First Haircut!

OK, so I'm a little late on this one.These pictures are from just before Christmas.

He REALLY needed a haircut.

And was NOT going to sit in Miss Beth's chair without Mommy.

So here we are...

warming up to Miss Beth and the nice college student getting her highlights done that offered to take pictures


handsome boy


chillin' post-haircut


watching Baby Einstein on Daddy's iphone now that he's a big boy

Fish eat fish

GAVIN: Mom, what do fish eat?
ME: Other fish.
GAVIN: Ok. What do fish eat?
ME: Other fish.
GAVIN: What do fish eat?
ME: Other fish.
GAVIN: So, what do fish eat?

Ahhh, the brilliant mind of a four year old!

Mrs. Z. must be some kind of saint

I had the pleasure of accompanying Mrs. Z.'s class of Kindergartners to their first field trip! Despite a minor glitch involving a miscommunication with the school bus department (they had no record of a field trip request and it took a good hour to find a driver/bus/etc.), the kids had a blast. Logan was most excited about the bus trip, while the parent chaperone's wisely opted to meet the class in front of the Jr. Museum. There were 6 other Gilchrist Kindergarten classes in attendance (and several other classes from other schools around town). So obviously, it was chaotic mess of matching bright-colored shirts and hyperactive kiddos, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Incidentally, while I have three kids of my own and have spent my life working with children, I found it surprisingly difficult to keep track of the three children assigned to me as a volunteer chaperone. Something about the sea of matching shirts and 7 classes of Kindergartners all hyped up on the excitement of the day. In fact, I lost one of my kids at one point. As massive search for "an average-sized white boy with brown hair and a teal Gilchrist shirt" ensued, which described most of the kids in the immediate area. I panicked, but he was quickly found. Reunited and it feels so good.

I really don't know how Mrs. Z. handles all of them for 6.5 hours a day! 2 was enough!

Logan and Max (the missing boy)

Alligators, panthers, and bears. OH MY!

Logan's Ladies

Tyler (middle) -- "the best reader in the class, and I'm second best", and
Kai (right) -- "the one who had the coolest birthday party" -- Daddy thinks so too -- this was the party with the beer at 1pm and the Balloon Maker Babysitter

No, they're not resting quietly. The grown-ups forced them to sit for 2 seconds for a picture.

Logan kept running out of the picture and doing karate chops at the teacher's camera.

That's my kid.

Teacher's pet

High tech mom

Trying out the "mobile posting" feature. Here we are at Gavin's
Special Day with Mom and Dad.

Logan A.: Board-Breaker

Logan broke his very first board at TaeKwonDo last night! He was the youngest kid in the room and Master Murphy called him to the front (something he doesn't usually do) and had him try out his "step-behind-side-kick" on a piece of wood. He broke it on his second try! Jay yelled out in surprise and the class erupted in applause. Logan was in just shock.

Next week, he tests for his yellow belt. Requirements include: 27 Movements, Kiesha 1, and Board-Breaking. Nana will be babysitting Keegan (class doesn't start until 8:30pm!), so I'll have the opportunity to take lots of pictures.

Jay has really been enjoying TaeKwonDo himself, despite the aches and pains of old age! He's come a long way and recently earned his yellow tip. He practices almost nightly with Logan, and it seems to be a great bonding experience for them. Since much of the class consists of children, Jay is often used as a punching bag for the young, fit black belt men training for another "degree" of their black belt. I like to think of it as Master Murphy's way of keeping him in line for me!

I'm so proud of all the boys in my life!

You've got a friend in me

Sometimes your camera catches just the right moment in time.

best buddies

He's the sweetest big brother in the world!

my big boy bed!

Keegan's growing up! He loves Elmo and school buses (just like Logan) and has an excellent appetite and a good pitcher's arm (just like Gavin). He looks up to his brothers and considers himself "one of the boys". The transition out of his crib and into his toddler bed went smoothly thanks, in part, to the Elmo sheets and stuffed animals.

I'm a big kid now!

Logan earns his yellow tip!

LOGAN: "I'm a higher belt than Daddy now! He's the lowest belt in the class and I know more stuff than him!"

(Actually, I don't think I've mentioned that Jay has started taking TaeKwonDo with Logan. I'll have to take a picture to post for you. Although the class meets three days a week, Jay usually makes it to the first class and spends the rest of the week nursing his aching body. Not quite a spring chicken anymore!)

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We had a full house this year and loved every minute of it. It's such a blessing to be able to host Thanksgiving dinner for our family. This year, Baby Amelia joined the group and the McKee family (including DellBoy) came to stay with us for a few days.

