Monday, December 14, 2009
Quick Update
I haven't had a chance to update and probably won't have one in the next week, so I wanted to do a really quick update and let everyone know our latest news. Nick has 2 very loose teeth! Looks like it won't be long and he'll be missing his 2 front lower teeth.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Countdown to Christmas - 22 Days
Lego Advent Calendar day 5:
The lego project is growing. The big grin is because Nick was giving me a hard time trying to take his picture and thought that was pretty funny.
A fun package arrived for Nick this afternoon from Nana:
More to come to this post later tonight
The lego project is growing. The big grin is because Nick was giving me a hard time trying to take his picture and thought that was pretty funny.
A fun package arrived for Nick this afternoon from Nana:
More to come to this post later tonight
Friday, December 4, 2009
Countdown to Christmas - 22 Days
Opening the Lego Advent Calendar:
Building the new lego guy
Adding the new lego minifigure - an ice skater, to the collection.
This evening we went to Barnes and Noble for their pajama story time telling of Polar Express. It was cute, they had a woman dressed up as a conductor to tell the story, and gave the kids cookies, cocoa, and little bells with ribbon through them after the story. The lady telling it did a fantastic job too.
Nick with his ticket for the Polar Express.
Listening to the story.
Nick with his cookie and his bell.
Then it was home for dinner and then opening the icicle box for tonight.
Building the new lego guy
Adding the new lego minifigure - an ice skater, to the collection.
This evening we went to Barnes and Noble for their pajama story time telling of Polar Express. It was cute, they had a woman dressed up as a conductor to tell the story, and gave the kids cookies, cocoa, and little bells with ribbon through them after the story. The lady telling it did a fantastic job too.
Nick with his ticket for the Polar Express.
Listening to the story.
Nick with his cookie and his bell.
Then it was home for dinner and then opening the icicle box for tonight.
Countdown To Christmas - 23 Days
Lego Advent Calendar day 3, a sled:
Opening the icicle box, and the lego build keeps growing (the picture is without day 3's parts added on.
Tonight's story: Olive The Other Reindeer
Opening the icicle box, and the lego build keeps growing (the picture is without day 3's parts added on.
Tonight's story: Olive The Other Reindeer
Nick Can Read!
Nick can read, and he finally let me video tape him reading a book. He's read this book a few times and it's an easier book for him, but I'm still really proud of where his reading ability is, especially considering it's only December of his Kindergarten year!
This afternoon Nick curled up on my lap and fell asleep. I managed to sneak out, but when I came back a few minutes later, this is what I found (notice the cat too!):
This afternoon Nick curled up on my lap and fell asleep. I managed to sneak out, but when I came back a few minutes later, this is what I found (notice the cat too!):
Countdown To Christmas - 24 Days Until Christmas!
The countdown continued on Wednesday.
This time we did the lego advent calendar in the morning. Nick got a lego snowman! So cool.
Here's what the set looks like now.
Then at night we did the icicle advent box, and read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Nick's big lego set is slowly growing, and he's pretty much figured out what we did with the icicles this year.
Nick has a thing about never wearing these pajamas bottoms with the shirt that matches them, he always has to wear them with a shirt that doesn't go at all! Oh well, at least their just pajamas :)
This time we did the lego advent calendar in the morning. Nick got a lego snowman! So cool.
Here's what the set looks like now.
Then at night we did the icicle advent box, and read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Nick's big lego set is slowly growing, and he's pretty much figured out what we did with the icicles this year.
Nick has a thing about never wearing these pajamas bottoms with the shirt that matches them, he always has to wear them with a shirt that doesn't go at all! Oh well, at least their just pajamas :)
Field Trip: Christmas Tree Farm
Wednesday was Christmas Tree Farm day! Okay, the Christmas Tree farm turned out to not really be a Christmas Tree Farm so much as a tree farm. I guess the man usually does landscaping trees, but because the economy is so bad right now, no one is building, so no one is buying trees, so the owner is selling some of their trees as Christmas trees. That said, I think it was a great field trip. The man was very nice, and didn't seem disturbed at all by the fact that these little kids were being little kids. He even took pictures as we walked through the farm. Lots of fun! We got there on time, but everyone else was super late (the place was a little farther out than we expected). So, by the time the field trip was underway, Nick was starting to get a bit tired, and by the end of it he was downright grouchy. Seems to be a trend... he just still hasn't gotten to where he can make it through the day without a nap and keep his composure, but if he naps, he gets too much sleep and can't sleep at night. Here are some of the highlights of the trip, plus a few photos.
