Publishing Party

Kristin's Third Grade had a 'publishing party' the week before the Christmas break. Each child in her class had to read a story that they had written in front of the rest of the class and all of the parents that could make it. Kristin did a great job. I will try to find her story, scan it, and post it later on.

Merry Christmas!

Wehope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Kristin and Kellen were very excited leading up to the day. It was a lot of fun watching their excitement build. Kellen woke us up on Christmas morning: 'Dad, Santa CAME!'

Here is a picture of the kids showing off their gifts from Santa. Kellen was too excited to even take his eyes off of his new Spiderman bike.

New House

Yes, we have finally found a new home to call our own! We are in the process of purchasing the home and we are all so excited. Moving will happen in early February. :) BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!

Reindeer Games

Kristin and Kellen recently enjoyed clowning around with some reindeer antlers. Kellen wanted to be Rudolph, so he got out his clown nose. Only trouble was that he's pretty much worn it out and it falls off if he smiles. You can see him frowning in one frame in order to keep in on. In another, you get his smiles but the camera catches the red nose on it's descent.

Gingerbread Houses - Kid Edition

Kristin and Kellen didn't get to go to the gingerbread house party, but they were still excited by our creation and wanted to do their own. Here are their creations.

Gingerbread Houses - Parent Edition

We may not be taking Kristin to soccer 5 days a week these days, but we are certainly managing to stay busy. Kellen has one more week of indoor T-ball, and Kristin is now taking an indoor softball class. So that's our Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Kristin also has Girl Scouts every other Monday night - tomorrow night they begin discussing cookie sales again already. Then soccer practice on Friday evening and game on Sunday.

Kristin is got her first semester report card last week. She is doing very well in school. Between two maths tests, her combined score so far is 76/77. She's exceeding grade level in math and got lots of other 'pluses' (they don't do letter grades yet). Way to go Kristin!

Kellen continues to enjoy preschool. He absolutely loves going and we can tell that he is learning a lot.

Danelle and I went to a gingerbread house making party at our friends' house on Friday evening. Below is a couple of pictures of our entry. While we are pretty proud of our first entry, first prize went to the couple who made a scale-replica of Jeld-Wen field (the stadium where the Portland Timbers play).

Conversations with Kellen

Dad: Kellen, what are you going to tell Santa that you want for Christmas?
Kellen: Oh, the things that I want.
Dad: And what do you want?
Kellen: The things on my list.
Dad: What's on your list?
Kellen: It's a secret.

Kellen had the hiccups the other day and was telling us about it. A little while later, I started sneezing. Sometimes it is just one sneeze, but other times I can get going for between 5 and 10. So I would sneeze, and then Danelle or Kristin would say 'Bless you.' And so, after about four sneezes, Kellen asked me if I had the 'Bless yous'.

Today on the way home from church we stopped at a red light and noticed that a giant snowman was being inflated as an advertisement for a Christmas tree lot. It as neat the way the bottom of the snowman inflated first and worked it's way up the snowmans body. Kellen was enthralled by this when a huge monster truck pulled up beside us and blocked our view. Kellen's response was immediate: "Awwww, Maaaahhhhhnnnn!" It was the first, and probably last, time that he has ever been disapointed to see a monster truck.

And More!

More Photos

Kellen and Kristin really like playing with Ellie's iphone...

Photos from Ellie's Visit and More

We had lots of fun with Ellie during her visit. Ellie gto to tag along to a Girlscout meeting and a Girlscout food drive event, watch Kristin get her first hat trick in competitive soccer, go to Saturday Market, Voodoo Doughnuts, play in the arcade at Big Als, attend the Thanksgiving Feast at Kellen's daycare, go to the opening of Zoo Lights, played lots and lots of Husker Du, and spent a bunch of quality time with all of us. It was great!
And as you can see, the kids enjoyed using Ellie's iphone to take pictures.

We Need a Boat!

Holy rain! I think we might float away. We have had steady rain and even heavier downpours all day and looks to continue tomorrow. Streets are flooding due to all the leaves in the street gutters and catchbasins. Kellen said he loves all the days... meaning he doesn't mind this weather. He put on his rain boots and was jumping in the puddles outside while I brought in the garbage cans. He also found plenty of puddles to jump in at the Fred Meyer parking lot today. What fun to be 4 years old!

The kids have been having a blast with Aunt Ellie. She is a trooper with both of them pulling on her at the same time trying to get her attention. We are all really enjoying having her visit.

Aunt Ellie Visit

Aunt Ellie made it to Oregon without any flight issues. Kellen was so excited to get to go to the airport with me to pick her up. Kristin ran up to Ellie after school at pick up time and gave her a big hug!

