Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Fun Jar
As the semester wrapped up for the schools, it meant a rather long time off of preschool for the Littles. They take the last week of the semester off as well as most of the first two of the new one. This is so the kids who are their teachers, at the high school, can take their finals, and then be trained in the in coming class.
With the prospect of having them at home with me all day again, I decided to institute a fun jar. This is an idea our friend Tiffany does with her kids. they go to a year round school, so she is in the position to have them home for long breaks several times a year rather just over summer.
We have had so much fun, and it has made getting in the Valentine's Day spirit super easy, as most of our activities were V-Day themed. I can't wait for what we do the last few days before class starts again, this Friday.
With the prospect of having them at home with me all day again, I decided to institute a fun jar. This is an idea our friend Tiffany does with her kids. they go to a year round school, so she is in the position to have them home for long breaks several times a year rather just over summer.
We have had so much fun, and it has made getting in the Valentine's Day spirit super easy, as most of our activities were V-Day themed. I can't wait for what we do the last few days before class starts again, this Friday.
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| Activity 1# Indoor Snowman |
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| Activity #2 Heart frames |
Activity #3 Was making a bed fort and 'camping' out with marshmellows.
Activity #4 was making a record-able book to send to Sister Sherry in Fiji for her birthday.
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| Activity #5 Valentine Plants |
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| Activity #6 Snow globes with guest Fun Jarrer, Alice Rampton (Boy's Sunbeams teacher) |
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| Activity #7 Marble painting |
Sheepie learns to ride a bike
For a while now we've told Sheepie it was time to ditch the training wheels, as they just don't work on our gravel driveway, and it was just silly watching him carry his bike all the way up the drive way to the street. A few weeks ago he got on board with the idea and gave it a try. Over all he did pretty well, but when the weather changed and we were flooded out he'd still not really mastered it. But last Monday I told him we should give it a try again. With the existing promise of a brand new, not hand me down Buzz Lightyear bike hanging in the air, he was more than happy to give it a go. And then he just hopped on his bike and peddled away, silly boy. He still has to work a bit to start, but he can ride up and down the street, drive way and just about anywhere now. So Wednesday I bought him his new bike, and it ended up working out perfectly b/c the next day happened to be WALK and BIKE to SCHOOL DAY at school.
I'll try to post pictures of him on his new bike soon.
I'll try to post pictures of him on his new bike soon.
the 1st ever Carleski Root Beer Tasting Invitational
Benjamin recently went to a game night and tasting party activity for EQ (men's group at church). We thought this was such a fun idea we adopted it ourselves that weekend. We split the boys up into two groups and went all over town finding as many different kinds of root beer as possible and brought them back to the house. We did real sampling (small sips with breaks to cleanse our taste buds) and then did blind taste tests to pick our favourites. At the end of the night Papa came over and the Biggies got to stay up and play their first ever RISK game.
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| We ended up with 26 different kinds (don't even ask how much we spend o_o) |
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| Let the tasting begin!!! |
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| the empties start to add up |
Taste test winners:
Henry Weinhardts for Benjamin and Katie
Henry Weinhardts for Benjamin and Katie
A&W for Frog Prince
Crater Lake Root Beet for Sheepie
and
SODA!!!!! for the littles.
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| the men folk playing RISK |
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| FP valiantly makes his last stand. |
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| Sheepie decimates all the competition on his first ever game. Can you tell he's excited? |
Snow day Jan. 15th
The 15th of last month brought us our first and only snow of the season, but it lasted for a few days and it was a great great time. When it melted though, it brought along heavy rain, and all of Corvallis was seriously flooded. We almost could not get out of our neighbourhood, and our property was quite flooded. We had knee deep water ice cold (I know I walked through it) running through our little season creek, and our poor chickens were about to float away, their entire enclosure was flooded as well. Thankfully they were able to stay in their coop through most of it, and were not too worse off for it.
Frog Prince having fun
Sheepie didn't figure he needed anything but a hat and gloves
Boy attacking Daddio
Goober's first year really enjoying the snow. He was HOOKED!
