Children's Museum

We went to the Portland Children's Museum with our friends on Thurs. The kids had a blast. They did everything, shopped, played with water, painted their faces, played with clay, dug, built etc. It was a fun day, and it was not busy at all.

Not much else to report. Aaron is busy working on his classes (he was up until 4:30 the other morning doing homework), and he's been pretty busy at work. The kids and I are just hanging here. We've been having more crazy Vancouver weather. It was so nice last week we went to the park everyday, then this week we've had tons of rain and snow. Can't wait for Spring and Summer to get here. Kaitlyn is working hard on her reading and writing. She's working hard to be able to read one whole book by herself because she's been told she'll get a Belle doll when she does. There's a great store here called Learning Palace, and we went on Monday and got a bunch of work books for writing, reading and math, and Kaitlyn will sit for like an hour everyday doing pages from each of the books. I actually have to limit her to only two pages in each a day. I swear she would sit and finish the whole workbook if I let her. Guess that's a good sign for Kindergarten next year. Matt on the other hand won't sit still long enough to learn anything. Although he is getting better at counting. If you ask him to count he'll say "1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9," and then yell at the top of his lungs "10!!!" We're working on it. He loves to sing though and aks all day long to sing Itsy Bitsy spider. He also loves to have books read to him and will bring out every book on the bookcase while Kaitlyn is at school for me to read to him. So he's probably retaining some important info right?

The Power of Deception

This last week my mom flew in from Salt Lake to visit. She got here on the 13th, so Aaron and I were able to go to the movies for Valentine's since we had a very willing free babysitter. Being the wonderful camera person that I am, (not) I took absolutely no pictures the whole time my mom was here. We had a great time though. My mom and I were able to go to the movies and shopping together, and the kids were able to spend lots of time with Grandma (Kaitlyn beat her at least three times at Wii bowling). The highlight of the trip however was our lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. My mom has always wanted to go there, so we drove down to Tigard on Tues. afternoon to go. I should have known that something would happen, since the drive is longer that 30 minutes, but I was not thinking ahead. We got a little lost getting there, so after many windy back roads we arrived. Kaitlyn was looking a little pale, but she said she was fine. So in we went. We were seated immediatly, and then our waiter appeared to take drink orders. Just as he arrived, Kaitlyn threw up. She was on the inside of the booth, and she was facing the wall, so I quickly grabbed a couple of napkins and put them under her mouth. While this was going on the waiter was casually taking our drink orders. So while my mom and Aaron tried not to break out in laughter, I calmly told the waiter that Kaitlyn would have a sprite, Matt some apple juice and I wanted a water. The waiter left to get our drinks, never knowing what had happened. I took Kaitlyn to the bathroom and rinsed her off, and then we went back and had a very enjoyable lunch. The dessert was delicious. And the whole time, no one ever knew what had happened in the booth. A bit gross, I know, but the napkins caught it all :) So thanks for visiting Grandma, and next time I'll remember the Dramamine.

Dance Mania

I realize it's been awhile since my last post, thanks to Aaron taking forever to teach me how to get video off my new camera. I could have just read the manual, but who really reads those 3 inch thick books? Especially when you have a perfectly tech savvy husband who can figure it all out for you. It's why you get married right?

Anyway, Katilyn had her dance recital on Sat. Jan. 24. She did great. This is her second year doing this little dance class, and for $20 bucks a month, it's perfect. She really loves to go, especially since her BFF is in the class too. I've included a few videos for your viewing pleasure. Natural talent at its finest don't you think?

Okay, so due to the fact that it takes like an hour to upload a video, and I have no patience today, you only get two videos for you viewing pleasure. So if you would like more dance mania (i.e. Grandparents) e-mail me and I'll send you the rest of the videos. Later that same day, I bought a piano!! For those of you close to me, you know I've been bugging Aaron forever to buy me a piano. You'd think with 13 piano students, I could convince him, but he always said the same thing "Our house is too small for a piano." He finally relented however, and I bought a beautiful Kohler and Campbell Spinet from a very nice man in Happy Valley (that would be Oregon, not Provo). I was euphoric. To be able to sit down and play any time I want, and to have lessons at my house is the best thing ever.

After the dance recital, Aaron made an impromptu trip to Utah. Since WaferTech, like the rest of the country, is suffering, they decided to close the plant for a week, thereby freeing Aaron up to go help his dad open the new store. So if any of you in Utah are looking for a new mattress, I recommend Mattress Solutions, found in the Meadows shopping complex in Lehi :) With Aaron gone, the kids and I just hung out and vegged. It was good, but we definatly missed Aaron and were super happy when he returned.

This last week has been spent trapped inside, craving outside interaction. Poor Matt has had a terrible flu all week. He started with a fever on Monday, and still has the fever today. It is accompanied by a horrible cough, runny nose, and watery eyes. Needless to say, he is one sick little boy. So despite the beautiful, sunny 60 degree weather we have been having, my kids and I have been indoors, watching movie after movie after movie. It's great to be able to take care of Matt though, he is so cuddly when he is sick. Hopefully the weekend will help him feel better, and nobody else will come down with it.

Last but not least, Kaitlyn is doing very well in preschool. We have been working on her reading here at home and she gets better and better each day. She gets to put a sticker on a chart everytime she learns a new word, and when the chart if full she gets to buy a new My little ponyville pony. She is aiming for a purple one to add to her growing collection. She is also really enjoying Miss Carolyn's preschool. This week they are learning about the letter "S", so today was silly day. Thus explains Kaitlyn's crazy outfil and hair-do. Does she look silly enough?