Just Like Big Sister

Miriam has been watching all the coloring and crafts that Esther does, and she is no longer happy just being an observer. She will now come running up to us carrying the box of crayons, which means she wants to color. Here she is creating one of her masterpieces...

Bolt

Tonight was Peter's big night....his first experience in a movie theater! This was his reward for potty training and going one whole week with no accidents. The movie we saw was "Bolt".

Some of Peter's observations during the movie:

"Dad, that's a BIG TV!!!!!"

"Dad, this is really relaxing....thumbs up!"

"Awww, the doggy is sad."

"ZZZZZZZZZ" that would be Peter falling asleep on the way home!

For those who don't remember, Esther was given a similar reward for "potty achievements." We saw Bee Movie.

I have a feeling that when it's Miriam's turn, I won't get to go. My wife is usually pretty smart; I think by this time she may have figured she's getting the raw end of this deal. Let's face it, everyone reading this knows that Daddy isn't doing the training.

Children's Museum Field Trip

Yesterday I was able to go on a field trip with Esther's class to the G.R. Children's Museum. It wasn't busy at all so the kids were able to do lots of different things and have fun exploring all the different exhibits. It's fun to watch how Esther interacts with her friends from school and what a good time they have together.

Sunday Picture

It's always tough to accomplish, but I managed to get our 3 cuties to sit still for a split second on Sunday morning before church. Just try to ignore the fact that Peter is choking Miriam...

We Have Necks!

Maybe Esther reads our blog, because she suddenly started drawing people totally differently in the last couple days! I'm pleased to announce that we now have necks, actual bodies, and some very rectangular mouths. Here is an updated family picture:

Necks Optional

Casey had minor surgery today on his neck to remove a cyst that has been there for a while and recently flared up. This morning we had 2 visitors snuggling in bed with us around 6:30. Here's how our conversation went:


Laura: Do you remember that Daddy has to go to the doctor today to have surgery on his neck?

Casey: Yup, they're going to remove my neck.

Peter and Esther giggle.

Laura: Whoa, Daddy would look funny! His head would sit right on his body with no neck in between!

Esther, matter-of-factly: Well, that's the way I draw people! I just make the legs come right out of the head!

Yes, she does. Here is a recent picture of our family that she did at school:

TP Tube Crafts

I've written before about our crafty Esther. We had saved some toilet paper tubes for some type of craft a while back, and then one day she wanted to do something with them. Being the very uncreative person that I am, I went to the internet and did a search for "toilet paper tube crafts." Of course there are tons of websites for this obscure activity! I found a great one that has a huge list of templates that you can print out for different animals, characters, etc... The kids color them, cut out the pieces, and then glue them on the tube. Esther has been having a lot of fun doing these. Here are a couple recent creations... a mermaid and a butterfly.

NASCAR

We enjoyed some fun and fellowship with friends at our annual celebration of the beginning of the NASCAR season last weekend. We've been doing this for a quite a few years, and it's a fun excuse to get together and grill steak in the middle of the winter! Here's a picture of the kids eating their hot dogs while Casey was grilling the real steaks for the adults.

In case you didn't notice, Peter is in the minority in this group. There were 9 little girls at our house and no other boys for Peter to play with! And Casey wonders why he likes to play Barbies...

Special Valentine

This year Casey and I got a special Valentine that Esther made at school. She was really cute about wanting to hide it when she got home from school on Friday so that we wouldn't see it until the actual Valentine's Day on Saturday. It's fun to see her creativity come out in these little projects!

First Snowman of the Season

It seems like we missed our opportunity to enjoy the snow and winter when it was relatively "mild" at the beginning of the season. Then we had a long stretch of really bitterly cold weather which made it hard to be outside for any length of time. Two weeks ago we had a very mild (for winter in Michigan) spell, so Casey, Esther and Peter headed outside to build a snowman. Unfortunately for the snowman, it got so mild that he disappeared by the end of the day!

Fire Department Field Trip

Esther's class took a field trip to "Daddy's" fire station today, and boy was she ever excited, especially since Daddy went along! She wore her pink Kentwood Fire Department helmet and everything. Since the full-time firefighters got called out while they were there, Casey took over and finished the tour, even putting all his gear on for the kids to see. I'm pretty sure today ranks right up there with fathers' night in Esther's book!

Casey didn't take our camera along, but Esther's teacher takes TONS of pictures, so hopefully we'll be able to borrow her CD and get some of the cool shots she took (including each child "driving" the fire truck and all the kids with Casey in his gear).

Small Taste of Spring

We had beautiful, unseasonable sunny and warm weather yesterday. It was so great to get outside, take 2 bike rides, and play with our friends in the neighborhood! Those days always give a little hope and reminder that spring will come again eventually... but it's so hard when winter returns first.

Unfortunately, I guess we were just so happy to be outside that I forgot to take any pictures!

Winter Update

My parents called the other day to make sure we were ok since we hadn't updated the blog in a week. It seems like we're just doing a lot of playing inside and doing our regular routine lately. We've been having lots of fun playing board games and Wii with Esther and Peter lately. It's kind of embarrassing when they beat us at Wii bowling, but we're learning to deal with it. Here's a quick update on each of us for my parents (and anyone else who cares).

Casey: work, finishing EMT class with flying colors, preparing for national EMT test, fire calls, Daddy Donut Days

Laura: work, trying to come up with new crafts for Esther, neighborhood association board

Esther: making sure we keep every single milk carton for the igloo her class is building at school, doing creative crafts, fighting with Peter, entertaining Miriam

Peter: potty training (yay!), fighting with Esther, getting annoyed with Miriam, puzzles

Miriam: chasing her siblings, climbing as high as she can on furniture, talking on the phone, wearing this Lions jersey from the dress-up box (hey, at least they have 1 fan!)