A typical meal for Alaina

She began eating with us.  The rest of us finished, yet she kept eating and eating.  We had to keep feeding her as she was asking for more.  It is always incredible how much babies can eat.  Enjoy!

How Alaina says "Pick me up Please"

For the last 4 months Alaina has said "Mama" for Up please! It is probably my fault--I tried to teach her one day and instead she said "mama" and I couldn't resist that cute little face calling to me--so I picked her up. Ever since she has walked up to people and said "mama" to be picked up.
This video is from last month. She now says "UPEEEE!" But it was good while it lasted. This was our best attempt to tape her saying it.

New Years

For New Years we were still feeling under the weather, but managed to make it out.  US Bank sponsors some family friendly events for $10 per family, so we decided to try that out this year.  We went to the location at Olbrich gardens that had the train display.  I had planned on taking Ky to see the trains prior to Christmas and then everyone got sick, so this worked out well.  It's a really neat display with lots of poinsettas and handmade gingerbread houses from local bakers.  We really enjoy it every year--that is for about the first 20 minutes.  Then when Ky just wants to sit and stare, we get bored and a little antsy.  Ky must have spent well over an hour looking at those trains--and we literally had to bribe him with "well come back to see the trains" in order to get him to see the other stuff.  And even when it was time to leave he was near tears.  He LOVES his trains.

They had a reptile man there who was showing off all sorts of lizardy critters.  He was bringing them out of their cages and letting the kids hold and pet them.  That was pretty neat.  They also had face painting and a station where they could make crowns or sun catchers, as well as basketball, walking through the conservancy and video games.  It was fun.  I think next year we will do it again and go to one of the locations that has bounce houses as well.  New Year's Eve night Rob and I watched a movie, I fell asleep 10 minutes before midnight and Rob woke me up shortly after--we both actually missed the whole countdown.  Oh well--there is always next year. 

The next day, we had Christmas with Nana and Grandma Jan.  We actually ended up postponing the original date due to the sickness.  We went over to their house and enjoyed a nice lunch and dinner.  The kids played and Alaina especially enjoyed Grandma Jan's slippers.  Seriously--she is SO OBSESSED with shoes.  I remember Ky liking them at her age--but never to her extreme.  We opened some gifts--Ky was excited to get a Sesame Street video--and it was the old school Sesame Street that we grew up with.  He also received a leapfrog word whammer--which helps teach him to spell and put together words.  It is really cool.  Today he wrote "Mom" and I know it is because he learned it from the word whammer.    Alaina got some shoes--but of course!--and a giant stuff animal snail.  It's really cute and you can just see her rolling around with it.

By the end of the night, Alaina was conked.  She fell asleep with G'ma Jan and I know she relished the snuggling opportunity--not to mention it gave us all a break from having to watch her and make sure she wasn't getting into anything.   

I wish I could add more to this blog--but honestly with all of us just feeling run down and tired we kept pretty low.  Next blog I will have more fun adventures to write about as well as milestones.

Christmas 2009

Despite feeling under the weather, we all managed to celebrate Jesus' birth.  Christmas Eve night we went to  church and enjoyed Christmas Eve service.  Then afterwards we drove through the lights at Olin Park.  We have done for the last 2 yers, so we were happy we were able to keep the Christmas tradition despite our sickness. 

Prior to church, we let Kylan and Alaina each pick out a gift to open.  Ky picked a gift from Aunt Janice and Linda so we gave Alaina her gift from them as well.  Ky really enjoyed his singing bear with lights.    And Alaina who has a love for any baby or animals was pretty ecstatic as she gave hers a kiss and hug and then proceeded to dance as the bear sang.  It was very cute---and even funny, because the Bear coincidentally had a Christmas plaid skirt on that was almost identical to Alaina's dress.  I didn't get a very good picture of that, but it was funny.  Thanks Aunt Linda and Aunt Janice for the wonderful presents.

