Hey diddle diddle

Our cat and her fiddle.
Let this be our final installment of nursery rhyme day at preschool!

The inevitable is upon us

With Sam and my vision genes, it was only time before one of our kids would need glasses. I'm suspecting all will need them but for now, Peter is our first.

Natalie just picked out some she likes, just in case.

Elaine at daycare

I finally went back to work part time back in April. So, before the preschool school year begins, we're sending Elaine to the daycare at her preschool. She's been very excited to start school and has enjoyed every minute. Luckily, more days than not, her potty training is still sticking (thanks to persistent teachers and their patience).

One shocking change has been seeing Elaine nap. I remember the day she turned 2 on that cruise ship in the middle of Alaskan waters, she stopped regularly napping. We tried so hard to get her back to the regular napper she was to no avail. In the past week, she has napped all but one day at daycare. The teachers say she fights nap time and screams "I want my Mommy" (pulling sword out of my heart). Then, they said they let her be, and before they know it, little Miss Elaine is asleep on her cot. Albeit upside down, she's napping...quite beautifully.

Summer fun

This is the new meaning of sibling rivalry.

The 3 peas and the dog

A typical day of a 3 pea sandwich and the tolerant dog.

Harmony in the garden

We were having a trying day out shopping. We had to the goal to put together planters for our pool area (part of the pool beautification project), but that required patience and cooperation from the kids. We struck out on patience and got whining instead. However, before the end of the trip, the kids got it together and made me happy by showing me there's hope for harmony and peace.

Goodbye to the "terrible twos"!

This is Elaine, the night before her 3rd birthday. There was much excitement for the next day to come, but I wanted to savor the moment...her last day as a two-year old. She's growing up so fast, but is still our baby.

Secretly. I'm hoping that turning 3 will be a catalyst for her in her potty training!

Happy Father's Day

We had a day for Daddy which included one of his favorites, pizza, along with a kid favorite, s'more pizza. I made a "fancy" dinner at home which included grilled salmon & grilled zucchini/squash. Peter added his LEGO Star Wars Hyena Bomb Droid as the centerpiece.

This was the best but appropriate picture of the kids with Daddy.

Happy Father's Day!

Tae Kwon Do

We had Peter start tae kwon do classes this summer at the same time as Natalie's gymnastics. Since soccer is over and he showed no interest in baseball, this class seemed like a good way for Peter to gain confidence, learn discipline and stay active. This past week, he was the only student to show up. I guess he benefitted from families going on vacation with a "private" lesson! He's enjoying it thus far.

Cub Scouts camp

Peter successfully finished his first Cub Scouts camp this week. Some of his most memorable moments were Daddy being his favorite adult walker, K9 police dog demonstration of attacking a "bad guy", his first experience of shooting a BB gun, and buying a fudge bar for 75 cents. Overall, he loved it and wants to go again next year.

Elaine and I enjoyed a late morning pick me up at Starbucks today. She's sweet to get a mini doughnut for Peter and Natalie, too. They'll have a nice surprise waiting for them after school!

Playing catch up

I really let this blog get stale like a fruit cake since the holidays hit us.
Be on the lookout for back-dated posts!
I'm just trying to keep it chronologically real!

The sales pitch

Not sure Sam is buying Peter's wonderful sales pitch for a trip to Legoland.
But Daddy, I get a free ticket (with an adult ticket purchase)!

Oh, I wish...

I was an Oscar Mayer weinermobile driver!

Yes, the Oscar Mayer WeinerMobile visited our local grocery store. I'm not sure if anyone else ever dreamed about it, but I did (as a child) to actually see this hot dog shaped vehicle.

I'm certain that I was way more excited about it than any in my family, but hey, it's the kid still in me! One of my many childhood dreams came true!

I just hope our kids' memories of this was memorable in a good way (not that Mommy got really excited over this giant hot dog).

Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa,

What will you ask for from Santa?
Elaine: "A present"
- what kind of present? -
"Green one."

Natalie: "Toy puppy that is hard that you can draw on."
The girl knows what she wants!

Peter: "A real humpback whale, cookie set, and a ball"
- where will you keep the whale? -

Natalie chimes in "In our pool!"

Natalie's Christmas program

Natalie was so excited for her Christmas program day! We've been hearing new songs being sung at home by her and were excited to finally hear them on stage!

A funky sister posing in front of the Christmas tree in the morning!

Natalie did pretty well on stage. Not the loudest, but certainly not too shy!

Natalie the Christmas tree with her new friend, Meghan

The program ended with this message from the preschoolers:

Natalie with her best buddy, Thomas,

and with her teachers, Miss Connie...

and Miss Sarah!

Peter's Advent prayer service

Early in December, Regina had an Advent prayer service that was lead by the kindergarten class. Peter got a speaking part!

"Advent is a time to get our minds and hearts ready for the coming of Jesus..."

He practiced the line for days and delivered it quite well!
It was a very proud-parents moment!

Happy 6th Birthday, Peter!

Our little man turned 6!
We had a small birthday party at home with some of his friends from school. It was - no surprise - a Mario theme party!

His cake this year were the more simple cupcakes.
The birthday boy chose the (green) 1-Up cupcake over the (red) Power Up ones - makes sense if you're going from 5 to 6 years old! :)

We had some Yoshi Egg races. Elaine was Natalie's personal coach in this game.

Finding Mario party stuff proved to be near impossible, so I made most of the decorations (thanks to my color printer) and the pinata (thanks to yellow streamers, my ribbon collection and USPS box).
It was a HUGE hit with the kids!

It was great group of kids who all had a great time!

Our neighbor gave him an electronic piggy bank that he loves...he must be saving up for his 7th birthday party! :)

Funny interpretation

Peter: "The storm was so loud that I bet the boss of Regina heard it!"
Mommy: "Who's the boss of Regina?"
Peter: "Superintendent Miller."
Mommy: (totally shocked by his answer..was expecting the principal's name)

Natalie: "Wow! Is he a super hero?"