Wii Update

C is a fierce competitor in Wii Bowling. He is constantly out bowling his competition which includes his dad, his uncles, his cousins, his aunts, and dear ol' mom. He now wants to go do the real thing. It sounds like we have a bowling date set for our next FHE.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We are visiting R's dad in southern Nevada. Now that might sound warm as you think Las Vegas or something, but no--it's just as cold as it was in Utah with snow and all. We slept in their moterhome, which C thinks is just like a hotel. C was up at the butt-crack of dawn trying to get us all up so we could come inside the house and see what Santa left us. We did manage to get him to lay back down and let everyone sleep until a more reasonable time.

We've had a fun morning opening presents and playing with new toys. Santa brought us a Wii. R is setting it up with his brothers and dad--who knows when the boys or I will get a turn to play it. MK made off with quite the haul--lucky little girl. The boys didn't do so bad either.

We've enjoyed spending time with family. I wish I could see my family as well, but can't really be in 2 places at once.

On the 10th day of Christmas . . .

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me CARPET!

It's true! We are FINALLY getting carpet in the rooms downstairs, the stairs, and the landing. Could we have taken any longer? Probably, but I'm glad we're not. =) Soon, we'll be setting up a room downstairs for the the boys so MK can move into their old room (right now, her bed is in the living room and her clothes are cluttering my room.) Also, R can move out of the cold, dark dungeon unfinished part of the basement that he's been using as a study. We'll be playing "musical rooms" as my mom used to say when I was younger.

I'm so excited to move things into place instead of tripping over things and having things stuffed into corners and on top of each other because we don't have room for them right now. I'm getting giddy.

10 Years Ago

I had one of those rare moments when all was quite and I could hear myself think--ok, it was when I was in the shower. (Maybe this is why I've started taking longer showers.) So, during my long shower I started thinking how it has now been 10 years since I lived in France. 10 years ago, I was living in Versailles as a missionary. I spent Christmas Eve at a Cathedral in Paris for Christmas Mass. We had tried to get into Notre-Dame de Paris, but "no room at the inn." I remember riding back to our apartment down Les Champs-Elysee toward l'Arc de Triumph and looking at all the lights in the trees that lined the streets. It was beautiful. We spent the next day exchanging small gifts and eating a 10 course meal. (Not exagerating--10 full courses! Oh, it was a lot of food. Delicious food, though.) I also remember talking to my parents on the phone and wanting to talk to all my brothers and sisters so bad that I slept on the couch so that I'd hear the phone ring at some crazy hour like 3:30 am, but I was so tired and groggy that I didn't get to talk much--I just wanted to be able to go back to sleep.

It's funny that even though I know time has gone by--I see it everyday in the fact that I have 3 growing kids--I'm still shocked to realize that it's been 10 years. It just sounds like so long ago, when it doesn't feel like it's been that long ago. I still talk to college buddies, and it seems like it wasn't all that long ago we were doing crazy things like working at a Haunted Forest one freezing cold night (shout out to J & Melissa!), driving 8 hours round trip in the middle of the night to see boys (Yup, Melissa and J again), going sledding at the sanddunes (you know it J & Kat!), staying up to 3 am playing harts, phase 10, etc and then making pancakes (we had to outlaw phase 10 after many unfortunate incidents involving slammed doors, shouting names that were not given to us by our mothers, and overall annoyances), and-oh yeah-going to classes.

I'm getting old.

Up On The Rooftop...

 

Up on the rooftop......Nope, not reindeer. It's my boys! We spent a good part of Saturday getting the house cleaned up so we can make room for out Christmas decorations. R climbed up on the roof to put up our Christmas lights. Both C & S wanted to go up and help dad. So this is them on the roof "helping" dad put up the lights. C went up last year to "help" and wanted to do it again. This year, C was a little freaked out by it. S was loving it. He's our little daredevil. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have encouraged something like this to our budding Evil Canevil.

