Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

On February 23, we had real live snow. In fact, it snowed for most of the day. It was beautiful and really kind of neat...not something we see every day. The only bad part was that the kids were in school for almost all of it. I felt really bad that I was at school enjoying the snow with other people's children while mine were enjoying it with someone else.



According to Nanny, Mighty wasn't very interested in the snow when he was at home without his big brothers. He preferred to watch the snow from the breakfast room window...with Baby George, of course.

When the K and J got home from school, all 3 boys had a chance to play outside together. Mighty didn't hesitate with his big brothers by his side.

The boys made a snowman in the front yard at Nan & Gran's house. As we were eating dinner, K described it to his dad. He said it was "a little hairy...because of the grass and sticks." Only in Texas can you have a hairy snowman and think it's pretty awesome. After dinner, they went outside to make another snowman with their dad.

The most amazing thing happened...the snowman made it until the next day after school.

Airsoft Birthday Party

This year K decided to have another semi-military party. He is WAY into airsoft guns (and still way into anything military). If you aren't familiar with airsoft, it is a cross between paint ball, Nerf, and a BB gun. He wanted to invite his friends over for target practice and an airsoft "war."

Unfortunately, K got Strep on the Friday before the original party. He was devastated, as we had to cancel the party. We rescheduled for last Sunday. It definitely all worked out for the best - he gained 2 friends (but sadly lost 1) and the weather was amazing. We couldn't have ordered better weather. Needless to say, the boys had a blast! I told J that he won "Dad of the Year" for supervising/playing with the boys all afternoon. Secretly, I think he had as much fun as they did.

8 Years Old

K just celebrated his 8th birthday (on Mardi Gras). In some ways he seems to be everything an 8 year old boy should be, and in other ways, we still recognize the baby we've enjoyed for the last 8 years. It's kind of scary as a parent to realize all of the moments that are gone forever. I think I'm supposed to be comforted in knowing that the future holds many more. But wow! It seems like just yesterday we were waiting for his arrival. Now he is already 8. I'm sure we'll blink our eyes and he'll be 18. My goal between now and then is to treasure each moment, as I know they will come and then go... way too fast.

K thought it might be fun to celebrate his birthday with a king cake this year since his birthday fell on Mardi Gras. The cool part was that the class had just completed reading homework about making a king cake and the history of Mardi Gras. His classmates were already familiar and seemed to enjoyed his unusual choice.

I saved the baby for home. I didn't want any of the school children to panic if they found the baby in their piece of cake. K was super surprised to find it in his chocolate cake.

Growing Up

Well...it's official. Our boys are growing up. K is no longer in a car seat. J can use the booster with or without the back. We are leaving the back as long as we can for safety reasons and for sleeping purposes on long trips. Mighty Moo is out of the convertible seat and into the big boy booster.

The night we tested it out, Mighty was very excited and proud. The next day, however, was a different story. Nanny took him for an outing and he had a small panic attack. He was very concerned that he wasn't really buckled up because the seat belt didn't stay tight across his chest. He has adjusted now. He is officially a "big boy!"

LSU Tiger

J has been working on a tiger in art class for about 3 weeks now. When I picked him up last Thursday, it was finally complete. He was super proud and wanted to bring it home right away. It was raining really hard, so I convinced him to leave it at the studio which was not an easy task. I told him that this one was worthy of framing, and the rain might mess it up. Finally he agreed to leave it if I promised to take pictures with my phone to show his daddy. I happily agreed.

Notice the original tiger (from a book) at the top of his work. It's pretty ironic that he had on an LSU sweatshirt on the day his tiger was finished. Do you think it's a sign?





J's teacher is amazing. He models the expectation for his students, as all good teachers should. He demonstrates on the left side of the desk while the student tries to replicate the skill on the right side. This was the finished product for both teacher and student.

Laundry Time

I have no idea about the real story behind these pictures. Nanny gave me her camera's memory card to download pictures onto our computer. I came across these pictures and couldn't help but smile. This is my Mighty in action. You can almost see the mischief coming into his mind.

Guten Free Running

Last year I was semi-diagnosed with Celiac Disease. One test confirmed it and one test did not. I do, however, life a gluten free life at my doctor's request... which pretty much confirms it for me on a daily basis.

