Happy New Year!

Well, the snow is all but gone. Only the lonely snowmen are left in our yard. Of course, that was a few hours ago and it's 52 degrees outside, so they may be gone by morning. Back again next year? We'll see.

Danelle took Kristin bowling today during Kellen's nap time. Sounds like they had a lot of fun. Kristin bowled a 44 and a 52. She didn't seem too bothered that is was harder in real life than on the Wii. She was all smiles when she got home.

Later in the afternoon and early evening we watched the Cyclones win their bowl game. Way to go Cyclones! Danelle made a focacia bread with spaghetti that went over really well. Both of the kids wanted more.

Here is another picture from the snow and also of Kristin at the bowling lanes.

Snow?!

Yesterday afternoon I was awakened from my nap by Kristin saying "Mommy, it's snowing!" Kristin was so excited. It continued to snow and I would say we ended up with 2 inches. A lot for here. Once Kellen was up and also excited about the snow we got outside to play in it. It was the perfect snow for snowballs and snowman building. We had a lot of fun.

The snow did pose a challenge for getting to the Winter Hawks hockey game last night. Unfortunately, we missed the game due to traffic. The roads weren't too bad for the truck and 4 wheel drive, but with a mass of unprepared drivers on the commute home from work it was gridlock. We tried 3 routes into Portland and had to give up. When we got home we found out the game was delayed from 7pm to 8:45pm, so it would have been tough to make it through the game with the kids had we made it there.

This morning the snow was still outside, but melting. So, we bundled back up and got back out to make more snowmans and play in the snow. Both kids had fun and ended up eatting a good lunch. During Kellen's nap I helped Kristin finish her pillow that she had been working on in a sewing workshop at school. The workshop is over, so it came home to be finished. We will have to take a picture of that.

This afternoon we headed to the mall to check on our blinds order, since it isn't here yet (was supposed to be) and find some new jeans for Kristin. Found the jeans, but they didn't have an answer on the blinds. However, they called tonight to say they made the blinds but didn't get shipped and who knows where they are. So, they are making us a new set of blinds rush order... 2 more weeks. Ugh!

All the days run together...

We spent the last two days just hanging out and doing things as a family. We took a trip to Target on Sunday to spend the kids' gift cards. We split up boys and girls at the store. Kristin ended up with a Leapster game and Littlest Pet shop stuff I think. Kellen ended up with a cool windmill accessory for his Thomas the Train set and a couple new engines to go with it. Kellen was VERY excited about his new Thomas tracks. Choo! Choo! he says all the time now.

We've been having fun playing the sports games on the Wii. Kristin has the high score on bowling. 196 I think. Danelle is on her heals with a 194. I've yet to break 180. Even though Kristin has the high score, she somehow has trouble beating me head to head. Kristin has been trying to figure out the baseball game too. She is getting better at her timing learning when to swing.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a Winterhawks game. We've got tickets to the company suite again. We'll all go and I actually got all of the tickets this time so a bunch of friends will be joining us.

Play Time

Today was a nice day to enjoy all the new toys in the house. We if course played some Wii this afternoon. Kellen was happy to go outside and ride his scooter and play with his new soccer ball this afternoon too. It was another windy and cold day, so we didn't stay out for too long. Kristin spent time playing with her Barbies and her new camera. Once I got home from getting groceries (and batteries) both kids played with Kristin's new lego walkie talkies. They had fun with those, but Kellen still doesn't really understand that he needs to keep holding the button when he talks. ;)

Aaron is off at his first hockey game of the holiday tournament he is playing in. He has 2 games tomorrow and the kids and I plan to go watch his morning game.

Here are a couple pictures of the gingerbread house Kristin and I made yesterday.

Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas to everyone! Or as Kristin has been saying, 'A VERY Merry Christmas!'

ON Chrismas Eve we went to the 4pm mass and got there at 3:30. A good thing too since it was standing room only by 3:45. The kids were good and Santa even paid a visit at the end of mass to say a prayer with Father Dave in front of the Nativity scene. That sure got all of the kids attention. We then headed home for dinner and exchanged presents. Here is Danelle showing her excitement over her gift from Kristin:

Kristin has been so excited all week in anticipation of Santa. She wanted to skip bedtime reading so she could go to sleep faster. She was convinced that Santa would come sooner if she did. She's not short on reading, so I obliged and wouldn't you know it, she was right! ;-)

The kids actually slept in this morning. We couldn't believe it when we heard Kellen rolling around in his bed and it was 7:45. Merry Christmas to us! The kids got up and dove in to See what Santa had brought. The scooters were a big hit with each of them.

After breakfast, it was back to opening presents from the extended family and friends. Boy was there a lot of them! We sure are fortunate!

Kristin was all about it. She passed out the presents and read the tags and told us who it was from. Kellen was into it for a little bit, but after the third present or so he was pretty overwhelmed. He just wanted to play with the new toys, he'd had enough of opening. Lets play already he seemed to be saying!

We were happy to have Danelle's uncle John over to spend time with us as well.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Day 3

Whew! Boy am I glad that the drainage work is done. The contractors finished at about 2:15pm today. They did a good job and even cleaned up pretty well. I vacuumed really quick and got Kellen down for a late nap. He was asleep within minutes. Unfortunately later when I tried to wake him up he wanted to stay in bed and was very cranky for about 45 minutes. I was able to get the floors all mopped tonight too.

Aaron came home early today. Sounds like his office was turning into a ghost town. Hard to stay motivated to be at work when everyone else is leaving.

Kristin had her friend Courtney over this morning for about 4 hours. The girls get along great and Kellen really likes Courtney too. They kept busy making crafts and playing in Kristin's room. Kristin is SUPER excited that tomorrow is Christmas Eve day. She can hardly stand the excitement. :)

Day 2

Wow, Danelle managed our two kids plus two more this afternoon while the contractors were busy working under the house. Kristin had a playdate with two sisters who are in first grade and kindergarten. Sounds like Kristin had a good time. Understandably, Danelle needed to get out of the house this evening so she stepped out to run and errand sans kids.

Kristin and Kellen played pretty well together for me. They were pretending to be ghosts by putting blankets over their heads. It was cute for a bit, until Kellen tripped on the blanket (it was too long) and smacked his nose square on the coffee table. It didn't look bad but after a few minutes of him sobbing on my shoulder I figured I should take a look since it was taking him longer than usual to calm down after a bonk or a fall. Turns out he had a bloody nose. Poor kid. As far as bloody noses go, it wasn't a terrible one. We were able to get the bleeding to stop pretty quickly and then he was off and running. And climbing. On the side of the wooden rocking chair. Which then fell over on top of him. That wasn't as bad as it sounds either. He was fine physically but pretty scared. He ended up cuddling with me for five minutes or so before bath time. We kept an eye on his nose and even let us touch it without flinching. He's a tough one.