Vacation = Laundry

Am I right? My laundry room is still full of dirty laundry, and I've been doing laundry for 2 days. Yikes! We came home Sunday night from a fun trip to sunny Arizona to visit with R's mom, step dad, sister, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, pets, etc. We had a blast, but now I feel like my house has exploded. I'd say more, but I need to go change the laundry. MK needs clean pjs.

Not a Baby Anymore

It's been a while since we've had a babysitter over. It's been at least 3-1/2 months, you know, before MK was born. But things changed this week, and I've had a babysitter for my kids twice this last week. First was last Saturday when R and I went to a Salt Lake Real Soccer game. It was fun--I'll post more on that later. Second was just last night when I needed to go into work for a training and get all set up for today's big return. Well, C and S love having babysitters--someone who plays and plays and indulges them in their crazy imaginations. When I told C that we were having a babysitter last Saturday, he was ecstatic--spastic is more like it. When I told him he'd have another babysitter last night, he smiled and cheered. However, not 5 minutes later, C came to me and thoughtfully asked "Is it okay if we call our babysitter a kidsitter? Because I'm not a baby anymore." So, we no longer hire babysitters--Just kidsitters.

Field Trip to the Fire Station

S's preschool had a field trip to the local Fire Station, and MK and I got to go along with him and his class. I bundled MK up in the stroller and tagged along. MK did great--didn't fuss and fell asleep near the end. Anyways, it's a pretty impressive building that was built only a couple of years ago. The kids got to go inside an ambulance as well as a firetruck. Each child could try on a firefighter's hat and coat, but S (and a few others) didn't want to do it. It was funny to see the other kids put it on and see how the coat just drowned them--it'd drape to the ground. The tour included the police station as well. We got to see where police officers take finger prints and interrogate suspects.

It was fun to be able to do this with him. I didn't get to go when C was in preschool. C's first year in preschool, he broke his collar bone the night before the field trip. His second year, I had to work.

Here is S examining the inside of a firetruck. I love that he wore his "fire beanie" for the field trip. It's black with red flames. Fitting, isn't it?

 

At the end, the EMT doing the tour handed out rulers for each kid. He prefaced this by asking the kids not to hit with them or play swords with them. He was talking to a group of 3-4 year-olds. Even as he was handing them out, kids were starting to play "star wars" and more. I got another picture near the end with S in front of a firetruck holding his ruler.

S at the Firestation

It was a fun morning. I had a great time spending time with S and being able to be a part of his preschool experience. He loves preschool and is learning so much. He surprises me with how much he learns and remembers. This year, his teachers are teaching the alphabet in sign language along with the written alphabet. The other night, we were sitting around reading scriptures and then goofing around as a family. I don't remember why, but C, S and I were raising our hands for some crazy reason I can't remember any more. All the sudden, S told me that that (us holding our hands up, fingers closed) was the letter 'B.' It took me a while to understand what he was talking about, but he was right. It was the letter 'B.' He's gone on to tell me what other letters he knows. What a fun kid!

Tagged

My sister tagged me. This is all new to me. I haven't played tag for a while, but I do feel like yelling "Tag! You're it!" and running the other direction. Oh, and then yelling over my shoulder "No tag backs!" But I don't think that is how this blog-tag is played.

Two names you go by: 1. Allison 2. Al (For my family and old-school friends it's either Ali or Aligator)

Two things you are wearing right now: 1. Jeans 2. slippers (Winter has hit Utah!)

Two things you want right now: 1. To reclaim my bedroom 2. To reclaim my body (I love you, MK, but I lost both on your count.)

Two things you did last night: 1. Watched "The Biggest Loser" and cheered the results of who got sent packing 2. Made banana bread muffins

Two things you ate today: 1. Grilled Chicken Burritos (Yum! Got the recipe from my sister. Thanks, Steph!) 2. banana bread muffins

Two favorite drinks: 1. Lemonade 2. Water

Four people I'm tagging: 1. Marilee 2. Jilene 3. Laurie 4. Melissa

Let It Snow!

