Around Here

Around here we have been busy with school and activities and so happy to see some sunshine. 

 Greta has a new loom and loves making bracelets for her and her friends, especially with their favorite team colors. 

 Fieldin is still building.. creating some pretty awesome stuff. He likes to make up his own designs, like this "Star Wars ship" he came up with. He took this to show and tell at preschool and was so proud. 

 Now that Fieldin can read and spell basic words, he likes to play scrabble with Greta. 

 I find notes around the house from Fieldin and love them. This one says "To Greta Greta I love you" in case it's hard to figure out :) 

 Always working on some sort of report.. 

 He asked me to bring in the Thomas trains from the garage again. These have been around since Greta was three.. Lots of great memories with these. 

 Fieldin wrote this down. (He needed some help finishing the word black) He takes this to Gret's games and practices to cheer for her. 

 Gret playing basketball

 She usually always passes in the ball and likes it. 

 waiting to rebound a free throw and surprisingly it wasn't her that fouled... 

With a little sun means returning to the outdoors for an evening hike. So nice to get out there! 

I feel bad I don't have pics of Fieldin playing soccer, he plays within glass walls indoors and it is hard to photograph through the glass. He has made a goal every game this session. He has two more games left and wants to finish off with a goal every game. 

Valentine's Day

 You all know I am not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day but the kids love it! I gave them Valentine's treats before school that went over well. 

 It is still wierd not being at Greta's school parties but I have a lot of fun at work seeing the little kids get excited about their valentine's in class. 

 When she got home she showed me all her valentine's and told me about her day. 

Fieldin wanted to put his valentine's in his friends bags without any help! 

I snuck down the hall to his class and got to see him open up a few of his valentine's. His classmates were off playing and he was sitting alone going through each Valentine. He said it was his first year being able to read his valentine's by himself. It was sweet. 

 Fieldy showing the love.. 

 Greta was a ball girl after school, so after Valentine's were opened we headed out. 

Here is Fieldin watching her shoot before the game(we need to be there a hour early). He liked getting the stray balls that rolled off the court. 

 Sitting by sister watching the team warm up and playing with his star wars characters. OSU beat UCLA and it was a fun night. 

Around Here

Around here.. I found some pictures I forgot about floating around. 

 Some preschool art by Fieldin that is very fitting for this winter..

 This wierd cat that is always hiding under things thinking we don't see him...

 Greta and her battle of the books team at school. The battle during lunch recess. This was their first battle so far and they won 9-1. They were very excited. 

 snow day

 Jeff and Fieldin glued together this monster truck and then Fieldin was able to paint it during a snow day. 

 Greta had a very good report card so she we took her out to dinner at Laughing Planet, her favorite restaurant. Fieldin loves the art and the dinosaurs at the table he can play with and Greta loves getting a smoothie each time because she's helping save a chimp with her purchase.. 

Sick..

With the snow came sickness. All four of us were/are sick.. that doesn't happen very often in this house that we are all sick at the same time. Since we were stuck in doors because of the snow and too sick to go outside anyway, we caught up on projects etc

 The kids wrote all their valentines, played with legos, drew and there was lots of sitting with Fieldin on the couch while he read to us. 

 Sometimes a fever would hit and only a nap would do... 

 Greta wrote and typed up a music presentation for school, 

 We watched lots of movies and listened to music.. When the snow finally melted a bit we snuck out to the theatre with kleenex to watch the new lego movie.. 

 As the kids got back their energy there was lots of dancing with the wii. 

And for this guy it is all about Star Wars right now. Here he is with his clone trooper gun (and snowboot insert "clone trooper" shoes) running around the house and hiding behind corners. He found a star wars book at the library that he likes to read. I love that he is a reader too. He now checks out as big of a pile of books as Greta. 

We are all adjusting back to the grind, Fieldin's had two soccer games(he got a goal in each game!) Greta had a break from basketball due to the snow but is starting back up. We are still not feeling 100% so laying low today. Days stuck in the house gave me an excuse to purge some toys and outgrown clothes. I am still waiting for my normal energy to return. We are on the upswing and very happy about that. 

Snow.Again.

(Fieldin catching snowflakes on his tongue)

 Such an unusual winter here. We got hit with at least 6 inches of snow yesterday. School was cancelled yesterday and today. The kids were excited at first but it was blowing so hard they didn't play  in it as long as last time we had snow. Today the kids could take it or leave it. They both like school so they would be just as happy at school. Greta is old enough now that she knows if we have snow days we have to make them up in June and she doesn't like that idea. The benefit of days off is they are getting some rest and we can focus on homework presentations, playing, crafts and doing things they normally don't have the time for. 

 They played out in the morning because they were so excited and then they went out again late afternoon. It was fluffy and not good snowball snow. Of course the cat had to go out with them. He likes being out in the snow. 

 There was alot of snow throwing and fun when they did go out. 

 We could possibly get another 6-12" today and looking out the window just now, I see it has started snowing again. 

Little Builder

We are realizing pretty quickly that Fieldin's "thing" is building when he isn't playing sports. We all really enjoy seeing what he comes up with but the drawback is he can make some major messes. Nothing in the house is safe from his creations.. and our floors are always covered with legos, building materials, pillows, boxes etc..sometimes it is hard to walk around the house. 

 Before we left for vacation he built this house for the cat, so he would have somewhere to hide while we were gone. The cat really liked it and spent alot of time in it until I finally moved it to the garage a day ago.

 we also find building plans all over the house either from his legos, knex or hand drawn plans he has made. He really likes to create his own things. Like an ice cream truck with 28 ice cream blasters for example... 

 legos all over the rug which the cat has just gotten used to napping on.. 

And creations and pieces all over the kitchen and the kitchen table.. It is hard to live with the little builder sometimes but he loves it so much we can't complain... 

Exploring A Little

 Even after leaving Legoland we still had lego time in the mornings

 A few hours away from San Diego I finally visited Joshua Tree NP. 

 It was beautiful.. I've always been more of a National Park girl rather than an Amusement Park girl. 

 We also took the kids to visit an old mission, we always have to throw some history lesson in there. Now that they are older they are on to us though. 

 The days were long and full and these two were so tired but maybe not as tired as we were :) 

 Oh Fieldin.. he is so chatty.. here he is talking on his banana phone and making us all laugh. A man that heard Fieldin for about 15 minutes telling stories told us he thinks he is going to be a comedian some day and looking back on this trip I see what he means..I think we are just so used to him coming up with these funny thoughts and stories. He knows how to make his sister laugh more than anyone.. this I know for sure. 

They got new Junior ranger badges to add to their collection and the ranger gave them a children's book on the park. They loved this. 

Now we are back from the Valley of the sun.. I miss it a bit. I admit it. Time to get back to our routine. What a nice winter break. We needed it.