Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day the boys all wore matching ties. I had to take some pictures 'cause they looked so nice. We didn't have as much pre-church photography time as I would have liked 'cause I had to chase the neighbor's dog out of our yard (again), and that took a lot longer than I thought. Grrr I'm amazed how much dog chasing I've had to do lately and we don't even have a dog! But I digress. Here we all are ready for church.

And just the boys with their ties.

And the girls!
We almost matched.

Grant looked so cute and got lots of compliments on his tie. Happy Father's Day to Scott, who is a great Dad, and to our amazing Dad's (Pa2 and Grandpa Keeler). We're so lucky to have such great Father's in our lives! Come visit us!!

And in honor of Father's Day, here is all about Daddy by Matthew and Anna. Let's just assume all of Grant's answers would be cute, guttural baby sounds. 'Cause that's what they would be. :) See last years answers HERE.

About Daddy
by Matthew (age 4.3) and Anna (age 2.8)

What is something daddy always says to you?
Matthew: I love you!
Anna: "Hi" or "No"

What makes daddy happy?
Matthew: When we give him his Father's Day present or his birthday present.
Anna: If he makes anything nice like chocolate or brownies.

What makes daddy sad?
Matthew: If we do something mean or naughty.
Anna: If we do something naughty or mean or he puts us in time out. That makes him sad.

How does daddy make you laugh?
Matthew: If he does a joke or something silly.
Anna: If he does something.

What was daddy like as a kid?
Matthew: I think Matt.
Anna: French toast (not sure she understood that question)

How old is daddy?
Matthew: I can't know, but I think 28. The number like you (to me).
Anna: Big as a lady.

How tall is daddy?
Matthew: 28
Anna: Big as a lady. (As a lady, I think I take offense)

What is daddy's favorite thing to do?
Matthew: Play a video game on the TV, but its over now 'cause he finished it.
Anna: Read books of stories, that my mommy used to told me.

What does daddy do when you're not around?
Matthew: Watch something.
Anna: Search for me.

If daddy was famous, what would it be for?
Matthew: Mommy, what are you meaning? If he was famous everyone would know his name.
Anna: For a promised land (??)

What is daddy really good at?
Matthew: Controlling the TV!
Anna: Good at reading stories

What is daddy not really good at?
Matthew: I think untying knots.
Anna: Playing hide and seek

What does daddy do for a job?
Matthew: Keep money. I think that's his job.
Anna: Hunting around the house for things.

What is daddy's favorite food?
Matthew: Cinnamon bears. He likes those.
Anna: Pizza!

What makes you proud of daddy?
Matthew: If I make a little note for him.
Anna: Giving him presents. (I don't think either of them understands all the way about "proud")

If daddy were a cartoon character, which one would it be?
Matthew: I think one of those who fly.
Anna: A cartoon.

What do you and daddy do together?
Matthew: Go camping!
Anna: Hunt around for sorts of things.

How are you and daddy the same?
Matthew: If we wear the same things.
Anna: I'm different than daddy! Daddy is differenter than me.

How are you and daddy different?
Matthew: If we don't wear the same things.
Anna: Because my hair is different than Daddy 'cause I got a haircut.

How do you know daddy loves you?
Matthew: 'Cause we're his kids!
Anna: Because he kisses me. He kisses me when its bedtime.

Where is daddy's favorite place to go?
Matthew: To work.
Anna: To the park!!

T-Ball Time

Matthew started T-Ball last week at the YMCA. He's been having a great time so far. Here he is at their first practice (working hard). They practiced inside last week 'cause of impending rain. His team is the Cubs!

Here they are doing a drill inside.

And here is some of our team at our first game. Some of our players were having a hard time. Scott said, "It turns out there is crying in baseball...and a lot of it."

Matthew played second base...and I helped him. I liked this picture 'cause you can see the mountains in the background.

And Matthew at bat. He got a hit and ran to first base...after trying to get the ball he hit. We're learning.

And the hardest part of the game was getting the kids to shakes hands/give hi-fives at the end. They had a hard time figuring it out, but eventually we got there. Good job Cubs! We've got several more weeks of T-Ball fun. Hopefully it gets easier.

Overheard in the house today

Anna (to Matthew): Mama says I'm not the boss. I'm only a children.

It sounds pretty harsh when she says it, but I do have to remind her from time to time that she's not in charge.

This picture was from our yogurt/ice cream bar day at home, Yogurtland style.
Anna was "helping" Matthew with his toppings.

Anna refusing to get her picture taken.
Or get dressed.

Tumbling

I signed up Matthew and Anna for a tumbling class this summer. Today was the first day. Matthew was the only boy in the class - I guess people see tumbling (ie gymnastics) as a thing girls do. But Matthew loved it and, between you and me, was the best somersaulter in the class. Anna also had a good time. Here's Anna doing a back bend.

Here she is after one of her tumbles.

Jumping through hoops.

And walking on the balance beam.

Matthew doing...something. I don't know all the tumbling/gymnastics terms.

And doing some stretching.

Grant stayed asleep for their whole class. It was great! We'll have more tumbling next week.

Summer Weather

And then one day, it got hot.

I feel like I've been waiting and waiting for warm weather to come, but the cold persisted much longer than I would have liked. Finally it seems like it's really going to be summer...but I wouldn't be that surprised if it snowed tomorrow. Here are the kids swimming in the kiddie pool.

Matthew eating strawberries

Anna playing in the water.

Anna playing Tball

And Matthew and Anna having a little "conflict" about the T. I think we are going to be spending lots of time outside this summer. Hooray for having a yard!

