Birthdays

Avery is getting so excited for her 4th birthday, which is rapidly approaching.  She has been talking about it for weeks.  When we were browsing through Target's toy section so she could give me some birthday gift ideas, she asked me when her next birthday (after this one) would be.  I explained that we have a birthday every year, so the year after this one she will turn 5.  Her response was, "Then why did Garrett have 2 birthdays?"  Ahh...sibling rivalry.

My School Name

Earlier this week our lovely neighbor, Connee, was a substitute teacher in Garrett's kindergarten classroom.  He was excited to tell me right away that Connee was his teacher for the afternoon!

At bedtime, Garrett asked, "Mom, did you know that when people work in a school they have different names?  When Connee was my teacher, we didn't call her Connee.  We called her Mrs. Smith!  What's your name at your school, Mom?"  Both Garrett and Avery were surprised to hear that I am "Mrs. Stohs" at school!

Roller Skating

Garrett has been talking about roller skating lately.  Must have heard other kids talking about it at school.  I thought maybe we should introduce him to roller skating before he gets invited to his first skating birthday party.  So last Saturday morning we tackled the skating rink.  It was just Garrett, Avery, and I since Greg stayed home to put Emmett down for a nap.  I was a little unsure of how this would go with 1 adult and 2 kids who have never skated!  But we had a great time!  Garrett fell down once (really hard = tears) and Avery fell down a million times but would just smile and get back up.  They skated along the wall and took turns holding my hand and skating until they were coordinated enough that I could manage one on each side of me.  We had fun and will definitely be back soon!  It reminded me that it takes awhile to learn to skate and that roller skates and the roller blades that I am used to are very different from each other!

On the Go!

Life is even busier with a little guy on the go!  Last week Greg was walking past Garrett & Avery's room when he heard some noise.  He turned on the lights and there was Emmett with his feet sticking out of their closet, digging through toys in the dark!  The concerning thing about this is that no one realized he was in there.  I assumed he was with Greg and Greg thought he was with me!  Guess we better baby-proof their room a little better or maybe even start shutting the door.  You never know where all those tiny toys (choking hazards) may be hiding.

We often find Emmett in the bathroom too!  He LOVES to take baths and frequently heads in there just to hang out by the bathtub!  He has a new talent too...he has learned to push his little booty up when he is on all 4s and straighten his legs.  He will hold himself in that position which looks like a "bridge" position in yoga or the extended (arms straight) position at the top of a push-up.  Pretty funny and very cute.  He hasn't figured out how to grab onto something and push up to standing yet but I have the feeling it won't be long.  Why does the littlest one have to grow up so fast?  Can't believe our baby is already 7 months old and the first year is already halfway over.

Emmett's big sissy is taking really good care of him.  She discovered the baby hairbrush and comb that we used on her and Garrett as babies.  Now every morning she brushes and combs Emmett's hair!  She really spoils him with attention all day long.  Both of the kids love Emmett.  It is fun to watch them interact together and to see Emmett light up when he sees his brother and sister!  They can make him laugh and giggle better than anyone else. 

SKIING!!!

We went skiing last weekend (a week ago)!!  We took the kids to Mt Crescent, Iowa to a little ski resort that makes it's own snow.  It was just a short hour and 15 minute drive from home, northeast of Omaha.  Grandma and Grandpa Stohs came up to watch Emmett for the big day.  I have to say it was a little unusual to see this snowy hill in the middle of nowhere when there was no other snow in sight!  Garrett and Avery both had 1.5 hour private ski lessons.  The resort recommended private lessons only for their young ages and I have to say it was well worth the money.  They both had amazing ski instructors; probably better than the ones I had as a kid in Colorado!  Margot taught Avery and Hugh taught Garrett!  Greg and I took advantage of this time to whiz down the slopes while we were free of young kiddos.  The resort has 2 lifts, one which takes you to the main green run or the blues and blacks, but they did not have any snow pushed over to the blues and blacks.  The unusually warm weather was impacting their snow-making ability so only about 1/2 the runs were open.  There was only one black open which was probably more like a blue in Colorado.  But we didn't mind.  It just felt good to be on skis again.  Just the familiar click of my boots into my skis made me smile!

Since the resort was so small, we got to watch a lot of the kids' lessons.  Since Avery was so young, they took her straight to the ski lift and up the "mountain."  Learning by doing is the best at that age.  Garrett learned and practiced many skills on the gentle slope by the lodge before heading for the lift, halfway thru his lesson.  We were able to watch them frequently as the lifts run right by the main green run.  We could often see them going down as we were riding back up, then we would ski right past them and stop to snap their pictures!

After the kids' lessons, Greg and I got a quick lesson on how to continue helping them.  At this point, they were both skiing with someone just skiing next to them!  They also needed help on/off the lifts since they are so small.  We were amazed at their skiing ability!  Garrett would fall down occasionally and Avery only fell twice all afternoon.  Garrett already had great form, with his weight forward in his boots and Avery is fearless.  They would whiz down the slope and for the most part we would just ski down and hop right back in the lift line to go up again!  Avery needed a few reminders to slow down and stay in control!  They are both built for speed!  We were so proud of them and we had SO MUCH FUN!

The kids are already asking when we are going again!  They asked when they next lessons are (as if we would go weekly!).  We decided this will be an annual family event!!  On the way home I was chatting with my Dad on the phone.  He asked if we had as much fun as we would have at a resort in Colorado.  I said, "Absolutely!"  What a fun family activity and a great (and less expensive!) way for the kids to learn to ski so close to home!

School Stuff

I am amazed at what kindergarteners learn these days!  It is so much more than what I learned in kindergarten.  Garrett is bringing home math worksheets with addition and subtraction problems (with pics of course).  They are learning "number partners."  For example, the number partners for 8 could be 3 and 5 or 4 and 4 or 7 and 1.

He is also reading us books in his home reading bag which comes home at least weekly, sometimes more.  Last night's stories were something like:  The snowman wears mittens.  The puppy wears mittens.  The baby wears mittens.  And so on...  Pretty cool to have Garrett read to me instead of me reading to him!!

We received his 2nd quarter report card and have made a lot of gains this quarter!  We are so proud of him and he was very proud of himself too!

Here's a funny story:  We receive newsletters explaining what they will be learning each time they start a new theme.  We got one right before Christmas and I was reading it aloud.  In the reading curriculum, they learn words in families such as the -at family (cat, bat, sat, etc) and it said they would be learning the -it family.  Garrett chimes in, "Like shit, Mom?"  I said, "Yeah," trying not to smile or laugh.  I'm not sure if he realized this is a 'bad' word?  I couldn't tell.  I read a few more sentences until I could not hold it in any longer and started laughing!

Am I still a cool mom?

I asked Garrett two nights ago if I should come and eat lunch with him at school sometime.  I had a lot of fun the last two times and he did also!  He hesitated and said, "Well, I feel like I don't have much time when you come so maybe I'll just eat with you at home."  (sad face)  "Oh," I said, "what if I bring you McDonalds?" (bribery) Garrett hesitated again.  "Well, I DO like McDonalds...."