Our April

One last post for April. This has been a really busy month for us, and for a change it's not because of work. I'm in between phases on the project I've been working on, so the hours have been back to normal, and Mike's busy season is just getting started. However, back in the winter, I think we were a little too busy with work and didn't quite think before signing the boys up for activities. We have swim lessons on Monday, T-ball on Tuesday, Soccer on Friday, and Soccer and T-ball (for Rion) on Saturday. Then, just for the fun of it I signed up for yoga on Wednesday. So much for limiting activities to one night per week! The good new is that the boys are outside and active, which they love, and which helps to offset the fine food we've been feeding them.

Now, we look forward to May. We have sandals on, outside toys starting to take over the garage, its hot upstairs in our house, one more haircut before the buzz cuts, and Grandpa is coming home this weekend and returning to the river house. It seems like summer is almost here!

Our 11th Anniversary

Who knew 11 years ago, that this would be our life?

Spring Soccer Games

This is the quality of jokes in our house

Owen: Knock, Knock.
Rion: Who’s there?
Owen: Owen
Rion: Owen who?
Owen: Owen doesn’t say Owen. Owen says banana!

Rion: Knock, Knock. Who’s there?
Owen: No, you say knock, knock. I say who’s there.
Rion: Knock, Knock.
Owen: Who’s there?
Rion: Rion
Owen: Rion who?
Rion: Rion doesn’t say who. He says banana!

A standard dinner conversation

Mommy: Tell me what you are learning at school.

Owen: What school?

Rion: Plants and spring. That’s it what I’m learning about.

Owen: I have two schools. I’m learning about the Ocean.

Mommy: What about the ocean?

Owen: Whales

Mommy: What about whales?

Owen: That they have, when they swim up to the surface, water comes out of the little hole in their body.

Mommy: What else are you learning about?

Owen: That is it.

Mommy: What are you working on in Math class?

Owen: Questions that are divided by, math symbols, subtraction, and adding.

Mommy: What about multiplication?

Owen: Yeah, multiplication.

Mommy: What is 4 times 4?

Owen: 16

Mommy: Good job, Buddy.

Rion: What is 10 + 100?

Owen: 110

Rion: What’s 100 + 1,000,000,000?

Owen: 1,000,000,100

Rion: What’s a trillion plus a gillion?

Owen: A trillion and a gillion? What’s 5 + 5?

Rion: 10! Right?

Mommy: Yes, good job.

Owen: 8 + 8?

Rion: I don’t know that. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18? 19? 20? 20, right?

Owen: 16

Rion: What’s 80 + 80? That’s hard for me.

Owen: 160

Rion: What’s 0 plus a trillion?

Owen: A trillion

Rion: Ha, ha, ha!

Mommy: Rion, what are you learning about plants and spring?

Rion: Plants grow. In circle time today, water makes clouds and if the clouds have lots they’ll fall down. If it makes it too heavy it will fall down. The water and the cloud. That’s it.

Mommy: Is there anything else you want to write about?

Rion: No. Yeah. Talking to each other.

Mommy: You just did. J

Swim Lessons

Rion's going under

Sean & Colin's Birthday

Brotherly Love

Rion at Owen's soccer game

Owen at Rion's t-ball practice

"Easter" Egg Experiment

The boys wanted to try an Easter egg experiment. Their friend Lane told them that if they put an egg in a bowl of vinegar and let it sit for one week, the eggs would bounce. After coloring eggs, we tried it. After one week, we took them outside and looked in the bowl. The vinegar had definitely changed them.

Rion tried to bounce his egg first. It worked from an few inches off the driveway.

Then they tried from a higher distance. See the results for yourself!

