Who needs toys?

My first post in a very long time and it's kids with buckets on their heads....well, it's probably more interesting to watch than reading about our packed daily schedule of work, school, classes, etc. would be!  So, on this Saturday morning, this is what's happening at our house.  I could seriously probably get rid of all their toys and they would happily play with empty buckets, jump on all the furniture and--the best "toy" of all--climb all over daddy!

Kate's new favorite words

APPARENTLY, Kate has three new favorite words which are: apparently, confident and vegetarian.  I'm not sure where she heard them, but she slips them into conversation all day long, pretty much always out of context because she doesn't really know what they mean (and, apparently, doesn't care--I've tried).  She tends to get 'apparently' correct once in awhile since she just slips it in at the beginning of most sentences.  'Confident,' however, has been used to describe a chair and the oven.  And a few days when she couldn't unbuckle her car seat, Kate exclaimed, "well, that's just a vegetarian!!"  Today, though, she has acquired a "pretend friend" named Sophie who was described as having a blue, red and purple spin-y dress that is "prettier than your wedding dress" and is--you've got it--a confident vegetarian.  Sounds like Sophie is a force to be reckoned with--kind of like someone else I know!

Kate does Taylor Swift & Katy Perry....

A friend with a pony....

...is a great friend to have!!  Kate's friend Hailey's family runs a horse boarding and shoeing business, and they've also got two ponies which the kids got a chance to ride last weekend.  Kate even started learning how to steer by herself!  Hailey's dad patiently walked Will around their whole property since he didn't want to get off.  They've also got all measure of farm machinery and Will was particularly excited that he got to operate the bucket on the tractor--Grandpa Bobby, Will is probably going to ask you to "upgrade" your tractor since he's been wondering why yours doesn't have a big bucket on it.  I think the days that we can fool him with a riding lawn mower are numbered!  They also loved feeding Hailey's chickens and collecting the eggs, although Kate is now seriously curious why some eggs turn to chicks and some don't....every time we crack an egg, she asks, "Do you think it's going to be a real chick?"  Probably just the beginning of tough questions for which I have no great, satisfactory answer!  Of course, Kate also told me that "we should just get a pony for our house."  I told her that we didn't have room in our yard, and she said "well, daddy can just make some more room!"  Hailey's parents said she came home from our house saying that they needed a new house with a playroom, so I guess we're even.

On another note, I can't quite believe it's already Friday again when I meant to put these pictures up last Sunday!  Oh well, looks like life is only going to get busier.  Someone recently suggested that maybe I should read the book "250 Ways to Say No" since I don't seem to be very good at that!  I must say, though, that it's fun to be busy when I get to do so many things that involve our fantastic kids and the amazing community we've found here.  We've definitely found "our place" in the world, which is a pretty special think to have found!

Kate's best quote of the day

"Daddy, I'm really in love with you.  Maybe when I'm the same age as you, we can get married."  How sweet!

How Kate & Will spend their day

No wonder they are tired by the end of the day!

Will's first day of soccer!

Well, not so much soccer as the games/drills/stuff (very technical term, I know) you do before soccer, I guess.  Whatever it was, he loved it!  Lots of running so I'm sure he'll sleep well tonight.  Most of all, I think, he loved that he was taking a class ("like sissy") and he proudly showed the hand stamps they gave him at the end to anyone he could!

First goal (he clapped wildly for himself)

They played a game where they got to make towers out of cones and then kick it over--PERFECT for boys! :)

Learning how to follow directions and "sit on the line"

First soccer cheer!

Best moment of my day...

...yesterday, Will brought me a book and wanted to read it to me.  He sat down on my lap, opened it and said, "once upon a time....."  Love it!  Of course, these wonderful moments are always tempered by the two-year-old moments that are not so wonderful.  Yesterday's?  I went to pick the kids up from the Kid's Club at the gym and Will threw an enormous tantrum, yelling, "I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE.  I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME!!  I ONLY LOVE MISS DEBBIE!"  Good thing I know most everyone there or else they'd think his home life is not so great!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

