Monthly Archives: January 2009

Best of…

Yesterday there was an honor’s assembly at Audrey’s school and she was awarded the “Best of [her school] award.”  Each kindergarten teacher could choose three students to award.  Audrey was the first one they called up.  As soon as the other two from her class were up there, it was clear that Audrey has taken after her parents with the height genes.  She sits right next to the boy who is in the picture in class and her teacher said it is so funny to watch little Audrey teach this tall boy how to read.  We were so proud of Audrey and she was so excited to see us there.  After the assembly, her teacher gave us her certificate and told us that she wishes she could clone Audrey.  What an awesome girl she is!

Awards

The assembly was in the morning, so the whole family went to drop Audrey off at school…which means Kate had to wake up way too early.  She was a very cranky girl for most of the morning.  After trying to entertain her for a couple of hours, I decided we needed to get out of the house, so I loaded her into the jog stroller and took her running.  She threw tantrums for the first ten minutes of the run and then pulled her hat down turned her head and zonked out.  It was a very enjoyable run after that.  These kinds of things just don’t happen any more.

After the runSleepy head

Okay, I just have to toot my own horn here for a couple of things in these pictures.  First of all, that sweater Kate is wearing – pretty darn cute, I’d say.  I knitted it for her for Christmas.  Poor Audrey; I’m still working on hers.  She was given a ball of yarn for Christmas with a note saying it was going to be a sweater too.  She got really excited and said, “Are you going to teach me how to knit?”  It’s amazing what little things will excite your kids when you do a homemade Christmas.

Now the second thing I have to toot my horn about is I went running being just two days shy of 37 weeks.  That’s longer than I’ve ever continued running with the other pregnancies.  Just to qualify things – my running consists of a run/walk combination with the run part being extremely slow…but still.

Okay, one more picture to add.  Since you can’t see my belly very good in that picture and I try to avoid belly shots for the most part, I decided I should at least have one picture documenting my hugeness.

yoga add

Considering I avoid pictures, it’s amazing that I agreed to be the front prego for this yoga add.  Jamie found out about a fitness place opening that needed models for some adds.  She got picked and then told them that she had a friend who teaches yoga and is pregnant and asked if they wanted me too.  Then later, Brenna also got added in.  So here we are in all of our glory.  We still haven’t seen Jamie’s pictures though.

Since I’ve already gone off on quite a tangent from what this post first started as, let me continue on just a little bit longer.  Just FYI, it’s okay for pregnant people to call themselves huge.  It is not etiquette however for someone to say something like, “When’s the baby due or should I say babies?”  It’s also not okay to say, “I don’t know much about pregnancies, but when I saw you, I thought, man is she having twins?”  It’s also not okay to say, “Do you have twins or triplets in there?”  Yes.  All of these things have been said to me.  My brother, Brad told me that the proper reply to all of this is to say, “What are you talking about?  I’m not pregnant,” and then walk off.  I’ll try that next time.

My Favorite Gift

Scott already talked about the service box that Audrey and Kate gave me and can I just say it rocks!  It’s so much easier to get them to do things for me now because 1: they are excited about this present they made me and 2: they know they get a snickers when they’re done.  Two Saturdays ago, it was 78 degrees, so Audrey and I went for a long walk and then came home and decided to use one of her service suggestions and clean my car.

Service box

Scott and Kate came out and helped us and it was so fun.  I think Scott and I did most of the cleaning and Audrey and Kate mostly just sprayed each other with the hose or begged Scott to spray them with the hose, but at least it brought a smile to everyones face, right?

Wet!Kate giving Audrey a talkin' to

Who would have thought being sprayed by a hose in January would be fun?  I can’t get used to this Texas weather.  It’s 78 one day and 30 the next.

Homemade

This year we decided to have a homemade Christmas so that we could help encourage our girls focus on putting themselves into a gift for someone they loved. Getting a three year old to keep a secret was not something I thought was possible, but Kate surprised me by only letting a few clues slip here and there.

