Splash Camp

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Tessa

The kids are at Splash Camp this week and SUPER excited! They have been waiting for this for months! There was no delaying or fussing getting out the door this morning. I’m a little nervous about how they are going to do sunscreen and bathing suits and all of that by themselves, but I’m sure they’ll be fine without me. That’s a hard thing to say!

Unicorn Eve. How else do you start a new week?! Lex is working on a unicorn mask in the background.

Two super excited swimmers! See the hot air balloon in the background? I love this area!

They were so eager to join the group I had to stop them and request hugs and kisses. So it begins. Sigh. The girl sitting next to Lex is one of his favorite friends from school. Total coincidence!

I was a little sad to drop them off and leave. Fortunately I have a hot date with my cool car and the Toyota Service Department! Well, I suppose technically my car has a hot date with the service department and I have a long wait in the waiting room. Sigh. Happy Monday!

Pianos around town

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Tessa

I signed Lex up for piano lessons. He has been super excited, until, of course, this morning when it was time to go! Fortunately I was able to get him out the door with relatively little fuss and we made it to his first lesson. He absolutely LOVED it! The woman teaches lessons in her apartment. She also holds group lessons once a month which she encourages kids to attend so they can meet other piano players and play together. I think he’ll like that once he gets a little more practice. She was very impressed with his existing knowledge, once or twice glancing over his head towards me with a look of surprise. He is so excited and loved the lesson. As I was sitting there listening to them (parents are encouraged to stay, which is a good thing because I was staying) I was noticing how completely comfortable he was. The place was homey (her home!) and quiet and it was just the two of them together. He just settled right in and played!

Each finger gets a number. They practiced wiggling each number. :)

He’s so cute! He has to scoot his little butt back and forth across the bench to reach from one end of the piano to the other.

Alan had Eve for the morning so when we left we decided to get some lunch. Along the way we found a sparkling piano! To celebrate their 50 years, the Hopkins Center has placed 50 pianos all around town (the exhibit is called Hands On Pianos). Each has been donated and decorated by local businesses and artists. There is also a Valley Quest to go along with the exhibit. Each piano has a letter written on one of the keys. Collect all of the letters and they form a song.

Lex and I got some lunch, ate outside on a bench, and stopped along the way to play several of the pianos. He is excited about the Valley Quest and we’re going to try to find all 50 pianos this month! :)

This one was missing it’s letter!

Some of the pianos have extra games on them. This one has 50 smiling faces, some more famous than others. They challenge you to identify as many as you can and email them. I think there is a prize for the person who can identify the most. It will not be me!

–

We got in the car and were about to pull out of the parking space when Lex spotted this one. We had a few minutes left on the meter so we jumped out of the car again and went to check it out.

This is a neat looking one with whales swimming above the skyline.

We spent quite a bit of time at this one once we realized the front opened up. Most of the others were painted shut or somehow otherwise secured shut! Lex studied the inner workings of the piano while I did my best to explain things to him. His mechanical mind is so far beyond mine!

This afternoon we went to a birthday part at a playground and despite everyone being hot, tired, and hungry on the way home we took a quick stop at this piano we spotted along the way.

When we finally got home this afternoon we printed the Valley Quest and matched up the clues we could with the pianos we visited this morning. We know where a few more are and are exited to visit them and find the rest. Apparently the game ends on July 31st, so we have to stay focused! :)

Dancing and other summertime fun

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Tessa

Eve attended dance camp this week. She had a great time, though she came home exhausted each day. On Wednesday she even took a 2hr nap after lunch! It has been quite awhile since she last took a nap.

Today was the last day and they had a little performance at the end for the parents.

Afterwards we had lunch at a diner nearby. The kids had waffles, I had grilled cheese, and Alan and his dad had something meaty. Everyone enjoyed.

Playing tic-tac-toe with silverware and sugar packets.

Yummy waffles!

It was just after 1pm when we got home, well over 95° outside, and I was ready for a cool house and some quiet time. Unfortunately the crowd in my driveway was not! Both neighbor kids and a parent were walking up the driveway, ready to invite my kids out to play. Of course they wanted to play! We spent the rest of the afternoon in the kiddie pool, washing rocks, and riding a skateboard. A good time was had by all.