And, boy, was it a white one!!  Snow, snow, everywhere--not fantastic for our drive to Yreka, but absolutely WONDERFUL for everything else.  We have a ton in Sisters (and not likely to go anywhere soon, with highs in the teens!) and there was even snow in usually dry Yreka.  Mt. Shasta got feet and feet of snow just in time for arrival, which meant we got to go skate skiing and even took the kids for their first cross country outing.  Best of all, though, was seeing ALL of Ryan's family.  What a big, fun, happy bunch.  Kate and Will (but especially Kate!) were in heaven, getting attention of love from aunts, uncles, cousins and,  of course, grandma and grandpas.  At the big Christmas party, Kate got in on the guys' traditional poker game (by "helping" Ryan) and has now developed a new obsession.  She is showing all the signs of a compulsive gambler ("I'm sure I'll win the next one!") and now refuses to call a "two" anything but a "deuce."  While being an artist is still on her list of what she wants to be when she grows up, she has now added cross country skier and poker player.  We'll see!  Will discovered the joys of grandpa's shop, spending many hours "doing work" which was mainly sorting screws, nuts and bolts.  He joined all the men who gathered in the shop (by grandpa's fire) on Christmas--while they drank beer, he did some sort of "work," coming inside covered in grease!  It was definitely our most fun Christmas yet with the kids, since they're old enough now to be excited about in and in awe of Santa--watching their joy is the best present we could get!

Spreading food for Santa's reindeer!

Santa came!

Kate on her cross country skis--she claims to like it more than downhill.

Just because it's winter doesn't mean Grandpa gets a break from giving the kids tractor rides!!

Microphone fun....

We've been playing with Kate's microphone set-up all day....honestly, I'm pretty sure Ryan likes it as much as the kids.  While I write this, the kids are taking turns doing tricks while Ryan talks into the microphone like a WWF wrestling announcer--he's dubbed Will "Will the Thrill" which sounds quite good when said in his fake deep announcer voice.  Here's some videos of the kids.  They get super serious when trying to sing with songs because they're concentrating so hard on finding the words they know.  And Kate is going to need a wireless mic, apparently, because she feels limited "since I can't dance enough with it attached."  

Early Christmas!

We've finally had enough snow to build a snowman (Ryan gets all the credit for this effort!)

Since Grandma Connie and Grandpa Bill are leaving for Christmas, we had an early Christmas this morning.  The kids have been enjoying their new gifts all day--thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

Kate's first dance recital

In my opinion, spending a Saturday night watching Kate and a whole bunch of other kids do hip hop (and ballet and jazz and....) is time well spent.  Kate did great--no stage fright or anything.  Her class got some big cheers since they are such tiny people attempting to do hip hop.  Their teacher is an amazing woman--luckily, she danced on stage with them but how she gets kids this age to perform is pretty much a miracle in my opinion.  After Kate performed, we watched the rest of the kids (LOTS of them!) and I think Kate loved that she recognized so many of them.  It was a pretty packed house and it was really nice to be around so many friends supporting something in our community.  Well done, Kate!

Kate striking a hip hop pose pre-performance

Oh yes, they're looking tough!

It's really hard to see since it was hard to get video in the dark but, as you look at it, Kate's on the far left.  You can tell from the laughs and cheers that they were doing a great job (although they probably would have got the same love just standing there since they were all so cute!)

It snowed before and during the performance and, when Ryan left with Will at intermission, Will apparently got very excited about the snow.  When they got home, Will refused to come inside and was still outside "shoveling snow" when Kate, Grandma Connie and I got home after 8 o'clock!  They both woke up this morning asking to "ski and sled right now!!"

Add it to the list....

....of things that will one day embarrass Will (AKA "the perils of having an older sister").  Will is walking around, putting around chapstick and just came up to me to ask, "Mommy, how do I look?  Like a princess?"  Oh, buddy.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy birthday to the best daddy (and husband) around!!  The kids and I are now eagerly waiting for him to arrive home from work so we can have the "cake" this kids chose (doughnuts, which, honestly, he'll probably like way better than cake!)  And, thanks to Grandma Connie, Ryan and I get to go celebrate on Saturday night and stay the night in Bend.  Can't wait!!

Our rock chick!

