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Aren't the kids cute!

Day One DONE!

Today the kids and I started the couch to 5K program together. Day 1.1 done! The kids did well with it and hopefully we'll be able to keep them going. (And, yes, I realize that I started this on a 38 deg day.)

Conferences

Well, it's that time of year! In the past couple of weeks we've had the pleasure of sitting down with the kids' teachers and chatting one on one.

Colby's conference was a couple of weeks ago. Her teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say about her. She tells us that Colby pays attention and follows directions well, that she plays with all the kids without reservation but her "best friend" seems to be Amelia. Ms Kym tells us that Amelia and her like to sit and read books together when they've finished their work and she's amazed by how closely they get the story right. We've also been told that she's at the "top of her class" as far as preschool skills are concerned being one of the best kids at using scissors.

Mason's conference was yesterday afternoon. His teacher as well tells us how wonderful he is doing. Apparently he is the only one that got a 100% on the last math test! We're told that he is never lacking for partners when the kids pair up for projects and that he's "quiet". (Quiet??? Huh, wasn't really expecting that one.) Ms W tells us that she knows he's smart and knows he knows the answer, but he never raises his hand. Kevin claims this trait comes from him. Also, Mason is reading at an "end of 2nd grade" level and has bragged about the number of books he keeps in bed with him.

All in all, we are very proud of our kids and we're told to "keep doing what you're doing!"

And now, the hair!

Sorry about the delay. 20 minutes turned into 40 minutes and then I've been working the last few days.... and well, I wanted to leave those of you who don't read the blog often in suspense a little too. Bah ha ha! (Evil laugh)

New blanket

Colby's down blanket was looking a little short for her. So I found this really cute "tapestry" from Target that was on clearance for $5 and threw together this yesterday to fit over a down throw we already had. =)
The fabric.

The blanket.

And here's how it looks with everything on it.

Sneak peak...

We still have to wait 20min! But here's a sneak peak at what we're attempting this evening. =)

Mason's Birthday party

Mason's party was a hit. Though not as exciting as our parties usually get, it was still good. The cake looked great and tasted yummy! Mason had a good time and loved all of his gifts. (Most of them, he's still playing with even!)


The party in pictures...

Yes, they are related to us

Last night we were watching Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon series on Netflix and I was playing a bit on the computer as well. I think I might have been a little distracted because I look over at the kids and see this:

Ah yes, there is a definite amusement factor with children.

Grandma's day off

So last week Glynda took a day off to babysit for us.

Apparently Mason can be very persuasive. He claims Memaw is not all that good at fighting but is ok at the starship part.

Latest sewing project

Here's my latest sewing project. A gal friend at work wanted me to make her a bag like mine. She picked out the fabrics and here's the "finished" project. (I need to shorten the strap a little but that's going to have to wait until after Mason's party.)



In other news, please see Jon's blog to see a picture of his girlfriend. Rumor has it that they will becoming to GR for a wedding. Of course, Jon is worried that we'll all scare her away so he's keeping the family meeting to a minimal. I am a little saddened that he's calling Stephen to meet her over me... but I'll just expect a super cool Christmas gift to make up for it. =)

Also, I started the night shift last night. It seemed to go alright and we'll see how tonight goes. I'm hoping that I can sneak in another nap today but for some reason my body just doesn't want to go back to sleep. Lunch then nap. That's the goal for the rest of the afternoon. It's good to have goals.

Colby's First Day

Colby had her first day of preschool!


I told her that it was time for me to go and she started to get teary eyed and.... well.... I started crying. I kept thinking that it's my second kid, it's supposed to get easier! Apparently not. A hug later I was walking out with parents giving me empathic looks. Colby did ok and her teacher managed to distract her. She brought her to the "good-bye" window so she could wave to me one more time. Later when I went to pick her up I was concerned because parents were already coming out with their kids. I thought for sure that she was in there crying because mommy wasn't there and everyone else's mom was there. However, I found her sitting at the table coloring and she didn't even notice me! When she did finally see me I got a "hey mom. I need to finish coloring." And she did. In the end, I think the whole event was much more traumatic for me than her.

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sorry for another one of these, but I really think that I could have a lot of fun with one of these. =) Here's to hoping I win!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Maker Faire and more

Well, I've noticed that it's been awhile since we've blogged about life around here. We've been busy people the last few weeks so I'll try to get caught up around here. Though, there are still a lot of pictures that haven't been downloaded yet and for that, I need to finish unpacking and locate the camera.

We'll start with some pics from Maker Faire Detroit which delayed our Interlochen camping trip a day, but definitely worth it!

Mason's friend. He had a grand time chasing after/tormenting this robot.


Grandpa (The shorter one)


Water swings that Kevin and Colby tried out.


After swinging...


One of the cool vehicles traveling around. This one occassionally shot out fire. Sadly, they weren't letting faire-ers ride this one. Though we did get to ride a 6-person bike. That was fun. I think we need one of those, maybe after we get a bigger garage.


We also did some tie-dying before vaca.




I've also been working on a quilt for Colby. I'm currently hand quilting it in my spare time. Here are some pics of what the top looks like.



Also, for those of you that haven't heard... I have a job on 8C at UM. It's a med-surg floor and I start orientation next week. I also finally got a reply back from my OR interview (5 weeks later!!) but I turned them down. I think the 8C will work out better in the long run and I look forward to having actual patient care/interaction. This new job is working nights... we'll see how that works out. =)

Rockets

Well... I was going to put up some pics and tell this cute story about how Kevin and the kids made a rocket launcher. But, well, the stupid computer won't recognize that I uploaded the pics and let me post them. Bug Al if you'd like to see the video and know that the rockets were super cool.

