From the land of Yearbook

This is where I've been living for the last week and a half or so: Yearbook Land! I spent about 7 hours today working on the school's yearbook. The BIG deadline (32 pages) is due today. Am I done? Oh, no, that would mean that I was organized and working in a timely fashion and for those of you who know me you know that's not exactly my mantra. No, I'm a it's-so-much-fun- to-come-just-under-(or over, in this case)-the-deadline kind of girl. (This would be why my husband was so excited about his Valentine's gift - I got the taxes done- EARLY-yes, in February EARLY. I hope he realizes how much I love him to do that and during yearbook week!) Anyway, just had to get it out. Thankfully, that new USC office chair is comfy!

One month from today is the last deadline and then perhaps this project won't be taking up so much room on my seemingly ever smaller plate!

Ethan's Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday Party, Ethan! (This has been a really long birthday I think!) So, we held it at the Kaleidoscope Children's museum in Tulsa! I guess they've only been open since August and to quote my oldest son after his first run through - "This place is AWESOME!" (Yes, it is a well loved adjective in our house!) See below for the huge jungle gym apparatus and the 22 foot tall rock wall...and that's just one room in this place! Everything is kid-friendly and is meant to be touched and played with! There's an art room, a stage with dress up clothes, a two story play house with fireman's pole, a black light room, a CSI lab (of course, none of our kids stood still long enough to even try to solve the mystery!) and I don't think Ethan even saw the restaurant, the grocery store or the post office. It was a fun time! I imagine we'll be back there again in the not too distant future and if I was going to have a birthday party again, I would go ahead and spring for the big package because even with the small amount of people, by the time I put together my own goody bags I made up the difference in the cost of the parties! The kids all had a good time and as is evidenced by the many blurry pictures on my camera - because they rarely stood in one place long enough to get a picture taken! :) Enjoy the pics!

Where is the money machine on my birthday!? This is what I want to know....

As I preview this post, there appears to be more pics of Chet at Ethan's party than of Ethan! What can I say? The kindergarteners don't really stand still ---EVER!

Roller Birthday!

This Valentine's morning we spent celebrating a friend of Ethan's birthday! It was a skate party!! I think the last skate party I went to was my sister's (9th or 10th?) birthday and my mom fell and broke her wrist! Anyway, no such drama today. This was Chet's third time skating and I have to say he's getting pretty good! This was Ethan's second time up on skates and we're still working on it, but he did make some progress and he does actually roll now instead of just trying to walk in them! I think the boys both look so tall and so cute in their skates! That's all for now! Check back tomorrow for pics of Ethan's birthday party!!!!!

A Perfectly Happy Valentine's Day! or as Chet said, "I am immobilized by love!"

Days like these are the days I love being a stay at home mom! I love getting all the treats together for the big parties and hanging out in the kids classrooms watching them have fun with all their classmates! This is the kind of stuff I'm glad I'm able to be a part of! The boys and I made chocolate treats for their classmates with the chocolate and molds you can get at Michaels. They thought that was pretty darn cool! I have to say they turned out alright for our first try at it. Probably won't ever be perfect, but really I'm just looking for the good memory of doing it together!

So, you can see the chocolate fountain here in Chet's class that our homeroom mom was able to borrow on our behalf! WOW! Is possible for a party to be bad when there is a chocolate waterfall in the room?! The kids actually did really well with it and weren't nearly as messy as you might think. They even dipped healthy stuff in it like strawberries and bananas! Then their teacher took them to go PLAY for the last part of the day. It was about 70 degrees this afternoon and just goregous outside. The kind of afternoon that makes you happy to be alive!

Ethan made me this hat in his class! I don't actually think he made it for me - I think he just didn't want to wear it himself! Little Stinker! Anyway, his class had a lunchtime pizza party and an extra long recess! Mrs. Weyher even took them out for recess again in the afternoon, so Ethan said the day was "awesome"! (His favorite word at the moment!)

So, tomorrow's the real Valentine's Day and we wish you all the love in the world! Enjoy yourselves and hug your loved ones a little tighter today! Love to all!

Kelli

P.S. Chet's quote from above is from one of his Pokemon games. I thought it couldn't be more perfect for today!

Happy Birthday, Ethan! Redux!

Okay, so apparently I've been thinking straight most of the week! I posted Ethan's birthday post on my scrapbook class blog. And while I'm sure they think he's cute (After all, who doesn't?) it's not exactly the content I promised them. So, here I am three days later writing Ethan's birthday post on the correct blog. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you can't be a perfect mommy! So, here's the post I wrote on 2/10 - the real birthday day:

There he is - my 6 year old! He had a rough week last week, so he's lucky he made to six! We'll see if he makes to seven!He had a fun b-day though! Filled with cupcakes, toys and birthday crowns! Really how much better can a birthday get?! (We are in the middle of a thunder storm right now and I'm having trouble getting pictures to post through my satelitte internet connection. So, I will get more pictures up later!)

Bonus: No storm tonight so I can upload a few more pictures of the big day! The party is Sunday, so there will many pics to be had that day too! ;)

Awesome is his middle name

Ethan's quote of the day:

"Mom, when you born me you should have named me 'Ethan Awesome Panique' because I am!"

Chess (Working on being a) Master

Here he is, my little chess whiz! I'm so proud of him! This is the second tournament he's played since he learned to play chess just over a year ago. Last year, we didn't win one game. This year, he won one, lost one and tied three times. He seemed to feel good about his game (especially after he won!) and said he had a really good time this morning! I was really impressed that his enjoyment wasn't predicated on whether he won every game. He's found a game he truly enjoys and I think it will serve him well.

I also have to say that as much as we parents joke about being bored sitting around the chess tournament (we not allowed to actually be in the room - hmm, wonder why that is...but also we can't leave the event), I had a really good time sitting and talking to some moms that I don't usually get to talk to. After two and a half years here it's nice to feel familiar and be making more connections. It was a good day all round. Thanks Amy and Jean for the pictures!