We woke up yesterday to the first snowfall. The boys were very anxious to go out and play in the snow. I want it to be Spring. Sigh. It's not easy being a California transplant. We don't always acclimate well. But, they were so excited about it, opening all the blinds to be able to look outside. As soon as I opened up the garage door to load us all into the van to take C to school, both C and S rushed out to the lawn and trudged around making tracks.

S

When I got back from taking C to school, I brought MK inside and lifted the blanket that had covered her car seat to check on her and found her asleep looking like this.

MK

Don't you just love those chubby cheeks? I just had to giggle about her little hat. It reminded me of Sunday when I took her to church. She started crying in the car, but I just kept on driving. When we got the building MK was starting to squeal. C was the first to notice why she was screaming...the little headband I had put on her had slipped down and was covering her eyes. She looked like she had some sort of funky, lacy glasses on.

Well, It snowed all day yesterday. Both C and S were determined to enjoy the snow. I don't think they know how to spend an entire day inside the house, so cold or snow wasn't going to stop them from going outside. When they were frozen and done, they came inside for hot chocolate. Then they sat on the couch with blankets to watch a show and warm up.

C & S

I think C wanted to make sure the entire couch was warm as well. These 2 are such outside boys. It will be interesting how they handle the cold winter. They are used to playing outside each day, riding their scooters and finding friends to play with. It's kinda funny because all around the neighborhood, only my 2 boys are outside playing. Everyone else is inside--warm.

Halloween Fun

We had such a fun Halloween! I haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was in college and really wanted to dress up this year. I bought a long wig and hat and went as a witch. It was fun to dress up and really get in to the fun this year. I even bought 2 wigs for R to choose from--a black 'fro wig and a blond mullet wig.

The boys wanted to try on the wigs, too. Here is C with a mullet.

C

And this is S with a fro.

S

Both boys had Halloween parties at school and came home with tons of candy and toys. The boys and I (ok, mainly me) carved pumpkins during the afternoon.

S and C

And then I got to hear C ask every 5 minutes (I'm not kidding, seriously every 5 minutes) if it was time to go trick-or-treating. After dinner, we loaded up the kids and drove over to our church's parking lot where the neighborhood was holding a trunk-or-treat. It was fun to walk around and see all our neighbors and friends and all the fun costumes and decorations. R stayed at the truck with the candy and MK to pass out treats.

How did MK like her first Halloween? Well, hard to tell since she slept through the whole thing! She fell asleep about an hour before it was time to go. She slept as I changed her into her costume. She slept as I put her in her car seat. She slept as R passed out candy and kids screamed "Trick-or-Treat!" She slept as we came home. She slept as I took her out of her car seat to take a family picture. And she slept.

Lion MK

She was so cute as a little bear cub. She definitely has the cheeks for it, don't you think?
And here is the family. R looks great with his fro. S is a dragon. There I am as a witch holding a sleeping bear. And, C is there as batman on the end.

Babcock Family

And yes, once the kids came home with their candy, R was sure to look over the candy to make sure it was all ok.....and to take his "dad tax." Yum. Best tasting tax there is.

Happy Birthday Boppi!

A happy birthday shout out goes to my dad. Yup, on Halloween. I remember when I was young thinking it was the coolest birthday ever. And, I remember feeling so special that dad would spend his birthday taking us kids trick-or-treating. I loved telling people that my dad's birthday was Halloween. I remember the costume party mom threw dad one year on his birthday and the HUGE foam cowboy hats you two had. Do you still have those?

We sure miss having you close by, especially S. We love you very much and hope you have a great birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!

Going bananas

I fished out our box of Halloween Costumes yesterday. Since then, the boys have been putting on all the costumes in turn and running around as either a lion, a monkey, a dragon, or batman. I had a good laugh when they stopped for a afternoon snack of bananas, because I turned around and saw S. What a funny monkey!

Monkey S eating a banana

Both C and S posed for this picture. Notice the gold medal C is STILL wearing?

Monkeys C and S

I love my kids! They are so entertaining....even on days when they drive me BANANAS!