Snow Angels
Oh Boy, you sweet Sassy Pants!
Look at that sweet Goob face, don't you just want to smoother him in curry and eat him all up!
Even Abbey dog got in on the snow action. Not bad for a mutt who came to us from AZ.
FP worked so hard getting all the snow for the man. He built huge discs (because he was only rolling in one direciton) and then they fell over so he started again, and this buddy stayed on our lawn for about a week.
Rock climbing with the boys
Benjamin and I love to rock climb and try to go at least once a week as a date. The boys have asked and begged to go with us. So we took them to family climb a few Saturdays ago over at OSU. Honestly, they were not big fans. Apparently, our children are all afraid of heights. I am too, to some extent, but climbing has never bothered me. Hopefully, with more exposure they will learn they're safe and grow to like it. I'd love to spend summer holidays climbing with my boys someday.
FP did far and away the best.
Sheepie really was not much of a fan at all, and actually started to cry.
Boy was fine as long as he wasn't tied into the ropes. Sadly, that meant he was only allowed to climb as high as the bouldering walls went. But when he was tied in he had no problem letting go to 'fall'. So I'm not sure what the hang up was.
Some day... but until then we'll keep trying.
Friday, February 10, 2012
So much fun in January
As you all can see, my goal of writing on my blog at least once a week seems to have gone right out the window. Oh dear, the best laid plans....
January was quite a fun and busy month for us though, and while I'm sad I didn't do a better job with keeping up on it here, I'm heartened to know it was because we were out living our lives and having a wonderful time doing so.
(sadly I didn't get a picture of it before either the cat or Goober eat the pagoda off)
He also spent the month practicing for and participating in a big Chinese New Years program where he got to preform for about 900 school kids and community members. I am so sad that the video isn't better. I didn't realise until the end that on our new camera when shooting in video mode you have to press a separate autofocus button for recording a movie. You'll see what I mean when it gets to the very end and you see how clear it could have been!
(errr its not working,so I'll post it later)
Sheepies January brought a new life experience for him that made me both sad for him and exceptionally proud. The mother of one of his sweet little friends passed away in January after a long and well fought battle with ALS. The kids in his class have been aware of Emily's mom and her condition since they all met in kindergarten, and Sheepie as always been very concerned for how their family was doing. He took flowers over to Emily's mom several times and would pray for her, and was very concerned about if Emily would be okay after Anna passed. When we got the news that she had passed away, Sheepie told me right away that he wanted to go to the funeral. At first I was a bit concerned, LDS funerals are pretty much like a normal church service, but most of the other funerals I've attended are quite sad and possibly confusing for a child. However, he was insistent and so I took him with me. It was so beautiful to see he, and all his little friends gathered around Emily in the front pew of the church. They all sat quietly for the entire service, taking turns hugging Emily and holding her hand. Sheepie spent a great deal of it kneeling in front of her holding her hand. Afterwards, he was so attuned to who was really upset and went around hugging people and telling them that t hey would get to see Anna again in Heaven. But the moment that just about did me in was just after they had put Anna's casket in the car. Her husband Kevin was standing there, and Sheepie went up to him and gave him a hug. Kevin hugged him back quickly, but then Sheepie wouldn't let go, he just kept hugging him until Kevin really hugged him back. It was one of those singular moments that is impossible to really describe, but you could tell it was exactly what needed to happen. I continue to be amazed and humbled by the empathy and love that boy has for his fellow brothers and sisters on this Earth.
Boy has had a fun filled month of firsts. I will be the first person to admit that when my kids go to preschool I totally fail at instigating a social life for them. The older two seemed pretty okay with this, but not so with Boy. He has taken it upon himself to seek out a friend and make his social presence known. He has become good buddies with a little boy name Ethan. Ethan is the son of my friend, and the younger brother of FP's friend Noah. They started playing together during soccer season, and since then Boy is always asking when he and Ethan can play together. They happen to be on kind of opposite schedules though so it's been hard, but this last month he finally got to have his first real play date with Ethan, and he had a blast. Susan and I met up with the kids at the Toy Factory downtown and they spent the morning playing and being generally wild together.