The Beavers had their bowl game tonight. They got pummeled by BYU. Kristin was disappointed, but she didn't take it as badly as when they got beat by the Ducks.

One more day of work for me (Wednesday) and then I'm off until the new year. I'm looking forward to spending time with the family. It's supposed to be dry, sunny, and in th 40s to 50s for the next week or so. No white Christmas this year.

Day 1 of 3

First day done with the contractors under the house fixing our drainage problem. We only have a small lake under our house, so they are digging trenches and getting the water to stay out. Kellen is a bit cranky with all of this since the crawl space entry is in his room/closet. For a 2 year old this must be hard to understand and a little scary. He is a bit on edge but trooping through it. However, no nap today. I tried having a camp out in the living room for nap but that didn't work. The tent was more fun to play with. Tomorrow I may try moving his bed to Kristin's room for nap.

Kristin has a couple playdates coming up this week. She is pretty excited about that. In all the playing with Kellen today she did find some time to sit down and read some of a chapter book. :)

Here is a picture of the kids playing in the tent this afternoon.

Hooray, a New Post!

Kristin had her Christmas party at school on Friday afternoon. Danelle, Kellen, and I were all able to attend. I mostly chased Kellen and Danelle worked at one of four stations that the party was broken out into. Her station was a relay race with M&Ms and oven mitts. Fairly entertaining that one. Kristin had a good time at the party and seemed happy that her whole family could attend. There was only one other little sibling there - a four year old brother of one of Kristin's friends. That little boy wasn't very much bigger than Kellen. He's still our big boy.

At the party, one of the moms was explaining how the room would be broken out into four groups. She asked the class "There are twenty students and there will be four groups. How many will be in each group?" The kids were silent for a few seconds and then Kristin's hand popped up. "Five." Nice job Kristin!

Saturday... hmmm, seems like we were busy, but darned if I can remember what we did. I had a hockey game in the evening, which we won. No more league games until Jan 9th. But I did find a tournament to play in the week after Christmas.

Today was busy in the morning with church and donuts afterwards. Kristin helped me wrap Danelle's presents while Kellen was 'napping'. He did fall asleep eventually and was ornery when we had to wake him up. That didn't last too long though since Parker, Steve, and Megan came over for dinner and to exchange Christmas presents. Kellen was all about unwrapping the gifts. He also approaches each new toy with the following three questions. 1) Does it make noise? 2) Can I break it? and 3) Can I use it to break something else?

Here is a picture of Kellen riding his dump truck. He was bound and determined to figure out how to ride it in the forward direction. Mission accomplished.

Busy Nights

Last night Kristin had her 2nd Girl Scouts meeting. They worked on the Girl Scout promise and law and made holiday cards. They had been working on being responsible for the past 2 weeks. Responsible things for the girls were making their beds, picking up toys, etc. The group did well so they got their first petal to the daisy that goes on their vest. Kristin had a lot of fun.

Tonight we watched Ames High boys basketball team play Waukegen, IL (sp?) at Hilton on ESPN. That was cool and Kristin got into rooting for mommy's high school. :) Kristin is excited for tomorrow at school with it being the last day before break. They have an assembly, workshop (she is in a sewing workshop and making a pillow), and a party at the end of the day.

Tuesday

Tuesdays seem to go by very quickly. The kids were pretty wound up this evening, lots of energy. Kellen ran away from getting his teeth brushed before bedtime. He knows how to work it though, because he ran to me saying 'I'm all done.' and 'I want a daddy hug.' After I figured out what he was up to, I carried him back to Danelle. Then he ran for Kristin - again wanting a hug.

Kristin had a pretty good day. She said goodbye to her main teacher Miss Amy at daycare, who is moving to Utah at the end of this week. Danelle and I will miss Amy as well - she was probably in the top two as far as Kristin's teachers over the years at daycare. Kristin was a little on the sad side today as a result. But she is looking forward to her second night at Girl Scouts on Wednesday.

#400

This is officially our 400th post! Wow!

Today Kellen helped me run some errands in the morning. We stood in line at a Post Office for about 15 minutes... though I thought it was going to be worse. Kellen didn't nap today, he just jabbered in his room for about 2 hours. :) Oh well, I was able to get some things done all the same. We figure Kellen is becoming affraid of the dark. He always wants to turn on a light if it is at all dark and he is now saying danger or no danger in relationship to a dark room. So, we got out a night light for him tonight. Between no nap and a new night light he was out pretty quick. Sounds like he was just waiting for Aaron to come in and say goodnight after finishing reading with Kristin.

Kristin had a good day at school. She got another Eagle Eye today. She had gym class today and she said she almost got all the way up the rope. Kristin has been working on this (new goal) to try to get to the top of that rope. I am sure it won't be long.

The rain came back today and so conveniently right as Kellen and I picked up Kristin this afternoon. HA!

Low Key Day

We seemed to avoid the ice storm, at least in Beaverton. The storm missed us to the east. They closed I-84 east of Portland in the gorge, but we had higher temps and hardly any rain. Lots of fog in the morning though.

Pretty low key day today. More errands in the morning. I had a hockey game early this evening and Danelle surprised both me and the kids by taking them to an early dinner at McDonalds and then to watch my hockey game, which we won.

Lots to do yet getting ready for Christmas but we are getting closer. Here are a couple pictures of the kids playing in one of the boxes that presents arrived in.

Box

Yesterday we got some boxes of gifts. One of the boxes (from Brett and Sam) ended up being a toy. Thanks! It has been a boat, a Wubb Club (from a show Wow Wow Wubbzy), a chair or carseat, and whatever else the kids can think up. :)

We were supposed to wake up to snow or ice this morning and we saw neither. Kristin was a little sad that there was no snow. It did drizzle some today... enough to make the pavement wet. If it drops below freezing tonight we will have lovely icy roads. Kristin had a birthday party today. It was at a gym that was mainly for gymnastics. She had a blast, especially showing me how she can flip on the bars. Kellen was a busy boy today with trains, cars, and legos. He is really starting to sit down and try to build things (towers mostly) with the legos.

Shots Complete!

Danelle was Johnny on the Spot earlier in the week and noticed that our pediatrician received more doses of the flu shot for H1N1. She made an appointment for today and took them in for their booster shots. Kellen got his in the leg and Kristin was able to do the mist again. Hooray! The kids are now done with shots for the winter season.