Summer time fun in a kiddie pool.

Watermelon!

Scrubbing rocks from Ruggles Mine.

More rocks. They were all very proud of this hard work they were doing. :)

This girl loves her rocks!

I love a good splashing water picture!

They had fun riding the skateboard down this steep driveway.

This looks like a muscle man picture! Look at those… umm.. ribs?!

Eve eventually got out of the pool and joined the boys on the skateboard hill.

When the neighbor left to get ice cream and I denied my poor children (I really didn’t want to be out in public with them, for fear of an overtired meltdown!) we came inside, showered off the sweat and sunscreen, and settled in for the evening. Lex finished his thank you notes and got his birthday presents back and they were content for the rest of the evening.

Lex finished his thank you notes! On his own terms. As he prefers life in general. :)

Happy Father’s Day Weekend

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Tessa

We’ve had a busy Father’s Day weekend around here! It’s not even over yet, but Alan and Grandpa Tom happily took the kids to the balloon festival this afternoon so I am home in a quiet house (except for all my chattering at my mom!) with nothing to do but update the blog (assuming I turn a blind eye to the laundry and housework that needs attention!)

Yesterday we hit the roller skating rink again. Well, the kids hit it a few times, but my dad and I managed to stay on our feet. :) Lex loves skating and he’s getting pretty good at it. Eve likes it, as much as she likes any other group activity, but she’s pretty slow and it definitely wears her out!

Is this how we use the roller skates?

Silly girl. She’s dressed for skating!

He’s getting so balanced.

All done. Just half hour of skating and they’re done! I say “just” and Eve says, “We get to skate for a whole half hour?!” That’s good cup-half-full mentality! :)

After skating we went to the playground for awhile before dinner at the lake.

Lex can make it all the way across these monkey bars. Better than I can!

Swinging!

Sillies on the slide. They turned this into a Pez candy dispenser and they were the candies. I had to “click” out each candy and then a kid would slide down.

After they were fully exhausted I took them out to dinner. There’s good parenting! We had a tasty dinner and ice cream and good times.

Ice cream. I didn’t get a good family shot here, but this was Grandma’s first trip out of rehab in awhile. We had a great dinner at the lake to end a beautiful day.

Enjoying ice cream with a view.

This morning Alan woke up and decided he wanted to run in a Father’s Day 4miler they hold here every year. Eve was eager to run in the 1 mile fun run! We were out bright and early and had a great time. Alan and Eve did the fun run, then Alan did the full 4-miler while I hung out with the kids.

Eve in a tree.

Lex said “I’m going to hang like a sloth in a tree.”

Eve and Alan crossing the finish line! She rocked it!

12 minutes! They are so speedy!

Three in a tree! The guy in the green in one of Lex’s classmates.

Watching daddy start his long run.

Eve, relaxing in a tree. These trees were easy to climb and super popular!

We found face painting and Eve immediately wanted a butterfly. (I don’t think these were really face paints though. Her face has been scrubbed clean twice now and it’s still pinkish!)

All good things must come to an end, and when they involve lots of activity and excitement the end is often not pretty. Eve pouted for awhile because I couldn’t magically conjure up just the right kind of food she wanted, but don’t worry, I had her giggling quickly enough. We went home and she had a story with Mema and bagels from Grandpa Tom and all was right in the world again. :)

The family is back from the balloon festival now. Everyone survived and had a good time. Kids are exhausted but, luckily for me, had a great bedtime.

Happy Father’s Day!

A funny milestone

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Tessa

I often find myself wondering at what age kids should start attending to personal hygiene things themselves. For awhile it was showers. When do kids start showering? How do you teach them? Funny thing, parenting is, because things just happen when they are meant to happen. Lex decided one day it was time to start showering. That was awhile ago and now he showers sometimes and bathes other times. But it just happened when it was time. I say all this because a new thing I’ve been wondering about for awhile is nail clipping. It’s one of my least favorite jobs. The kids don’t fight or protest, but they just barely cooperate, and their nails grow so fast I feel like we are clipping them every week! This evening Lex fussed about not liking to have his nails clipped so I said, “Want to do it yourself?” He jumped at the idea!! It was hard work for him because he’s still developing that fine motor control, but he did a decent job. It took him a long time, but I was patient and he was patient and he was super proud of himself when he was done! I guess right about seven is the answer to that question.

