emma kate turns four

Emma Kate turned four on January 8th. It was a "school day" so she packed a special treat in her book bag to share with her friends. Before we headed out the door we let her open her gift from Ryne.

Look... her sweet big brother signed the gift tag himself!

Ryne's Rule #101. No matter what you are in the process of doing (ahem... getting dressed for school), If someone is opening a gift you MUST stop and participate.

 "Ryne, how did you know that I wanted Rapunzel???"

And then it was party time!

That Saturday we had her party at a local gym.

The kids bounced around an obstacle coarse, jumped in a foam pit, swung on a big rope swing, and rode on a zip line. They had a blast!

Instead of a cake Emma Kate requested doughnuts. The kids and adults enjoyed them. Out of three dozen only one was left... and it didn't make it all the way back home.

I can't believe this baby girl is now four!



spring program

At the beginning of the month the kids had their spring program and art show at school. This year the theme was the 50's. Mom (and dad) helped me make Emma Kate a poodle skirt and I found a sweater and some "stick-ons" for Ryne's letterman sweater.

Ryne and E.K. with the fabulous, Ms. Amy, their music teacher.

The 5k, 4k, and 3k classes performed together and we couldn't have asked for a better view of both kids.

 I was nervous about how Emma Kate would do since this was her first time to sing in front of a big crowd, but she never missed a beat. Afterwards, when Alan told her how great she did, she said " but I didn't know some of the words, daddy".

If you know my children, then you know it is hard to get a decent picture of them together. Everyone smiling, looking at the camera... being NORMAL. This was the best of five pictures...

 After the concert we were taken to the kids' classrooms to see their latest artwork. Ryne was most proud of the showing off the Lost Tooth Graph since he recently made it onto the board!

He obviously hadn't lost his tooth before he made this masterpiece.



We ran into Emma Kate's best friend, Leah, at Zaxby's afterwards. I think it was the highlight of her night.

cubs vs giants

Ryne played his first game of the season last night.

Warming up before his first at bat. (He actually asked me to take his picture, which he never does)

His first at bat and he hits the ball out of the park! Ok, it wasn't really out of the park, but it was a great hit.

He scores a run!

Doesn't matter what position he's playing... he's running for the ball. :)

Looking forward to a fun season with the cubbies!

this is halloween... this is halloween

As I type the title of this post I am singing the opening song from A Nightmare Before Christmas. The kids watched it for the first time this year and that song has been stuck in my head ever since! 

I LOVE the Fall season, with it's chilly weather and all the fun it brings it. This week was filled with parades, parties, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating and eating too much candy.

Our Halloween fun began on Tuesday with Emma Kate's character parade and fall party.  She went as a black cat. She told her teacher she was a "bad" black cat.

Although it was cold and windy, Emma Kate still enjoyed walking in the parade. The classes that weren't participating that day got to watch as well as any parents who came. Emma Kate was excited to see that her big brother, daddy and mama were all there to cheer her on.

Wednesday was Ryne's character parade and fall party.  This year he went as Max from Where the Wild Things Are. This was one of my favorite books growing up and was one of the first books we gave Ryne.

I was thrilled when he agreed to be Max instead of the Green Lantern (his class did NOT need another superhero).  I figured it was my last year to get him into a "cute" costume. So I savored every moment and took LOTS of pictures. I'll only share a few. I promise.

After school was over we headed to the Library for our weekly story time with Miss Katie Jane and for a little trick-or-treating too.  When we got home that afternoon "Max" had pooped out. 

He didn't stay asleep for long. As soon as his friend, Firefighter Fritz, came over he was ready for dinner and then off to trick-or-treat.  During dinner the conversation (at the adult table) turned to costumes of years past. I guess Emma Kate was listening because instead of going upstairs to put on her cat costume she found her bumble bee (from TWO years ago) and wore it instead!!! It was a little shorter, but it worked.

This was our first Halloween in the new house and we had a blast trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Our neighbors were very friendly and quite generous in the candy giving. Some of the houses were really "dressed up" with spooky decor, strobe lights and moving monsters.

 The kids enjoyed ringing doorbells... so much so, that we had to come up with a doorbell ringing roster. I think it was Ryne, Fritz, then Emma Kate. If someone answered the door before the bell could be rung, that person would get to ring it at the next house. Very technical, I know. Emma Kate enjoyed ringing it so much that she actually kept doing it even after the lady had answered the door and was passing out the candy! I apologized.

 

Once their buckets were full, the kids were ready to get back home and see what treats they had received.  Luckily, no one "got a rock". Poor Charlie Brown, Ryne and I will forever wonder why he only got rocks. It's a yearly discussion for us.

The kids enjoyed handing out candy, while eating plenty of it themselves.

I thought our "wild things" might want to stay up all night after all the excitement and candy, but once they were in their cozy jammies and in their warm beds, they fell fast asleep. And Halloween was over... until next year.

Now onto... THANKSGIVING! Can't wait to see our family!