Happy Birthday Nana!

In honor of Nana's birthday, Kellen sang Nana the first verse and chorus of the Zamboni song, as well as the ABC's. Good job Kellen! Kellen was in the mood for breakfast at dinner time tonight so Danelle got him some frozen-then-toasted pancakes with blueberry sryup, a banana, and some ham. Kellen decided that the banana tasted better when dipped in the sryup. :-) We're closing in on Kristin's first ever softball game. They've got one more practice Wednesday evening and then their first game on Saturday (weather dependant). This has been our first March that Kristin has had soccer practice (it previously hadn't started until April) and now softball practice too. Of course it would have to be the rainiest March on record. We haven't melted yet though. Here is a picture of Kristin sporting her new Garfield stuffy that she got with her 1000 tickets last week.

Skating with Mommy

Today, Kellen had his last lesson of the Feb-March session. He had been asking for me to skate with him for lessons, so today I got out on the ice with him. That put a big smile on his face! We had fun, especially since there were some toe pick holes to fill in from the figure skaters that practice before our lesson. One of the staff brought out some ice/snow to fill in the biggest hole. Kellen and I filled in one of the smaller holes with some leftover ice slush. Kellen happened to bring a little backhoe digger as his toy to throw around on the ice, so that helped with the job. Once he had it packed down I showed him how my skate could be a grader. He thought that was great! We did also do some skating. :)

Kristin had the flu yesterday, poor girl. She perked up last night and seems much better today. We even made it outside to play at the school this afternoon. We would have some time in the sun, then a band of rain clouds would come in for a few minutes, then more sun. Spring is definitely here.

1,000 Tickets!

This morning we took a trip down to Big Al's to play in the game room. Kristin was playing the Big Fish game (looks like the wheel from the showcase showdown on The Price is Right) and on her second try she got the grand prize of ticket payout....1,000 tickets!!!! It took a good 5 minutes for the machine to spit out 1,000 tickets. She was super excited. You redeem the tickets and get to go shopping in the store. The more tickets, the better the prizes. Kristin's big item she picked was a Garfield the cat stuffed animal. Kellen had fun playing games as well and challenged me to a game of air hockey. He actually can play pretty good for an almost 4 year old. It was fun watching him try to get the puck each time. :)

This afternoon we played around the house and watched Horton Hears a Who. Of course it had to start raining at dinner-time, which meant softball practice would again be under cover. That also meant that Kellen and Aaron would stay home to play instead of on the playground. Sounds like they had fun playing with PlayDoh though.

Wheezy the Logging Crane and Baby Puppy's Blanket

Kellen asked Danelle to make a blanket for his Baby Puppy stuffy that he carries around. Kind of reminds us of Kristin carrying around Elmo everywhere she went. On Sunday, Danelle made Kellen a new pillowcase and had enough left over to make Baby Puppy a blanket. Kellen was thrilled. I think his exact words were 'BABY PUPPY LOVES IT!'

Here is a picture of Kellen playing with his new Thomas the Tank Engine railway accessory: Wheezy the Logging Crane.

Kristin wanted to go up to her school playground this evening to hit off of the tee that we got over the weekend. Boy was it busy. There was a boys Little League monopolizing much of the space, but it worked out that we still had enough room for Kristin to hit. She had some good swings and even put hit a few past me. Danelle would queue up the tee while I did the fielding. After that, Danelle and Kristin played catch while I watched Kellen on the playground equipment. Kellen did bring his wiffle ball bat for a few swings at the tee. But he insisted on holding the bat like a hockey stick. He stood in the right handed batters position, held the bat like a left handed hockey player, and swung a nice backhand shot, er swing. If you can imagine such a thing.

Looney Tunes

Kellen gets a little TV time after his bath while Kristin is taking her bath. Tonight he watched some Looney Tunes. Some Bugs Bunny episodes. It's fun to listen to him giggle.

Kristin had softball practice this evening. We took both cars so I could get Kellen home for a (late) bath time. It was dry enough to play on the playground equipment and Kellen had a great time playing with other siblings that had turned up for practice. Kristin seems to be enjoying herself with softball. Yesterday we went up to her school playground with her new bike and our gloves. We played catch and started practicing ground balls and pop flys. She's not afraid of the ball and seems to be amenable to learning the fundamentals. It will be interesting to see how softball stacks up with soccer for her at the end of the season. It does help that she already knows a couple of girls on the team.

Spring Break Begins!

We made it through the first week of three with 3 sport practices for Kristin. She had 2 softball practices and 1 soccer practice. No soccer game this weekend though due to Spring Break. We even got some spring-like weather today with temps in the mid 50s. We all got outside to play this afternoon. :) Kristin enjoyed riding her bike and we decided it was time to get her a new bike today. She had really outgrown her existing bike. She is now the proud owner of a 20 inch bike! That was her reward for having a good report card. We are very proud of her.