I thought hard about getting the camera but he was sitting on my lap and it was sweet and he was working hard and I didn’t want to interrupt the moment. Why don’t I have an eye-cam yet?!?!

Happy 7th to Lex

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Tessa

My baby turned seven today! Seven! You’ve come a long way baby! Recently I was telling him how lucky I was that he came along and made me a mom. I was a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a friend, but the day he was born I became a mother. A very fortunate mother, at that!

Now, seven years later, he is a strong, confident little boy. Succeeding in school, making friends, standing his ground, learning and teaching every single day. I am so proud of the person he is becoming. The son, the brother, the friend that he is.

We started our morning with a few presents and some pancakes. A good way to start any morning really.

A little something for the birthday boy. I like them to have a little something first thing in the morning. :)

This is an awesome bouncy ball that has glittery stuff in it and lights up when it bounces. Everyone was entranced with it!

He opened his presents very slowly and carefully. Eve wanted him to tear it off, but no.

Lex: I’m trying not to rip the paper.
Eve: Why?
Lex: Because you never know when you’re going to need a piece of wrapping paper.

Ha!

I got him this Lego man shirt! :) I also got him the ball and two books. One called Science Rocks that he seems to love. :)

Pancakes!

Then Lex was off to school with his cookies in hand (well, in box, then in hand). He was so excited! He told everyone on the way in that it was his birthday. Yesterday two of his classmates had birthdays so it has been a birthday week for his classroom. They all coordinated on the treats. Yesterday one kid brought cupcakes and the other brought ice cream, and today Lex brought cookies. When we walked in the whole class was bouncing and eager for a peek! :)

When I picked Lex up from school we had a conversation that cracked me up. It went something like this:

Me: Did everyone like the cookies?
Lex: Yes! Calvin wanted one with a mustache. (Calvin was very excited in the morning to see the mustached cookies.)
Me: Did he get one?
Lex: No.
Me: Why not? Is there a mustached one in the box? (we didn’t pack all of the cookies)
Lex: Yes, there are two. They are both still in the box.
Me: Why didn’t Calvin take one of them?
Lex: I handed them out. “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.” That’s what I told the kids.
Me: HAHAHA (Seriously. Right out loud in the school parking lot.)
Lex: What’s so funny?
Me: You knew he wanted a mustache one and you didn’t give it to him?
Lex: Well, it’s my birthday and I was handing them out and I said, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

The kid is hysterical. He doesn’t at all understand why I think this is funny. I’m sure he just went around the room and handed each kid a cookie. I’m sure the process was much faster than having the kids all dig through the box to find the one they want. I’m sure it was his birthday and he was probably doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. I still find it hysterical!

When we picked up Eve all of her classmates said Happy Birthday to Lex and we brought her teachers (his old pre-k teachers) some cookies too. I think the teacher likes him. They had talked about it being his birthday today so all the kids knew. :)

Then home to pick up Don and then off to visit Grandma. The visit was nice, but brief because the kids were wild and I was quickly overwhelmed.

Hugs with grandma. I couldn't get everyone looking in the same direction. Like I said, it was wild over there!

Our plan from there was to go to Panera Bread for dinner, but Lex decided he’d rather go home. I think maybe it had something to do with the fact that Eve had told him FedEx brought him a birthday present today. She really thought it was from FedEx. “How do they know that today is Lex’s birthday?!” she asked me. Kids are awesome.

So instead Alan and his dad went to pick up Panera Bread take-out and I took the kids home to open FedEx presents, which turned out to be an awesome Batman Lego set from Uncle B. Lex took the fastest shower ever and was right back in the living room ready and eager to build the Batmobile!

The Batmobile!

At dinner silly me thought it would be fun to put candles on his bagel, no singing, of course. The idea was a bust and left him in tears on the floor. Bad mommy! You’d think after all these years I’d learn! So we removed the candles and enjoyed our take out dinner. Then more Lego building, stories with Eve, cake decorating, and off to bed. It was a wild day. The first of several.

