Vandervaart Family: November 2011

November was filled with wonderful events. Grace turned 2 this month and we had a party for her on the 11th. She received lots of wonderful gifts and puzzles (which she LOVES!). My mom and Pete's grandparents made the road trip to be here for the party and we are very grateful they were here to help celebrate. The next weekend we started a new tradition, "Friendsgiving". We basically had an adult party to help ring in the holiday spirit. It was good food, good company and great times had by all! We look forward to next year!. We have also decorated for Christmas and loved getting our new house all decked out for the holiday season. We spent Thanksgiving in Indianapolis and had a great time visiting with family and friends. Here are some pictures from our month.

The following are pictures from Grace's 2nd birthday party (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme)

This was the group that gathered for the first annual "Friendsgiving"

Grace and Cousin Bently

Claire took gymnastics throughout this month and had a really good time. Here are some pics

Fun jump around time

Claire and Grace also took swim lessons every Wednesday. We took Jake in after classes one day.

Claire does great - she does somersaults under water, floats/swims on her back and kicks her legs and has started swimming under water. Grace blows bubbles underwater and loves being in the water.

Grace playing Angry Birds with bites of brownie in between (she passed Level 1!)

Claire and Grace ready to head out to play in the hot tub

We started a reward chart. Its been working pretty well but of course there are still lots of challenges. For example, when Grace or Claire shares, we move their character closer to the castle. At that point, then Claire shares everything all the time and continually asks to move her character forward! :)

We used to feed ducks as a kid and it was so fun. So, on a warm day I took Claire and Grace to feed the ducks and they had a really good time. I enjoyed this experience a lot!