Singing in church

Our 3-year old thru Kindergarten classes sang in church this morning. Emily participated (she's in the back row second from the right), but Chase wasn't fond of standing in front of the church so he declined. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Curious Chase!

Chase is 4!!! Wow. Can't believe it's already been that long. He continues to grow into such a great little guy. He wanted to have a Curious George (CG) party. He watches CG every morning during breakfast and tries to remember some of his curious natures so he can try them on mom, but he turns out to be so sweet he doesn't usually get into too much trouble!

Chase wanted to make his own cake and we decided on a shaped, chocolate banana cake. We started yesterday day and he helped to make the cake. He watched with great anticipation of licking the beater. Why is that so much fun?

OH....that's why it's fun....it's messy and delicious!

Chase woke during the middle of the night and came to sleep with me. I think he came in just beofre 3:00 a.m. and he was born at 3:10. SO...I let him stay with me and savored that sweet memory of when he was born and just held him in my arms. We started the day with a yogurt quiche with blueberries - complete with candles and all. He loved it.

For lunch we had macaroni and cheese and the kids just played around the house while we got ready for the party. We had lots of balloons for decorations. I also printed out lots of coloring sheets and worksheets from the CG website and thad those sitting around for people to do. The kids made CG masks and played an ABC matching game.

It was then time for presents! And oh did he get some nice presents. All of the grandparents were present but we were missing a couple family members due to illness. We really missed you guys and hope that the little one is getting nursed back to health quite quickly.

Here is our banana cake. It turned out so well, if I may say so myself! Before our cake and homemade ice cream, we had a meal with lasagna, chicken alfredo pasta, salad and bread. It was delicious!

We had a lot of batter with the cake so we also made a small banana cake for Chase to eat. He was counting the candles as he put them in his cake.

Chase got so many neat toys. We opened his lego sets and they were a huge hit. Let the creative juices flow!

HAPPY #4 CHASE!!!!! We love you.

A Week of Birthdays

It's amazing to me, but SO MUCH FUN, that kids get to celebrate their birthdays in so many different ways. It's been important to us to celebrate birthdays in as many ways possible - why not? A reason to have a party. Chase got to have a Diego birthday party with his friends as daycare. He got some very nice and creative gifts. Thanks kiddos!

Chase also got to celebrate at his preschool. We made brownies and mom came for the treat time. He got a special birthday hat and sticker and then we sang happy birthday. He was so proud to hand out his treats. The children get either hugs or spankings....Chase chose hugs!

A School Program

Emily had her first school program on Thursday. The theme was "Under the Sea with Me." It was a combination of music and PE. It was a combination of the three morning Kindergarten classes and they sang 11 songs. They showed off several of the skills they should master at this age. It as a very cute 50 minute program and the kids all had so much fun. They each had to bring an umbrella and beach towel to use as props during the program. Emily had a lot of fun practicing at home and we still hear the songs as she pretends she is the teacher and places each child where she sees fit.

Each of the children entered holding an umbrella.

This was the backdrop for their program. Emily isn't shown in this photo.

Emily looks and smiles for a photo on the way out!

What a fun time - the first of many to come. Thanks to the grandparents who were able to come out and watch!

Yum Yum

It was cold and windy here on Friday afternoon so we thought we'd take advantage of being indoors and bake some brownies. The kids had a great time. Chase is especially eager to help anytime I'm doing something in the kitchen. They each got a spatula to help stir, after Chase put in the brownie mix and Emily cracked the eggs.

The best part, of course, was when they were ready to bake and they both got to lick their spatulas. And then we had chocolate mouths! Oh what fun. And the brownies were really good after supper!!

The next item on the agenda was unloading the dishwasher. They got very creative and had fun building several towers with the cups. It was interesting to see them work together and the different ideas they had about what needed to go where. What a concept.....a normal chore turned into a fun time for them together!!

Have a great rest of your Saturday!

Outside Work

We took advantage of nice windy Kansas day and worked outside. We fixed pancakes for breakfast and then headed out the door. We trimmed back lots and lots of rose bushes.....now mom has some wound marks to show for it.

Mom and Dad Ingram were kind enough to bring in their truck and haul away all of our clippings....they can take it to their local dump rather than us finding some way to dispose of it since we had about 8 times as much as would fit in our trash!!!!






It was hard for the kids only because the rose branches are so thorny. But they did a great job playing together and had fun removing the straw from winter on our strawberries. Hopefully we'll have some red fruit to show soon!!!



Lastly, Chad put the final touches on preparing the garden for planting. Guess it's time to get some seeds and/or plants and get ready. We are so anxious to taste our fresh produce. A good, productive day....but we are now tired.

Our Artwork & Schoolwork

I am continually amazed at some of the papers that the kids bring home from school. Chase is enrolled in a Parents As Teachers Preschool class in the Maize school system, which allows Chad and I to switch off weeks and go to the class with Chase. I went with Chase this last Tuesday, April Fool's Day, and we had such a fun time together. He worked on this cat at the art table and I was amazed by his abilities. I helped him with the tail and ears, and he did the rest by himself. He ran out of room writing his name so he went above to finish!! But he got the sun and grass and all the facial features of the cat. I thought he did a great job and thought I'd let you check it out! The other fun thing from that night was snack time. All of the kids take turns bringing snack and the little girl who was signed up started handing out baggies with green balls in them. Everyone wondered what it was......the dad broke down and said April Fool's!! They were frozen brussel sprouts. She then had Moon Pies for the real snack, but it was hilarious and the parents got quite a kick out of it!! Some parents are so creative.........


Emily is doing wonderfully in Kindergarten and I can't believe some of the things they already teach!!! She told me today that they made a volcano in her classroom. She has already learned about presidents (and sometimes it seems that she knows more than me!!) and now we are working on subtraction. She got a BIG red star on her paper so I can only assume that she did this one right! She really liked this worksheet so maybe she'll be our math guru. She loves school and has enjoyed all of the friends she has made....so much so that she is getting invited to all kinds of birthday parties. Let the fun begin........

Ta Ta for now!!