Jeana helped Kate and Audrey work separately on gifts for each other. What the girls didn’t know was that they were making the same thing for each other. I don’t think it mattered because they were each so excited to give the other what they were making that they lost thought about a gift for themselves. The girls made jewelry boxes for each other. Of course, the boxes turned out containing all sorts of toys, not just necklaces and bracelets, but that’s not important.

Kate painting a jewelry box for AudreyKate's jewelry box detail

The girls opening their jewelry boxes from each other

We made some fancy calendars for our parents with pictures of our family throughout the 2008 year. Without Jeana knowing, I printed out calendars for 2009 and had the girls provide the artwork for each month. Each day that I worked at home, I would have the girls come and color something. Jeana’s calendar is graced with lollipops basking in the sun, flowers, a mouse and rat (Jeana hates these rodents – I think the inclusion of the picture on the calendar is funny), names, butterflies, a basketball, houses, the numbers of the years from 2001 to 2010 (although 2010 is actually 20010), and more.

I knew that Jeana was helping the girls with making jewelry boxes. I cheated with the whole “box” idea and figured since the girls were already in the mode of painting boxes, they would be warmed up and know just what to do if they were encouraged to do another one. I was worried that the girls would slip and tell each other about the jewelry boxes, but they didn’t divulge anything! Audrey brainstormed some tasks she was willing to perform for Jeana and wrote them on a piece of paper. I helped Kate write some for herself. Then, we cut up the tasks and taped them to mini Snickers candy bars, Jeana’s favorite. We stuffed all the tasks and candy bars into the “service box” and painted it. Audrey and Kate were anxious to give the gift to Jeana and we talked about the “service box” from time to time leading up to Christmas day. I loved seeing their excitement to do something so kind and giving for Jeana.

Scott opening his pencil/pen can and magnetsJeana with her service box from the girls

Jeana asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her I wanted a pencil can. Jeana told me that one year when she was little she made a pencil can for someone in her family, so I was confident that she could deliver on my request. The truth is, I love having pictures of my family in my office (when I am actually in the office) to take my mind of work when I need a break. I figured a pencil can would be a great gift to ask for. Jeana helped the girls deliver and then some! I got my much desired, homemade pencil can. It was mod podged with pictures of our family throughout the year doing the activities we love most, like camping, hiking, and racing. They also made a bunch of custom magnets with pictures of hobbies, sports, and activities I love most – for use on my whiteboard in the office.

Jeana with her race bibsThe girls with their new aprons

Jeana and I wanted to make aprons for the girls long before Jodi made and sent aprons. One can never have too many aprons right? Besides, one of Audrey’s service tasks in the “service box” was to make dinner so she needed an apron. Oh, and if you know our children, you know that there is a spill with every meal, so they often eat in aprons (much like glorified bibs). I sewed the neck and waist strings on the aprons and Jeana provided the artwork.

I was really excited to make Jeana’s gift. For quite some time she has wanted to decorate a room with all her race bibs she has collected over the years. Using a cold mount adhesive technique and skill acquired long ago as a framer, I mounted the race bibs to foam core and cut them to size. The foam core gives the element of dimension to the bibs. Now we just need to paint a wall and hang them up!

Would I think of doing a homemade Christmas again? You bet! I did learn some lessons though, like: start much earlier on the gifts and do NOT attempt to sew pajamas for your spouse the day of Christmas eve.

Gingerbread

My sister sent us a gift early in December that we were instructed to open and enjoy for the entire season. We were excited to see the contents of the package because what she and her family sent fell nicely into our homemade Christmas theme.

Kate and Audrey with their new aprons from JodiAudrey got frosting on her cheek

Jodi make reversible aprons for the girls and some cute baker hats. Since the aprons are reversible and the girls share almost everything, it’s like having 4 new aprons! Decorating the cookies was entertaining. I find a lot of satisfaction seeing my children laugh genuinely.

Our decorated gingerbread cookies

I must admit that Jeana’s gingerbread cookie was decorated best. Fortunately, neither Jeana nor Kate like eating gingerbread cookies so I got to eat the product of our evening over the course of a few days.

Thanks Jodi and Stephen for the enjoyable gifts – not just the gingerbread decorating present.