Lucy @ 3.25

Now that Lucy is 3, I  have decided to stop doing monthly updates on her development. I am going to do quarterly posts on the latest and greatest in her life instead. I am starting with a post her favorite things at 3.25 years old! 

Here is Lucy's dress up bin. Dressing up is her absolute favorite activity. If she doesn't decide to change costumes/hats/gloves/purses, then she often decides her clothes several times a day! :) When we put her to bed at night, more often then not, we will check on her later and find that she is asleep wearing something completely different than the pajamas that we put her to bed in originally! 

Lucy loves the Lion King. Here is her beloved Simba. She sleeps with this little guy, she is obsessed with the sound track, book, and movie. She will often pretend that Dan is Musafa and that I am Sarabi. Roman is usually Zazu. Watch out for the hyenas! 

Lucy is a fan of all things glittery! Here are her sparkle shoes. Sometimes she'll just dance in the sun in order to see little prisms on the walls.  :)

Lucy loves to cut things - she is especially fond of her special scissors that cut in patterns like zigzags. She calls them her 'Siz'!

Tea parties! Happening almost everyday at our house. Lucy will frequently fill her teapot and cups with water and pretend to have tea with her dolls. Very cute but also very annoying as there are tons of little puddles and water spills around our house!

Swimming! Our girl is a little fish - she can't wait for Thursday nights (Swim lesson night at the YMCA). 

Lucy loves movies. The video store in Rhinelander always has free children's movies so Lucy picks out a new movie to watch about once a week. Toy Story was a recent selection. 

Finally - Lucy enjoys reading. This is just a quick pic of one of her recent favorites - Froggy Rides a Bike. Can't wait for spring when we can do some of our own bike rides!

 We love you so much, Lucy Goose! Can't believe that you are already 3 and a quarter!

Grandpa & Grandma's February Visit

In February Grandpa Ken and Grandma Nola paid us a visit. Daniel and I were both supposed to be out of town on work trips and they graciously agreed to babysit for us. It turned out that both of our trips were cancelled at the last minute so they ended up spending the weekend with all of us!

The kids always love to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma! We visited the Children's Museum of the Northwoods together. Here we are at the entrance with Grandpa Ken.

Roman was excited to go down the slide - he loves to yell 'Whee!' as he zips down. 

There are so many fantastic exhibits at the museum but somehow the kids are always drawn to the coin centrifuge. When we lived in Madison, Lucy would always make a beeline to this same thing at the Madison Children's Museum and beg for pennies! Good thing that we always come to the museum with some spare change. This can entertain the children for quite a while! 

Roman had a tea party with Dad and Grandpa at the cabin.

Lucy l-o-v-e-s to dress up! She looks like a little Spanish dancer on this day.

I just love this picture of Ken and Nola and Lucy and Roman. When they visited, Dan and I were able to have a date night. We went to the movie Jupiter Ascending which was in 3D. Instead of recycling my glasses, I brought them home for the dress up bin. Lucy loved wearing them around the house. Heehee! 

We had fun outside too - we found this deer bed on our hike and Lucy was excited to lay down in it - just like a little doe. :)

Lucy and Nola made a triumphant return to their snow chair! These two have such a great time together in the outdoors.

Grandma and Grandpa stayed at home with the children on Monday and Tuesday while Dan and I worked. Lucy and Roman had an awesome time! What a treat! 

Lucy had donuts for breakfast one day!

They headed to the library for one of the mornings. Roman is obsessed with trains these days so anyplace with a train table is pretty magical to him!

Lucy checked in on her fish and turtle friends at the library. :)

Back at the ranch - Roman rocked and read books.

And dressed up as a cat! This little cat mask is his favorite item from the dress up bin.

Thank you for visiting us, Grandpa Ken and Grandma Nola!! We love you and appreciate everything you do for us. We had an wonderful time with you.  

