Catching up......

Another zoo trip -

We visited the zoo again. We got to express our sympathy to the dolphin trainers for their loss. One of the trainers tried to explain to Keithen why Phoenix died. We got to see the Colts cheerleaders at the dolphin show, which Ruby loved about as much as the animals! Kaylee really seems to love the goats for some reason. And of course the sprinkler area was the biggest hit of the day, as usual.





A little theatre -


Keithen did a week long theatre camp through his school. They performed "Beauty and the Beast" and he played the Prince. Ah.....my sweet prince. :-) Doesn't he look handsome?! Keithen and Kaylee will be doing a theatre workshop at the library this weekend with IRT.






Playing and learning -

I've been trying to convince Keithen to spend more time on his summer learning packet for school. He's going to end up doing 6 weeks worth of work in a couple of days if he doesn't get it in gear. Ruby has been working on counting to 20. She got all her little number cards lined up on her own. I just had to switch 16 and 19 for her. Kaylee has been spending a lot of time working on a math workbook I gave her. We've had bunnies visiting our yard nearly every day. Kaylee was excited to catch a toad and have a pet for a day.....until he peed on her! LOL! They love balancing on the wall Matt built in the back yard.






Vacation Bible School -

The kids were invited to attend Vacation Bible School at the church where Keithen plays winter soccer. They had a really good time. They had a "spy kids" type theme with "missions" to complete each night. They also enjoyed getting to sing a lot. And of course Kaylee enjoyed creating the Nile River in her classroom. Yes.....she drew a tree frog in it of course!

Ballet recital

Ruby had her recital day today. She wore her new outfit that she bought with her birthday money. She also had me braid her hair yesterday so it would be all wavey today like Kaylee's. It was kind of cute and gave her hair a little lift. I forgot to get any pictures with the braids still in.

Sisters at the barre.


Ballerina at the barre.

Stretching out.

Thinking hard.

Her turn to spin.

Cutesy Curtsey.

Hop-a-long Ruby!

With her certificate after class.

Sorry.....I just couldn't resist. She was just too cute.

THE END!

Superbowl Ballerina

Ruby had some money that she received for her birthday from Nanny & Pappy, Grandma & Grandpa Williams and Grammy Gloria. Her choices for how to spend her money were pretty interesting. She bought a Scooby Doo book, a commemorative Colts Superbowl football and a bright pink, sparkly tutu to wear for her ballet recital next week. Can you say "diverse interests?" Big thanks to everyone who remembered her birthday earlier this month! Can you believe she's FOUR already!?

Snow day: Part 2

The kids got their second snow day today for Valentine's Day. Guess we'll have to reschedule Keithen's class trip to the nursing home and his class party. Hopefully the new dates won't create problems for me!

The last snow total I heard last night for our area was 7 inches. I know we had more overnight. And the drifts are REALLY bad because there was so much wind. Compared to yesterday pictures, this is what I woke up to today.....

You can no longer see where my wood pile is located. If it weren't for the whellbarrow, I'd have no clue where to look. It's under there somewhere.

Look how high the snow drift around the grill is!

Down at the kid's fort, you can't see where the slide touches the ground. The benches on their picnic table have completely disappeared.

This is the view from the back door. Note that the yellow dumptruck that was barely visable yesterday is now missing. The tricycle is almost covered and the woodpile has disappeared.

It's all the way up against the door now.

Ruby pictures

Oh so sweet sleeping Ruby. Don't you just want to kiss those round cheeks?!



Ruby the little mother with her baby snuggled in her sling and her big girl in her arms.

Ballet, 100th Day and Honor Roll

Ruby started ballet class again this week. She's in a different class than usual so she doesn't know any of the girls this time. She does have the same teacher though. She showed Miss Johanna how she has been working on spotting when she turns so she won't fall down so often.

Kaylee's class celebrated the 100th day of Kindergarten on Thursday. They all made a project that had 100 of something in it. Kaylee made a window box filled with 100 paper flowers. (She ended up with a little help from Keithen, Ruby and me but she did work hard on it!) There were lots of neat and creative projects and they are all on display in the front of the school right now.


Keithen had his honor roll breakfast on Friday morning. Ruby and I attended with him this time. We had donuts with milk and he got a certificate from Arby's and a pin for his school hat.

Catching up

We've been wrapped up in the holiday whirlwind here for the past week. The tissue paper is finally settling on the floor and things are starting to return to something that at least resembles normal.