For Lindsey

And, well, everyone else too. Lindsey has just been aggressively hinting that I needed to update my blog. It's just not as much fun without pictures and our camera hasn't been working. So, all pics below have been taken with the iPhone. Not bad for this, but I wonder how they would look if I printed them out.

Enjoy the updates!

Soo Locks

Day 3 we went to the Soo Locks. The concept behind them and how they work is so simple and brillant. It was really cool to see them work. The kids also thought they were pretty cool, but when it takes the big boats hours to get thru the locks, it doesn't do a great job keeping their attention. =)
Pic of the locks opening:

Small boat going through.

100ft boat on it's way in. The pic from a previous post was a little nicer. There were actually 2 of these boats looking to get through at the same time from different directions and they had to wait for the smaller boats to go through first. Needless to say, big boats cool, but SOO SLOW.

After watching a few boats go through the locks and learning some things at the museum we headed for lunch at a place across the street. The whitefish was very yummy!! Then, Kevin and I headed home for the day. See Jon's blog for what the kids did.

Taquamenon Falls

Day 2 of camping we went to Taquamenon Falls and hiked from the lower falls to the upper falls. This is a 4mile medium difficulty hike. BOTH kids did it and did it well! Kevin and I were sore afterwards, I can't imagine how Colby was with her shorter legs she must have taken 2-3 times more steps. It was beautiful out and a really nice hike. I am very proud of my kids for being able to hike so well. We were also very happy that we had invested in Camelback's for the kids. It was nice knowing that they had so easy access to water and that they were constantly sipping on such a warm day. Though the bugs weren't bad, I was glad that our camping neighbor lent us her bug spray. Colby also peed in the woods for the first time this trip. It was rough trying to get her to do it and it took 5 tries beforehand, but SUCCESS! And, well, some pee on the pants. It's hard to squat and not get your pants. Fortunently, Kevin and I came prepared for such things. =)

Here's a pic of the lower falls before we started out hike.

Colby and Kevin after the hike, you can see the upper falls in the background. Also, the pic from a previous post is a nicer one of the 2 of them at the same location.

This is the upper falls. So pretty! It's a beautiful area. The water is a orange/red color because of all tannins in it. Cool, but a little freaky at times when the sun catches it just right and it looks like there's blood floating in the water.

Well worth the work. We took the kids out for ice cream when were done.

Camping

Over the fourth of July we went camping. Here's a pic of the tent all set up.

Yes, I realize that it's set up inside, but we wanted to be sure that we could set it up before we got to the camp site. We left Weds evening and headed up to Brimley State Park, arrived there around 2230 and had the tent set up and kids in bed by 2300. Sadly the kids were still awake at 0100. Ah the joys of sleeping in a tent. (Though the second night we were all in bed and asleep by 2130.) Our site was right next to the bathrooms which was nice because we could send the kids to the bathrooms by themselves and a little rough because the area around us was pretty busy and well lit in the evenings.

The first day we spent just hanging out around the campsite and checking stuff out around the state park. The kids found Lake Superior. I thought it was freaking cold, the kids came back to the tent site soaked.

They do look cute playing in the water and they had a ton of fun. My parents showed up with Linds and Caleb later that evening and we all hung out and did stuff the next couple of days. Those have a lot more pics and excitement, so I'll wait to post those on a different one. Kevin and I left the kids with my folks and headed back on Saturday so we could work the road together on the 4th. (Mucho dinero!) The kids went to Pictured Rocks that following day, see Jon's blog for some pics from that.

Volleyball

This summer I've been playing sand volleyball. I put together a team and most weeks there are enough of us there to play. =) The kids also enjoying coming to watch and there's a couple on the team that has a kid right between their ages and they all have a blast playing together while we play volleyball. For next year, I think that I'm going to downgrade our team to a different bracket as we are getting our butts kicked on a weekly basis. However horribly we play, we still appear to be an inspiration to our children who put on their own game after our match one week.

I am also playing soccer which is a blast. They have me playing goalie which is great as that is the position I played way back when in high school. Slowly but surely things start to come back to me. =) I get bruised up often and have 'injured' my shoulder and forearm, but they were minor. It's all part of getting old and thinking that you can still play like a teenager. Sorry, no pics as I am the only one that goes to the games so far and it's difficult to coordinate a pic as I play.

Random between stuff

I kind of like the fabric on this chair and think it might go well with the decor in my family room. Thoughts?

Couple of cute shots of the kids. I have no clue what it is they have all over their faces, but I think they enjoyed it immensely.


I love this pic of Caleb!

Race Day

On June something I completed my first 5K since having kids. Go me! It was a decent run with a gal friend Kat. We had trained using the Couch to 5K program which we would both recommend to anyone looking to get started in running. There were a couple of weeks that we did twice but all it all, a good program. I even got the Couch to 5K app for my phone which was very helpful as it told us what to do. Race time: 41:30. We're thinking of trying again in October to see if we can get it under 40min.

After the race, the kids, in-laws, my dad and I walked around and had lunch at the Taste of Ann Arbor. I highly recommend the cupcakes from the Cupcake Station, the kids enjoyed the chocolate covered strawberries.

This picture doesn't do the actually amount of chocolate covering the faces justice. =)

More to come...