So there are a couple of hodge podge pics in there.  This Christmas we did very little baking :(  I only got 2 different cookies made before I also fell under the weather.  However, we did have other plans for homemade gifts.  I dried out a bunch of my herbs from the summer and then put them into baby food jars I had saved.  I then decorated the jars and VOILA--dried organic herbs as gifts!  I have to say the coolest jar decorating was rolling the jars in melted crayons---these were crayons I had saved of Kylan that were broken pieces.  They came out so neat looking!  I also made Mint Tea for my mother in law using mint I had dried from the garden and some black tea that a friend brought me from her visit to China.  It came out really good!  Enough of my homemade stuff...back to the kids....

The next morning we were up around 8.  We convinced Ky to crawl in bed with us for a little while until Alaina woke--and that didn't take long.  We got up and put our baked french toast in the oven--another Christmas tradition of ours--which reminds me I need to add that to our recipes--SOOOO GOOOOOOD! (We only eat it once a year!)  Then we let Ky--who was SUPER ecstatic tear into some of his gifts.  The first thing he opened was a bowling set.  The boy loves to bowl--so he was pretty darn happy to get that.  Alaina opened up a bin of playfood.  And then she began eating.  If you look at the pics--that is pretty much all she did that day--was eat her play food--and even today that is pretty much her favorite thing to do.  Empty the play food bin and taste every piece.  In fact--we had difficulty getting her to open any other gifts because she just wanted to eat the play food.  I guess the food was a good choice for our little beauty!

Ky also received a couple of boxes of candy canes from us.  All he talked about the last few weeks was candy cane this and candy cane that.  He was obsessed with candy canes and very happy to eat them--though we have not let him eat all of them.  He got a Play-Doh set from Grandpa & Grandma Vander Heyden--and to this day he goes around saying "I have 20 different kinds of Play Doh"--pretty funny!  He got Thomas underwear--which he was not too excited about, (I thought this was the age where kids were still excited to get characters on their underwear??), a Brewer shirt, a Curious George game from U. Adam and A. Liz---he loves doing "the wave" with this game.  They also got him a book, and a soccer ball ornament--a neat way to remember his 3rd year--playing soccer.  And last of all we got him another Thomas train set.  I found this set for $5 at Savers--what a great deal!  He loved that the set worked with his other set and this one had a tunnel AND a bridge, not to mention it came with Annie, Clarabelle, a troublesome truck and Thomas.  He spent a lot of time making different track layouts and playing.  Thanks so much for the gifts Vander Heydens & Folkerts!

Alaina, as I mentioned before, was not too into opening anything else.  So we had to help her.  She got a Fisher Price little people set from U. Adam and A. Liz.  She likes taking the people out of their little house and then putting them back in.  She got her FIRST cabbage Patch doll from Grandpa and Grandma Vander Heyden.  This baby's name is Kiana Donna.  Alaina LOVES babies, so she was a pretty happy girl.  We tried to get her to say the adoption oath--but she just wasn't taking it seriously :)  Maybe next year.  She also got a playset of dishes.  So now her kitchen is stocked and hopefully she will stop playing with my stuff--yeah you know that didn't happen. 

Christmas afternoon, we dressed the kids up and were off to Grandpa and Grandma Schnake's.  We had a nice time with everyone.  Kylan and cousin Dominic are really getting along well now and playing so good together.  It is fun to watch the boys.  The kids got a lot more presents there from all the relatives.  The present that really stood out was the fire truck Grandma got for Alaina. She loves this thing.  And of course one of the first uses for it--A STOOL with wheels.  Yeah---she wheels that sucker around with its crazy song, puts it in front of something she shouldn't (like the oven) and uses it to stand on so she can reach all sorts of baby no-no stuff.  You can see from the one picture, that she figured she could stand on it right away.  CRAZY girl.  She really keeps me busy.  Seriously---you have not seen this girl....

She fell asleep in Daddy's arms that night.  Very cute.  She was EXHAUSTED.  She hardly slept at nap--and then on the way home she cried most of the way.  We were all feeling pretty lousy.  It was nice that the next day we just lounged around the house and tried to get better. 

The day after Christmas we also decorated the cookies I had baked (but never decorated because we weren't feeling up to it.)  Chai Spice Cookies--YUM--check it out in my recipes--so much better than traditional gingerbread.  Dad let Ky decorate a few and did not monitor his sprinkles--so yes those cookies covered in colored sugar are Ky's and he enjoyed eating them. Whew...one more blog done--and many more to come....

