Front Row Seats

The other night we had a regular jam session at our home.  Here's a clip of my favorite father-daughter duo playing Boil Them Cabbage Down.  Enjoy your front row seat for this concert. 

And here's the first video I took of the performers.  This one has an impressive xylophone solo at the end courtesy of the Little Man. :-)

You may have also noticed the nice fire to the side.  This hearthstone woodstove is a fairly recent addition to our home.  It was another one of my husband's impressive craigslist finds.  Sometimes I tease him that he's addicted to craigslist, but then he'll find things like this and make me glad he keeps a watchful eye on that site.  We're looking forward to many wood fires in our future.

Reading

Sometime toward the end of kindergarten, reading started to make sense to the Little Miss.  She went from reading words, to groups of words, to whole sentences and then books in a matter of weeks.  It kind of surprised me how quickly it all clicked for her.  It's been a blessing to watch her learn this skill.

And her little brother is benefiting from her skills too.  She likes reading books to him and he equally enjoys listening to them.  It's an activity I can count on them doing together without squabbles--almost all the time. :-)
On this evening before bed, we all benefited from her reading skills as we read The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza.  It's a cute new spin on a classic story.

What books are being read at your house?

Blueberry Bagels

A few weeks ago now, I made bagels for the first time.  It was something I had looked forward to trying both for the baking challenge and for pleasing my bagel loving daughter.  Choosing the flavor for my first bagel making adventure was easy--blueberry bagels are the Little Miss' favorite kind.  So during her first week of first grade I made these as a welcome home from school treat.  They were a big hit with everyone and were devoured within two or three days.  (Which is why there's only two in this picture! Ha!)  As with many things, we've decided homemade bagels are definitely better than store bought.  And I thought they were more fun too.

I found the recipe on this blog, but it originally comes from Peter Reinhart's book The Breadmaker's Apprentice, which I coincidentally gave my sister-in-law for Christmas.  She and I share a love for baking yeast breads.

We Have a 1 Year Old

Well actually we have a 13 month old now but I still wanted to post pictures of our celebrations to mark the first year of our little babe.  The actual week of his birthday was CRAZY busy for us since his big day fell on the first day of our VBS (Vacation Bible School) and yours truly was the coordinator.  So since he really doesn't know any better, we kept things simple and had some homemade peach ice cream for a treat on the day of his birthday.  Then a few days later we celebrated with a barbeque at the beach with some friends.  It was a fun time.  The kids enjoyed playing and our little babe enjoyed eating--anything we'd give him.  The weather was cool, but not rainy so that classifies as a good day of weather.

This Boy

Naturally, I love this boy to pieces.  But I'll be the first to admit that this boy has always challenged me.  He's a few weeks away from turning 4.  At this age, he's doing some normal things like stretching his imagination in his play and testing limits.  It makes this both a fun and hair pulling age for me.   As far as his imagination goes, he's doing new things every day, but he's also got a few standards that we can count on.  For one, as in these pictures, if he finds a nail or stake protruding in any way, he must find a hammer (this time from daddy's workbench) and get it flush with the wall or ground.  This includes nails that he might find if he takes a picture off the wall.  Also, if he's got a rope or string in his hand and he's letting it hang to the ground in front of him, the chances are VERY high that in his little mind, he's fishing for the big one!  And if you hear a high pitched tweet come out of his mouth, that's because he's probably reffing a soccer game in his mind.  Add in his infectious laugh and it's hard not to enjoy spending time with this boy. 

But at the same time, this boy has always pushed my buttons.  Even as a baby, it's as if he could smell my weaknesses and decided to pounce on them just to see if I could handle it.  And now, in keeping with his 3 year old-ness, there are constant battles throughout the day between his siblings and himself.  "Be nice to your sister."  "Leave your brother alone."  "Do you want her to hit you?"  "Don't touch him.  "He doesn't like that."  "I don't want to hear you say that again."  "Go put that back."  "Get out of the fridge."  "Don't climb in the pantry."  "What are you doing?"  ....some of the things I find myself saying each day--a couple times each day usually.