Boy also go reach another important mile stone in his life, he started karate! He has been watching his brothers on the karate mats since he was a tiny baby, and for the last year been itching to be old enough. Technically, he still isn't old enough, but the Little Dragons teacher at the karate school said that he was always well behaved enough watching his brothers that she though he could join the class. As of writing this he has been in class for six week, and has done quite well, and is loving every second of it.
Goober is really coming into his own as a two year old, and I'm both loving it and wishing we could skip over this age. He is the embodiment of terrible twos. I've never had a kid who was quite as much into that 'phase' as he is and so we are constantly learning exactly what the phrase means. He is the funniest, sweetest, brightest, most hard working little guy ever, but he is also the most stubborn, willful, sneaky, 'it's my way or no way' kind of kid also. He has learned so many new words now, that he is finally starting to communicate on a regular basis with us (to a certain extent) and it's funny because I used to think I'd want to hear any word coming form him, but now my least favourite word in the world is, 'hey'. He can't say no, so his version of the typical two year olds, no is. "Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy." It is both hilarious and oh so annoying. There is one word though that I die hearing though every single time he says it and that is, "Mom". I waited so long to hear him be able to say my name, and when he runs around the house saying it over and over, or when he runs up to me and hugs me and calls me Mom, it's like winning the lottery!
It turns out interest wise, my little Goober is a snow bunny. He loved, loved, loved, having the snow a while back, and would try at every possible moment to be out in it playing and eating it. I am pretty sure he'd ahve stayed out until he was actually frozen if I'd let him. He also has taken to being our little chicken farmer. He is crazy about our chickens, and will make a bee line for the garden and chicken coop the minute you let him out the door. And, although he hasn't figured out how to pick them up yet, if someone hands him a chicken he will hold it and carry it around (properly) for the longest time, just talking to it, and making bocking noises while he pets it. He seriously cracks me up.
Beany is growing like a weed. He has discovered his hands and voice, and will spend long stretches of time opening and closing his hands in front of his face. He loves to smile and talk with people who will look at him, and thankfully seems to be nearing sleeping through the night. He only wakes once a night when he does, and some nights will go the whole night. It makes for one happy happy mama. Although, I find that I don't like how quickly the time is passing. I want to hold him and snuggle him as much as I can because it seems like I blinked and the last three months just flew by.
That's about it. I will post pictures in the next few posts of some of our fun recent events, but I think this post is just about long enough.
Enjoy!
January was quite a fun and busy month for us though, and while I'm sad I didn't do a better job with keeping up on it here, I'm heartened to know it was because we were out living our lives and having a wonderful time doing so.
FP loved getting back to school after the break, and was excited to learn that they were going to study China in his class. His best friend is from China, and so he is exposed regularly to some aspects of the culture and is quite enamored of it. He often says he would go on vacation to China if he could go anywhere in the world. When his teacher assigned them the task of making a model or drawing of the Great Wall of China for homework, FP really took it to the extreme. That particular weekend he stayed home sick on the friday, so we bought a bunch of supplies and this is what he came up with.