A Spring Saturday

A day in our life? I had an hour of sleep, was up at 12:00 am and into work by 12:30 (before Mike even went to bed). Work has been crazy, but hopefully, this is one of the last steps and things will slow down! Home by 6:30am, I grabbed an hour of sleep before Owen’s 1^st soccer game of the season. He played great, scoring the first two goals for his team. He’s becoming great on offense, but really loves defense. He’s also becoming a very fast runner. It’s amazing to see how much better he’s gotten, even since the fall. From there, I took him to a friend’s birthday party and ran some errands, while Mike took Rion to Brookfield zoo for the first time this year. He misses “his” animals so much during the winter (Do not tell him that zoos are open when it’s cold!). And, he especially misses the two elephants they’ve lost in the past year. Brookfield acquired a new elephant, but he only saw it once in the fall so he hasn’t quite “bonded” with it yet. At the party with Owen I talked to another parent and decided to register Rion for Biddy Baseball, which started in a ½ hour. He had a great practice, but did get in trouble for not listening. The coach talked to him, and I was proud that he went back out on the field and participated. I think this coach will be good for him. Now, it’s 3:30 and we’re back home. We all missed nap time, so it will be an early bed time. I can’t wait! But, I also can’t complain. It’s a beautiful spring day in Chicagoland, with the sun shining and a cool, breeze! Tomorrow we’re off to brunch (Shaw’s – yummy – sushi and oysters, along with carmelized bacon!) and another birthday party with friends from college. Hopefully, we’ll also get the taxes and birthday thank you’s started. We are a little/lot behind in 2010! – Natalie – PS – I’ve had 2 hours of sleep in the past 32 hours, yet I’m blogging. Where is Mike?

Today I went to the zoo. Today Owen went to Jackie’s party. We got to see reptiles, elephants, there is only one elephant and he was like waving his trunk. He was like dancing. Who’s the new animal? We ate a lunch snack and that’s it. I’m playing t-ball. And then I got sweaty, so I was taking a break for a drink. We were throwing the ball. I was batting and then I was catching. I was running on the t’s, those orange things. Running on those mats. It was fun. I liked it. - Rion

I went to a soccer game. I shot two goals, but the other team only shot one goal. Our team won. We shot six goals. The other team only shot one. I had fun. I went to Jackie’s birthday party. It was really fun because we got to watch Zoom. Zoom could run faster than a bullet. And the bullet could go 50 miles per hour! Jackie had cupcakes and we got to eat ice cream and cupcakes. The cupcakes and ice cream were really yummy. And, I enjoyed watching the movie at her birthday party! – Owen

Spring Gala (Gallup)

Kindercare held a Spring Gala, or Spring Gallup as Rion refers to it, on Friday night. Each of the classes went up on stage, sang songs, and recited poems. The boys did a great job and it was a packed house. We filled a school gymnasium, standing room only. We are very lucky that we found such a wonderful daycare! It’s going to be a huge adjustment for all of us when Owen isn’t there next year. - Natalie

We singed “When the clouds float by…”, “Twinkle”, There was one of the water fountains was broken, so I got to do the other one. I singed songs. I went up on a real stage. That’s it. And, we were taking a break and then we did a bow. And then that was it, right? - Rion

I had a spring gala. It was really fun. You know why? Cause we got to sing songs and we got to pick something out of our Easter bucket. I had to wear all white because I was a cloud. And we watched the other kids sing their songs. I had to hold up a sign and I said “I” and the other kids said “imaginative children enjoy a walk with their friends”. - Owen

Future Careers

I was in a meeting yesterday and we were discussing how we'd like our children to find jobs that they truly enjoy. I actually do enjoy my job, maybe not the hours right now, but I do enjoy the work and think it's important that you want to go to work. So, on this morning's ride to daycare I asked the boys what they wanted to be when they grew up, since it tends to change daily. Today, Rion wants to be a firefighter pilot and a "TV fixer" when there are no fires. His definition of a "TV fixer" is someone who sells you a new TV when yours is broken. Apparently, Mike is influencing him a little too much. I tried to explain that TV's could actually be fixed, rather than just buying a new one, but he looked at me like I was crazy! Owen wants to work at Legoland in California. He's not sure what he wants to do, but is thinking about giving food to people. I mentioned that he could be a designer (doesn't hurt to shoot a little higher), which he'll think about. He also mentioned that he should probably live in San Diego if he worked there. Or, maybe he's assuming his pilot brother will fly him back and forth to work. :)

Owen & Rion's Train Track #2

Easter Eggs

Happy Easter From the Stufflebeams

Soccer Practice