Danelle was also a sweetheart this morning. I left my work laptop at home this morning and she was kind enough to drive all the way in to Portland to deliver it to me after she dropped Kristin off at school. So Danelle and Kellen got to see my office. I don't think Kellen had ever been there. He was curious as ever running up and down the halls and saying hi to everyone.

This evening the kids played with trains and pegs. Kellen doesn't like it when Kristin tries to drive his train, but he is getting a little better at sharing.

Visited Santa

Tonight after dinner we headed to the mall to visit Santa. We talked to Kellen and Kristin a little before hand to get them prepared. Kellen went straight up to Santa and was on his lap in a flash. Kristin got on the other knee and they both did great and had fun. Kristin asked Santa for SpongeBob stuff and girly stuff. Kellen asked for a choo choo train. :) They enjoyed their candy canes afterward that Santa gave them.

We got above freezing today (33 degrees) for about 1 whole hour. Back down in the teens tonight. Kellen and I have been trying to stay busy inside or running errands, since it is just too cold to really be outside to play... at least for very long.

Goose Egg

Danelle said that Kellen had a good drop off today at day care. First time in a long time for that. He had been crying and throwing tantrums when Danelle dropped him off. He had a little too much fun today though and fell while he was dancing and bonked his head. His version of dancing is pretty much spinning around in circles, so I'm guessing he got dizzy and fell down. He's got a big goose egg on his forehead now.

Kristin brought home her first report card of the year yesterday. She is excelling at reading and math and needs to focus more at listening and following directions. It was a pretty good overal report card.

A quite evening at home tonight. It never got above freezing today, which is very cold for here. No snow though!

Brrrrrrr!

Okay, it may not be as cold as it gets in Iowa, but for here this is cccc..oold! Highs hovering around freezing and lows in the teens. This morning the wind chill was 10 degrees. We are not used to this weather anymore.

Yesterday at church school the kids got to take off their shoes before class. When class was over they discovered that St. Nick left them some goodies (candy cane, chocolate and a maganet) in their shoes! Kristin thought that was neat. After lunch Kristin and I ran to the library for some new books. We decided to get a Junie B. Jones chapter book since her teacher is reading these books to the kids in class. She read the first page to me out loud in the car and I checked it when I got home and she read it correctly. She has since been reading it to herself and is ready to start Chapter 3 already! Way to go Kristin. Her reading goal for the end of 1st Grade was to be able to read a chapter book and she is already reaching this goal.

Later in the afternoon the kids and I headed to see a friend that lives out on a farm. Kellen likes that, but it was too cold to be outside and we didn't see any of their cows. They were probably huddled somewhere to keep warm. Aaron had a hockey game and they won.

This morning Kellen asked to go to a hockey game. :) Later he asked where daddy was and I said work. Kellen said "no, daddy play hockey game." Aww... I think Kellen wanted to go watch Aaron play hockey. ;)

Cold Spell

Well, like true Oregonians, we've been here long enough to consider a day with a high in the 30s as 'really cold'. We've been dry for about a week and looks to stay that way until Friday. We'll take the cold over the rain. Danelle helped keep the house warm today by baking peanut butter blossoms. Yum.

Seems like our weekends are packed this time of year. Kristin had the busy day today. Her friend Ella came over this morning for a play date. I kept Kellen out of their hair by taking him on a couple errands. While we were out and abotu, we saw four policemen on horseback. Kellen thought that was pretty cool. He really wanted a ride on one of the horses and didn't understand why he couldn't have one.

After Kristin's play date was over she and Danelle were out the door to a birthday party for one of her friends at Out of This World. This evening the kids kept busy playing with the kids kitchenette while Danelle was baking the cookies.

Here is a picture of Kristin from her first night at Girl Scouts. Looks like she was having a pretty great time.

Zoo Lights Round 2

Yesterday Kristin woke up so excited for the Beavers vs. Ducks football game. She is quite the Beavers fan. She went to school in her Beavers shirt and got to have a Beavers colored cupcake at lunch. When she got home she kept asking if the game was on yet... it started at 6pm! :) We let her stay up and watch this historic Civil War game. Unfortunately, even though they had the lead most of the game, the Beavers lost. Kristin took this hard. She seems to have rebounded today and is happy they are going to a bowl game even though it is not the Rose Bowl. Who would have known we would have such a football fan in our 6 year old girl!!!

Aaron was able to make it home early this afternoon and even picked up Kristin from school today. We packed up and headed to the zoo to ride the Zoo Train for Zoo Lights. This ended up being great as far as no big crowds and we got to ride on the first train at 5pm! It was pretty cold though. Hovering around freezing. Brrrrr... especially the metal seats on the train! We had a lot of fun though and afterwards we stopped at Red Robin (burger place) on the way home for dinner.

Girls Night and Boys Night

Kristin and Danelle went to Kristin's very first Girl Scouts meeting this evening. Though at this age I guess they call them 'Daisies'. Sounds like they both had a really good time and that Danelle is going to be a co-leader for the group. She was excited to get a package from Nana and Papa in the mail today that contained her vest with badges from when she was a Girl Scout. I'm looking forward to the Samoas. :-)

Kellen and I hung out together and played with his train set. Usually he is pretty territorial about the trains, but tonight he let me play with the big green one named Henry. Kellen had a big long train led by Thomas of course. It was a trian-themed evening as we read three books about trains at bedtime.

Funny story: a couple evenings ago at bedtime I went in to say goodnight to Kellen after reading to Kristin, which is the normal routine. As I leaned over to give him a hug he pointed at the wall and said 'what's that?' I saw my shadow from his nightlight as said 'that's my shadow'. Kellen said, 'No dad, that's the wall.' Sometimes the wall is just the wall.

Oregon State Beavers vs the Oregon Ducks on Thursday for the rights to go to the Rose Bowl. Kristin decided sometime in the last year that she is a Beavers fan, so that's who we'll be rooting for.

Christmas Decorations

It took 3 days in a row to get the Christmas tree decorated this year. On movie night we got the tree up. The next night I got the lights on and yesterday Kristin decorated it. Kristin decorated about 90% of the tree as I was tired from not sleeping well the night before and laid down during Kellen's nap time. By the time I got up Kristin had the tree decorated... except for the tip top. She did a great job and is very proud of her tree!

Kellen found out what "swishy" pants are on Sunday afternoon. Swishy pants are those sweatpants/warm ups that are made out of slick material on the outside and make a swish sound when you walk. Aaron put a pair on him Sunday afternoon and he loves them... he had to wear them again on Monday. This morning he wanted these pants again, but they were in the dirty laundry. I was able to find another pair in his dresser in the 3T pile of clothes and they fit. He was excited. Now tomorrow... no swishy pants, we will see what he thinks of that. In the picture he is wearing those swishy pants (ISU of course!).

