Forks and Spoons!

Reid has been working on his utensil skills for awhile now. He is getting quite good with a fork and spoon.

Most of the time he wants utensils with his meals. And actually uses them too. Spoons are more difficult than forks most of the time. And when he eats oatmeal for breakfast about a third of it ends up down his front and in his lap. So we are still working on it. But tonight, with the cut up pears, he did a great job. Although as I sat down to write this he dumped the rest of the bowl on the table and proceeded to pick them up with his hands. Work in progress.

Pacific Science Center Adventure with Daddy

We took advantage of our Pacific Science Center membership today and headed to Seattle for a fun family adventure.

The kids had fun examining the exhibits both new...

and old.

Reid was so excited to actually be able to play this time around. He was very cute running around and copying all the big kids.

GIANT guitar!

Lucy playing the singing bowls.

We killed some time while we were waiting for our movie to start. We watched Flight of the Butterflies (in 3D) which chronicled the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. The kids really loved it and even tolerated the 3D piece really well. I got to sit next to Gwen and she was very cute reaching out and trying to touch the butterflies. I was happy that it was a very tame 3D movie too. My kids tend to be a bit sensitive to the whole thing and find it overwhelming. This was just the perfect intensity though.

After the movie we headed up to eat some lunch. Reid found some girls to flirt with until he embarrassed himself completely. Then only some snuggle time with daddy could help the emotional strain.

Such great lunch companions!

Next we tackled to outdoor water cannons. Zane was in 7th heaven. There was very little line and he got to have a nice long turn.

This was utter and complete glee!

Everyone else got a turn too. Eric seemed to think that Gwen needed a bit of help with the cannon. I don't know that she actually did need help though. It is possible that Eric wanted a turn and didn't want to wait in line.

The giant ball was fun to spin. They got it going really fast when Eric helped. Then it was a fun game to set it spinning and expect him to stop it on a dime.

We explored the building we had missed the last time we were at the Science Center. The kids had a lot of fun and so did Eric. I really think it was like having another kid with us. He wanted a turn trying all the exhibit activities and was quite determined to beat all the averages. 

It was a great day with lots of fun. We ended the adventure by walking to the International fountain and watching it spray. Andrew decided he wanted to come back in the summer and play in it. Then we walked to Dick's on Queen Anne (how is it that I had no idea it was so close to the center for the first 34 years of my life?) and got some ice cream cones. We were going to get cheeseburgers too but this lady forgot that Dick's only takes cash. Oops. The kids were thrilled with their cones though and it was a very nice end to a wonderful family adventure day. We are going to head back with daddy in the next few months to check out all the exhibits we skipped this time around.

Apples to Apples

All the kids were looking ready for bed at 5:05 tonight. Since a late nap would only mean a very, VERY early wake up call we busted out Apples to Apples to play as a family. Suddenly everyone was awake and full of energy. Reid is obviously too little to play but Gwen did very well for the first 30 minutes or so and Lucy held strong the whole game. I can tell we are going to be a gamer type of family. This is just getting more and more entertaining as the kids get bigger and the strategies get more elaborate. Although I must confess that Eric and I are, by far, the most competitive of the group. Somehow I think they are going to jump right into the fray with the intensity though. This big family is so much fun!

A Sick One

A cold has entered our household. Miss Lucy had a nasty cough last night but seemed fine this morning. So we did all the typical Thanksgiving stuff. Went to my mom's, ate too much, came home. But when we got home we realized she was running a fever. I don't think there is anything too serious going on but Lucy is generally healthy as can be so for her to be out of it means she really is sick. Hopefully it will be short lived and she will be good to go by Saturday!

Turkey Dance 2012

It was Thanksgiving and that can only mean one thing at our house. It is time to do the Turkey Dance!

Reid was old enough this year to get in on the action. I was pretty sure that he would love the dancing. He finds us being silly together to be the best thing EVER. Andrew even turned the corner this year. In the past he has found the turkey dance too immature and silly for him. He apparently has turned that corner though because this year he was one of my very best dancers!