Kellen ended up getting his Wheezy Logging Crane (Thomas the Tank Engine related) today as well. He was so excited when we got to the store... he bolted right to the Thomas section. :) We got to play with Wheezy this afternoon and it has been lots of fun.

Kristin has started a new book for this years "One School, One Book" program. This year the book is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. She will be reading one chapter a night for the next few weeks.

Photo Updates

Kristin started softball practice Monday evening. I didn't get any pictures because I didn't want to take the camera out in the rain. :) Luckily, the girls practiced 'under cover' at one of the local grade schools. Most grade schools have an open-air play area with roofs on them so the kids can still play outside when it is raining. The rain didn't deter Kellen though. He and I played on the playground equipment, kicked a soccer ball around, and pushed him on the swings.

Here is a picture of Kristin sporting her new batting helmet in the house (while wearing her soccer jersey).

Kellen is enjoying his new bed. Though he hasn't wanted us to get rid of his old bed. I had to leave him at home when I delivered it to a friend this evening. I just told him I was running an errand. We'll see how he takes it when he notices that it isn't in the garage anymore. If he notices, that is. Here is a picture of Kellen and Danelle reading on the new bed.

New Bed

This weekend was another busy one for us. Saturday was full of skating lessons for Kellen and public skate for our whole family. Kristin got to skate at public skate with her friend Ella. She also ran into a friend from her last lesson and another friend from her 2nd grade class. At the time we were getting off the ice we saw one of Kristin's soccer teamates... the other Kristin. :) What a day at the ice rink! After returning home, Kristin and I headed out to get her cleats, a helmet and a bat for softball, which starts tomorrow. While we were gone, Aaron and Kellen worked hard to put together Kellen's new bed. Kellen helped put the washers together for the bolts. What a great job they did and Kellen had fun sleeping in his new bed (now off the floor) last night!

Today was church and soccer day. Kristin's soccer game went well and she even got an assist to the first goal. It was a close game. The girls worked hard and looked to be having fun. And luckily the heavy rain waited and hit later when we were home. :) This afternoon has been low key as we adjust to the time change. It is definately nice that it is still light outside as I am sitting here typing at it is almost 7pm! Now if it was just nice enough to be outside taking walks. The trees are starting bloom here, so we are definately gearing up for spring and hoping for some warmer weather.

Imagination Overdrive

Kellen's imagination is very much engaged these days. He loves creative play. This evening we played with Tigger and Pooh stuffed toys. Tigger and Pooh ate imaginary honey and went up and down (over and over) an imaginary slide. After bath Kellen insisted on putting on his Alabama elephant costume from Aunt Ellie. He's been dancing around the living room in his costume.

The kids had their dentail checkups earlier this week. They're both doing well as far as no cavities. Kellen has an underbite that will have to be addressed when he gets a little older. Kristin picked a mood ring out of the toy box at the dentist office. Kellen got a wind-up bulldozer.

Kellen is already gearing up for his birthday. Today he told me about a logger crane for the Thomas the Tank Engine tracks that he saw in a store today.

Kristin and I have been reading the Puppy Place series of children's books together. Each book is about a different dog, usually a puppy, that is fostered by the family featured in the series of books. Each dog of course finds a 'forever home' and the end of the story. I think we're both actually learning things about taking care of a dog. It's pretty well settled at this point that we'll get a dog of our own after we find a house to buy. We're not allowed to have one at our current house.

Our Big Boy

Kellen transitioned out of his toddler bed this weekend. We ordered a twin mattress a couple weeks ago from Danelle's uncle John (thanks John!). It arrive on Saturday. Once Danelle had it outfitted with Lightning McQueen sheets and comforter, there was no holding Kellen back. We've been shopping for a bedframe for a month or so and settled on one today. It will be here in a week or two. In the meantime, Kellen is sleeping on his new mattress sans frame.

Another smaller milestone for Kellen this weekend. He is now wearing size 5 pajamas. Our 3 year old in size 5 pajamas!

Kristin had her second soccer game of the current season this morning... it's going to be a long season. It's incredible what a difference a year makes with the girls. It's probably a little more than that for Kristin because of her late birthday. By birthdate, she is a U7 age but playing on a U8 team in a U9 league. That said, she doesn't look out of place and I think she is one of the better players on her team. They do have a great coach, so they are still learning a lot and will be that much better next year.

Week Recap

As I sit here, I am scratching my head on what happened this week and how the week flew by. On Monday I took Kellen to the pool at the Y. We had a lot of fun... at least until we had to get out... that was cold! Wednesday Kristin had bookmaking club after school. She really has fun in that club. We also had Girl Scouts Wednesday night. Today, Kellen had Tumble Bus in the morning. We even got a visit from one of his past teachers when he was an infant to 18 months old! It was great to catch up with Ms. Angie.

Here are some photos I just got downloaded from my phone. This was a little party in Kellen's class in January where they got to make snowman treats. Yum! Kristin even got to join in the fun.