Countertops

Scott and I have been planning to replace the kitchen and master bathroom counter tops since before we moved into our house. The kitchen counter top replacement had many different parts to it, and we didn't get everything picked out to do it before we moved in. Then Scott broke his leg and things got put on hold for a while.

This week we finally pulled the trigger on the counter top project and I've had contractors in and out of the house all week taking out the old counters and tile and taking lots of measurements. We are supposed to get our new counters installed in a week or so, but in the meantime, we've got this. Because of the nature of the counters, we have to have our old ones ripped out to take super accurate measurements before they can get our new ones cut. So we will be without for a while.
Here is the kitchen after the tile and drywall were ripped out, but before the counter tops were taken away. Baby steps.

And here they are without counter tops, but with the new drywall in.
The dishwasher keeps tipping 'cause its not attached to anything at the moment.

Scott says it shouldn't be too hard for us to adjust to no counter space since that's about how much we had in Okinawa. And he's right. It's not that bad. :) Plus this is only temporary.

Here is the kitchen before everything was ripped out.
Goodbye green and white tile.

One of our contractors (who was awesome!) brought in a big piece of plywood for our sink to sit on while we wait for the counters. I thought that was nice of him, otherwise we would have no sink. Hmm, maybe this natural wood look is good enough for our new counters. It would definitely be cheaper and easier to install. :)

Grant at Two Months

Grant turned two months old this week and he had his two month check up. He weighs 12 lbs, 13 ozs now - about the 50th percentile I think they said. Grant was completely adorable at the doctor (it was definitely better than last time). He smiled and cooed at all the doctors, nurses and techs. If someone picked him up he would smile big and make little baby sounds at them. I think he won best baby of the day award. He had to get some shots and then the fun was all over. Even Matthew and Anna cried watching him get his shots. It was very sad, but somehow we survived. Grant slept it off in the afternoon.

He is smiling a lot!

The doctor gave me a sheet of info about Grant's age and it said this age is one of the most enjoyable ages (I don't really believe that, but I was intrigued). The info page said it was a great age because he doesn't cry as much anymore, they are more socially interactive (ie smiling) and they can't yet crawl, so you don't have that to worry about. So you heard it here folks. Two months is the best age. ;) I'll remember that when I'm up in the middle of the night feeding him. But seriously, it is a very cute age. :)

Grant's current hobbies include sleeping, waking up in the night, taking baths (he sort of likes that now), putting his hands in his mouth, smiling, kicking blankets off, being held and watching Matthew and Anna.

And here are a few more pics.

I got my DSLR camera out for the first time since we moved and Matthew couldn't wait to take some pictures.

He took this one of Grant and I. Thanks Matthew! And happy two month birthday Grant!

Bug Day

It was bug day at the library this week and boy was it busy!! There were hordes of kids and parents and only a handful of bugs. I think there were only 8 live bugs and a display of dead tarantula parts. Of the live bugs, only two were insects - a ladybug, which I saw the "buglady" catch outside right before we went in, and a cockroach. They also had a tarantula, scorpions, millipedes and a black widow spider. Incidentally I saw a toddler take off with the small box that contained the black widow. Luckily the spider was retrieved before anyone (spider or human) was harmed. It was cool to see the bugs, but I couldn't shake the feeling that my brother-in-law, Dana, could have put together a much more impressive collection of critters. I think I see more bugs just going to their house. In any case, we had fun, elbowed our way in to see a few of the live specimens and did a few bug crafts. Matthew really wanted to hold the tarantula, but there were too many kids wanting to hold him and only one poor tarantula to go around, so we didn't get a turn. Oh well.

One of the crafts was doing crayon rubbings of different insects.
Matthew liked that!

I just had to take a picture of the crowd, 'cause it was incredible.

The kids doing some bug rubbings.

The other craft was glueing bug shapes to a paper bag to make a bug lunch sack. Here's Matthew working on his. Anna had her own ideas about how this should go. She took the bug shapes and put them inside the bag. Then she (sort of) wrote "Anna" on the outside. She carried her bug bag around the crowded library, stopping periodically to take all the bug shapes out, line them up on the floor and then put them back in the bag.

She took some of the bug shapes and glued them in her bug rubbing book (gasp) instead of on the paper bag. Anna is such a craft rebel.

Here Anna checks out one of the tarantula containers. Not sure if he was in there at the time or not. It was a fun "bug day" but Dana, if you ever start doing the library bug circuit, you'll have to come to our library to show them how it's done. :)

Learning to Swim

Matthew is finally old enough to take swim lessons without Mom! We signed him up at the local YMCA (he is in the "Pike" class) and he's loving it. Anna, Grant and I sit and watch while he has his lessons. Anna claps and yells "YEAH MATTHEW!!!" anytime he does anything. She's very supportive. They swim a short lap with a kick board, another one with a float belt, float on their backs with the help of their swim instructor, put their faces in the water and blow bubbles and for a grand finale, they jump into the pool. It's all about getting comfortable in the water. On the very first day, for the very first swim across the pool Matthew volunteered to go first. He used to be very fearful of new experiences (a lot in Okinawa) so I'm very happy he's having such a good time swimming.

Here he is doing the kickboard swim. He was the first one to try it.

And swimming with the float belt. You have to imagine Anna screaming "HOORAY!!" and clapping while he swims. Luckily Matthew is not embarrassed by this. :)

I think he's kicking here.
He told the swim teacher his legs weren't long enough to make a big splash.

And here he is floating on his back like a star fish.
I was very proud of him!