Lucy's Trip to the Dentist

Lucy had a dentist appointment in early February and, drum roll here, she completed the entire visit on her own! Mama *nervously * sat in the waiting room the entire time! Our days of lap visits are over. Lucy was called back by her hygienist, she had a full set of X-rays, and saw a dentist all by herself. I was in the waiting room, just listening from a far for screams and outbursts but she did great! Somehow the dentist got her to open wide for X-rays, they brushed and flossed with her and gave her a full exam. Miracle workers! :) 

Good news - Lucy's teeth continue to develop in a Storm-like fashion - they are perfect! Hopefully they will stay that way! She was so proud to show me the pictures of her teeth. She even brought them to day care and showed all of her little friends. She also chose a faux diamond ring from the treasure chest this visit.

Here she is post-visit with her X-rays! Good job, Lucy! 

Superbowl Sunday

We had friends over on Superbowl Sunday - here are just a few pictures from the evening:

Football brownies created by yours truly! :)

I made some finger jello for the kids - JLRE are their initials. Strangely enough, Jacob and Lucy were not fans but Roman loved these jigglers. He ate half the alphabet! 

These two didn't really watch the game but they had a great evening playing!

Roman @ 17 months

Just a quick update on Roman @ 17 months! He is doing great! He loves baths, he still naps and sleeps like a champ, and he is starting to say/identify body parts. His favorite by far is belly button. :) He is sporting an awesome baby mullet - haven't cut his sweet blonde locks yet! Not sure who will get their first haircut first - Roman or Lucy… :)

Roman idolizes his sister, he copies everything she does (both good and bad)! He loves reading books, dancing, playing with cars/anything with wheels, and animals! The most recent animals added to his vocabulary include hippo and panda. 

He hates his car seat with a passion and he is currently only eating fruit, dairy products, and some crackers/cereal! We love our little guy! He has tons of energy and he is always on the go. I keep thinking back to Lucy at Roman's same age - when she was 17 months old, I was just over 20 weeks pregnant! Wow! 

Roman is a big fan of slides! I can't wait to get to the playground again - come soon, spring! 

Here is Roman playing the piano - I had to post this picture because Roman is wearing his tiny pair of Wranglers (thrift store find!). What a cute little bottom!! He is my tiny country music player!

One weekend: 2 Extremes

Here is a snapshot of one winter weekend at the Storm household - we had fun in the snow and we also visited the pool! 

The kids are always eager to sit in their 'snow chair' - a recliner-like pile of snow created by the plow. :)

On Saturday morning we visited the pool in Lac du Flambeau. The casino there has a nice pool with an awesome children's area. On Saturday's between 11 and 3, the general public can go swim there. It was a perfect spot for Lucy and Roman.

Roman shrieked with delight when he dipped his little toes in the water.

Lucy brought along her kick board -- not really necessary in 6 inches/1 foot of water but she was happy to splash around with it! :) 

The kids area has a wildlife theme - including this bear standing near a beehive that squirts water. 

The pool area was empty except for us. Our whole family had lots of fun splashing and we feasted on a picnic lunch. The biggest hit of the day by far was a small waterslide - it just had 3 steps so even Roman could quickly climb his way up and zip down by himself. He is such a big boy! 

Lucy loved it too!

From pools to snow hills - these two love playing with each other! 

Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

 The Northwoods Children's Museum held an Alice in Wonderland theme tea party this year. Lucy was sooooo excited to attend. She absolutely loves tea parties these days. She often fills her little tea pots and cups with water as part of her pretend play. It does make me a little crazy because it seems like there are always wet spots on our floor from pretend coffee/tea spills but she plays with such sincerity and eagerness that it is hard to stay annoyed! :)

We scheduled our tea time and headed to Eagle River for an afternoon of fun!

Lucy saw a little tea set right at the door and she squealed with delight!

We were able to decorate an adorable tea cup and plate as part of the experience. Lucy couldn't wait to paint her tea setting. :)





We enjoyed a tea party where we drank tea and enjoyed cucumber sandwiches and peanut butter and jam, we had sweets and egg salad. Characters from Alice in Wonderland like the white rabbit, Alice, the Queen of Hearts, and the Mad Hatter walked through to say hi to the kids. Lucy doesn't really know the story of Alice in Wonderland so she didn't really get it but she was happy to see the 'Easter Bunny' at the party.