I now have two cakes decorated in the fridge. Lego party goody bags packed and ready to go. Party games prepped. Nothing left to do but clean! Blah! That will be tomorrow morning. I’m a last minute cleaner. No point doing it earlier because it just gets messy again anyway! :) A family party tomorrow. A friend party on Sunday. I think I’d better get some sleep now!

Happy Birthday Lex! You’ve come a long way!

Baby Lex

Big Lex

Another tooth gone!

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Tessa

Lex lost another one today. At school this time. The top right (his right) lateral incisor. It was very wiggly for a few days and he says it fell right out of his mouth while he was walking down the hall. He said it surprised his friend. :) He came home with the tooth in a little blue treasure box, provided by the school nurse.

I just printed off a cute tooth chart from a cute site called Lemon Squeezy. Now I have to go back through the blog (some day, not today!) and write down when he lost the other… six? Seven, maybe? I’m loosing track. Good thing it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life! :)

Oh, what a day!

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Tessa

We had a very busy day today! We started off, bright and early, at a 5K. Rosy, Alan, and I gave it our best shot. It was a VERY hilly course!

At the post-race shin-dig Lex made a friend. She also ran the 5K (and beat me by half a minute!) and took first place in her age group. She was very nice to Lex and taught him how to make an origami crane. Lex was very excited.

Then home for lunch and quiet time. I barely made it through half a chapter of Harry Potter with Lex, dozing off and on. Poor guy.

After quiet time we headed to the local skating rink! The kids got skates from my parents and so far have only taken them on the street. That changed today! My dad brought his skates and we had a great time! We got there just half hour before the closed, but I think that was about enough. Eve was exhausted by the end. I was so impressed with them. Eve walked on her the whole time and Lex started skating properly, gliding or whatever you call it. After all skate was over they started prepping for a roller derby match! They told it it would start at 4:30 so we stuck around, hoping to watch some. Forty-five minutes later it still hadn’t started and I was told it would be another half hour. We left. It was a bummer because we were all excited to watch the roller derby match, but we got to watch a lot of warm-up drills and now we have yet another excuse to go back! Or check out an old friend who skates in the derby at Interskate 88!

Skates on! (and yes, I am the mother who lets her kids go out in public dressed like that!)

They're off and rolling! I was happy with how well I could still skate after many, many years of not skating!

Grampa Tom and Eve. Dad was so good he had random strangers checking him out! I guess skating is like riding a bike, you don't forget how. :)

Lex was quite the ladies man today. It must of been his dapper PJs. At the skating rink a girl a bit older than him kept trying to hold his hand and help him skate. He wasn't sure what to make of that.

They were both fascinated by the lights. Lex spent a lot of the time looking up, watching the changing light patterns. Eve kept says, “I wasn’t expecting it to be so dark! I wasn’t expecting such beautiful lights!”

Eve was worn out!

Skates off. Everyone was tired! The kids will sleep well tonight!

We had a little snack and watched the roller derby girls warming up.

Tired Eve.

Tired Lex. This part was ok, but then he got a second wind and started climbing in dangerous places and got very spacey. That's when I decided it was time to head home.

Then, to top off our evening, we rented Mr. Poppers Penguins and had a picnic dinner in the living room, complete with cookies for dessert. I think we all will sleep well tonight! Oh, what a day!

Happy Anniversary…

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Tessa

Alan and I celebrated our anniversary this year with Mema and Grandpa Tom, also celebrating their anniversary! What a good day!

One lovely couple

Another lovely couple

Lovely roses

Happy family (missing a few).

Pet Show Party

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Tessa

To celebrate Eve’s birthday this year we threw a pet show party. We invited her entire class, plus a few other friends, and hoped for sunny weather. The kids all came, but the weather did not. Nonetheless we had a great time!

To start the theme Eve and I made “Eve’s 5th Birthday Party Pet Show” invitations. We got all fancy with the crayons and copy paper. Nothing but the best in this house. I can’t seem to find a picture (or the original!) so you’ll just have to trust me that they were top-notch!

As the party drew near we prepared by making a bunch of blue ribbon awards and games for the pet show.

Felt, paper, and hot glue... blue ribbons!