We have been busy this weekend spending time with Ellie. On Saturday she tagged along with Kristin and I for our Girl Scout food drive in the morning. After lunch we headed to downtown Portland for the Saturday Market and even took a ride on the train to see Pioneer Courthouse Square. Today Kristin had a futsol game and Ellie was excited to go watch her. Kristin did great and had 3 goals, a hat trick! Way to go Kristin!!! The team did great and won 13-0.

It has gotten pretty cold for here the past couple of days... down to 28 degrees last night. Cold and brisk days, but we were happy to have a sunny, dry day today.

Excited!

We've been looking forward to Aunt Ellie's visit this week. She'll be here tomorrow! Kristin is looking forward to have Ellie watch her play soccer. Kellen was disapointed that there will not be a TBall class next Tuesday due to the holiday week, so he'll have to find other things to show off. That shouldn't be too hard for him. :-)

Kristin adjusted to indoor soccer, or futsal, pretty quickly. She had two goals last Sunday after she figured out how to 'lay in wait' for the opposing goalie's throw-ins. Kristin would hang out well behind the opposing player and wait for the goalie to play the ball in and then spring into action to intercept the pass and get a shot off. We're still figuring out the best camera angles for indoor lighting, but this is Kristin winding up for her first goal.

Kellen had fun at TBall this week. It is not the most structured class, but he still has a blast and is developing a love for the game. Here he is batting from the right side. So far he seems to swing equally comfortably batting from the left side as well.

In Honor of Our Veterans

Grandpa J and Poppa I - We think of you often, and especially today. Thank you for your service!

Field Trip to Fire Station

Kellen's preschool had a field trip this morning to the Fire Station! Boy were the kids excited. Aaron and I were both able to attend. It was fun to see the fire station and all the kids excitement. One of the trucks even had to leave on a medical call while we were there. Kellen was very worried that a loud bell would go off when the fire-fighters got a call, but they have gotten rid of that. Now music plays when they get a call. It was honestly hard for me to know that they got a call... but we move the class along the wall and part of the unit took off. The ladder truck was out in the parking lot as they were doing some maintenance on it, so they demonstrated the ladder going up and down for the kids. Fun stuff!

Kristin started recorder club after school again today. She really likes music and learning new songs for her recorder. :)

Brownies!

Danelle and Kristin started Girl Scouts again this evening. On their way out the door, Kellen asked them where they were going and Kristin must have said 'to Brownies'. Kellen replied with a hearty 'I want some Brownies!' So after the girls left, Kellen talked me into baking Brownies. Kellen sure got a kick out of watching me looking for all of the necessary incredients, including the brownie mix. But in the end, we prevailed. I won't share Kellen's ovbservation on what the mix looked like when we started stirring.

Futsol

Kristin started her first futsol season today. This is indoor soccer on a small field with 5x5 (1 in goal and 4 out). This game really makes the girls work on their footwork. It was great to watch them today. The girls quickly figured it out and had some great plays with great footwork. Kristin's team ended up in a draw 2-2. Kristin had fun and did well, especially since she had never played futsol before.

Kellen is ever busy playing.... anything you can think of. Right now we have trains out and he loves to play pretend. Tonight he got out his laundry basket when I was folding laundry... he wanted a ride. He also got out the ropes we use to pull the laundry baskets around when we are playing. So, I put his folded laundry in the basket with Kellen and he took a train ride to his room to deliver the clothes. Then we took Kristin's basket as a second car on the train (Kellen held onto it) and delivered it to Kristin's room. He had fun with that and I got the laundry put away. :)

The Tooth Fairy Returns

Kellen finally got his second tooth out this evening. For some reason he had a tougher go with this one than the first one. It was so loose, just hanging there really, that we told him we would take him to the dentist tomorrow if it didn't come out before then. Well after dinner, he took to wiggling it like crazy. He was able to pull it out about a half hour later, and now he is super excited for the tooth fairy to come again. Way to go Kellen!

Smashing Pumpkins

Guess who forgot to bring their Jack-o-Lanterns inside last night? They disapeared and ended up roadkill on the street adjacent to our house. Kristin took it pretty hard since it was the first pumpkin she had carved pretty much by herself. Kellen wasn't happy, but then he suggested we go to the pumpkin patch to get new ones. Always angling that one. Later on Kellen did show his anger by declaring that whoever did it should get run over by a monster truck. Ahh, to be 4 again.

On the plus side of life, Kristin lost a tooth today at school. She was very excited to show me today. Kellen has a loose tooth too that would probably come out if he gave it a quick yank.

