3,2,1.... Happy New Year

We celebrated the New Year at the Children's Museum. The kids had a blast. They made crafts from around the world; Native American necklaces, Chinese lanterns, Hawaiian grass skirts, and Japanese fans. We watched some African dancers, participated in the parade to Time Square and then counted down the minutes till NOON! Then we had a snack and went dancing :)

Ah.. home again, home again.

We returned from our Christmas trip yesterday evening and spent the day catching up on laundry, getting flu shots, and emptying the china cabinet in preparation for the floor to go in tomorrow morning.

Now to back up a little!
Genie had a great time at her gymnastics "competition". She got to perform her routines on the bar, floor, vault (well at this age they use a tall mat not an actual vault), and beam. All the kids who participated received a medal and their "scores" at the end. I do have some pictures. My digital camera broke at the gym (just in time for Christmas) but I have some on the video camera which I left in St. Louis.

Santa made an early visit to our house on Saturday morning to leave a new DVD player for T (along with a new Dora movie), a game boy and game for G, and a new game boy game a sparring gear for E. The intended purpose was to make the trip easier but G, as much as she has begged for a game boy for months, just wanted to watch T's Dora video. We made Christmas cookies at Grandma's on Sunday and then DH and I got to go out shopping and dinner and a movie all by ourselves! Monday was "midnight mass" at 5pm LOL and then dinner and a gift exchange at great grandma's. It was really nice to see everyone.

Christmas morning came early! The kids seemed pleased with their gifts. T is having a great time with her piano and puzzles, and E has spent a good portion of the day putting together bionicles. G, well, lets just say I completed the Disney Cinderella game boy game in the car yesterday and married my Prince.

Kitchen Update +

The kitchen is coming along well. The cabinets are done (although the doors won't go back on the bottom ones till the new counter tops are in.) The new dishwasher went in today- I can't wait to use it! The floors go in next Friday but it will be 4-6 weeks on the counter tops, ugh.

School is out for Christmas break! And no more dance, gymnastics or boyscouts till next year. I was so happy last night to reach the "end" of activities. I like that the kids stay busy and that they enjoy what they are doing but Tuesdays and Wednesdays kill me. School gets out at 3. On Tuesdays we have gymnastics for the girls from 4:30-5:30 and then E has boyscouts at 6:30 with dinner in between. On Wednesdays we have dinner at 4. E has karate at 5 then I run over to dance to drop G off at dance at 5:30, then back to pick E up at 5:45 then back to dance, the kids have a snack in the car while we wait for G's class to be over at 6:30. Then home and E takes and shower I give T a bath while G has her snack and then she gets in the shower after T. Oh, I need a rest!

Tonight is karate at 6:30 and tomorrow G has a gymnastics "competition" (I'll post about it), but no more craziness for 2 whole weeks.

Merry Chirstmas from the bath tub?

There is not really much new here- I just wanted to share this picture of the girls using their bath bubbles to make Santa beards :) Work on the kitchen is still progressing. W is finishing the fronts of the cabinet doors and then they will be done. The new dishwasher is being install on Wednesday. We have the flooring and are waiting on the call to set up installation. The counter tops are ordered but will take 4-6 weeks to come in.

This will be a busy week! Today is the boyscout Christmas party, Sunday G has a birthday party to go to, Monday is T's school Christmas party, Tuesday the Christmas cards are going out (I promise), Wednesday is the dishwasher, Thursday is the big kids Christmas parties (and maybe the floor install?), Friday we pack and Saturday morning is home for Christmas!!

Santa

The kids and I headed to the mall yesterday to see Santa and get their wishes turned in. Luckily no surprises there since the shopping is all done :) T hid from him at first and wouldn't sit on his lap but she did stand in front of him for her pictures and she told him what she wanted for Christmas. After that we went around the back side to take some pictures in front of the tree for our Christmas card. I got a few good pictures before being thrown out by mall security. Apparently taking pictures in the mall is against the rules. The security guard even went so far as to tell me it is because the Santa people are trying to make money. Well I already gave them my $20 for their horrible pictures... I can see the headline now- Family Arrested at Local Mall for Taking Pictures in Front of a Christmas Tree. LOL.

