A Group Of Stahrs

12 Apr 2011

Ten On Tuesday

1. Jamie is registered for Landsharks. It’s a running club for kids. She will have three meets where she will run between 400 and 800 meters. She is so excited. Her first practice is today after school.

2. Mazie is signed up for a Chorale this week. Today, tomorrow, and Thursday she practices all kinds of dance moves and singing. It’s a free program that the music program is doing with the Colorado Springs children’s Music Chorale. The concert is on Thursday evening. It’s should be great to see!

3. Jacob walked home with me from school today. This really isn’t anything special except for today he walked the entire way holding my hand…by his choice. We also took the “long way” home. It’s still a little more than 1/2 a mile but for him he thinks it’s the long way.

4. My heart melted a little during the 1/2 mile walk with my son. You see, those moments of him wanting to hold my hand for such a long time on his own accord or telling me that I’m the best mommy because I drove home the way he wanted or hearing him say, “I love you” for no reason, are rapidly going away. So I try to suck them in when I get them.

5. When we got home, I was making his lunch, I handed him his “samich” and said, “Thanks for walking home with me. It was fun.” He replied, “You welcome, Mommy. I liked it too.” *sigh*

6. While I was running this morning, I was having a little trouble getting started. But half way through (on my turn-around), I saw Pikes Peak. It motivated me to continue. The funny thing…I noticed all the budding trees and tulips that I apparently missed on the way up the hill. The downhill didn’t hurt with the motivation either! I realized today that I run in the most beautiful scenery. I love it here.

7. Did anyone check out the Stahrs Cakes site lately? I have some pictures from my cake decorating class last month. I’m really loving the whole teaching thing. I have a feeling it has more to do with what I am teaching instead of teaching. But I’m having fun so it doesn’t really matter why, right? 😉

8. Jeremiah and I went through our April and May calendars together. Our heads practically exploded. I’m almost certain that I heard my iPhone actually tell me that I couldn’t put in anymore entries!

9. Yes, May is overwhelmingly busy with my classes, the kids ending school and their school things, Jeremiah finished school, graduating, and change of command and graduation ceremonies. I just hope we get through it without missing life!

10. Speaking of missing life, go for a walk and smell nature. The trees are budding and the flowers are blooming. Take advantage if you have nice weather and get outside! You’ll have a better outlook on your day.

Posted in Random

11 Apr 2011

1 Comment

Spring Break

We spent the rest of our Spring break getting outside as much as we could. I just wanted to relax and have some fun with the kids. So one of the afternoons, I took pictures of the kids playing outside. Mazie was pushing Jacob on the glider swing and acting like he was knocking her over…

The laughter that followed was really great. I love hearing that sound! But you have to go back and watch what Jamie is doing in the series of pictures. She was climbing onto the side of play set. Then she would hang on the swing and let her body momentum swing her side-to-side. While it is funny to see, she has been told several times to not do that because of swinging into whoever may be on the other swing or the glider. She didn’t get into trouble but she was told to not do that again. again!

When they were tired of being outside or it was just too darn windy (more on that another day), they decided to make my room a playground for their stuffed animals. All of them. So while Jacob instructed the girls on where each animal should be placed…

and then supervised in the placing of said animals…yes, I’m aware he is holding a bear in a pink dress…the girls were working diligently to please their bossy brother…

Then he decided to entertain me (or the camera, really I’m not sure which!) with a puppet show…

The facial expressions kept me laughing for quite some time!

Posted in Kids and tagged playing, Spring Break

04 Apr 2011

2 Comments

Monday Madness!

So I’ve decided to do a little Spring cleaning around here at least in my photo folders and since it was in the 70s for the last few days, except for yesterday when it snowed, rained, hailed. It’s Spring in Colorado for sure! It’s time to catch up on our Spring break, now that it’s over and all, and get on with new stuff.

