Hannah's Day Off

Hannah had a day off last week while everyone else had school. We were both really excited to spend the morning together while Max was at school. We dropped Max off and of course she wanted to get doughnuts. We then headed out to a place called CREATE. When you walk in there are tons or art projects that are completed examples of what you could buy and create yourself. It was a big decision. She really wanted to paper mache a waste basket but at the last minute she decided to paint on a canvas. I think it was because it was wrapped in bright pink and black material.

She stamped on her name and I helped her fill in the letters. She had a blast and asked if we could stay all day! She also decided that she wants to have her birthday party there!

After Max was down for his nap she wanted to watch "Dancing with the Stars" that we taped last week, have ice cream and make cookies. She told me it felt like she was in preschool again like last year. It felt good to have her home.

Spiderman Rides

Hopefully Max when you read this some day you will know how much you loved dressing up. It doesn't matter if it is Hannah's pink cape, a superhero outfit, a football helmet or swimming goggles, you wake up almost every morning wanting me to put something on you. When I take you to school, your teacher always says, "what is Max today"? Trying to get you to take off a helmet, costume or goggles is exhausting. You want to wear whatever you have on to church, in the bathtub or to take a nap. When Jack was two I never would have let him go everywhere dressed the way you leave the house some days but I have let go of a lot in the past 10 years.

Last weekend is was 80 degrees (in March) and Darren took Max out to ride the 4-wheeler by himself. He listened so well to everything Darren told him to do and followed the path just like he was told. He might be still wearing diapers but he can drive a 4-wheeler pretty well!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Excited to go to school on a very foggy day.
Max not cooperating.

Will's trap (the gold paint is under the washcloth in a container)

Jack's trap

I can blame the Kindergarten teacher that each of the kids have had for making St. Patrick's day such a big deal to them. Mrs. Rippe introduced Jack to Leprechauns years ago by having the Leprechauns creep in through the windows the night before St. Patty's day and "trashing" their classroom with paper and glitter everywhere. The windows were open when the kids arrived so they knew that the little Leprechauns got away..but not before they left some gold coins and a treat! Will was able to experience it last year and Hannah hopes to today! Whatever Mrs. Rippe did each year left a big impression on the kids, one that they still talk about today.

Not only do they get excited to leave their shoes out each year but Will and Jack have set traps each year hoping to catch one of those Leprechauns. Will decided this year to dump an entire container of gold glitter paint into another container and add some pennies for good measure. He left various notes and traps to lure him in. After I got over the fact that Will used every last drop of my gold paint, I asked him what he hoped would happen. He said that the gold paint was going to "trick him" into the trap since Leprechauns like gold. Duh... I should have know that I guess!

Jack skipped the paint and went right for the weapons. He had a Nerf shooter in his with a sharp pencil loaded. He also used tape to hopefully catch one and had a couple of army Lego guys standing guard.

Hannah just put her shoes out! She just wanted the treat and couldn't be bothered by traps!

Hannah and Will went all out for school on Friday dressing in a lot of green and spraying their hair. Jack told me privately that 4th graders do not spray their hair green. He went with the Celtics shorts and that was enough for him! Max screamed "spray hair" until his was also green but did not want to be in the picture.

Kobe Steakhouse

Last weekend we took the kids to Kobe Steakhouse with Mr.Simpson (Will's teacher) and his wife Jamie. The kids were excited because we have never taken them with us when we have gone out with Scott & Jamie

The kids couldn't believe it when the lit the grill on fire right in front of us. Max was terrified. You could feel the heat. We watched the chef cook our food and at the end let everyone at the table try and catch shrimp in their mouths. Of course, Hannah had to use the restroom right before this part so we missed it completely. Everyone caught one in their mouth except Max! The kids tried the chopsticks and were good at them. Max was very determined and managed to get some lettuce in his mouth. He discovered it wasn't fast enough though so he switched to a fork!

Max devoured my lettuce salad and didn't eat anything else. That kid loves salad! He spent the rest of the time watching the other tables light on fire and commenting on the smoke.