1. While we were waiting for everyone else, the owner showed us his root cellar, that was interesting, especially for the kids. Nick was astounded at how many potatoes they had in there.
2. We got to sit in the office while we were waiting and experience the wonderful wood burning stove. The office smelled wonderful from the fire. Here's a picture of in the office (taken later in the trip):
3. While we were still waiting Nick got to see an arrowhead the owner collected from one of his fields. I guess there are a ton out there.
4. The first family besides ours arrived and we all walked down by the river. His house/farm is right on the side of the river and absolutely beautiful! He even has a small island that is home to some deer and what not, and they can watch it all from their backyard. Beautiful, beautiful area, and just outside of town too.
5. Everyone else arrived. The kids got to go in the chicken coop and gather eggs, which of course was a huge hit. Nick wasn't sure he wanted to go in at first, but he warmed up to it in time to go in and get an egg. I think he was afraid of the chickens because the farmer had told the kids not to stick their fingers in the fence or they might get bit.
6. Then it was off to see the newly planted trees. He explained to the kids how he buys them as small trees and grows them into large trees. They got to see baby Colorado Blue Spruces, Choke Cherry trees, and some deciduous conifers. The adults found the deciduous conifers fascinating, none of us had ever heard of them. They were beautiful though, all of the needles were bright, bright yellow right now.
7. The kids got a quick stop to see the pond where they hold their water during the summer (it was dry now for the winter), and got to learn about how they water the plants, although I'm not sure they heard much of the story.
8. Then it was on to the big trees, but not before we stopped to say hello to their mule and horse. Beautiful, gentle animals, that Nick wouldn't even consider getting near. Aaargh, I don't know what his deal is. Here he is, not seeing the animals :)
9. By the time we got to the large Blue Spruces, the kids had pretty much stopped paying attention and instead were being fascinated by the huge holes left in the ground when they had removed some trees for landscaping.
It was a super cold day, about 25 out, and bitter cold, but still, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and there is nothing like getting out into a setting like that!
1. While we were waiting for everyone else, the owner showed us his root cellar, that was interesting, especially for the kids. Nick was astounded at how many potatoes they had in there.
2. We got to sit in the office while we were waiting and experience the wonderful wood burning stove. The office smelled wonderful from the fire. Here's a picture of in the office (taken later in the trip):
3. While we were still waiting Nick got to see an arrowhead the owner collected from one of his fields. I guess there are a ton out there.
4. The first family besides ours arrived and we all walked down by the river. His house/farm is right on the side of the river and absolutely beautiful! He even has a small island that is home to some deer and what not, and they can watch it all from their backyard. Beautiful, beautiful area, and just outside of town too.
5. Everyone else arrived. The kids got to go in the chicken coop and gather eggs, which of course was a huge hit. Nick wasn't sure he wanted to go in at first, but he warmed up to it in time to go in and get an egg. I think he was afraid of the chickens because the farmer had told the kids not to stick their fingers in the fence or they might get bit.
6. Then it was off to see the newly planted trees. He explained to the kids how he buys them as small trees and grows them into large trees. They got to see baby Colorado Blue Spruces, Choke Cherry trees, and some deciduous conifers. The adults found the deciduous conifers fascinating, none of us had ever heard of them. They were beautiful though, all of the needles were bright, bright yellow right now.
7. The kids got a quick stop to see the pond where they hold their water during the summer (it was dry now for the winter), and got to learn about how they water the plants, although I'm not sure they heard much of the story.
