February videos

 

Rock Star

We were playing the game Apples to Apples Junior tonight.

The kids were supposed to define a "rock star."

Elizabeth said that she thought a rock star was someone who knew a lot about rocks and was awesome at rocks.

Then, you were supposed to use a word to describe "rock star."

Elizabeth put down the card "messy" because when you chip away for rocks and use your rock tumbler, it gets very messy! And washing your rocks off can also be very messy.

It made me laugh.

Oak Creek Wildlife Refuge

The cub scouts den went over to hang out with the elk today. Nathan brought his binoculars. Jeremy took these pictures. They also rode out on an old army truck amongst the elk and got to feed them big bales of hay. Nathan had a good day! 

Crafts With Kim

Today, Jeremy and Nathan went over to Yakima for a cub scouts outing. They went to the Elk Creek Wildlife Refuge. Elizabeth; meanwhile, stayed with Kim and crafted!! She did so many fun things and came back home with a big box full of great things to put on her wall! 

Kim sent me pictures of all her her crafts. 

She said the one with her name was her favorite!

These painted bunnies were so adorable!! 

When she got home, she lined up her canvasses, her picture frame and her two bunnies. She had a marvelous day! I'm sure she would not mind more craft days with Kim!! 

Kim also made this craft for Nathan. It was funny the background was in camo and he happened to be wearing all camo today. 

Thanks for a great crafty day Kim!!! 

Father/Daughter Ball

Father/Daughter Balls are a big deal around here. We've heard about them for several years and this year Jeremy and Elizabeth decided to go. The theme was a football theme, but we don't follow football and have no Seahawks gear, so they just dressed up in their super fancy clothes! Their wedding clothes!! It was nice to get to use them again! Jeremy said a lot of people were wearing Seahawks stuff, but a lot of people were also dressed up like they were. So they didn't stand out too terribly! 

The ball was at the TRAC. Jeremy said their were 250 Dads and at least 250 girls because some families brought more than one girl. He said it was really crowded, but Elizabeth had fun eating snacks and twirling her dress while dancing. 

A picture before they left. 

A picture Jeremy sent me from the ball. 

Snow Day #9

Snow day today for freezing rain. Jeremy and I were out driving at 9 and it was completely fine even on the side roads. This should have been only a 2 hour delay. Yet here is another day the kids won't go to school. This time was the first time I feel they made the wrong call. And I'm sure we won't even make it up.

Elizabeth's 7th birthday party #2

Elizabeth also had a birthday party for the family. Papa Ray, Kim, Papa Norm, Gram, and Auntie Laura were able to come. 

Papa Ray and Kim brought these great Valentine's baskets! They spend the evening painting their new crafts! 

Auntie Laura brought Pippa and had a Doodle Date with our neighbor doodle Sherman. 

Opening some fun new presents. 

A new hula hoop!

Elizabeth's 7th birthday party #1

Elizabeth had TWO birthday parties when she turned 7. We had one party for the grandparents and one party for her friends. She completely planned her party. She decided the theme would be "Rocks and Minerals" since that is her favorite hobby. She planned the games and did everything!

When her friends arrived, she showed them all her rock collection. 

Then, everyone made Valentine's. 

Elizabeth planned a "gemstone" dig in the sandbox. We bought bags of little jewels and buried them. The sandbox actually did glitter in the sun when the girls walked out there. It was pretty neat!

Everyone got a little baggie full of the "jewels" they found. 

Next, Elizabeth wanted to paint rocks. She found 12 good rocks to paint. We bought paint and they all painted. Elizabeth painted a turtle! 

Painting rocks. 

The girls also spent time playing in the backyard. Thank goodness the snow had mostly melted just a few days before! The only snow left in the back now is the snow that is in the shadow of the fence. It was a beautiful (if a bit chilly) day. 

Elizabeth had a great lot of fun opening all her presents and the girls oohed and aahed about the new toys. 

She loved the singing card from Amelia. 

A fun group! Nathan, Jemma, Amelia, Josephine, Elizabeth, Kaijsa, Charlotte, Sophia, Cecilia, Kylie, and Mischa. 

Giving orders about her cupcakes. 

Singing birthday songs. 

Everyone eating their cupcakes. 

Snuggling a 7 year old!!! 

Elizabeth at 7

Elizabeth is 7 today!

She's 46 pounds. She sits in a regular booster seat now and is proficient at buckling herself in! I will never again have to buckle a kid in!!