It was so much fun to have a 'Mama and Lucy' Saturday and to be able experience the tea party together! We will definitely attend again next year! 

Game Day

We were super excited that the Green Bay Packers made it to the post season this year! We cheered them on right to the bitter end! We watched the last game of the season at a friend's house. How could the Pack lose with these little cuties cheering them on??

My little cheerleaders!

Lucy's sweet arm around the shoulder is looking more like a choke hold in this pic but still cute!! 

Dan even wore his new sweater for good luck! Sadly, we watched the Pack snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this day! There's always next year….

Thanks again to all of the friends who had us over to watch football this season!

Date Night: Sushi and Wine

On the third weekend of the month, our YMCA hosts 'Parents Night Out' where you can drop off your kids at the Y for supervised play while you enjoy a date night/adult time. We decided to give it a try, dropping Lucy and Roman off at the 'Big Y' as they call it (they go to day care at a YMCA facility but it is small and off site) for a night of play. Dan spoiled me by going out for sushi and heading to a wine bar!! Yay! As you have probably guessed, we headed out of Rhinelander and drove to Minocqua for a fun evening with friends. We enjoyed some delicious sushi and played Cards Against Humanity at the wine bar afterwards. It was so much fun. We arrived back in Rhinelander in time to collect the kids who also had a great evening! When we picked them up, Roman was sitting at a little table coloring with a little group of 5 or 6 year old girls (?!?) and Lucy was cuddled up watching a movie with some other kids. A good night was had by all!

Sushi!

 Getting the hang of chopsticks...

Early January Happenings

Here are some of our adventures this January -

Who needs a sled dog? :) Dan created a contraption to pull the otter sled so that we could go snow shoeing or hiking and tow the kids along. It is basically rope/pipes connected to Dan's waist on a fanny pack. It is awesome! Lucy and Roman love riding along. Here is Dan filling the bird feeder with seeds while Roman supervises. I should say that our bird feeders have become deer feeders this winter! There is a herd of deer that has learned how to shake the feeders down for food.

Enjoying their time in the sled! Remarkably - they get along really well back there! I was nervous that they may poke each other's eyes but they are great. It bodes very well for riding in the Burley together this summer - we are looking forward to bike riding weather!

On Monday evenings this winter I have a yoga class - it is the best.class.ever! I love stretching out and having a little bit of quiet time. :) One Monday I returned to the house -- everything was super quiet and when I walked into our bedroom here is what I discovered:

My sweet snoozers! We have been struggling a bit with Lucy and her sleep routine. She often has a difficult time falling asleep at night and many times she'll pop into our bedroom in the middle of the night wanting to sleep with her mama and dad! We have tried a number of things - right now we are trying 'sleep treats'. Just like potty training - if she has a good night with no wandering and staying put in her own bed - she'll get a little treat in the morning like a barrette or a sticker or a fun snack. We'll see how it goes!! Anything to get little extra shut eye! Haha Feel free to send sleep advice our way!

We had lots of fires in the wood stove during the month of January. Here is Lucy checking out a log with her Dad - this particular piece of wood is special because it has gnaw marks from a beaver.

I had a work meeting in January that took me to Wausau. After the training was over, I promptly headed to Target. It is kind of ridiculous how much joy it brings me to just stroll through the aisles at Target! It is the little things, people! Sadly, Rhinelander is home to a huge Walmart and not a lot of other shopping options so it is nice to get away for a quick Target run every once and a while. 

Daniel and I attended a Ruffed Grouse Society banquet in Tomahawk with our friends Dustin and Susan. It was a nice evening, we enjoyed good conversation, food and drink and won some sweet door prizes… Susan won a flask, I won an ugly wheelbarrow inspired candle holder, and Dan took home the best prize of all - a free car cleaning from the Toyota dealership - INSIDE and out! Woohoo! The management of the dealership is going to regret giving that coupon away after they vacuum up 5 pounds of cheerios and other kid-debris from the back of Dan's pickup!! 

Finally - just a quick snapshot of the kids enjoying breakfast on a winter morning. So cute!