A little update on the fam

I used to write little updates on each person in our family back when I kept a journal, so since it's been a while, I thought I'd do it here on my blog. Since this is my journal anymore.

LANDON:

He played basketball this winter and is signed up for spring/summer baseball. He just bought this BB/pellet gun and feels very "cool" about it. He is doing extremely well at the piano and is also a great student. He is a big help with Katelyn and always helps out when I need him. He is getting super excited to have his own room-- a goal we have for this summer!

DAN MAN:

He also played basketball this winter and is signed up for baseball. He loves potty talk more than anyone I know. He continues to make us laugh all the time and is a sweet boy when he's not being a stinker. He is also doing very well on the piano and is looking forward to summer!
EMMA JAE:

She is growing so much and is a full head taller than all the other kids in her preschool. I think she is going to be bored in kindergarten. She is writing and starting to read very well. She loves the piano and catches on so fast. She is also a big help with Katelyn and really wants to take dance, but wants it to be "her" kind of dance. "You know Mom, like cool dance!" We'll try to get her in a class after we've made it through the summer!
KATERS:

We cannot get over how beautiful and precious this little doll is. And isn't this dress adorable? I found it at Kid-to-Kid...love it! She loves to make messes and loves to go outside. She is starting to say lots of words. It's really hard to distinguish between "Elmo", "Emma" and "animal"! She is still not the best sleeper, but she is just a bundle of joy and we adore her!
I'm keeping really busy teaching piano, driving kids here and there, laundry, cooking, you know, all that exciting stuff? I've also done a little side work transcribing music and have gotten back into singing with the Paul Burnside Band. It's always fun to do what you really enjoy and get paid for it! I think the highlight of my weeks are my Zumba class and my weekly Walmart solo shopping trip. Sometimes I need to escape the mommy life and be alone...even if that means shakin' what my mama gave me at the gym or wandering aimlessly down the aisles at Walmart, so be it.

Richard is busy with work (although we wouldn't complain if things were busier) and Young Mens and Voice Male. He is a wonderful husband and the best Dad...the kids love him so much! He loves to play basketball and bargain shop and every now and then we get to go on a date together! We sure love our little family!

A few things Kate has been up to...

It's a wonder that I ever get anything done these days. This little dolly is into everything and I can barely keep up with her. Here are a few of her favorite things to do lately.

Ooops. Forgot to turn the picture, but she loves the garbage can if I'm not careful to close the door all the way.

This is the most exciting drawer to Kate, so much plastic, so many bags...what more could a girl want?

She discovered that she can put money into the slot. This one kept her busy for quite a while the other day- you can see the concentration on her face!

This is her super excited face. This was seeing the fish tank at Cabelas for the first time!

All I can say is that I am thankful for Elmo. I have been renting a new Elmo DVD from the library each week and it is the only thing that she will sit still for. Sometimes Elmo is my saving grace...even if it is only for 20 minutes!

St. Patricks Day

The best part of St. Patrick's Day this year was when our wonderful neighbor called us to say that her kids and grandkids were going to be coming over for dinner but called and cancelled at the last minute. She had made a boatload of corned beef and cabbage and delicious mint browines and needed help eating it all. So sweet! And so yummy!

The cupcakes Emma and I made that I could not stop eating....I love cream cheese frosting!

Don't these eggs look disgusting. Ugh!

This is Emma's leprechaun trap that didn't quite catch one, but was found with some gold in it that morning!

Pinewood Derby

I love my cute Landon and he is such a good kid. He was really excited for the Pinewood Derby this year. Mostly because we really sucked last year and came in pretty much last on every race. The morning of the Derby he was already crossing his fingers for his car (Fast Phenomenon) to do well. It did terrible again. It finished 6th out of 6 in almost every race. Sometimes it was 4th out of 6. We are just not good at it. Poor kid...he was really disappointed, but was a good sport.

It's crazy, but it's true...

My visiting teacher, Susan, was here a while back and Emma had the hiccups. She told Emma to come over and squeeze her pinkies as hard as she could. Susan held out her fists and put her pinkies up and Emma squeezed as hard as she could. Susan kept saying things like, "c'mon, you can squeeze harder", "is that as hard as you can squeeze?", "okay, now you're starting to hurt me a little!" This went on for about 45 seconds and Emma was giggling and then.....her hiccups were gone! I've done this at least 3 times with Emma since then and it totally works every time! Isn't that a cool trick?

Here's another trick Susan told me (that she mostly does with her older kids). When they complain about the hiccups, tell the child you will give them a quarter (it helps to hold one right in front of them) if they can tell you right before the next hiccup comes out. The kids concentrate so hard on knowing right when the next hiccup will come, that somehow, it never does! I haven't tried this one yet, but she swears by both methods! Let me know if you try either of these and if they work for you!

Weekend fun at the cabin

Each year we go to Layne and Sarah's cabin. I didn't go last year because Kate was having ear infection issues, but this year I decided to be tough, even though I was worried about Kate. We packed up all our food and gear and kids on 2 snowmobiles and drove the 7 miles to the cabin. Layne and Sarah had 3 snowmobiles for them, their six kids and a cousin. The kids all had a blast and couldn't get enough of the snow. Richard was awesome and spent hours pulling the kids on sleds behind the snowmobile. Kate ended up getting sick on Friday night and threw up all over the pack-n-play and blankets and jammies and everything. Figures. At least the other kids had fun and I did enjoy riding the snowmobiles and feeling adventurous. Its always so much work for the Mom pulling off a weekend trip like that, but I'm glad we did it.

Richard and Jenny

Sarah and Layne

Eating good food and playing games

More fun!

The view from the porch...if you look closely you can see Richard way out there pulling the kids around.

Just after making the trek in...pre-barf.

Caliente! Suave!

I have really not excersized much in the last year. I'm not excited about it and I would rather sleep in the mornings than get up early to do something I dread. But this week I decided to try a few classes at the gym. I left the girls in the gym day care on Monday and went to a circuit training class. Half of it was cycling. Hated the cycling, but will definately go back for all the other stuff. And then last night. Oh my gosh. I went to a ZUMBA class. Have you ever been to one? So. Much. Fun. I felt a little stupid for the first 5 minutes but then realized that no one cared how I looked. It is like dancing/aerobics to high energy latin music. Much shimmying and shaking and jiggling and gyrating went on, but it was a blast. The teacher was fabulous and I can't wait to go back! GO ZUMBA!