Eve didn't have patience for the hot glue gun and decided to make her own ribbon with scotch tape. This one is for the "Softest Pet"

We have an early winner! Cotton Candy won the "Softest Pet" award about a week before the pet show! :)

Eve loves her pony. Thanks Aunt Katie!

In an effort to find a game that would work both indoors and out (darn unpredictable weather!) we settled on "Pin the tail on the unicorn." Eve drew the unicorn and the tails.

The day before the party we baked and decorated the cake (double layer dark chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting) and added some black fondant “dogs” and “dog bone” decorations. Fondant is not very tasty and quite messy to work with. It was fun for this cake, but probably not something I’m going to do again.

Fondant is kind of like Play-Doh, only made of sugar. The taste is only marginally better, especially when it's black! On the plate in the background you can see the dogs we made. Mine is towards the front, Eve's is towards the back. I think her's looks more like a mouse on a barrel, but she insisted it's as a dog. Actually she insisted it was Bone and Karma on her cake. :)

My cake designs always come out better in my head than they do in real life. It tasted good at least!

Then the big day arrived! Normally we do afternoon parties and use the morning to get things done, but this party was at 10am so we were scrambling! Lex was SUPER helpful in cleaning and decorating with me. He and Eve made some party signage, he hung up streamers, decorated the door, and cleaned the mudroom! I think the best party decorations are the ones the kids make!

I like to leave a little something for the birthday girl to find on the table in the morning.

She was surprised and excited to find presents from us! :) She thought she had to wait until her party for presents. I got her a dress and the new Muppet movie.

He refused to get dressed, but he did a great job decorating the house!

No free play at this party! When guests arrived they got a bag and were put to work! :)

A "Pet Grooming and Vet" sign, made by Lex, hung above the office door.

The final stop for the pets was the judging station (ie, the hearth), sign by Eve.

Then the crowds arrived. We had 17 kids, plus most of their parents. The house was tight but everyone tells me they had a great time. There were no tears and no fights (that I saw or heard!) so I’m going to call it a success!

The first task was to make a collar for your pet. Turns out most kids don't have names for their stuffed animals so we got some creative collars. Some made up a name real quick, others put their own names or random letters. It was fun.

Next step was grooming (brushes, bows, etc.) and then a photo with Eve. Alan used my phone and we printed a picture for each kid to take home. Some kids were excited, others refused. Here are Lex and Eve doing a practice run.

Last stop, the judging station. Once each pet had a collar, a grooming session, and a photo with Eve, they were placed at the judging station.

Only then were the kids allowed to play! :)

Baby Kate was taking notes for her upcoming birthday! :)

Time for cake!

Lots of eager children filled the kitchen.

Make a wish!

This is the only photo I took of the judging process. I wasn't quite sure how this part of the party would go. It ended up being a throng of children crowding around me while I read the awards. They eagerly clambered for each one. I handed them out and made sure each pet got one, but I'm not sure how appropriate they all were. Everyone had fun though!

Lex didn't think any of the awards were right for his pet, so he took one of my blank ones (I made a few blanks, just in case!) and made his own award. Most Loved Pet.

Time for presents!

Many of her friends drew her lovely pictures to accompany their gifts.

After presents Eve went around and thanked and hugged each of her friends.

After presents we headed outside. The day was overcast and chilly, but everyone was full of cake and ready to play! The most popular gift was the stomp rocket. The kids (mostly the boys!) were lining up for their turn!

The party officially ended at noon but it was almost one before her classmates all left. Jim and Julie stuck around for awhile longer with their sweet girls. When they left we all crashed. I bought Eve the new Muppet movie thinking she might like that for quiet time, but instead she wanted her usual quiet time (an audio book in her room) while Alan and Lex crashed on the couch to watch the Muppets. I cleared the counters a bit and then got lost in my computer. A few hours later Amanda and Rachel came to visit.

Paint marker bowling

Eve got a 3D Tinkerbell puzzle that was quite challenging!

We had pizza for dinner and Eve added a few burgundy chocolate chunks to her piece. An interesting way to wash down a sugar filled day!

Happy 5th Birthday to Eve!! I think everyone had a fun-filled day.

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Calm and Chaos: Life with kids

Tag Archives: Milestones