Coin Another Phrase

Another typical weekend day mixed with errands and family time. Among Danelle's errands was a trip to JC Penney's to look at new blinds for the sliding door in the kitchen and the big window next to it. Penney's is having a huge sale - 75% off. She was able to find several that she liked and will get them ordered tomorrow. I'll be glad to see the old curtains go. Kind of looking forward to the installation project too.

The kids played well together today. This morning they went from room to room leaving a mess in their wake. Kristin said it looked like a 'toynado' had hit the house. For sure.

For dinner I was in the mood for a frozen pizza with tater tots, so the kids and I made a trip to Safeway. They were both excited that the 'car carts' were both dry and available. They picked a blue one. Kristin is getting so big that she hardly fits in the car carts anymore.

We got the kids out this afternoon after I mowed the lawn and mulched the leaves (hopefully for the last time this season). Danelle fixed a light that had gone out and the kids had fun on their bikes. Kristin noticed that our new neighbor Erin had more Christmas lights up than we do and said, 'Dad, Erin is beating us. She has lot's more lights than us. She even has lights in the trees like Zoo Lights'. A Clark Griswald in the making:

Movie Night

Today was another busy day with some errands. Kristin and I headed to ToysRUs this morning to get a couple birthday gifts for 2 upcoming birthday parties for Kristin's friends. Later I went out to get my hair cut and get a couple of other errands run.

Tonight we decided to stay in and have movie night including popcorn. Kristin picked Toy Story to watch and Kellen was pretty interested in the beginning. Kellen just doesn't sit still for a whole movie, but was busy playing and watching me put the Christmas tree up. The tree is up but no lights or ornaments yet. A task for tomorrow.

A Quiet Day

We had a relaxing day today. Ran a few errands to Safeway and Winco. Danelle went to Safeway sans kids and made short work of it. The kids played together pretty well all day. Kellen had the Duplo legos out and Kristin was busy practicing on the Little Professor. She was proud of herself for getting 10 out of 10 on the Level 3 addition. I thought it was pretty good too, especially since there are only 4 levels.

Danelle got the rest of the Christmas lights up while Kellen was napping. Kristin hung out with Danelle while she was putting up the lights. We made the trip to Winco a family event, sort of. Kristin and I detoured to the shopping center near the grocery store and did some Christmas shopping. After that we all went out to eat at Sharis, which is like a Perkins. Kellen actually did pretty well tonight - he's been having trouble sitting still at restaurants, but he did good tonight.

Here's another picture from our trip to Zoo Lights. Check out Kellen's face.

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving! We all had a good Thanksgiving and enjoyed a large lunch. I made what I would consider almost everything. The kids watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while I cooked. Uncle John came over for lunch and the kids had a lot of fun with him. Kellen wasn't even shy! Kristin kept Uncle John busy with card games and puzzles after lunch. Kellen actually took a late nap. He was still tired from our busy day yesterday and was rubbing his eyes, so we put him down for a nap.

I still feel stuffed tonight. I guess we need to get outside tomorrow for some exercise... hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Thanksgiving Celebration and Zoo Lights

Happy Thanksgiving! (Assuming you don't read this until Thursday). Today was a busy, busy day. Kristin's class celebrated Thanksgiving and the whole family was invited. She shared a portfolio of various projects and things they have worked on throughout the year. We watched a slideshow of pictures from class activities, and then the kids sang a few Thanksgiving-themed songs to us. We also got to have cookies and juice. That was Kellen's favorite part.

After the celebration in Kristin's classroom, the school day was over. We dropped Kristin off at the gym where she has been participating in an 'extreme PE' after school program on Wednesdays. Today was the last day for this program. So Danelle, Kellen, and I went home for about an hour and Danelle managed to hang up the Christmas lights outside. We then went an picked up Kristin and surprised her with dinner out and then we went to Zoo Lights.

We had a great time at Zoo Lights. It was the first night of being open and the weather was great. They do a really fantastic job with the lights and seem to add new things every year. Afterwards Kristin told us her favorite was a gingerbread house and Kellen's favorite was the elephants. The real elephants. Can't go to the zoo without seeing the elephants.

Danelle has been learning a lot of neat things with the camera and did a good job capturing the exhibits.

No Buggie

Kellen and I kept pretty busy this morning. We ran a quick errand and had time to play outside. Kellen wanted to catch a "buggie," but we couldn't find any. He walked around with a net most of the time. He also mowed with his bubble mower. I got the patio and sidewalks swept. It was nice to have some time out in the sun! During Kellen's nap I started on Thanksgiving dinner preparation by making potato roll dough.

Kristin had a good day at school and came home with a backpack full of past assignments and worksheets she works on in class. A lot for Aaron and I took look through to see what she has been learning. :) The kids chased each other around a bit tonight. Kellen was wanting Aaron to play follow-the-leader, so Aaron played a couple times. This never lasts long because Kellen is off to the next thing. Ah, the attention span of a 2 year old. :)

What Happened to Lazy Sundays?

Whew, what a busy day. I dropped Kristin off at CCD and then ran an errand to Home Depot. Went back to pick up Kristin and then we went to lunch together at Quiznos, which is always a big hit with her. After that, it was off to run more errands. She was good and showed a lot of patience with all of the stores. She would size up each store within a few minutes of being there and then announce if it was boring or not.

We didn't get home until about 3pm, and Kellen was just waking up from his nap. Danelle had laid down too since she hasn't been feeling well. So she headed off to the urgent care. It was a long wait for her, but they did get her diagnosed with a sinus infection. They caught it before it moved into her lungs, so that's good anyway. I got the kids set up with dinner (actually, Danelle had chilli going in the crock pot, so it was a piece of cake) and when Danelle got home she feeling better and had caught a second wind so I was out the door to hockey.

These are pictures from earlier in the week. Kellen was hamming it up for the camera. He hadn't used the spoon prior to me getting the camer out. Note the slimy fingers on his right hand that he used to eat his yogurt. Kristin didn't want to be left out of the fun, so she started playing a version of peek a boo where she pops out of the chair and sees if I'm fast enough to get a picture. I was. Turns out she was giving me a different goofy face each time.

Small Project Day

This morning I took Kristin into Portland to the local Girl Scout store. She really had fun picking out her troop number badges, etc. Now I need to get her tunic washed and get to ironing. While we were running that errand Aaron and Kellen went to Home Depot. Today Aaron kept busy with some small projects in the house. New toliet seat in the main bath, a cover for the "slug hole," and hung some hooks in Kristin's room. Kristin helped with the screws on the hooks in her room. The "slug hole" is this little hole in the wall in the living room that likely had cable line running through it at one time, but the hole was hollow with a peice of conduit in it. So, a week or so ago we saw a slug on the wall nearby and we figured it came in through the hole. YUK! Aaron sealed it off, which will also help that corner be warmer. :) The rain held off for most of the day and Aaron was able to get the kids outside for a little bit while I was running an errand to the mall.