Ky's Math

I tried to upload this video many times and it did not work.  Youtube has become my friend.  This is from mid September.  Ky is 3years and 3 months.  It all started out with "Thumbelina" and then simple addition suddenly clicked and he understood.

Green Eggs and Ham

This is from our "Green Day" at Jessica's Preschool of LOVE!  We made Green Eggs and Ham together.



Ky was busy reciting the book as he was starting to munch on his green eggs and ham.  Of course, once I got out the camera he clammed up and I ended up reciting the book without his help--however you can still see how giddy he was with the fun meal.  Every kid should eat Green Eggs and Ham at least once in their life!

December 2009

Of course I am behind on my blog again.  But I think the plague is over....Yes the whole family was sick (except Ky who narrowly escaped) for 3 weeks.  And of course that fell over Christmas and New Years.  Things are looking up for us now though--sadly our neighbor and her family seems to be hit by something similar.  UGh!  Our prayers are with them.  The other reason I am behind is because with the new computer I updated my blogger to the cool new and better blogger...Yeah I am not sure I agree.  There is no spell check and there is no fun picture uploader like before.  So now I have had to search for a website that I trust with my pictures and have blogger access them in order to post pictures.  WHOO! Too complicated!  And all in the name of progress???

So where to start.  The first pics are of the kids ringing the bells for the salvation army.  This was actually the only time we rang bells.  We had signed up for other shifts, but then the plague hit us and it just didn't happen.  The kids made a bundle of money as usual.  Ky even sang for a few minutes.  Kids & Bell ringing = lots of money!  I was especially proud of Ky who was very polite and greeted people as they walked in the store.  He was such a little man.

Daddy was not feeling so well, so I put the lights on the tree.  It was a really sorry sight, since I wasn't really feeling into it with all the Christmas sickness.  Blech!  But hey---the kids didn't care!  We set the tree up behind the couches in order to keep Alaina from the tree.  However, the little angel then taught herself to climb onto the couch, so she was still able to reach some branches.  Hopefully, the tree will be a little more fun to have next year.  This year it just seemed like a burden when we had to rearrange the furniture and she still was able to tear stuff off the tree.  (She likes the lights--she really wanted to eat the lights.)

Anyways in the "putting up the tree" Ky was a total klutz.  First, he broke the tree---Literally he broke the bottom of the tree.  I don't know how he did it, but he did.  We now have to use the real christmas tree stand for the fake tree in order to keep it standing.  Then Ky broke Alaina's 1st Christmas ornament---yeah, it's kind of hard to replace those.  Then he broke one of Daddy's ornmanents from when he was a kid.  Then he broke another ornament.  And they were all on accident.  Nothing purposeful....Ugh...Like I said, just not the best Christmas for us.

So I gotta comment on Alaina with the baby in the pot.  That was all her.  She got out the pot and lid.  I noticed her shoving the baby in the pot so naturally I handed her the spoon.  It was too funny.  Have I mentioned how attached she is to that baby doll?  She LOVES that thing.  Drags it around everywhere.  She almost went to sleep with it and then changed her mind at the last minute "ERE MAMA" she said to me as she handed me the baby.  And yes, she has definitely mastered being able to say "Baby."  Maybe that is why she is so attached? 

Ky helped make some Christmas presents this year.  I was very proud of him.  He painted some picture frames that I bought.  He did a really good job.  He also helped me decorate some spice jars.  I will have pics of that in the next blog.  Sadly, we did little Christmas baking this year.  But there is always next year!

We had another nice day and so I took the kids out with plans to make a snowman.  Ky gave up early in the game when the snow was not "rolling" into a ball.  So the snowman ended up being a "packed" snowman.  It was fun and he did have fun decorating his face.  We made him so that he faced the living room window.   Ky had a lot of fun looking out at him--and then we had a melt and our poor snowman lost his head.  It was too funny.  The head was literally laying on the ground. 

The last few pics are of Alaina in her Christmas dress and then her wearing Daddy's shoes.  EVERY DAY--she will put on one of our shoes and clomp around the house.  This girl LOVES shoes.  It is too funny.  I know I have stated this before in my blog--but I am serious--she is obsessed.  Dolls and shoes....you would think she is a girly girl--but definitely not.  She keeps up with Ky and doesn't let anything stop her.  She is a little monkey, always crawling on top of things and moving things.  I am seriously having problems keeping up with her. 

