Wiggles!

I went to a concert a few weeks ago.  It was the first time I had been to concert since B.K. (before kids).  I even had company for the concert.  Granted, my companions were Ewan, Liam and Kella.  Our concert destination was the Wiggles concert in Indy.  It was fantastic!

I have been watching the Wiggles for about 8 years-since Marcus was a little guy.  Recently, we have been having a Wiggles renaissance at our house.  Kella checked out the same Wiggles DVD so many times that I finally bought it (and another one) for us to just have at home.  Then, we found out that they were coming to Indy for a concert.  We had to go.

That Friday, I loaded up my companions, got our favorite food (the golden arches) for dinner and made our way to the concert.  We had pretty good seats and could see the stage great, since the road in front of us was completely open.  We made it in time for the first song-"Rock a bye your bear".  Well, that is Kella's favorite song, and she was sold on the show after that.  Liam was a little wary of the noise at first, but it didn't take long for him to adjust and both he and Kella danced to every song the Wiggles sang.  I even caught Ewan doing a little dancing and singing, too.  The Wiggles put on a good show.  They sang a lot of songs that I knew and then some new songs as well, since this tour is to introduce the new Wiggles members.   An hour and a half later, the show was over and we had some awesome new memories.  I will definitely try to go again next time they visit the Indy area.

A couple photos with my phone.

The group on stage.  In person, they were closer than the camera makes them appear.

A closer shot of Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Anthony.

An example of how my kids danced around too much to get a good picture.

Kella taking a break and taking a seat for one of the songs.

Happy 7th Birthday to Ewan!

Ewan turned 7 years old on September 6th! He was so excited about his birthday and had been counting down to it since Marcus had his birthday.  The challenge with Ewan's birthday this year was finding a good time to celebrate, since his birthday fell in a Friday during football season and my first weekend back to work. I think we managed to give Ewan a great birthday.

 

First things first-opening his presents the morning of his birthday! I knew he wouldn't be able to wait.

 

 

 

 

Third (and I realize these are out of order of events) we had cake and ice cream on Sunday night. We did a Bey Blade cake with some of the figures on top.

 

 

 

 

Fourth, we had to get our yearly Ewan-baby pictures with him. Andy's goal is to hold everyone like a baby every year for their picture.

 

Second things second, on Ewan's birthday, I dropped Ewan off with Andy for some special dinner and a movie time. Ewan was pretty excited about this date night. It made me feel better that Ewan got some special attention even though I had to work.

What can we say about Ewan? He is an awesome little dude with an incredible imagination. He loves to create-with action figures or with characters he has cut out from coloring books (because, you know, they don't come to life until you cut them out). He loves his little sisters and loves being a big, helping brother to them.  He had an awesome parent-teacher conference where we found out that Ewan's teacher wishes she had a whole class full of Ewans and that he is on grade level for reading and in the highest class for math.  Good news for us since Ewan acts like he's dying when it's time to do homework.  He wants to do what is right and wants that praise of a job well done from his mom and dad.  I think he has a sweet, kind heart and I hope he always keeps his creativity.  Ewan is also our boy that Andy and I both think needs an adventure.  There's a saying that I found on Pinterest that says

I really feel like this fits Ewan-always looking for an adventure, either with playtime outside or the characters he has created in his mind.  Right now, his job of choice when he grows up is a firefighter-a perfect job for someone seeking adventure and excitement! We love our sweet Ewan-boy and are incredibly blessed to have him in our family! 

a story by Cale

The Very Bad Day

I was just about to play when my dad called me and Marcus to take the dandelions out of the yard.  But when I got outside there were tons of them it look like and invasion.  and when we were done our dad told us to do our neiborghs yard it was very hard work.  Then when we were finally done we went inside.  Then when we were going to go outside and play it started to rain.  When it stopped raining and I went outside my pants got wet then I slipped and I did the spits then went inside to change my pants then I looked at my shirt and it was ripped.  Then I tooked off my cloths and they were all ripped.  Then I took out my waulet and one-hundred seventy dollars, then took out my cup of rare coins And they were gone then everything that was precius to me was gone.  I checked everywhere but its not there but I remeber about the cat I hate Mr. orange.  Then when I found him he took my stuff.  Now I keep my stuff hiden and safe and to barracade the entrace my bed so my stuff is safe.