Any guesses what the teenage years hold for us?  Yesterday, Kate got temporary tattoos all the up both arms (something she asks for frequently).  And, this morning, she wanted her "rock" shirt because "it looks so good with tattoos."  I wouldn't be at all surprised if she joins a band someday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our wonderful, amazing friends and family!  We're just back from a great time (and great food, of course) at Grandma Connie and Grandpa Bill's.  Apparently, our kids are still young and cute enough that all we are asked to bring is "the kids" so thanks to everyone else for doing ALL the work!! We all have many and much to be thankful for--too much to mention, in fact.  I did ask Will what he was thankful for and, although he has no idea what that means, he answered, "my tiger costume, Tucker (his best friend) and dreams about riding my bike."  A pretty good answer, I thought!!  Kate is now thankful for "all girls and maybe Cooper and Charlie" which is, maybe, a step up from last year's answer of "Metallica."  Cheers to another great year!

Firsts!

A couple of "firsts" this past weekend--the first snow of the season and our first family bike ride!  We only got about an inch of snow, but it was enough to drag the sled out and we could already tell that this winter will be much more fun than last.  Will's old enough now to enjoy the snow, rather than just waddle around like the Michelin man having now idea why he's supposed to having fun.  And Kate, despite being unwilling to look at the camera in these photos, is even more excited about sledding and skiing this year, and is already telling Ryan which lifts she wants to go on first when the mountain opens (based on name/color of the lift rather than any actual ability....)  The snow mostly melted in a day, so on Monday we took our first family bike ride!  It was not long, mind you, but it was the first time that we were all on bikes at the same time and didn't have to worry too much about any of us falling, lagging behind, etc.  It's shades of things to come and makes me excited that our kids are growing up!

My favorite Kate moment. EVER.

Kate regularly makes me laugh but today was the topper in her first four years.  Unfortunately, I have no video of it but I'll try to give you the visual....I doubt I will ever forget it.  So, Kate is in a class called "hip hop for tots" mainly because the thought of watching a bunch of under-5 white kids learn hip hop was too good to pass up.  Plus, the dance studio is in Sisters and run by a fantastic lady and, in my book, if someone is willing to attempt teaching toddlers to get down, you support it wholeheartedly.  It is generally hysterical but today it was downright amazing.  Lonnie, the teacher, had them all in a circle and was calling them in one by one to "freestyle" in the middle.  I thought there was NO WAY Kate would want to do that but, when called in, she got down on her hands and knees and started kicking her legs up in some handstand/cartwheel combo.  She followed this up by lying on her back and trying to spin around.  For a "finale," she got up and put her hands on her hips and shook her tush while dipping all the way to the ground.  This whole scene made me oddly proud and definitely made every bit of the $45/month tuition worth it.  If you're in need of a laugh, visit us on a Wednesday afternoon!

Better late than never...

Yet again, the norm now, it seems, the past week flew by with little time to breathe, let alone update life here.   I continue to be amazed that two small people can make life soooo busy, but they do and I'm working on living in the moment with them rather than worrying about documenting it (I'll probably wish I documented more later but I'm hoping that I'll remember all the extra hugs I gave when I wasn't behind the camera!) Anyway, the kids LOVED Halloween and Kate did indeed change costumes for the parade after school (and she changed costumes AGAIN after the parade to go trick or treating so she got full value out of this holiday).  The parade was the most fun one yet since both kids were old enough to participate.  The parade is all the things I love about living in a small town--every shop decorates for the kids and all the shop owners come out to pass candy to the kids.  Every little kid in town is there and it's all about them having fun--highway traffic even happily stops to watch them parade.  We've never gone trick or treating in the evening before, but we decided to go with some friends this year and it was worth it.  The kids ran to every house (we only went to about 5) and were amazed every time that saying "trick or treat" worked.  It was a full, fun day and, luckily, the kids have totally forgotten about the mounds of candy they received!  As for the past week, we've spent nearly all of it outside because it's been so warm and un-November like.  Yesterday, we all wore shorts and flip flops and it was in the 70s!  We've got one more day to enjoy it, though, because it's supposed to cool down and snow on Friday.  That's Central Oregon for you!

Happy Halloween!

The great thing about Halloween being on a school day is that Kate gets to wear TWO costumes (one for school & one for the Halloween parade this afternoon).  So, costume #1 is SuperGirl....more to come....