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01 Mar 2011

Ten On Tuesday

1. Jacob told me last week that he was going to marry me. This really isn’t anything new. He’s a classic with the whole Oedipus complex. He often asks me at supper, taking my hand, and then kissing it when he’s finished, all the while keeping an eye on what Dad’s reaction will be. Last week when he told me he was going to marry me, he said that there wouldn’t be any kissing “yuk”!

2. I asked the girls if they wanted to be in the talent contest at school and Jamie immediately raised her hand. When I explained what a talent contest is and what she would have to do in front of lost of people, she said, “well, than, no”. I think she genuinely thought it would be just us in the audience!

3. Mazie started CSAP testing today. Basically the test is to show that the teachers are doing their jobs adequately. So she gets all stressed out because she wants to do well, of course, to prove her teacher is great. This test is ridiculous, in my opinion, causing the kids way too much stress. So today in her lunch bag, I wrote a little note on her napkin to help her keep calm. It said, “Have a terrific Tuesday. Good luck on the stinksap tests! Love, Mom” She thought it was pretty funny and told me so when she got home.

4. I have stressed over and over that this test is just a formality. There is no reason why she won’t do well. I explained that this is a test for the teachers and if anyone should be upset or sick to the stomachs is should be the teachers. She wasn’t too stressed when I left her at school this morning.

5. Jamie is back to singing her answers in her opera voice again. Great!

6. Jacob was so excited when Jamie told him today was the first day of March. You see, he knows his birthday is in March. Not really sure on the actually day, yet. That means he wants to celebrate the whole month! Makes sense when you are turning 4 right?

7. I can’t believe he is turning 4. It also makes me realize that next month is Jamie’s birthday and she will be 7. How are my kids so old already?

8. I apparently wasn’t clear on how Gnomeo and Juliet was. We thought the movie was great. It was Romeo and Juliet for kids with stuff thrown in for the parents to enjoy. It really was a cute movie.

9. We are going to the Grand Canyon during Spring Break. We’re pretty excited, except for the driving part, of course ;-)!

10. We’ve been having some warm weather here. Today I walked to pick up Jacob at school and we walked home together. Then we walked to get the girls at the end of the day. Then they played outside in the backyard for about an hour after school. Jacob ate so much at supper that we didn’t hear a peep out of him until he asked for dessert! He is going to be hard to wake up in the morning, I believe.

Happy Tuesday!

Posted in Kids, Random

14 Feb 2011

3 Comments

Valentine’s Parties

We’ve been busy around here with all kinds of Valentine festivities. First, Jacob’s party at preschool was held on Thursday. I was so glad Jeremiah could join us. So was Jacob and other kiddos. When we got there, it was time for library time. Jeremiah was tasked to read and two or three other kids thought this was fantastic to hear him read!

Then it was music time. The kids were able to grab any kind of instrument out of their bucket and dance around the circle. It was fun to watch!

During the party, the parents were invited to go to outer space with the kids. We sat on the carpet and rode our spaceship all the way through space. The kids got out and walked on the moon (some actually acted like they had heavy boots on!) and we flew along the solar system. It was so fun to see the kids react to what we were doing. Jacob was asked to be the sun and stand in the middle. The rest of us held hands and rotated around him. He smiled the entire time!

Then it was time to hand out the Valentines. The teachers asked the kids what they liked about their friends. The teachers wrote what the kids said on the heart and then they presented it to the kids. Jacob loved his…

On Friday, Jamie’s class had their party. Again, Jeremiah was able to join us. The kids handed out their Valentines to each other quite orderly for first grade! Then the kids were able to decorate sugar cookie hearts. Jamie didn’t like hers so she let Jacob have it!

The kids were allowed to go through their Valentine’s while putting them into their bags to go home. They were also allowed to enjoy three treats while do this…

Jacob fit right in with the first graders…or at least he thought so…

Today was Mazie’s turn. I only got one photo of her party. The kids went right to work distributing their treats to each other and then ate their goodies. There wasn’t much else to do since it was at the end of the day. Jeremiah surprised Mazie by showing up toward the end of the party! For the party, the kids were asked to make Valentine boxes. This was what Mazie made…her Love Boat!

We love Family Fun! I hope you had a lovely day with your loves. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted in Holidays, Kids and tagged valentines

22 Jan 2011

3 Comments

Jacob’s Day

Last week was Jacob’s Show Week at The Little Gym. It’s basically the last day of his semester and the kids get to show off all their new skills to their families. It’s a big deal because they’ve worked very hard and are excited to show what they’ve learned.

This was Jacob’s introduction to his show. See his excitement?

Then the kids were divided into three groups. Jacob’s group when to the high vault. This was him jumping off all by himself, which is something I’ve never seen him do without someone’s hand!