She's still a great sleeper. She says she likes to go to sleep at 9:30 (even though I put her in bed at 8:00-8:30). She says she reads or writes until 9:30. Then, she usually sleeps until 7:30 which is when I wake her up for school. On weekends, she usually sleeps a bit longer. Maybe 8:00 or 8:30. So I guess she needs about 10 hours of a sleep on a regular day.

Her eczema is not terrible. Her skin is terribly dry especially in the winter, but she doesn't scratch herself bloody as much.

She has one big food allergy incident this last year when she was exposed to sunflower seeds. Just the other day, we were sorting out her clothes and deciding which to keep. I pulled out a dress and asked why she never wore it. She kind of freaked out and said that was the dress she was wearing when she had her allergic reaction and she never wanted to wear it ever again. That incident was pretty scary for her.

1st grade is going really well! Her teacher has no complaints and she's doing above average work in reading and math. She's just started reading beginning chapter books. She likes Princess Posey and Heidi Hecklebeck books. She loves school and heads off cheerfully every day. She has lots of little friends and her favorite special is art. Her least favorite special is PE as she says she doesn't like the jogging.

Her eating is still not good. I think this will be a forever pattern. She goes to bed hungry most nights as she won't eat what I cook for dinner. I used to tell her that if she didn't like dinner she could make herself bread and butter. She did that for awhile but now says she doesn't like bread and butter anymore. So now, she rarely eats dinner and just eats huge breakfasts when she gets up. She only likes to eat white breads, crackers and pasta, cheese, cereal and milk. And of course, she loves any junk food but I don't let her have any of that since she won't actually eat real food! If she ever does eat well, I let her have a treat or cookie, but that seems to not be very often. She doesn't like any vegetables and will only eat applesauce for fruits. She won't eat meat often, but will occasionally eat some chicken if it's covered in seasoning salts. When I volunteer in her class, I do notice that she's one of the smaller girls in there, but what can I do? I'm not going to let her only eat unhealthy foods simply because it's the only food she will eat. She basically lives on cereal, milk, frozen burritos, bread and cheese.

She started piano lessons last summer and is really doing well! She's picked it up well and is almost done with the first book. She seems to enjoy it. She'll be playing piano in the school talent show next month.

Thus far, she hasn't shown any interest in playing any little kid sports so she doesn't do any of it. She does love her swimming lessons in the summer though. We don't do swimming year round though as it is just so hard on her skin.

She and Nathan still love playing together. They have all kinds of imaginary games they play. They also fight quite a lot! Elizabeth has a LOT of energy. She never slows down, even when she's sick!! She's quite spunky and likes to get her way. When I observe her at school, she is definitely a leader. She's a bit bossy.

Her front 2 top teeth are coming in right now. She's definitely not looking like a baby any longer!

Her biggest obsession right now is rocks and minerals. She just loves rocks. We made it the theme of her birthday party! She and Jeremy have fun tumbling rocks in her new rock tumbler. She also likes gems and crystals and beads.

She loves to be read to. Right now, I'm reading her the Ramona series and Jeremy is reading her the Wizard of Oz series.

Happy birthday Elizabeth! We love you!

Snow Day #8

More snow and freezing rain. We got 3 inches of snow yesterday and then it turned to freezing rain. So no school today. 

As this long winter has dragged on, I've had to buy Nathan a new coat because the old one literally ripped apart he was wearing it so much in all his snow play. I also had to buy the kids new SNOW GLOVES. They've been using them so much, they were ripped to shreds. Usually, those gloves last years and then I'm sad they didn't get used much and have to give them away when they're too small. Not this year! Also, I think they've worn snow boots to school every day (that they've had school) for 2 months. Again, usually those boots are pristine since they wear them 2 days a year. Nathan boots are falling apart. 

We've mostly forgotten what grass feels like too. Snow on the ground since December 6th! The kids like to joke that we are the Ingalls family in "The Long Winter." Well, once we start only eating brown bread and twisting hay for warmth, we can discuss that. 

Winter Piano Recital

The kids had their Winter Piano Recital yesterday. They both did great!

Elizabeth was quite interested in the grand piano. 

Their teacher Miss Karen. 

All of the piano students. 

A closer up so I could see both kids! Nathan is kind of in the middle and Elizabeth is in front. 

Nathan during his portion. 

Elizabeth sitting down for her duet with Miss Karen.