Spaghetti

Kellen was having fun with Play Doh when I got home today. He had me put the spaghetti press together and he was proud of himself for being able to squeeze hard enough to make the spaghetti. He has taken to jumping and galloping when he gets excited, which is pretty often. This time he jumped over to me to show me the spaghetti.

Kristin did really well on her writing homework this week. Tonight was the night in the process where we correct her spelling and grammar. She didn't really have any grammar errors this time and her spelling is getting much better. Even when she mispells words it's getting a lot easier for us to figure out what word she had intended. Her writing was about Zoo Lights, and one of the evenings' homework is to draw a picture. She drew a picture of the zoo train all outfitted with lights.

Kristin is up to 38 laps in the running club at school, which is pretty good since the program is only on Tuesdays and Thursdays after the lunchtime recess. They have parent volunteers there at that time to count laps.

Sunny Morning

What a surprise to have the whole morning sunny! Kellen and I got out and played a little this morning to enjoy it. It was cool in the low 40s, but it wasn't raining. :) Kellen also stringed some beads and worked on some puzzles. Puzzles are one of his new things he likes to do. He is pretty good at them.

Kristin had a good day at school and her teacher was back. Evidently her teacher had lost her voice. Kristin also had her Extreme PE club this afternoon right after school. Next week is the last week for that. She was pretty proud of herself for running faster in a race than one of her friends that is a 2nd grader.

Traditions

This evening seemed to go by pretty quickly. Kristin worked on her homework. This week she has to write about a family tradition. She chose going to zoo lights with the family. After she wrote her sentences on that, she decided she would do some math from one of the workbooks we have at home. She was looking at centimeters and inches and estimating how long things on the page were. She did better than I did.

Kellen was pretty well behaved. He did a his version of 'sweatin to the oldies' while watching something on TV that had music to it. It was pretty cute. Here's a picture of him getting ready for nap time yesterday.

Blustery Day

What a breezy, windy, blustery day. It is even supposed to get windier tonight. Joy! Hopefully we keep our power. At least it is pretty warm... 60 degrees today.

Aaron took today off. He got to go shopping this afternoon and found a new winter coat for himself. We all have new winter coats! Now we are ready for the cold weather. We also had a plumber come over and look at the master bathroom as it need lots of work. When he went under the house we found out we have a pond. JOY! Now we need to start looking into fixing the drainage first. We figured our side yard drainage line was plugged... now pretty much confirmed.

Kristin had a good day at school. She even came home with another Eagle Eye. She is very proud of herself when she gets one! Kellen had a good day at home with mom and dad. He helped me run some errands this morning. He is a very busy boy and has been literally bouncing around the house today.

Is the Weekend Over Already?

Lot's of errands this weekend. Finally got the lawn mowed yesterday, along with all the leaves. Hadn't been dry enough to mow on a weekend in about a month. Filled up the 64 gallon yard debri bin with leaves and grass.

Danelle had a photography class yesterday evening and got some pointers on how to take pictures at zoo lights. So we'll look forward to that after Thanksgiving.

This evening we all went over to a friends' house for dinner. Kristin plays soccer with their daughter, Sheree. The adults had fun playing bowling and ski jumping on the Nintendo Wii. Kellen had fun exploring a new place. Sheree as a mini trampoline in her room and that was a big hit with Kellen.

Not much for new pictures of late, we'll try to be better at taking new ones this week.

School Dance

Kellen and I had our normal busy Friday morning today. We dropped Kristin off at school, went to Tumble Bus, and got groceries. While Kellen was on Tumble Bus, I met with one of his teachers for a conference. Kellen is doing well. He is slowly adjusting to his new schedule of only being at school once a week, but he is hanging in there.

Kristin had a good day at school. Tonight we dropped off the car at the dealership for some maintenance and will pick it up tomorrow. We had dinner at Wendy's and headed home. Aaron and I are very thankful neither one of us has that commute everyday...what yucky traffic! Kristin had her school dance tonight. I took her and she had fun dancing and seeing friends. The dance had a Mardi Gras theme, so she got a necklace and got to make a mask.

Not Much

Kellen had his checkup this morning for his ear tubes. Everything went great - they're still in there and performing as they should. He decided to skip his nap today, so he was Mr Crabbypants this evening. He had shorts spurts where he was well behaved, but it didn't take much to set him off. We think he's growing again.

Kristin and Kellen were rough-housing with Kellen's plastic tricycle. Kellen then started whimpering and carried the trike out to Danelle and I in the kitchen. 'Kristin broke it'. Sure enough, one of the handle bars is separating from the frame. I asked Kristin if she broke it, and her answer was 'not much'. Joy.

Danelle attended a kick-off meeting this evening for Kristin's new Girl Scout troop. Sounds like that will start the first week of December.

There is a dance at Kristin's school tomorrow (Friday) evening. I think she'll have fun with that.

Gifts and Playdate

Kristin had no school today due to it being Veteran's Day. Thanks to all the veterans out there for your service to our country! The kids and I ran an errand this morning related to Christmas gifts for the grandparents... that is the only hint you get! ;) After lunch, Kristin worked on an project while waiting for her playdate's mom to pick her up. What a deal for me! Kristin had a blast at Elizabeth's house. Evidently Elizabeth has a trampoline in the backyard, so that was a big hit.

Kellen took a short nap, but at least he took a nap. After nap he wanted to make another bracelet. Back story... he wanted to make a bracelet in Kristin's classroom at daycare yesterday and started one while we waited for Kristin to pack up. He has quite the fine motor skills and strings the beads very easily. Tonight was just low key and we played and Kristin worked on her homework.

Abstract Art

We have a cabinet in the kitchen where we store the art supplies. Kellen's latest favorites is the 'dot paints' which is basically paint in containers with sponge dobbers on top. He wanted to paint yesterday evening and headed for the cabinet. We keep it locked with a magnetic lock. Kellen hasn't figured it out yet, but he knows where the magnetic key is kept and managed to get it. He then got distracted and wandered into the living room where he proceed to bang on the TV screen with the magnet. If you've ever wondered what a magnet does to a tv screen, it's pretty cool in an abstract sense, but not if you actually want to watch TV. It left several multicolored spots on the TV. Luckily they went away after we turned it off and let it set for awhile. Good thing we only invested $30 in a used TV after our old one died. We had a feeling we had another year or two to deal with events like this.

