Yay!

Swimming lessons are going very well. I went today, alone, and was free to keep good tabs on their progress and I was impressed! They can both actually swim a little. Kayte has a really good time. She is smiling constantly. She pops out of the water with a big grin on her face and her eyes open, as if she was just popping out of bed! I think, given the opportunity, she could swim the length of the pool - or at least half!
Will is much more timid. He doesn't really like getting his ears wet, so he does fine going forwards, but not so great floating on his back. But he can actually swim a bit of a distance as well (but he never ever opens his eyes until they've been carefully wiped clean three or four times!)
But my favorite is watching them jump - they are both fearless here:

City League!

Joe's been on a city league team for the last several years now. . .the kids are getting big enough to enjoy it some and even cheer a little! Plus, there is usually a friend or two to cause trouble with while playing on the bleachers. . .

Oh my - cute boy to boot!

Love these shots. . .he's having fun cause he's winnin'!

Too FAST!

Yes, that's 3, and yes, it goes in!
That was a good game!

Correction: It's not that bad!

Sara's official weight is 27.6, not 24.4 as stated in the last post.

It occurred to me that the scale was on carpet at the time (our bathroom is going through some demolition, more on that later. . .) and I should've learned from the last time I got on that scale whilst it was on carpet and was thrilled that I'd magically lost 10% of my body weight without trying (you'd think I'd remember something like that!)

Anywhoodle. . .it isn't as grim as we'd thought, but there is no denying that is one skinny chick-a-dee!

(I didn't re-weigh Ben. . .but guesses are good that he is into his 30 lbs a ways!)

Official apologies to anyone we might have offended with this erroneous report!

Littlest Pumpkin (It's official!)

Today I did a little weigh-in. . .Sara was feeling a little more skeletal than even usual and I popped her on the scale:
24.4 lbs!
(Ben weighed in at 27.4!)
Ever since Sara was about 2ish, the doctors have been worried about Sara's weight. Frankly, I think it is a bit silly. She seems to eat as much as the other kids, it's just that it takes her longer cause she can't sit still long enough to eat - this girl is ENERGETIC!
Besides, 'skin and bones' kind of runs on both sides of the family. And she is growing up at least!
Anyway, I was giving her a little talk about finishing her food at lunch today and I said, "Sara, you must finish your food or you will never grow up. You will stay little for ever and ever!"
And Kayte pipes up, "Yah! . . .And then no one will want to marry you!"

Kindergarten Play!

Ahh. . .we've been waiting for this big day for quite awhile! Will's very first time onstage - and he did fantastic! He got to wear his brand new cowboy boots and shoot a crow (with his very realistic shotgun) in the head! It doesn't get much better than that! We now have a video of Will to add to our growing collection of Assembly DVDs (they happen to be a big hit here!)

With cousin Madison, who got to be a mouse (who was gobbled up by a bird!)

Heartbreaker!!!

The costumes and masks in the play were really incredible!

Georgia's friend Lina was a blue bird!

Grandma! (the director!)

Sweet Spot

"Hey Will. . ." says Sara. "Whatcha doin?"
"I'm working on a puzzle!" says he. . . "Wanna help?" He pulls her little chair up next to him.
"Sure!" says she.

I love them!

Learning to Swim. . .again!

Here we are, back at the pool! This is the kids' third (and final!) attempt at lessons to learn how to swim! I'm pretty desperate as you can see. . .I just can't be responsible for four non-swimmers at the pool this summer! I'm not even sure 4:1 is a legal ratio in Idaho! They do a really great job. . .it isn't like they are afraid of the water or anything. . .it just hasn't clicked yet!
The kids thought we'd be back at the pool in Moscow (the outdoor pool!) and I didn't do anything to discourage that belief (cause it was funny!), but I think they were pretty disappointed when we ended up inside, all warm and cozy when they were geared up for the cold! But seeing as it hit 55 degrees this week, it really wouldn't have been much different than the August day I took this photo at the pool:

That was one cold lesson! (No wonder they find it hard to swim!)

Miss Kayte

The other day in the car we were listening to some of my very favorite 60s tunes. . .I particularly love any song that starts out with the sound of rain falling (which this one did, of course!)
"The only girl I care about is gone away,
Looking for a brand new start,
And little did she know that when she left that day,
Along with her she took my heart.
Rain please tell me, now does that seem fair?
For her to steal my heart away when she don't care,
I can't love another with my heart somewhere far away. . ."
But Kayte got worried, "Mom, if someone steals your heart away, can you still love God? God is supposed to be in your heart, and if they steal it, won't they steal God too?"
She does have a point there. . . .good thing her heart still belongs completely to her daddy, safe and sound!

Ben loves this book!

He also loves climbing up in chairs and sitting like a big kid.

He got a little stir-crazy the other day and started running in circles, but that was a too easy, so he set out two pillows that he would then proceed to trip over on purpose, as he made his way around his little racetrack.

