April catch-up

April was a busy month in the Williams family!  We bought some new bikes so we could go on family bike rides together when the weather is nice.  We got Maezie a "tag-a-long" bike which attaches to the back of Daddy's bike.  She LOVES it!  She pedals her little legs and thinks she's going so fast on Daddy's bike! We even got some little pink handle grips.

Maezie went to a "preschool princess party" at her school.  All the little girls wore their best dress, and made their own crown, painted their nails, wore princess sashes....and got to meet a real princess!  Maezie's eyes just lit up when she saw a princess "in real life!"  This princess happened to be the teacher's daughter who has been a local pageant princess--she organized the preschool princess party as one of her community service events.

April brought slightly warmer weather (only slightly!) and we got a new outdoor fire pit.  Bryan has wanted one for a long time, and our new house has a perfect little cut-out area on our back porch.  For one of our Friday Family Nights we roasted marshmallows in our back yard and made s'mores.  The kids had a blast!

Kaela had her gymnastics performance in April.  She performed on the balance beam, the bars, and a floor exercise.  One of the new coaches, Mohini Bhardwaj, was actually in the Olympics in Athens in 2004!

Maezie started swim lessons in April--our local fitness center has several pools for different age levels and abilities.  So Maezie got to be in a smaller pool for ages 6 and under.  She had some anxiety at first, but she had a great time and learned how to kick and blow bubbles in the water!

And at the end of April, Graeson was ready to once again go forth for taekwondo testing for the next level--green belt.  At this level, he demonstrated his skill by breaking a board with his elbow--HIY!

March catch-up

March brought a family field trip to Peterson Rock Garden just north of Bend.  This cute little roadside attraction is another great family place to visit, and has a "good old days" feel to it.  I can't possibly explain in words but there are hundreds of rock-built creations:  houses, castles, bridges, gardens, fountains, statue of liberty, flags.....the place goes on and on!  Inside the gift shop is a black-light dark-room where you can see fun rocks that glow.  There were also plenty of peacocks strutting around, and a couple who even displayed their full feather display while walking down the driveway!

Graeson started indoor soccer in April--an interesting set-up with no practices and no coaches, but the referees do some coaching during the games.  Graeson's team was mostly boys, though it is a co-ed league.  I was unable to upload a video of him playing soccer, but here's a picture--it's hard to catch him in focus because he's always moving!

March also brought a visit from Auntie Laurel and Baby Keira from Portland.  It was fun having just the two of them with us--usually our visits are with the big extended family, so it was nice to have some time together with just us!  Keira didn't need much time to get warmed up to us, and she chased the kids around as fast as her little legs would go!  She wasn't too fond of our kitty at first, but after a while all we heard was her little voice saying "meow? meow?" which meant "I want kitty to come here!"  Here are pictures of Maezie and Keira with matching pajamas; Graeson and Keira playing together in the morning; and Kaela reading to Keira at the library.

February catch-up

In February, Maezie turned four and a HALF on Valentine's Day.  Maezie apparently decided (unbeknown to the rest of us!) that since we celebrate Kaela's half birthday, that we should celebrate Maezie's half birthday too!  The day before Valentine's Day, Maezie informed us of all the lengthy plans she expected us to adhere to--she wanted a princess party, princess presents, bowling at the Fun Center, and a chocolate cake "the rainbow cake from Costco."  We discovered this the day before!  So we gently explained that Kaela gets a half birthday because her real birthday is on Christmas and she doesn't get a party then, and Maezie's party would be at her birthday in August.  (I say "we" explained but in reality, somehow Daddy vanished when it was time to have this conversation!)  But....at the sight of her crocodile tears, we decided to give in a tiny bit and make pink cupcakes at home.

Winter finally came to Bend in February.  Since this is our first winter in Bend, we didn't know what to expect.  Many people have told us this was a very unusual winter and we usually get much more snow.  Yet, surprisingly school was cancelled when there was only two inches of snow at our house!  Twice!  Supposedly there was up to 8 inches in other parts of town, but we were shocked!  Especially since Bend is a "ski town" with Mt Bachelor and many other mountains within an hour's drive.  But....I guess the school buses don't care about skiing!  This picture is Graeson helping shovel the driveway....he did the whole driveway!  Even though it wasn't perfect, he was a great helper!

