Fish Kids

We got away this weekend with some friends to this place that had the potential of being, well, a rat hole...but ended up being a great, clean, and perfect-for-our-family-place!

We stayed at a place called Fin and Feather Resort.  Don't let that word "resort" fool you.  It was not fancy.  Laid back and family oriented.  Dated, yes, but super duper clean!

One highlight of our weekend was that Nicholas figured out how to swim by himself! The first day we went to the pool, it took him almost 2 hours to even go underwater. The next day, he started off going under and then just began swimming around!  Also I picked up a couple pairs of silly goggles for the kids in the gift shop and they were fearless after that! Watch these little videos to see Nick swim:




You have to keep an open mind when you vacation at places like this.  And as long as the kids are happy...I am happy.  There was SO much to keep them busy.

Mini Golf (Indoors!)


Castle Playhouse


Saturday night, back at our "cabin", we had a kids movie night and watched Curious George...2!


On Sunday we visited Lake Tenkiller, about 5min away and...
Threw a zillion rocks into the lake.


Stopped by the Tenkiller Nature Center.
Kids all held different animals...I mean, animal puppets


Stella was very "animal" friendly

Even a skunk?!

Saw a fake owl.


And a real owl.


AND played on the playground.


All the FUN you didn't see:  played on resort playground, went fishing, played video games, told the moms you wanted to play croquet but changed your minds after we set it up- except for Henry he still played, shot hoops across from our cabin, fed ducks until they were full, so fed the fish instead, drank homemade rootbeer and ate an awesome dinner at Soda Steve's Restaurant (where Nick fell asleep on the table and had to be fireman-carried back to the room)....and on and on and on.  I would love to go back sometime.  We had SUCH a GREAT time getting away and having FUN.

--Kate

First All School Mass- Pictures

Oh they were so cute this morning!

Yes, like that action shot?

On Wednesdays their school attends mass so there is a particular uniform that is required for Wednesdays.  This is Stella's:

And this is Nick's:

He looks so handsome, doesn't he?

Her headband is something I found at Lands End.  I had to.  She is my headband queen!

They all were picking leaves off my mint plant this morning and eating them.   I am pretty sure that is what is in Nick's mouth here.

Nick even discovered how to roll up the tie to the top and then let it go rolling down his shirt.  He loved his new trick.




This afternoon, after getting the kids from school my car died.  It was awesome.  I had it on, it was running fine, then I turned it off and when I turned it on again- nothin.  My wonderful neighbors were more than helpful and really did try everything to help.  They didn't have to.  But despite our best efforts and the gallons of sweat in the 106 degree heat, it wasn't enough.  The van has been towed and hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow.  It's probably the battery, but I don't have the time to mess around with it.  It must be fixed by Friday!  Or we will have a very uncomfortable trip to Lake Tenkiller this weekend.

--Kate

First Day of School

Needless to say, they both had a GREAT day! Stella's teacher even called me this evening just to touch base and see how Stella's first day went. Nick was bursting with excitement when I picked them up. Henry on the other hand, had a rough day- wouldn't eat breakfast, cried, asked to "see stella" but stella was at school, lots of pouting. I am sure he will get used to the change. I can't wait to pick up the big kids tomorrow...another exciting day at their new school!

Bunch of pictures...

--Kate

Hello Kitty Attitudes

A couple of weekends ago we were finishing up our school shopping at Walmart and the kids got their picture taken with this Hello Kitty background. I had *just* bought them dum-dum suckers for being such good sports- having to go to Walmart after coming directly from the YMCA. And all I got was a picture full of attitude!

Oh they are so funny. I don't know if they conspired to make these tough faces with their sucker sticks hanging out or if it just happened on the spot. Either way, I just crack up each time I look at this picture. I wanted to share it with you. And I dressed Henry in his tie-dye shirt and it started a chain reaction that morning!

I don't know what it was, but this summer did not seem very eventful. Maybe it was the beating of over 100 degree temps that we took, week after week. The days got tough hanging out inside the house. It was miserable hot here this summer. It has finally cooled down and has stayed around 99 the past few days. What a relief. I filled up the kids pool today. It has been probably a month since the last time we did that. Just in time, too.

