7 and 5

Right, well Desmond is 7 years old now, and Emma is 5.  That's right 7 and 5.  It's hard to believe...for me at least.

There's lots of fun stuff to do when you're a little kid though.  For instance, Desmond and Emma both play on YMCA basketball teams.  Desmond played basketball when he was 4, almost 5 years old, so he's got a little experience under his belt.  He plays very well.  He hustles and works hard, and is very good at defense.  When he gets the ball, he's not always sure what he's supposed to be doing.  That's part of the learning process, I guess.  But he's got a real nice shot, and can dribble and pass well.  He seems to enjoy it, and should do great once he learns what to do when his team is on offense.

It's a complicated sport, I think, but he'll get it.

This is Emma's first time playing basketball.  She was scared when I took her to her first practice, and didn't really want to go.  Of course, I made her go.  We went early, so that she could just sit and look around a bit first, before practice started.  We watched as they kicked all of the older kids off of the court, and lowered the basketball hoops.  Once the gym quieted down a bit, and there was just a couple of little kids shooting around, she started to relax a bit.  There was another little girl there, and she decided to go play.  It took her a few tries, but as soon as she made her first basket, she was good.  In fact, she was very excited to play after that...sometimes she can't even stand still she's so excited.  When she's in line for drill at practice she just bounces and sings and dances until it's her turn.  And when it's her turn, she tries real hard, and does great.

For their birthdays, we got them a basketball hoop for our driveway.  I put up the pole the weekend before Desmond's Birthday.  I told Desmond and Emma that it was for a birdhouse, and they bought it, never even questioning why I wanted a birdhouse, or why it would require such a huge pole.

The weekend of Desmond's Birthday we threw a "combined" birthday party.  We had some guests from Nebraska come for the whole weekend, so while the kids were distracted, we finished installing the backboard and hoop.  They were excited, and it was very nice outside, so we had fun shooting hoops.

That was last weekend, and on Sunday we had their party at Pump-it-Up.  It's a place where they have several big inflatable jumpy-house-type things.  There's an obstacle course, a big giant slide, etc.  They let the kids run themselves ragged for about an hour, and then corral them together for cake, ice cream and presents.  It was fun just watching all of them run around, bouncing off the walls and each other.

Emma's Birthday was yesterday.  Jen took the day off of work, so she could hang out with Emma.  The did girl stuff, went shopping and I met them for lunch.  Late in the morning it started snowing in earnest, and by the time she was supposed to go to school, Emma's teachers declared a snow day.  Yeah, a snow day for your birthday...awesome, right?  So, the two of them got to play in the snow, and make a snowman.  That evening we had dinner, cake and ice cream, opened a couple of presents and then went to a movie.  That seems like a super duper fifth birthday.  Emma agrees.

Also, while we were in the theater, waiting for the movie to start, I got an e-mail from Desmond's school...there was to be yet another snow day!

A couple more photos of Emma...one of her and her friend, Katie, during a play date, and another of all the baby stuff that she got for her birthday.

Jan 2013

So for New Year's Eve we had a Dance Off.  The participants took turns choosing songs from the "Just Dance" game on the Nintendo wii.  A photo from the event:

Please note that Pops reigns undefeated, and was celebrated as champion on this night.  Even crushing Jen in a head-to-head match featuring her "favorite song".  

Besides dancing, there were more games, lots of snacks, we watched a movie and we stayed up late.  Late enough to welcome 2013 at midnight.

The next morning brought some snow.  The second snowfall of the winter, this time enough to allow for some sledding.

Provided you're dressed properly.  Emma has grown out of her mittens and her snow boots.  She had to wear my gloves, and on the way home from sledding we stopped for new boots.  So, as far as snow goes, bring it on!

The earlier snowfall was not enough for to break out the sleds, but Emma's first snow angel turned out great.

And, as it turns out, Emma has quite an appetite for snow as well.

We had a great Christmas.  Santa came to our house, and was very generous.  There were full stockings for everyone...well, except for Kevin.  We're not sure what he did to get onto Santa's naughty list, but Kevin's stocking was completely empty.  So that he didn't feel too bad we sneaked some treats into it while he was distracted.  My guess is that he's on the naughty list because he'll sneak naps on the couch, that he's not supposed to be on.  But for that to be reason, Santa must be pretty cut-throat on this naughty/nice thing.  Anyway, some Christmas photos:

With Santa at Botanica...Festival of Lights, I think they call it.  A couple more from that:

Desmond was a shepherd in his program at church.

Emma was also in the program, but her class did not have costumes.  She did however straighten her hair for the event.  She was very excited to see how long it is when it's straightened.  When you've never had a hair cut in your whole life, your hair starts to get pretty long.

After the program we went home and made quick work of all of the presents under the tree.  The kids got some very nice things.

Much has happened during my hiatus from this blog.  I was planning to make a point to find time to pass on some slightly older photos, and news.  That'll hopefully come later.  Until then, I'll leave you with this photo of, well...

...and a link to a short movie the kids and I made one day during our holiday break: HERE.  (Apologies, but for some reason the narrator was speaking very loudly.  Adjust your sets accordingly.)

Another Holiday Season in the Books

Yep, we made it through the holidays one more time. And though we seem to get busier and busier each year, it seems to get funner and funner each year too.

Check out what we got to do this year.

Jennifer made Pops shop for a proper present this year. In years past she has found something that she couldn't live without, bought it and declared, "this is my Christmas present." Unfortunately for her Pops holds her to it and doesn't get her anything else. Well, this year Jen wanted a more traditional Christmas where she gets to have something to open under the tree. So Pops, D and E went shopping. While we were shopping Desmond got to ride this bungee bouncing ride.

