Karate demo

Today Marcus, Cale and Ewan were involved in a karate demo at an event called the Tipton Pork Festival. Their dojo but on a demo and talked about different skills and their bullying program they will be doing (how to stand up to bullies, not to bully). The boys were so cute up on stage and serious. They did their kata with the whole group, got to kick (and break) and very thin piece of wood-like plank and participate in sparing (Ewan and Marcus) and hold escaping (Cale). Kella enjoyed being held by Andy and Liam was grumpy and whined almost the entire show. The kids were disappointed we did not stay to enjoy more of the pork festival, but I didn't feel like trying to feed them there (fair type food-overpriced). I did make the mistake of mentioning possibly getting Subway for lunch, but then recinded the offer after some melt-downs in the car-big mistake. But, they all recovered and manage to enjoy the rest of their day.



Marcus and Cale are up front in blue-getting ready for a kata demo

Cale, front and center



Marcus kicking



end of kata

Ewan, getting ready for sparring-no contact, very cute

Marcus getting ready to spar

Cale, in a self-defense demo, escaping

start of preschool

Preschool started this week. Our school year schedule is finally coming into focus.  Here are some pictures and comments on Ewan and Liam's first day.

Liam before his Bumblebee class.  He was excited to go, but reluctant to leave the church nursery, where he had been playing.  He liked his shirt.  He wasn't too excited to go into the classroom.  But, with encouragement, he went right in to work on some puzzles.  His class is full, with 7 students.

 Ewan before his Pre-K class.  The class is also called the "Pickles" class.  He wasn't too excited for me to be taking his picture-too bad.  He was excited to go to class and see some of his classmates from last year.  There are 14 kids in his class.  I have to laugh everytime I see the class lined up to do something.  Bathroom break time has got to take, like, 20 minutes easy.

The boys before going in for the first day of preschool.  Ewan is sporting his new backpack and Liam has a backpack that has made it through 3 years of nursing school, several years of preschool and Cale's kindergarten year.  They each had to bring a stuffed animal-I guess as a comfort object in case they had some seperation issues.  Liam brought his blankie (of course) and Ewan brought his husky dog Webkinz.  They each had a great first day and were tired by the time they got home.  Ewan will go 3 days a week (M/W/F) and Liam will go on M/W.

blankie went AWOL

We had some tense moments here Tuesday with the disapperance of Liam's beloved blankie.  Andy had taken Ewan, Liam and Kella to Walmart that morning and thought he remembered seeing blankie in the car on the way home.  When it came time for naptime-no blankie.  We looked all over the house and car and could not find it.  Andy laid Liam down for his nap with no blankie.  Liam was very upset, crying and crying.  We got him out of bed and I let him stay up while I looked again every place I could think blankie might be-hamper-no, under bed sheets-no.  I called Walmart and it was not in the lost and found.  At this point, I tried to lay Liam and Kella both down for naps so I could get one too (I had worked the night before).  After 40 minutes of a fussy Kella, a sobbing Liam and a no-napping momma, I made the executive decision to load the kids in the car and head to Walmart to search for blankie-clearly it was no where to be found at home.  We got to the store and cruised the parking lot-no luck.  I called Andy to find out exactly where they had gone in Walmart so we could retrace their steps.  We entered through the garden center-no blankie with the plants.  We walked past the clearance rows-BLANKIE! There it was, laying in the aisle!  An answer to prayers put up by at least this momma and Grammy Pammy. We left the store with a very happy, content little boy.  One day, blankie won't play such a big roll as Liam's comfort object.  Thankfully, it did not have to be that day.

A little more of Ewan's birthday

Ewan was a hard little boy to plan a birthday for. Every time I asked what he wanted for his birthday, his answer would revolve around what he had just seen on tv-same for the birthday theme. I finally took him to the store and had him pick out toys that he liked and I took his picture with them so I would have a shopping list. That worked pretty well and he was excited and happy with what he got.  One of the things he liked was this "ninja castle".  Honestly, I think it's pretty cool too.

Ewan is a sweet little boy who loves to play and has an incredible imagination.  His uncle has said that he would like to see a tv show about what goes on in Ewan's head.  Ewan is so gentle and loving with Kella, it is sweet to see him talk to her.  He wants to be included with his older brothers-it's hard to be the middle kid sometimes.  He loves time with his Daddy and really enjoys the fact that Andy is home in the mornings to hang out with.  He is in gymnastic and karate, and is getting better at both.  I think the classes help Ewan to learn to pay attention and focus.  I would say his best friend right now is our next door neighbor's girl-Delany.  They play together as much as they can.  So sweet and kind!  We love our Ewan James!

A picture from Ewan's birthday get-together.  I had Ewan's friends over that live on our street.  We played a couple quick games, had some cake and ice cream and then the kids played for a bit before going home (it was a school night, after all).  It was crazy and fun!

Ewan is 5!

Ewan James.......then.....

From 2006

........and now!  Happy 5th birthday!

Kella 3 month photo slideshow

Kella 3 months - free slideshow

We got Kella's 3 month photos taken yesterday.  We took her to a Portrait Innovations studio.  I think the photos turned out great and we got the photo CD along with a ton of pictures.  I'm just saying, having a little girl to do "costume changes" with is so fun!  Andy was very nice about not teasing me about it.  Enjoy the slideshow.  I didn't put all the pictures on it-just tried to get a nice assortment.  It was surprisingly easy for a not-tech-savvy person, like me, to do.  :-)

Kella at 3 months

Kella was 3 months old on Monday! She is a very sweet, easy-going baby most of the time.  She loves to be talked to and will coo back and tell you all about her day.  We can get her to laugh occasionally, but she really likes to just watch and take everything in.  Her brothers are very interesting to her.  She loves to be held and likes to sit straight up in our laps.  She even doesn't mind to be passed around to her brothers-Ewan especially loves to hold her.  Naptime isn't too bad.  I'm starting to see a pattern emerge.  And, she is sleeping for 6-7 hours in a row at night.  Fantastic!  People love how her hair looks and are surprised to find out that it is all natural (the sticking-up).  I keep saying it, but she is just such a good baby!  We are so lucky to have her!