Budding Talents...

I've been warned a zillion times that my kids would grow-up super fast- and boy has that been true this week!

Addie has been writing non-stop. I really need to scan some of her "stories"- just this weekend she filled 6 pages- front and back! Her favorite topics- Kierke and her family. She is putting together complex sentences- 2 ideas joined with conjunctions- which makes this teacher-Momma super proud! We are encouraging her to sound out words- or else we would be spelling words all day long. Her spellings are super cute- speshil=special, Kerke=Kierke, favrit=favorite. We love this passion of hers and look forward to seeing it evolve!

Alden also loves writing, but more recently he loves drawing. Part of the kindergarten entrance test involves the drawing of the human body. It's not just any body- it has to have the basics- head, arms, legs, body, eyes- but also eyebrows, ears, fingers, feet, & neck. He also loves drawing all his shapes in all different colors and sizes. Way to go, buddy!!

Gimme a "C"!

Ever since our Homecoming football game at Liberty, Addie has been obsessed with cheer leaders- she even convinced her teachers that she WAS a cheerleader! You can imagine her excitement when we told her that her Christmas gift was that she was actually going to be a REAL cheerleader! Some friends of ours run the local sports league and for the first time, they would be offering winter cheerleading!

Here they are starting off- calling up all the cheerleaders- can you see the excitement in her sweet little face?? We knew that they would be getting uniforms, but she didn't want to run the risk that she would be the only one not to have a uniform (some of the girls in this squad have cheered for this league in the spring or fall and would have those uniforms). I am so proud of her- even though the room was full of strangers and you could tell she was a little nervous, she marched right up when they called her name. I am so proud of the little lady she is turning into!

In her new, spiffy uniform- SO excited and a tad bit nervous!

Sitting in the gym with her friend Ella (love that she has such a sweet friend on her squad!) very intently listening to her Coach talk to the parents.

Circle Time- discussing good sportsmanship. Raising her hand to state that she wants to have fun and work hard- that's my girl!!

Everyone in for a loud "Go Team!"

Stretching.... Man that girl is limber!

All lined-up and ready to start learning some moves! Aren't they an adorable little squad?!

Practicing some jumps

Since it was the first day- the basketball players just scrimmaged so the squad didn't cheer for it. Normally they will put on a half-time show and cheer some for the game. To state that she was devastated to not cheer this week is an understatement! The girl wants to encourage, shake her pompoms, and chant her cheers- g-o, let's go, g-o, let's go!

She loves this- and I have a feeling I'll be sitting through a good number of athletic events watching the sidelines and my adorable little cheerleader!

A Day At The Park- in January....

We have had unseasonably warm weather- so we have enjoyed it to the hilt! The kids have played on their swing set, ridden their bikes, colored with side-walk chalk spent time at a park, etc! Sadly, I only thought to document one of these- so here ya go!

Climbing the rock wall to get to the top!

Not sure what this is called but they enjoy rocking back and forth!

Sliding!

Alden pushing her- this ended with them each taking turns and then finding it hilarious to land, face-first, into the mulch...

Loving the hamster-like wheel....

So big!

Days like this I want to remember and cherish- they played sweetly together and had so much fun!

Smarty Pants!!

I know I'm more than a little biased, but I am here to totally hoot my kids' horns! We had a great time over Christmas just playing, crafting, and reading books. I didn't spend time writing, reviewing letters, etc- we just had fun.

You can imagine how proud I was to see what they brought home from their first week back at school- way to go Addie and Alden!!

Addie (because, as she will promptly tell you, ladies go first....) She created a pictorial calendar! I just love the details here- January- a happy snowman, February- colorful hearts, March- kites and a clover, April- an umbrella, raindrops and the Easter Bunny, May- a ladybug crawling in the grass, June- she is swimming at the pool with snacks on the chair....