Desmond's basketball classes (Little Dribblers) wrapped up in December. He had fun learning the fundamentals and decided that he likes basketball.

Now he has started proper basketball, complete with teams, practices and games. He's in a league with 5 to 6 year olds, so he's definitely one of the youngest kids. For a little kid basketball is a pretty complicated game, but he's catching on well.

A couple weeks before Christmas Airbus had an employee "Breakfast with Santa". It was at a very nice venue, and was a perfect event for the kids.

We had a very nice breakfast, and then there was cookie decorating and crafts to do.

Then, of course, we got to visit with Santa, and he gave the kids presents. It was really a nice event, and we had a great time.

Later that same day we went to the new Intrust Bank Arena to see Barney.

Emma is the Barney fan of the family, so she had a great time. She was amazed to see Barney and the other characters, and loved singing along to familiar songs. The theme of the show was not a Christmas one, but it didn't matter, we loved every minute...except for the confetti cannons that were very startling when they went off.

There was a Christmas program at church. Desmond and Emma are both in Sunday School, so they were supposed to participate, and had been practicing for weeks. On the evening of the show D refused to get into his costume and join in. His mind would not be changed, and only Emma was in the program.

She was an angel.

On Christmas Eve we had a very nice dinner before going to church.

We had some guests, so this was the first year of the kid's table. D and E did not make the best of their new-found independence. There was a lot of goofing off, and not much eating.

After church we came home and took a few photos.

And then it was time to open some presents. The kids got (too?) many.

There was the typical new pajamas and new clothes from Mom and Pops, along with some new DVD's and a toy or two. Other family members got them some great stuff too. Maybe one of the most entertaining was the microphone Emma got from Nana.

It has some canned songs that you can play and sing along to. Emma loved dancing to these songs. She was a little timid when it came to singing through the mic, but she has since warmed up to it a bit.

We also made the trip north to Nebraska to celebrate Christmas with our family there. There were more presents to open there.

Emma got a fabulous make-up desk (complete with cell phone). It may actually be called a vanity or something. Anyway she likes it. The other day Aunt Dawn was at our house with her dog Scout. During this visit both Scout and Kevin got imaginary hair washes, followed by a very relaxing blow dry.

Desmond got a shaving kit and has really taken to pampering himself. A shave, with some aftershave, some deodorant and some gel for his hair help D to look and feel his best.

Santa definitely made it to our house. The kids got lots of good stuff.

It was the year of the scooter. I think a couple of months ago D saw a commercial for scooters on television. I seem to remember in this commercial that the people were doing tricks, and jumping with their scooters. D evidently thought that was pretty cool, or maybe he thought the scooters could fly or something...anyway he decided early on that he wanted a scooter from Santa. With all of this scooter talk Emma also decided that was what she wanted from Santa too. So that's what they got. Too bad it's too cold to go outside and enjoy them...'till spring, I guess.

During our Christmas break from work we were in Kansas City. While there we went to the Union Square children's museum. They had a super cool dinosaur exhibit, "Walking with the Dinosaurs". The exhibits were life-sized and would move and make noise...very cool.

Afterward the kids (Desmond, Emma and Jennifer) made build-a-dinos before we left the museum. I think Jennifer had the most fun.

And finally we celebrated the New Year with a very fun party at our house. The party was complete with games (Candyland), party favors, noise makers and a New Years Eve toast.

Everyone was very sad to see the Christmas tree come down.

...And November is Gone

The weather has finally turned colder here and the holidays are upon us. Everyone has their hands full, but still each of us helps out where they can.

Emma helps with laundry sometimes.

As long as there's a big pile of leaves to jump in, D and E will help with the raking. Hopefully the photo of the two of them buried in the leaves is big enough to make out. I know that the pictures on this blog won't enlarge, so I hope everyone can see it...it's a good one.

Desmond had his Thanksgiving program at preschool. Mom and Pops both were able to make it to this one. It was very fun. The kids had a short presentation of songs, and showed us some of their learning activities.

D did very well. After the program the kids had an opportunity to show their parents around the classroom and tell them about what they do at school. You can also see that Desmond made us a turkey painting. Super cool. And Desmond's was of the highest quality when compared to the other kid's...clearly the teacher's favorite.

We went to Nebraska for the Thanksgiving holiday. I have disappointingly few photos of our visit. Mostly I didn't think to take many pictures. There would have been several opportunities to take fun ones. The cousins played nonstop...sometimes the play was friendly, sometimes not. Usually the tone changed when Emma's pinching fingers were unleashed. For a time Kayden would flinch if Emma would even come near him for fear of a pinch. The kids got to play the Wii, bowling being the favorite, I think, though Emma did really like Let's Dance. She did very well too...almost beating her mother during "Girls Just Wanna have Fun".

We ate lots of food, and watched lots of movies and football. But mostly we just hung out and visited. When we got back to Wichita we put up the Christmas tree.

D and E were very helpful. Perhaps a little too helpful when it came to unpacking decorations and scattering them around the room. What's Christmas without a little chaos though?

Emma tried on the stockings while Desmond diligently helped his mother hang up ornaments. I seem to remember D being so thorough that there were as many as four ornaments hung on a single branch. Very festive.

This past weekend we visited the Botanica Gardens here in Wichita to see their holiday lights display.

Desmond's clear favorite was the model train.

Santa was there. As a departure from tradition, Emma was the one who gladly sat on Santa's lap and announced what she wanted for Christmas. It was surprising because in the past Desmond has been the one to participate while Emma is apprehensive.

We had a good time. It started to get late and cold, so the fun started to wear thin towards the end of the visit. Both kids fell soundly asleep on the ride home, and that was that.