Thursday, September 07, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
A few more pictures
Pictures from the last two days of our trip:
Sunday, 13 August 2006
Sunday we were able to spend a few hours visiting my Aunt and Uncle. My cousin Emily's family was there and the 6 kids had a great time running through Mike and Connie's house at top speeds. I have always loved visiting their home, and wish we'd have had more time to spend with them. But we were able to get some pictures of these cute kids on the front steps... something that's been done for three generations now. It started with my Mom and her siblings, then us, and now our kids.
Isabella holding Alex.
Monday, 14 August 2006
Monday we went to the Aquarium in Baltimore. When GR and I took the kids to the Capital, I snapped a few pictures of them, on the Metro so on the off chance I lost one of them, I'd 1) have a current photo of them and 2) be able to tell the police officer what they were wearing. At the aquarium I decided we should probably do the same thing... just in case.
Three of our favorite exhibits were: The Sting Rays, Tree Frogs and SHARKS! GR and I definately liked the shark tanks the best.
We ate lunch at the top of the aquarium in a little cafeteria overlooking the Bay. Sam took one look at the green and purple dragon paddle boats in the water and insisted on being able to ride in a green dragon before the day was over. GR and I decided that if he still remembered the green dragon paddle boats when we left the aquarium in the next couple of hours, we'd make time to take him and the girls for a ride.
The second we stepped out of the aquarium, Sam asked to ride the paddle boats. GR and I took Emily and Sam, Bob took Rebecca and Merryn and Diane sat on shore with Alex. The kids loved it and the adults got great exercise.
Afterwards we found an ice cream shop for a scoop of ice cream (sherbet for Sam) before heading home.
Sunday, 13 August 2006
Sunday we were able to spend a few hours visiting my Aunt and Uncle. My cousin Emily's family was there and the 6 kids had a great time running through Mike and Connie's house at top speeds. I have always loved visiting their home, and wish we'd have had more time to spend with them. But we were able to get some pictures of these cute kids on the front steps... something that's been done for three generations now. It started with my Mom and her siblings, then us, and now our kids.
Isabella holding Alex.
Monday, 14 August 2006
Monday we went to the Aquarium in Baltimore. When GR and I took the kids to the Capital, I snapped a few pictures of them, on the Metro so on the off chance I lost one of them, I'd 1) have a current photo of them and 2) be able to tell the police officer what they were wearing. At the aquarium I decided we should probably do the same thing... just in case.
Three of our favorite exhibits were: The Sting Rays, Tree Frogs and SHARKS! GR and I definately liked the shark tanks the best.
We ate lunch at the top of the aquarium in a little cafeteria overlooking the Bay. Sam took one look at the green and purple dragon paddle boats in the water and insisted on being able to ride in a green dragon before the day was over. GR and I decided that if he still remembered the green dragon paddle boats when we left the aquarium in the next couple of hours, we'd make time to take him and the girls for a ride.
The second we stepped out of the aquarium, Sam asked to ride the paddle boats. GR and I took Emily and Sam, Bob took Rebecca and Merryn and Diane sat on shore with Alex. The kids loved it and the adults got great exercise.
Afterwards we found an ice cream shop for a scoop of ice cream (sherbet for Sam) before heading home.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
A day of firsts
Saturday 12 August, 2006
Krispy Kreme Donuts is down the street from Elspeth and Chris's house. Since today was going to be really long for the kids, we decided to start out early at Krispy Kreme and then head to Mt. Vernon to see Washington's house before having lunch and going down for naps - the idea being if we started early and ran them hard in the morning, they'd be more likely to take naps and do well tonight.
Krispy Kreme was of course yummy - but also very interesting. Having never been in a Krispy Kreme Bakery before, I didn't know you could watch the entire process before your very eyes - very cool! They make a LOT of donuts and their "HOT NOW" sign is always on.
The kids had a fun time running around Mt. Vernon. We hiked down to the Potomac and walked through a portion of Washington's farm and walked through his 16 sided barn (a rebuild of course). That truly was an amazing piece of construction. We didn't try to tour the house... the line was already pretty long when we arrived.
After some lunch at Boston Market, and good long naps, everyone was ready to head to Wolftrap for the Peter, Paul and Mary concert. We'd order sandwich's from a local deli to take with us, loaded the back of the car with blankets and had everyone in long pants/skirts since the weather was suppose to be cool.
Peter, Paul and Mary have been performing for 46 years. Diane first saw them when she was 19 years old, 43 years ago. As children, she took GR and Elspeth to their concerts, and now the next generation got their chance to see them in concert.
The concert was amazing - we had perfect seats, a perfect parking spot, and perfect weather! The kids loved the concert - they recognized and knew nearly half the songs they sang, which is pretty amazing considering we've only been playing two of their CDs this summer. Emily and Sam both fell asleep before the concert was over, but I'm really glad we stayed until the very end. It was totally worth every minute.
