The Linda Family

It was time.  Ashleigh’s room was over run by toys she barely played with, and the space needed to be put to better use since she will be sharing that room with her younger sibling before we know it!  Last Friday we looked at the Toys R Us ad that had come in the mail and saw a good looking play kitchen on sale.  Wes suggested we clean out her toys and trade for the kitchen.  I was completely ok with the idea, and we thought it was an even better idea when I remembered that we had 3 gift cards in my wallet for Toys R Us & Babies R Us.  Ashleigh wasn’t really thrilled with the whole giving toys away part of the deal, but once we talked about it a bit, she was all excited.  We got 3 trash bags out, one to use for toys to give away, one for toys that we should save for baby, and one for trash and toys that were broken.  In just 2 hours or so we went from 3 toyboxes and a big basket of toys, plus what was already on the shelves/cubes in her room to one basket and the cubes/shelves!  We were able to rearrange things a bit to make everything fit better and off we went to Toys R Us.  We enjoyed walking around the store, looking at toys, including big huge kitchens that put our real kitchen to shame   We found a few options, and while I clearly had my favorite as far as look, it was a little bigger than the space we had set aside for it.  So, we let Ashleigh choose.  She was the one who gave away her toys to kids who needed them more than she did, we figured she deserved it.

Since she is on a fairy kick, it was no real surprise that she chose the Tinkerbell Fairy Cafe over the wooden, pastel kitchen I liked.  Hers was a better idea for the space, and it was cheaper, so we didn’t fight with her too much.  Just suggested that the wooden one was bigger and had a phone.  But, alas, the fairy won.  We also got a $10 gift card with the purchase of Disney Fairy products that week.  Ashleigh was eyeing up the Tinkerbell Slippers that were above the Fairy Cafe, and they matched her Halloween Costume.  So, after we checked out, I headed back into the store to pick them up for her and Wes headed to the car with Ashleigh.  It ended up being a great night.  We ended up spending about $30 and Ashleigh got a kitchen she LOVES and she will be thrilled with her new Tinkerbell shoes when she gets them for Christmas!

Ashleigh was super excited to get the kitchen put together.   She tried to lug the box up the stairs by herself, but was unsuccessful.  We set up the video camera and got to assembling.  Wes hasn’t had a chance to edit the video yet, he’s been working a ton the past few weeks, so I’ll cut him some slack   After it was set up, Ashleigh made us tea and baked goods until an hour past bed time.  The majority of Saturday was also spent cooking food in the kitchen.  She LOVES her fairy cafe.  One of the best toys we’ve ever bought.  It’s a combination of a kitchen and a store, and it’s pink and purple and covered in fairies.  Yup, every little girls dream.

Here are some pictures of Ashleigh enjoying her cafe.

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For trick or treat this year we headed out with Hillary and the kids again.  We we just barely home from San Francisco and still adjusting, so it was a rough day for us, but Ashleigh had a good time.  We headed out to Target in the afternoon in search of a princess costume for her, and ended up with Tinkerbell instead.  The only candy bucket they had left had the Disney Fairies on it, so she decided that her costume should match.  This suited me just fine, since Tinkerbell was $5 less than Cinderella and Tinkerbell came with cool fairy wings.  Cinderella was just a dress!

Unfortunately we left so early to trick-or-treat that Wes wasn’t able to get there to go with us.  I think that, combined with the adjusting to life at home instead of away made Ashleigh a little grumpy. There were 7 kids as all together as we headed out across the neighborhood.  After a few streets Ashleigh was tuckered out and we just walked along with the rest of the group and headed back to the house first.  We ate dinner, and Wes came to hang out with us for a bit before we headed home and called it a night.

Here are the  couple of photos I managed to get

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I started telling Wes about the phone calls Ashleigh is making, and I decided that I better blog them so we don’t forget!  She sure is priceless.  I came upstairs to put away the clean laundry, you know, the exciting stuff moms do, and she followed.  She has an old cordless phone and she is talking to her friends.  Of course, I’m only hearing one side of the conversation.  Wait.  Guess there really is only one side…..

So she talks to her freind Rhiney and then turns to me – “Mom, do you know where Rhiney is?  She’s in Africa.  That is where she lives.”

Silly me.  I thought her freinds were local….I sure am glad they’re imaginary friends and she’s not really calling Africa, because the conversation goes on….

“Ok Rhiney, I’m sorry, but I have to go.  I have to talk to someone else.  Hi Wanda.  No I’m sorry, we can’t come.  We live in the city.  WHAT?  He weighs a LOT? A WHOLE TON??  WOW!”

Then she moves on to the next freind…”You can come sleep in my bed with me.  What do you mean you can’t fit?  How big ARE you?  You’re FOUR?!  Well, I’m going to bed soon.  Oh, you too?”

Her later conversations included sharing with me that there is a Giant in Bumbee’s town.  Apparently it’s a stomping giant, and that makes Ashleigh spin 4 times (yeah, she spun in a circle 4 times and made herself so dizzy she fell into the closet door).  She also took a moment from her phone call to discipline Rosie, who is one of her 6 kids for those of you who aren’t aware.  She also wants to go see her freind Susie.  Too bad Susie lives by Crocodile Lake.  She tells me Crocodile lake is a lot further from our house.  Further than what?  I don’t know…I’m just guessing it’s too far to just swing by for a soda.

Maybe we should scratch the art class idea and look into acting class…Do they have acting classes for 3 year olds?

We have officially finished week 1 of preschool.  Ashleigh is LOVING it.  Really loving it.  I am more than surprised at how much she has retained, considering her apathetic attitude at times.  I’m learning how to get her to write her letters without making it a chore, and she’s learning how to sit and pay attention.  We’re both learning.

This week we worked on A, B, and C.  She can now tell you what sound all 3 letters make.  She also can write all 3 in uppercase and lowercase form!  Now that surprised me.  She already knew big A, so no big deal there.  I just didn’t think she caught onto B at all.  Apparently she did.  Today we learned C and reviewed Aa & Bb.  She made both A’s and both B’s with just a touch of help.  Her first b looked like a Q, she put the line on the circle wrong, but when we tried it again she did great!

She is not a fan of coloring pages.  This means I’ll have to be more creative.  But, as time goes on and we learn more letters, we can use a lot more of the resources I have in the house.  It’s hard to do a lot only using A, B, and C!  Her favorite part of the lesson is the craft.  She has made an Apple, a Butterfly, and a Clown.  I need to take pictures of them before they get dispursed to the person she has designated for each of them .  Funny how she didn’t make any of this week’s crafts for Mommy & Daddy….I guess we see who is really important.

I just wanted to give an update, I’ll try to post each week with what we’ve done and what she has learned.  For now I’m going to stick with 3 days a week, one letter a day, with reviews of previous letters.  It seems to be working so far.  We’ll see where it leads us!