Anyway after that excitement we went home and got in our PJs, had breakfast for dinner, and watched Christmas specials.

Check out T singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPP5WlW2LaQ


And here is the video of E's kata that I have been trying to load since his belt test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SJwg4xHXCk

Phone Call

So as you can see from my Links- I love K-Love it is an awesome radio station that not only play contemporary christian music that I (and the kids) enjoy, but I also don't have to worry that my kids might hear something inappropriate coming over the airwaves. But besides all that it is just a great ministry they have staff pastors and the staff gets together regularly during the day to pray for the staff, listeners and prayer request that have been called in.

Well today I learned something new! Diving home from PTA my cell phone rings, of course I am thinking it is DH wondering when I am going to be home or having a question about putting the kids to bed :). But it is a California number. It is a woman calling form K-love (the radio station) asking me if I have any prayer requests I would like to make or if there is anything she could do for me- listen, pray!!! I have never had a CHURCH do that, it's a radio station! I pray where ever we move next has K-love and thanks to Amy for getting me listening when we lived in Chesapeake.

Christmas Parade

Last night was the town Christmas parade. E rode on his Boy Scout Pack float and G rode on her dance troop float. Since it was dark the pictures didn't turn out so hot but if you look closely there is a green arrow above E's head on their boat float and a red arrow above G's head on their sleigh float. T had a good time watching the parade and Santa Clause was sitting next to us so he gave the girls teddy bears and I took their picture (G's float was near the beginning of the parade so she came back and sat with us to watch the rest). It has always puzzled me why they start the parade so late in the day. At least it wasn't so cold this year,we froze last year!

Enchanted

Since DH was working hard on the kitchen we stayed out of the way yesterday and went to see Enchanted after school http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/enchanted/ . I was worried about a princess movie for E and that T might get bored but, all three of the kids loved it. When they got to the ball I told G I thought it was almost over and she replied "no it is not this isn't romantic enough and anyway they haven't said happily ever after yet." Sure enough it all ends happily ever after!

The current state of my kichen!

The right is the kitchen when we moved in- the left is what it looks like today after 2 days of sanding cabinets! Eventually we will have red oak cabinets, a new floor and new counter tops- currently we have, a mess. :0

T's First Performance

On Tuesdays I go to a Bible study at the church where I attend MOPS. Unbeknownst to me the children come up from the nursery to sing for us the last class before Christmas- thank you Cathy for sending me your pics (that is her daughter in the green shirt next to T and my friend Rhonda's daughter in the red).

T started strong singing and doing the hand motions. Then she had to stop and check out her tummy, see what was in her ear :) At least Cathy missed getting a pic of her with her finger in her nose LOL.

Thanksgiving Feast

So here is everyone on Friday sitting down to our "Feast" as G called it. We had a nice meal (and lots of left overs which we are still working on finishing) followed by pumpkin, apple and chocolate pies! Since Grandma and Grandpa were here we had Christmas too :) The kids have been busy ever since playing on their new computer and the girls had fun trying on their new clothes.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's thanksgiving and for dinner we are having..... Gumbo!! :) My inlaws are driving up from the coast today but won't be here till this evening so it is gumbo for dinner tonight and we will do Turkey and the trimmings tomorrow. In the 10 years we have been married there are very few years we have had Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving it is usually the day or weekend after due to travel and work schedules. So this morning I am watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, finishing some last minute cleaning and starting some of the side dishes for tomorrow. DH by the way is still in bed sleeping.

Green Belt

E has made it to the next belt in Karate! This is an important belt because the green belts are the class leaders (when he moves to second green he will move to a different class and be at the bottom rung again).