I also have some pics of the sick ones.  I use my camera to help me remember what to blog (Can you tell?)  Alaina literally just kind of fell to floor that night.  That was when we knew she had been hit by the sickness too.  I ended up taking her to the doctor because her eye started swelling.  They quarantined us with all these sick swine flu people.  I had Ky with me, who was perfectly healthy and I sent him to the other room and watched him through the partition.  I also held Alaina, there was no way I wanted her to get down with all these sick people.  The doc told me that Alaina had swine flu.  She said that it is the only sickness in Wisconsin.  (What a joke!)  They didn't do any tests or anything.  She also said that Alaina had pink eye --which I knew she didn't, her eyeball was fine. The outside was swollen like she had an infection.  This was not our regular doc.  Alaina's eye cleared up without meds--definitely was not pink eye.  And swine flu--no--she had a fever but that was about it.  And it wasn't a high one.  The sickness that we had could have been swine flu, but I really doubt it.  We did not have alot of the symptoms.  Anyway, we are all better now, it just made it hard to enjoy the holidays. 

So that is a wrap.  I will get the Christmas blog up next and maybe a few video clips if this new blogger will cooperate.  Until then!

Colors Unit

Apparently blogger isn't allowing me to backdate my blogs anymore.  Normally, I just backdated these and then put the link on the side of my blog...Well if you have kids and are interested in teaching them stuff, I am putting together my lesson plans on what I have done with Ky.  (I figure it would be good for me to have these for later on with Alaina.)  So you will be seeing these unit entries from time to time...Hopefully some of my friends with kids might also be able to get some use out of this.  BTW--I am not spell checking these, the new blogger won't let me-BLAH!

This is a rundown of the unit I did with Kylan on Colors.  Each day was a new color and I had him (and everyone else) wear that color for the day.  If he did not have that color clothing (i.e. pink), I had him wear the 2 colors that make up that color--red and white.  I would also write the word on his hand in that color of marker.  I would ask him periodicially if he knew how to spell the word, or if he knew what the last letter was--this would help him refer to the word often.  Then when we were reading a story about that color-I would also have him find the word on the page.  I also would try to have a meal that was the color of the day--some foods I would simply use a little dye in.  I would also have Ky "Paint" the color word in that color  (write the word in pencil and have them trace using paint).  Then I would put it up on the wall and hang other color related projects under it.  Most books I got from Pinney or Hawthorne library.  A few I used the library hold system for.

Start with the primary colors.

Red

Make a list of things you see that are red.  Write them down using a red marker
Ask them how red makes them feel.  Why they think their cheeks turn red?  Or why fire is red.

Read "The little Red Hen" and Why are animals red?

Say the "Little Red Apple" Poem

Pasta, apples, strawberries, red peppers, red jello are good food options

Make a red collage using, string, ribbon, construction paper, paint, red glitter glue, red fruit loops, piipe cleaner, markers, crayon, stickers..etc...

Blue

Gather together blue items and have your child sort them from lightest to darkest.

Count the number of items you found

Discuss the phrase "I feel blue", ask them how blue makes them feel.  Talk about the calmness/coolness of blue water.

Play Blues music and talk to them about how it makes them feel.

Read Blueberries for Sal and The Blue House and Why are animals blue?

Sing & Dance to Blue Suede Shoes

Have kids paint a blue picture

For a blue meal have blue totilla chips, blueberries, blue milk


Yellow

Ask kids to find 5 yellow things in the room. 

Ask them what things are yellow outside

Talk about the sun and fire.  How does yellow make you feel--happy/sad, tired/energized, Cold/hot?

Read Yellow School bus and Why are animals yellow

Have Macaroni and cheese with pineapple and yellow peppers or squash. 

Have them cut out a big yellow circle with 6 small triangles and make the sun (glue to a piece of paper).

Have them make lemonade from scratch to have with their yellow meal.

Examine the lemon peels with a magnifying glass.

Green

Sit in the grass if you can.
Sing "The Green Grass Grew all Around"
Ask kids to point out things that are green.
Have them go barefoot and talk about how the grass feels undert their feet
Pick leaves from various trees and have kids find which tree goes to which leaf.