Our Spring break started with us driving all the way to Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. It was fabulous. The hotel and the drive! The kids are such great travelers. We had activity bags for each kid and they were busy the entire time, except when they were sleeping! We made it to Williams with no problems. We stayed the night and got up early to hop on the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon Village. The kids were so excited…

The train ride was 2 hours and 45 minutes one way. There was entertainment. Larry sang us some Johnny Cash songs…

Before we knew it, we were at the canyon. Part of our package deal was a bus tour of the south rim. We hopped onto the bus and were on our way. It was pretty cloudy out but the canyon was still amazing…

Mazie said that it wasn’t what she was expecting. She literally thought it was two cliffs that just dropped off with a river at the bottom. Jamie thought the mountains kind of dropped off like Mazie thought. Jacob was just all about the little rocks he was allowed to climb…

We were able to get up close and personal with the wildlife…Elk…

and buffalo…

and the raven that was real…

We spent the night at a lodge in the park and woke to this lovely weather in the morning…

Almost everything was closed. We couldn’t really see anything. There were reports from people who had hiked to the bottom the day before and stayed camped overnight that it was just raining on the bottom. About an hour before our train was ready to take us back to Williams, it cleared enough to see the canyon with all the newly fallen snow. It was just as amazing and totally different at the same time…

Then it was time to go on the train again…

We had some entertainment on the way back too. Ramblin’ Rosy sang some cool songs…

When we were approaching Williams, we were even held up by some robbers…

The Sheriff was not far behind. He even stopped to ask Jamie if she was the one cooking for the robbers and helping them on their way. She politely said, “no” and I was so happy she actually answered!

The drive home seemed a little longer than there but doesn’t it always seem that way? When I asked what their favorite part was of the whole trip, their answers were…the Food, the Train, and the Canyon. I will let you decide who said which answer! It was such a fun trip. Something we will definitely do again!

Posted in Uncategorized

27 Mar 2011

6 Comments

Big 4!

Jacob’s birthday was yesterday and it was fantastic. We had his party at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. He was so excited. We first started with checking out the pancake tortoise. We learned that turtles are the swimmers and tortoises are land walkers.

Then we took a quick walk to the giraffes. The kids each got a few crackers to feed the giraffes. They had a blast.

Then we walked over to the meerkats. There the kids found out that they eat Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Then the kids were asked if they wanted to feed them to the meerkats…

Jamie actually volunteered. She held one of those things in her hand and then threw it over the glass to the meerkats to feast…

We hiked to the merry-go-round and the kids got to take a ride…

We headed back to the Safari Cabin for pizza and lemonade…

And then it was onto the cake. Jacob was very specific about his cake order this year. He wanted it to be chocolate, green, and with giraffes. I think I delivered (read more here)…

He was pretty happy with everyone singing to him. And then he blew out all four candles…

We had some time for gifts too. The best part of that was when Jacob’s Little Red-Haired Girlfriend decided he wasn’t going fast enough. She started getting the gifts out of the bags and handing them to him!

He didn’t seem to mind at all! Then I caught her slightly touching his arm while he was opening a card. I’m pretty sure that smile has nothing to do with the card! 🙂

The party was over and the kiddos went home with their parents. We decided to let the kids pick an animal each to see before we headed home. I even got in a little photo shoot of my newly 4-year-old at his favorite place…

I didn’t say all the photos were worthy of hanging on the wall…

Jacob enjoyed a few phone calls…

and a few more gifts when we got home…

Then he agreed to snap a few more pictures with his biggest fans…

Happy 4th Birthday, Big Boy! We love you!!

Posted in birthdays and tagged Jacob, Zoo

23 Mar 2011

4 Comments

Four Corners

We are back and I have about a million and one pictures to edit. However, I did edit the pictures from our drive to Williams, AZ. We stopped for lunch at Four Corners. This is the place where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet. A nice lady offered to take a family photo…

The kids were thrilled. Probably more thrilled about being out of the car than being able to run through all four states in a matter of a minute :-)!

And, yes, I said kids. Jeremiah was a little too excited to be running in all four states as well! More to come…

Posted in Adventures, Family and tagged Four Corners, Spring Break, vacation

18 Mar 2011

4 Comments

Whoa! It’s Friday!

How in the world did it become Friday? I am not sure where the last week went.