8. Then it was on to the big trees, but not before we stopped to say hello to their mule and horse. Beautiful, gentle animals, that Nick wouldn't even consider getting near. Aaargh, I don't know what his deal is. Here he is, not seeing the animals :)
9. By the time we got to the large Blue Spruces, the kids had pretty much stopped paying attention and instead were being fascinated by the huge holes left in the ground when they had removed some trees for landscaping.
It was a super cold day, about 25 out, and bitter cold, but still, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and there is nothing like getting out into a setting like that!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Countdown To Christmas - 25 days until Christmas
It's begun, the much, much, much awaited countdown to Christmas (it's all we've heard about for a week now! Here's our Countdown to Christmas day 1, 25 days until Christmas.
We decorated the tree! Yeah!! The house is already decorated, but it's taken us a couple of days to get to the tree. Nick likes to let everyone know we have a fake tree. I still can't believe we went the fake tree route, but with our Christmas schedule, it really does make more sense.
Before
A brand new ornament. Grandma and Grandpa sent Nick this pirate ornament this year, and he loves it!
Mommy and Daddy thought it should be a bit higher, to make sure it stays safe from B and the animals. By the end of the night, Nick was just backing into Erik with his hands up waiting to be lifted to put the breakable ornaments up high. It was pretty funny. I wish I could've gotten a picture of that.
Hanging some more ornaments. I love the pictures of Erik lifting Nick to hang them.
All done!
Opening our Christmas Countdown / Advent Boxes
This year we're doing two sets, we're doing our regular boxes, but we're also doing a lego advent calendar.
Opening box 1
Not quite what he was expecting (although he'd tell you differently). Usually we've tucked candy and fruit treats in them, but this year we decided to buy a lego set and split it amongst the boxes. Erik went through the instruction book and put them in in the order they get added so we can build the set as the month goes on. We haven't told Nick that's what we're doing yet though, he'll figure it out soon enough.
SOOOO excited, he's been waiting for "10 days" to do this... which is pretty close, it's been about a week, and he's almost driven us crazy waiting.
Opening the door.
Today was a minifigure and some little white, "snowballs" (single legos)
And a new tradition. For years I've been wanting to start a tradition where we read a different Christmas book each night until Christmas. After seeing someone else doing it, I finally decided to get us started. Tonight we read Polar Express.
Listening to the story, and oh so sleepy.
We decorated the tree! Yeah!! The house is already decorated, but it's taken us a couple of days to get to the tree. Nick likes to let everyone know we have a fake tree. I still can't believe we went the fake tree route, but with our Christmas schedule, it really does make more sense.
Before
A brand new ornament. Grandma and Grandpa sent Nick this pirate ornament this year, and he loves it!
Mommy and Daddy thought it should be a bit higher, to make sure it stays safe from B and the animals. By the end of the night, Nick was just backing into Erik with his hands up waiting to be lifted to put the breakable ornaments up high. It was pretty funny. I wish I could've gotten a picture of that.
Hanging some more ornaments. I love the pictures of Erik lifting Nick to hang them.
All done!
Opening our Christmas Countdown / Advent Boxes
This year we're doing two sets, we're doing our regular boxes, but we're also doing a lego advent calendar.
Opening box 1
Not quite what he was expecting (although he'd tell you differently). Usually we've tucked candy and fruit treats in them, but this year we decided to buy a lego set and split it amongst the boxes. Erik went through the instruction book and put them in in the order they get added so we can build the set as the month goes on. We haven't told Nick that's what we're doing yet though, he'll figure it out soon enough.
SOOOO excited, he's been waiting for "10 days" to do this... which is pretty close, it's been about a week, and he's almost driven us crazy waiting.
Opening the door.
Today was a minifigure and some little white, "snowballs" (single legos)
And a new tradition. For years I've been wanting to start a tradition where we read a different Christmas book each night until Christmas. After seeing someone else doing it, I finally decided to get us started. Tonight we read Polar Express.
Listening to the story, and oh so sleepy.
