And... I'm back to ritterrecord.blogspot.com

http://ritterrecord.blogspot.com

Hmmmm....

I'm not a big... nic-nac person, or holiday decor person, but I am a book person!  So for St. Patrick's day I got the kids: "Where is the Green Sheep?" by Mem Fox.

I love books like these.  Great beginning concept book for Raya, great beginning to read book for Levi, and the text is in English and Spanish so Seth can learn some new Spanish vocabulary.  

It's green, I'm a happy mom.

Notice the festive confetti? That's the extent of my holiday decorating -- 

Last night Jeff brought work home so I was dinking with my Silhouette, figuring out how to merge shapes (the four leaf clovers are made from four hearts)... etc ... I look over at what Jeff's working on: His stuff looked a lot more complicated than my paper clovers... haha, hmmm... and I'm pretty sure I fretted more over my silly paper than he did his equations.

And ... documenting my random husband and his attempts in getting a jumping action shot.  Didn't work, but there's a nice little shot of the flowers he got me "just because" a few days ago.  He is pretty nice :)

18 months: Raya

I can't remember the stats themselves... but 55% for Height, 85% for Weight, and 90% for Head.  

She's starting to slim down!

 She likes to put on shoes lately, here she is sporting Levi's boots.  We were getting ready to go swimming and she took the initiative to get ready.  She is very punctual!

 More signs of Independence... she wants to dress herself.  Almost there, but not quite.

 And... she's starting to really express her emotions... ok.. well, she's always been like that, it's just gotten louder...   You never have to guess what Raya is thinking or feeling! (I love her more for it)

Some generalness about Raya:

She wants to be big.  She doesn't use a sippy cup anymore, she has to have a placemat on her high chair because her big brothers have a placemat on the table, she actually throws a fit now when I put her in the high chair because she wants to sit at the table, there's so many things... she wants to be big.

Words she knows: mama, dada, ee-i (Levi), ehf (Seth), gramma, dog, cat, ball, water, bath, yellow, eye, nose, mouth, ear, hair, car, baby, zebra, giraffe, horse, cow, book, sheep, duck, up, down, no, yes,

 -- her words are coming, and she's at the point where she can repeat what we say.  A lot of her words are slurred and if you're not around her all day you may not understand when she says something like "Baby Beluga" (her favorite song) because it sounds more like "bebe burga."

She likes to sing and dance, she claps and sways. Some of her favorites are: Baby Beluga, Down by the Bay, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald, twinkle twinkle...etc.

Her favorite rhyme is "Bumble bee, bumble bee" and she goes about the house saying it and tickling.

Signs she knows: more, please, thank you, play, baby, horse, cow, pig, sheep, duck, bird, rabbit, chicken, mouse, cat, gorilla, dog, hot, cold, book, story, read, blocks, ball, banana, cracker, cheese, cookie, candy, apple, bread, milk, water, cup, eat, flower ...
I'm sure there's more.

Raya can understand basically everything that we're saying now... we can giver her simple tasks like "throw this away" or "put these in your pj drawer and get some pants" ... "where are your shoes?"  I'm just waiting for her word explosion, because I know she comprehends a lot more than what she can say, but then I see her signing so much, maybe she just prefers that for the moment. She's starting to combine her signs, like she'll sign: cup, water, please.

I just want to add that "Raya" really is the perfect name for this little girl (it means "friend").
She is kind'of special to me... :)

Some Firsts

It was Raya's first day of nursery and Levi's first talk at church today!

It was fun watching Levi get excited preparing for his talk and practicing it, then when the time came seeing the excitement turn to some nervousness. But, Levi did great, he spoke clearly and loudly.  My favorite part was when he said "revelation," why is it some words are so cute when children say them?

As for Raya, I was a bit concerned.  Especially since when I walked her into nursery, instantly one of the boys came over to hug her ... then began smushing her chubby cheeks (that cute little cherubic face is irresistible).  It was a bit of a chaotic hour so I decided to stay -- I didn't want Raya to have a bad experience.  But she loved the organized structure of it all.  The snack time and music time, clean up, lesson and book time.  She is very punctual and followed all the cues.   I decided to leave for the second hour since the rambunctiousness had settled down and Raya seemed comfortable.  When I came back an hour later I found her in the middle of a gaggle of little girls: one on each side of her and another two in front of her, all intently watching her put on her shoes. What can I say? Raya always attracts a crowd.

$leep Number

This beauty came in today.

We had to get this mattress because it was the c4 series (Jeff works with c4 plants, he took it to be a sign).

So what weirdo blogs about their mattress?  This weirdo. We were way over due for an upgrade in our mattress. We've been sleeping on a full size mattress that we got from Jeff's brother... 7 years ago (?) and who knows how long he had it before that, ... and we stuffed it into our corrola during one of our many moves (I would'n't reccommend stuffing your mattress in a car). 

I'm going to sleep so well tonight.

Cookies.

So cute.

I thought she looked so cute and grown up this morning, I had to take a picture of her.  

My cute girl.

The boys heard I was taking pictures ... so here come the brothers:

Why the need for projects.

Is it just us, or is this semester crazy busy! -- Like, I don't know 10 posts ago, I said that I've started getting really "crafty" -- what I didn't say is why.  Particularly at the beginning of the semester Jeff was working 12-15 hours ... a day. LAME. So, I convinced him that a Silhouette costs as much as a text book, and that I would be "working" on that this semester.  Anyways, I just wanted to make a note of the craziness this semester has been, and I will be glad when it is over!

I'm putting up a couple quotes in the playroom, and was curious if anyone had some quotes that really inspired them or loved?  Mine are, (well at least the quotes that would be appropriate for wall use):

A child went forth and became what he saw. -Walt Whitman

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

-Dr. Seuss

The moon was but a chin of gold
A night or two ago,
And now she turns her perfect face
Upon the world below.
- Emily Dickenson, The Moon

Forever is composed of nows. 
-Emily Dickinson 

Morning without you is a dwindled dawn.  --- (I absolutely love this line)
-Emily Dickinson 

The brain is wider than the sky. 
-Emily Dickinson 

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.                                                  

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

-Albert Einstein

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

-Albert Einstein

Artsy

I've had a growing stack of saved art work since before Christmas:

The cutest bat and ghost ever!

Seth- A bat and another animal

 Rocket, designed by Seth

Seth likes to write stories, "Grandma and Grandpa and two of there grandchildren in a tent.  Levi was little but (?) love him."

 S- Face

 S- Tiger

 S- Mercury

 S- Tornado

 S- A volcano for Levi

S- Tornado

 S- Tiger

 Seth is a list maker.

 S- "For Evan French.  Published and Illustrated by Seth"

 "Chapter 1.  A long time ago there was"

 "A Tornado"

 "A Winter Storm"

 "Chapter 2.  Then it was Sunny"

 "A pumpkin was laying down."

 "Asteroids were coming. Knights were coming."

"Tigers were coming."

"There children were scared."

"The end.

 More books

 Seth was really into tracing little figurines, there's some people, a goose and a horse.

 Seth's Math book he made ... might I add that he does all of this completely independently

Levi

I love that Levi's stomach is showing in this picture:

And here he is singing down by the bay.  I really like how he says "moose" and "goose."