In the fall and winter of 2009, I was planning to run two half-marathons - San Antonio and Austin. I trained and seemed to get sicker by the minute. At one point I was convinced that I had some form of cancer. I managed to run the San Antonio race, but it definitely wasn't pretty. I had been sick off and on for over 3 years, and this was the first race I thought I might not finish. I kept training and was about to run the Austin race when I reached the breaking point. After several doctor's appointments, I was instructed not to run the Austin race. I began learning about my new diet and what it would entail.

Fast forward to January 24, 2010. For the first time since last winter, I ran a half-marathon. I was anxious to find out if all of this gluten-free living was going to pay off. I am happy to report that it did. I did not get sick. I was able to enjoy the race with two of my good friends by my side. What a relief!

I'm planning to run the New Orleans half-marathon in 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to it!




My cheering section waits patiently...

This is how running should be!

Basketball

The two older boys are playing basketball this winter. This is J's first attempt. He wasn't much of a soccer fan once he discovered his love of art. He keeps telling me that he just wants to do art, but I keep telling him that we believe in well-rounded children who get in a little exercise. I have a feeling this is going to be a long battle...but one I'm willing to take on. Back to the real story...J is pretty athletic and coordinated. Things seem to come easily to him. The only trick is keeping him interested. He dribbled the ball some. He played defense like a mad man (on offense and on defense), and he passes like he's playing "Hot Potato." We'll have to work on those a little. These photos are from his first game.







K joined a team this year that is filled with some of his best friends from school. As we watched the first game, it was hard not to think back to his first game last year. Boy, has he come a long way! We definitely have plenty to learn, but he isn't so intimidated and seems to enjoy the game. We didn't get any good action shots at this game, but we did manage to get a few of the team.

Kindergarten Writing at It's Best

I've been learning about a different way to approach teaching writing...mostly for 3rd grade and higher. (There is a primary grade version, but I haven't had a chance to research it much.) It is all about studying a certain style or genre of writing and then producing a piece of writing that could fit within the group of texts that were studied. I haven't mentioned it at home. But I came across this picture in the playroom that J had done on his own.

One of his favorite books is Actual Size by Steve Jenkins. In this book the author includes different animals and shows the "actual size" of either the whole animal or a specific feature of that animal. It really is a pretty cool book. J decided to make a page of his own that might fit nicely in that type of text. He drew the "actual size" of a gingerbread man and labeled it accordingly.




In January, we decided it might be a good idea to get in a little extra writing practice at home. To choose the topic, J looked through a selection of pictures...events from his recent life. He chose to write about going to the Frio River last summer. As you will see, he enjoys illustrating much more than writing.



"I went to the river."




I tried to catch minnows."

Engine Works?

K announced one day in December that he had signed himself up for the Science Fair at school. We were both proud and shocked at this news. I definitely wasn't going to encourage a Science Fair entry in second grade, as I know it will be required in 4th and 5th grade. I didn't want him to get frustrated with the lengthy process and decide he was never going to do it again...when I know that isn't really an option.

His teacher is a science fanatic, which is absolutely the reason we love her. I think she encouraged her students to participate in the Science Fair. K loves everything science related, so it was beginning to look like we were "in" for the Science Fair. (His teacher did email to confirm that we were ok with his participation).

The next thing K needed to do was decide what area he was going to explore. Immediately he let us know that he was interested in the reason that some cars can go faster than others...what about the engine made one car faster than another? Luckily, we found an engine kit that would sort of help him to understand the workings of a basic engine in order to be able to understand his real question.

As predicted, we did experience moments of, "I'm NEVER going to do the Science Fair again." But...the good news is that we ended on a happy note. He did enjoy the learning and the process, but I think he could do without some of the details required along the way.

Christmas Vacation

We filled the remaining days of our Christmas vacation with family and lots of fun memories. Mer and Pop made it our way the day after Christmas, making us all very happy.






The cousins surprised us one day when they emerged from the playroom as superheroes. They were quite impressed with themselves and we found them to be quite entertaining.

Mer and Pop took us to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. This was Mighty's first movie at the movie theater. We were a little skeptical at first, but he was awesome! He sat in Pop's lap the entire time only moving to eat popcorn. Hopefully, we will now have more movies in our future.