Mommy's Helpers

C and S are always good helpers, especially when it comes to their little sister. It's a balancing act trying to tend to 3 kids at once, and because MK is such a patient little girl, she sometimes comes in 3rd. I love that she is a "binki baby." A lot of times if I need to take care of one more thing, I can give her her pacifier and she'll be okay for a while. I jokingly call it my own "MK Snooze Alarm." There have been a few times that I've laid down for a nap and turned on a show for the boys and brought MK in my room with me. She had started to wake up, and I'd call out "helpers!" Both boys would come running and give MK her pacifier, so we could rest for a bit longer.

Well, a couple nights ago I was helping S in the bathtub and MK wanted some love and attention, too. I called out to C to help his little sister, who I had laid down in the bassinet. C gave her her pacifier, then another pacifier.....and then filled her pockets up with toys.

MK

She just laid there very content. C was so proud of himself for sharing his toy cars with her and was sure that that was why she stopped crying. I love my little helpers.

How was your day?

Yesterday, I had a TON of things I needed to get done. I had to leave the house by 8:50 to make it to a S's doctor's appointment to follow up on his eye. I rushed around that morning, grabbing this and that, then ran out to the car to start loading us all in when I found this......

Flat Tire

I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Thankfully, I was able to reschedule S's doctor's appointment to later that morning. We waited for AAA to come and change our flat tire, then set out on our day.

This is not how I wanted to start my day. I decided to change my day's game plan and turn my day from being a stress-filled day that started with a flat tire, to a day that the boys and I took off that started with an adventure where AAA changed our tire. We still did run a few needed errands (which now included a trip to Bio-O to fix our flat tire.)

We went to my good friend Rachel's house to spend the afternoon playing and visiting. My dad and Rachel's dad were at college together. C was astonished to find out that Rachel and I have know each other since I was MK's age. Rachel and I visited and chatted while she canned mountains of fruit. C and S played in the back yard with Rachel's boy who is only a month older than C. I snapped a fun picture with Rachel and the boys as they helped her in the garden to dig up potatoes.

 Gardening

We came home late and tired. The rest of the night I sat in a chair with MK and read, taking no thought of household clean-up. I told R that I felt like I took the day (or part of the day) off.

Grandma and Grandpa Great

Today, the kids and I drove up to Alpine to visit R's grandparents. I'm ashamed to admit that this was the first visit we've been able to make since MK was born--and she's already 2 months old! Between C's Kindergarten schedule and homework, S's Preschool schedule, caring for a newborn, and very little sleep, I don't have time for much. But, we had to squeeze in time for this. C and S didn't have school today because of the Fall Break, so we loaded up the car to spend the day running errands and visiting with Grandma Great and Grandpa Great.

We had a great time visiting, especially with Grandma Great. Grandpa Great was resting a bit while we were there, so we didn't get any pictures with him, but here are some great ones with Grandma Great.

Grandma Great and MK

S, Grandma Great, MK and C

On the drive to Grandma's, both S and C were complaining that they were SO tired. (It was around 2pm.) As soon as we got there, they were running around and talking a mile a minute to tell Grandma Great everything and anything they could think of. Then, R's cousin Micah came in and started to play with the boys. Micah also took them out back to see the horses and feed the horses apples (their favorite thing to do there.)

We had a great afternoon visiting and playing. We'll need to go back again soon.

(And yes, MK is getting BIG. Don't you just love those chubby cheeks?)

Same Day Surgery

S

The recovering patient. Don't you just love that smiling face? I don't think I was this happy when I came out of surgury for my arm when I was 13.....right mom?

S

S has had a clogged tear duct since he was about 3 months old. For a while, both tear ducts were clogged and he'd wake up with so much goo that his eyes were "gooed" shut. While one tear duct opened up, the one on his left eye never did. So, he's been dealing with a "gooey eye" for quite a while. Well today we finally got his "gooey eye" fixed.

We had to have him at the hospital at 6:30 am for check-in. His surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am, the first one of the day. R and I got up around 5:45 ish. R got dressed and ready while I put a sweater and shoes on a very sleepy boy. The hospital only allows 2 adults to attend a patient--no other children allowed--so R took him in since I've got a 2-month old baby attached to me. The irony of this wake up time is that MK was fast asleep and not likely to wake up to eat for quite a while--Oh well. One of these days I will get at least 5 hours of sleep at time. Anyways...