School starts Wednesday!! I will have pictures. They will be so cute in their uniforms. And then the following Wednesday is the first all-school mass...I will get pics that morning, too, because they will be wearing their mass uniforms. (hint: Nick wears a tie!)

--Kate

Henry's 2nd Birthday- um, yes, finally

Well, you will see that the pictures were very bad- out of focus and blurry and dark. Hard to believe they were taken with my "good" camera! I guess I need to teach Shawn how to use the auto-focus feature! There are a couple pics that I doctored up so they would be decent. But overall you see that we all had a good time. I posted several more pictures on our flickr site (link is on the right side of this page).

Henry's party was on the Fourth of July (rightfully so). We invited close friends and neighbors to come celebrate for lunch. It was just too hot to do anything later in the day and we didn't want to keep anyone from seeing the fireworks, if those were their plans. We don't go to fireworks yet. It would not be worth the hassle to keep the kids up that late.

This was the fastest I have ever thrown together a menu, decorations, and party! We got back home on Saturday evening and the party was 10am Monday morning! But we decorated everything in either Thomas the Train or Red, White, and Blue.



We ate all the BBQ classics: Burgers, macaroni and cheese, and baked beans. I introduced a new dessert this year, which will now be a July 4th tradition. I stuffed strawberries with cheesecake filling and topped it with a blueberry. Oh. Yum.



Henry had a birthday cake which were two Jello poke cakes frosted with Cool Whip. He actually blew out his birthday candle, too!




He also had birthday cupcakes, just because I wanted to make (and eat) my homemade buttercream frosting!


Instead of ice cream, I put ice cream sandwiches on sticks and dipped them in festive sprinkles. I will throw a Red, White, and Blue birthday party every year for him- until he just flat our refuses.


I know it is hard to see, but look at Henry's big smile here! Hey, where did his juice box go?


Henry entertained us when opening his presents. He was very enthusiastic! He would say: "Oh My Go-no" Everything was Thomas the Train or trucks or something he loved.



After it was all over, we measured our little man on the family growth chart.



Henry measured at 33 inches. (Nick and Stella were both 35 inches on their second birthdays...)

I STILL have not taken him to get his 2yr old pictures taken. He has this scab thing on his scalp that won't heal. Then he needed a haircut, but I had to wait for the scab to get better. Then he got the haircut but scratched open the scab. Then he got a huge bruise in the middle of his forehead! The bruise is now yellow so it should be gone soon. And it will be easier to take him for a picture when the other two are in school. So, soon.

--Kate

Reading is FUN

I tricked the kids into reading and learning with this neat little activity I found at 1+1+1=1 website.

They are cards that you print out and use to label objects around your house. I used it as a game for the kids.

The cards are great...there are so many words!

Even some that we don't even have (like crib, stereo, candle, and stairs)

And there were blanks so you could write your own.



What I did: I would pull a card out of a bowl and put a piece of tape on it and give it to Nick or Stella to read and then match to the household object.

Here is a video of several little clips of the kids playing my game. You can see that point when their lightbulbs come on! At the end you will see Henry trying to read one. He makes some sounds then puts the word on the tv. If you listen closely, you can hear him say "TV, Yeah!" then clap.



Now this may have been too easy for Nicholas because he can read. But he is definitely a beginner reader. And his speed has picked up tremendously this summer! I think I saw the most improvement when he noticed that Stella was starting to sound out words. Little peer pressure maybe? Whatever works. He is reading so smoothly now! I was only able to stump him on a couple of words. The rest he read silently and went directly to the object. That's why you didn't see much of him in the video. He did great! And little Stella...I really was shocked as she sounded out her words. I discovered about a week ago, that she can read short 3-letter words and a few other simple words. But some of the ones she managed to sound out in this game-- WOW!!! I was astounded! I don't know if it is a boy/girl thing, but I do notice some distinct differences in the way these two have come about reading. Nicholas could sound out small words at Stella's age (4yrs old) but she is attempting much harder words. All her choosing, too. I promise I am not teaching or pushing her. Don't have the time or patience for it. But while the ball is rolling I will try to help her keep it rolling. I was just really shocked that she was able to sound out words on her own.



--Kate