Gavin's Thanksgiving Decorations

Gavin and Ashley's Thanksgiving decorations! The pine cones are huge and rather sturdy, so I put them in the "holiday box" to use again next year.

who's the boss?

Logan's Kinetic Family Drawing. For my non-psychologist readers, the Kinetic Family Drawing was developed a time when projective tests were frequently administered as a way of assessing a person's psychological functioning. In this type of a drawing, a child is asked to draw a picture of his family (including himself) "doing something".

Logan drew our family outside "looking at the weather and butterflies".

My most basic interpretation of this shows a fundamental problem in our family dynamic: Logan thinks he's a) our peer, and b) superior to Gavin and Keegan. It probably doesn't take thousands of dollars in graduate loans (like I have) to see this. Mom and Dad are close together (a good thing), but Logan is just to the side of us, on our level, and the younger boys are underneath. Clearly we have some more teaching to do!

cake to the third power

Are we crazy for taking our kids to three birthday parties in one day? Well, maybe so, but how could we say "no" to one kid and "yes" to another. So, this was a day of cake-times-three.

Party #1 at the park for Gavin's friend from school.

The lighting was perfect, so I worked on getting a good shot of Sir Never-Pose-When-You-Want-Him-To.

Ring Around the Rosie?

Turning the volleyball court into a sandbox, of course.

Party #2 at a house we've always wanted to visit. Jay chose the right party to go to -- this one had beer for the grown ups and a babysitter (balloon man) for the kiddos.

Logan and Jonathan (best buds)

Sportin' his black eye and a balloon gun, of course.

By Party #3 I was too exhausted to tote around my camera. This party was for Hannah's son (our former nanny) and was at a different park. As I was getting Keegan out of the car, I heard the boys yelling. Thinking they were fighting over who was going to carry the gift (again), I ignored them. Unbeknownst to me, Logan had fallen into a ginormous ant pile while wearing flip flops and carrying the present. Apparently it took him awhile to realize it, and those ants had him for lunch. Never one to miss out on a social event, however, he took some Benadryl and toughed it out in the name of cake and sausage pizza!

In the year 2010...

Logan ~ Age 5 ~ Kindergarten

New Year's Resolutions

LOGAN: "I'm going to be a green belt."

GAVIN: "I'm going to be a really great baseball player and when I'm five, I'm going to take karate."

KEEGAN: "BuhBuh. Go. BuhBuh." (I think this means he wants to drive a bus. We might have to work on this goal-setting thing with him. I was thinking more along the lines of using the big boy potty.)

advent calendar

Dear Gram and Gramps,

Thank you for my advent calendar. As you can see, I'm really enjoying it this year.

Love,

Keegan

Car Talk

All Logan does in the car is talk. I mean, seriously. It doesn't matter how far we're going or how long we're in the car...he still talks from start to finish. From the time we get in the car till the time we get out. Here are some of the "conversations" I remember from today. I use the term "conversations" loosely because I'm trying to concentrate on driving, Gavin is off in his own little world, and Keegan is sucking on his pacifier. So basically it's just Logan talking out loud to himself.

CONVERSATION #1: First God was born, then Santa was born, and then the dinosaurs, and then us. Don't forget that, Gavin. That's the order it goes in. Right, mom? First God, then Santa, then the dinosaurs, then the people. That's the way it is. First God, then Santa, then............

CONVERSATION #2: Boys rule. Girls drool. Except mom. She's in with boys, I guess. 'Cause that's all we have in this family. And mom says we're not allowed to have any more kids.

CONVERSATION #3: Mom, how old do you have to be to drink beer? 'Cause when I was little, I think Daddy gave me a sip of beer. And that's SO BAD! Daddy broke the rule of beer! And I really, really don't want him to go to jail!!!!!!!!! Then we wouldn't have any stuff cause he wouldn't be able to work and so we would be poor children. (silence) Oh, and plus I would miss him.

CONVERSATION #4: Mom!!!!!!! STOP!!!! You're going too fast! Cause the speed limit says 70 and you're going a little bit more than 70, but a little bit less than 80! Mom!!!!!!!!! STOP!!!!!!!!!!! You're breaking the rule of the speed limit. Cause that signs says that you are supposed to go 70. Mom! Go faster! Cause now you're going a little bit less than 70, but a little bit more than 60! Mom!!!!!! STOP right there!!!!!!! You're going exactly right. You're going EXACTLY 70! That's exactly right! Oh no! Mom! You're.............

a medium butt

ME: (said to Jay...and I didn't know the kids were listening) Do these jeans make my butt look big?

JAY: No, actually it looks teeny (I've trained him well!)

GAVIN: Let ME see!

I turn around, reluctantly.

GAVIN: It looks medium.

time flies

My precious little ones through the years...

2006

2007

2008