Krispy Kreme Donuts is down the street from Elspeth and Chris's house. Since today was going to be really long for the kids, we decided to start out early at Krispy Kreme and then head to Mt. Vernon to see Washington's house before having lunch and going down for naps - the idea being if we started early and ran them hard in the morning, they'd be more likely to take naps and do well tonight.
Krispy Kreme was of course yummy - but also very interesting. Having never been in a Krispy Kreme Bakery before, I didn't know you could watch the entire process before your very eyes - very cool! They make a LOT of donuts and their "HOT NOW" sign is always on.
The kids had a fun time running around Mt. Vernon. We hiked down to the Potomac and walked through a portion of Washington's farm and walked through his 16 sided barn (a rebuild of course). That truly was an amazing piece of construction. We didn't try to tour the house... the line was already pretty long when we arrived.
After some lunch at Boston Market, and good long naps, everyone was ready to head to Wolftrap for the Peter, Paul and Mary concert. We'd order sandwich's from a local deli to take with us, loaded the back of the car with blankets and had everyone in long pants/skirts since the weather was suppose to be cool.
Peter, Paul and Mary have been performing for 46 years. Diane first saw them when she was 19 years old, 43 years ago. As children, she took GR and Elspeth to their concerts, and now the next generation got their chance to see them in concert.
The concert was amazing - we had perfect seats, a perfect parking spot, and perfect weather! The kids loved the concert - they recognized and knew nearly half the songs they sang, which is pretty amazing considering we've only been playing two of their CDs this summer. Emily and Sam both fell asleep before the concert was over, but I'm really glad we stayed until the very end. It was totally worth every minute.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Perfect Timing
We could not have planned our trip to Washington/Alexandria any better! So over the next little bit I’ll be posting a summary of our trip:
We flew out August 9th - the day after Emily's birthday and the day before the attempted terrorist attacks in
The kids traveled so well! On the plane, each child had an adult to sit with (we went with GR's parents) - Emily and Grandpa were partners, Grandma and Rebecca were partners, Sam and GR (probably the most difficult team since Sam got restless half way through the flight) and Alex and I were partners. I had made each child an activity bag for the plane with snacks, colored pencils, stickers, a notebook, activity books, books to read, and small games.
So how much luggage does it take for a family of eight to be gone for a week? Here's the answer!
Thanks to a huge mess at the car rental place - we waited over an hour in the parking garage at Regan National for the ya-hoos at Alamo car rental to find our cars and car seats. So we got to Elspeth's house much later than we expected. We unpacked the cars, ate some dinner and crashed!
Thursday, GR and I talked about taking the kids to the Zoo, but the weather was rainy and unpredictable, plus the kids were having a great time playing together, so we opted to stick close to home. We did go into
Elspeth and Rebecca went shopping earlier in the day and got a really cute cupcake birthday cake for Emily so we could celebrate her birthday again with the cousins. Emily had really wanted some make-up for her birthday and Elspeth & Chris got her the perfect set... complete with sparkly powder, lipsticks, eye shadows, and nail polish in a purple sparkly carrying case. Pair that with the 70s inspired pink suede hat they gave her and we have one very fashionable 5 year old!
The Country Mouse and The City Mouse
Friday 11 August 2006
GR, Bob and I took the children on the Metro to DC to tour the Capital (arranged by Aunt Elspeth). I am so glad we didn’t try to go into DC during rush hour… the kids were so cute the first time we entered the station. It took us a couple of tries to teach them how to put their Metro card into the reader, so the gate would open and they could walk through to find the train. They loved riding the train and looking out at all the different sites along the way. They really thought it was cool that we let them ride the train standing!
It was about 3:30 when we rode the train home, and since it was a Friday the trains were much more crowded. The first train we got on (right off the Mall) was very full, with only single seats open here and there. GR had Alex in the stroller, and I had Sam on my lap with the girls at my side. I found three single seats all next to each other (one in front of the other, and across the isle) and told the girls to sit down. I must have told them to sit down four times before the train started to move and they reluctantly sat down next to two complete strangers. In less than 10 seconds, both of them turned to their seat partner and said, “Hi, what’s your name?” Emily was sitting next to a woman about the age of my mom, who smiled, told her, her name and asked Emily what her name was. Rebecca was sitting next to a 14/15 year old African American boy, who wasn’t exactly prepared for her question, but very politely and quietly answered with his name. We were only on that train for two stops before getting off and getting on another train.
While we waited for our transfer train to arrive, I explained to Rebecca and Emily that I needed them to sit down wherever there was an empty seat, and that people in
We had a great tour of the capitol, ate lunch in their caffeteria and discovered our tour guide was LDS too!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Turning Five!