S did amazingly well. He's such a calm little boy, that they didn't have any trouble with him getting to take medication or when he was waking. R brought him home around 11 am. S is now goofing around and watching Scooby-Doo with his beloved blanket a a newstuffed animal the hospital gave him.

He's been asking for food like mac-n-cheese (his favorite), chicken nuggets, and nuts. He wasn't too happy when I told him he couldn't have that food just quite yet. I offered pudding, which at first he wasn't accepting. But once I had him help make it, he was excited. What a trooper.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

C came home from school yesterday wearing this wonderful hat. And yes, he did wear it most of the day.

C

This is C's Spider hat. C was studying nursery rhymes at school. He made a nice picture with a spout made of a straw and a spider on it (a spider ring) that went up and down the spout.

When R came in and saw this, he asked "why is C dressed like an Orthodox Jew? Shalom."

Last Soccer Game

Tuesday was C's last soccer game. R was able to come, since he didn't have school that night. C played really well and assisted in a few goals and came so close to scoring 1 himself. He really enjoyed himself playing soccer and is already looking forward to next year.

Here is C just before the game.

C

R and MK enjoy watching from the sidelines

R and MK

S fell asleep in the car on the way to the game--it's only a 5 minute car ride! We put him in the stroller, but he didn't stay asleep. I think he could sense action. He was his usual silly self.

S

In fact, after he ate all his snacks, he climbed out of the stroller and kept jumping up into my arms. He thought it was great fun. Once, I just barely caught him and had to juggle him a bit to make sure he didn't fall. He did start to fall, but I was able to hold on to him. What resulted was that I was holding on to him by his legs with his head down and arms almost touching the ground. He started to do a handstand walk. He thought it was great and wanted me to do it again and again. (I was secretly trying to completely wear him out so he'd sleep LONG and good that night, and it worked.)

After C's game, his coach called all the players together and gave each of them a soccer medal. C calls it his gold medal. Look how proud he is!

C

So proud, in fact, that as soon as he gets home from school he puts it on and wears it all day.

C

How funny is that?!

Sunday Drive

Alpine Loop

After church on Sunday, we took a drive in R's big truck through the Alpine Loop behind Mount Timpanogos to see all the fall colors. R made us sandwiches for us to take for a picnic dinner along the road. It was so amazing to see all the vivid colors. The boys were pointing to all the different colors, waterfalls, and plants. C actually fell asleep right as we started to drive up the canyon. I nudged him to wake him so he could see all the colors. He opened his eyes, took a look, said "wow!", then fell back asleep. He did finally wake up 30 minutes or so later when we stopped to eat our sandwiches, not realizing he missed most of the trip. R took some great pictures. Here they are!

Alpine Loop

Alpine Loop

It was so nice to spend an evening together as a family. We don't always get a lot of time together since R is at school a couple nights during the week and doing homework the other few nights he is home. He planned the whole thing, made us our dinner, and we all really enjoyed the night.

A Night at Lagoon

Last Friday night, we went to Lagoon courtesy of Nu Skin. Nu Skin had its annual Summer (or end of Summer) party at Lagoon, so we packed up the kids and headed to the park to play. We had a great time and lasted longer than years past.

C and S at Lagoon

Here, C and S are flying a helicopter. C and S waited a LONG time to ride on this boat. They took turns ringing the bell and both steered the boat safely. R and I were laughing over a brother and sister in another boat that were fighting over who got to ring the bell. It was very similar to WWE Wrestling. Elbows were being thrown with small looks to their sides to see if they were going to be called by the referee. It was hilarious.

S and C at Lagoon

MK slept through most of the noise and activity. She didn't realize that she was being "oohed" and "ahhed" over by all my co-workers.

MK

C even rode some "Big Kid" roller coasters. R took him on "Wicked" and "Spider." Apparently, C was just a smidge too short to ride, but they let him go--and he loved it.