Read Green Eggs and Ham and Why are animals green?

Have them help prepare lunch--green eggs and ham (add green dye to eggs, dip ham in eggs and fry.)
serve with broccoli, green apples/grapes, green yogurt

Play Red light/Green Light
Sing "Five Little Speckled Frogs"

On wax paper or finger paint paper--On each side put a mound of shaving cream.    Then on one mound put blue paint, on the other yellow.  Have kids mix each mound and then combine to see what color they make.  Talk about how the primary colors (red, yellow, blue) make the other colors. 

Purple

Have a race to find as many purple things as you can in 1 minute.  Count the items. 

Recite the poem "I never saw a Purple Cow"

How does the color purple make you feel.  Who wears purple (Kings)

Read Harold and the Purple Crayon, Purple Snake eating Lunch

locate a copy of the Purple People Eater

Have grapes, grape juice, yogurt, for a meal

Put shaving cream in a baggy and then add red and blue dye.  Have kid mush bag to see what new color they get.  Cut off a corner and have them "Squeeze" a design on their paper.

Make a bunch of purple grapes.  Make a grape branch with brown marker.  Then have child put thumb in purple paint to make the bunches of grapes. 

Make purple cow shakes--grape juice, ice cream and milk.

Orange

Begin by eating an orange.

Talk about how the color is the same name as the fruit. 

Make a list of things that have orange flavoring

Play "I Spy" with the color orange

Read My New Socks and Why are animals Orange

Have an orange meal--orange juice, carrots, peach yogurt, gold fish crackers

Give them yellow construction paper and a red marker.  Have them draw a picture.  What color does their picture end up being. 

Black

Sing "Two Little Black Birds"

Talk about phrases "black as night, black cats are bad luck"  How do we perceive black?
Then talk about black beauty, black orchids, blackberries to show black is not always bad.

Read Baa Baa Black Sheep, and a book on penguins

Color different colors on a paper and then color black over all of it.  Then give child a coin or toothpick to etch in a design.

Cut out different shapes in black and then give them a white piece of paper to make a design (glue on).

Do something with Dark Chocolate!

Have kids add varying amounts of black paint to color paint to see how it changes the color.

White

Talk about what is white.  How does it make you feel (clean/cold)?

Talk about connotations to white "White as snow, white glove test"

Sing Frosty the Snowman

Read, Frosty the Snowman, It looked like Spilt Milk, book on Polar Bears

Use a large white sheet and play some parachute games

Fold paper into fans and dance (or cool off!)

Cut Snowflakes and hang them

Make a snowman gluing cotton balls on construction paper.  they can also make clouds with them.  The have them "decorate" their snowman.

Provide a bunch of white items and have them guess if they will sink or float (and then try it out).

Make Gak.

Make a game of trying to throw cottonballs into a bowl

Have popcorn and milk for a snack. (cheese, yogurt, ice cream.)

Have kids add varying amounts of white paint to color paint to see how it changes the color.

(Have them combine white and black to see what new color they get!)


Pink

Play "I Spy" with pink

Talk about how when babies are born birth announcements are pink or blue--and how that follows boys and girls through life

What does it mean to be "tickled pink"

Read The pink Refrigerator, book on flamingos

add some red food coloring to milk with pink extract for peppermint milk!

Make a pink pig mask http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Mask.shtml

Brown

Look on themselves or others for things that are brown

Read brown bear brown bear what do you see. 

Sing "We are going on a Bear Hunt"

Have them watch goldilocks and the three bears.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-goldilocks.htm

Print the activity and cut out and have them order the pictures in the correct order (glue into a book) and retell the story to you.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-goldilocks-activity.pdf

Go on nature hike in search of brown things

provide all paint colors and have them mix them together.  What do they get?  Have them paint their book.

Make Peanut Butter Play Doh

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Playdough/Detail.aspx


Gray

I wasn't originally going to do gray, but Ky insisted, so I kind of did a short lesson on the whim.

