a boy. his sister.: January 2011

Saturday, January 22, 2011

I Pledge Allegiance

Brett has been asked to be one of 10 "leaders" for the Pledge of Allegiance at a Parish-wide celebration on January 31. The parish is receiving 3 LEED gold certifications for the new buildings, one of which is the new preschool building. The bishop will be there as well... kind of a big deal! Brett is really excited about getting to do something special with some of his school friends, and we've been practicing every day, multiple times. I'm not exactly sure what the criteria was in picking the 10 kids from 5 classes of 4 year olds, but we're so proud of him!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Take 2

Pictures of Kate's 2nd gymnastics class, courtesy of "Mat's Mac"

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Happy 36th!

We celebrated Todd's birthday a day early with all of our family over for the best pizza EVER - Gino's East. De-li-cious!! Every year, Todd only asks for one thing for his birthday - yellow cake with chocolate frosting. How boring can it possibly be?! I tried to offer up a more creative birthday cake this year, but he kept saying no - he only wanted plain yellow cake with plain chocolate frosting. Then he challenged me to do the "MU" symbol. I think I rose to the challenge, if I do say so myself :)

M-U-Rah-Rah!

GINO'S - YUUUUMMMMMMMM!

Kate (in Aunt Erin's scarf) kissing her daddy - so sweet!

There are always helpers when it comes to opening presents!!

"Daddy, I made you a birthday cake!"

Happy 36th!

Messy girl

The three (tired) sisters!

Gymnastics Birthday

After Kate's first gymnastics class in the morning (see post below), we had a birthday party at WAKE gymanstics in the afternoon. Todd had stuff going on all day, so I got to bring both kids again. After Kate's less-than-stellar enthusiasm about her class that morning (and her strong protest in going back that afternoon), I was sort of dreading the birthday party. At the same time, I looked at it as an excuse to get Kate back into the gym and hopefully overcome some more fears. Guess what? She had a GREAT time! Little stinker! The beams and stuff that scared her in the morning caused her no stress whatsoever at the party. She ran around like it was no big deal. Hopefully this positive experience can lead to a more positive class next week!!

Fun in the pit

Brett loves swinging over the pit and falling in!

Balance beam, what?! No problem!

Flying through the sky!!

Chilaxin'

The Birthday Boy, Matt!

Sweet birthday party friends

It's a first!

Now that we've all survived Christmas and have started to get into a routine of things again, we decided to let Kate try gymnastics. We had a birthday party at WAKE gymnastics before the holidays, and they (the parents of the birthday girl - coincidentally also the owners of WAKE gymnastics) were nice enough to let Kate come and tag along with the big kids. It was a great opportunity to see if Kate might like it, which she really seemed to do. So, we signed her up. Last Saturday was her first class in the "Tiny Tots" class (2 and 3 year olds). I really thought that by being one of the oldest ones in the class would help her, and it might, eventually. I think most everyone in the class has been there since September and is very much used to the routine. Kate is a child that thrives on routine, and this was definitely not in her "normal" routine of things. She tentatively went into the gym to do the warm-up with the other kids and then she tentatively followed her group to their first spot in the gym. She watched as the other kids went up the beams, over the mats, etc. Then it was her turn - she took about 2 steps on the beam, sort of fell (more like threw) herself down onto the floor and started crying. There are a lot of kids (remember 2 and 3 year olds) in this class and only 2 teachers, so there's not a ton of time for one-on-one help. Eventually the teacher took her hand and helped her finish that little course. Her next turn came around and she broke down in tears. Sam (the owner) motioned me over, and that's how I spent the rest of Kate's class - right there beside her, holding her hand, and coaxing her to participate. With encouragement, she eventually completed everything. She even did a few backward rolls. and a V-hang on the little bar. Overall, I think it was a good experience for her. Each consecutive time she did something, she seemed more comfortable. Hopefully, we'll be able to get her out there without me as her attachment sometime soon!! Memere is bringing her next week while Todd & I lead the Marriage Orientation session at church, so I'm anxious to see how it goes!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas 2010

We had a GREAT Christmas. It is safe to say that we are truly blesseed and are very grateful for that! It is also safe to say that President Obama should personally thank us (and our loved ones) for doing such a great job stimulating the economy! My goodness, we are spoiled!

Kiddos are patiently waiting to open round 2

Memere asked Kate to share her new fingernail polish - Kate kindly said, "No thanks."

Goofy boy - wearing boxes as hats

Kate and her new doll - she really is more excited than she shows here...

Definitely excited about his Yoda turned ??? (Don't ask me, I really don't know!)

Kate was being silly with Aunt Erin & Uncle Jeff

Brett was hamming it up, playing with new toys

"Look at me fly!"

Uncle Jeff and his new "85" Giants sweatshirt

We thought it would be funny for me to wear both scarves and all the jewelry that Erin and Jeff gave me - all at the same time. I don't know why we thought it was funny...