Jack tried shrimp for the first time and like it. Will tried it and spit it out. Will traveled up to the bar on his way back from the bathroom at one point and discovered that they had "little swords" and umbrellas for the drinks. He loved the swords and briefly stuck the umbrellas in a straw to blow them up as far as he could. That came to an end quickly and we had to leave.

It was a great night and the kids had a lot of fun. Darren and I also had a ton of leftovers to eat the rest of the weekend!

Kids' Artwork

1. Done by Max during Dr. Seuss week.

2. Caterpillar made by Hannah. She thought this up by herself after coloring each square a different color. I was impressed by the way she stapled each square at a different angle to make it look the caterpillar was moving!

3. By Will on Martin Luther King Day. It reads:

I have a Dream for my Country: be friends, don't speed, be nice, eat the same, treat everyone the same.

I have a Dream for the World: get smarter, be respectful, stop hurting, leave the earth clean, don't hurt feelings

I have a Dream for my Community: less parties, less video games, park better, less t.v., less robbers, get outside.

I highlighted the ones that I thought were pretty funny!

4. These are Will's 2012 resolutions:

Play with my frog better

Play with my brother

Go outside better

Be a better Ice Skater (He has never been ice skating!)

5. Max's caterpillar

6. Pictures created by Max - A bed made of material and a cotton ball for the pillow and a picture made with fruit loops!

In case Jack is wondering where his is when he reads this someday, when you get into 4th grade, you do not do much artwork anymore!

Baking Cookies

I found some Spiderman comic book cookie cutters for Will so we made sugar cookies. You would have thought that we had never made them before. Will, Hannah and Max fought over who got to mix the ingredients, who would be the "taste tester" to make sure they tasted alright, who would get to use their cookie cutters first and who was the one to use the spatula!

In the end everyone did all of the jobs and Max ate as much dough as he could reach while everyone else was spending their time arguing. I am pretty sure that Max had the right idea!

Jack's Basketball Season

His certificate - trophies are not in yet!

Jack and coach Phil

The "awards dinner" at Spikers

2nd place finish!

Jack had a great season playing both Fall and Winter basketball. He played a lot of games and 4 tournaments. His team worked so hard and placed 2nd in the final tournament of the season. They also came if 1st place out of 10 teams for having the toughest defense. Jack learned a lot this year and gained a lot of confidence. He received a lot of playing time and it was the first time Darren and I have seen him really love doing something and want to improve. He wants to get on a team this summer and attend a couple of camps.

We are proud of his dedication and hard work. You know Jack likes something when gets upset that there are no basketball games on a Saturday!

American Girl Fashion Show

Last year I took Hannah to the American Girl Fashion Show to just watch and give her an idea of what the girls do that model in the show. Last Fall when the registrations came out I asked her if she still wanted to be in the show. She assured me she did so I signed her up. There are 5 shows over the weekend and each girl dresses up as one of the American Girl dolls. You do not need to have a doll or outfit to model in the show. They provide everything.

Hannah had her dress rehearsal 2 weeks ago and found out that she was going to be a Bitty Baby. I thought she would be upset that she wasn't going to be one of the big girls but she was excited about the outfit and the poses that she was able to practice.

Last weekend was the actual show and she was really excited. She went with the lady right away and they went downstairs to get her hair done and pictures taken. I did not see her until it was her turn on stage. She was the 23rd model and she looked really cute with the PJs and her hair curled. She remembered all of the spots she was suppose to hit on the stage and did not look terrified!

She told me after the show that her stomach felt upset right before she went on stage. She said she was kind of shaking! She was proud of herself for doing it. I told her that I was proud of her for trying something new even thought she didn't know anybody. She said she wanted to do it again next year. It is so fun getting to do girl things with Hannah. This is something that she would never want to do in a few years so I am so lucky to be able to experience it with her now.

On Monday at school she drew the above picture. The black circles are the round tables that the audience sat at and she is on the stage in the middle. It was a great day with Hannah.