(sadly I didn't get a picture of it before either the cat or Goober eat the pagoda off)
(errr its not working,so I'll post it later)
Sheepies January brought a new life experience for him that made me both sad for him and exceptionally proud. The mother of one of his sweet little friends passed away in January after a long and well fought battle with ALS. The kids in his class have been aware of Emily's mom and her condition since they all met in kindergarten, and Sheepie as always been very concerned for how their family was doing. He took flowers over to Emily's mom several times and would pray for her, and was very concerned about if Emily would be okay after Anna passed. When we got the news that she had passed away, Sheepie told me right away that he wanted to go to the funeral. At first I was a bit concerned, LDS funerals are pretty much like a normal church service, but most of the other funerals I've attended are quite sad and possibly confusing for a child. However, he was insistent and so I took him with me. It was so beautiful to see he, and all his little friends gathered around Emily in the front pew of the church. They all sat quietly for the entire service, taking turns hugging Emily and holding her hand. Sheepie spent a great deal of it kneeling in front of her holding her hand. Afterwards, he was so attuned to who was really upset and went around hugging people and telling them that t hey would get to see Anna again in Heaven. But the moment that just about did me in was just after they had put Anna's casket in the car. Her husband Kevin was standing there, and Sheepie went up to him and gave him a hug. Kevin hugged him back quickly, but then Sheepie wouldn't let go, he just kept hugging him until Kevin really hugged him back. It was one of those singular moments that is impossible to really describe, but you could tell it was exactly what needed to happen. I continue to be amazed and humbled by the empathy and love that boy has for his fellow brothers and sisters on this Earth.
Boy has had a fun filled month of firsts. I will be the first person to admit that when my kids go to preschool I totally fail at instigating a social life for them. The older two seemed pretty okay with this, but not so with Boy. He has taken it upon himself to seek out a friend and make his social presence known. He has become good buddies with a little boy name Ethan. Ethan is the son of my friend, and the younger brother of FP's friend Noah. They started playing together during soccer season, and since then Boy is always asking when he and Ethan can play together. They happen to be on kind of opposite schedules though so it's been hard, but this last month he finally got to have his first real play date with Ethan, and he had a blast. Susan and I met up with the kids at the Toy Factory downtown and they spent the morning playing and being generally wild together.
Boy also go reach another important mile stone in his life, he started karate! He has been watching his brothers on the karate mats since he was a tiny baby, and for the last year been itching to be old enough. Technically, he still isn't old enough, but the Little Dragons teacher at the karate school said that he was always well behaved enough watching his brothers that she though he could join the class. As of writing this he has been in class for six week, and has done quite well, and is loving every second of it.
Goober is really coming into his own as a two year old, and I'm both loving it and wishing we could skip over this age. He is the embodiment of terrible twos. I've never had a kid who was quite as much into that 'phase' as he is and so we are constantly learning exactly what the phrase means. He is the funniest, sweetest, brightest, most hard working little guy ever, but he is also the most stubborn, willful, sneaky, 'it's my way or no way' kind of kid also. He has learned so many new words now, that he is finally starting to communicate on a regular basis with us (to a certain extent) and it's funny because I used to think I'd want to hear any word coming form him, but now my least favourite word in the world is, 'hey'. He can't say no, so his version of the typical two year olds, no is. "Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy." It is both hilarious and oh so annoying. There is one word though that I die hearing though every single time he says it and that is, "Mom". I waited so long to hear him be able to say my name, and when he runs around the house saying it over and over, or when he runs up to me and hugs me and calls me Mom, it's like winning the lottery!
It turns out interest wise, my little Goober is a snow bunny. He loved, loved, loved, having the snow a while back, and would try at every possible moment to be out in it playing and eating it. I am pretty sure he'd ahve stayed out until he was actually frozen if I'd let him. He also has taken to being our little chicken farmer. He is crazy about our chickens, and will make a bee line for the garden and chicken coop the minute you let him out the door. And, although he hasn't figured out how to pick them up yet, if someone hands him a chicken he will hold it and carry it around (properly) for the longest time, just talking to it, and making bocking noises while he pets it. He seriously cracks me up.
Beany is growing like a weed. He has discovered his hands and voice, and will spend long stretches of time opening and closing his hands in front of his face. He loves to smile and talk with people who will look at him, and thankfully seems to be nearing sleeping through the night. He only wakes once a night when he does, and some nights will go the whole night. It makes for one happy happy mama. Although, I find that I don't like how quickly the time is passing. I want to hold him and snuggle him as much as I can because it seems like I blinked and the last three months just flew by.
That's about it. I will post pictures in the next few posts of some of our fun recent events, but I think this post is just about long enough.
Enjoy!
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