Tuesday, 8 August 2006
Today Emily is five years old! Grandma Mum & Grandpa Bob brought the traditional balloons and donuts! Yummy! And all three kids got really cute hair cuts.
Emily requested an orange layer cake with chocolate frosting -- I have no idea where she came up with the idea to have an orange flavored cake with chocolate frosting! What 5 year old requests that? Anyway, I decided to use an orange flavored cake recipe that I love from The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and experimented by making an orange curd for the filling between the layers. Then topped it all off with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting.
It looked great and it tasted pretty good too... meaning the kids all ate it which, frankly I was surprised at. I think I may try making an orange flavored pudding or custard to use as the filling next time. The curd had an odd flavor that I'm not sure I cared for - pudding/custard might be more appealing? I sent the left over cake home with Mom and Daddy really enjoyed it. So I think with alittle tweaking, this cake may actually survive and get made more.
For our 5 year old birthday's we have a party at home with family. Emily got to pick the restaurant we had dinner at and of course she picked Applebee's - why? Because she wanted to have her birthday scoop of ice cream ... the scoop of ice cream that only the birthday girl gets to eat... while everyone else watches. This is what Rebecca got to do for her birthday, while Emily watched... she's been waiting a long time to take her turn.
We had a great night and Emily seemed really happy to have a day where she was the center of attention!
On our way home from getting haircuts, Mom got her some roses from the local florist - 5 pink roses, one for each year. She got some really cute clothes from Grandma Mum & Grandpa Bob along with a pocket/travel size, Simon Says game that we're all still trying to master. She also got a real watch, cheerleading pom-poms complete with a DVD of moves and cheers, 3 new pairs of funky pajama pants (sewn by Grandma Mutti). Grandma Mutti also gave her the book "If you give a Pig a Party" and some simple Sudoku puzzles she could work on (Mom’s been teaching Rebecca and Emily both how to work the puzzles and the girls are catching on!).
Monday, August 07, 2006
Iron Chef-t
As kids we had "Kitchen Jobs." One position held on the Kitchen Jobs, Job Chart was the Kitchen Helper. This past week Mom started up this position in our family. Each child was given the title of Chef for the night. They got to plan the meal with Grandma Mutti and then help her make it. We hoped this would not only teach cooking skills, but also diminish the amount of whining at the table about certain foods put on their plates.
Monday, 31 July
Rebecca's Menu -- Spaghetti, Corn Muffins, Cantaloupe, Green Salad.
Tuesday, 1 August
Emily's Menu - Chicken Bundles, Cantaloupe, Apple Slices, Corn
Wednesday, 2 August
Sam's Menu - Smoked Turkey (Thank you Grandpa Bob!), Cranberry Applesauce Jell-O, Green Beans,
Thursday, 3 August
Rebecca's Menu -- Mini Pizza's, Cantaloupe
Friday, 4 August
Emily's Menu -- Nacho's (picnic style in the living room + Incredibles)
Saturday, 5 August
Sam's Menu -- Turkey Casserole
Monday, 31 July
Rebecca's Menu -- Spaghetti, Corn Muffins, Cantaloupe, Green Salad.
Tuesday, 1 August
Emily's Menu - Chicken Bundles, Cantaloupe, Apple Slices, Corn
Wednesday, 2 August
Sam's Menu - Smoked Turkey (Thank you Grandpa Bob!), Cranberry Applesauce Jell-O, Green Beans,
Thursday, 3 August
Rebecca's Menu -- Mini Pizza's, Cantaloupe
Friday, 4 August
Emily's Menu -- Nacho's (picnic style in the living room + Incredibles)
Saturday, 5 August
Sam's Menu -- Turkey Casserole
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Spike
I love Alex's hair when it's freshly washed. It is a beautiful light brown color and it's so fine and soft - plus it naturally spikes in a mohawk (eat your heart out Parley M.!).
Natural Glow
Thursday 3 August 2006
We've had a busy week with lots of trips to the doctor’s office.
Tuesday, I took Alex in for a weight check. He left the hospital weighing 8lb. 2oz., and today he weighed 8lb. 4oz. He also got his heel pricked for a bilirubin test, since he's pretty yellow and obviously jaundice. His count came back pretty high (15.2) so the doctor told us to alternate his feedings - breast milk and formula - and they wanted to see him again Wednesday to check his levels again.
GR's been taking the 1-2am formula feeding, which just might be killing him, but I'm loving it (even though I have to get up and pump anyway)! The girls have both enjoyed the chance to taken turns feeding Alex; they think it's so neat to feed Alex!
