A Quick Learner

The other day I took the kids to the library. They had fun picking out books. Holly even picked out a few board books for Tate. They were counting books. One of the books was really good...it did the usual counting up to 10, but it did more than that. The page after 10, was counting to 20, and then the next one was counting to 50 and the last page was counting to 100.  I was in the kitchen doing something and I heard her on the couch counting out loud, She counted up to 24 with only skipping number"13".  I was pretty impressed. Then I sat down with her and we started counting together. She figured out how to count to 50 in a matter of 10 minutes and I only had to help her with "30", "40", and "50".  Today (6 days after getting the book) she can almost count to 50 all by herself, but she still skips the number "13". Charl says, "Maybe she knows something about that number." Another cute thing was...I told her, "Wow, you learn really fast. Your teachers are going to love teaching you." Then she told me, "I want you to be my teacher." At least she likes me for now....hopefully it lasts.

Oh, What Can You Do On A Rainy Day?

You can find a really large umbrella and play with it. The kids actually started playing with the umbrella in morning when it was perfectly sunny. As the day continued, it became more and more cloudy.

They thought it made a cool "house". (no rain yet)

Still not raining.

Then I thought it would make a cute picture, so I had them pose...they did a great job, and they actually look like they like each other.

Getting carried away with the posing.

Holly left...don't blame her. A few drops start to fall.

And a few more drops fall.

Oh my, even more rain.

Trying to decide what to do next. Holly doesn't seem to mind the rain.

Wish I could be like her and not care what my hair looks like during a rainstorm.

In deep thought.

Just being cute.

Now it's really wet.

Trying to seek shelter.

Even the airplane got a little relief.

That house really wasn't that great after all. The garage seems much drier.

 That's a little better.

 Andersen wouldn't let Holly hold the umbrella for a pose, but she posed anyway.

 Then they moved the show to the backyard. The wind blew the umbrella off the "house".

They secure the house again, but Holly's done.

A final pose in the house...

..and Andersen is done, too.

Father's Day 2011

I really shouldn't try to write about an event months after it happens. I can't remember...sign of aging. Yikes. I do remember making French Toast out of French bread. We went to church and before Tate took a nap, I snapped a few pictures. We went to Charl's parents for dinner. Teresa, Keith, and Amber were there as well.    I got Charl some solar lights to put in our front yard when he finishes our new path.

I LOVE this picture.

He must be thinking, "What just happened."

Katie's 39th

I tried posting this a while ago and something went wrong and it didn't work. So, I decided to try and catch up on a few posts. I'll keep them short. Charl treated me like a queen on my birthday, but sadly I'm too old to remember all the details of that day. I do remember that he baked me a cake...totally unexpected. He found a recipe on line from Alton Brown and made the whole thing from scratch; even the frosting. He found some chocolate chips and sprinkles and went to town. He got me some long awaited garage organizational gadgets to hang up our tools. We also went golfing on a nice course up in Midway with Keith and Amber  I always love to get my yearly round of golf. Good times.

 translation -HAPPY B-DAY KT

Andersen and Holly were a huge help in blowing out the candles.

Sleepy Head

Holly doesn't take scheduled naps so this is often the scene at dinner time.  Who could want to sleep through a steak dinner like that?  Holly just told me she didn't want the beans so that's why she fell asleep.

A crazed "transformer" boy.

Andersen is obsessed with Transformers. He has used up 2/3 of a ream of paper drawing various transformer guys...mostly Optimus Prime, his favorite. Most of his creative juices seem to flow on Sundays. Yesterday he spent the whole afternoon making a Transformer book. He drew 4 different guys and taped the papers together to make a book. At least it kept him entertained while I was resting on the couch not feeling well. About a month ago, he came home from church and found the tape dispenser and started putting tape on his face and shirt to make himself look like Optimus Prime. I didn't snap a picture of him, but the next day I found his shirt, still taped up and took a picture of it.  That's the first picture. The second picture is of his coloring page from church a couple of Sunday's ago. The lesson was on missionaries and of course his missionary turned into Optimus Prime.  Pretty classic.

The Graduate

May 26, 2011...Andersen graduated from The Berry Patch Preschool. They put on a musical production of all the songs they learned throughout the year and each student got to recite a nursery rhyme, too. Andersen recited Humpty Dumpty. It was so cute. I video taped the whole program and it is so fun to watch it back. Andersen is such a character.  He leaves me scratching my head as I can't figure out how I got a "class clown" for a child.  I know I was a shy kid and I think Charl was too.  Some of the other parents get the biggest kick out of him and love that he is so willing to display his personality.

Teacher Wendy had the kids arranged on her front porch. This was taken during one of the songs. Charl was in charge of the still pictures and I was running the video camera. He didn't take too many of them singing, but when you see the video, you'll really get the gist of teacher Wendy's comment about this class having a lot of personality.