Kristin has been enjoying the history lesson at school about the pilgrims and the first thanksgiving. I've been getting an earful about it every evening. Kind of nice, since I usually only hear about recess. She has a playdate tomorrow afternoon at her friend Elizabeth's house. She's looking forward to that.

A special thank you to all of the veterans in the family. We appreciate all the things you've done for our country!

Family History Lesson

Today was a standard day of school for Kristin, work for Aaron and Kellen and I at home. Kellen and I ran a few errands this morning in the rain. Yuk! Kellen was pretty much Mr. Crabby Pants most of the time. Ugh!

Tonight Kristin started on her homework. They are learning about the 1st Thanksgiving and the story of how the pilgrims came to America. So, the writing homework is about how, when, and why your family came to America. Kristin did some research, went over the facts with Aaron, and started her writing. She came up with a great first sentence and she will add more tomorrow as we ran out of time due to bathtime. Kristin seems to be really enjoying this new subject... history.

Busy Saturday, Quiet Sunday

We had a productive weekend, starting Saturday morning. We stood in line for H1N1 shots again in the morning, but this time we actually got them. I got in line over two hours before the clinic opened. The clinic was at a high school and they let the line form in the school, so I didn't have to get wet waiting. Even as early as I was, I bet there was at least 100-150 people there before me and they were all holding spots in line too. The folks running the clinic apparently got frustrated that they weren't able to take an accurate count, so they announced that your family had to be there in the next 20 minutes or they wouldn't be let in the building. This was still just under 2 hours before the clinic opened. But Danelle was able to get the kids in the car and make it in time. So then we all waited in line. Once they opened, the line moved pretty quickly and we were home in time for lunch.

In the evening we got to go to a Winterhawks hockey game and watch it from my company's suite. It was a pretty exiting game. The Winterhawks were down 3-2 and ended up scoring off a face off with 2.7 seconds left in the game. The player that scored the tying goal had all three of the Winterhawks goals in regulation. After a scoreless overtime, it went to a shootout. Of course the player with the hat trick also scored the game winning shootout goal, so it was a pretty exciting finish. Kristin had a really good time and Kellen held up pretty well too. We got home pretty late after that. Both of the kids slept in this morning.

Today was a quiet day spent mostly around the house. We did go to Dairy Queen as a family for Kristin's reward for good behavior this week.

Day Off... Yes from School

Today, Kristin was off from school again. She only had 2 days of school this week. Today was a furlough day. We had a busy day though. This morning, Kristin tagged along for Kellen's normal Friday morning of going to Tumble Bus. The owners were happy to see Kristin again and they were gracious enough to let her play with Kellen's age group on the bus. She did well and was very happy to be on the bus again. After lunch Kristin had a friend over for a play date. Elizabeth is a new friend that she has gotten to know at recess. They really get along well and the playdate went great. They were both bummed that 2 hours went by so fast. Elizabeth said her dad tells her "in 2 more hours" for things and it seems so long, but today 2 hours seemed so fast! :) I just told her that meant she was having a lot of fun.

Kellen didn't take a nap today. He wanted to play with Kristin and Elizabeth. He did stay in his bed though. He was pretty cranky tonight, but likely is already asleep. Aaron made a fire tonight... first in about 2 years. Last year Kellen was to curious. He is curious now too, but we managed without him touching the fireplace. It has been cold and windy, so the fire is nice.

Danelle took advantage of the nice weather today and took Kellen to the zoo. Kellen liked seeing the waterfalls at the goat, hippo, and 'hairy monkey' exhibits.

Kristin had her 'extreme PE' after school activity today but it sounds like she didn't participate much after the warm ups. They were playing kick ball but Kristin said that her leg hurt and didn't want to play. Probably more growing pains. She's gained another inch since September.

Kristin doesn't have school on Friday so Danelle arranged a play date for her friend Elizabeth to come over. I think Kristin is pretty excited about that.

First Grade Conference

Aaron and I had the 1st conference for Kristin as a first grader this morning. Her teacher is great and we had a good discussion. Kristin is doing very well in math and reading. She is in the top of her class. :) The teacher will be breaking the class out into reading groups soon which will be groups of similar ability. Looks like Kristin will be in a group with 2 other kids she is very comfortable with and hopefully they will all challenge each other. It also sounds like Kristin will start bringing home more difficult math homework soon. We are very proud of her!

Kellen had a good day at daycare, which makes me happy. He is having a hard time with drop off but had a good day so we will take that. He got to paint which seems to be a favorite thing to do right now. After dinner tonight we got rid of most of the Halloween candy. :) I was lucky enough to end up with a yo-yo and bouncy ball that both light up today at work. My boss's daughter works for a bank and brought in some goodies to hand out... after she talked to the owners. Kristin got the yo-yo and Kellen got the ball in exchange for all of their candy except for 10 pieces each. Aaron will be taking the remainder of the haul to work. Kellen also got to paint with the dotter painters tonight and had fun. Kristin joined in and painted too.

A Nice Autumn Day

We've had some dry weather and Danelle was able to get the kids out in the yard this afternoon. She even raked

the leaves from the cherry trees so the kids could jump in the pile. Check out Kellen watching Kristin in the first photo.

The kids were high-energy this evening but also pretty well behaved. Kristin asked me about the division symbol on her Little Professor calculator so we practiced breaking bigger numbers up into equal piles using legos. She picked up on the concept pretty quickly. She really likes math.

This is blog post number 366 on this site, so the blog technically turned 1 year old yesterday.

Calmer Day

This morning we all slept in. Thank you Day Light Saving for the extra sleep. I can't think of the last time I slept 9 hours! :) We went to church this morning and dropped Kristin off at CCD after mass. When I picked her up I finally got to meet her new friend Elizabeth's parents. The two have become quite good friends during recess and they are in the same CCD class on Sundays. We are planning for some playdates soon. Kristin and Elizabeth both looked excited to hear that.

This afternoon Aaron took a nap while Kellen did as he has not been feeling great. He is hanging in there though. Kristin helped me take down the Halloween decorations and get up the Thanksgiving decorations. She also played in her room for awhile and ended up putting on every bracelet she has... which is quite a lot. Other than that it was a pretty calm day from the past 2 days of Halloween and parties.

Happy Halloween!

Wow, busy day. We started this morning at 9am in line for a H1N1 flu shot at a clinic in Sherwood. We got there right when it opened, but unfortunately about 1000 people got there before we did. They had 700 shots. But of course we had to wait in line about and hour and a half to figure that out. Oh well. The kid have been healthy and now we know how early to be next week. I'll probably camp out real early and hold a spot in line.