Pull out nickels, dimes, and quarters.  Have child sort and count them.  Discuss money and what they are.  Have child make rubbings of the money.  (put under paper and color)  Use these printouts to help child sort money.  Can also color. 
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/wsp/pages.asp


Mix black and white paint to show how it makes gray.  Then they can paint some of the activities below.
(I didn't have any prepared books for this so we "read"  the mouse and elephant story online).

http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/preschoolers/read.htm

Make an elephant and learn about elephants
www.first-school.ws/t/craft/eselephant1bw.html

http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/en/preschoolers/explore/elephant.htm


Recite the donkey poem and color

www.niteowl.org/kids/donkey2.html

We didn't do a gray meal, but that could include oatmeal.

A book Review: Rick Warren's "The Purpose of Christmas"

https://thepurposeofchristmas.com/

Christmas is a time for Celebration, Salvation, and Reconciliation. These are the three main points to Rick Warren's book "The Purpose of Christmas".“First, he (the angel) said ‘I bring you good news of great joy.’ It’s a time for celebration,” explains Warren. “And then he says, ‘for on this day is born to you a savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ It’s a time for salvation. And then he says ‘Peace on earth; goodwill toward men.’ It’s a time for reconciliation."

This book I read as a part of my church group.  We read it over four weeks with intention to discuss the book each week.  Sadly, the plague, hit our group and we actually only met one week for discussion.  Anyway,  the book's intended audience is non-believers.   But as a current believer I can say that I got a lot from this book.  Rick Warren had some witty acronyms that made we rethink words.  For example, GRACE is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.  WOW!  What a remarkable way to rethink God's grace.

I had to return the book to the library, so I will do the best I can to sum up this book without it as a reference. 

First of all we NEED to celebrate Christmas.  This is a time to rejoice for all of God's good works and gifts that have been given to us through Jesus.  God WANTS us to enjoy life.  Why else do you think Jesus' first miracle was to turn water into wine at a wedding?  He wants us to rejoice in our many blessings of life and fellowship with others--share God's blessings. 

Secondly, we need to recognize how, without the birth of Jesus, we would not have salvation.  Jesus came to save all of us--and we ALL need to be saved.  No one is better than anyone else, we all have sinned and we all need to make that right with God.  And honestly, how much easier is life when you recognize that you are NOT perfect and that someone LOVES you no matter what you do and is ALWAYS waiting for you to return to him.  Even our human parents don't fulfill all those unconditional requirements (though they can get close.) 

Finally--and this point stood out the most to me--we need to reconcile any relationships we have cut off or torn apart.  I think the biggest mix-up with the word reconciliation is people assume that to reconcile you must resolve the problem that you had.  Rick Warren says you don't.  To reconcile means to fix the relationship and that doesn't necessarily mean fixing the problem.  Jesus said "Blessed are the Peacemakers."  We are here to share and have peace with everyone.  Most people believe that means we must all be on the same wavelength and in agreement with everything, but it is possible to have a peaceable relationship without always being in agreement.  Not to mention, how are we supposed to share Jesus with someone we have cut off ourselves from.  It is not our job to judge others-it is God's.  Our job is to show God's love and acceptance to all--just like he showed us. 

For us as christians, we need to ALWAYS keep the door open to everyone--meaning maintaining a relationship with all. 

(I have to interject into this last part really quick.  Rick Warren words this last chapter "Reconciliation" so much better than I am summing it up.  If you read any part of this book--read this last part.  It is a quick and easy read--maybe 15 minutes or so. Not to mention the whole book is a pretty quick read.)

Many people believe that to achieve peace we need to educate.  Rick Warren points out that these educated countries are having more wars than ever.  In fact education has only led to more high tech ways of attack, destruction, and murder.  The only true was to peace is for us all to be like Jesus and be peacemakers.  It is okay to agree to disagree.  God will have the ultimate answer in the end.  In the meantime, we should spend our time praying and focusing on God to perhaps reveal the solution, or resolve the problem in our lifetime. 

To sum this book up, I was really touched by Warren's emphasis on the need to reconcile.  I am as guilty as anyone else for cutting off relationships.  This coming year - 2010 - I resolve to keep relationships with all and to fix any that I have lost.  I want to be one of those "Blessed Peacemakers."  And I can only imagine how much more peaceful my life will be when I let God work through me to reveal himself to others.