Catch up Post #1 (Exciting title, huh!)

Wow! These past couple weeks have been SOOO busy and SOOO fun! They will have to take a couple posts to right about....or maybe just a really really long post. Either way, I hope you have a few minutes because I'm feeling a blog binge coming on suddenly.
I suppose I'll start from the beginning...how about March 15th, when I actually had to "go" to work. Now don't get excited, it was a whopping 3-hour job total, taking 2 days, but it was a bit exciting getting back into my dusty college text books and studying for a bit again. My major professor from when I was getting my masters asked me to sub for her class that week while she went to a conference. Frankly, I'm suprised she asked because, well, I am......rusty. BUT I was very excited and said sure! However, I was not planning that poor Kimball would be sick and feverish the very same week. It was awfully hard to leave him, but my wonderfully sweet friend, Becca, was very gracious and still agreed to watch ALL 3 of my kids. Naturally I was running late, because I had a hard time leaving Kimball. My Superman and awfully sweet and thoughtful husband called me while I was still driving to campus, and realized I wasn't going to make it on time. Well, you can't be late when you are teaching a CLASS! What was I going to do? Since he works at the university as well, he told me to just drop the car off as close to the building as I could, and he would park my car and take care of everything. What would I do without him?? I ran to the class and made it just in time (forgetting the quizzes in the car, which Mike ran up to me later as well!). However, I had no idea how to project the powerpoint on the wall. I was very nervous, and I had 30 students staring at me, flailing. Luckily, the right person walked in at the right time and helped me out. Whew. It was a rocky start, but it all worked out and the actual lecture went okay (at least, if you ask me), and not too many students fell asleep along the way.
On Thursday I taught a lab, along with a TA. The morning went much smoother. I was a TA for the lab several years back in the day, so this was fun. It's always fun to look at different sections in microscopes and explain what's there. I may be a geek, but plants can be very exciting at times - they are so versatile! Something I strive to be better at.
Sarah, I'm sure you'll do great with your new job, but I was sure glad this was only a one week committment!
Oh, Thursday was also St. Patricks Day! I love St. Patties, because my kids get soooo excited about green eggs, green shirts, and finding treasures. I didn't get into it as much this year because there were OTHER things, naturally, but it was still fun! My kids had a blast at their friend's house - finding a treasure from a leprachaun and everything. Here are some pics she took:






I hear they had a lot of fun, and I was glad.

Getting to church

We now have 1:00 church, which is much easier to get all the kids ready for on time, or so you'd think. However, there always seems to be a hang-up right as we're ready to leave. Can you figure out what it was?


Maybe you need a better view:

Sigh. Will I ever win? Will it ever be as simple and easy as walking out the door? Oh well, at least she was fully clothed, and at least Kimball was too cute. I couldn't resist taking a picture of him as well.

Elsie's Birthday

What a day Friday was! Elsie turned three, had a great birthday, AND Peter had his "Beary Special Me" Day where Mom and Dad got to spend 1/2 an hour in his class and do favorite 'Peter' things. To sum it up, it was an exhausting and wonderfully delightful day and I think I'm finally about recovered.
We'll start with Peter and end on Elsie, since she's the one with all the pictures. Mike and I went to Peter's class with a game, some informal info to share about Peter, How to Train Your Dragon Cupcakes, and a slide show. Immediately when we got there, we realized our slide show wouldn't work. Thank goodness Mike was there, because he ran back home and fixed everything, then came back half-way through the presentation. He's our designated family Super Hero. The cupcakes and slide show of Peter were big hits. The kids were soo excited about the sweets, and laughed over some of the great shots of Peter. To sum it up, Peter was completely Full of Love. I could tell he was bursting with importance, and frankly, I was too. I'm pretty proud to be a mother of such a great kid, and Mike and I loved talking about him.
Elsie woke up to find the kitchen decorated, and her chair at the table covered in streamers. She kept saying, "Thanks, Mom!" We sang Happy Birthday to her, and she received several phone calls from aunts and Grammy throughout the day, that by the evening, she was catching on to being center of attention. For her birthday dinner she wanted hot dogs, chips, and carrots. I haven't seen my kids eat so much for dinner in a LONG time. They loved it!
After dinner we opened presents. She loved all the My Little Ponies from Grandma, as well as the Pillow Pet from Mom and Dad. I have NO CLUE why those Pillow Pets are so popular, but Elsie wanted one, and we were a bit desperate for a gift, so we succumbed.

I'm not exactly sure why she needed a bandaid on her forehead right before we got the camera out, but it was her birthday.
For her cake she wanted "A Dora and Boots cake, with a rainbow". Gulp. I'm not much of an artist, especially when it comes to frosting as a medium. So, when I pointed out some Dora cupcakes at the store, Elsie decided those would do if I made her a chocolate cake as well. Whew, it was a deal. So, for dessert we had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. She was so excited, and of coarse, I had no complaints.