Wednesday, Alex and I went back to the doctor and again he got his little heel pricked - 15.4 this time. So we continued the feeding routine. They also decided to go ahead and do his 1 week check up at the same time, since I was already there. He checked out perfectly! And was also back up to his birth weight - 8lb. 7oz.
Since his bilirubin levels were still high Wednesday, they wanted to see him again this morning, and since Emily and Sam both already had appointments (Emily, 5-yr check up and Sam, Hep A shot) so we all headed to the doctors office. Grandma Mutti and I had to bribe Rebecca to willingly come along with the promise of a trip to the McDonald's Playland near the hospital - thankfully that worked and morning went smoothly.
The nurse just called and Alex's results came back lower (13.3) which is good - so we can go back to a normal 100% mom feeding schedule, his heel is saved from being pricked and squeezed AND we can stay home tomorrow!
Thursday, August 03, 2006
1 week old!
I am trying really hard not to miss too many opportunities to take pictures of this little baby or the things that are happening around us. It seems we have a camera in every room ready to take shots when necessary. Here are pictures of him from earlier this week:
Sunday, 30 July 2006
Rebecca's holding Alex:
Monday, 31 July 2006
He's awake! In ALL of the pictures we've gotten of Alex so far he's asleep, but in this rare moment - it must have been around dinner time - I got a picture of him awake and looking around.
Tuesday, 1 August 2006
Alex is starting to stay awake for longer amounts of time. His longest stretch right now seems to be from about 6-7:30pm (sometimes longer). Here, Rebecca felt it was very important for Alex to wear his hat, and to play with her dog Chocolate. And Sam wanted Alex to play with BOTH alligators. Alex was very patient with all the attention and didn't seem to mind being loaded up with all these special things.
Sunday, 30 July 2006
Rebecca's holding Alex:
Monday, 31 July 2006
He's awake! In ALL of the pictures we've gotten of Alex so far he's asleep, but in this rare moment - it must have been around dinner time - I got a picture of him awake and looking around.
Tuesday, 1 August 2006
Alex is starting to stay awake for longer amounts of time. His longest stretch right now seems to be from about 6-7:30pm (sometimes longer). Here, Rebecca felt it was very important for Alex to wear his hat, and to play with her dog Chocolate. And Sam wanted Alex to play with BOTH alligators. Alex was very patient with all the attention and didn't seem to mind being loaded up with all these special things.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Bringing Alex Home
Saturday, 29 July 2006
We're home!
The kids want to hold Alex all the time and Rebecca and Emily have no fears about picking him up and carrying him from point A to point B ... their mama feels a little differently, but they are being so gentle and careful, I know we'll figure out a process that makes both of us feel comfortable in the coming hours.
Daddy came last night for the weekend and stopped in at the hospital on his way to the house to say hello and hold Alex. Joe and Suzanne arrived shortly before we did this afternoon. Thanks to Suzanne I have these pictures to share:
We're home!
The kids want to hold Alex all the time and Rebecca and Emily have no fears about picking him up and carrying him from point A to point B ... their mama feels a little differently, but they are being so gentle and careful, I know we'll figure out a process that makes both of us feel comfortable in the coming hours.
Daddy came last night for the weekend and stopped in at the hospital on his way to the house to say hello and hold Alex. Joe and Suzanne arrived shortly before we did this afternoon. Thanks to Suzanne I have these pictures to share:
Friday, July 28, 2006
Alexander Edward
I'm surprised the hospital will allow me to do everything I need to in making this post - but it does. Everything went fine last night. Alex arrived at 10:40PM and was 8 pounds, 7 ounces and 21 inches long. he is the lightest of the four children by 2 ounces. Kathleen's mother is going to be bringing the other children up this afternoon and I'll be sure to get more pictures and post them later.
Here is Kathleen about 6 in the evening looking stellar.
Around 9:30pm she decided she was about a 4+ and decided she wanted an epidural do help her relax and move things along a bit. We got the anesthesiologist in and in the process of getting it in she had some pretty big contractions that hurt. So when he was done and was in the process of checking to see if it was working (can you wiggle your toes? Do you legs tingle? etc.) Kathleen had another big contraction with lots of pressure - so the nurse checked her again and she was 100% dialated and ready to go. So the nurse went and paged the doctor who lives about 12 minutes away. (He joked after that he usually gets a little more warning than - your patient is ready to push get here as fast as you can) He walked in the door, got gowned up and we had a baby about 5 minutes later. Kathleen got to enjoy her epidural for a whole 20 minutes.
But everyone is doing great. Kathleen is taking a shower right now and Alex is asleep on the bed.
Here are some pictues of him from this morning.
I'll post some more this afternoon.
GR
Here is Kathleen about 6 in the evening looking stellar.
