Helen Learns New Things, Lots of Learning Play at Home, Happy Birthday to the Twins - Week of Feb 22, 2016

 Helen vs. the socks!

 Mommy was impressed by how persistently Helen attempted to get those socks on her feet. 

 Helen's pronunciation of "thank you" sounds exactly like the Czech "diky" (informal "thank you"). Mommy almost doesn't want to correct her! On this day, she said "Thank you, Micah" (unprompted!).

 The boys were working in their cubicles, just like Daddy!

 Helen came and interrupted the work day, taking pictures of them with her "camera."

Say cheese, Henry!

 Helen lent Micah the "camera" (safety goggles) to take photos. 

 Monday was Helen's first experience with glue - making an "igloo" (well, Mommy put the glue on the paper and Helen stuck the papers on).  

 We read a new library book this week about bears. Micah insisted Mommy immediately send an email to Miss Karie, who will be heading off to India soon: "Micah wants to warn you about sloth bears. We read about them in a book about different kinds of bears today. They live mainly in India and he is concerned about whether you are aware of this fact. He wanted to know if you had left for your trip yet or not, because he felt it important that you are properly warned." (He was relieved to know our message reached her prior to her departure.)

 Races outdoors

 Henry loves to ride that bike!

 T-ball practice in February - because that's how we roll.

 Henry and Helen also practiced throwing the Frisbee. 

There was a lot of throwing... and not so much catching.

 Indoors, we practiced our handwriting - Mommy wrote numbers on the chalkboard and Micah carefully traced them with a wet Q-tip, erasing them. 

 Meanwhile, Mommy caught Helen playing with the boys' trains.

 The trains "talked" to each other like dolls. 😄

 Monday night while we were waiting for Daddy to come home from Bible Study, we were playing with the camera on Mommy's phone. Helen was mad she couldn't use the phone!

 Micah was our photographer.

 Helen wants a turn!

Helen did get a turn to use the chalkboard anyway, though it was more like painting for her than writing!

 Before heading to the store Tuesday, we made our shopping list (Mommy's attempt to keep the kids occupied...). 

 Both boys did ice cream math on Tuesday afternoon. Henry worked on recognizing numbers and counting. Micah added/subtracted 3 or 4 numbers. Afterward, of course, we had to have an ice cream taste test. 

 Thinking hard and calculating those scoops!

For a few moments anyway, there was peace and harmony!

 Playing Twister to practice colors and right & left. 

 Wednesday we had a decent amount of snow, but still made it to Community Bible Study. There, Henry's CBS teacher told Mom that when Henry passes Micah in the hallway on his way to music class, he always says, 'That's my friend, Micah!" 
And after our Lenten church service that night, Mommy got an email from Poppa: "Doubt that you could see it tonight, but as I was praying at the end of the children's message, Henry hugged his brother and gave him a kiss." We are so thankful that they are growing in their relationship with one another!

 "Helping" Daddy shovel off the patio.

 However, later that night Mom realized why Micah may not have had as much energy as usual. During the night, Micah threw up twice - first in Mom and Dad's bed, then in a bucket... and then had diarrhea. So, Thursday Mom did a lot of laundry.

Henry's turn to practice writing his letters.  

 Rice balls for those who were healthy.

 Looks like more laundry for Mom...

Our little adventurer Henry learned two important lessons this afternoon: 
1) Japanese sticky rice is sticky...

2) Trying to ride a rocking horse down a ramp can end badly, especially if your face hits the tile at the bottom (note the fat lip)

Too bad he picked a light colored shirt after the rice ball incident. As he told Daddy, "See this? It's not part of my shirt. It's my blood!"

Thankfully, Micah was feeling better by Thursday afternoon to help Daddy work on shoveling off the patio again.

Friday morning - story time at the library

Nobody needs Mommy's lap for story time at the library anymore. Bittersweet.

There was a reason Helen and Henry were wearing their Texas gear that day - we went to "Uncle" Michael's basketball game in the evening.

Because that buzzer is loud...

Michael is #12

Micah fell asleep with the earmuffs still on in the car. 

Saturday morning we headed to Hartford. Henry got guitar lessons from Poppa Roe.

He even gathered an audience.

We were at the west side to celebrate cousins Waylon and Genna's 1st birthdays. Aunt Allyson and Uncle Bob's twins have grown so much over the last year!

Time for cake!

Then Henry got more guitar lessons. This time from Uncle Isaiah. 

Cousin fun!

Micah's turn to learn from Isaiah.

Wes and Henry

Helen and Wesley hit it off this time. They played together a lot. 

Later that weekend, Henry went with Victory and Tim to their church to help with a small project. We are thankful for aunts and uncles who take time to spend individually with our kids, especially since there are so many grandkids in the Roe family (and it's growing all the time!).