2012 Week 9

The kids did it!  They earned a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (by trying new foods) and this week we fulfilled our end of the bargain by taking them there Monday.  For 3 days and 2 nights we had a great time swimming and enjoying all the other amenities at the hotel.  The kids loved the wave pool (we couldn't get Tyler out of it most of the time) and the slides.  They also had fun with the Magi Quest (kind of a treasure hunt with a magic wand and interactive items set up all throughout the hotel), the arcade, story time, and a few other activities.

We reserved a room with a "kids cabin" with it's own little set of bunk beds and TV.  The kids loved it.

It was quite a fun week for the kids.  When they returned to school on Thursday it was only for a half day, due to Parent Teacher conferences (which neither of the kids' teachers had asked us to attend).  And the school celebrated Dr Seuss' birthday on Friday with fun activities for the kids.  Tyler's class even got to wear their pajamas to school. 

It was drill week for Sam, so to keep ourselves busy the kids and I went to the Dr Seuss party at the library.  They had an illustrator/artist there that did a fun little presentation then the kids got cake and punch.

Kaitlyn can be a real sweetheart when she feels like it.  We found a cute little drawing from her on our bed this week.

2012 Week 8

 Looks very sad and dejected doesn't he?  That's the face he gets when Kaitlyn and the older kids outrun him and he gets left behind.  It's rough being little.  But probably sooner than I'll be ready for it, he'll be running off with friends of his own.

Let's see...other things of note this week.

One day I picked Tyler up at preschool and his teacher just couldn't compliment him enough. She had been testing the kids, comparing how they are doing now to when they first started.  And I guess the progress of the kids was kind of disappointing until it was Tyler's turn.  As far as I can tell, he must have been above and beyond expectations.  His teacher said he completely made her day.  She went on and on about it. Go Tyler!

We have a new neighbor (down on the other side of the subdivision), and he has a car that looks like "Bumblebee" (you know - from Transformers).  Bright yellow Camaro with black racing stripes.  The plate even says MuBumblbee.  We were meeting up with friends to go for a walk and the guy drove by and stopped to say hi.  Tyler told him his car was awesome and they had quite the little conversation about Transformers and stuff.  Then the guy asked Tyler if he (and his bike) wanted to race so they "raced" down to the corner.  Tyler took off on the bike and the guy followed well behind, obviously.  It was really cute and made Ty's day.  (too bad I didn't pull out my phone to take a photo until they were too far away)

The weather bounces from rainy and overcast to warm and springy, which is really nice.  The first set of flowering trees are even starting to bloom.  End of February and spring is on its way - I like that about North Carolina.

The kids are really excited about our upcoming family vacation.  We'll be gone 3 days of school and Kaitlyn, little self-motivated, conscientious smart little monkey that she is insisted that I write a note to her teacher (well in advance of the trip) asking that she get a packet of homework/classwork for Kate to work on during the trip so she didn't get behind.

Have I mentioned I started a new exercise routine?  Yup.  P90X, which is pretty intense.  I've surprised myself by how motivated I am to stick with it.  Not only that, but I usually add in a walk (or sometimes two) with a friend most days as well.  I don't know where the motivation came from, but I hope it sticks around long enough for me to get completely in shape, once and for all.

2012 Week 7

 Just a bunch of photos I took the morning of Valentines Day.  I get photo happy on holidays especially when the kids are wearing new clothes and feeling cooperative ;)

Every holiday I try to make it just a little bit special.  Valentines day was a new heart hairdo, new Tshirts (courtesy Gma Alene), fun breakfast of heart shaped cinnamon rolls and chocolate instant breakfast.  Special treats in the lunchboxes.  Cards and chocolate for all.  Then we had a nice dinner and relaxing evening at home.  It was a really nice day.

I really shouldn't put off posting, as even a few days past the week I can't think of much of anything else that happened during the week - oops!  The only other photos I have from the week are the family photos for my friend.  We did a really quick last minute photo session as we were running out of time (and good weather) before her husband left on deployment.  Sam was working on a closet for a buddy so the kids had to tag along with me for the photos.  And as usual, while they were easy to take along, Tyler did insist on getting in on the action a couple of times. 

2012 Week 6

Hard at work on cards for Valentines Day.  It took 2-3 sessions to get all of them done as we have a lot of people on the list to send things to.  Sometimes it's hard work being well-loved :)

Kaitlyn had a great report card (did I mention that?  I think I forgot to last week) and added some more awards to her collection at the awards assembly this week.  She didn't get the medal she was shooting for (some sort of Character award that only goes to one child per class) but she did get certificates for Bookworm, Music, and perfect attendance (yeah perfect attendance - has she really not been sick enough to skip school all year?  yay).

2012 Week 5

Urgh.  Looks like the only photos I took this week are product photos of costum orders.  Oh boy.  Not surprising as the past week really was just kind of a blur of normalcy with no giant ups or downs to note.  Some weeks are like that.  I'm making a promise to myself right now though, to make a point of taking out the camera as much as possible this week.

2012 Week 4

It's been a fun week.  Tyler's first full week in PreK was a big success.  I already feel so much better about the experience he is getting with the new teachers.  And they make a point of telling me how well he does each day.  He's happier and much more well behaved and helpful.

I managed a small craft session with friends one morning this week.  I really look forward to things like that and this one was no exception.

The kids discovered that I had pulled the scrapbooks out of hiding and were having fun one day looking at their baby books.  I am struck quite often lately by how much and how fast they have grown.  Look at the difference in size of those two little hands.

 

Tyler's latest pose.  I can't remember what he calls it, but it's obvious when he does it that he thinks he's got to be the cutest thing ever :)

Saturday, I think, was the best day of the week.  The weather was fantastic and all the kids in the neighborhood all played happily together outside.  Sam was working on a closet for a buddy and they both spend the morning working with power tools in the garage.  I did my thing, keeping busy.  In the afternoon we took the Flat Stanley a cousin had sent down to the base for some photos by the planes on display.  Then we went out to dinner, which happened to be the most successful dinner out we've had in a long time.  Kaitlyn has been a super star with trying new foods lately and not only did she try Sam's salad (complete with bleu cheese!) and his steak (rare), but she ate her entire order of ribs and a handful of brown bread rolls (another new discovery for her - that different types of bread are really good).  We were amazed and so happy.  Tyler was on board too, though on his level.  He gamely tried the chicken strips and discovered that though they look different than nuggets, they are still good.  I feel like we are totally winning this battle and it feels good.

2012 Week 3

Sam turned 32 this week! We celebrated with a nice dinner at home and pie with candles for dessert on his birthday, then celebrated again on the weekend with dinner out at Texas Roadhouse. And we let him buy himself a router. That's like the ideal birthday for guys, right? Steak and tools ;)

And there are my cuties. I love them.

*the only other thing I want to note from this week is that there was a bit of an upset at Tyler's preschool. More than a little actually, as the program that runs Tyler's preschool pulled all the students from the daycare center where he was going to class. It was weeks in the making, and the story is more involved than I care to repeat, but it came to a head and the move happened rather quickly this week. The program arranged for the kids to be in a new class at the Elementary school in town and Tyler started his first day there on Friday. We couldn't be happier. Tyler has been asking more and more often when he would get to go to Kaitlyn's school anyway. And already I'm so much happier with the teachers and the set up. (except for the drop off line - that thing is a nightmare and I will avoid it, park and walk him in from now on)