journal entries

Teresa has some really great journal entries and I've saved them all. She brought home February's today. They are full of commentary that crack me up:

When the groundhog sees its shadow...Wait maby it will not see its shadow. Back to the journal entry. When the groundhog sees its shadow he will know its six more weeks till spring. Groundhog day is February 2.

I want to learn how to speak...more Japaneze. I have already learned 11 words in Japaneze. If you want to hear them ask me to come to your desk. I know how to count to ten and say thank you. They use actions to say thank you.

And this one made me laugh out loud because it references Barney Bipple's Magic Dandelions. (He wishes his dog could talk and expects to hear about his adventures, but all the dog talks about is food).

If animals could talk...then that would be totally awesome. I would ask all the birds about there adventures (not the chickens) because all they do is go around clucking and eating bugs or the food in the coop all day.

Some of my favorites reference previous entries:

I wish I could...go back on a camping trip to Colorado. I wrote it three times in the last jornol. I wish I could go to Nebraska City. I only wrote it once in the last jornol.

One I will never forget, her presidential platform:

If I were President...I would tare down all the candy and shuger factorys. On halloween I would make the children eat vegtebles. I would make a law that could never be broken even the next president couldent.

School Pictures 2011

Catherine - 3rd Grade

Teresa - 2nd Grade

Anthony - 1st Grade

summer surprise

I was sick one day in late July and the girls brought in a surprise for me as I lay on the couch.

Two of every flower blooming in the yard.

My three girls arranging flowers.

Cheery bouquets adorning my kitchen windowsill

Teresa Rose

Teresa turned 8 yesterday.  It was the second day of school and she brought fruit snacks to share with the class.  She likes all things ocean-related but she picked the (store brand) Sharks! over the Kellogg Finding Nemo shapes because Nemo is kind of babyish.  Ah, yes.  She is growing up.  I am ashamed to say that we did not take any pictures of her blowing out candles on her birthday cookie or enjoying her Golden Corral birthday dinner.  I have gotten a few pictures of her recently, though.  She loves her patch of Black-eyed Susans. 

I have to remind Adam every spring that these are not weeds - they are Teresa's favorite flower - please don't mow them!  I also got a picture of her outside climbing "the tallest tree"  It is not actually the tallest tree on our property, but may be the tallest tree that she can climb (relatively) safely.  She says that she can see Jennie and Jesse's house from up there.  They live 3 miles north of us...I'll take her word for it.  

Catherine bought matching coloring/activity books with invisible ink pens so they could do something together that Teresa enjoys.  I bought her a Cranium Brain Breaks game for us to play together when she wants to spend some time with me.  I honestly feel like I neglect her because she is so responsible and independent and I wanted to make sure she has a way to get my attention in a positive way.  We love you, Teresa Rose!

first day of school

Anthony dropped off all his supplies before school started and was able to hang his backpack in the closet, so he didn't have to bring anything on his first day of first grade.  Catherine and Teresa did not get to meet their teachers on the day we dropped off supplies.  Teresa has the same teacher that Catherine did last year, though, and was excited about her first day of second grade.  Catherine is in the 3rd grade classroom that is UPSTAIRS and since she had not met her teacher, she was anxious...if you couldn't tell from the picture.

more presents

Oh the JOY of Christmas!

Catherine was thrilled with BARBIE stuff from her aunt and uncle; and a Disney Princess digital watch and Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse Dad & Sister from us.  The car is for both of the girls, but you can guess who is more excited about it and will be playing with it more.

Teresa had a GIANT Christmas. We bought her this 36" Shamu aka orca aka killer whale because she has been asking for a big stuffed animal forever and actually requested an orca, or "anything that lives in the ocean" AND she gave away ALL her other stuffed animals before Christmas TRUSTING that she was going to get her hearts' desire.  She got it.  I also got her books about "Dolphins and Whales" and the "Ocean".  The giant lolipop came from the family gift exchange.  It broke, so I haven't really been able to document the disappearance of the giant sucker, but I'd say she's eaten about 2/3 of it.

Anthony got this from his aunt and uncle who are also his godparents and love to spoil him at Christmas.  I missed capturing the excitement when he opened it up.  He loves it.  We had to buy a new battery charger and rechargeable batteries with some of our Christmas money to keep the fun going.  Daddy bought him a toolbox with some real tools in it that he can use to help.  He is always ready with his 4-in-1 screwdriver!

Stephen got this fun little noise maker from his aunt and uncle.  His big present from us was more TRIO blocks - the big box - though I don't have a picture of him playing with them.  He's been making more and bigger boomers and has branched out and started building houses and towers.  Anthony has also been building things from the new idea booklet. 