I asked her if she wanted to invite a friend and their family over. At first she said, "No, just my family." Then she said she wanted her cousin Eden to come (who lives 2.5 hours away). When I told her Eden couldn't make it, she wondered if Stephanie could come, "because she's my friend!" she said. Actually, Stephanie is my friend, but Stephanie does adore little Elsie, and apparently Elsie feels that kinship. So, Stephanie, Jeff, and their son Eli (who is Peter's friend) came over, along with Grandma and Grandpa, and had cake and ice cream. We also watched a slide show of Elsers. It was great, and Elsie got very wound up with all the attention.
When it was all over, we were all ready to go to bed, except Elsie. Somehow, she managed to stay awake until 11:00, and was up by 6 the following morning. That girl's spunk can wear me out!
Some Favorites of Elsie's:
-Favorite food - meat and chocolate. However, I can usually get her to eat anything if it has something on it that resembles "sprinkles". Bread with seeds on it and raspberry jam are some examples.
-Favorite game - BusyTown and Yahtzee Jr. (we play these each several time a day)
-Favorite toy - she recently told me it's the phone with no eyes. This cracks me up! Whenever she's explaining a toy to me, she has to let me know if it has eyes or not. Elsie has a great imagination, and she's very creative. She was fixing her toothbrush the other morning, and all the sudden got very excited and exclaimed, "MOM! I made a chocolate chip!" Ever since then she has to put the toothpaste on herself and make some sort of design with it. When it doesn't come out the way she wants it, look out! She is a lot of fun, and we love everything about her!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It might seem cheesy, but we had a lot of fun celebrating the Chinese New Year. Frankly, I think the Chinese have some great traditions that far outdo the U.S. So, we had a blast with sparklers, dinner (egg-rolls, stir-fry, and oranges for good luck), money in red envelopes, and creating our own puppet dragon (thank you Family Fun Magazine). Dinner was delicious because egg-rolls are heavenly. I just read my friend's blog about their trip to China. I am so all about the American version of Chinese food. If you're interested in their authentic food, please check it out. Peter was disappointed that we didn't have chop-sticks. Maybe next year.

This was the first time Kimball had seen sparklers. He wasn't bashful at all, and it kind of freaked me out. He was waving his sparkler around and giggling, and I was trying not to catch on fire. Both he and Elsie loved them.


Although this puppet took far too long to make, the kids had a blast with it! They paraded around for at least half an hour while Kimball and Mom banged on cymbals and drums for music. It was quite a fun evening.
Just an FYI, it's the year of the Rabbit, although I'm not at all sure what that means.

Grosser than gross?

Here are a couple more old pictures of this fall. What's grosser than fly swatters? How about kids using them as shovels in a mounding pile of dirt! What's grosser - the fly swatters or the children?

All three of them with fly swatters, and Peter in his school clothes. Those stinkers. Maybe you need a closer look.

Sigh. It's a good thing they are so cute, so that I could be smiling while I spent the next couple hours giving baths and doing laundry.

Santa's Lap

As I was scrolling through pictures of the last post, I saw a bunch of pictures I must post. These are of Elsie and Kimball on Santa's lap during their first encounter this year. There is no picture of Peter because he ran off, cut in line (unaware - it was VERY crowded), and visited with Santa without his parents even knowing! We were quite bummed we missed the whole encounter.

I was proud of Kimball for sitting on Santa's lap. He gave us a good 3 seconds before he cried.

Elsie was fascinated, a little nervous, and determined, all at once. I think this picture shows all of that fairly well. She's snuggled on up to Santa, with Mom's hand in grip, having a nice "chat" about wanting Dora sunglasses.

About Kimball

Kimball's first birthday came and went, and I realized I never did a post about him. This is a good lesson for me to learn early. With Kimball's birthday being right before Halloween and then "The Holidays", it may be easy for October 28th to be overshadowed. I have decided to make this the last time it happens. 1st birthdays, I think, are overdone anyways. Kimball certainly didn't mind. He did have a carrot cake he enjoyed with his Grammy, who has a birthday on the 24th and was able to be here. It was a lot of fun, but Kimball wasn't into making a mess with his cake. He is proving to be a fairly tidy tot. Then there is Elsie still smears her face and hands in oatmeal with every bowl. Maybe they can teach each other something. Anyhow, here is Kimball eating his cake and checking out his present from Grandma.



So, a few days later, Mike talked me into making another, slightly messier cake, to see if we could get a better mess going. What do you think?

Not much more spectacular, is it? He made a great mess of the cake, but didn't transport it to his face all that much. Well done Kimball!
Here is what I have gathered on Kimball during his first year of life. He appears to be fairly easy going, loving to play with toys and entertain himself. Him and Elsie are good friends and have a lot in common that way. He has an underlying determination about him, that makes him walk by 10 1/2 months, reclaim a stolen toy, and scream harder than any other baby I've had when he realizes things aren't going his way. I must say, with 2 older siblings, things aren't going his way often, and as of late, I am hearing a lot of screaming. However, he has a great laugh, and is mighty ticklish, so we hear squeals of delight as well.
Kimball watches Peter and Elsie's every move, and catches on to their play quickly. He is currently into light-saber fighting and hotwheel racing. He also loves to be chased by Mom or Dad. I guess I'd call him a little tease. Kimball has a few words such as Mom and Dad, Hot, and Hi. Whenever I am stirring or cooking he points to a pot or a bowl and says, "HA!"(hot!). So, you see, he's quite clever as well. We love our Kimball. He adds to our family so much by his laughter and small, bulging personality.