We also went to the High Desert Museum in February.  This is a great indoor/outdoor activity for the whole family.  We packed sack lunches and spent most of the entire day there.  We listened to a staff member talk about birds of prey and we saw live falcons, eagles, and owls.  We watched an otter swim underwater, and we also saw snakes, lizards, and all sorts of "leapers and creepers".  And we listened to another informative talk about cougars, mountain lions, and bobcats.  One of the more entertaining moments was when the turtles in the glass display were mating (apparently no need for modesty!) and Graeson shouted "Look Mommy!  The turtles are playing leapfrog!"  Um....yep, yes they are!  Here's a picture of the kids playing on the spider-web ropes.

And finally in February, Kaela had her recorder performance at school.  This event caused mom and dad to reflect on when we both played recorders in fourth grade.  And after polling some of our friends, it seems kids have been playing recorders in the fourth grade since at least 50 years ago, maybe longer!

January catch-up

Did you miss us?  It's been a couple of months without blogging.  I wish I had a good reason but....just busy I guess.  So now I'm taking on the ambitious project of doing five blogs in a row, to catch up the past five months.  We'll see how it turns out!

January finds the Williams family resting and recovering from the busy holiday season.  We started going to the library every Saturday for story time.  Kaela has learned how to use the library website to reserve the books she wants.  Most of the weekend the only time we "see" her is with a book covering her face!  Graeson likes to read Sports Illustrated Kids magazine.  Maezie loves the interactive story time which also means singing, dancing, and making a craft.  This is Maezie listening to one of the stories on the computer.

At the end of January, Graeson had progressed in taekwondo to where he was ready to test for the next level.  Taekwondo teaches martial arts as well as self-control and self-discipline.  These are very good characteristics for an active 7 year old boy!  He started as a white belt, and then tested for his yellow belt.  Graeson and Daddy spent some time at home practicing his moves as well as practicing the required Korean words.  He did a great job!  I tried to upload a video of him "sparring" but....no good.  But here's a picture of Graeson's yellow belt!

Family Game Night

We have maintained a weekly tradition of Friday Family Nights.  We take turns choosing an activity that we all can enjoy together--sometimes its a movie with popcorn, or when the weather is nice we might go for a walk or bike ride, or we bake something together.....or a long list of other possibilities!  This night we chose to play games--each of the kids chose their favorite game.  We had tons of fun!  Here's a little video clip of our game night.

(Note:  press pause on the blog music player to the right of this post.)

Adventures in Bus-Land

I've been trying to find free (or at least cheap) activities for our family to do on the weekends.  This past weekend the kids and I set out to ride the public transportation buses around Bend.  We didn't have any particular agenda, just to ride around and explore our town and give the kids a new experience since they've never ridden a bus before.

So, being the good plan-ahead-planner that I am, I researched the city website to learn the bus routes, prices, and schedules.  The schedule was in such tiny print I couldn't read it online nor in print--but how hard can it be, right?  I knew there were multiple bus stops I'd seen around town, so I figured we'd just hop on and hop off whenever it suited us.

Adventure #1--There weren't any bus stops near our house. Not to worry!  We drove to my work office about two miles away, parked the car, then walked about a block to the bus stop. 

Adventure #2--Looking at the schedule posted at the bus stop, we were going to have to wait almost 45 minutes for the next bus.  We crossed the street to the opposite stop where we'd have to wait a mere 30 minutes.  That particular stop was an enclosed shelter-type bus stop, to which all three kids proclaimed "IT STINKS IN HERE!"  (Thankfully no one else was at the bus stop!)  While we waited we had a little lesson on how to read the bus maps and bus schedules posted at the stop.  And we played with rocks.  And we threw rocks.  And we counted rocks.  And we asked how much longer......about every 7 seconds.  Finally the bus came!  The kids were thrilled and as soon as the bus started moving, their eyes were wide and their smiles were big!  And...."we don't even have to wear seat belts!"

Adventure #3--There are some interesting folks who ride public transportation.  One gentleman (nurse-mama's assessment quickly decided he had a mild form of mental illness) proceeded to tell the kids all the misadventures he got into when he was their age including "I burned down all of Awbrey Butte....all of it!" when he was 7 years old.  And "I took out all the windows in the entire high school" when he was 10 years old.  Ummmmm......next stop please!

Adventure #4--There was not an abundance of buses waiting at the transfer station.  We had to search to find the bus stop for the route we wanted, only to discover we would have to wait yet again for another 45 minutes.  So we hopped on the bus that WAS at the station, and explored a section of town we hadn't seen.  But apparently it was only interesting to mom, and I got the "I'm bored" looks multiple times.  Back to the station again.....still no other buses.