 

Michaela got mostly practical stuff like bibs and clothes, but she also scored a fun toy for her carseat:  Sir Prance-a-lot.  (She plays with it in the van.  I'm usually driving, so I don't have a picture of her with it), She also got some nubby balls, a new board book, and a Fisher-Price chatter phone, which she's not too interested in.  She'd rather sneak up to the girls' room and take their baby dolls.

We got a great stack of DVDs from my parents - thank you, thank you!  The kids just can't get enough Frosty the Snowman.  The Veggie Tales triple features are awesome and Toy Story 3 is so good.  I actually requested those but the rest were surprises.

The kids got a Leapfrog TAG Reader with an assortment of TAG books from my Aunt Becky, God bless her.  Anthony is reading The Cat In The Hat here, which is a Dr. Seuss book that we actually didn't have our own copy of yet...although we do have The Cat In The Hat Comes Back.  They are enjoying this new 'toy' and I have to set a timer because each book is full of games and activities and then you can use the rewards you earn from those to play more games on-line .  (They're all educational, of course!)

ornaments: 2010

Here are the ornaments that the kids made at school this year.  We have to buy them at a craft fair that the school sponsors for $1.50/each.  We couldn't find Anthony's second ornament, a craft-stick snowflake.

Teresa made the lightbulb reindeer head and craft stick snowman.  Catherine made the cinnamon dough bell and the milkweed pod santa face.  Anthony made the glitter pinecone.

He used a lot of glitter.  I love it!

This was an ornament Anthony made in class as a gift for us.  His teacher is very into the sappy memorable stuff, but I really do love this handprint snowman ornament.  The tag reads:

These aren't just five snowmen

As anyone can see.

I made them with my hand

Which is a part of me.

Now each year when you trim the tree

You'll look back and recall

Christmas of 2010

When my hand was just this small. 

If you can't tell from this 2-dimensional photo, his hand was painted white and teacher put the ornament in his hand - so the palm is on the bottom of the ornament and the fingers wrap up and around.  Obviously, she painted on the snowman features.  Anthony thinks it's cool that it is filled with glitter snow.

He also made the clever Vulcan handprint reindeer in the center and the shiny purple angel.  Teresa's handprint (upside down) made a Santa.  I think she decorated the pre-cut craft foam snowflake with pre-cut foam glitter stickers, too.  The doily angel is Catherine's from 2008.  Her other two ornaments from Kindergarten were a picture of her cut out in a circle and pasted to a shiny doily; and a white handprint on a piece of square red felt, so I was pleased with the creativity of this year's ornaments.

ouch

Well...I guess we are going to have to wait a little while to get those Christmas pictures taken.  We usually do them at Thanksgiving at grandma's so Adam doesn't have to set the timer and run to get in the picture before it clicks.  I just don't think Teresa's face will be healed by then; but maybe it will be *mostly* healed and we can use some makeup to help disguise what's left.

Kids were playing tag on Sunday and she went flying face first into a wooden bench.  Her hands didn't break her fall -they went straight to the floor so her face hit the bench full force.  You can see how swollen the left side of her face is on day 1, above (she is not jaundiced - the light bulb in the lamp by that chair is a CFL).  You can also see how the bruising is really darkening as the swelling goes down:

this and that

School pictures are in!



Michaela found a yummy piece of blue chalk on the floor.

The kittens have been entertaining us at mealtimes.

curriculum night

Anthony was pretty mad after the first day of school because I picked him up at the bus stop and he wanted to ride ALL THE WAY HOME on the bus. I'd love it if the bus brought him all the way home, but it doesn't. Kindergarten is a long day and he's just tired. His best friend is still Thomas V. and every day he tells me that he "didn't make any new friends" and when I ask him if he likes school he gives my a grumpy, "NO!" Mrs. Greenfield assured me that he is very happy at school but she knows what I'm talking about because her own kids are pretty crabby at the end of the day and they take it out on her.

Teresa told her teacher on the first day of school that she didn't need to take home the reading sheet to practice because she already knew all the words on it. I asked Mrs. Turman if she really did that and she said, "yes" with a laugh. "Teresa is a delight to have in our class." She had filled her ME bag with a crucifix because she loves Jesus; a paintbrush, because she loves art; a little book because she loves reading; a doll because she likes playing with her dollhouse; and a Colorado refrigerator magnet because she likes going on vacation in Colorado and visiting her grandparents there. FYI: she doesn't think Thomas G. is too bad anymore - he's being nice to her, like everyone else, "because the teacher told everyone I'm new."

