Conferences

Danelle and I went to Kristin's spring parent-teacher conference today. Kristin is doing awesome. Her teacher had all of the kids write their parents a letter for the occasion. Here is her letter, typed verbatim:

April 25, 2011

Dear Mom and Dad,

I would like to tell you about what animals I've been learning this year. At the starting of the year, our class learned abut frogs and toads. I don't remember any facts about frogs and toads that I leaned. Well, I do know that they where the first animals that we learned about.

Next, our class learned about bats. I do, remember that vanpire bats do'nt suck blood, they slurp blood.

Then we learned about penguins! I liked learning about penguins because I like the hokey team, the Pistburg Penguins! I do'nt remember any facts, but I do remember that the penguins remind me about the Pistburg Penguins! I hope you have a good confrens!

From,

Kristin

Editor's Note: Blogger won't let me indent paragraphs, but Kristin did indent all of hers. :-)

More Softball Photos

Saturday was absolutely beatiful. Kristin had a softball game and did awesome. She had a great hit that made it all the way to the outfield. I think she was the only one on her team that managed to do that. In the picture of her batting, you can se the ball headed toward the outfield.

Easter

Time to hunt for eggs!

Summer? When will you come visit?

Spring is in full swing with the weather being crazy. Kristin had a softball game last night and there was no rain in the forecast, however we got wet. Of course, we didn't go prepared for rain, so that made it so fun. Some of us took refuge under the play structure (slide) that is right next to the field. Even with the wet the girls did great. Kristin had a couple good plays while playing first base. Good job Kristin!

Today was more of the same with the on and off rain. Kellen and I attempted to plant some peas this afternoon, but it started to rain and hail. Maybe tomorrow. After school we picked up Kristin and headed to Petsmart to meet up with some of the Girl Scout troop. The girls service project from cookie sales proceeds was to buy dog and cat toys for a local shelter. Half of the girls were able to come do the shopping today and they all had fun picking out toys. I was proud of how quickly they were all able to stay within the budget I gave them! Good math skills girls! Of course we walked around the store to check out the animals. The girls, and Kellen too, visited the dogs in the doggie daycare twice. :) Kellen picked out two he wanted (a beagle and a ???). There were lots of types of dogs in their so it was interesting to see what he picked. I tried explaining to him that the dogs were their at daycare, not up for adoption like the fish, birds and hampsters. :) He seemed okay with that explanation.

Soccer BBQ

Yesterday was Kristin's last soccer game for the spring season. We were blessed with a beatiful sunny day. Which was great, since we also hosted the end of season BBQ at our house. We had somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 people at our house, with over half of them being kids. We had fun hosting it a getting to know some of the other parents a little better. It seemed like everyone had a good time. No broken bones, so we'll call it a success! Kristin had a great time of course, and Kellen had a good time too since a number of the girls on Kristin's team have little brothers that he could play with.

This week will seem like a slow week since Kristin has softball on Wednesday and Saturday, but otherwise we have a few free evenings. :)

Here is a picture of the last team huddle of the season. Kristin is in there somewhere.

Spring Showers... and Hail

Spring showers are definitely here! Pouring rain, sprinkles, hail, you name it we have it. Oh, and we do occasionally see the sun. With all the lovely weather, Kristin's softball game on Monday actually was not cancelled! We all headed over to the school and got to watch her play. Game 2 and she is still all smiles! It is amazing to see the girls already knowing were the play is and trying to make the out. Way to go team Purple Hurricanes! Kellen played on the playground adjacent to the ball field with some of the other siblings he likes to play with. Last night Kristin and I had Girl Scouts and we started working on a new badge that the girls chose... Art to Wear. Talk about messy! I figured there would be some messes with the fabric paint, there were just more messes than I planned. :) Oh well! The girls had a lot of fun deorating shirts, doll clothes, or whatever they brought. We also did face painting. It was a lot of messy fun.

Happy Birthday Oma!

Happy Birthday Oma! We hope you had a wonderful day! We had a fairly low key day today. Kristin had a soccer game in the morning and then Sunday school. Also cleaned the grill up for the upcoming season. We'll be hosting an end-of-season BBQ for Kristin's soccer team next weekend. We're all looking forward to that. It was overcast, windy, and cold all day, but we did manage to get outside in the afternoon. Kristin and I played catch with the softball and then the kids and I played a little hockey in the driveway. After that, we took Kellen's little bike two doors up to the cul-de-sac and he rode it around a bit. Kristin and I taught him how to stand up to pedal up an incline. While he pedaled around, Kristin and I played around with a basketball. We've got a busy week ahead - softball on Monday and Saturday weather permitting. Soccer on Friday and Sunday. And Girl Scouts for the girls on Wednesday!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Play Ball! Today Kristin had her first softball game! The girls did great. Kristin had some good hits and got to play four (I think) different positions. I think she really like playing "pitcher" standing next to the coach. Mostly because she got to tag out a few girls at home plate. Go Kristin!

Friday there was no school. Which was good, since we went to the Winterhawks playoff game on Thursday night. Bummer that they lost, but we had fun with some friends. On Friday afternoon Kristin had a Brownies on Ice event for Girl Scouts and she got to earn an ice skating badge. Since it was public skate, Kellen and I skated for awhile. Kristin was the only one from our troop that could go, because they had a limit, but she ended up seeing a friend there. What luck!

Tomorrow we are headed to soccer in the morning and it is looking like it will be a soggy one.

Baby Puppy!

...stuffed toy, that is. Kellen carries around his baby puppy just like Kristin used to carry around her Elmo. He even named him Baby Puppy. Baby Puppy likes to go everywhere that the family goes. Kellen likes to ask Danelle and I to pretend to be Baby Puppy's voice and talk with him.

Here is Kellen and Baby Puppy having a quick snack before bedtime.

Kristin and I are just about finished reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I think parts of the book are a bit to morose for a second grader, but she seems to be doing OK with it. I wouldn't mind if she thought the world was a safe place for a little while longer. I can't imagine what the parents of the kindergarteners are thinking as they read this story to their kids.

Spring Rain = Softball Rainout

Bummer today, Kristin's first softball game was rained out due to rain last night and this morning. She was looking forward to her first game and it was pretty much dry for the last 2 days until last night. The field was unplayable today. :( Maybe she will have her game on Monday night. Soccer doesn't get canceled for rain. No rain at soccer practice last night though. It was pretty nice other than the wind. Tomorrow Kristin has two games back to back. She will be tired after that. While I watched practice and talked with some of the other moms, Aaron had Kellen over at the playground. Kellen has a pretty good imagination and part of the playground has a little "window" that he pretended was a store and Aaron would order food. Aaron ordered whatever he wanted and Kellen had it and even priced pretty good. Good items like cotton candy, snow cones, etc. Then Aaron asked for a teriyaki stick and Kellen went and got one and then said "here is your hairy hockey stick!" Hilarious! Kellen had no idea what teriyaki was so it sounded like hairy hockey to him I guess. Didn't stop him from serving his customer. Kellen has been busy being a boy. We have been able to get outside a little more to play now that it is warming up and the rain isn't all day long. Kellen planted some flower seeds this week, so we will see if those come up. ;) Kellen loves to dig and play in the dirt, so we have been doing some of that too.