Adventure #5--The bus we were already on apparently changes routes at the station, so we hopped back on again and headed for a different part of town.  This time we did have an agenda and went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream.  When we got off, I checked the bus schedule and noted the bus wasn't coming back to that location for another 90 minutes!  Ok kids, I guess we're going shopping for a while!  While the kids slurped ice cream, I looked over the master schedule the very nice driver gave me (when I was looking bewildered at the bus stop schedule!) and started to realize Adventure #6.....

Adventure #6--Houston, we have a problem.  Due to Saturday schedules, we would still be able to get back to the station, but that would be the last bus of the day.  Note: our car was parked at the opposite end of town!  Bryan wasn't feeling well, so he had stayed home; via text messaging we decided the only option was for him to walk the two miles to my work, pick up the car, and drive to rescue us.  Did I mention he was sick?  But, it was either that or join the homeless population for the night.  So he walked....with a fever....and it started snowing.  Oh what a wonderful Daddy we have!  (Yes, I will owe him many times!)

We did make it home--thankful that Bryan did stay home from this adventure or we wouldn't have even HAD someone to pick us up!  I am still owing him....

Kids in the Kitchen

Bryan loves being a stay-home dad, and he also loves to cook.  So the kids have naturally absorbed a love of cooking as well.  Kaela (age 10) has already advanced to a "cooking for teenagers" cookbook.  Graeson (age 7) mostly likes to make snacks and desserts, but occasional kid meals as well.  Here's some of their masterpieces.....

Kaela made jambalaya--it was quite complicated with chicken, shrimp, sausage, rice, tomatoes....and more!

Graeson found a new cookbook at the library and he made chocolate vanilla swirl cookies.  (Unfortunately, they ended up not having much flavor, so we decided to add honey and powdered sugar on top.)

Maezie's friend Ella came to our house for a play date and we made chocolate thumbprint cookies with peanut butter inside--yum!

Graeson has been wanting to make homemade pizza for a long time, so he made sausage, pepperoni, and olive pizza.  The recipe called for ketchup as the pizza sauce--mom and dad wrinkled their nose at that part--but we were pleasantly surprised and it tasted great!

We've been making friendship bread, which is a dough starter.  You mash the dough bag every day for 10 days, then you bake bread.  We've been trying out tons of different recipes, so this was Kaela's choice for chocolate Nutella friendship bread with Nutella butter cream frosting.

Graeson also made a different kind of pizza--cookie dessert pizza!  He chose mint chocolate cups and marshmallows.

Kaela and her cousin Kacy made Kaela's birthday cupcakes this year.  Then they made a second batch just so they could eat the raw batter!

One of our family traditions is Friday Family Night and this particular night we chose to bake together.  We made Cake Cookies (made out of cake box batter) with frosting in the middle--they were SO good!

If any of you come to visit us, we'll definitely cook for you!

Spring 2011

I'm a little behind on blogging/posting/video-ing.....no surprise there.  Hope you can still enjoy!  Remember to pause the blog music player to the right of this post.

When You Are My Age

This Christmas for Kaela's 10th birthday, I got her a book called "Just Mom and Me" from the American Girl line.  (See last year's post "Girl Talk" for a similar story.)  This book has a variety of short activities for girls and their moms to do together--so far the activities we've done are comparing a list of likes/dislikes, hiding surprise coupons around the house ("free 15 minute neck massage"), and interviewing specific questions.  Tonight Kaela chose a questionnaire "When You Are My Age" where Kaela asked me a list of questions about when I was 10, and I asked her questions about when she'll be 35.  Daddy, of course, can't stand to be left out of the fun, so he comes in and hears the answers too.  Tonight was both entertaining (Kaela giggling non-stop) as well as enlightening.