1. I started teaching the Decorating Basics at Hobby Lobby last week. Tonight was my second class. The students brought a cake from home, leveled, torted, and filled it. Then they iced it smooth and put on a design. They were pleased! I was thrilled that they had enough time even with my teaching. I guess I’m not too bad at it so far!

2. Our two-week Spring break started today at 3:30pm! That is the time the kids got out of school. We are so happy for a break. I’m sure I will be singing a different tune next week at this time…

3. The Spring break means we are heading to the Grand Canyon. More specifically, Williams, AZ! We will be staying there and then hopping on a train to the Grand Canyon. We will be back on Tuesday.

4. This is the first time we’ve had all the kids in the car, with no one nursing, for more than 3 hours! Yikes! I’m a little nervous about the 12 1/2 hour drive.

5. So we are computer/facebook/email-free until Tuesday. Make that Wednesday! Have a great weekend!

Posted in Random

08 Mar 2011

1 Comment

Ten On Tuesday

1. Our dear friends in California had a gorgeous baby girl on March 3. I can’t wait to meet her and see them again. Congratulations, Cory and Kristina!

2. Mazie is almost finished with CSAP testing. Tomorrow and Thursday are the last days and we will be glad when it’s over. We’ve been referring to them as StinkSAPs around here to lighten the stress.

3. Jamie is playing tanzen on her ipod while we are waiting for Mazie to get home from taekwondo. She emptied the dishwasher too. Almost entirely by herself!

4. Jacob is learning about zoo animals at school this week. This is exciting for him since he thinks he is an expert in this department and his birthday party is going to be at the zoo.

5. My classes at Hobby Lobby start on Thursday. If you are in the area and want to sign up, call me or go to the Hobby Lobby off Tutt and Barnes to sign up. I’m really getting nervous but very excited.

6. We had snow last night but it was more of an icy mess this morning than snow. We haven’t really gotten any good playing snow yet this year. I would love to have some wet snowball snow but I’m pretty sure that’s not normal for here. Plus if I wish for it, it will come around March 26 and that wouldn’t be ok.

7. Jacob’s birthday party will be at the zoo or he will bust! Did I mention his little red-haired girly is coming? It was so sweet how he blushed when I handed him her invite and shook his head that he couldn’t do it. Then I explained that if he didn’t give her the invite, she couldn’t come to the party. He raced to her and yelled, “HERE”.

8. Jeremiah is getting excited about starting his AOC job at the end of May. I’m looking forward to taking the kids away on vacation while he is busy with basic training since we won’t get to see him all summer.

9. The kids got their reports cards on Friday. All threes and fours for effort and Ps and As (proficient or advanced) for grades. One more report card to go. The end of school this year is May 25.

10. I am making cupcake pops for Jacob’s class on Thursday. He’s so excited because he loves them almost as much as he loves brownies. I’ve made the round cake pops already and they were a hit. I’m hoping the cupcake shaped one aren’t too much more work!

Happy Tuesday!

Posted in Random

03 Mar 2011

3 Comments

Introducing the Marumar

Mazie had a music project a few weeks ago where she was instructed to create a new instrument from things we had here at home. The more original, the more tones, the more creative the instrument, the higher the grade.

Well, for Mazie, it was about creating something like nothing she has ever seen which meant we never did either!

It is a guitar with rubber bands that make different tones. It is a drum for a beat. It has maracas, one filled with ditalini and the other filled with black-eyed peas (two different sounds belive it or not). So the name came from all of those put together, naturally. Mar (maracas) Um (drum) Ar (guitar).

She also had to do a presentation to the class about her instrument and play something if she could. Her song choice? Mary Had A Little Lamb.

She got a A for her creativity! Aside from helping her actually attach everything together, it was her complete design. If she didn’t need to be the boss all.the.time, maybe she could have a future in engineering.

Posted in Kids and tagged Mazie, school projects

01 Mar 2011

2 Comments

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

28 Feb 2011

3 Comments

Movie Madness

Last weekend we had a long weekend. Monday we took the kids to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was Jacob’s first movie in the actual movie theater. He was a little enthralled with the whole ordeal…