Week 12: The firsts

Charlotte was excited to have her hair cut for the first time, but also said that she wanted to be like rapunzel. She just got a little trim.

Gabe was sure that he wasn't going to skate at a birthday party (he even had a small meltdown about it when we arrived). But after a little while he decided to try it, and he had so much fun that he was sad when the party ended. It helped that the rink has supports for the kids, though he went too fast and fell quite a few times. He definitely wants to go back with the whole family to skate.

Weeks 10 & 11: Cold and camping

We had one or two warmer days (we walked up to meet the bus), and then it's been cold and/or rainy ever since. We've gotten snow a few times, but never very much. Last weekend's excitement was camping for Frank and Zach, and I took the other two to lunch and shopping.

 

There was no sleeping outside in tents this year. Everyone stayed in cabins.

Saturday included a ceremony, some outdoor activity stations, a hike, and skits.

Weeks 8 & 9: Mommy needs a nap

The gentlest way to describe the past little while is that Charlotte is keeping me on my toes. Every day I wish for a nap, and I very rarely get one. These photos highlight the little moments (mostly) at home.

The first time we all went to the theater together. Charlotte had only been a time or two as a baby. She later said she wanted to watch Lego Batman movie again, but only on the big big screen.

She desires an audience for Play-doh.

Waiting excitedly for her speech teacher.

My car is overdue for a cleaning (that I actually did last weekend).

She loves playing Peppa. She always wants me to be Mommy Pig.

Gabe and his 3DS. He was either playing Mario or Kirby.

I went up to Ohio for Jen's Grandma's funeral on the 25th and met the newest family member, Nate.

Zach loves baking cookies.

Charlotte decided to pour milk into her cereal "because the (Chex) box says so!" Up to this point none of the kids has wanted milk in their cereal.

We registered Charlotte for Pre-K (starts in the fall). It only took about two seconds in line for her to start socializing.

Zach is growing a bean plant for cub scouts. It's even taller than this now (and I have no idea what we do with it).

Boys' school photos

Sometime I'm going to upload to Shutterfly my photos for the last (almost) year! Meanwhile, here are the new school photos. The photos from the fall weren't that great, so I'm glad the spring ones turned out! Third grade and first grade.

Week 7: Valentine's Day etc

I/we have not been taking as many photos lately. There are exactly zero photos of Gabe from the week, who has been engrossed in a game called Kirby Triple Deluxe on the 3DS. Our activities included my attendance at Zach's school Valentine's day party, zumba (always a highlight), and a facial/makeup session with my Mary Kay lady. Charlotte is a big fan of lip gloss! Frank also took Zach to a cub scout banquet to honor those who will become boy scouts soon. There have been many ups and downs with Charlotte, who is still getting the hang of using the toilet, has been asking me "why?" over and over, and gets smarter and feistier each day.

Week 6: Getting over being sick

Not a whole lot went on last week. We thought Zach was feeling better, and he went to school on Monday. Then Tuesday we got a call from school that he'd had his head down all morning, and after my okay to test him he turned up positive for strep. So he was home through Wednesday, even though he was back to normal after a couple doses of antibiotics. Charlotte was dealing with a runny nose that got worse as the week went on, so we didn't do much but stay home and try to rest. After my zumba class on Saturday we went to Chili's for lunch and hung out at the bookstore.

They had a fun day of playing with all these boxes we need to put out for recycling.

Entertainment during a scheduled power outage: chess and video games.

In love with Valentine's candy.

Week 5: This and that and my birthday

It was a long week. Monday was an unexpected snow day, then Zach was home sick most of the week. Charlotte and Frank both had stomach issues on and off, so I'm really surprised I haven't come down with something.There was way too much screen time going on most of the days, but we tried to balance it with some family Lego time Friday night. Saturday I went to one of my favorite fitness classes at 7:30, then the Pinewood Derby was from 9 to 12. Zach got second or third in his races and ended up with a trophy for third place in his den.

In the video, Zach's car is the white one in the left lane.