Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas and more

Welcome to the end of December.

The kids posed nicely for a picture in front of the tree.


And were very cooperative for a family photo in front of the fireplace.


When we got to KC we helped Oma and Opa finish decorating their tree.




We went to the Hallmark store's Kalidascope shop. The kids got to spend 40 minutes doing all sorts of crafts (including making a puzzle and finishing up with some water colors. They had a "paint remover station" aka a sink.


Then Opa treated us to lunch at Fritz's. You order via a phone at your booth. Then your order arrives via train (a human brings your drinks).


We took the kids to see the lights on the Plaza.


Then Christmas Eve they made gingerbread houses.


Ben read Emily her stories.


Santa brought Eli some Legos and Emily some Calico Critters.

Emily's favorite gift by far was her Pillow Pet. Eli has several that he's bounced between today.

Tomorrow we visit with Ethan and Elliot.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Emily's Christmas Program

Well, the videos turned out rather large. I'll upload one here, we'll have to work through getting the others to folks.


Friday, November 26, 2010

Birthday fun

We had a combined birthday party for Eli, Ethan, and Elliot (and half birthday for Emily). The boys all got Legos and Emily got a puzzle.

We managed to distract them from their toys long enough to pose for a picture.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Anniversaries

Many years ago Alicia and I decided that we'd prefer practical gifts for anniversary presents. We bought watches for our 1st anniversary (going with the clock theme). Second anniversary was a crystal vase and candy dish. Third anniversary was fireplace doors at our old house. Eighth anniversary was a new digital camera. Tenth was a trip to Eureka Springs and gifts. Last year we bought a house (little more expensive than we normally budget for gifts but when opportunity knocks...). Those that are missing we have no clue. We're sure we bought something but don't remember what it was.

This year we duplicated a gift. Fireplace doors again. We suffered through last winter without a fire. This year, we're ready to burn some wood.

Before

After



Sunday, October 31, 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The bookshelf

Had a request for a finished photo of the bookshelf/desk project.

Day with dad part 2

Work with dad

What do you do when preschool has no power and mom has an experiment she needs to do?

You hang out with dad.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

World Communion Sunday

The combined adult, youth, and children choirs sang this morning.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Vaca!!!!!!!!

So we went on vacation. After having a very successful trip through Germany and neighboring countries at Christmas we decided we'd use the same travel model. Stop every couple of hours. 1000 miles in 3 days, no big deal. Thanks to Opa's 3+ months living in a LaQuinta in Ada, OK we got free lodging during our travels to Kissimmee.

The first bickering started before we got to Brinkely. For those not around here, that's about an hour. Not good when you've got another 15 hours to go.

The first stop was Mud Island in Memphis, TN. They have a 5 block long model of the Mississippi. The kids enjoyed it.


Then it was onto Birmingham. The kids were giddy over the pool. Go figure.

The kids shared a bed. Emily stays still and sticks to her side. Eli is a world class bed hog.


The next morning it was onto Valdosta, GA. On the way we stopped in Troy, MS at the Pioneer History Museum. Lots of neat stuff.



In Valdosta we stayed at a new LaQuinta. They have a free nightly cocktail and ice cream social. Yummy. At the "bar" there was a sign asking folks to limit themselves to 4 drinks.

After 2 8 hour days we were looking forward to a short day. First we drove a couple of hours to Gainsville to their Natural History Museum. It's free plus logs of really cool stuff. This is a REALLY big shark. Thankfully, it's extinct. It makes a great white look tiny.



They have a really cool butterfly exhibit.



Then it was onto the house that mom and dad had rented.

Sunday was a rest day for everyone. We just hung out at the house. Played in the pools (yes, there were 2), etc.

Monday we headed off to Sea World. A good time was had by all. The dolphin show was the best but the Shamu show was still pretty cool.

Tuesday was another rest day.

Wednesday we tackled Magic Kingdom. We hit the gates at 9am sharp. About 12:30 we headed home for naps. We got back about 4 and powered through until the Electric Light parade. The kids really were great and had a good time.

Thursday and Friday were rest days again. We did briefly goto the LEGO Store at Downtown Disney where the kids made LEGO cars to race and bought a LEGO truck to share. 1/2 the gang headed home Friday. We stuck around until Saturday.

We'd planned on spending 2 days driving home but as we were approaching Montgomery (1/2 way) at 2pm we decided it was too early to stop. We could easily make it to at least Birmingham (1.5 hours away). We then decided we may as well just drive all the way home. We made the entire trip in a little over 16 hours (with stops).

Saturday, July 10, 2010

He's getting there

Eli has been working on riding his bike sans training wheels for a while now. It's one of those, work on it for 20 minutes give up for a couple of months kind of working ons.

Well, we've recently started a behavior reward project with the kids that involves gaining / loosing marbles. When you fill up your jar you get a big reward. Not exactly sure what we're going to give, at the rate they are going we've got some time.

Anyway, out latest attempt to entice, OK bribe, Eli to work on riding his bike was to offer 10 marbles once he can ride from the top of the cul-de-sac to our driveway and back without stopping. So, today he strapped on his helmet and started working on it. Thirty minutes later I shot this video.



He's not there yet but he's getting closer.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Swimteam

June Update

The kids took a break from playing to help mow the lawn


Emily joins a long line of "lets take this apart and put it back together"


Last weekend we took the kids to Heifer International's birthday party for their new "Global Village". Neat place, very "green". They achieved a Platinum level of LEED construction. Very interesting exhibits, very informational. The kids had fun. (They even made it on the news on some B footage).

The kids planted bean seeds.


Eli played a drum


Eli miked a plastic cow


Eli has joined the St. Charles swim team. He races the freestyle. 1st meet was tonight. The league scores weird. The team with more swimmers has a better chance of winning because the scores are summed, not averaged.

Get Ready!!


The racing dive. He's actually pretty good at this part.


Stroking it out. He's still working on getting limbs completely out of the water.


Hitting the wall


He was thrilled, he came in 2nd in his heat. He failed to notice that there was only 1 other kid in the pool with him, oh well.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Our baby girl turns 4 tomorrow. My how the time flies.

Emily has become a monkey. She's taken to climbing trees. Her favorite two are a crepe merdle by the street and the magnolia by the house.


Alicia created another of her masterpieces.


We gave Emily her sandbox a day early. She was thrilled.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Happy Easter all.

First they dyed the eggs




Then they found their baskets this morning.




And lastly they hunted the eggs after church. The critters beat them to some of them but all and all not bad.