And today I was disciplining him for hitting his sister on the head with a hammer (she took great offense -go figure!) and I told him not to do it ever again, do you understand me? And he nodded his cute little blonde head and says, "SSsir!"

And later he comes running into the room hollering "Mah-ther, Mah-ther, Ma-there." stops. . . listens to the sound of himself hyperventilating for a bit. . . .says "OH!" (as if summoned!) and runs off in the other direction. What a pup!
Seriously. . .he's got me good!

There's nothing like it. . .

As my baby is getting older I find myself getting more and more sentimental about days gone by. . .I don't remember what it is like to have a little person moving about inside me. . .kicking my ribs. . .or using the bed post to help me lift myself up so I can turn onto my side. . . labor is still pretty vivid. . .but only in the most slo-mo way - with the tear-jerking country music soundtrack of my memory playing in the background. The rest is just pictures. . .
I miss these days already! Growing up is hard to do!

Kayte Diane, October 2002

Kayte with William David, February 2004

Sara Joyce, May 2006

Welcoming Benjamin Joseph, April 2008

Unveiled!

We got the plans for our new house in the mail a couple of weeks ago. . .but we've been pretty busy, so we just unwrapped them last night. . . .I'm already living there!

Ain't she lovely?

Boys are from Mars.

Leave it to Will to turn "playing with paper dolls" into "lining up paper dolls to face the Lincoln Log firing squad" and convince his little sis to go along with the scheme.
At least they were dressed appropriately first.

Mud!

"Our" Mud! Mud from what is very hopefully and likely to be "our" land!
If things go to plan, we will be signing the offer tomorrow!!!!

Swimsuit shopping is Fun. . .

. . . .when you are 3 and have yet to hit 30 lbs!

Swimsuit shopping in January may seem a little premature to some of you. . .but some of you know that if you actually wait till spring (or heaven forbid, summer!) your options will consist of an "I Love Glitter" suit in neon colors, or a crocheted string bikini in nude tones (I kid you not!) Four triangles and two strings does not a 4T swimsuit make! Last year, in desperation, I went to Land's End to buy Kayte's suit and spent more than I do on my own!
So anyway. . .when I found this classy number in navy with ruffles and polkadots at ON, I snapped it up and didn't even flinch when I paid full price (which also happens to be a bit of a no-no)! Totally worth it!
. . .wish they had one in my size. . .

Penguin Day!

The first graders got to shed their uniforms yesterday in exchange for black & white clothing for Penguin Day. . .they made masks and ate sno cones :) Some of the kids got way into the costume, one had on a black bow-tie, and another came sporting a rabbit-furred chest - so cute!

Time to Play!

Usually, in order to make time to play with my irresistably cute kids, I have to ignore the unmade beds and the mountain of laundry. . .but this week, due to my super-hyper scheduling technique, I found myself with nothing left to do but play with my kids!
I mean, it's truly a miracle!

Ben and I played trains! He now understands that a car or train really ought to be facing forward when moving. . .to move forward with your backend is just silly! (Isn't he smart?)
He is also mastering a fantastic bedside manner. He'll wallop one of the kids with a block, a sword, or a big stick - and when they let out a squeal, he will absolutely be the first one on the scene to comfort with a woo-ing sound and a soft pat or rub on the arm. (He will make a fantastic doctor someday :)

Sweet Sara! The third kid! I sat down to color with her and she kept begging me for more! She got her very own set of coloring crayons in a pink box with her name on it for Christmas - her coloring is getting very good!
I'm getting to like this kind of busy!

Naughty Princess!

Kelly and I take turns watching each other's kids so that one of us can make it up to first grade to help with the reading group once a week. Jack and Sara are always getting in some kind of trouble though. . .last week they made their faces up with pink stamps. . .this week they thought they'd give pink sparkly nail polish a try - not on their fingers. . . . on their faces!
Three days later there is still a little sparkle to Sara's cheek. . .

Twelfth Night

We celebrated the Twelfth Night of Christmas at the Casebolt's home this week - this is a new tradition for us in these last couple of years and it has been very nice to get together after all the bustle from Christmas and enjoy a big dinner together and celebrate Epiphany! Kayte and I were in charge of the Twelfth Night Cake. According to tradition, you are to hide a dried bean in the cake and whoever finds the bean in their piece of cake is the King or Queen of the Feast! I don't usually have dried beans on hand, so we used a nut instead - later I heard that a coin is also a traditional idea - we will use that next time! (Maybe it will be easier to locate :) And you are to decorate the cake with fruit and flowers. . .so Kayte and I made a flower out of candy-raspberries - dee-lish!

Ann cooked up a crown roast and she had little gold-wrapped gifts for the kids to represent the gifts of the Magi. . .another wonderful Christmas feast! (And Will pronounced it his favorite day! :)