Catherine is having a blast as far as I can tell. She is the one who knows how everything works at school. Unfortunately, the "school" part is going to be pretty tough for her. There will be bugs to work out along the way, but I feel much better after talking to Mrs. Dailey and Sister Loretta (yes - there is one SISTER at our school - the resource teacher!) Catherine will be spending an hour a day with Sister (rather than the typical 1/2 hour) working through the Sonday System. This is a program based on the Orton-Gillingham method which is EXACTLY what I was looking into to teach Catherine how to read. I haven't read specifically how Sonday compares to Barton, but they're both OG based; I don't have to invest in an entire program; and Catherine will be learning from a religious sister who's trained in special education rather than her mom who doesn't know anything. Woo-hoo!

Sorry this is so visually dry - but the kids are at school all day! I'll have plenty of Stephen and Michaela to make up for it...soon.

first day of school

Catherine is in 2nd grade and will be preparing for her first communion this year. It is unfortunate that by seating the kids in alphabetical order (until the teacher learns their names) Catherine got stuck in the back corner, surrounded by boys. She is otherwise excited to have so many old friends in her class.

Teresa is in 1st Grade and today is also her 7th birthday! She is hoping to make friends with some of the girls in her class. All her "best" friends are in the other first grade classrom and she's not sure that playing with them at recess will be enough, especially since she has to sit next to the one kid she knows - and doesn't particularly like* - in her class. (*because he's ALL boy).

Anthony is in Kindergarten and this is his first day of "real" school and he's at the GREEN table in the same class as his best friend, Thomas. I'm not worried about him at all. When we met the kids' teachers yesterday, we were going back and forth between a few of the rooms. He asked, before we left, if he could say goodbye to his teacher and gave her a hug. This morning, he went right in and took care of his things without even looking back. I watched him from the doorway thinking - "ummmm...good-bye?" My mom says I was the same way.

random pictures

MICHAELA:

looking cute, of course.

STEPHEN:

my dirty, tear-stained 3yo. Life is tough.

TERESA:

holding her kitten, Shadow


picking juneberries/serviceberries


passed out on Benadryl with hives after visiting the raspberry patch. poor girl.

CATHERINE:

holding her kitten (?) Zoe

Catherine's kitten (or her twin - ZigZag)

ANTHONY:

where did you get that?!?!?!?!

"It was on the kitchen counter. I filled it up with water."

married

Well - there goes that auto-rotate thing again. grrr.
All I wanted to do was upload ONE cute wedding picture that Teresa drew for our anniversary. (It's been 9 years - thanks.)
Well, try to enjoy it and I'll fix it when Blogger / Picasa decides to work.

6 months old!

It really goes fast, doesn't it? Michaela is about 15 lbs, now. She can do all sorts of amazing things like bring things to her mouth and roll from her tummy to her back. I think she may be teething because she's been more fussy than normal lately. I'm working on getting a better picture of her 6-month tummy pose (without the Dyson in the background).

I got a great shot of Catherine when she was 6-months on film - don't have it scanned in, but here's a picture of the picture:

Tried to get one of Teresa, who wasn't quite as strong:

Had fun using photo effects on this one of Anthony:

and took this one of Stephen (also featured here.)

They are definitely related - but I think you'll agree that they don't look the same.

another good picture of the girls that I didn't take

The last one was taken at the zoo by Aunt Andrea.

This was taken by dad with the camera on his new phone at the CKs Father-Daughter Day.

Catherine's name day

"This great Saint was born in Siena, an ancient city of Tuscany, Italy, in the year 1347. She {snip} received the sacred stigmata of the Five Wounds and the Crown of Thorns at twenty-eight years of age. ...our Divine Savior appeared to her with a crown of gold, all inlaid with pearls and precious stones in His right hand, and holding in His left a Crown of Thorns, and affectionately said to her: know my dear daughter that you must of necessity be crowned some time or other, with one of these two crowns. Therefore take your choice; either the Crown of Thorns in this transitory life, and have the other reserved for your everlasting glory; or take the crown of gold at present and hereafter that of thorns. '...I do most willingly accept the crown of suffering and ignominy.' Having said this, St. Catherine took from our Savior's left hand the Crown of Thorns and placed it upon her head..."

[Bolland. Acta s.s 55. 30th April] from Catholic Tradition
painting by Fra Bartolommeo (others, here)

We printed Waltzing Matilda's coloring page, and the girls tried to shade them like Fra Bartolommeo did in his painting. I encouraged them to use different colors to make the pictures their own. They also drew the crown of thorns and crown of glory and a Church like the one they saw her holding in an icon, here. Can you guess which girl did each picture?

teresa and michaela

As you can see, Teresa lost another tooth. I think her short haircut and bangs look cuter in this picture than the last one I posted. Michaela is still just a sweet, beautiful, happy baby!



FYI: Our broiler chicks came today.