Growing Playgroup

Wednesday is playgroup day which was started last December. When we first started going there were only a few of us and some preschoolers. Now the group has grown and grown to where we spend the second half of playgroup in the gym. I think this week was the largest group yet and it was pretty chaotic. The kids had a ball though.
This week we also welcomed a new boy that was just adopted from Russia. His parents started their process about 4 1/2 years ago and have finally....after years of red tape, updating paperwork, and wondering if it would ever go through, brought him home this past Sunday. We were lucky enough to meet him already on Wednesday.
His is a really nice kid and fit in as if he had been coming to our playgroup the whole time. He is thrilled to be with his new family in America and we are so happy for them.


This week some of the older girls in the school did their forensics presentations for the playgroup but it was a little advanced for the kids and they had a hard time paying attention for too long. Then they were off and running again through the gym chasing each other. It took me about 10 minutes to catch Olivia and drag her out when it was time to go. She didn't cry or throw a fit, she was just hard to catch. I even tried telling her I was leaving without her but she just waved and said Bye-Bye!
She always laughs and talks about playgroup all the way home.
I think she will do well when the day comes that I finally have to send her to school.

Ollinger Girls Lunch on Friday

Grandma Manning's maiden name is Ollinger and every few months, when it works the "Ollinger women" get together for lunch. Grandma's sister (Olivia's Great-Aunt)Helen and their cousins and so on get together. This past Friday Olivia and I joined them for their luncheon and we met close to Aunt Lynn's work so she was able to get away to meet us this time also.
Before we left for lunch Olivia and I had a talk about being so shy and standoffish when she first gets together with people. I told her Grandma Manning, Aunt Helen and Aunt Lynn would be there and the rest of the ladies were very very nice people. I told her I didn't want her to act scared and shy because by the time she would warm up it would be time to go home. She said, "OK Momma! I pwomise" And sure enough she was all smiles and happy the whole time. She laughed, smiled and showed off for everyone. She even ate her food pretty well. Everyone got a hug goodbye, even the women she didn't know before. She was so good she got to have her sucker for dessert.
Then all the way home I listened to "See Momma, I not be shy!, see Momma, I not be shy!"

Unfortunately she woke up Saturday morning with the sniffles so I hope she didn't spread her cold to anyone!

Just Waiting For Spring

Not much to update these days....

Our weeks have been pretty uneventful so there has not been much to blog. I thought I better post something though so everyone knows we're still alive. We are just waiting out these last few weeks of winter looking forward to spring, flowers sprouting up, buds on trees, etc.. and warmer weather.

Our weeks are pretty consistent with two days of playgroups, one morning of making something in the kitchen, one day for shopping and one for staying home to catch up on household chores.

Olivia is growing so fast and learning more everyday. Her hair has grown to about the middle of her back so we do a lot of different things with it. She is talking in sentences very well. Her favorite things to say right now are "what making for dinner tonight Mom?" and when she wants to stall going to bed or keep you from leaving a room she says, "I've got a question!!" and when you ask what her question is she laughs and says, "I doon know".

The potty training has been very frustrating as it is very inconsistent and hit and miss. When I come up with a new bribe she does pretty well but then gets bored with that again and goes back to not using it at all. She has actually told me "I never going use potty chair". Guess that's a two year old for you.

She has been very well behaved in church and shopping and going anywhere so it is hard to get very upset with her when she doesn't listen all the time. We are looking forward to spending more time outside playing and burning up excess energy as soon as this weather straightens out... Stay tuned.

Another Visit With Eleanor!

The girls are 2 years, 8 months old now and we were able to get together again on Thursday.

Grandma M, Olivia and I met Marilyn, Eleanor and Wesley (just turned 1 year) at Marilyn's parents home. It is kind of central for us and a lot easier for me to drive to rather than going down into the "big city" where Marilyn lives. Their home is very nice, warm, comfortable and you can't find nicer people. Eleanor's grandparents welcomed us into their home and we all had a great day.
The girls are a lot alike with their growing and learning and maturity. Olivia still stands an inch or two taller than Eleanor. Neither of them are very interested in using a potty chair, they talk the same and seem to be developing at the same rate. Both are very well mannered, polite, try to share like 2 year olds and the best part is when you can catch them babbling back and forth to each other in a toddler language only they can understand.

They colored together, played with stickers, puzzles, sewing and just general running around. They always seem to recognize each other and warm up fast even though we only get together every 3 or 4 months.

We had a great lunch and had a wonderful time visiting. Thanks again to Eleanor's grandparents for letting us invade their home. We hope to get together again very soon.

Happy Valentines Day 2009

Happy Valentines Day 2009.

We were busy all weekend with basketball tournaments and soccer games but Steve and I did manage to go out to dinner alone on Friday night, thanks to Grandma Manning coming over to take care of Olivia. Olivia gave Grandma a good workout again and is always anxious to see us go when Grandma gets here. She knows she has Grandma wrapped around her finger.

She is posing with her Valentine card from Aunt Lynn, Uncle Jody, Scott, Chad and Kate but we had to borrow the flowers from Jenny. Jenny got them from some of her friends at school. Olivia left an answering machine message for Aunt Lynn saying "Thank You" for the valentine card. We're wondering if you understood any part of her message?? She can talk very clearly when she wants to but on the phone she gets shy and not real clear.


Valentines Day is just one more holiday closer to SPRING!!

Early Spring? We Wish....

They said it was going to be 60 degrees on Tuesday! It was nice outside but the wind was still pretty chilly in the morning. We were desperate to get out of the house though so we took Blazer for a walk and pretended it was springtime.

The sun felt good and we all enjoyed it.


Olivia even pulled out her bike and rode around for a little while. She is still trying to get the hang of it and does the best when going down the hill of the driveway. She can reach the pedals now but needs some work on pedaling and steering at the same time. We will keep working on that.

We will take a nice sunny day whenever we can get it.

THINK SPRING!!

Fun Playgroup Pictures

Various pictures from our Wednesday playgroup...

Olivia really looks forward to this each week and I think it is fun too. It's a good way for her to learn how to play with other kids, share and get along. She does really well...she listens, plays well and is polite. She has never thrown a tantrum or cried over not getting along or not getting her way.... yet.

It's fun because she gets to try new things I either wouldn't think of doing with her or wouldn't want to bother with the mess at home like playing in flour or stringing beads on pipe cleaners, etc.

We all take a few minutes for snack time about half way through the playday. She is learning to protect her own snack from someone grabbing hers.

One day there were so many kids we spent the second half of the time in the gym with a parachute. Olivia LOVED that and just had a ball. When the parachute was put away she and a group of kids just kept running back and forth across the gym until they couldn't anymore. They would line up at one end and say "weady, set, GO! and then run to the other end. As Olivia was running past me she would yell, "Momma! see...I wun fast!!" and laugh and laugh.

What a great way to get a bunch of kids to take a good afternoon nap!