Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Weekend Pics

Nature walk.

Playing basketball.
Hanging out.



Chatting with great-Grandma

Friday, May 23, 2008

Our Princess

Sierra enjoys watching Cinderella. One day I asked her to pick up some things and she replied, "Yes, Stepmother." I asked her if she thought I was mean like the stepmother and she said, "No, I'm just pretending I'm Cinderella."

Here, you can see that Sierra wanted to be a cat. Of course, being the helpful brother that he is, Sean obliged her with the marker.



Below is an example of another use for Lincoln Logs.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Cinderella

One of our favorite songs right now is Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman. I think this song will touch any parent who has a daughter.
Yesterday, Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter was killed in a tragic accident.
See news release.
Please keep their family in your prayers.
Below are some videos of Chapman talking about why we wrote this song and performing it live.



Friday, May 16, 2008

What Day Is It??


With our change in schedules this week, we have our days all mixed up. I was pretty sure yesterday was Saturday almost the entire day. Sean thought today was Saturday for a while. Today was errand/enjoy-the-sun day. Sean had his appt. at the allergist. She said he has an infection (sinus) and put him on antibiotic. That probably explained the 102.6 fever he had on Monday. As far as his allergies and asthma, he is doing well. She did suggest that we remove the carpet in his room when we can. Basically anywhere he plays we should try to dust-mite proof. That means a lot of carpet and furniture too, I think. She reminded me that he wasn't just a little allergic to dust-mites but that he was extremely allergic to them.

After the doctors appt., we had lunch while watching planes take off at the airport. Then we hit Target with our 10% discount card to stock up on some things and get Sean's prescriptions filled. While it is nice in some ways when certain medicines become available over-the-counter such as Zyrtec. But OTC costs more for us than generic prescriptions. Oh well.

After Target, we headed to the library, FINALLY (the kids thought). We got a lot of books and several DVDs and a few educational software CDs. We love our library. Sean is reading so well now that he can help choose books that he wants to read or that we can read together. I think we got more non-fiction books than fiction this time. The summer reading program will be starting soon where the kids can earn prizes for reading.

Next was the grocery store. I was once again reminded why I do not like the grocery store on Friday evenings. :)

Tomorrow Sean has a birthday party to attend for a preschool classmate. The girls and I might check out the Literacy Festival downtown. Callie and I might check out some neighborhood garage sales in the morning depending on if Jeff stays home from work and if the weather cooperates.

Here are some videos of Sierra at gymnastics. The first one is of her walking backwards as part of warmup time. She is not the only one but seems to enjoy doing warmups solo. The second one is of her on the low beam. She is in the center of the video on the beam.


Friday, May 09, 2008

Garage Sales

I've been busy getting ready for our first garage sale in about 3 years. I need about another month to get ready but someone picked tomorrow for the neighborhood and it saved us from being the ones to organize it like last time so I am not complaining. I'm sure we have plenty more we could sell but anything will be a bonus.

Sierra had an eye appointment today. Her eye has gotten worse so we wants to see us back in 3 months. It's possible she will end up having to wear a patch on the stronger eye or possibly even surgery if it continues to get worse. She is really good for the doctor.

While I'm talking about Sierra, let me tell you some more about our princess. Today I asked her to put away her shoes and she replied, "Yes, stepmother." She then explained she was pretending to be Cinderella. I'm really glad it wasn't my bossiness that she was referring to. At bedtime, I said, "Goodnight, Sierra Nicole." She corrected me and told me to say "Goodnight, princess." My bad.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

On to Kindergarten

I know I still have not scanned the art work from art class last week. I still plan on it, but it has been a busy week.
This week was Sean's last week in preschool. Tonight was an ice cream social with families and the teachers. The kids got their memory books which are just awesome. It is a bit emotional for Sean as he is really attached to his teacher and his friends. Here are some pictures I took.

Sean with his teacher, Mrs. R.

This is a high school helper in Sean's class.

Sean with his best friend.

Future preschool classmates. Sierra with Sean's best friend's little sister.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Time Flies

We had our third and final day of the art workshop (see previous post) today. We really enjoyed it and learned a lot in a short amount of time. I have had my days all mixed up because we have been out of our normal routine. Sean had a field trip yesterday morning to a farm. He normally has school in the afternoon but field trips are usually in the mornings. It worked out great so he did not have to miss school to attend the art workshop. On Thursday, we did not have the usual ice skating practice for Callie but instead had art class. Yesterday I had no idea what day it was half the time. We have another busy day tomorrow with church activities. I will try to scan and post some of the kids' art in the next couple of days.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

How Great Thou Art

Callie and Sean are taking an art workshop called How Great Thou Art. Parents must attend with younger children so I am sitting next to Sean in the class. We really enjoyed it today. There are two more days of 2 1/2 hours each. The kids had four art assignments to do tonight. We were all rather tired, but it was a good kind of tired. The class is very fast-paced but is designed to teach us a lot in a short amount of time. Sean did a really good job of paying attention and keeping up for being just five years old. Callie seems to be inspired as well as she wants to start an art journal like the instructor does. He allowed the teenagers to take one of his journals home tonight to look at.