Ian's class as another Mom was sick so we had a fun morning making salt dough heart necklaces for the mommy's for Valentine's Day.  I will have to post a picture of the ones that Ian made, they are so cute.
Ryan continues to fly through his check points at school and I am so proud of him and everything he has accomplished. He is currently working with his therapist upstairs and I love to listen at the door. His voice is so sweet and he is getting so SMART socially.  
Tomorrow the kids will go to sports class and swimming and then hopefully we can find a time to take them up sledding or skiing or both sometime this weekend.  I am battling a horrific cold, but I refuse to let it disrupt my workout schedule so I am off to Body Combat with my friend Michele.  I have never done it before and it will be much more cardio then I am used to compared to Xtend Barre and walking so it should be interesting.