MIA

Sorry I've been MIA for about a month now...honestly, I just kind of forgot about the blog :) Guess that means we've been having fun. We have been up to lots and lots, so here is a glimpse! Vacation Bible School The boys and I did Northminster's Vacation Bible School. Matthew goes to preschool there. I knew DAvid would be taking classes all day, so I offered to help. I'm so glad I did. I really had a blast with the 4 year olds. I would have preferred to do it without a toddler on my hip (Jacob wouldn't leave my side!), but really, it went well. I loved watching Matthew, in particular. It's just fun watching him have fun with other kids, and to be under the instruction of other adults. My favorite part was watching him sing. This was the first time that he was old enough to join the "big kids". At the end of the week they had a performance, singing their songs they learned throughout the week. Matthew was working so hard at the motions with the songs. He was so serious about learning to do them. It's neat watching your child be eager to learn and eager to do something well. Here is a clip of their performance.
Summer Sunday Nights So far this summer, our church has had two "Summer Sunday Nights". The first had a fishing theme. The kids got to go fishing in the lake on the church property. The bait: hot dogs. Aparently the fish love them, and it's cheaper than night crawlers. We were among the first on the scene to fish. Jacob found the box of hot dogs and said, "hot dog". It was his first two-word combination. Part of me was excited that he put two words together, and part of me was bothered that it had to be the words for a random assortment of pig byproducts...But anyway, Matthew really enjoyed fishing. He has been asking to go fishing for a long time. While we didn't catch anything (no one did), Matthew at least satisfied his curiosity for fishing for now. Here is a picture of Matthew with his really good friend, Linnea. They are pretty cute (and can be double trouble together, for sure!)

I have plenty more to write, but I need to let David write his paper....priorities....

First Dance Recital

Here is a video clip of Matthew's dress rehearsal last night. He has been taking classes all year at the studio where I work (and where I danced growing up!) I am so proud of how well he did. He was so funny on stage. They got positioned and he saw one of the teachers up front in the first row and got so excited that he ran forward to the front of the stage to say hello. I also heard him say, "Where is everybody?" The lights were bright and you can't really see the audience from the stage. While they were dancing, I heard him coaching the rest of the class. They were in a circle and I heard him go, "Now bend, bend, and break!" When he came off stage he said to me, "I thought the audience was going to help us!" His teacher had told him that she would be in the audience to help them! So cute. He had no fear. He had to spend a lot of the night with all the boys, and not his group, so I'm proud of my little buddy for choosing to have a good time regardless. I can't wait to have him do it again tonight for the real show!

Finally

I finally have someone in my family to ride roller coasters with me!!!! Growing up, my mom would never ride roller coasters. David hates them too....so I'm always odd man out to ride the big rides and Kings Island. Not anymore! I now have a roller coaster riding buddy!

And I'm pretty sure this little guy would have joined us if he had been tall enough. Here he is, staring longingly at a ride Matthew was riding. He threw several fits over not being able to ride something he wanted to! The Scrambler was the biggest fit.

One ride he was big enough to do was this little cars ride. Matthew got on, and Jacob was, of course, bothered that he wasn't with him. I realized that there was no minimum height requirement, so we put him on! He LOVED it and got so upset when they made him get off. He screamed as I carried him around to get in line again, but was relieved to get back on. He rode several times.

And a precious picture to end the day:

Milestone??

We had another milestone last night....if you want to call it that. We had our first child to climb out of his crib! Matthew never did it. He moved himself to a big boy bed before he tried. But last night, our little Mr. Adventure, accomplished the big trick. I put him in bed, much to his dissatisfaction. He was screaming for a couple minutes, and suddenly, I could hear his crying moving throughout the room. I was in Matthew's room, but could tell Jacob was at the door. For a long time, he has been able to climb into his crib if the side is down, and has started attempting to get out if the side is down (and just the day before had been caught putting his leg over the rail when it was up). I never heard a boom, which means he did it without falling. Oh, our little climber....

Jacob had been in a toddler bed for a short time, but bedtime became a struggle, so we figured it meant he wasn't really ready to stay in the bed. We moved him back to the crib, where he has been happy for awhile. We'll see what happens in the next week!

Face Painting?

Who knows what he was doing....it started with a cup of yogurt and a spoon. It turned to drinking yogurt out of the cup. And then this...

One Fine Face

Well, two fine faces....Matthew and Paige Ficke in their dance costumes. They had pictures this past saturday. The recital is June 12th. They are dancing to "One Fine Face" from Sesame Street. I'm so excited to see how Matthew does with the big event...he's never really had an issue with being in front of people, so we'll see what the big stage, lights, and craziness does to him. I think he'll love it :)

People, all the time, are asking me if I'm teaching my kids Spanish. I always answer "no" and feel quilty that I'm wasting my knowledge...I know I should be, but it's really harder than it seems. Well, I no longer have to answer no! I finally taught him something. He's at a cute stage where he is really eager to learn things in Spanish. He is always asking me how to say random words (often stumping my rusty language skills...) So, here he is, singing this beloved song that we sing every night at bedtime.
On a side note, here is a funny story of something Matthew said this evening. David was gone when I put the kids to bed. When he got home, he went in to say goodnight to Matthew (who was still awake). When David went in, it was pretty obvious Matthew had been doing some serious thinking about life. Here is more or less what the conversation went like: "Daddy, I don't think I'm going to be a mailman anymore when I grow up." (He's been saying he's going to be a mailman...) David: "Oh really? What do you think you want to be?" Matthew: "A daddy. And mommy is your wife." David: "Yes she is. Who do you think your wife will be?" Matthew: "Lily Koesters." Until tonight, he always answered that question with Mara...sorrry, Mara. I guess Matthew wants a younger lady :)