Kid Pics-June 2011

Patrick use to do this cute nose-sniffing thing that a lot of babies do.  Except he did it ALL THE TIME.  It never failed to make me laugh. 

So it's for his own good that I ran across these old pictures recently.

Because he's been developed a HUGE two-year-old personality that isn't exactly pleasant.

And as I've told him recently: "there are plenty of potential mommies and daddies out there that would pay a pretty penny to buy ANY two year old.  So don't get on my bad side."  He hasn't called my bluff yet.

And then there was the Sunday that I thought "this would be a great morning to take a picture of all three of them."  I must have had a great night's sleep to be that optimistic.  Unfortunately, Jamison was going through a period of a "catch pose" for every. single. picture. I attempted. 

He called it "the cool guy."

It took months for us to convince him that a pointed finger doesn't make him a cool guy.

End of Year (2011) Celebrations

Lily's kindergarten class had a talent show that was incredibly entertaining.  It involved book readings, ballet performances, karate showcases, and a spectacular jedi light saber demonstration.

Lily is a very good artist and decided on a pastoral scene. 

My beautiful soon-to-be first grader!

Jamison's school performed a few different songs.  Jamison is great at group sing a-longs....

...until he starts to think about things.  What does this all mean?  What is our end goal with this activity? At least, I'm hoping his thoughts are this deep and not something along the lines of "when can I go to the bathroom"?   or "there better be pizza for lunch" or "what are the chances I can get more than one dessert?"

He looks so contemplative while the singing is going on around him.  And when one has no pockets, what better place to rest one's hands?

It's such a bore to clap when you're happy and you know it.

 

Jamison's 4th Birthday! (He's now 5...)

My kids love birthdays.  Anyone's birthday, we don't even need to know them or live near them.  So when it's one of our birthdays they go a little overboard.  Or I should say, I let them go overboard.  We have cake on the day of their birthday and more cake on the day of their birthday party.

They decided it would only be fair for each to decorate half of the cake.  Lily's is the side that looks like blue frosting exploded all over it. (side note: why does decoration frosting taste gross??  It's so deceitful: looks pretty and tempting until you actually eat it. ick.)

We do use utensils in our home.  Jamison opted out of that in this instance.

At his Montessori pre-school they have a birthday walk that involves the birthday kid holding the earth and "revolving" around a candle sun.  Jamison walked 4 times around for his fourth birthday...just in case you needed help with that thought process.

After his birthday walk he ran into Brian's arms.  It was incredibly sweet. 

And then we had his birthday party at our house.  We rented a bouncy-bounce and invited some close friends to celebrate. 

One thing (or numerous) that I love about Jamison: the kid never met a gift he didn't love! and always wanted! and made his dreams come true!

And this is Patricia.  Jamison and Patricia were best friends in preschool that year.  We always tried to tease him about Patricia but he never batted an eyelash about it.  Patricia was no teasing matter.

Brian and kids in the bouncy bounce. ( note, only 2 out of 4 are looking at the camera and this was the BEST shot).

Kindergarten Class Trip

Lily's kindergarten class celebrated the end of the year (2011) by going to a small local zoo.  We've been there a number of times before since it's near our summer lake.

Jamison loves the Llama Llama Red Pajama books.  He can totally look like the little llama if he pulls his ears down.  So he thought it would be hysterical to do that in front of a real llama.

Just the girls from the kindergarten class.  For first grade we switched schools for Lily so she went from a class of 11 to class of 23.  It was a bit of a jump and I was frequently reminded how blessed we were to have her in Loudonville Christian School for kindergarten.

A Year in Review

Admittedly, I've been a little bit negligent with my blog.  It's been approximately 437 days since my last post.  My advice to anyone who cares: don't start your own company and expect to regularly update a blog.   It's just not going to happen.

In a nutshell - in order to be able to stay at home with the kids we decided I'd start a home cleaning company for something "to do on the side."  This "side business" completely snowballed and became a bit larger than expected.  While thankful for a successful business, a perfectionist should not try to juggle a company and a family.  It doesn't end well for the perfectionist.

Since I use my blog as a record of my children's childhood the past 14 months will henceforth be known as "the missing year." But I'm determined to make up for this!  I've prepared a few posts that document "the missing year." I'll try to get them out of the way as soon as possible and start posting recent events. Well, this is my intention at least. I don't make promises anymore.

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 - Camp Hunt Family Weekend.  A bunch of us meet at camp and hang out.

Patrick (ack! at only 10 1/2 months! My baby....).  I miss sleep-n-play outfits.

 

You will see, in future posts, my attempts for group photos of my children.  One or more of them never look normal. It will be a glorious day when all three smile normally for the camera.  Obviously, I'm subbing for Patrick in the picture below. (but still, why can't Jamison look at the camera?!?)

Hiding

It always makes me nervous when the room the boys are in is suddenly silent. And then when I hear a stifled giggle - the nervousness turns into fear.

Even worse, I walk into the room where I heard the little giggle and I can't find either child.

Oh hey mom, we're just hanging out. You know how cool it is under the Excersaucer.

Bike Riding Success!

As soon as the weather turned warm, meaning over 40*, the kids were ready to ride their bikes again. We spent all last summer helping Lily try to ride without her training wheels. This year she didn't have much of a choice. All of the bikes that were her size didn't come with training wheels...or at least there weren't any in stock at Toys R Us when we went.

She desperately wanted this bike and since it didn't come with training wheels a deal was made. If she wanted this bike then she had to commit to learn to ride with two wheels. Within three days she and Brian worked hard enough that she was riding on her own.

Jamison's goal this summer is to stick to the side of the road. He gets distracted looking around and drives all over the place. Lily drives in the same circle over and over and never changes her path. Only once has he ran into Lily, which I consider a success. She freaked out because she didn't want to veer from her path and Jamison was just wavering all over the place. Such insight into their personalities.

And speaking of insight into personalities....