I was really surprised by the energy and vivacity of the moves that they boys came up with. There was jumping, twirling, high leg kicks and spins. It really was quite impressive.

There was also possibly some turkey tackling that went on. But there was also a lot of wing flapping and gobble, gobble, gobbling.

Gwen was my long hold out on the dancing this year. She is very particular right now so I wasn't surprised that she was hesitant about getting into the action. Lucy jumped right in. She is always game for an adventure.

I don't know that I got a good picture of the wing flapping or the leg strutting. There really is nothing like the pure chaos that this dance is. Some year I am going to video it. I just need to remember to get the stuff out and be prepared before the big event. Because when the gobbling gets primed it is a hard thing to hold back!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Turkey Hat Preview

Mr. Responsible

Being in 4th grade has brought some big changes to Andrew's homework requirements. And it is a good thing. He is responsible to carry a 3 ring binder back and forth to school each day. He has spelling and math and occasional writing assignments that he is to have completed for the week. His teacher has a log sheet for them to fill out each day to show what homework they accomplished. One of the least favorite parts of the homework is working on spelling words. Andrew has received from his mother the hatred of spelling but he does a great job practicing. This morning he asked me to look over his homework and help him do a spelling test before school. Pretty responsible for a 9 year old! I am crossing my fingers that this is a good indication of his future homework attentiveness in the years to come.

Goofy Boy

Zane has started his own circus side show act while he watches tv these days. He manages to get his body all twisted up and turned around all while his eyes are fixed on the screen. Eric says it reminds him of what he used to do as a kid. What a goofball!

Sweet Sisters

Miss Lucy proved what a sweet sister she is today. She found some candy (she claims it was hers, I really have no idea) downstairs and brought it up and said, "I found my candy. But I am going to share it with Gwen. We are going to watch our Barbie movie and eat it."

How can I argue with that? Such a sweet sister. And they are happily sitting on the couch together munching away. There has been no fighting and Lucy isn't being bossy about the candy distribution. She even lets Gwen hold the tube. That is some serious love right there. Letting your sister hold the candy. It warms my heart though to see them so sweet together. Gives me hope that they are going to be the best of friends in the years to come.

LOVE some PB&J

Reid is still my most picky eater. By far. On top of his milk allergy restrictions he is just plain fussy. So it is really nice when I can find some stuff to get him to eat. Reid is also a total and complete snuggle bug/busy bee. There really is no in between with him. He either is all over me wanting me to hold him or he is running wild creating utter havoc everywhere he goes. The more sleepy he is the more mess he creates too. Like if he sits down he just might fall asleep and that is utterly unacceptable.

When I took these pictures it was right after nap time and he wanted me to hold him while he ate his snack. I was not game for that since he tends to be very messy so I had to sit RIGHT next to him and touch his leg as he ate. These pictures make him seem happy but I promise right before this he was sobbing. Such a sweet big boy though.

Brotherly Love

I was in the middle of dinner insanity and I look over to see Zane and Reid having a brotherly love type of moment. Of course it needed to be captured! It is so nice to see that they love each other.

Baby Update: 14 weeks 5 days

 I usually do nothing in the way of baby belly photos until it is obvious that I am pregnant to the casual observer. Well, I am not messing with a good thing and although I took some pictures of myself today in an attempt to show how non-pregnant I look, they just look strange. So instead I will just give the update of the newest member of our family.

Little bean is doing great. It was being stubborn about letting the doctor find the heartbeat so she went to get the ultrasound machine and we just took a look. Everything looked great. No worries there at all. One more month until our anatomy ultrasound. I am so excited to give my new little one a gender specific pronoun!

Running Ragged

Life has been very busy the past week. Between hosting kids,swimming lessons, running club, math club, McTeacher's night, bible studies, dance lessons, Costco trips and church auctions, I can honestly say that this week has been nuts. And busier than I ever envisioned.

So it was no surprise to me that both my girls fell asleep on the couch this afternoon. It was necessary.

I feel busier than ever before with all my kids and at times it feels crazy. I am telling myself that it is worth it in the end. They only get one shot at this childhood business.