From there it was off for a quick snack/lunch at home and then she and I were back out the door to Kristin's last soccer game of the fall season. Her team played really well. Kristin had a couple goals and has really figured out the 'assist' thing too.


After the game we headed to a pizza place for the end of the season party. Kristin got another medal and is very proud of it. Her coaches were really great all season long and the head coach said something about each child while he handed out the medals.

We went trick or treating with Kristin's freind Morgan and Morgan's mom, grandma, and little brother. We went to one of the neighborhoods by their elementary school that has lots of kids. There were some pretty elaborate decorations and the kids had a blast.

Back to School

Kristin and Kellen both woke up this morning without fevers. So, they were off to daycare and school this morning and I headed to work for my 1 day of the week. Kristin had a good day. She had a substitute today... evidently her teacher doesn't feel well now. Hmmm..... I wonder why. Kristin also "walked" 3 more laps today at the first recess. She said she walked these, which she probably did, but we discussed she shouldn't run today as she still needed to let her body rest after being sick. Her 3 laps got her to the 20 lap club (20 laps = 5 miles). Way to go Kristin! She was very excited and was very determined to get to this goal. Kristin did get a ribbon and a prize (some little trinket toy) for her accomplishment today. She is now after the 40 lap club.

Kellen had an okay day at daycare. He is having a hard time with drop-offs these days since it is only once a week. He would rather be at home. He generally has a good day though after I leave. Today he was pretty whiny... we think he might be getting sick with a sore throat. Hard for a 2 year old to tell you what is bothering them. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Knock Wood

Kristin rebounded very well today. She went to bed with a fever last night but slept all night and woke up fever free. She had a fever-free day today and went to be hopeful of going to school tomorrow. Danelle said she asked to go to school today and when Danelle said no then she asked if she could go to daycare instead.

We carved a pumpkin this evening. Kristin did about half of the carving I'd say. The little serated knives they make for pumpkin carving work pretty well. We told Kellen that we'd carve a pumpkin for him, but after he saw us open and gut Kristin's pumpkin, he changed his mind. 'Don't open! Paint!' So he painted his pumpkin instead.

Not sure what Danelle did with the camera to get that special effect, but it's pretty cool.

First to Fall Sick

Kristin gets the title first sick in our house... likely the flu. She has a fever, headache and alternates between being hot and cold. Poor thing! She is handling it pretty well though. It is tough with Kellen home as he was not sick today and was his normal bouncy 2 year old self. It was pretty hard for him to understand that sister was sick and didn't want to play. Kristin will be home again tomorrow and we hope for a better day. The other bummer is that we had her scheduled to get her H1N1 shot on Thursday. What timing!

On the bright side we can watch "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" tomorrow, since it is recording right now. :)

Monday Monday

Kristin was up early today. About 4:30am to use the potty. Then she got up at 5:20am when I was eating breakfast. She said she hadn't been back to sleep and was complaining of a sore throat. She didn't have a fever but I gave her some tylenol for her sore throat. She went to school today, but did have a slight fever early this evening so it's looking like tomorrow might be a sick day. She's been in good spirits though.
Kellen has been full of energy this evening despite only taking a 45 minute nap. Kristin said he was out of control and probably had too much sugar and was unbalanced. Not sure about any of that but it was cause for a chuckle.

A couple photos from the weekend.

Busy Weekend

We started off the weekend with Kristin's soccer game on Saturday. We got lucky and had great weather, but the fields were a muddy mess. Kristin had fun and did a great job at passing to her teamate that ended up with 5 goals. Kristin didn't have any goals, but that is okay. In the afternoon I continued work on the new bathroom door and then took Kristin to the store and to the library. Aaron ended up taking Kellen to Home Depot later to get a door knob for the new door. While they were gone I worked in the yard since it wasn't raining. I was able to get most of the work done that needs to be done for fall. Just a little left.

Today we had church and CCD for Kristin. Kristin was a little bummed her friend Elizabeth was not at CCD today. We are hoping she is not sick. Kristin was however happy to see her other friend Bella. This afternoon I finished the door!!! Aaron helped get the hinges on and put the door knob in. Now we have to get tehe old door out. :) Aaron had hockey this afternoon. The kids and I stayed home as we all seem to be fighting something. We are doing our best to keep us all healthy.

Eating Out

Kristin got a coupon for a free kids dinner at Olive Garden for participating in the jogathon. I think she gets a few other things as well, but she hasn't gotten them yet. Anyway, we went to Olive Garden tonight for dinner. The kids both got spaghetti, and both had a circle of red around their mouths by the time they were done eating. Kristin decided she really likes the breadsticks and the after dinner mint (Andes). Kellen was all about the spaghetti, but he liked the mint too.

On Fridays, the first graders can sit anywhere they want for lunch. Every other day, they have to sit at tables designated for their class (there are 4 first grade class rooms at her school). She's been wanting to sit by her friend Elizabeth for a couple of fridays now, but it hasn't worked out because Kristin's class is usually the last class to arrive for lunch and so most of the seats are already taken. But today, Elizabeth's mom was there for lunch and saved Kristin a seat. Kristin got a big kick out of that.

Kellen went to tumble bus today and had a good time with that. He loves Jake and Ike.

After we got home from dinner, we watched a bit of the hockey game. Kellen actually sat through a bit of it with me. He even joined in singing a Penguins-themed song. He would sing 'Great Day, Hockey'. Kristin saw that FLA was playing PIT and asked if FLA meant the Philadelphia Flyers. While she wasn't right, it's still pretty cool that a 6 year old girl knows that the Philadelphia Flyers are a hockey team.

Zoo

Kellen and I headed to the zoo today after we took Kristin to school. Great non-rainy day thing to do. It was quite foggy and cold. Kellen even wore his winter coat. It was nice because there were very few people at the zoo, so it was quiet. The animals tend to be more active when it is cooler out, so we got to see a lot. The elephants were of course Kellen's favorite. All the animals were "talking" today too. We heard the wolves, eagle, elephant, sea lion, and rooster!

This afternoon I made popcorn for the kids' snack. That is always a hit. :) Kristin had a good day at school and ran 4 laps at recess (a mile!). She is determined to get into the 20 lap club ASAP... much like her determination last year to get across the monkey bars 100 times. She has 3 laps to go to get in the 20 lap club... and her name in the Tuesday newsletter. Go Kristin!

'Extreme' PE

Kristin started an after school program today called Extreme PE. It's being coordinated by the PTA. She'll go after school on Wednesday for 6 weeks or something like that. I wasn't able to get her talking about it too much today other thann they warmed up with stretching exercises and a game of duck duck goose. She did tell me that she learned how to hang upside down by her knees from one of the horizontal bars on the playground.

