Other reasons to eat cake

So, just an update for those who missed it- Rebecca graduated from preschool. What- you didn't send a gift?!? how rude. She graduates from preschool to junior kindergarden. Which used to be called preschool the four year old edition. Who knows these days?

Well, apparently you learn all kinds of great things in preschool- like the Barney song. Love of Barney is a crucial 3 year old skill apparently. Anyway, didn't want you to miss the ceremony, even if you didn't send a gift... Here's a brief video of one of the highlights.

In the meantime, Patrick is walking more. He will push himself into a standing position when he falls down. Eric said today how frustrating it must be to have that happen all the time. The average one year old has to try something 1000-1800 times before the skill is mastered! Imagine if we did- I don't know that I would do anything. It gives me hope that one day he will eat his veggies- if I expose him 1500 more times! :) Anyway, I was going to give you a detailed analysis of his gait, but here's the video.... let me know if you want the analysis! :)

And finally, for those of you who aren't hip to our routines, every Saturday night is date night around here! Eric and I look for excuses to spend more "couple time" together, and we have chosen at-home dating. Hey- before you mock it, there is on-line dating! :) Anyway, tonight we are looking at pictures and videos of our kids. Now you can mock us!

Happy weekend!

PS- check out the new Rebecca cam! :)

Public service announcement

Don't stand on chairs.
This could happen to you. Enough said.

Extreme makeover- the haircut edition

Patrick got his first "real" haircut today. He was starting to look a little "Boulder" and this family is anything but hippies! I had these mommy fantasies of photo-journaling the whole experience, only to find out the reality is it took two to hold him down and one to cut the hair. Amazing!

Tada! The new do!

Rebecca doesn't like the new do- liked him better the old way- says she has to close her eyes when she looks at him because he looks funny. I think this may be part of the whole "I'm four and don't cope with change well" routine. FYI- she is holding her new "Groovy Girl" doll- which was a post-birthday purchase. They are especially cool because they have pink and purple hair- a true desire of hers. Brown and blond are so yesterday!

I think he looks great! Let me know what you think!

Milestone

Well, another developmental milestone has come for my little man Patrick. Home sick today from school with a fever and presumably another sore throat....He watched t.v. for the very first time today. After a sampling of shows, the ones he liked the best were Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the Little Einsteins. Just like his big sister close to this age! I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Of course he had to be held by mommy during the shows- the best part of watching tv is the snuggling!

Where a kid can be a kid- and a grown-up needs a drink

So we've never been to Chuck E. Cheese. Until Rebecca's birthday. After much consternation, she decided that was her wish for her birthday meal. And let me tell you we did it up right. We went on a Sunday morning right after church armed with a fantastic coupon. We had the run of the place to ourselves except for a table of older people (literally the geriatric set). Add to that the Greeley Cinco de Mayo celebrations were going on and the place was ours for the taking- no one else there (thank God!)

We had a blast... as you will see....Rebecca's favorites were the rides and the movie camera that put you on the big screen. Patrick liked the dancing animal. Eric and I had skeet ball competitions and played "Deal or No Deal." We tied in skeet ball and I cleaned house in "Deal or No Deal" winning 84 tickets!!! Rebecca got to take home more than once chintzy trinket with that kind of loot!

After a much needed nap, Rebecca got to open presents and we ended the night with a picnic on the patio. What a great birthday!

Rebecca cam

Rebecca is obsessed with picture taking. She enjoys having her picture taken but loves to operate the camera more than anything. We have been letting her use our camera to take pictures. She has been doing great. There will now be a perma-link with her photos highlighted on the blog. We had considered getting her a "kid friendly" digital camera, but think it would get as much use as the 4500 other toys we've bought. Instead, we're letting her go for the real deal. Let me know what you think... (The link is on the upper right of your screen- right under our blog title)

Rebecca's Fourth Birthday

Our little girl turned 4 this week- who can believe it? She had three days of blissful partying capped off by the big day- anyway to get you caught up, I put together a slide show of the big party. Highlights included a butterfly theme, complete with decorating coffee filter butterflies, reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," having caterpillar races in sleeping bags, making toilet paper cocoons, turning into butterflies to play "butterfly, butterfly, caterpillar" (like duck duck goose), and numerous arts and crafts projects as well as cake, ice cream, presents, the jump-n-slide, and of course the pinata. We followed it up with a big neighborhood bbq but I was too tired to take more pictures! Anyway, hope you enjoy the slide show as much as we enjoyed the event...