our home

 Much silliness!

My favorite

One of my favorite times of day is a 15 minute "game" I have started.

Everyone grab a blanket. Find some books.  I will start the timer.

 Under the table, in a corner, it doesn't matter where, just be quiet and read books by yourself.  The one who enjoys this "game" the least is CJ.  For her to sit still that long is near impossible.  Which is why it amazes me the great reports from school we get.  She can and does focus, but sitting still is not one of her strengths.

 On the other hand, these two have been known to continue reading past the timer or even asking for more time.  Both seem to love this time! They know that once all the books are put away and their blankets, they might get a small treat. Not always, but they always get lots of positive praise!

Mommy gets 15 minutes of quiet. Maybe 15 minutes of reading myself. 15 minutes to shower or just use the bathroom. I get 15 minutes of uninterrupted time and that makes this my favorite time of day!

Adventures in Biking

With the treat of warm weather, yet not hot, we have been getting in some fun activities like biking!  On this trip, it was filled with adventures!

 First was the adventure of figuring out the puzzle on getting the bikes and people to the same spot.  We did it and next time we know just how to put it all together!

 Second was making sure everyone had air and proper safety gear. Everyone helped out!

 And what is a 3yr old to do while riding in a bike trailer?  Well, take a unique perspective of pictures of the ride, and drink your entire camel back.  By drinking all of the water, within the first few minutes equaled lots and lots of potty stops for him and he still managed to wet himself 3 times. Lesson learned: only put a small, very small amount of water in the camel back for someone with an equally small bladder who is also not actually doing any work.

The girls did great!  There were several points of interests along the way and we stopped at a couple of them.  At the first one, CJ took off her camel back. When we were about a quarter of a mile to the turn around point, she asked me where it was.  No one else even realized she had taken it off to begin with.  We finished that half and turned around to head back to the first stop to get her camel back.  At the turn around point there was a big dip and Sweetness was doing very well staying in control while going fast, but very quickly that changed and she got her first bit of road rash on her knee.  She was a trooper though and got back on and finished the ride --just like that saying!  Meanwhile, CJ and I had rode ahead for her camel back. It was still sitting on the bench, but she had left the valve open and it was nearly empty by the time we got there. I placed it over her handle bars as we waited for the others to catch up.  Once we were together, we took off again. A minute down the trail and I noticed her back was bare, and asked her where her camel back was.  Yes, she had left again at the same spot. She, Daddy and Kjetil went back to get it while Sweetness and I raced back to the car.

Apple slices finished off our day as we put the puzzle back together and headed home in the sunset. Literally, the sun was setting.  While the ride wasn't fast, it was fun and we'll be out there again!

Something is missing

Where have the kids gone?????

That is what was asked of me one night a few weeks ago.  I just giggled.  I said, why sleeping of course.  A look of confusion was given to me.

I said, "they all are together. . . . under CJ's bed"

There are 3 lumps under there and I was very content to let them stay there.  Someone else wouldn't let that happen.  The kids were a bit disappointed to wake up in their own beds, but had thought themselves very clever when they "hid" under the beds with their blankets, quietly so Mommy wouldn't know. 

I played right along!

2012, the year of

This year is turning out to have a bit of a theme....

Eric was elected to the Vision Team at church.

Then he was assigned glasses to wear.  But he wasn't the only one.

She really likes hers. Eric, well not as enthusiastic. CJ has commented that reading is easier and even one of her teachers commented on how much better she was reading with them.  She was already testing above grade level for reading, it will be interesting to watch and see if she blossoms now!

Technically Sweetness received a prescription for glasses as well.  Since it was a pretty light one and she's not in school yet I held off getting hers.  How well CJ has done, and the past week of Sweetness running into things, has made me reconsider that.

2012, looks like a it will be a year of new vision around here!

F-I-V-E-!

It happened.

I couldn't stop it.

She did it.

She turned    5!

Sweetness had a great celebration:

 She guessed the Cheetos package right away, but was still very excited to have gotten her own bag of Cheetos.

She loved all her gifts!

 Ice cream cake to for her special day!

 Everyone seemed to enjoy the ice cream cake!

 And to top off all the birthday celebrations, a trip to that place that is hostessed by a rodent, and I'm not talking about Micky.

 Skee ball...maybe because if it's similarity to bowling, or because it had balls to play with, this young man was not interested in playing anything else!

 

 

Happy Heart day!

Today is the day that people get all mushy mushy.

And that happened here today too.  Except it wasn't people, it was mother nature that got all mushy mushy!

 It started as a light sprinkle, then quickly turned to pea sized hail.

 As we headed to the First grade healthy heart party, the ground was covered in mushy ice!

 As we drove to school, this was the scene at the park.  BEFORE the big fluffy flakes came floating down.

 Sweetness, after seeing the park and watching it get heavier and heavier as we drove, reconsidering her choice in wardrobe for the day.  I did mention that PANTS would be a smart choice.

 I was busy with the First Graders when the big flakes came, but there was lots of sticky snowball making snow waiting for us after school!

A very happy and mushy Valentines day to you and your special ones!

We ended our day with homemade heart shaped pizza and ice cream.

***As a side note, I uploaded 260 pictures today, just so I could get the snow ones, so I got today's edited, more to come soon!

February

It is February 1st, and this month we will celebrate many things, as a family, as a nation, as individuals.  During this crazy presidential primary season, we will also celebrate President's day.  Recently I read an article about one of our former Presidents and I found him to be very fascinating.  For several reasons.

John Tyler

The tenth President of the United States.

Quick Facts:

He was the first Vice President to assume the Presidency when President Harrison died in office.

His wife, Letitia, who was known to all as very gracious, but ill, died while he was President. She was the first First Lady to die during a term.  They had 8 children, 7 surviving children from their marriage.

Tyler also was the first President to marry while in office, marrying Julia.  Together they had seven children as well.

Some of the things his term produced included: The "Log-Cabin" bill enabled a settler to claim 160 acres of land before it was offered publicly for sale, and later pay $1.25 an acre for it.
In 1842 Tyler signed a tariff bill protecting northern manufacturers. The Webster-Ashburton treaty ended a Canadian boundary dispute; in 1845 Texas was annexed.  *

He is the only President who hasn't been formally mourn due to joining the Confederacy.
When the first southern states seceded in 1861, Tyler led a compromise movement; failing, he worked to create the Southern Confederacy. He died in 1862, a member of the Confederate House of Representatives. *

Now, here is something of incredible fascination.  He has TWO living grandsons!  Not great grandsons, not great great grandson. But actual GRANDSONS living!  And they're not the oldest living grandchildren of a president either! President Garfield, who was in office 40 YEARS after Tyler, takes that claim!

The Tyler men have children late in life.  President John Tyler was born himself in 1790. That would 212 years ago. :D  President Tyler had a son when he was 63 years old, Lyon Tyler.  Lyon Tyler also had children late in life, in his 70's, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., born in 1924, and Harrison Ruffin Tyler, born in 1928.  With 15 children, President Tyler was the most prolific president. And today, 2 of his grandsons are still around, living treasures of the Tenth President of the United States!

Now, your history and genealogy lessons are done for the day!

*source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johntyler