Around 9:30pm she decided she was about a 4+ and decided she wanted an epidural do help her relax and move things along a bit. We got the anesthesiologist in and in the process of getting it in she had some pretty big contractions that hurt. So when he was done and was in the process of checking to see if it was working (can you wiggle your toes? Do you legs tingle? etc.) Kathleen had another big contraction with lots of pressure - so the nurse checked her again and she was 100% dialated and ready to go. So the nurse went and paged the doctor who lives about 12 minutes away. (He joked after that he usually gets a little more warning than - your patient is ready to push get here as fast as you can) He walked in the door, got gowned up and we had a baby about 5 minutes later. Kathleen got to enjoy her epidural for a whole 20 minutes.
But everyone is doing great. Kathleen is taking a shower right now and Alex is asleep on the bed.
Here are some pictues of him from this morning.
I'll post some more this afternoon.
GR
Monday, July 24, 2006
They ate it ALL!
Last night I made a Nacho Beef Dinner recipe listed on the back of a box of Rice-A-Roni. We tend to do something kinda Nacho-ish for Sunday dinners because they lend themselves so nicely to picnic dinners in the living room - a favorite Sunday night activity of the kids.
So while they watched Mary Poppins, I handed them each a bowl of Nacho Beef Dinner to eat. I fully expected to hear complaints about the fresh tomatoes and the black beans mixed in with the rice, corn, cheese and hamburger... but I didn't hear a word, they ate every last grain of rice, kernle of corn, dice of tomatoe and black bean put in their bowl.
When Becca told us she was done, we asked her to show us her bowl... she got it from the sink and it was 100% empty... GR's comment... "Would it be a bad thing if we checked the sink and trash can?" Both showed no signs of missed bites of dinner! We are just a bit shocked.
We're having the leftovers for lunch today... I'm hoping it's as succsessful the second time around!
So while they watched Mary Poppins, I handed them each a bowl of Nacho Beef Dinner to eat. I fully expected to hear complaints about the fresh tomatoes and the black beans mixed in with the rice, corn, cheese and hamburger... but I didn't hear a word, they ate every last grain of rice, kernle of corn, dice of tomatoe and black bean put in their bowl.
When Becca told us she was done, we asked her to show us her bowl... she got it from the sink and it was 100% empty... GR's comment... "Would it be a bad thing if we checked the sink and trash can?" Both showed no signs of missed bites of dinner! We are just a bit shocked.
We're having the leftovers for lunch today... I'm hoping it's as succsessful the second time around!
Our Spiderman Party!
Saturday, 15 July 2006
Today Sam turned three years old! For month's he has talked about having a Spiderman Birthday.
It's been years since GR has decorated a cake (I think he was in Pharmacy School the last time he did this!) and when I asked if he wanted to make a Spiderman cake for Sam, he agreed. We found a great spiderman birthday cake mold at a local craft store, and got all the supplies for making the cake. We baked the cake Friday night and then he started decorating Saturday morning. I think it took him a little more than 3 hours to make the cake and it looks beautiful! The kids really enjoyed watching Papa decorate the cake and see it transform.
Earlier in the week I found lots of spiderman party supplies, and put together little treat bags for the kids (red cups filled with a few tootsie rolls, a tootsie pop spider, sunglasses (like spiderman's eyes), stickers, and a spiderman blower.
My parents, brother and sister also made the trip from StL for the big event. And we were so glad Elspeth, Merryn and Annalise's 3 week stay included Sam's birthday. We also called two of Sam's friends, George and Parker and their families to came for swimming at Grandma's (along with dinner, cake and ice cream) - the forecasts for today were for hot steamy temperatures near 100 - swimming seemed like the only logical thing to do with three year-olds.
Everyone had a great time in the water and it really was way to hot to try and do anything else, so I'm glad we didn't try to have any other outdoor activities planned. GR, Parkers dad Peter and my Dad gave Rebecca, Emily and Sam piggy back rides in the water. Swimming underwater from end to end of the pool - great fun for the kids, and amazing excercise for the adults! After 10 lengths of the pool, all three were ready to call it a night!
With the girls we really tried to keep birthday gifts at a minimum at this age... we didn't really accomplish that this year and Sam doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear. We got some really cute things for his birthday.
George - a knight dress-up costume - complete with sword, shield, breastplate and helmet!
Emma - a sidewalk chalk push toy that allows to you draw with three pieces of chalk at a time on the driveway.
Parker - 'The Little Engine the Could' hardback book
Merryn - large stuffed fish, that's taller than Sam!
Elspeth - Take-apart airplane by Battat
Grandma Mutti & Grandpa Art - a red and blue cape, magnadoodle and spiderman bandaids
Aunt Suz - large lime green koosh type ball (about the size of a soccer ball)
Uncle Joe - Jayhawk jersey
Grandma Mum & Grandpa Bob - large coorigated building blocks & spiderman action figure
Mom & Dad - three wheeled scooter and spiderman backpack with spiderman PJs
Thanks to good friends and family, Sam's birthday was a great success!
