whobody had a really good idea?

Nash thought that this was a really good idea.

Don't worry, I helped him out after I took the picture.

whobody has been working hard?

This first 'scan' is something that Keaton worked on last night...he wrote out the words to "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean".... and "Row Row Row Your Boat".  I thought that this was adorable. This was the first time that Keaton confidently sat down and wrote words down by sounding them out. Normally he keeps asking what the correct spelling is because he doesn't want to be wrong...and then we usually have a fight about me wanting him to sound it out and him wanting me to tell him the right way! :) He worked very hard on this.

The next scan is a drawing that Lola did of a pig. No explanation needed (but I guess that she and I should probably have a talk....) 

 Lola also drew this picture of a rocket ship and wrote her own caption "this is a rocket ship".

The kids LOVE to draw and write, and I hope to share a little more on here now that I figured out how easy it is to use the scanner!!!

whobody is getting into trouble?

Well...as you may know, Nash is always getting "into" things.... here are a few pictures of him getting into trouble. Now, understand that I am not posing him in these baskets and boxes...I just find him there. Please don't confuse these pictures with Shannon Dodd Photography... although she does put cute babies in boxes and baskets all of the time. Her pictures are a little (okay, a lot) better than the following: (and Shannon, I will be sending you a bill for the plug.... ;)

Nash's first passion is dumping out baskets and boxes and getting into them, but his second passion just involves dumping things out....

or trying to break things (doll stroller weight limit 15 lbs)

He is actually the house comedian....hope you enjoyed these pictures!

whobody had a family birthday party too?

I thought I better post some pictures from Keaton's family birthday party...just for fun. On Sunday night we had the family over to celebrate Keaton's birthday. The kids 'helped' me get things ready. First, Keaton and Lola helped me make the cake...and then they 'washed' the dishes (with their tongues). This was actually on Saturday afternoon.

Then on Sunday, Keaton and Lola each put together a lasagna. They LOVE to do this and it really helps me out because then I can be cleaning things up as they are putting the lasagna together. They were both pretty proud and planned on having everyone try one of each pan of lasagna to see whose was better tasting. (We did not do that :).
Below is the picture of the finished, decorated birthday cake. I realize that it is a little over the top. Keaton insisted that we use his zoo Lego's to decorate the cake. I told him to pick out his favorites...and he picked out ALL of the animals. He wanted them all piled on top of the cake. Our compromise was a 'Lego made' base so the extra animals could hang out under the cake. I was actually kind of impressed with how it turned out. The house did smell like burnt elephant trunk (plastic) when we were done with blowing out the candles...


Jason and the kids went and picked up Great Grandpa Firetruck early so that they could have some quality time (with a Nerf gun) before the rest of the guests arrived. I think that grandpa enjoyed watching the kids play.

We had a great meal (if I do say so myself ;) of lasagna, garlic bread, salad, fruit, veggies and BRUSSELS SPROUTS. Keaton requested all of these for his meal. Lots of people came for his party: Grandpa FIretruck, Steve Z., Tessa, Rod, Nancy, Mason, Cagney, Devin, Grandpa and Grandma Reimer. Below is a picture of Keaton blowing out his candles.

Keaton was pretty excited about the card he got from Grandpa Firetruck (he might have been excited about the cash inside too....) This was the first year that he actually read the cards and looked inside of them.

He got lots of great gifts...including a real football, a little 'gator' toy tractor, matchbox car and semi, bubbles, jumprope, hula hoop, sidewalk chalk, harmonica, a coloring book, and a snake that grows 6 times its original size if left in water for 72 hours (Thanks Tessa :).

Cousin Cagney helped Keaton read the birthday cards.

A cousin picture of Mason, Cagney, Devin, Keaton, Lola and Nash. They had a blast! One more party down.... (and yes, we are done having birthday parties for Keaton's 6th birthday).

whobody had a FUN party?

Well...the day after Keaton's actual birthday, we had his friend birthday party. He invited 6 friends from Kindergarten to come and party with him. The party started when everyone got off the bus (it probably started on the bus...poor bus driver). First we had a snack of fruit....they only ate about TWICE as much as I thought they would: 1 pack of strawberries, a large bag of grapes, 2 apples, and 5 bananas. Cheers! (those girls remind me of their moms ;)
Then the kids went on a treasure hunt....it led them to every room in the house to finally find some prizes (bubbles and plastic bugs). While in Keaton's room they had a task of building a tower as tall as the birthday boy before they could read their next clue.

I noticed that the boys really weren't into this as much as the girls were. They were more interested in wrestling and tackling each other! Below is Keaton with his 'favorite' clue.

Here is a group picture of the kids with their tower!

We then played Duck, Duck, Goose. Luckily, no one even got hurt!

Then we had a heated game of ring toss.

Finally, for Keaton, we opened presents. I can't believe all of the great stuff he got! Nash very much enjoyed this part of the party.

Keaton instantly had to put on his new hat and sunglasses.

THEN...it was pizza time. I couldn't believe it, but everyone ate a TON. They all had at least one and a half pieces...not to mention the fruit an hour earlier, a yogurt, and later a huge piece of cake and 2 scoops of ice cream.

Keaton was kind of happy...

Time for some group photos!

Then we blew out the candles and had some CAKE and ICE CREAM.

Keaton couldn't have been happier !

We really had a good time and all of the kids were very well behaved. Things only got wild a few times, but I think everyone had a lot of fun. (All I could think was that this was only 1/3 of his class....Kindergarten teachers are amazing.) Happy Birthday Keaton!

Whobody had the BEST day of his life?

Nash did. This was Nash's first 'real' parade. Any other parade we have been to, Nash has been strapped in his stroller...but not this one. No, now he is a big boy and gets to stand on the street with Keaton and Lola and wave at EVERYTHING. Needless to say, he loved it.

Doesn't he look so OLD in this last picture? Now that is a cute 1 1/2 year old! By the way, he slept all night...I'm sure he had great dreams of firetrucks, goats and puppies!

Whobody turned SIX today?

Today is Keaton's 6th birthday...and lucky him, this year it fell on St. Patrick's Day too! (Only kidding, I realize that it will be on St. Patty's Day every year.) So...today before school we had french toast (with a candle in it). Then off he went to face kindergarten as a SIX YEAR OLD! He was a pretty happy boy when he got home from school. He got to wear a birthday crown all day and everyone wished him a happy birthday. At snack time he got 3 handfuls of snack and everyone else only got 2. When he got home from school...he had a little time in his room to play and then we went to Elkader to the parade. The kids had a blast and got tons of candy....*see pictures below.

Can you tell that I always tell the kids that people won't throw candy unless you wave at them?

So after the parade, we rushed home to eat supper...Keaton's favorite: spaghetti and corn on the cob! We had to finish the meal with a chocolate cupcake complete with a candle! (The kids all ate with their shirts off on account of the spaghetti...this was mostly for Nash, but the other 2 just took theirs off when I took his off.....)

Then we got ready for bed and FINALLY Keaton got to open his birthday present from us. He had been pointing this lego set out in the little pamphlet that came with his last lego set since Christmas. We played with the zoo legos for about 20 minutes and then it was off to bed! Tomorrow Keaton is having 6 friends over for a birthday party after school! (I'm sure that there will be lots to write about that one.)

I can't believe that he is already 6. He really is a good kid! (How did that happen?)