Then they lined up and sang on their way to the next station. “Down by the station…”

This station was on the uneven bars. This is typically not one of Jacob’s favorites but he did such a good job. He flipped on the lower bar, kissed the upper bar with his belly, walked back and forth (side-to-side), and hung on the top bar without being held! See his determination with his tongue hanging out…

Then it was onto the last station. It was a floor routine and this was where Jacob really showed his stuff! Backwards roll…

some high kicks…

a monkey kick over the mat…

There was also a donkey kick, pulling his legs up to his toes, and then a big finish…

I love his expression there. It’s like he’s saying, “Yeah, I rocked that!”

Then there was a little free time for the kids to show off some other skills. Jacob chose the low beam…

The kids were instructed to sit along the wall and patiently wait for their medals. The teachers had some music playing. Jacob decided to jam a bit in line…

Then his proud moment of getting his medal…

This was the group of kids trying to get together for a group photo with the teachers. I can’t imagine trying to get all those 3/4 year olds in one group for a picture. I think Jacob was thinking the same thing…

We really love the things Jacob is learning at The Little Gym. The next semester already started. We are looking forward to what he learns this time!

Happy Weekend!

Posted in Adventures, Kids and tagged Jacob, show week, The Little Gym

19 Jan 2011

4 Comments

Wednesdays with Jamie

Jamie, as many of you know, is our quiet one. She loves to be by herself, reading or doodling. She got this huge white board for Christmas and just loves it.

And since there are so many colorful dry erase markers out there, her imagination can run wild. She was drawing a self-portrait this day. But since she didn’t have purple, she only drew her head!

She had a sticky note from her teacher this week. It stated that she has been doing such a great job with adding double digits. Her teacher writes these little notes of praise for the kids when she sees them do something great. She told Jamie that her and one other girl are ready for triple digit adding! She thought that was pretty cool. She likes praise like that. No one else has to know about it or make a big deal about it. It means a lot to her that someone is noticing her cool things but she doesn’t need all the frills like her big sister.

We love Jamie just the way she is!

Posted in Kids, Random and tagged Wednesdays with Jamie

11 Jan 2011

3 Comments

Ten On Tuesday

1. Our final outing over Christmas break was to the Denver Aquarium. It was snowing by the time we got to Denver and when we were ready to leave, there was already about 3 inches of snow on the ground. It took 2 1/2 hours to get home when it should have been about an hour!

2. No worries though. Jeremiah handled it well! I never dry in that stuff if I don’t have to.

3. The kids were fond of the fish and things we saw. The tarantula was a favorite…

and these two bearded dragons…I wonder what they were saying to each other…

and this sting ray was smiling at me, I think…

You had to know I was going to include a Stahr Fish…

4. My loves all on the bridge…

5. Check out Jacob’s face. It makes me laugh every time I see this picture. Especially since he is so close to the mermaid’s chest.

6. Tomorrow Mazie turns 9. NINE YEARS, people! How the heck did that happen?

7. I was just thinking about when I was carrying her in my belly. I had back labor on this night all those years ago. I decided to take a hot shower and go to bed. At 2:30am that labor started up again with a vengeance and later that evening arrived a beautiful, squeaky (yes, she kind of squeaked instead of cried)little girl. *sigh*

8. She wants to wait until tomorrow after supper to open all her presents!

9. Jamie is the official Light Operator tomorrow night. Don’t know what a Light Operator is? Well, I’ll tell you it’s a big job! She is in charge of turning out the lights at just the right moment and starts the singing. Then she has to turn the lights on at the exact right moment so no one drops any cake or gets scared in the dark! She is super excited.

10. Jacob thinks tomorrow is when he turns four and gets to open presents. He will be very happy for Mazie when she is finished with all her things and he gets to play with her…if she lets him!

Happy Tuesday

Posted in Adventures, Kids, Random and tagged aquarium, Birthday, Denver, outing

10 Jan 2011

Snow Day

Today was a snow day. Yep, we got an extended weekend due to snow. These pictures are from a day or two before New Years when we got our first snow. However, you can rest assured that the same playing was going on today! Although Jacob did stay out a little longer than last time.

Jacob is a master when it comes to making snow angels. He should be since he is constantly practicing on the carpet…

He also enjoys knocking the snow off of the tree…

The girls went to work, cleaning off the play set…

which made Jacob want to try. So dad put more snow on the slide so he could try…

I think that smile says it all. There was also a little taste testing. Don’t worry, we made sure it wasn’t yellow!

Back to school tomorrow!

Posted in Adventures, Kids and tagged playing, snow

04 Jan 2011

4 Comments

Ten On Tuesday

1. All the kids have started back to school and it has been quiet! The girls started back yesterday and Jacob started back today. I love school!

