January 2017

So begins a new year. And already the craziness has started. Not like it ever took a break from last year. But here are some of the happenings already:

These are just a few of the artwork pieces from Laken that I found while cleaning out his church bag.

Makai really enjoyed his first Oreo.

Having fun at the RWC. They got new blocks!

We love going to the library. One of the fun things they do is "Tinker Tuesday". We haven't been before but decided to give it a try. This month was learning about green screen. The boys learned how films were made using a green screen then got the chance to make a mini movie. Laken chose to run around with a dinosaur. Carter opted out but had fun playing with power blocks and figuring them out. While the boys did that, Kaliya went to the children's section and played on the computer for a bit then did some puzzles. She goes to the library every Friday for story time so she is pretty comfortable on her own there and knows where things are. She is also familiar with the librarians and they know us pretty well so I feel comfortable leaving her while I keep an eye on the boys (especially since Carter wants me with him). But I love that our small town library has so many educational and fun activities for kids.

We signed the kids up for swimming lessons. Laken was a level 1 and Kaliya and Carter were in the same class as a Pre-K level 2. They had lessons twice a week for 4 weeks and all learned and grew so much in such a short time. Laken loves the water but has never been super comfortable putting his head in or trying to float. But by the end of his lessons, he was pushing off the walls and gliding around trying to kick and swim. He can also float on his back for a short time but still isn't super comfortable with it. It was really neat to watch him grow and learn so much.

Carter and Kaliya also did really well. They both completed their level and will advance to Pre-K level 3. Carter is actually really close to going up to a basic level 1. He just needs to be more comfortable on his back. But they both will go under water to pick up toys, doing a jelly-fish float, learning the superman glide, and close to floating on their backs.

Mr. Makai got to hang out with me. Most of the time I put him in his swimsuit so he could hang out in the shallow water. He enjoyed it the first few times but soon realized it's not as much fun if no one is playing with you. So he would come out and want held which just got me all wet. I kept putting him in his swimsuit each time tho until the last day, of course, when there were no real lessons and he could have played with his siblings. Oh well. In a couple years he'll be the one taking lessons and I won't have to worry anymore.

I stayed every time they had lessons. It was really neat to watch them learn. Kaliya would get excited every time she was able to do something and call out to me to watch her. Then there were a few times when she "couldn't" do something and would call out to me to help her tho I never would/could. One time she was supposed to jump into the pool on her own and she kept saying she couldn't. The instructor tried encouraging her and knew she could do it, but she wouldn't help. So Carter jumped in first and held his hand out to Kaliya to hold onto while jumping in. It was so cute. 

Then who would have figured, the last 3 days of actual lessons, she ended up crying. She did so well in the beginning. So I'm not sure if she got too much water in her mouth one time which ruined the rest of it or what. But thankfully the instructor just kept on trying with her and kept her in the pool. The only time we were able to settle her down was by saying that I was taking a video of her. Then she wanted to show off a bit and do her things.

Around Martin Luther King Jr Day, Laken brought home a worksheet about having a dream and he wrote that his dream is to be an "artest". I thought it was cute so of course I took a picture.

Another thing about Laken: we have introduced him to chapter books. It started a while ago, maybe the summer? But usually it was Jared or I reading a chapter or two to him a night. This time, I told him it was his turn to read the entire chapter book. So each night he read  a chapter or two either in his head or out loud to me or Jared. I was so proud of him when he finished. 

Jared teaching Makai how to play a game on the phone.

One fun tradition that accidentally started was getting donuts on a snowday. We had a storm coming that was supposed to be a big one so school was canceled. But we didn't have too much snow on the ground yet so we hopped in the car in the morning and went to HyVee for donuts. The kids love picking them out and although we tend to complain that they never eat their donuts, the boys actually did this time. 

Playing outside in the snow. Carter enjoys playing with diggers. Laken enjoys digging and making things out of snow. Kaliyia just walks around eating it and copying her brothers.

Jared's Birthday

For Jared's birthday this year, I arranged ahead of time to have a babysitter come watch the kids. I dolled myself up (even curling my hair which I haven't done in years...probably because it takes me an hour to do) and then drove to Spirit Lake to Jared's office there and surprised him. We went out to dinner then took a romantic walk around Wal-Mart. Ha...not much to do on a cold night in small towns. When we got home, we had a small piece of cake with the kids and opened up presents. When I asked the kids what they wanted to get dad for his birthday, their responses were priceless. Laken wanted to get him soda. Not sure where that came from since we rarely have soda here. Carter wanted to get him Gatorade in case he gets sick. And Kaliya wanted to get him a balloon. I love kids. A few days later, I asked them again what they wanted to get him and their answers were the same. So we headed to Dollar General and they each got their gift for dad plus they each picked out a candy for him. Then we came home, decorated brown paper bags and put their gifts in them.

Jared opening some of his presents. Carter wasn't too happy that he didn't get to go first.

And then Makai thinks he is pretty cute sometimes. When we get home from shopping, I put my bags on the floor until I take the time to put things away. And Makai is usually getting into them looking for food he can eat. Sometimes it's whole apples. This time it was grapes. He thought he was pretty clever for getting a bunch of grapes and eating them on his own.