Jam session

It's hard finding different things to keep Kamri and Miles entertained while Sara and Evan are at school.  One day I turned on our stereo, went downstairs to get our play microphones, and we jammed out to some music.  Miles and Kamri both were having a great time.  And I must admit I thought it was a little fun, too.

Apples

Look at those eyes!  Beautiful!

Miles used to not like apples.  But Evan comes home from school every day and runs to the fridge to grab an apple.  Miles started taking notice and started following him around begging for a bite and then wouldn't stop at a bite.  So, I just handed him an apple - whole.  Before I knew it, he was half way through the apple.  It took over an hour for him to eat it but he did - ALL of it - core and all.  Now he loves apples but he won't touch them if I've cut them for him.  He got it all over his shirt, but he was happy and content and perfect for over an hour.  I'll take it. (He's been a bit ornery for a couple weeks so I was happy to have something to keep him happy.)

Sara's second spelling bee

Sara had her second spelling bee last Tuesday.  She did great and worked really hard.  We had a lot of fun working on the spelling words.

When I was growing up I did a lot of spelling bees and I have memories of laying on my mom's bed while she played with my hair and worked on the words with me.  I was laying on the couch playing with Sara's hair and the memories came rushing back and I thought, "How fun!  This is what I did with my mom."

 Sara's number was 422.  She was like the 17th or so out of about 20 kids. 

 

Sara got 3rd place in the 1st through 3rd grade bee.  Way to go Sara!

 I am very proud of her for doing so well and working so hard to learn all the words on the list.  She got a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  Last year it took us a few months to actually get to Barnes and Noble to use hers.  Hopefully this year we'll make it there a little sooner.

Just for my future information - They went through a few rounds and progressively bumped up the grade level with each new round.  Not the way spelling bees are supposed to be. It was a bit unfair the way they were doing it and I could tell a bunch of the kids were a little stressed about it.  I was feeling pretty bad for them.  I'm over it so I won't go into detail, but I talked to Sara's teacher about it hoping that in future years they would "fix" it.  Her teacher and the lady in charge of the spelling bee agreed with me and said they would do it the right way for the older grades spelling bee the next day and in the next years'. I was nervous about expressing my concerns because I didn't want to come off as a "poor sport", but I really thought they should understand why it wasn't done fairly.  I'm glad I spoke up!

Miles' first haircut!

I have been reluctant to touch Miles beautiful curls with scissors.  I was prepared to let it grow and grow.  But, it was getting a little unruly so I (ok, Ben had to convince me) finally took some scissors and trimmed those curls.  

The BEFORE

 Yep, a bit too long

 And here it is AFTER

 I was careful to make sure I left some of those curls and he looks even more adorable than before

 This was right after it dried and I was a bit worried it was going to look a little like a mushroom, but after a day or so it settled down more and I absolutely love it.

 

He loves to play connect 4.  Obviously he doesn't really 'play' but he loves to put the pieces in and then dump it upside down. It's so fun watching him because he just laughs.  If you say, "Miles, let's play a game."  He runs into the living room and sits down on the floor waiting for a game to be put in front of him.  Oh, how he makes us laugh.

 

They love their daddy!

It's a good thing they have a daddy who loves to get on the floor and play with them and who seems to be a kid at heart.  They L.O.V.E. him for it because their mommy doesn't know how to. (Trust me, I tried to play cars with them - I was no good at it.)

Look at Miles cute face here.  He was trying to copy all the sound effects Ben was doing.

New Camera!

Well, a couple weeks ago Evan was using our camera (my mistake) and he went running (of course) down the stairs with it and of course dropped it and of course it broke.  So we went without a camera for a while which was really hard.  But I got one for my birthday and we spent a morning taking some pictures and trying to figure it out.  The kids love the camera!

So here are the fun pictures the kids posed for.

Miles even hams it up when I point it at him.

3-0!

Well, I am now offically the big 3-0!!

 My big celebration happened a few weeks ago when Ben took me to Hawaii.

The day started with Ben braving the cold to get me some breakfast biscuit sandwiches.  I love those!!

 A few years ago we (my sisters and me) went to a local morning talk show to be in their studio audience on my (and Maria's) birthday.  It was fun so we've continued to go. It hasn't always been ON my birthday but close to it or atleast once a year.  It's just a fun thing to do and we usually leave with some sort of "goodie".  Last time Maria won some little baby boy shoes and gave them to me since I was pregnant with Miles.  This time we each went away with a $10 AmEx gift card.  SWEET!!!

Later that night my parents had us over for dinner so my mom could make my favorite dinner - hamburgers with mashed potatoes and gravy.  I hadn't had it for a really long time (I don't make it very well) and it was just as good - if not better - than I remember. YUMMY!!!