Lately, he's also becoming a really good helper.  Momma likes that! :-)

I can't imagine not having this little boy in my life.  Sure he's full of challenges, but he's also been a huge blessing to me as well.  As with most challenges, the ones he gives me are not always pleasant at the time, but I can look back on them and see how I have grown from them--both spiritually and as a parent.  So I wouldn't change anything.  Although I probably could have done with a few less sleepless nights bouncing a baby than what he demanded of me. :-)

Only a few more days of being 3 little man, so live it up!  We love you to pieces!

In case you were wondering, in the first few photos he didn't know I was taking pictures of him.  Then he figured it out and did some spontaneous posing.  Yeah for zoom lenses!

Soccer Girl

This summer, the Little Miss has been a part of her first organized sports team--outdoor soccer on a city parks and rec team.  This weekend will be her last game of the season.  Since the weather has definitely started to change to fall here, it'll be kinda nice to finish the season.  But she's also doing so well, and it's been a lot of fun to watch her improve and develop her skills.

These next two photos crack me up.  The angle of this first one looks like she kicked in the ball for a goal.

And then here she looks like she's even celebrating her own score, but it was actually her teammate #20.  She was just being a great cheerleader.  She's done a great job all season long of cheering for her teamates.

Another thing I've noticed since she started playing soccer and over the past few months as well, is that she's a pretty stinkin' fast runner.  I know she doesn't get that skill from me, but she must have sucked some of it from my siblings and then has had the example of my sister-in-law for added motivation.

And of course, since it's southeast Alaska, there's a money back guarantee that it'll rain in the summer.  She's played two games in the rain and will likely do it again this coming Saturday.  These rain photos were from an absolutely sopping wet day.  There were puddles all over the field.  But apparently the pep talk Shawn and I gave her about the other kids being whimps in the rain and leaving her with the chance to kick the ball right past them, worked.  She scored her first (and so far only) goal of the season during this downpour game.  And if you ask her mother, she scored a second goal in that game too.  It was just the puddle in front of the goal line that slowed the ball down enough to actually make it stop exactly on the line.  Doesn't on the line count, people?  Come on, ref!

 

Apparently she couldn't absorb the water on the outside of her body fast enough!  And thank goodness for good rain jackets!

But most of the games and practices this season have taken place with nice weather, so we're definitely thankful for that.

And it's always fun to play against one of your best friends teams and then both be subbed out at the same time.  It makes sideline explorations so much more fun!

 

#13 here

 

 

 

The first sports team experience has been a success and we've already signed her up for fall indoor soccer.  We're all looking forward to cheering her on in that too.

First Grade

Two weeks ago, school started here and our little miss became an official elementary schooler.  No longer in the preschool/kindergarten category, she's definitely a big kid now.  That right there still seems a little strange to me, but I'm getting used to it.  After all, just how did she get so old when I don't remember getting older myself? :-)

This was her on her first day of first grade.  (Isn't that some sort of "golden" day?  The first of first.)  The weather was pretty crummy that day, so we did some indoor and outdoor shots since I wasn't sure the outdoor ones would work.

 

 

After we had our photos done, I drove her to school.   A different school than the one she went to last year--so there's another "new" thing to get accustomed to.  Another part about being an elementary schooler and not a kindergartner anymore is that there are 4 other grades of kids doing the same thing as you at the same time.  That meant a big change in atmosphere from the first day of kindergarten.  So the parking lot was packed and there were parents and kids every where!  Wow, what a change.

We found her classroom (we had actually gone by and met her teacher the day before) and she was SO relieved to see that the only girl she knew in her class, a friend from preschool, was assigned to the seat right next to her!  What a relief!  She transitioned right into her school work like it was nothing new.

Then on the second day, she rode the bus home for the first time.  She wasn't nearly as thrilled with it as the pictures make her look or as I was anticipating.  She complained that the other kids on the bus were too loud.  But I told her she was going to have to try it again but that she could choose a morning or afternoon ride for her next try.  She choose the morning and a few days later tried riding in the afternoon and happily reported that it wasn't as bad as her first time.  Yeah!

And now just for fun here's a flashback to the first and last days of kindergarten.  Amazing how much can change over the course of a school year.

Last day of kindergarten, May 2011.