Birthdays in Bend

C and K have birthdays that are one week apart, so it seems we end up having a birthday "season."  K's birthday fell on a Sunday this year.  He wanted to go motorcycle riding.  After church we headed to White City for some moto-cross.  I will upload pictures later, they are on the camera.  Happy Birthday to my incredible, lovable 10 and 12 year-old boys!  They are both so wonderful and I thank God for them everyday!

C's birthday was the following weekend.  So we rented a house in Bend, and let the boys go skiing have a sleepover with their friends J and J.

I do have birthday pictures...but they are on the camera (not my phone).  I will have to download them SOON!

While Johan took the boys skiing, the girls and I walked to the Old Mill district for lunch and shopping.  A loves to shop.  I mean seriously loves to shop.  I can't even fathom it, because I abhor shopping.  A on the other hand comes alive in the stores.  She enjoys chatting with other shoppers, and sales people, and generally just strutting around the store, admiring merchandise.  When she sees something she likes she runs to it, and pronounces in a tone of breathy, excitement, "Mama, this is beautiful!"  She also REALLY loves accessories.  I think she tried on all of the costume jewelry at Banana Republic.

Here she is at the Gap, in her glory...

That day she picked out a sequin top at the Gap.  It is the only thing that she ever wants to wear.  I got a few pictures of it at home, but I couldn't get her to stop for very long to pose.

I have never once had a fight with the boys over clothes.  To this day they wear what I hand them and could truly care less.  A on the other hand wants to wear something "pretty" everyday.  And by pretty she means, pink and/or sparkly.  The trashier the better.

This particular sequin top is hand wash only.  So it isn't always clean...but I am trying to be a good sport.  She loves this top.  I have to coax her out of it at bedtime, explaining, "Your sequins may get ruined if you sleep in it."  It doesn't help that she gets tons of compliments on her sequin top.  The other day at C's track practice it was chilly, but she did not want to wear a jacket which would cover up her sequins.  The sun made that top sparkle like crazy, it was kind of cool.  But two of the track girls totally stopped what they were doing, to have a dramatic conversation with A about her pretty top and how sparkly she was, and, "Oh my you look like a mermaid!"  A of course loved and skipped and twirled around like the red carpet was out and the paparazzi were waiting.

State Chess Tournament

Last weekend we traveled to Portland for the state chess tournament.  Both boys qualified as individuals and as part of a team.  K was the top K-4th grader in our region, so he went as an individual and part of the Roosevelt chess team.  C was the top 6th grader in our region, so he went as an individual and part of the Ponderosa chess team.

The first day of competition is the team day.  Both teams finished about in the middle of the pack.

The second day of competition is the individual day.  So both boys had two very long, challenging days of chess.  I have never seen so many kids shed tears over a board game as I have the last three years at the state chess tournament.  The kids and the parents take this event VERY seriously.  C couldn't sleep the night before.

K finished with one win, three ties, and one loss, right in the middle.  He was happy.

C finished third place!!!!  I was so proud!!!

I have more pictures, but they on the other camera.  For now, this is from my phone.  A picture of C in his final match.

Where is K?!?

K is getting so fun.  She is really animated.  Here she is playing peek-a-boo with me in the car on our long drive home from Portland.  Moments before I took these pictures she was bored and crying... But then I asked in my own animated voice, "Where is K?"  She quickly recognized that I wanted to play and covered her face...

A few seconds later...  "There she is!!!"

End of January!?!

We finally got the Christmas tree off the deck...lights are still on the house...but we are calling them "winter lights," so I have a couple more months before those have to come down, right?  I meant to be a blogging fool this year, but it looks like I will only manage two posts this month.  February will be better...

Here is a quick January wrap up:

Who doesn't love a man who does exactly what you tell him to, exactly when you tell him to?  K is so good to A.  A will announce, "K, I want you push me."  Usually he responds enthusiastically, retrieving the laundry basket and loading it up with stuffed animals for a softer ride.  Little K is totally in on it now too, she doesn't want to miss anything.

The girls were getting heavy in one basket, so K put them in separate baskets... not sure if it helped, but they loved the train.