Today Sam turned three years old! For month's he has talked about having a Spiderman Birthday.
It's been years since GR has decorated a cake (I think he was in Pharmacy School the last time he did this!) and when I asked if he wanted to make a Spiderman cake for Sam, he agreed. We found a great spiderman birthday cake mold at a local craft store, and got all the supplies for making the cake. We baked the cake Friday night and then he started decorating Saturday morning. I think it took him a little more than 3 hours to make the cake and it looks beautiful! The kids really enjoyed watching Papa decorate the cake and see it transform.
Earlier in the week I found lots of spiderman party supplies, and put together little treat bags for the kids (red cups filled with a few tootsie rolls, a tootsie pop spider, sunglasses (like spiderman's eyes), stickers, and a spiderman blower.
My parents, brother and sister also made the trip from StL for the big event. And we were so glad Elspeth, Merryn and Annalise's 3 week stay included Sam's birthday. We also called two of Sam's friends, George and Parker and their families to came for swimming at Grandma's (along with dinner, cake and ice cream) - the forecasts for today were for hot steamy temperatures near 100 - swimming seemed like the only logical thing to do with three year-olds.
Everyone had a great time in the water and it really was way to hot to try and do anything else, so I'm glad we didn't try to have any other outdoor activities planned. GR, Parkers dad Peter and my Dad gave Rebecca, Emily and Sam piggy back rides in the water. Swimming underwater from end to end of the pool - great fun for the kids, and amazing excercise for the adults! After 10 lengths of the pool, all three were ready to call it a night!
With the girls we really tried to keep birthday gifts at a minimum at this age... we didn't really accomplish that this year and Sam doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear. We got some really cute things for his birthday.
George - a knight dress-up costume - complete with sword, shield, breastplate and helmet!
Emma - a sidewalk chalk push toy that allows to you draw with three pieces of chalk at a time on the driveway.
Parker - 'The Little Engine the Could' hardback book
Merryn - large stuffed fish, that's taller than Sam!
Elspeth - Take-apart airplane by Battat
Grandma Mutti & Grandpa Art - a red and blue cape, magnadoodle and spiderman bandaids
Aunt Suz - large lime green koosh type ball (about the size of a soccer ball)
Uncle Joe - Jayhawk jersey
Grandma Mum & Grandpa Bob - large coorigated building blocks & spiderman action figure
Mom & Dad - three wheeled scooter and spiderman backpack with spiderman PJs
Thanks to good friends and family, Sam's birthday was a great success!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Three weeks with the Cousins
Merryn and Annalise have been visiting Grandma for the last three weeks with their Mom (and Dad for part of the time). We have had a fabulous time playing with them and are sad to see the vacation come to an end.
Here’s a little bit of what we’ve done… hopefully I haven’t left out anything major, or gotten the details too messed up. Thanks to record high temperatures (all over 100 this week) we've spent a ton of time at Grandma's pool, and the children have LOVED every minute of it. All of them have made HUGE progress in the few short weeks that we’ve been together, trying new things and gaining confidence and strength in their abilities!
Thursday, 29 June - Everyone arrives safely and stop by for a few minutes to play at our house.
Friday, 30 June - Dinner and swimming at Grandma's. Grandma gives each child a pair of their own swimming goggles! (It took us a while, but we finally figured out how to get Sam's goggles to stay on his face without him looking like the Hunchback of Notredame.) And everyone also now have their own lounge chairs, complete with drink holders, for the deck.
Saturday, 1 July - Breakfast at Wheatfield’s, Dinner with Rita & David in Kearney, and fireworks at Sharon & Bills
Monday, 3 July - Family Pictures at Picture People, Lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and more swimming
Tuesday, 4 July - More Swimming, dinner, root beer floats, sparklers and fireworks
Thursday, 6 July - Sam goes to the Zoo with Merryn and Annalise while Rebecca and Emily are at horse back riding camp.
Friday, 7 July - Spanish Story Time at the Library with Aunt Elspeth and Merryn. Heard "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and "No Matter What." read in both Spanish and English.
Saturday, 8 July - Swimming at Grandma's - Emily goes down the pool slide for the first time this summer. Rebecca starts to practice floating on her back and doing the back stroke.
Tuesday, 11 July - Swimming at Grandma's - Emily goes down the pool slide all by herself! Rebecca practices doing a summersault in the water.
Wednesday, 12 July - City Band Concert in the Park, Children's concert.
