A Group Of Stahrs

03 May 2011

Ten On Tuesday

1. Jamie had her second meet last night. It was sprint night. She had to run a 50 meter and a 200 meter. First, she got a pep talk from the coach… Then she ran as fast as she could for the 50 m (her official time was not given). Then she lined up with the other first grade girls for the 200 m…(her official time 1 minute 3 seconds).

We’ve come to the conclusion that sprinting isn’t really Jamie’s thing. She can just concentrate on long runs with mom! But she was happy that she competed and got her ribbon. I was just excited to see her do it.

2. My cake decorating class was cancelled for Mondays since I only had one student sign up. The good thing is that I was able to watch Jamie run her little bum off. The bad thing is that I really like teaching. Maybe next month!

3. Jamie had the best fan club cheering her on. It was so cold but they were bundled and cheering loudly!

4. We had a parent/teacher conference with Jamie’s first grade teacher about her transitioning into second grade. The teacher is planning on moving the group of 5 “smarty” kids all together since they work so well together and push each other in a good way. They are also going to go with Jamie’s old Kindergarten teacher since she has moved to the second grade! Jamie is relieved and happy with all this.

5. Last night after the conference, I realized that Mazie only has next year left of elementary school. My heart sank a little when I heard myself say that she would be in middle school.

6. We just found out today that the preschool program has not been cancelled. We were a little worried that the school board was going to get rid of it since they had no money. I have to wait until Friday to find out if Jacob gets the same days he already has. I will be a little happy to not worry about these things for the next year when he starts kindergarten. Again, my heart sank just re-reading that.

7. Jumpy, our resident squirrel, is eating a peanut in my tree as I type. The kids think he’s pretty cool.

8. Jacob brought home a Mother’s Day gift for me today. The kids painted a crock, the teachers wrote what the kids answered to “I love you because…” and the kids planted marigold seeds which already sprouted! I’m not gonna lie…I cried a little to read what Jacob told the teacher to write. He said, “I love you because…you hug and kiss me! When I am 5 years old you and I are going out for a date! Happy Mother’s Day. (and then he signed his name)”.

9. Jamie got a “Make Your Own Mask” kit for her birthday. Mazie had gotten the same kit for Christmas. So Jamie and Mazie made one this weekend. It was pretty cool to see them working together on similar things.

10. Jamie has a project for school due next week. She has to make a Math game. It’s supposed to have adding, subtracting, counting, etc. all in a game. We have a poster board for her game board and colorful paper for her pieces. She even has a rough draft sketch of what she wants it to look like. She’s excited to put it all together.

Posted in Kids, Random

01 May 2011

4 Comments

The Big Day

Jamie turned 7 yesterday and it was a simply fantastic day. We started out with the birthday banner and lots of presents. She was pretty excited that they came from all over the country!

There was also a lot of singing.

After making a quick Skype call to Pop Pop, she decided to open her presents…

Then it was onto the big party at The Little Gym.

Jamie and her friends had such a great time.

Pictures are from L to R/top to bottom: 1. going over safety rules. 2 and 3. playing with partner poles. 4, 5, and 6. smash the cake game. 7. bubbles. 8 and 9. freeze dance. 10. riding the air track up. 11 and 12. star jumps. 13. forward rolls. 14 and 15. limbo on the air track. 16. Jamie’s highest jump ever!

The next picture is of all the kids riding the air track down. The air track was a big hit!

There was also some hula hooping…and some plain old hanging around

Then, when all the playing was done, it was time for cake (see more here). The Hot Air Balloon cake by request…

Then it was back home. And just to show that I was apart of Jamie’s big day…

The whole day was great. Jamie had a good time and it was the “Best Birthday Ever” according to the birthday girl herself!

Today Dad and Jamie went on their big date. Dad came to the door, rang the door bell, and presented her with her birthday flowers.

She was having a hard time deciding where to go. She struggled between Fargo’s and Macaroni Grill. Macaroni Grill won in the end and she had a great time. I think 7 is going to be fun with Jamie. Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Posted in birthdays and tagged Jamie

29 Apr 2011

Friday Five

1. Mazie didn’t win with her science fair project but she did get a ribbon for competing. She was pretty happy with that. I was happy when we saw the actually grade sheet and she had an excellent for presentation. I guess I wasn’t the only one who thought her project looked sharp!

2. Big day here in the Stahr house…Jacob put his booster seat away. He helped pack it up and take it to the basement with all the other “baby” things that we are keeping for visitors with smaller kids to use.

He hasn’t been using it for about a week now. He was pretty excited!

3. I made the coolest hot air balloon cake ever! Actually with Jeremiah’s engineering mind, I was able to actually make it stand and it looks so cool. I will be posting pictures of it on the business blog this weekend!

