The Sheppard Family

GOING TO THE MOVIES...4/22/11

We went to the Earth Day movie Afric@n Cats with Michelle, Brooklyn, and Aunt Karen. You never know how a trip to the movies will go with two 3 year olds and a four year old but they all did pretty well. Have I ever mentioned how much work it is to do fun things with small children. It's exhausting but always worth it!!! My kids have had enough junk food in this photo to last a month or two. They have been asking to go back to the movies and eat "dinner" there ever since.

Davis is looking forward to this...

DIANA'S EASTER EGG HUNT - 4/21/11

Diana's pre-school had a little Easter Egg Hunt the week before Easter. It made me smile when I came for pick-up to see this outside..

Easter eggs waiting for the little ones to come out and find them!

Diana was super focused. They were only supposed to find 5 eggs so everyone got the same amount. Miss Diana found her 5 and then started helping everyone else. She is a sweetheart.

Putting the eggs in her cute little bunny bag that she made..

Blowing bubbles after school - Diana and I went for a hike before we went home.

Singing and talking to herself - she is always making up pretend stories with made up names like Gildy, Mildy, and Fildy!! So interesting to hear what she will come up with next...

I had a great "MOM" moment this day thinking how nice it is not have to rush my kids. Unfortunately, being on time and keeping on a schedule is something we have to do, but I think it's important to enjoy the times with your kids when you DON'T have to rush. I love Miss Diana so much and am so thankful for all of our Mother-Daughter Nature walks after school.

FUN HEALTHY SNACK...4/11

Davis took a fun healthy snack for his class in April. Because it was almost Earth Day, we were sure to send recycled napkins for the children to use. The ladybug on a stick was a big hit - especially since the dots were mini chocolate chips. Many of the kids tried the hummus dip which made me happy. Davis was proud to send each of his friends home with the little flower pot. So fun!!

ZOOTASTIC - 4/1/11

Even though it was raining a bit, we still had so much fun at Zootastic. It was a great night spent together as a family. It was nice to enjoy the zoo after hours with such a small crowd.

Greeting the peacock..

Following the peacock while trying to imitate his walk...

Diana learning about the "Diana Monkey"

Dancing with Daddy...

We also ate dinner, made arts and crafts, and got to talk with many of the zookeepers. Davis and Diana learned the difference between a monkey and an ape. Monkeys have tails and Apes don't!!

MORE ZOOTASTIC...

The confetti was a big hit...

Both of the kids collected tons of confetti in the zoo backpacks they were given. Of course I wanted them to bring as much home as possible to throw all over the house :-)

The sundae bar - every kids dream...

Davis enjoying his ice cream while watching everyone's silly dance moves...

The picture they took when we arrived at Zootastic...

DAVIS CREATIONS....MARCH 2011

Davis is always planning out projects he can complete. He usually tells me what materials he needs and I let him get to work. It oftens leads to a mess but I remind myself it will only take a minute or two to clean up. Here are just two of the interesting "things" he came up with on his own..

I helped him draw the letters in his name. He then cut them out, three hole punched them and strung them on a string to hang in his room..

This is a "salt and pepper glue stick". This was something he created while I was putting laundry in. He told me he wanted to see if you could glue salt and pepper to paper. Very interesting (lol)

FIRST TRIP TO THE DENTIST...3/28/11

Our first trip to the dentist was a successful one. I was a little late on taking Davis (our pediatrician recommends going when they turn 3) and some people even go when the teeth start to erupt. My Mommy insticts told me everyone's teeth were fine so I went the slacker route and waited until Diana turned 3 so they could share the experience together.

It helped Diana to watch Davis go first...

She was calm, cool, and collected when it was her turn...

We made it out with no crying, no fear, and NO CAVITIES!! Yeah!! Even after all the pacifier use Mr. Davis did in his younger years his bite was just fine. I am very thankful. He only used it to fall asleep each night but I was still worried about the effect.

Looking tough after his cleaning while waiting for the dentist to come in...

The kids even got to have their teeth cleaned in the outerspace room - they were excited about the aliens they found on the wall.

I have to note that my kids were very well behaved at the dentist office ( the promise of a prize will do that). However, it took about 10 seconds once we hit the parking lot for them to get into a disagreement over who was going to get in the car first. I am so used to stuff like this now I just laugh and let them deal with it. The brother/sister dynamics are in full force around here and I am sure they will be here to stay for years to come!

VISITING ALEXANDRA....3/25/11

We also went to visit my aunt and uncle and my cousin Alexandra over Spring Break. The kids adore her and her dog Reggie.

Alexandra's friend came over to meet the kids and they had lots of fun playing outside.

Alexandra made sure they had a fun day..

Davis got to chase the mail truck (the high point of his day)

and both the kids got to blow the bubbles Alexandra bought for them.

OUR YEARLY VISIT TO PAT'S CLASS...3/24/11

We visited Uncle PatPat's classroom over Spring Break. Davis & Diana feel so grown up when they get to do this each year. Davis especially liked telling all the big kids that he goes to school now too.

Eating lunch with the cool teacher and the children that had earned a lunch with the teacher that day - what an honor :-)

Posing with the class - such a diverse group of children. I thought that was great and not something you always see. It's always a great experience for my kids to be around many different people. I am glad Uncle Pat gives us another opportunity to do so. Look at D&D in the front row...

Playing a game with the big kids..

Watching the students play a math game - as you can see Diana found a friend..

Diana showing the students that she holds her pencil the right way - she is so proud of her writing...

Our visit ended in the auditorium where we got to watch a xylophone concert. My kiddos were amazed and throughly entertained. Mommy was especially impressed that for $0 my kids had a blast!! Thanks Uncle PatPat!!

BIRDHOUSE NIGHT - 2/24/11

Michael and I attended Birdhouse Night with Davis this past winter to help paint his birdhouse that would later be hung up on the playground in the spring. Davis enjoyed having Mom & Dad all to himself. It's hard to believe we will be doing this again with Diana this school year. Time is flying by - it makes me want to push pause...

Concentration face...

The finished product..

DIANA'S THREE YEAR OLD CHECK-UP - 2/21/11

The famous photo with Nurse Lisa. Daddy was the photographer on this one - I'll let him take the credit for this photo. Mommy is a bit better on helping the people in the picture look at the camera.

Diana weighed in at 32.1 pounds and was 37.5 inches tall. I believe this was 60% for weight and 50% for height. Diana is so STRONG - she is all muscle and challenges her brother with all her muscles daily.

It was fun to look back on the blog to see how she compared to Davis at this check-up. She weighed over 1 pound less and was an inch shorter. Diana - we were very proud of you as well at your "big" 3 year old check-up. You did great in all your areas of development on your test (advanced - just like your big brother) and once again we were very thankful that you are so healthy. We were so proud of our big girl. 3 seems to be the age where the independence blossoms daily around here!!

WINTER PICTURES - FEBRUARY 2011

We were very fortunate this year that Davis' teachers kept a blog with tons of pictures for us to see. Here are some of my favorite "fun in the snow" pictures.

I'm loving the happy face all squished up in the coat. He was making a snow angel. His teacher captured a great moment..

VALENTINES 2011

After much thought, I've decided I am going to try to catch up on my blog. I have four months worth of fun stuff to journal/document for my children and I'm determined to get it all done. No more slacking!! So here we go...

Candids of Davis & Diana on Valentines...