Last weekend we went to Matt's work Christmas party, celebrated my birthday and then went to the annual Christmas Concert and Matt's mother's holiday party. I left the concert a little early with Norma to help her get the food all set up since Kay couldn't do it this year. Unfortunately, I forgot Matt no longer has a set of keys to my van. He and the kids were stuck at the church. Thankfully, his brother got him to the party and then Gertrude took him back later to get the car.

On Wednesday Kaylee had her best friend Emily over to play after school. All three girls had fun, although Ruby was a bit whiney. I think she may have felt a little excluded by the older girls. I don't think they were trying to leave her out though. They had a picnic in their bedroom and watched a Dora movie. They played for a few hours until Emily's mom came back to collect her. I think they all had a good time.

Keithen went to bed Thursday night and stayed up reading for a while. I was trying to get Ruby to settle down for the night when I heard him yell, "I just lost a tooth!" It was a pretty bloody one, so it took a bit of time to get him settled back in his bed. His tooth was placed safely under the little tree by his bed for the Tooth Fairy to find it. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any troubles finding his new room.

Kaylee and Keithen had their last day of school on Friday. Kaylee had a class party which I helped plan. They had a "Polar Express" theme since they had just worked on that story last week. They took a ride on the Polar Express (their chairs formed into a train) and found jingle bells that we hid under their seats. They decorated their teacher like a Christmas tree and made train ornaments to take home. Then they had ice cream and cookies.


After school on Friday, the kids and I baked Santa's cookies. We didn't get them all decorated that night and put them aside to finish on Christmas Eve. (Note the flour on Kaylee's nose!)


On Saturday we packed up and headed to Fort Wayne to spend an early holiday with Grandma and Grandpa Williams and Mamaw Betty. We stayed the night in the same hotel where we had Grandpa's party last July. Ruby recognized it as soon as we pulled up outsie. Unfortunately, lack of planned meant we didn't get to enjoy the pool on this trip.

We had a big lunch at Grandma's house and then the kids dug into the present opening with gusto. Keithen was very tickled with his little digital camera and his CD/mp3 player with the Harry Potter books on it. Kaylee was head-over-heals with her big stuffed Diego doll and her Princess Dora castle. We made her wait until we got hom to open the box for the castle and I think she was about to explode from anticipation. Ruby was very excited to get the Barbie Hot Tub Bus and a ballerina "Our Generation" doll. Grandpa got a new popcorn machine and the kids were very much willing to taste test the first batch.








On Sunday afternoon we headed home to get everything ready for Santa. Unfortunately, we got a bit of a late start and had to make a couple of pit stops on the way home, so I didn't get to cook the Christmas Eve dinner I had planned. We ended up ordering Papa John's pizza instead. We finished putting together toys that came home from Grandma's house (the bus and the castle) and finished decorating the cookies. Ruby took charge of arranging a plate of goodies for Santa. (And of course there had to be popcorn for him again this year!) The kids opened their final Advent presents from Grandma Dollar (yeah.....I know.....I missed a bunch of days of blogging on those). Then we exchanged our family presents. The kids got their traditional pair of new PJ's and a treasured hardback book. This was the first year that they bought presents for each other and us. (Dollar Store shopping sprees for each of them!) They had fun exchanging the gifts that they had chosen on their own. Stockings were hung and the children were all finally off to bed very late!

Santa was quite generous this year, as you can see from the bulging stockings and the pile of loot under the tree! I think Keithen's favorite gift from Santa was his Pokemon gameboy game (although the spy gear will probably come in a close second). Kaylee of course was head over heals for her new Diego Rescue Center. Ruby's favorite has to be her Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses toy laptop computer.








Christmas morning I made scones for the first time in ages. Matt proclaimed that I "hadn't lost a step" because they were quite yummy, warm covered with fresh cream. Later in the day I finally got to make the meal I had planned for Christmas Eve, champagne garlic chicken. Yum! Of course a lot of time was spent playing and trying out new games and toys. The kids built a fort and a car with the "super fort" pieces Grandma and Grandpa Williams gave them.


Today Matt is back to work, the kids are buried in their new toys and I'm here catching up with life on the web. In a few days, the chaos will start all over. We still have Christmas to do with the Dollar family and with Nanny and Pappy. We have tickets to see Beauty and the Beast as a family and I'll be taking the kids to see Dance Kaleidoscope as well. Probably a couple of playdates coming on the horizon as well. So.....when do I get a nap?!