4. It was super windy today. I mean, the wind actually took your breath away if you were outside. It was a nice warm day otherwise. I’m starting to get sick of it being warm and sunny and super windy.

5. Tonight is our last night with a six-year-old girl in the house forever! I remember this night 7 years ago. I was have labor pains…nothing too active but still there. I remember trying to make this night special for Mazie since she was about to be a big sister and not the only one anymore. I also remember barely sleeping this night 7 years ago in anticipation of meeting Jamie. Tonight Jamie is so excited to be turning 7. She is so excited for her party tomorrow and to open presents and to have her day. She’s not the one who wants to be the center of attention until it’s something like her birthday or a music program or a race. I am so very proud of Jamie. Tomorrow is going to be great!

Posted in Random

27 Apr 2011

3 Comments

Science Fair

Today after school, the parents of all the fourth and fifth graders were able to go into the school to view all the science fair projects. It was so cool to see all the projects displayed throughout the gym.

And then we came upon Mazie’s project. She was so proud to show it off among the others. I know I’m a little partial but I thought hers looked so professional compared to some of the others.

She worked so hard on this project but had fun too. Mazie said she presented it to her class today and it went well. Tomorrow is the official judging. Wish her luck!

Posted in Kids and tagged Mazie, school, science fair

26 Apr 2011

2 Comments

Ten on Tuesday

1. Jamie ran her first meet last night. She ran 400 meters in 2 minutes and 21 seconds (her official time). She was so excited and proud. I am so proud of her for doing something that was totally and completely out of her box. She even got a ribbon after she crossed the finish line. She did such an awesome job!

2. Jamie originally ordered up a 7 balloon cake for her big celebration this weekend. Then we realized that only 9 kids were going to be at her party. She changed it to a hot air balloon instead.

3. I should probably get working on that design.

4. My Decorating Basics course at Hobby Lobby ended last night. I am going to post pictures of the students’ final project cakes on the business blog later this week. They all did a great job…even the two 11-year olds!

5. Speaking of my classes, if you are in the area and interested in taking a class, May classes start next week! Go to Hobby Lobby to sign up.

6. I am making the first of our Easter leftover meals tonight. Ham Pot Pie is on the menu. The kids (and, even more so, Jeremiah) are super excited!

7. Jeremiah recently got his iPhone in the mail. He is officially out of the cave!

8. Mazie handed in her Science Fair project on Monday. She was so excited about it. Her hypothesis was to prove whether or not plants needed both light and water to survive. She had 4 different plants. One received water and light, one only light, one only water, and one nothing (she had the last two plants under a box to keep light out). It was pretty interesting to see the results. We get to see the projects displayed after school tomorrow and they get judged on Thursday!

9. I asked Jamie where she wanted to go on her birthday date with dad. Jacob interrupted and asked if he was going on a birthday date. I explained that he and I will go out on a birthday day when we turns 5. He piped up with, “We will go somewhere special.” My heart filled with the thought of him wanting to go somewhere special. Then he said, “I think Noodles & Co would be good.” I guess to a 4-year old, that is a pretty special place!

10. I’m pretty proud of my family. Jeremiah is graduating from college soon. Jacob is getting so big and smart. Jamie is trying new things without hesitation. Mazie is using her brain for productive things instead of misbehaving. I have a pretty great family! I love you all!

Posted in Family, Random

25 Apr 2011

2 Comments

Easter

So we woke up to about an inch of snow laying on top of the grass. That’s right. It wasn’t down all the way on the ground. The grass collected it. Plus it was gone by 2pm because the ground was not frozen anymore. But still the snow put a little damper on our plans for an egg hunt. No matter, though. We decided to do a scavenger hunt of sorts. With the kids baskets on the table, we took individual colored M & Ms and did a little trail to the top of the stairs. Green for Jacob, purple for Jamie, and pink for Mazie.

The kids thought it was fun…plus they did get to eat their trail before breakfast!

Peter was even nice enough to hide eggs inside this year. The kids didn’t seem to mind!

After check out all their candy goodies, it was time for a yummy ham dinner and some cake (which you can read about at the business site). Many of you know Easter is the only time I make ham. It’s just because it’s so much work for the leftovers because I have to make some ham and green beans and some ham pot pie with the leftover ham. (By the way, ham pot pie is not a pie with ham in it. It is yummy filth with home-made dumpling noodles…a Pennsylvania Dutch treat!) So that’s what we have to look forward to after the Easter dinner.

Posted in Holidays and tagged Easter

21 Apr 2011

1 Comment

Spring Fever!

Today was Jamie’s first grade music program. It was fabulous. The theme of the program was Spring. The kids were hoppin’ and bobbin’ to some cool tunes.