Gravity
Well we're back to our regularly scheduled homeschool stuff. Nothing too exciting to share today. Nick's reading is getting spectacular, maybe he'll let me video him reading soon. Right now he's working on making a book about gravity, and waiting to use mentos and coke to make his volcano explode again (we lost the mentos or we'd have done it today). I'll post pictures of the gravity book as soon as he gets it finished.
Wow!
Okay, I'm sitting here having a heart attack about how big my baby has grown. He looks so grown up in those Thanksgiving pictures!
Thanksgiving
I'm a little late with our Thanksgiving post, at least it feels like it since we're counting down to Christmas now, but here's how our wonderful Christmas went:
We started out with a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns all made by Erik our breakfast chef.
Followed by some relaxing time while I got the turkey prepped and into the oven. Then we watched the Macy's day parade on the DVR. We've decided the DVR is the only way to watch that parade because it has so much extra junk in it. We watched a 3 hour parade in 1/2 hour.
Once the parade was over, it was on to our annual turkey cupcakes. I actually hadn't planned on them being an annual thing, but it was all Nick talked about, so it looks like we've set a tradition. Unfortunately, we had to be a bit creative because I didn't think to buy the candy corn for it until after Halloween, and apparently they don't carry candy corn for Thanksgiving anymore.
Nick decorating his first turkey
Erik decorating his turkey.
Erik's first turkey completed.
My first turkey completed
And somehow we lost the picture of Nick's first turkey, although he was flying through them so fast it was hard to keep up.
And here, are the final turkeys:
Once the turkey cupcakes were done, Erik decided to go out and hand Christmas lights. Sounded like a good idea, turned out to not be such a great idea, I don' think we'll ever put lights up on Thanksgiving again. He hung up a string or two and all was going well, and then suddenly they went off. In trying to find the cause, we discovered that all of the outside outlets, and all of the original garage outlets (not the ones put in for his shop, but the ones that came with the house) had all gone out too. Including the one for the deep freezer. Fortunately, since some outlets in the garage were still on, we were able to use an extension chord for the freezer. Even better, none of the house ones went out, except one that we don't use. So, we spent a while trying to figure out why everything was out, and if it was a fire hazard or if we were going to need to call an electrician on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Fortunately, after dinner Erik figured it out and got them all fixed.
Then, it was on to dinner:
The annual olives on the fingers shot.
Sitting down to dinner. We stick pretty basic for our actual meal, but we pulled out our china and crystal for the meal, it makes it feel special, and gives us a chance to use it. Turns out, we don't have any serving dishes. Also turns out, we don't care :)
Eating dinner
Nick wanted to do a "cheers" as he calls it. He almost broke all the glasses the first time, but by the second time shown here, it went smoothly. And for anyone wondering... yes that's coke in our cups, neither of us is particularly fond of wine or champagne.
Turns out that Nick doesn't like apple pie, at least not the kind we had. Fortunately we found that out before Thanksgiving day, because he'd been looking forward to the pie all week. So, we ran over to the grocery store a couple of days ahead of time and picked him up a cherry pie. They only had this little mini-pie, but we thought that'd be perfect, since it wouldn't have a ton left over. Unfortunately, the pie turned out to be rather tart and very, very thick, so he didn't like it anyways. Cherry pie is his favorite, so it must've just been a not so good pie (I didn't like it myself either). Still, he was quite excited about the pie.
And that pretty much finishes up our Thanksgiving. Hope everyone else had a good one too!
We started out with a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns all made by Erik our breakfast chef.
Followed by some relaxing time while I got the turkey prepped and into the oven. Then we watched the Macy's day parade on the DVR. We've decided the DVR is the only way to watch that parade because it has so much extra junk in it. We watched a 3 hour parade in 1/2 hour.
Once the parade was over, it was on to our annual turkey cupcakes. I actually hadn't planned on them being an annual thing, but it was all Nick talked about, so it looks like we've set a tradition. Unfortunately, we had to be a bit creative because I didn't think to buy the candy corn for it until after Halloween, and apparently they don't carry candy corn for Thanksgiving anymore.
