Attempting to take Kids' Photo....

Yep. Super successful.

Robbie's New Favorite Song and Dance

Robbie requested that I purchase this song last week. Thanks to our babysitter, he knows it pretty well. He has always been our most musically inclined child, but he has added a few new moves lately.

The Pretenders

The kids defnitely like music. All kinds of music. Recently the collectively made a playlist for the car that has songs ranging from Alison Krauss to Veggie Tales to Indigo Girls. This song from Foo Fighters is on that list, too. Kate is on drums, Robbie is on guitar and Padyn is lead vocals. I think we may be taking our band on tour soon. I'll keep you posted of tour dates....

Jumping Boy (and Random Sisterly Background Noise)

We spent the last weekend at the lake, where it was SO COLD FOR THE END OF JUNE! That did not stop the kids from wanting to go swimming. Who wouldn't want to swim in 90 degree water? Even if it is only 55 degrees outside and windy. But it was a good thing we did decide to let them swim, because this was the day Robbie decided he could jump into the pool all by himself. No help from Mommy or Daddy or Sisters. All. By. Himself. You can see that he can also get himself back to the steps alone. Try to ignore the noise being made by the girls. I don't know what game they were playing, but it involved Mommy and Baby and Tango-ing. Yes. They were doing the Tango in the pool. I have no idea.

Driveway Rockers

This one was shot a few weeks ago by Daddy. It's a repeat for Grandpa, but it will be new for the rest of you. (The art work in the driveway is courtesy of our awesome babysitter...)

Happy Father's Day (Photo Blunders)

All I wanted for Father's Day was one good photo of the three monsters so I could send them off to the Grand Dads. Is that really too much to ask? One photo?

Apparently, for these three jokesters, it is....see for yourself. And these are just some of the several. Of the twenty I took, only one was semi-decent. (And no-it isn't here. That was reserved for grandparentals' eyes only).

Happy Father's Day all you fabulous Daddys out there!

You're Going Down and other hits...

Remember how I said that the Disney show "Phineas and Ferb" has taken a hold of our household and refuses to let go? Here's one bit of proof...Robbie has developed his own dance styles and routines to the different P&F songs, he knows which character is singing them, AND he is trying to lip sync to them. I know the video is long and you don't have to watch the whole thing. I filmed the first bit with his back to me because I didn't want him to see the camera and stop. If you watch all the way to the end, you see that he finally figures out that I'm filming him and demands to see it.

Boob Tube

This is what regular TV viewing looks like in our house. Only Cousin Tommy doesn't seem very interested. I love the open mouths. And you know Robbie would have one, too, had he not had that sippy cup there.

Letter to a Four and a Half Year Old

Dear Katelyn,

Thank you for deciding that you had other clothes worthy of wearing. I was getting tired of seeing the "snow dress" every day. I'm not sure why anyone wants to wear the same article of clothing four days in a row, but that seems to match your persistent, selective personality. You certainly have made me seek out how to be a better parent. I'm ok with cutting the tags out of your clothes and letting you decide what you wear everyday, but you really do need to wear underwear. I'm sorry. It's just required in this family. You can sleep naked (except for underwear), wear the same dress everyday, and not do anything to your hair, but you 1) do have to wear underwear and 2) change it on a regular basis. I'm sorry there seem to only be 4 pairs you like right now. I'm doing my best to find others that "feel right." If only every pair of underwear went up to your mid-back, as you seem to require it. I'm sorry. Hanes and Fruit of the Loom just don't do granny panties for little girls. I'll keep looking.

And about the hair. You will be undergoing a drastic hairstyle change tomorrow. I'm really really tired of you not putting anything in it, crying when I brush it, and pulling on it while screaming, "It doesn't feel right!" A short bob with bangs will make us both happier, I think.

And while we're at it, I think you might need to seriously think about another pair of shoes for this coming winter. Your pink Crocs will only last so much longer. And eventually you will want to play outside in the cold and rain. You will need shoes that do not have holes. But I just can't even talk to you about socks right now. They seem to be your mortal enemy.

But anyway, thanks for deciding other long sleeves dresses are just as good as your sweater dress. I'm glad I remembered them and pulled them out of their 5T storage box the other day. I'm happy that your happy. Eventually we'll work on socks and sweaters and pants, but for now, I'll take whatever means you aren't screaming like a banshee and having a knock down tantrum every morning.

Love,
Mommy

A Boy and His Truck

He just discovered that it makes noise and moves! How exciting is that?