Picnic dinner in the park. Ice Cream at Sylas & Mady's. Rebecca, mint chocolate chip; Emily - chocolate; Sam - Berry Sorbet - just like the little kid sitting outside the ice cream shop. Thanks to Aunt Elspeth who stood in line with the girls and Merryn for ages, everyone got a balloon figure from our favorite balloon man (we met him earlier this summer at a bank opening). Rebecca got a butterfly hat, Emily a Barbie doll, Sam and airplane hat, and Merryn got a doggie she could wear on her wrist.
Friday, 14 July - Slumber Party at Grandma's for all the grandkids
Saturday 15 July - Sam's 3rd Birthday. Spiderman Party at Grandma's with a few friends, swimming, dinner and visits from Grandma Muti and Grandpa Art, Suz and Joe.
Monday, 17 July - Rebecca's last t-ball game. Temperatures at the beginning of the game hovered around 100 degrees so Merryn and Annalise enjoyed the first inning with us and then headed for home.
Tuesday, 18 July - Swimming and dinner at Grandma's - Merryn introduces Sam to the Little People Wal-Mart truck and store ... it was very difficult for him to choose between the toys and the pool, but the pool finally won. Gonna have to look for that one to add to the Little People collection. Rebecca and Emily organize show using cheer's Emily has been learning in her Cheerleading class - they teach Sam and Merryn the cheers and attempt to square dance (not sure where that came from?).
Wednesday, 19 July - Swimming and dinner at Grandma's - Merryn and Annalise's last night before flying home. Spent time in the pool, Rebecca and Emily spent most of their time going down the slide or jumping off the side of the pool. Gotta love Speedo life vests!
******
We'll be heading to Merryn and Annalise's house in August ... 9th - 15th. Peter, Paul, and Mary will be performing at Wolftrap that weekend, and we've got tickets to go and see/hear them in concert - pray for decent weather please! We are really looking forward to spending sometime in the DC area and to see the cousins on their turf for the first time!
Here’s a little bit of what we’ve done… hopefully I haven’t left out anything major, or gotten the details too messed up. Thanks to record high temperatures (all over 100 this week) we've spent a ton of time at Grandma's pool, and the children have LOVED every minute of it. All of them have made HUGE progress in the few short weeks that we’ve been together, trying new things and gaining confidence and strength in their abilities!
Thursday, 29 June - Everyone arrives safely and stop by for a few minutes to play at our house.
Friday, 30 June - Dinner and swimming at Grandma's. Grandma gives each child a pair of their own swimming goggles! (It took us a while, but we finally figured out how to get Sam's goggles to stay on his face without him looking like the Hunchback of Notredame.) And everyone also now have their own lounge chairs, complete with drink holders, for the deck.
Saturday, 1 July - Breakfast at Wheatfield’s, Dinner with Rita & David in Kearney, and fireworks at Sharon & Bills
Monday, 3 July - Family Pictures at Picture People, Lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and more swimming
Tuesday, 4 July - More Swimming, dinner, root beer floats, sparklers and fireworks
Thursday, 6 July - Sam goes to the Zoo with Merryn and Annalise while Rebecca and Emily are at horse back riding camp.
Friday, 7 July - Spanish Story Time at the Library with Aunt Elspeth and Merryn. Heard "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and "No Matter What." read in both Spanish and English.
Saturday, 8 July - Swimming at Grandma's - Emily goes down the pool slide for the first time this summer. Rebecca starts to practice floating on her back and doing the back stroke.
Tuesday, 11 July - Swimming at Grandma's - Emily goes down the pool slide all by herself! Rebecca practices doing a summersault in the water.
Wednesday, 12 July - City Band Concert in the Park, Children's concert.
Picnic dinner in the park. Ice Cream at Sylas & Mady's. Rebecca, mint chocolate chip; Emily - chocolate; Sam - Berry Sorbet - just like the little kid sitting outside the ice cream shop. Thanks to Aunt Elspeth who stood in line with the girls and Merryn for ages, everyone got a balloon figure from our favorite balloon man (we met him earlier this summer at a bank opening). Rebecca got a butterfly hat, Emily a Barbie doll, Sam and airplane hat, and Merryn got a doggie she could wear on her wrist.
Friday, 14 July - Slumber Party at Grandma's for all the grandkids
Saturday 15 July - Sam's 3rd Birthday. Spiderman Party at Grandma's with a few friends, swimming, dinner and visits from Grandma Muti and Grandpa Art, Suz and Joe.
Monday, 17 July - Rebecca's last t-ball game. Temperatures at the beginning of the game hovered around 100 degrees so Merryn and Annalise enjoyed the first inning with us and then headed for home.
Tuesday, 18 July - Swimming and dinner at Grandma's - Merryn introduces Sam to the Little People Wal-Mart truck and store ... it was very difficult for him to choose between the toys and the pool, but the pool finally won. Gonna have to look for that one to add to the Little People collection. Rebecca and Emily organize show using cheer's Emily has been learning in her Cheerleading class - they teach Sam and Merryn the cheers and attempt to square dance (not sure where that came from?).