We had a great time as a family and were completely worn out. So worn out that we did NOTHING on Saturday. It was a great weekend!

That's What She Said

One of the best pieces of advice I got when I had our 2nd child was from a friend in our ward in Lehi. She said to occasionally tell the baby "no." This way, the older child isn't always being told "no" and the older child can see what great things he can do because he's bigger. For example, you can say "No Baby, you can't have chicken. You're too little." Or, "No Baby, only big kids can watch TV." This little piece of advice worked wonders on C, who had only turned 2 just days before S was born. It showed him all the cool things he could do because he was a big boy. Well, we are continuing with this with telling MK "no" for whatever things we think of. This has been especially helpful with S's potty training.

Because I started telling MK "no" for things like food, toys, playing at playground, playing with friends, etc., the boys picked up on this and started to tell her "no" as well. But, they took this a bit farther. They have started to pretend to be MK and talk in a high pitched voice for her. Everyday, they are entertaining us with funny things that MK is supposedly asking for or saying. They laugh at themselves and then will turn to me or R and say "That's what she said."

I wonder if this is what Micheal at "The Office" has been trying to say...

A Poke in the Eye

I am forever hearing the words "I wanna see MK!" from the boys while they are looking right at her. Teasingly, I'll ask them if she's invisible or something because she is right there in front of them. After several weeks, I've finally figured out that when they say they want to see their baby sister, they want to see her eyes opened and looking at them as well. So, they are constantly trying to get her to look at them so they can "see MK."

Well, I keep catching S poking MK in the eyes--not one eye, but both eyes at the same time. I thought it was just S being a 3 year old. Yesterday, when I caught him doing it yet again, I asked why he kept doing it. I usually get the answer of "I dunno" as he shrugs his shoulders. But yesterday, he said he wanted to see her. S is poking MK in the eyes so that she'll open them and look at him--thus she will no longer be invisible and he can "see MK."

Spoke Too Soon

MK has had me up the last 2 nights. Rats.

How was your week?

I was reading my sister's blog, who detailed some of the craziness that has ensued at her house this week. She finished by simply saying, "How was your week?"

Crazy.

Let's go back to last Tuesday--my birthday. I woke up the the dulcet tones of C and S screaming at each other. Oh, the joys of motherhood. After getting boys to and from school, feeding them, and trying to keep my sanity, we had C's Soccer game. I ended the day by making the boys pancakes for dinner at 9pm, eating mine over the sink. I was talking to my sister while I was trying to make "dinner" and we just had to laugh. She said it best when she said, "Just throw a vitamin at them. They'll live."

R was at school on my birthday and so the next day, he came home with an ice cream cake from Coldstone.....favorite flavor--Mmmmmmmmmint Chip. Yummy.

Skip forward to Friday. Our Stake has an annual Women's Retreat. I have never been able to go, and this year I told R that I wanted to go, so he got to stay home with the kids. Well, he wanted to go golfing. So lovingly, I found a babysitter...the younger sister of our most favorite. Poor thing--she did great, but can you see what's wrong with this picture?

Yes, folks. That's a cactus head right in C's flip-flop. Our boys LOVE being outside, and she took them for a walk through the wilderness next to our house. Who knew we had cactus? Unfortunately, the boys fell in the cactus, mostly S. Our sitter was amazingly calm through the whole thing and took great care of them. I just wonder how C managed to get home with these flip-flops.

The next day, R took the boys to a Utah Football Game--Sorry, Mom. Should have warned you to close your eyes to this part. Here they are enjoying treats during the game. I enjoyed the day by going to the Women's Retreat in the morning and then an afternoon and evening with just MK--doing absolutely nothing.

C and S at the Utah game

This week, C got to bring treats to his soccer game. He was so excited....until it started to rain. And rain. And rain. I told him that I hoped they didn't cancel the game because playing soccer in the rain is SO much fun. He caught the excitment and enjoyed the shortened game.

Here, C is in the middle holding my umbrella up for some teammates while they are off the field.