There were kazoos, too. The kids were having a blast. There was also a slide show of pictures of the kids and their moms. It was a real tear jerker.

I was so excited that I was able to go to the program for the rest of the school. I had a class to teach tonight so I was going to miss the whole show. Jeremiah was able to go to tonight’s program with Jacob and Mazie and see the kids all dressed up. It was a great performance by the first graders!

Posted in Kids and tagged Jamie, music program

20 Apr 2011

3 Comments

Big Day

So many of you know that my son has a small fetish about buttons. Since we was about 2 years old, he has said that buttons hurt him. He wears pants with buttons all the time but shirts were off-limits. There was no budging on the issue. In fact, the only time we’ve ever been able to get him into a shirt with buttons was when Pop Pop talked him into it in Hawaii. Yes, I know that means that Pop Pop should just move here and there wouldn’t be any issue with buttons but since that’s not happening soon I had to figure something out. I mean, really I didn’t want to have the only son who wore a t-shirt under his tux at his high school prom, or worse, his own wedding! I decided to try a green stripy polo shirt I found at target. It had two green buttons…it had to work! When I brought it home, we convinced him to just try it on over the t-shirt he was already wearing. He agreed. Dad made a comment that he looked like he was at least 6 years old and that he should try to leave the shirt on for 6 minutes. Jacob agreed. Over 2 1/2 hours later, he was still wearing the shirt (buttons, tags, and all) without any hurting of any kind. He realized he was ready for shirts with buttons! VICTORY!!

So Monday was class picture day at school. It isn’t a day that Jacob normally goes to school but he needed to be there by 11am for the class photo. He decided to wear a shirt full of buttons. He went straight for the one in his closet that had 8 buttons on it (and one of them was on his back!). He was so excited to look like a big boy. He even posed for me before we headed to the school…

He wore it well, don’t you think? Thanks to the Laughrey’s for sending the shirt for his birthday! Maybe I can work on a tie next…

Posted in Kids and tagged Jacob, shirts

19 Apr 2011

2 Comments

Ten On Tuesday

1. Mazie had her performance last week. The Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale came to the school and worked with the kids who volunteered the songs for the program.

Mazie had so much fun and learn a lot of things about music. The kids practiced so hard. I was so impressed with the fact that they learned all their moves and songs in only 6 1/2 hours of practicing!

2. Jamie is loving Landsharks. She was told to be prepared to run, run some more, and then run a lot more at practice tonight. She was pretty excited about practice when she left for school!

3. Jacob has been learning about insects at school. So that means he comes home from school and goes outside to find bugs. He mostly finds those little rolly polly bugs. You know, the ones that roll into a ball when you touch them. Poor bugs, they kind of get squished by my son’s fingers. He’s not the most gentle kid.

4. Jacob had his first experience with the “big” ladder this weekend. Jeremiah wanted to check the gutters. And, of course, he needed a sidekick. Jacob was so fascinated by the roof. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even notice what condition the gutter was in.

5. What were the girls doing while Jacob and Dad were working? I’m so glad you asked.

They were climbing the tree in the front yard. They got a little high for this mama to keep breathing but I managed to keep enough oxygen in to snap a picture.

6. The kids have a Literacy Day on Friday. This only means they have a day off of school. They are supposed to be home reading which will happen at some point during the day.

7. Jacob was baking with me last week when I was making a brownie cake. Actually this is what he was doing…

8. Want to know what happens when my son gets my iPhone? This…

Yep, he has figured out how to use the camera. He thinks it’s a game. I had 8o pictures of his cute little face and 5 of the living room. Stinker!

9. Jacob and I are going to make home-made peanut butter eggs today. They are going to fill our Easter basket cake that I am going to make on Saturday for Sunday’s dessert. I can’t believe Easter is this weekend already!

10. Since Easter is this weekend, what plans do you have? We are having our Easter Ham dinner with all the fixin’s and the above mentioned cake. Just the 5 of us this year. And the Easter Bunny is sure to leave some baskets for the kids. We are also going to be coloring eggs with friends Saturday afternoon. It should fun!

Happy Tuesday

Posted in Kids, Random

18 Apr 2011

2 Comments

Let’s Go Fly A Kite

One windy day, we took the kids to one of the local parks to fly our kites. It was nice and windy and a little too blustery. The wind would pick up just a little too much by the time we got the kite into the air. But the kids (more like Jeremiah mostly) had fun anyway.

So up, up, and away it went…

Until it went into the tree…

But, no worries, it was retrieved with only a few of the tails still stuck in the tree! 😉

The kids enjoyed chasing the kite for a little while. The kite just didn’t want to actually stay in the sky. So they went right to the park and the rocks and forgot all about the wind and the kite…for a little while.