Kids DO the Darndest Things...

When I was a kid it was a common thing for the children's choir to sing in "big church." We did Sunday morning specials, holiday programs, etc. There was always a kid doing something to get the attention of the congregation - I was the kid who pulled her dress over her head. Now, at first it was out of embarrassment. I somehow thought that by hiding my face from the crowd, I was somehow saving myself from humiliation by showing everyone what color underwear I had on. Then my mom started coming up to the front before we sang each time, shaking her finger and telling me not to pull my dress over my head. Then - it became out of spite ;)

Sunday morning during church the kids sang. Zeke was somewhere in the back - he isn't much for singing in front of a crowd, like many 5-year old boys. Yana, however, stood right out in the front. I'd like to tell you what song they sang. I'd like to tell you that I noticed not only how cute Zeke and Yana were, but how cute ALL of the kids on stage were. I'd even like to tell you that I laughed at the little girl just like me who pulled her dress over her head (there's one in every crowd!) BUT - me (and the rest of the congregation) can only remember this face:

Once she saw the reaction and laughter that it got, it continued through the remainder of her time on stage. Instantly, Jeff and I became those parents that shake their finger and mouth erratically for their child to stop doing whatever it is their doing to solicit laughter. She saw us, grinned as big as she could and resumed the face.

And for the rest of the afternoon, on through the Easter party and egg hunt, this face is the one that everybody saw - every time you asked, every time you took her picture, every time it was mentioned. It's famous.

While at the time, all we wanted was for her to stop, we look back now and laugh at the silly things kids do.

Frosty's Anatomy

For Christmas this year, my cousin got Zeke and Yana a snowman kit. It came complete with a corncob pipe, a button nose and two eyes made out of coal. (Yes, I had to sing the song in my head...) It also came with 3 buttons, a scar and a top hat.

Saturday afternoon, we bundled the kids up in layers of socks, pants, shirts, coats, gloves - the whole shebang. I got my camera ready, opened the side door and off they went! All of the fear and dread of wading knee deep through snow immediately disappeared as I watched our two little munchkins throw themselves down in the powdery white and laugh as hard as they could. It was quite something to see!

For the next 45 minutes or so, Jeff and the kids tried to make ball-resembling formations out of the very powdery snow.

We did the best we could for his body, but his head ended looking more like a large potato. It was pretty flat on the front. We secured it as best we could.

While Jeff got all of the necessitites to make a snowman look more "Frosty"-like, I went in search of arms for our little guy. I found two tree branches and inserted one in each side. Jeff weighed down the top hat so it wouldn't blow away and placed it on our snowman's head.

Zeke and Yana put his eyes, nose, pipe, and buttons in the appropriate places. I finished him off by wrapping the scarf around his neck.

We finished up our day in the snow with a snowball fight, some snow angels in the backyard and cleaning off Jeff's car, which we finally found under several inches of snow.

Car Show

Last night we took the kids to the Auto Show at the Fair and Expo Center - the newly combined New Car Show and Carl Casper Show. The kids and my Dad had a blast checking out all of the cars - me, Jeff and my mom had even more fun checking out the crowd.

On the way in, Dad dropped us off at the door. We realized that he had taken a child's ticket and had to wait for him at the door.

Zeke was beyond thrilled when the owners of this race car let him try out the drivers seat for a picture.

Yana did not want her picture made until we found this pink race car.

On our way back to meet mom, we wandered into the new car section and happened upon Spiderman about to leave.

And then Scooby-Doo, who was about to leave but stopped at the bottom of the stage to have a picture made with two of his fans.

Yana took a spot behind the driver's seat...

...and Jeff found his dream car.

At the end of the night, Zeke and Yana got to take a different kind of ride out of the car show.

Student of the Month

Every month at Zeke's school, each class picks a student of the month. On Friday when he came home from school we opened his folder to find that his teacher had selected him as the student of the month for December. We knew it wouldn't be long before this happened, due to the fact that everytime we've talked to his teacher she has bragged about what a wonderful, adorable amd pleasant student he is.

This morning in the cafeteria they had an assembly for them. They got a snack, certificate, door prize and a handshake from the principal. Jeff had to be at school for a test, but I was able to attend. I was very glad to be there. His teacher said that he smiles all the time and he was doing just that when he got his certificate.

I will try and repost this picture later so it will be clearer. I uploaded it from my cell phone, so I think it compressed it. Anyway - we are very proud of Zeke and how well he is doing in school!

For Christmas, my dad got Zeke a radio control Spiderman helicopter. I'm sure that in the world of technology we live in today it's probably not that big of a deal, but I thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen.

The day after Christmas we dropped Zeke and Yana off at their mom's for a few days and decided that we would make sure the helicopter was in proper working order ;) We found out after a few test runs and some online reviews on the Radio Shack website that this helicopter was not the most well made piece of equipment.

Don't worry - Zeke was able to enjoy the helicopter for a few test runs before it bit the dust.

It was, however, shortly after this picture that a blade on the helicopter broke. We've not yet been able to fix it :(

This Is Becoming a Frequent Thing

We're not happy about it. AND - they're using OUR driveway to get in and out.

Bed Head and Big Shoes

Yana went to bed with a head of wet hair. I found her this morning wrapped up in her blankets like a burrito. She woke up with a Diana Ross hairstyle.

Zeke tried Jeff's nursey-man shoes on for size. They might be a little big ;)
(I think I surprised him with the camera!)

It's Happening Again

I don't think I need to further explain. BUT - incase you've missed my recent blogs, go a few and you'll understand what this is about.

Wedding Album

Several people have been asking me about my wedding pictures. Since I seem to keep leaving the big album at work, I am posting a link to the online album. I uploaded all of my pictures to walmart.com so that people could view them. If you have any trouble with the link, just let me know and I will e-mail it to you. Enjoy!

http://photos.walmart.com/share/p=69311199204856464/l=12920316/g=7002878/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

My, How They Grow

I was getting some pictures off my camera yesterday when I found a few on the internal memory from over the summer. We had the kids every other week and for some of that Jeff was on third shift. It was a pretty rough summer as far as coordinating schedules and finding time to spend with the kiddos went, but we made it happen. Here a few of my favorite images that I found.

Yana wearing Jeff's tennis shoes - always fascinated with the big shoes.

Sometimes the toy box can be like a treasure chest of fun stuff you haven't seen in a long time.

Those were the days....