Here, S is holding the umbrella while he sat on his chair watching brother play. MK is in the stoller covered in several layers of blankets. She slept through the whole thing and was nice and cozy warm in there.

S

Here, C is on the field waiting for kick-off. He is 3rd from left.

 

And here, C is taking a breather after being on the field.

Today, I was rushing to get the boys ready for Kindergarten and Preschool. When I turned around, I found S looking at me like this.

S

People constantly ask me how I manage to keep hats on my boys. I started from an early age and kept at it. Now, S has to have a hat EVERYWHERE he goes. It could be pitch black out side, and he would panic if he doesn't have a hat on before leaving the house. I did manage to convince him to leave it before we left. He used to try to wear a hat to church....but we've weaned him of that practice.

And finally--MK slept through the night! Hallajulah! Do I hear angels singing? Or is that just my brain working a bit more now that I had a bit more sleep? I put her down a little after 11pm and she didn't get me up til close to 7am. I only heard her fuss once during the night, and I was able to give her her pacifier and go back to sleep. Let's hope this is a continuing trend.

Random Pictures of MK

When I talked with family and friends this week, they all said the same thing--they wanted more pictures of MK. So, here are some random pictures of our little girl. She's growing and growing.

Here MK is on a quilt made for her by her Grandma, who S calls Jamma. My mom makes beautiful quilts. When she moved back to the states, I told her (didn't ask, told) that she was going to give me quilting lessons. Our lessons usually turned into "just spending time together" evenings where we did a bit of quilting. I miss that since she's started to do her Back-N-Forth thing between the States and Saudi again.

MK

C holding MK

Mimi holding MK

Mimi and MK

Me and MK curled in a ball

C, MK, and S all laying down on MK's new quilt

Soccer

C in his soccer uniform right before his first game.

C

C started soccer last week. He has been looking forward to this for quite a while now. He got soccer gear for his birthday, including cleats from Mimi and Papa, a soccer ball from Auntie J, and mini goal and cones to practice with from Mom, Dad, and S.

He had his first game, and did pretty well. The games are pretty informal, which is great for his age. Each team had only 4 players on field at a time. C, as well as a few other kids, had to be reminded a couple of times not to use his hands. He kept saying that he wanted to be able to have a good kick, so he wanted to place the ball where he'd have a great angle. Nothing wrong with that logic. =)

Here he is going after the ball. He did manage to score a few goals, too.

 

Here, S is joining C on the sidelines while the other members of C's team play.

Starting School

School has started!

C started Kindergarten on Wednesday. He was so excited. I can't believe he's old enough to be in Kindergarten....nor that I'm old enough to have a child in Kindergarten. He met his new teacher the week before. Last year, he didn't want to leave preschool until a preschool buddy told him that there is a playground at Kindergarten. After that, he was excited to go. He's making new friends and learning new stories.

C first day of Kindergarten

Here is C, sporting new school clothes and wearing his favorite backpack ready to go.
Today, S started Preschool. Here he is posing with his big brother for his big day.

C and S

S has been looking forward to preschool for so long! He had a hard time last year when C would leave him. In fact, C was the one to "register" S for preschool! One day last year, I stayed after preschool to talk to his teacher to see about when she was doing sign-ups for the following year. Before I could say anything more, she told me that C had told her "Next year, I'm going to Kindergarten, and S is going to Preschool." So, she already had his name down for the following year! What a great big brother.

Here is S all ready for his first day of preschool--sporting his new backpack (as big as he is) and showing off his "show and tell" item.

S first day of Preschool

S was running to preschool. We had no problems with separation anxiety or anything. Gotta love that!

S off to Preschool

I enjoyed the morning by running errands that I've put off too long, which were so much easier to handle with only 1 kid in tow. MK was great.

We have struggled in getting S potty trained in time for preschool. He has been able to do it for quite a while, but just didn't care to. I didn't make it easier--I was always so tired to really commit to it myself, then had a baby, so didn't care to spend time doing it. But we finally found what would really motivate S to do it--Preschool. As soon as we told him that he couldn't go to preschool unless he used the potty, he has been great! Nice.