Easter Greetings

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. We did. Christian spent Friday at home with us, colored eggs that night with his aunt and uncle, and played part of that night and all Saturday with his friend, Matthew, who lives next door. We took them to the park and then to Dairy Queen. He got up early on Sunday and was happy with his loot—he got everything he wanted and more, including a fuzzy, warm Angry Birds blanket that he wrapped up in all weekend. He hunted for eggs, got a little farther learning how to ride his bike, took a walk with me that afternoon and played on the iPad. This morning, he was snuggled up on the couch under his new blanket relishing his last day off from school.

Just the Beginning

We got the kids new bikes, and this was the first of many weekends to come teaching them how to ride their bikes without training wheels. Christian had no interest in it whatsoever, but we know he is going to want to go biking with the kid next door, so off we went. He walked to the school with me and let me give him a few rounds around the parking lot. He did pretty well, but when his dad started teaching him, he got ticked off. He called me Bad Clown #1 and his dad Bad Clown #2, then when he decided he liked my teaching better, he decided to call me Mom and his dad Bad Clown. Whatever. He is in for another lesson this weekend on the sidewalk—now if I could just get to practice tying those shoe laces.

Off On His Own

Christian showed his independence at his scout banquet by helping out the leaders and sitting with his pals during dinner. We told him he didn’t have to sit with us, and he chose not to. He only moved back to our table when it was time for the badges to be handed out. He seemed to have a good time up until the end when everything started to drag. I thought he was going to fall over from boredom, but he managed to keep his composure.

Next week is the ISAT tests. Wish Christian luck!

Fun In The Sun

Christian has been working hard preparing for the ISAT tests, and we gave him a break this past weekend with a trip to a resort with an indoor water park and amusement park. We got there on Friday night, and within half an hour, we were inside the water park. It was not as big as the one we went to in Wisconsin, but it was a lot of fun. Christian took off on his own and went down the big slides himself. He checked in with us often and had his brother and sister chasing him—Huts and I were their legs in the deep.

After a couple of hours in the water park, we headed back to our room. The kids zonked out, and the next day, we checked out the nearby towns and the amusement park. There were about eight rides. Christian’s favorite was the tilt-a-whirl. He rode that again and again, even on his own a few times.

Christian also spent a wad of cash on the arcade games. He loves the claw games. He is pretty good at them and managed to get Tori a teddy bear. He dropped everything else, much to his dismay. Huts called the games quit after he spend his wad, and Christian had to find other games to play.

Interestingly enough, Christian had a great time! There were no complaints or fits from him.

GlobeTrotters

Upon hearing that we were going to see the Harlem GlobeTrotters, Christian did his usual hemming and hawing about not wanting to go.  A few days later he started telling me about Amelia Earhart and how she died on her trip around the world.  I obviously didn't make the connection, she was a globetrotter!  Christian thought we were going to see someone who had gone around the world!  I assumed they had seen the commercials and new we were going to a basketball game.  Luckily, before we went I realized what he was saying and explained who the Globetrotters were that we were going to see.  He was more interested in this idea, but still didn't want to go.  He went anyway.


We had the best seats we've ever had.  We got the 2nd row off the court, so the kids could see everything up close.  Once the game started Christian was still reserved, but he laughed at most of the jokes and the globetrotter's antics.  They got to see how tall Tiny (7'8") was compared to them and how small Too Tall (5'2") was and laughed at how the names didn't apply.  During the game, they got to interact with Flight Time a bit.  Special K and Flight Time were fighting over the water right in front of us (between the first row and ours).  They fought a bit over the water and bumped some out of the cup right onto us.  Christian got the worst of it, but wasn't mad about it at all.  He laughed the hardest though when Flight Time sat down next to Tori (as you can see here - If you look at it as an image download, you can see it best.).  He thought that was the funniest thing of all.  I'm sure he was wondering why a player was sitting next to them in the stands.  


While he sometimes lost track of the game and asked why I was laughing (it was hard to see some of the antics being down so low).  It was difficult to understand some of Special K's jokes because of the sound system being poor.  He had a great time overall.  He's been telling stories about the Globetrotters for 2 days now.  Even though he had a great time when asked if he wanted to see them again, his reply was his usual "NO!".  He's nothing if not consistent with his answer to those kinds of questions.  But, he was intrigued by going again because he asked me later if they did the same tricks at other games.  He'll have to go to another game to find out.

Back In the Groove

The kids returned to school yesterday, and surprisingly, it was a smooth transition. Neither was looking forward to it, but they went without fuss. I thought for sure that Tori would shed some tears at before-care, but she didn’t. Miss Lynn at the program got married and is working the mornings only now. Miss Stephanie is now there in the afternoons and she introduced herself to me yesterday. She seems nice, and I am sure the kids are going to like her. Whether she does as many crafts as Miss Lynn remains to be seen, however!

Christmas Recovery

The kids had three Christmases, their rooms are full and they are settling in for the last few days off from school. Christian is having a great time at home with Grandma—the whole house to himself. Tori and Eli have been going to Sharon’s so they can play with the kids there. Yesterday, Tori came home in makeup. Apparently, the girls got some makeup for Christmas and made each other up. Tori was pretty in pink but washed it off as soon as we got home. She and Eli must have had a really good time because they sacked out early.

Many thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to see us over the holidays and/or put us up. Sorry for the mess we left behind and thanks again for all of the gifts!

We got out Christian’s coat from last year, and wouldn’t you know it, it is nearly too small. That boy is growing like a weed; he is almost as tall as Grandma and is up to my chin. Man, is he going to be tall. The pants I bought him will be high waters here soon I am sure. At this rate, I am going to have to buy him just a few items at a time rather than enough for the whole year.

Huh...

Christian was the last to see my stitched up hand. His response: “Ew. What happened?” I told him, but he was more interested in finding out out why Dad and I were home that day when he was at school. Once I explained the need for us to burn some vacation, he returned to the I-pad. He wasn’t there to see the blood and panic, so it is of no interest to him. I offered to let him watch the stitches come out, but he declined. Betting he reacts the same way to his dad’s LASIK procedure this coming Easter. Who cares what happens to Mom and Dad—we’re old.

From Lego and Back

For awhile there Christian had sworn off Lego's.  He didn't want anymore Lego's and was getting rid of some of them.  He wasn't that interested in any of the sets that were out and didn't really care about the old ones.

Things changed once he started looking at Lego related videos online.  Suddenly the Lego enthusiasm returned.  He got interested in the new Lego Dinosaur and Ninjago sets that had become available.  He also started to duplicate the original creations he saw on some of the online video's.  He's duplicated Super Mario, Luigi, Angry Birds, Transformers and many other characters, contraptions and items.  Anything he likes on the Lego videos, he duplicates if he has the pieces.  This year Santa isn't bringing as many Lego's as last year, but it may be a bigger Lego creating phase in his life.  Luckily Santa has all that technology and telescopes to see how good he is being.