Look at those big teeth!

And that drool...between that and all the spitting lately, I think there is a one year molar on the way...

Playtime

All this open space in our new house, and where do the girls want to play? In that cramped "store-all" corner of the kitchen that is still under construction. You should see all the toys they have under there with them...

Reenactment

I'm silently laughing so hard, it's difficult to type, but I'll try.


Padyn and her friend, Danielle, are in the family room right now. They are clearly reenacting something they have seen at school regarding safety and daily routines. I can't tell if they are both pretending to be the teacher or going back and forth, but here's a small example of the exchange taking place in my living room:


One of them will ask a question, then the other will respond with a emphatic NO!

Do we put our name tags on without anyone telling us?
NO!


Do we climb on the tunnel?
NO!



Do I jump on the trampoline at the same time as Danielle?
NO!


I've also heard snippets about happy bears and warnings. They must be enjoying kindergarten if they are pretending to be there on their time off, right?

Final Days of Summer

I haven't taken many swim pictures this summer. That could be because we’ve had an unusually cool summer and swimming in the afternoons has not been so appealing. But, the last couple weeks have made up for it. The weather, even in the late afternoon has been in the 80’s, so we’ve been in the water most days to stay cool. Here are a few shots from two weeks ago.

We bought the girls goggles because Padyn was jealous that all her friends had them and she didn't. She only swims with them about half the time she's in the pool. She had to have pinkKate thinks hers are fun, too, but she hardly ever wears them.I hope the complex decides to keep the heat on in the pool for another couple weeks. We need the afternoon refresher.

Conversations at Dinner #37

"I'm Wonder Red. Kate, you're Princess Presto (Kate interjects-"Pinces Pesto!"). Mommy, you're Super Why...no, you're the pig. Daddy is Super Why."

Ummm...why do I have to be the pig? And what is the pig's name anyway? At least I have alphabet power...

And if you have no idea what any of this exchange means, feel blessed.

Mommy, Take My Picture

Your guess is as good as mine.

Playing Together (For A Few Minutes, Anyway...)

All the new toys, and this is what they want to play with. At least I had the camera ready.

I took these this morning. I was still eating my breakfast, so the girls had to find a way to entertain themselves. Usually this time of the morning is TV viewing time, but I'm trying to limit the number of television hours since got so many last week while everyone was sick. (Speaking of that time last week, did I tell you I almost went crazy staying home all day long for 3 days in a row? I don't think I can ever EVER do that again.)

Anyway, they found that they loved the laundry basket. Padyn called it the 'trap' and kept trying to make Kate go inside. Kate loved it, except for when Padyn sat on top of it and K could no longer crawl around. She was like a little hermit crab, crawling around trying not to bump into things. I think she enjoyed the game more than Padyn. You can see in one of the next pictures that Padyn has tired of the whole thing (probably because I yelled at her for sitting on top of it again and making Kate scream) and had moved onto the castle. Kate was still eager to enclose herself in the blue plastic and crawl around. She was almost giddy.

Hey, at least they played well together for a few minutes. I'll take all the peace they will give me.

Photo Friday

I have made up for my lack of photoing shooting over the last few weeks this past week. This morning I took 133 pictures off my camera. Over half of them aren't even worth sharing with you, but that's ok. At least the camera was in use again, right?

So, without further ado, here's a few of the things we did this week. Enjoy!

Padyn and Kate enjoying some reading together. (This was actually one of the two pictures I took the week before last. I figured you should see it. The other was of the same shot, just darker.)

We hit the streets last Saturday night to check out the Christmas lights around our neighborhood. Both girls think Christmas lights are the next best thing to Dibbs. And yes, that is a Jamba Juice Kate is drinking.

That same night, we made pizza for dinner. Aren't they so helpful?

I loved that all three of them were sitting quietly on the couch watching Super WHY. I just had to document the quiet moment. That doesn't happen much when Owen is over to play.

Padyn's been practicing her poses lately.For whatever reason, bagels have been a big hit this week. Every meal, Padyn wants a bagel with strawberry cream cheese. Of course, Kate immediately asks for the same thing. She can't quite figure out how to eat it without smearing it all over her face, though.

Padyn's dance class had a little Christmas performance yesterday. They did a little singing and dancing to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. When Padyn's back was to the audience, she did all the motions, no problem. But once she was up front, facing the audience, she wasn't as into it. Performance anxiety, I guess. It was still pretty cute.

Happy Friday!