Andersen is accepting his diploma.  Funny story to follow:  Wendy asked the parents to clap once everyone received their diploma rather than after each student. Well, Andersen was last to be called. Since he was still standing when all the parents started cheering he stopped mid stage and......(see next picture)

acknowledged the crowd. He held this pose for a little while, thinking that he was getting all sorts of praise. Everyone was dying laughing.  (See....my little class clown.)

After program pose. Of course the diploma is NOT really a diploma, rather some sort of weapon.

A big thanks to teacher Wendy, who seemed to just know how to handle this cute and busy little bee, I mean boy.

Guess What's in My Garage?

OUR NEW SWAGGER WAGON!

Andersen's Star Wars Birthday Party

Last Sunday we spent Mother's Day at Charl's sister's (Rachelle) house.  On the drive home Charl and I were discussing what we were going to do for Andersen's 5th birthday later in the week. We decided that we'd throw him a party. We got home just before 10 PM that night and it was a whirlwind for the next 4 days getting everything prepared. First and foremost, was the invitation (luckily we have the internet where we can use other people's great creativity) and guest list. I stayed up for the next hour getting this invitation made and sent off to Costco to be picked up on Monday on the way to Tate's 15 mo. check up. (Tate is doing great, but he's only in the 3rd percentile...another little guy). The guest list was easy...he only wanted boys and told me his list. We had 5 boys from the neighborhood and his cousin Seth. Rowan, his friend from Cedar Hills, wasn't able to make it.

For a few weeks he's been telling me he wanted a spiderman cake, but since we decided to do a Star Wars themed party, Spidey got nixxed.  Since I put so much prep time into the games and decorations, I knew I had to keep the cake simple. I baked and frosted it the night before the party and did the final decorative icing a few hours before the party.

I think he's happy with the cake.  Just before he went to preschool he said he wanted the Star Wars logo. It wasn't to hard to do, but I decided to use chocolate sprinkles to fill in the letters, but since the icing wasn't "fresh" they wouldn't stick very well. I tried wetting it, but my fingers were too big and it was making a mess. I should have just used the yucky black icing...it would  have been faster.

Charl was in charge of the obstacle course.  He made a cool looking General Grevious (a bad guy). The kids got to pelt him with water balloons after they finished the obstacle course. This is a picture of Charl posing with him just before the party started.



These were the first guests to arrive: Seth, Miller, Andersen, and Bensen. They are getting ready to enter the galaxy.

Once they entered the galaxy (I thought this turned out pretty cool), they got dressed in their jedi robes. They got a paper light saber and then went to the table to put their name on the the light saber (which was to be used in the game pin the light saber on Yoda) and they decorated their goodie bag and colored a picture of Darth Vader. This kept them occupied while I could get everyone dressed and ready for the "Training Academy".

Then they played Pin the Light Saber on Yoda.  We didn't make a big deal about a "winner" on this game. After everyone had a turn we went outside for the real fun.

Andersen is face to face with the enemy.

 The attack. This was what the kids had the most fun doing.

Isaac making his way up the ladder. Pretty tricky for a young Jedi.

Looking like a true Jedi Knight. This was after all the kids finished the course. Upon completion, they got a "real" light saber. (pool noodles from the dollar store.)

After the obstacle course the kids had to fight the death star. (making this is what took most of my time.) I wasn't sure the pool noodles would do the trick, but they managed to break it open.

Back inside for cake and ice cream.

We called the ice cream "Yoda" ice cream.

A bunch of happy boys.

Last, was the gift opening ritual. We got him the Obi-Wan space ship with R2-D2.  It breaks apart into 2 ships and it can shoot little missiles. I think he likes it, but I'm not sure he likes it more than Legos.

Seth got him a real light saber. YAY. He's wanted a sword of some kind for a really LONG time.

Another lego set...thanks Will.

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Anikan Skywalker action figure from Bensen. He's loving it. Good thing he got this because we thought Obi-Wan came with the space ship, but he didn't, so Anikan can drive the ship.

So I didn't really give a good description of the obstacle course, but I wanted to give credit to Charl because that was a the main attraction of the party and it was really fun for the kids. Here's a quick rundown, as I didn't get pictures of all the steps. They crawled  under a wheelbarrow, walked on a ladder that was inclined, went on a swing, down a slide, shot a laser (the hose with a spray nozzle attached) at a ball resting high on a ladder, jumped over a snake, crossed a bridge, kicked a ball in a net, and bombed General Grevious with a water ballon. The feedback from some parents was great, so I think the kids had a fun time. It took a lot of time to prepare, and it was over in a flash, but I think it will be a lasting memory for Andersen's first big birthday party.