Play Pals

Twice a week the kids have playtime with their friends Camden, Hope, Alana, and Noah. Paula, their mom, and I each teach for two hours a week in Nate's classroom to give him administrative time. On our off day of teaching we have the kids. This is certainly on the list of things we'll miss-the kids for the play time and me for the opportunity to keep my fingers in teaching.

Kindergarten Round-Up

Today Evan is at Kindergarten Round-Up. He knows that we are moving so he'll go to a new school but we let him go today anyway. He was so excited yesterday and this morning was up by 6:30am to get ready. Complete with a backpack, snack, and a pencil he's ready for any and everything. When we got to school he was in the classroom without a backward glance. Now this is all very exciting for Evan but Hans is completely disappointed. He really, really wants to be with Evan and was very bothered when Evan stayed at school after chapel but we came home. Thankfully I have extra kids today and he's happily distracted by them. Conversation around the dinner table should be entertaining tonight. :)

bubbles BUBBLES bubbles

If you ever wondered how they do it in the movies I think we've figured it out. We have one of those "spa mats" that makes any tub into a "whirlpool tub." With remarkably little tear free kid soap and about five minutes of the "bubble machine" the kids are buried in bubbles.

Splish splash have fun in your bath!

over the river and through the woods

This past weekend the kids and I made a trek over to Zumbrota to visit Nate's parents and help host a wedding shower for his soon to be sister-in-law Tammy. We arrived late Friday night after an extended trip through a blizzard.

We got to spend time with Michael and Tammy on Friday evening and part of Saturday. As Michael was taking off Saturday Kristi and Matthew arrived to help fill the void. Then Saturday evening Joanna made her way over. (The picture is the only one I took the entire weekend. It's kids helping Jo whip up a batch of cookies. Han's is partly blocked by Lydia)

All of us just enjoyed being home with part of the Smith family. The kids ate up the attention that was showered on them. At almost any given time they chose a grandparent, aunt, or uncle over Mom. (Hans still has a special affection for Tammy so he seemed to choose her most.)

Sunday Kristi, Joanna, and I hosted the shower for Tammy. We had nearly thirty ladies laughing and playing for several hours. We hope Tammy feels warmly welcomed into the group of extended family and friends.

Monday we had a much less eventful trip home and now are looking forward to seeing everyone again at Michael and Tammy's wedding in June.

front yard launch

Since the second year of teaching or so Nathan has been launching rockets with his class. Instead of the typical science class rockets he uses two liter pop bottles on a launcher made of PVC pipe and some other things you can find at a hardware store. The rockets are then pressurized by pumping them full of air with a bike pump. After a count down the trigger string is pulled and the rocket blasts off. For Christmas this year his brother Michael got him a new launcher (amazing what you can find on the internet). This past week, much to the kids delight, Nathan spent an evening test launching in our front yard. He did use one liter bottles to keep them from going quite as far but that didn't' diminish the joy it brought to the kids. I'm not sure who is more excited about doing it again, Nathan or the kids. :)

just visiting the neighborhood

The other day the kids were happily playing in the backyard. Hans came in to tell me I just had to come out and see the huge black bird in the neighbors tree because it was a real turkey. We have see turkeys often when in the Hills or even in a few canyons around the edges of town but seeing one in the neighbors yard was doubtful. Skeptically I went to check it out and sure enough there was a turkey roosting in the neighbors tree. We watched it for a while and even followed it around the block when it came down. It just wandered around snacking under bird feeders and looking like it was on a stroll. Gobble!

Lydia at Work

Mother's Day is still a couple weeks away but since the we delivered an early Mother's Day gift these pictures are no longer spoilers.

A few weeks back the boys were working on model airplanes with Nathan. Lydia was very disappointed that she didn't have a project. Since I had a wooden heart that I was planning on using as part of a Mary's Mother's Day gift I let Lydia create something on it. She picked purple paint and went to town. She (who is 2 and has the appropriate attention span) sat painting for nearly an hour. When she was finished the entire face and sides of the heart were purple. It turned out well enough that I merely added the phrase, "There is no place like Grandma's" and a pair of wind chimes off the bottom. It's a gift of a heart from the heart.

Dad Time

"Mom Time" is pretty common around here whereas "Dad Time" is much more rare. This immediately makes "Dad Time" very valuable. The kids all seem to make sure they get their time with Dad.

1: Lydia was supposed to be getting jammies put on but she talked Daddy into hiding in her room and reading instead. Sly girl.

2: This one is of Evan but both boys love to "read" airplane magazines with Dad. Hans came to me the other day during such a session to show me his "new favorite airplane, a Piper Meridian."

3: The kids were playing in the backyard when Nathan got home one evening earlier this month and he took the time to swing with them and listen to their version of the day.

Here's to Dads!