Kaela's interview questions for her mom "When you were my age...."
What you spent your allowance on:  blue creme soda and Reese's peanut butter cups
Stuffed animal or doll you couldn't sleep without:  Flower Patch dolls
Pet you dreamed of having:  dog
Best friend:  my cousin Heather
Food your parents made you eat:  brussel sprouts at Thanksgiving
Best school subject:  reading and spelling
Worst school subject:  geography (Kaela didn't know how to spell it so we agreed on social studies)
Least favorite chore:   folding the whites...too many socks
Funkiest fashion you followed:  side ponytails
Most embarrassing moment:  pretending to kiss a boy during the school play

Mommy's interview questions for Kaela "When you are my age...."
Where you will live:  Canada....but I guess if I have to stay in America then at least Washington
Job you will have:  doctor who works in a hospital, not a doctor's office
House rule you'll make:  no putting stickers on the wall
House rule you'll break:  no drawing on the walls....just in the bedroom will be ok
Pets you will have:  two cats
Number of children you'd like to have:  one.  Ok maybe two.  No I think twin girls.
What you would name a daughter:  Amanda and McKenzie
Advice you'd give her:  always ask for help
Allowance you'd pay her:  three dollars a week (mom note: this is three times what Kaela makes now)
How you'd make her earn it:  cleaning the whole house....cuz it will be three dollars!

I asked Kaela if I could keep the interview sheets tonight and give them back to her in the morning.  She replied, "Why, are you going to blog about it?"

9.99

Sweet Kaela, in less than four days you will be TEN YEARS OLD!  That means double digits!  But for today, you are 9.99 years old and I plan to savor these last hours of your first decade of life.

The night you were born was special in many ways.  As the world was celebrating the birth of Jesus, we were also celebrating the birth of YOU!   You were born exactly on your due date, on Christmas morning at 3:40am, and we were the only people in the entire birth center having a baby that night.  You are so special to share your birthday with Jesus!

When you turned 1 we had a big celebration with all our friends and family.  You got to have your very own cake, and you learned what it feels like to squish frosting all over!  (And then you took a bath!)

When you turned 2 you helped put ornaments on the tree, and you put them all on one branch.  We had your birthday party at our house, but you were so overwhelmed with all the people and you hid in the play room and played with your old toys.  So Mommy and Daddy opened all your presents with our friends, and you were happy in another room!  For your birthday picture, this is what you would do when we said "SMILE!"

When you turned 3 you started showing your girly side--you LOVED pink, and you played with dolls all the time.  Baby Graeson was born a month before your birthday and you were such a good big sister!  You helped Mommy when I was tired or feeding the baby, and you played with him when he was awake.  When you turned 3 1/2 we started the tradition of your half-birthday party on June 25.

When you turned 4 you liked to be silly and playful.  You would push Graeson around inside a little toy grocery cart.  You also had a doctor kit with a stethoscope, syringe, and silly red glasses!  This was also the year you asked Jesus into your heart after we had been reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe book together.  What an important event!

When you turned 5 you got a new bedroom!  You chose pink butterflies and you helped paste them onto your walls.  You felt very special to have a new room!  You started kindergarten this year which meant you were at school every day instead of just a few mornings.  I remember thinking we would have to share you with the rest of the world.

When you turned 6 you were a big sister again, and you helped take care of Baby Maezie.  You were old enough to hold her by yourself, and even to feed her a bottle.  You were also losing teeth every month!  Since you were losing teeth at the same time Maezie was getting teeth, we would use her teething gel on your loose tooth in order to get it out.  You were so happy whenever another tooth would come out!

When you turned 7 it seemed almost overnight you weren't a baby anymore.  Maybe it was because your front teeth finally grew in and made you look older.  Maybe it was because you were getting so much more confident in yourself.  You started to be interested in nail polish, and glittery chapstick, and pretend makeup.  And of course you loved to wear dresses and hair ribbons.

When you turned 8 you started to grow from little girl to big girl.  You were the tallest in your class and you grew so much this year!  We started having "girl talk" on the couch and on the bed, and we would talk about our days together.  On the night of your school Christmas program, it snowed and snowed and snowed!  A lot of kids didn't make it to the program, and the next day school was cancelled due to snow.

When you turned 9 you just kept growing and growing!  You always did very well in school, and you really started developing a love of reading and learning.  You had lots of friends at school because you were very easy going and caring about other people.

When you turned 9.99 you are definitely not a little girl any more.  You got your ears pierced for your half-birthday, and you are responsible enough to take care of your very own kitty.  You did a really good job when we moved to Bend and you had to make new friends at a new school.  You were very patient when you had to share a room with Maezie for a few months, and you were waiting and waiting to get a cat.

I'm so proud of the BIG girl that you are!  You are such a joy to Mommy and Daddy and you are a good big sister to Graeson and Maezie.  We are SO HAPPY you are part of our family and we love you so much!  I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.  But.....could you just stay 9.99 forever?