Shaking Things Up A Bit

If you don't live in northern California, you might not have heard about the 5.6 earthquake we experienced at 8pm last night. Really, at 5.6, it was not significant. Nothing fell. Nothing broke. We didn't even get under a table or doorway. It was long, but just a bit shaky is all. No big deal.

Except for Padyn. It was the first earthquake in her known experience.

She did pretty well. We were all sitting on her bed going through our bedtime routine. We had just finished stories and were praying when the room began to move. I started to react and Joel wisely (and non verbally) told me to chill. So the four of us just sat there and rode it out.

But despite our relatively calm reaction, Padyn was not fooled. I wouldn't say she was freaked out, but it did take some convincing and praying to get her to go to bed. She was very concerned that the ground would begin to shake again. In fact, she was up a couple times last night, and I'm sure it was a direct reaction to the quake. But it could have been worse. We could have had complete freak-out-melt-down-refuse-to-be-calmed-down kid, which we didn't. All things considered, she handled it well.

Oh, and Kate? Didn't notice at all. Absolutely no reaction.

The first thing she said to me this morning was, "God didn't make the ground shake again last night!"

The best part of the entire experience is the phone call I received from Owen's Mommy at 8:15. She was calling on behalf of Owen, who had just returned from our church's harvest carnival where he had been dressed up as a superhero. Owen wanted his Mommy to let me know that what we experienced was not an earthquake. It was just him flying around. His super powers made the ground shake.

Good thing. I might have started thinking too hard about plate tectonics if I hadn't been informed. I must remember to tell Padyn that it wasn't really an earthquake. It was just Owen. She'll feel much better.

Nothing Much to Report

Seeing as how it is already Tuesday and I hadn't posted since Friday, I knew some of the girls' loyal fans would be getting upset with me. I won't mention any names or anything...

I really don't have much to say. We had a nice weekend hanging out with friends. Padyn spent as much time in the pool as she possibly could. She can now jump in from the side and swim to you without touching you or coming up for air first. It's pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

Fearless

Check out the artwork on her arm. It was an amazingly beautiful series of butterflies going up her arm. She got it at Daddy's company picnic earlier that day.

Kate hasn't been her usual perky self lately. I mean, she's still the happiest baby we know, but she's had some crabby moments this week, especially at bedtime. She's also had some unusual bowel movements, so I am attributing her off-ness to a phantom canine tooth that must be pushing it's way through her top gums. We'll see in a week or so if I'm correct.

Cheese grin. Where did she learn that?

You probably won't hear from us much this week. We are in Sacramento staying with my sister for the next 5 days. I have a teacher training thingo to attend this week and since Daddy won't be around this weekend, we'll just stick around here and enjoy the cool 88 degree high that is forecast for Sunday. (Today was 103 degrees when we pulled up at 5pm. Gotta love the valley.)

So until then, enjoy these pics from last Friday. You can see that Padyn is becoming more fearless in the pool, and Kate gets along well with her cousin, Claire. They are such buds, they exchange sippy cups without blinking an eye. It was highly entertaining to watch them interact. We'll have to get together more often.

Claire and Kate hanging out with their sippies.

A True Ballerina in the Making

Today was Padyn's last day of ballet at the rec center. She certainly has improved since her first class only 5 weeks ago. She actually watches her teacher now (although she did move to a different spot so she could see herself in the mirror today), and can put her feet into first position all by herself. Her arabesque isn't half bad, either.

Daddy got to come watch today with me and Kate. I think Padyn was pretty proud to have such an audience. She would look over at us and break out a huge grin. But you know she loves the dancing more than anything else because she never came over to us or got shy or intimidated by the whole thing. She hung with the group and did what the teacher asked her to do every single time and never ran over to us for reassurance. (Well, there was that time she needed me to fix her hair, but that was it.)For that reason, I broke down and signed her up for a whole year of ballet and tap starting in the fall. (That's right, Grandpa...TAP dancing!) I figured it was pretty safe since she obviously LOVES dancing. Plus, I know from personal experience that this school is pretty good. It's the studio where my sisters and I grew up dancing. Padyn's teacher is going to be OUR old teacher, Marti. How awesome is that? I don't know how old Marti is now, but I think it's pretty sweet that she's going to teach two generations to do plies and time steps. I wonder if her first performance will be to "On the Good Ship, Lollipop" just like Mommy's was 27 years ago. I guess we'll find out in the spring.

Tap shoes! I get to buy her tap shoes! I think I'm just as excited as Padyn is.