Nick decorating his first turkey
Erik decorating his turkey.
Erik's first turkey completed.
My first turkey completed
And somehow we lost the picture of Nick's first turkey, although he was flying through them so fast it was hard to keep up.
And here, are the final turkeys:
Once the turkey cupcakes were done, Erik decided to go out and hand Christmas lights. Sounded like a good idea, turned out to not be such a great idea, I don' think we'll ever put lights up on Thanksgiving again. He hung up a string or two and all was going well, and then suddenly they went off. In trying to find the cause, we discovered that all of the outside outlets, and all of the original garage outlets (not the ones put in for his shop, but the ones that came with the house) had all gone out too. Including the one for the deep freezer. Fortunately, since some outlets in the garage were still on, we were able to use an extension chord for the freezer. Even better, none of the house ones went out, except one that we don't use. So, we spent a while trying to figure out why everything was out, and if it was a fire hazard or if we were going to need to call an electrician on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Fortunately, after dinner Erik figured it out and got them all fixed.
Then, it was on to dinner:
The annual olives on the fingers shot.
Sitting down to dinner. We stick pretty basic for our actual meal, but we pulled out our china and crystal for the meal, it makes it feel special, and gives us a chance to use it. Turns out, we don't have any serving dishes. Also turns out, we don't care :)
Eating dinner
Nick wanted to do a "cheers" as he calls it. He almost broke all the glasses the first time, but by the second time shown here, it went smoothly. And for anyone wondering... yes that's coke in our cups, neither of us is particularly fond of wine or champagne.
Turns out that Nick doesn't like apple pie, at least not the kind we had. Fortunately we found that out before Thanksgiving day, because he'd been looking forward to the pie all week. So, we ran over to the grocery store a couple of days ahead of time and picked him up a cherry pie. They only had this little mini-pie, but we thought that'd be perfect, since it wouldn't have a ton left over. Unfortunately, the pie turned out to be rather tart and very, very thick, so he didn't like it anyways. Cherry pie is his favorite, so it must've just been a not so good pie (I didn't like it myself either). Still, he was quite excited about the pie.
And that pretty much finishes up our Thanksgiving. Hope everyone else had a good one too!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Bureau of Land Management Field Trip
We went on a great field trip to the BLM. The kids had a blast. Nick really enjoyed it until Smokey showed up, then it was all downhill. Seems Nick still doesn't like costume characters.
Before Smokey, the kids got to learn about fire safety, and hear the story of Smokey The Bear.
They got to meet Smokey, I couldn't get a picture of Nick with him though, since Nick was hiding on the other side of the room, as far away as he could get. At least he wasn't the only kid there scared to death of Smokey.
Our group photo. We just barely got Nick in the picture, he's hiding behind our friend over on the side far, far from Smokey. It looks like she's blocking him, but that's just because he was trying to figure out how to hide behind her. Crazy kid.
The kids got to crawl through the truck. Nick enjoyed that. They also had a chance to shoot the hose, which Nick would have done, except it had a stale, kind of citrusy smell to it, and it made him start dry heaving, so he ended up hiding from that too. I think it would've been okay if he hadn't already been so worked up about Smokey.
All in all though, he says he had a lot of fun, so that's all that counts.
Before Smokey, the kids got to learn about fire safety, and hear the story of Smokey The Bear.
They got to meet Smokey, I couldn't get a picture of Nick with him though, since Nick was hiding on the other side of the room, as far away as he could get. At least he wasn't the only kid there scared to death of Smokey.
Our group photo. We just barely got Nick in the picture, he's hiding behind our friend over on the side far, far from Smokey. It looks like she's blocking him, but that's just because he was trying to figure out how to hide behind her. Crazy kid.
The kids got to crawl through the truck. Nick enjoyed that. They also had a chance to shoot the hose, which Nick would have done, except it had a stale, kind of citrusy smell to it, and it made him start dry heaving, so he ended up hiding from that too. I think it would've been okay if he hadn't already been so worked up about Smokey.
All in all though, he says he had a lot of fun, so that's all that counts.
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