2. Now if only I could get school to start for my husband before January 18. Just kidding. I love you, hunny! 😉

3. Jeremiah did start his big project today. Operation Get The Basement Organized! It actually looks so much better and he’s not even half way done.

4. I know Christmas is over and we’ve had our tree and decorations down since the day after Christmas but we’re still singing the song. Probably will be until June, in fact.

5. Did you know that Frosty The Snowman carried a roast beef to the billiage? Yep, that’s right. Jacob’s version of the beloved song is: Down to the Billiage, with a roast beef in his hand. It’s simply too funny to correct. He’ll get it right next year anyway.

6. He thinks that is what the Chipmunks are singing anyway. We have the Chipmunks coming out our ears!

7. We had a lovely New Years Day. The Egberts came for a traditional pork and sauerkraut meal and we also celebrated Rachel’s birthday! I made her a topsy-turvy cake. You can read about it more over at the cake site.

8. I’ve been told there’s a big birthday coming this weekend. My dear husband is finally going to be the same age as me and can no longer taunt me about being older (at least until December 4)!

9. There is another special birthday coming after that. Mazie called Mickey Mouse on Sunday to let him know she was turning 9. It was pretty cool how they had it set up. Mickey even spoke to her. This is all pretty funny since she couldn’t even hold the phone at Disneyland when she turned 3! Her name may be scrolling on the birthday list on PlayHouse Disney, if you watch.

10. I thought maybe I would have a little bit of a vacation when the kids started back to school. But guess what? Time doesn’t slow down when you want it to! Who knew?

Happy Tuesday!

Posted in birthdays, Family, Friends, Kids, Random

17 Dec 2010

2 Comments

Christmas Parties 2 and 3

So today the girls had their parties. It happened to be a half day which meant their parties were at the same time. No worries though…Jacob and I had a blast at Jamie’s party. Jacob and Jamie colored (together) a candy cane and put it together. Jamie decorated a sugar cookie and cut it in half for Jacob to share. They shared a plate of food too. After a bunch of treats (read: way too many) were handed out, it was time to leave for the day!

While we were having fun at Jamie’s party, Jeremiah went to Mazie’s party. The fourth graders had a project ready to go. They were building graham cracker houses. Mazie said she couldn’t quite figure out how to make a pointy roof with the graham crackers so her house became an apartment. It did take the entire hour of the party to create this living palace but it was fun to watch…

So now we’ve started our two weeks of Winter break and we’ve got a few things planned over those two weeks!

Posted in Holidays, Kids and tagged Christmas parties

16 Dec 2010

4 Comments

Preschooler Songs

I have to say that one of my very favorite things as a mom is to see my kids in a program. I don’t care how out of key they sing, it is just something I have to see. Today was Jacob’s last day before Winter break and his class had a little party.

The teacher read The Mitten and the kids (and some of us parents) were completely enthralled…

The kids were asked to find their letters (what a cool way to have them line up and listen…makes me want to get alphabet carpet all over the house 🙂 !)

As you can see from the last picture, Jacob was pretty excited. Not that he was going to sing his best for us but that he was standing beside his little red-haired girlfriend, Miss Bella! Nice.

Their first song was to the tune of I’m A Little Tea Pot but was about a snowman and he melted at the end of the song which meant the kids had to act like they were melting…

And since they were already down, the next song had to do with sleeping bears to the tune of Are You Sleeping?…

Then the grand finale was Jingle Bells! And the kids were jingling bells, of course and belting it out…out of key, out of sync…man, I love preschooler singing!

“In a one horse open sleigh. HEY!” Can’t you just hear it…

They put their bells back and lined up for their big bow…

It was time for food…

And Santa joined us by surprise. The kids were so excited to see him come in the door. It happened to be snowing (finally) and it was a perfect entrance. I can’t believe this is Jacob’s first encounter with the big guy. Since the girls never liked sitting on his lap, we just never pushed Jacob to do so. But he was so excited to actually meet him that I’m not sure he even realized he was on his lap!

The teachers took a family photo of us with Santa and we made a wreath ornament for on the tree. Jacob was all about placing the different colors of tissue paper all around our picture.

It was such a fun hour. Tomorrow…each of the girls has a party…at the same time. Jeremiah is joining Mazie and Jacob and I are joining Jamie!

Posted in Holidays, Kids and tagged christmas party, Jacob, school

27 Nov 2010

1 Comment

Jacob’s Day

So we’re going to pretend that today is Friday because Jeremiah and I went out on a date and I didn’t have time yesterday to blog (more on our date later)!

Did you know that Jeremiah can play any instrument using the kids? Well, he can and the instruments always sound wonderful. For example, Jacob wanted Dad to play the piano. So he assumed the position…