Passed

I passed my exam this morning so I am "done" with school until Jan 1. I do have a handwriting class to complete during my break and LOTS of books to order for the next domain and then I can start doing some reading. But I have no assignments to do and should have some free time to catch up on scrapbooking!

It is almost Thanksgiving but...

Today the kids made a Halloween gingerbread house! We are a little behind on our creative projects- especially those without due dates. I have a final tomorrow, E had to make a diorama for school and write a paper about it- dues Tuesday and almost done and T had a preschool project to complete. G helped her while E and I worked on his paper- it was so cute, I should have taken a pic.

Between Holidays

There is not much unusual going on here this week. Despite the circumstances I enjoyed my brief trip to STL. Even thought I missed my Uncle's funeral I am thankful for the time I spent with my family. The only craziness this week is W is sitting on a selection board so I am on my own with the evening activities. Speaking of which I have to go pick up G from dance class.

This is T's pumpkin , the kids in their costumes- E as a Jedi, G as an Eevee, T as a Chimchar and Aunt K, and W and E's Jack-O-Lanterns. G and T's costumes were a bit hard to identify- they are both types of Pokemon and K and I carried their Pokeballs and were their trainers. G kept telling everyone "I know I look like a dog but I am an Eevvee." When people asked T what she was she would reply "I am just wearing a Chimchar costume." E was a Jedi, not Obi Wan Kenobe and not Luke Skywalker- just a Jedi! Next year I am hoping for simpler costumes requiring less explanation!

G Can Read!

G read her first Dick and Jane book yesterday! "Oh, oh, oh. Come and see." LOL but she is so excited. She wants a Gameboy for Christmas and I told her she really needs to be able to read to play Pokemon (luckily E agreed with me), so her goal was to be reading by Christmas- she is well on her way!

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday while I was home studying W took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch. They went through the corn maze- and got very muddy. Then they were able to pick their Halloween pumpkins from the patch to carve on Wednesday. G got the littlest pumpkin- she didn't want it to stay in the pumpkin patch and be lonely like the one in the story- everybody say aaawww.

Elvis Has Left the Building!

The zoo here dresses their animal statues outside the entrance for Halloween. I was explaining to G that this one is a Jailhouse Croc. You know like the Elvis song Jailhouse Rock. She looked at me like I was nuts. I said, "you do know who Elvis is right?" To which she replied, "yea he is that guy who died on his toilet. Does that mean he died with out any pants on?"

Report Cards

The 2 big kids got their reports cards thursday. E made Principle's Honor roll- all A's and E's. No honor roll for kindergarten but G got Mastery on her report card and hasn't had her "bear" moved yet. (Kindergarten at our school has completly different report cards then the other grades. They have benchmarks for each marking period and recieve either mastery, progressing, or nonmastery marks. Each child has a bear for their behavior it gets moved from excellent to satisfactory to N- not sure what that means- to U each time the get in trouble.)

From MySpace: Sunday, August 26, 2007

The first day of school
This is a bit late but the kids have all officially started school. E is in second grade (he actually started 2 weeks ago), G started K last week (same school K just starts later) and T had her first day of preK 3 last week and starts "full time" (m,w,f, 9-12) tomorrow.

Oh and I passed my exam. I am working on Instructional Planning and Strategies now!

T's Hard Day

From MySpace: Thursday, September 06, 2007

T got in the car after school the other day and told me all about how she had to do all the jobs at school. She was the line leader, and someone got their clip moved for getting ahead of her. She was the door holder. She was the flag helper and had to hold it really tight while everyone said their Pledge of Allegiance. She was the weather helper, it was a little sun and some clouds and not cold. She was the fish helper but she couldn't remember what the fish helper does. She went on for 10 minutes about all the jobs she did because no one else in her class wanted to help.
I shared Tabitha's story with her teacher- she didn't have any jobs that day

Just Starting Out

I have had a MySpace for a while (thanks Kathy) but I wasn't using it much and Mom and others with out a MySpace can't see it since I didn't want it public. So anyway I thought I would try this and see how it works!