The End

This story was made by Cale Joseph Shaffer

I thought this story was great.  The first part about weeding dandelions is actually true.  That happened a couple years ago and I'm surprised it has scarred him the way it has.  The middle part has to be made up. I have never know Cale to have $170 in his possession.  And poor Mr. Orange, he and Cale were good buds when Orange was a kitten.  Now, Orange is a bossy, big cat who likes to sleep with Cale, but will go after Cale's feet if Cale moves around too much.  But, as far as I know, Mr. Orange is not a thief.  :-)

Kinley @ 3 months

A long overdue post on sweet baby K at three months old:

•Wearing size 3-6 mos clothing

•Size 2 diapers

•Eating probably 8? Times a day

•sleeping  ALL NIGHT!!!-goes to bed between 10 and 11 and sleeps till around 8am.

•Napping-definitely takes a morning nap around 10ish, an afternoon nap around 2ish and catnaps in the evening

•Loves to be talked to, held, to sleep being held, watching her brothers and sister, being held by mommy 

•Is working so hard on getting her fingers in her mouth=thumb sucker?

•Dislikes not being held, reflux, loud sudden noises, bottles (absolutely refuses to take a bottle while I'm at work-luckily she is only missing 1feeding. Judging by her size, I don't think it's hurting her.)

•honestly, baby K is a sweet baby. We love her for get little personality and love watching her fit in to our family

(Writing this during afternoon nap/cuddle time)

1st day of preschool for Kella and Liam

The Wednesday after Labor Day marked the start of preschool for Liam and Kella.  Liam is entering his final year of preschool and is in the Pre-K class.  Kella is starting out her preschool journey and is in in the Bumblebee class.  Liam goes to school three mornings a week and Kella goes 2 morning for a little bit.  I love the preschool because it's at our church and we know all the teachers.  From what I can tell, both the kids like going to school.  I think Kella wasn't too sure about class the first day, but then she put on her preschool shirt and she was excited to go.  Now, she runs down to class.  Liam likes playing with his friends and seeing his favorite teacher, Mrs. Pat.  Our typical day includes trying to get out of the house right after the bus picks up the bigger boys, getting to preschool late for Liam's class and then hanging out in the church nursery until it is time for Kella to go to class.  Then, it's just finding things to do (like that's hard) until it is time to pick them both up at the end of class day.  I have to say, Liam and Kella must play hard-preschool days are the days that Liam is most likely to take a nap and Kella goes to sleep without complaint.


best photo of Liam on his first day of school

Kella, not sure about what's going on.  She warmed up by the time she went into her classroom.

happenings

Random pics from the past weeks...

 

Kinley turned three months old!

 

 

We have a lot of love for the Wiggles here! I am taking Kella, Liam and Ewan to a Wiggles concert Friday nights. They had to practice their dance moves.

 

 

 

My builder Cale was hard at work creating this masterpiece. He was so proud, he asked to have his picture taken with it.

karate demo

A few weekends ago, the boys participated in a karate demo at a local festival. Andy took all the kids while I caught a few hours of sleep in between nights of work. He was good enough to take some pictures. The boys ran through some different katas and did some sparring. After that, they walked in the festival parade. I'm thinking it was at least a mile long route, but probably more.  They were pretty tired by the end and Ewan suggested putting a "do not disturb" sign on the door of our house so they could rest. Pretty sure their second wind hit as soon as they walked in the door. I'm glad the boys had a chance to demonstrate their skills in front of others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Day, park day

We got our park fix in early this week, taking all the kids this time. It's a park we've been to before, just going to a different section with toys for bigger kids. We brought a picnic dinner and enjoyed the end of the holiday weekend.

There is this coolness, webbed climbing thing the boys took to right away. Who so you think got to the top first?

Andy was good enough to take Kella down the slide.

Sweet baby K got tired to sitting in her car seat.

A little bit of climbing wall.

Dinner.

After numerous attempts, Cale made it to the top first!

Liam hung out in the lower ropes and did some great balancing.