Kellen started an indoor T-ball class tonight. He was excited to go but wasn't thrilled when he found out it was going to be indoors. But then by the end of class he told me he wanted to stay. He is already talking about going back next week.

Kristin has a party this evening to celebrate the fall recreation soccer season. It was at Big Al's so I'm sure she is having fun. She and Danelle are just getting home as I type this. Just heard the garage door open.

More Pumpkin Pictures

Here are a couple more photos of the kids showing off their jack-o-lanterns.

Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins last night. What fun! And yes, Kellen even wanted his pumpkin carved for the first time! I found a puppy stencil that was cute... not scary, so I think that made him want to carve the pumpkin. Kristin did pretty much all of the carving for her cat design, with a little help from dad.

The kids are excited for tomorrow with parties, dressing up and of course trick-or-treating!

The Photos

One Week Until Halloween

Kellen is keeping a Halloween countdown calendar. He puts a Halloween related sticker on a lunch menu / calendar (from either Kristin's school or daycare, I can't remember) every evening before bedtime. Tonight we noted that we are only a week away. He is SUPER excited.

We had another busy soccer weekend. Kristin's rec team lost 1-0. It was 0-0 for most of the game and the other team got a lucky bounce near the end. Kristin played very well though, and played all but about 2 minutes of the game. On Sunday her competitive team won a nail-biter, 2-1. Kristin played defense for all of her shifts and was AWESOME. Nobody could get by her and when she pinched up on offense she was able to get back on defense with her speed. It was just a lot of fun to watch. She has been playing a lot of defense the last couple of weeks, ever since her team lost one of their better defenders to the the U10 team (Kristin's team is U9). Kristin has stepped right up to the challenge.

During the Sunday game, Kellen collected rocks from a drainage ditch along the edge of the soccer fields where the park transitions from soccer fields to grassland / trails. He was keeping them in his shirt and wanted to take them all home. I told him he could take 2 but he talked me up to 3 by the time we put the rest back. :-) He now often refers to his 'rock collection'.

Tonight during Kristin's practice Kellen and I played on a nearby playground and also ran around the track. He doesn't like to lose so he always tells me to run slow. Of course he has to stop running to tell me to run slow. If he just kept going I doubt I could keep up.

TGIF

Wow! What a busy week! Kristin had a scrimmage tonight for her PDA team and one last night too. This gave the girls some extra game experience and some experience playing with different girls within the overall PDA group, since they are split into 2 teams. The coaches mixed them up for the scrimmages. Kristin played some great defense in the games and had an awesome goal kick that had many parents along the sideline impressed, us too of course! She is super tired and probably fell asleep quick tonight. The field has had sand dumped on it to try to help dry it out. Kellen had fun playing in the sand tonight. :) I hear the bathtub was pretty sandy tonight.

Thank you Oma and Poppa for the Halloween package for the kids. We opened it tonight and the kids love their gifts! The funny glasses are hilarious... we will try to get pictures of those soon.

This and That

Last weekend we took a trip to a nearby apple orchard. They have a wagon ride, a pumpkin slingshot, two hay mazes, and a giant inflatable bounce house in the shape of an apple.

One of the hay mazes was covered with plywood and tarps to make it dark. They handed out flashlights for the that one. The first time through, Danelle took the kids. Then they wanted to go again so I went with them. Kristin took off ahead of Kellen and I. I had a hard time even keeping up with Kellen. He didn't make one wrong turn when I went with. They pretty much had it memorized after one time through. After I went with them, they wanted to go again. So they went together and got through it quickly once again.

We enjoyed the wagon ride through the orchards and then played the apple slingshot game. The idea was to hit targets with apples. I think we had five apples total to share and I got lucky with the last apple and hit the target. The prize was a small stuffed bear.

Kristin's fall soccer season is ending with a flurry over the next week and a half. In addition to her Saturday and Sunday games, this week she has scrimmages on Thursday and Friday this week.

Danelle took Kristin to practice this evening and Kellen and I stayed home. We played 'grocery store'. He has some play groceries and a cash register. We took turns, but he definitely liked being the clerk better.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Happy birthday wishes to Ellie today! Enjoy your day with family and hiking! Wish we could be there. Hugs all around.

Yank the Tooth Remix!

Check out the 'remix' Danelle put together last night. Soundbite to the right. Enjoy!

Kellen's Tooth

Listen to the new soundbite to the right to hear Kellen's explanation of loosing his first tooth!

Pumpkin Patch and Kellen Loses His First Tooth

What a day! We decided to make the best of a weekend day without soccer and nice weather. Kristin's rec team had a bye this week. We got a dry day in the 60s and got the car and truck outfitted with new wipper blades (thanks Aaron!), mowed (thanks again Aaron), and went to the pumpkin patch. The kids had fun picking pumpkins and going on the hay ride to and from the pumpkins. There are also some things for them to play on... hay, play structure, etc.

