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?

He's a Big Boy Now

We decided to start potty-training Matt this week. He's about 2 1/2, which is how old Kaitlyn was. I had no allusions that this would be as easy as Kaitlyn was, and on the first day he proved me right. We had five accidents and no successes. He was excited to wear his Lightening McQueen underwear though. I was sure we were in for a bloody battle, but by day three we were down to only one accident. And he's woken up the last three mornings comletely dry. We have, however, been secluded in the house all week, so today was to be the first test. We had to go to Kaitlyn's dance recital (photos and video of that later) bright and early this morning. We tried to get Matt to wear a pull-up, but he only wanted his underwear. So we packed an extra pair of clothes and took off. About half way through the recital he told us he had to go, so I took him and that was that. No accidents, no tantrums, nothing but a wonderful, potty-trained big boy :)

Kidz Club (and a little Christmas)

I don't have any of our pics yet from our trip to Utah, but the one of the cousins, so I'll post the rest later. You might realize that Kaitlyn is absent from the cousin photo, she was having a really hard time on our trip to Temple Square. I don't think the time change, or the lack of sleep, or the fact that she started throwing up a couple of hours later helped anything :) Also, every year we give our kids matching pajamas that they get to open on Christmas Eve, so that is what that picture is about. The first pictures are of the kids new church clothes.

The rest are of our time at Kidz Club. It's this great indoor playground here in Vancouver. The playground is three levels high, and has these great slides. My kids love it. It's also fun for adults, except for the beating your legs take as you crawl through the place. The slides are super fast though, so at first my kids were too afraid to go by themselves, but after I'd gone a few times with them, they started going by themselves. They had a blast, as did our friends Wendy, Annie and Katie. It's a great way to pass the time since it is always raining here :)

And as a side note, every one is healthy and well again, and I was lucky enough to never catch what the rest of my family had. I know that the Lord was blessing me so I could have the strength to take care of my family that week and get them all home in one piece. And for that I am soo thankful :)

A Few Trip Hi-Lights

We went to Utah to spend Christmas with Aaron's family. The trip didn't quite go according to plan.
-We spent three hours on the plane, while the plane sat at the gate. Then another two hour flight. The kids did suprisingly well.
-Matt, Aaron and Kaitlyn all got the flu, Kaitlyn a bad ear infection, and all three of them strep, which we then proceeded to pass to everyone in the family.

Aside from those not so good moments, the trip was great. It's been two years since we've seen most of Aaron's family, so it was great to spend a week with them. The kids had a blast with all of their cousins (there are 12 now), and we had fun staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing games.
We also got to spend a couple days with my family as well. One of the perks of having both families living within a few miles of each other.
We head home today, hopefully our flight will go well, and the kids will make it with no further illnesses. I'll post pictures when we get settled again (which could be a few weeks) :)

A little rant

Matt has pink-eye. And I'd just like to say that whatever genious pharmaceutical company decided that drops were the best way to get rid of pink-eye obviously never had to administer them 4 times a day to a two-year-old. At least Aaron and I are getting some practice in for if we ever want to join professional wrestling, or hog-tying. . .