A has always had one drawer in the kitchen that she was aloud to pull stuff out of and make a mess of.  Until about a month ago that meant that A would empty the contents of this drawer onto the kitchen floor on a daily basis.  A outgrew the drawer and for the last few weeks I haven't had to trip over sippy cups and plastic bowls.  It was a short lived luxury...

Little K discovered the drawer, and being considerably more petite than A at this age she crawls into the drawer.  A was overcome by jealousy when she spotted little K in the drawer.  But A weighs in at 40 lbs. I couldn't let her climb in.  It didn't take long for little K to learn that she could pull out the drawers above and use them to scaffold her way up.  Super cute and fun to watch, but the danger factor drove me to throw out my veto power. 

Here is a shot of little K sporting her carrot dinner on her chin.  It is funny to me because she eats just like A used to.  For foods that require lots of chewing (fresh carrots, apples, etc.) she merely bites into them, sucks on them for a bit, and then spits them out.  The result is a nice little pile of food that looks as though it has been through a food processor.

The boys are doing tae kwon do again, and Miss. A wants desperately to do everything they do.  They were running around getting ready for tae kwon do when Miss. A proudly presented herself before me in the kitchen and announced, "I ready for typing wan do!"

Icing

I really love hearing children acquire language.  The manner in which their understanding of words evolves is so telling.  A child's curiosity and courage in applying new words in a new context is incredibly fascinating and often just plain funny.

This morning the boys made cinnamon rolls.  Miss. A asked specifically for her own.  She didn't want to share.  So I cut one in half and put just a little bit of icing on top.  She immediately put her finger in the icing and licked it.  "Mama, somebody put candy on this."  Laughing, I explained, "No that isn't candy, that is called 'icing.'"  With another finger of icing in her mouth she inquired, "Oh, this is freezing, it is good freezing."

Hahahaha icing - freezing...  I have to love the connection.

Candles

We had an advent wreath in December and the boys really enjoyed lighting and blowing out the candles each night.  For Christmas Johan got me some candle sticks and we have been enjoying candle-light dinners at the table.  Many nights we just eat dinner at the counter in the kitchen, but I have realized that it really changes the flow of the conversation when we are all lined up, looking one direction, versus sitting around the table.  So I am trying to make more time for eating at the dinner table.  Plus it has also made us more aware of some poor table manners; slouching, dive bombing, and holding the fork upside down.  But I digress, this post was actually supposed to be about this:

Yes Miss A is in her pajamas and the boys are in the bottom half of theirs... judge away...  Dinner was late, so everybody had showered/bathed before dinner.  And lately the boys like to sleep without the top half of their PJs on, I can live with that....

Johan and I were cracking up because Miss A was so incredibly enthusiastic about blowing out the candles.  Each attempt took her a minimum of 10 or 12 blows to get the candle extinguished.  The boys of course were happy to relight the candles (playing with matches...I know).  All the candle blowing out started because C and K wanted to try to put the candle out with their fingers like Johan.  They were pretty funny too, they would lick their fingers and then hoover nervously over the flame for almost a minute before starting over re-wetting their fingers.  Finally C pulled it off, then not to be outdone K gathered some courage and...burnt his fingers.  He recovered though, and after many near tries got the candle out.  I always admire the boys tenacity.  They do not like to give up, especially if one or the other has already succeeded.

There was of course plenty of wax to clean up.  C helped with that chore, and the next night he was a lot more careful with the wax.

Making a mess...

We call her hurricane A because in less than 3 minutes she can completely turn a room upside down.  A loves to move random things from room to room, and will proudly announce, "Mama I making mess!"  But if little K starts to make a mess, Miss. A is quick to chastize, "Oh NO MAMA!  Ki-Ki (pronounced Keye Keye) making mess."

Here is a shot of Miss A and some of the stuff that she is busy hauling around the house.  This is pretty standard for her.  I generally refrain from straightening up during the day.  I wait until she has gone to bed, but first thing in the morning she is back at it...

And here are the girls, enjoying each other.  It is so much fun to watch them as they are starting to really interact with each other.  It brings back so many memories of the boys learning to play together when we lived in Idaho.