Tonight while I was still eatting dinner and the kids were out in the living room playing, Kellen says "I pulled out my tooth!" He has had the bottom two front teeth loose for awhile and the one had gotten really wiggly as of yesterday. He said he wiggled it and then pulled it out. He is super excited for the Tooth Fairy to come.

Jog-A-Thon

Today was Kristin's school Jog-A-Thon, which is their biggest PTC run fundraiser. All 5 classes of 3rd grade ran together this morning. They had 30 minutes (in years past they have only had 20 minutes) to run. Kristin ran 9 laps, which equates to 2.25 miles. Go Kristin! She was all smiles and the weather was actually perfect for a run... not too hot, not too cold and no rain. :)
At lunch today Kellen says to me "echolocation." What?! He repeated it and then told me he heard it on Cat in the Hat this morning. Wow! What things this kid picks up on. He didn't know what it meant but wants to tell his friends at preschool tomorrow that he knows the word echolocation. What a funny boy! ... for those of you that don't know echolocation is how bats navigate in the dark while hunting prey. They must have been talking about bats on the Cat in the Hat. Echolocation was also a challenge spelling word for Kristin last year when her class was learning about bats.

Weekend Wrap-Up and Monday

Sunday included another soccer game for Kristin. Her team won and she scored another goal! It took both teams a little bit to get used to playing the faster speed on turf. One of our venues has gotten too wet/muddy for game play, so some games have been moved to the high school football field, which is turf.

It was a rainy weekend, but we were able to stay dry at both soccer games. Kellen was not himself this weekend as he has been working on his 6 year old molars. He even had a fever on Sunday. :( He has perked up and is pretty much back to himself today.

Yesterday, Kellen had his second field trip for preschool. The class visited the supermarket... I get corrected if I call it the grocery store! The field trip was to New Seasons (a natural/organic type store). The kids had fun seeing all the back areas for employees and sampling bread, raspberries, apple/pear juice, and pepperoni. They even each got a little bag with goodies inside. The most popular item seemed to be the Pirate Booty. The bag also included an apple, apple juice, stickers, and a fruit stick. Kellen and I stayed for a little bit afterwards and had a snack with his friend Cate and her mom and brother.

Weekend

Halfway through the weekend already. Kellen has been having a great time with his preschool class. He really likes it. He'll even give me a few of the highlights from the day when I ask him in the evenings. His imagination also seems to have taken another leap forward lately. He is always asking Danelle and I to play with him. This afternoon, he was pretending that the couch was a train. He was the coal man and I had to drive the train. We stopped a few times to fix the wheels on the train and before long we we're using little plastic min golf clubs to paddle the 'boat-train'. What an adventure.

Kristin continues to excel with her soccer. She had the only goal for her rec league team today and had a good all around game. Her rec team and competitive team are within the same overall club, so we've had to get her an extra jersey. There just isnt enough time to keep one clean. :-)

Today seemed like the first game day that we didn't get wet this fall, but I think there was one other day that was really hot.

College Football

On Saturday we were blessed by friends and had 4 tickets to the Oregon State Beavers football game against UCLA. Unfortunately, OSU lost. However, we had a really fun time and the kids got to enjoy a whole new experience. Our seats were awesome too.... between the 45 and 50 yard line (see picture for our view). It was a great day for a football game.


The weather turned on us for Sunday and we got quite wet at Kristin's soccer game. Kristin played well and didn't complain about the sideways rain. Kellen hid under a blanket for most of the game to try to stay dry. :) Kristin's team won 4-0.

US Soccer

Last night I got to take Kristin to the US v Canada women's soccer game in Portland! Kristin really enjoyed watching the World Cup this summer, so when we heard the US team was coming to Portland to play a friendly against Canada we got tickets. She had a blast and so did I. The energy there was crazy and US won 3-0! Kristin even has a new Wambach shirt. :)

Before the game yesterday, Kellen and I ran some errands. He has been asking to be Spiderman for Halloween this year, so we ended up finding him a costume yesterday. He likes Spiderman a lot these days, all based from reading a book about Peter Parker becoming Spiderman. :) Kellen also starts Lunch Bunch next Monday at preschool where he stays for an extra hour and has lunch with friends. This meant he needed a lunch box. Of course he wanted a Spiderman lunch box. We got super lucky and got the last one at Fred Meyer yesterday. Kellen told me yesterday that he wants to be Peter Parker when he grows up. :)