Kellen was busy being my helper this evening. He helped me bring the trash cans to the curb, and then he helped my fix the license plate on the front of Danelle's car. It was leaning forward at the top because the top of the frame (an ISU alumni frame) didn't have any holes in it for screws. So I drilled a couple holes in it and let Kellen use the battery-powered screwdriver to screw the plate back on. He got the biggest kick out of that. I let him play with the screwdriver for a few minutes after that and it was a challenge to keep him away from the car. He wanted to 'fix it more'.

More pictures from the weekend.

Crisp Soccer Practice

After work today, we all rushed home for a quick dinner and then off to Kristin's covert soccer practice. It was a cool crisp autumn evening and was pretty dark by 6:30pm when practice ended. Aaron ended up not having to help coach. Kellen had fun playing at the park since it was new to him. New play structure, swings and even lots of fallen leaves to stomp through. Aaron was sweet enough to watch him most of the time. I watched Kristin and got to chat with some of the other parents. Kristin did well and was happy with her 2 goals.

A couple little things to report over the last few days. Kristin got a Little Professor calculator in the mail from Nana that does math facts. Kristin LOVES it. I guess it used to belong to Danelle when she was a kid. We had one too when I was a kid. Anyway, Kristin was asking me about the multiplication symbol. So I showed her what multiplication is with piles of legos. She picked it right up and was quizing me.

Kellen has been talking up a storm lately. Lots of complete sentences. Of course, most of them start with "I wanna" as in "I wanna watch Dora" and "I wanna go outside".

The pictures are from Sunday. The kids were playing in Kristin's room while I was mowing the lawn. Kellen was watching me from the window.

'Covert' soccer practice tomorrow. No official fields from the league so the team decided to meet at a public park. Kristin is ready to go after last week's practice was cancelled and she got rained out on Saturday.

The kids got a treat out of a local news story about Tumble Bus (click link for the video), which they both love. Kristin is too old for it now, but Danelle still takes Kellen when it goes to the daycare. We've been hearing about Jake and Ike for years.

Yet Another Busy Weekend Day

Aren't weekend days supposed to be restful?! Never seems to be the case around here. Kristin had a birthday party today around lunch time, as Aaron mentioned yesterday. She had a blast and the theme was pink pirates. The parents are "saints"... they had 12 girls over at their house for the party. They all had a good time and the party went well. I dropped Kristin off and made it home in time for lunch. After Kellen went down for nap I got started on staining the new door. Aaron brought home some work and did that during nap time.

After Kellen's nap Aaron made it out to mow, seed and fertilize. Wow! Tonight was a little more relaxed... I think more because Aaron and I were too tired to take the kids outside. Kristin and Kellen actually played pretty well together tonight, even in a different room from Aaron and I. Now if that was only the norm. :)

Rained Out in Oregon?

Kristin's soccer game was scheduled for noon today (Saturday). At 9am, the sun was shining, 70 degrees with a pleasant breeze. At 10am, the storm rolled in midwestern style. Rolling thunder with lightning. by 11am, the thunder and lightning had passed and we were back in a more Oregon style drizzle. So I was surprised when we got to the park where Kristin plays her game and the parking lot was nearly deserted. Kristin's coach was there, telling all the parents as they arrived that the game had been cancelled. Apparently it rained hard enough that there was standing water on the fields. Skunked again. Oh well. 2pm, the sun was back out so we did manage to get the kids outside for awhile. Danelle raked the thatch so I can put down seed and fertilizer when the weather accomodates. Danelle also sanded down the prehung door we bought last weekend. She sure stays busy for someone not feeling well!

Kristin is looking forward to a birthday party tomorrow for her friend Courtney who will turn 6.

FRIDAY!

This morning was pretty busy for Kellen and I. After we dropped off Kristin at school, Kellen had Tumble Bus (at daycare). It is always fun to watch the kids. Kellen's favorite was definately the trampoline today. After that we went to get groceries.

It was supposed to rain a lot today, but it missed us to the north. Fine by me. After a snack in the afternoon I got the kids outside to play. We raked and played until Aaron came home. We headed back out for about 30 minutes after dinner.

We hope the Isenhart clan has a lot of fun on the hike this weekend!!!

Long Day

Had a public meeting for one of my projects tonight, so I didn't get home until a few minutes before bedtime for the kids. Both of the kids were in good spirits. Kellen was just getting tucked in when I got home and wanted a hug before he went to sleep. Then he told that his bed was a trampoline. Kristin was happy and bubbly and showed me her new yo-yo. We bought it for her through some fundraiser or something through her school. She said that there is a special 'yo-yo zone' now at recess for the kids to play their yo-yos. Kristin decided to bring her 'old' yo-yo to school tomorrow so she can share it with her friend Elizabeth so Elizabeth can be in the yo-yo zone with her. What a sweetheart.

Danelle hasn't been feeling well, so it was a long day for her too. Hopefully she feels better soon!

Girl Scouts

Last night I attended a meeting and got Kristin signed up to start Girl Scouts. I am really excited for this and she is looking forward to it as well. The Daisy program is new to me, since that was not around when I was a kid. I have fond memories of Girl Scouts, so I am hoping it will be as fun for Kristin. Now we wait for troops to be set up.

Today was pretty rainy at times. Kellen and I did manage to get outside this morning to run out some energy between rain showers. Kellen found a puddle and had lots of fun jumping in it and getting all wet. That is what puddles are for I guess.

Happy early birthday to Ellie!!!

Whooped Cream

After dinner tonight I was having Danelle's apple crisp with ice cream and whipped cream for dessert. Kristin provided the commentary: Wow dad, you're having apple crisp AND ice cream, AND whooped cream?! I told her I wasn't technically having any whooped cream, but the whipped cream was good!

Kellen was his usual character self tonight too. Danelle and Kristin went winter coat shopping so Kellen and I hung out in the yard. Kellen got out his shoveled and made for the neihbors rocks. Our neighbor put in some colorful river rocks in the planter strip in between the sidwalk and the curb. They might as well be magnets. Anyway, we had made our way to the corner and Kellen saw a cat across the street. From the distance Kellen thought it looked like a bunny rabbit. He kept calling for the bunny rabbit to come say hi. The cat obliged, but when it got close enough for Kellen to see that it was a cat, he changed his mind. He wanted me to pick him up and hold him while the cat was saying hello. After the cat went back across the street, Kellen said he wanted to give it a hug.

The pictures are from Danelle's trip to the zoo last Friday.