July- a picnic complete with a grill, August- her swimming in the ocean and a sandcastle in the sand, September- the bus bringing her to school complete with the flying flag, October- leaves changing color and jack-o-lanterns, November- birds flying south, a bare tree and a turkey, December- a decorated tree and candy cane (which is telling the importance of Jesus at Christmas)

And then today, on the way to church, she wrote this:

**Translation: title My Dog

This is my dog. I Love my dog. My dog Love me. My dog is beautiful. My dog has a tongue. My dog has dog food. My dog has a name, my dog name is Kierke. My dog is a girl. My dog looks little.

Alden- from the boy who has zero interest in anything that didn't have wheels or made noise, he has made a 180! He clearly has been listening to all that I have said- and I give most of the credit to his amazing teachers who have clearly inspired him!! We could not be prouder of him!!

He did this all by himself- ALL. BY. HIMSELF! He even told me he knows that his "J" is backwards, but that he likes it better that way...

And a few of his classmates work- I think it's pretty impressive!

He now loves to write- and writes whenever he gets the chance- the sky is the limit, dude!!

New Years Eve

New Years Eve this year we hosted- orginally there were 15 people to come but that number actualy dwindled to just 8. We still had a blast- and ate a ton!

Yummy brownie pizza- Alden referred to this as Jesus' Birthday Cake!

Karen found a cute idea- pizza crusts cut out with cookie cutters- the kids loved it! We have- starting at the top- a snowman, a heart and then a Christmas tree. For the adults, we made a boring rectangle pizza- but it was super yummy!

Just a sampling of our spread- meatball sliders, pizza and a ton of desserts were off on the side! It was a great time of eating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company!

The beautiful W family- such cool glasses!

We are excited about what 2012 has in the future for us!

A Week of Freedom

The week between Christmas and New Years was simply fantastic! We did little other than just play- it was wonderful!!

Alden LOVED his race track- and I think Al enjoys it a bit, too!

A good friend is expecting twins and is now on bedrest- we took her sweet daughter, Ava, for 2 days. The kids had a blast together!! I was excited to try out some fun winter-themed crafts I had read about! Here we made q-tip snowflakes and 3-D snowmen- both were adorable and huge hits with the kids!!

Finished- puffy yet firm- so cool!!

The girls working sweetly together doing puzzles!

Emeril better watch out- Alden LOVES to help in the kitchen- here he literally made chicken pot pie for dinner- I insisted on cutting the raw chicken but other than that, he did everything else!! Way to go buddy!!

Ava came over another day- and Addie helped her do 5 Little Monkey's on her Just Dace for Kids. So sweet to see Addie being a little mommy....

Working together- Ava totally thinking the numchuck was a controller and thinking she was such hot stuff!

That night we had our first of many Family Bowling Nights. It was a blast- Alden loved bowling from the top of the coffee table. The best part- he would do a little jump as he released the ball!

Not too shabby considering that it was the first time for the kids!! Clearly they take after their father- who actually was on an award winning bowling team as a kid!

It was a great week- lots of fun!!

Chrismtas Day!!

I must apologize- I totally neglected to take good pics on the actual Christmas Day- I guess you could say that I was all photographed-out.... Or the fact that I had forgotten to charge the good camera's battery.... You can choose....

Here the kids are getting ready to open their gifts- they were up early so we had plenty of time to open gifts AND eat breakfast AND get ready for church! That's what happens when you get up at 7am!

Alden was not too thrilled with having to wait....

So excited!!

Excited to finally be able to open gifts!!

The kids were so excited- they got a Wii- yay!! At first they didn't understand- but once they opened the games they were super excited!! I did hear Addie whispering to Alden this conversation:

Addie: Mommy, Daddy, MarMar and PopPop must have been bad.

Alden: Why?

Addie: They must have been on the Naughty List- they didn't get any presents!

Alden: Oh- that's not good. I will share my chocolate Santa's with them....

I love my two- they are such a blessing- and when they make life challenging, I have to remember these little moments!!