Wednesday, 19 July - Swimming and dinner at Grandma's - Merryn and Annalise's last night before flying home. Spent time in the pool, Rebecca and Emily spent most of their time going down the slide or jumping off the side of the pool. Gotta love Speedo life vests!
******
We'll be heading to Merryn and Annalise's house in August ... 9th - 15th. Peter, Paul, and Mary will be performing at Wolftrap that weekend, and we've got tickets to go and see/hear them in concert - pray for decent weather please! We are really looking forward to spending sometime in the DC area and to see the cousins on their turf for the first time!
Happy Birthday Brother!
Today is Uncle Joe's birthday and so in honor of my children's beloved Uncle, here are just a couple of my favorite tribute pictures of him with them.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Potatoes and Aquanet
Monday, 3 July 2006
GR's friend Dime spent the weekend with us for all the 4th of July festivities. Part of his goal this weekend was to construct a Potato Gun – something he’s been planning for years. He spent a lot of time researching designs and perfecting them, purchased the materials needed Saturday and then used Bob's workroom to construct the gun. Between the two of them, they got it working and this afternoon after testing it, they let us ammeters have a turn firing the beast. It was so cool!
Once they determined just the right amount of hairspray (aka accelerant) to put in, the potatoes were easily able to clear the tree line! I have video of Sam shooting the gun, and as soon as I find a way of cutting the size down a bit, I'll post it. So you can experience the sound of the gun going off, and the distance the potatoes traveled.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Horsey, Horsey, On it's Way
Wednesday and Thursday, 5-6 July, 2006
For Rebecca and Emily's birthdays Grandma signed them up for a two-day horse camp at a ranch in southern KC. They had an amazing time learning about the different parts of a saddle, how to brush a horse, clean a bridle and saddle, how to walk around a horse and how to ride a horse.
The camp was for 3 hours each day and they were with 7 other kids (1 boy and 6 girls). They broke the kids up into three groups of three... one group would ride, while the others did a craft or worked with the gear. All of them really enjoyed the camp, and we had beautiful weather for those two days (low 80s).
Sam really wanted to ride a horse too, so while the girls were at camp, I took him to the Deanna Rose Farm (about 100 streets north of this ranch) and he got to ride a horse too.
We're looking into places a little closer to home so the girls can do some more horse back riding. They were very upset when the camp was over and want to make sure it wasn't going to be their last opportunity to ride horses.
Here are pictures of the girls with their horses... Emily has Bob, Rebecca has Dapper and then there's a picture of the pony Sam rode at the farm.
After their first day, Becca and Emily insisted on taking an apple or carrots the next day to feed their horses. Since I didn't have any carrots, the girls took apples. Emily took two apples with her (I'm still not sure why) and when we got to camp, everyone had something to feed their horse, except the little boy - either he didn't hear he could bring something to feed his horse, or didn't remember to tell his mother - anyway I asked Emily if she'd be willing to let him have her 2nd apple so he'd have a treat for his horse and she happily agreed to give it to him. His mother was so grateful at Emily's willingness to freely give her son her other apple.
For Rebecca and Emily's birthdays Grandma signed them up for a two-day horse camp at a ranch in southern KC. They had an amazing time learning about the different parts of a saddle, how to brush a horse, clean a bridle and saddle, how to walk around a horse and how to ride a horse.
The camp was for 3 hours each day and they were with 7 other kids (1 boy and 6 girls). They broke the kids up into three groups of three... one group would ride, while the others did a craft or worked with the gear. All of them really enjoyed the camp, and we had beautiful weather for those two days (low 80s).
Sam really wanted to ride a horse too, so while the girls were at camp, I took him to the Deanna Rose Farm (about 100 streets north of this ranch) and he got to ride a horse too.
We're looking into places a little closer to home so the girls can do some more horse back riding. They were very upset when the camp was over and want to make sure it wasn't going to be their last opportunity to ride horses.
Here are pictures of the girls with their horses... Emily has Bob, Rebecca has Dapper and then there's a picture of the pony Sam rode at the farm.
After their first day, Becca and Emily insisted on taking an apple or carrots the next day to feed their horses. Since I didn't have any carrots, the girls took apples. Emily took two apples with her (I'm still not sure why) and when we got to camp, everyone had something to feed their horse, except the little boy - either he didn't hear he could bring something to feed his horse, or didn't remember to tell his mother - anyway I asked Emily if she'd be willing to let him have her 2nd apple so he'd have a treat for his horse and she happily agreed to give it to him. His mother was so grateful at Emily's willingness to freely give her son her other apple.
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