It's a 4 Ring Circus!

not ready for prime time

Delaney and I started taking piano lessons a few weeks ago.  The first day that we managed a duet together, we were so excited that I took a little video of it.  :-)

tgif, unicycle edition

My craaazy brother finally got the long and oft-discussed unicycle last week and has been doing a little practicing.  Yes, for you, my loyal readers, I documented the process.  :-)

First, Ben giving it a try.

Then, my hubby has to make his own noble attempt.

And Karyna's turn (this proves what a loving relationship they have!):

Then neighbor's wife sees us and announces, "hey, hubby can do that!" and so we force her to bring him out. Sure enough, even though it's been years since his last unicycle ride, he gets on there and quickly makes us all look stupid. :-)

We know how to have a good time 'round here, folks.

a trio of new friends

You already know we can never have enough animal friends over here, right?  Well, my chicas finally decided what to spend their birthday money/hard-earned extra savings on.  A trio of very tiny "robo" hamsters (smaller than dwarf hamsters).


(if you look closely, you can see one hamster in each of the running wheels, the other guy was down in the bottom at the time)

The kids love to put a hamster in their "ball" and see where they'll go.  (Of course, we have to remember to put our kitty in my bedroom!)

scootin'

Video of Logan joining the neighborhood scooter brigade!

my sidewinder

(Edited AGAIN to add:  You can see the video here; it will ask for your password.  Sorry!)

(Edited to add:  Since this has all of my neighbors' license plate numbers in it, it's also "private;" the password is our last name, all lowercase.)

This morning the kids ran outside to compare Christmas tales with the neighbor kids.  One of the neighbor kids has a scooter that you can propel by going side to side rather than in a straight line forwards -- I have no idea what this thing is called, but Sadie loves it.  I couldn't stop snickering at the sight of her swingin her booty on this thing, Ava running behind her, both of them with wicked bedhead.  See for yourself!

holiday dancin' and prancin'

I took some video of the girls' doing a little performance at the end of their dance classes yesterday.  Delaney did a ballet number and a tap number (see above, didn't video that one) that they are working on for a couple of competitions in the spring (this is her first year being old enough for the dance team).  Sadie and Ava's classes each learned a little Christmas dance.  You can go here to see the videos.  Since they include other people's kids, they are password protected; just type in our last name (all lowercase) and you'll get in.

"clothes and make-up"

I was sitting here checking email when Ava came up to announce that she needed to get on the computer.  See for yourself.  Beware -- I don't get pretty before I check email in the AM.  ;-)

Turkey day in Sacramento

(edited to add:  Ryan reminded me that I should document that Josh scored 300 on Wii bowling.  Whooppee!)

We got to Sacramento on Wed evening to stay with my BIL, Darren.  Ryan's parents and his sister Lisa also came.  Darren and Lisa both have cute little babies that I hadn't met before, so it was fun to see them.  Thursday we walked the kids to a nearby park, but it was pretty chilly and foggy and soggy, so we didn't stay too long.  My kids enjoyed following the babies around, including Ava who liked to pet Carson as though he were a cute little puppy.  :-)  Dinner was great, although the turkey took longer than expected -- doesn't that always happen?  The kids played on the Wii with Cherish's family, and eventually Ava passed out on the living room couch.  We stayed up late to hang out with the family and then got up the next day to head back out.  A quick visit, but it was worth the drive to see everyone again.

Here is baby Carson (Lisa & Mike's son), he is such a cute little dumpling, huh?

And here is baby Eden (Darren & Cherish's daughter), also a cute dumpling.  She was much harder to get a good picture of because she likes to be on the go!

Grandpa and Ryan pushing the little girls at the park:

Grandpa and the girls with Carson.  Several notes:  (1) Carson cracked me up the way he stared at my kids like he was taking notes on how to act insane if the occasion ever struck.  (2)  Here the girls are showing Carson a ladybug they found.  Then they fight over where it should be located.  (3)  Carson says something that sounds like "Momma" but is actually "lawnmower," meaning it is time to take him to look at Uncle Darren's lawnmower.

                                                           

kids' activities

For the curious, these are the weekly activities our kids are doing this year (in addition to the usual schoolwork).

Mondays -- Our family has been sponsoring a weekly health class for our other homeschool friends from church.  We've talked about the Food Guide Pyramid, exercise, staying well (staying away from germs!), and we also play some P.E. games like kickball, etc.  We eat a healthy snack together as well that the kids help make (we made fruit smoothies in the blender, for example).  We just had our last class for this fall.  In the spring I'm planning to help the kids put on a short play.

Tuesdays -- Josh has Cub Scouts and Delaney has Activity Days at the church.

Wednesdays -- Josh meets with his friend Sofia to work on LEGO Simple Machines projects with Sofia's mom (this is the latest reincarnation of our LEGO Robotics club).  They will go with another family to compete in Houston in December, and again in the spring.  We trade houses to meet together and the other kids play in the background.  (Josh is doing this instead of Tae Kwon Do this year.)

On Wednesday afternoons we continue to have Creative Wednesday with Aunt Karyna and our cousins.  Sometimes we all do a project together, sometimes just the mommies do a project while the kids play.  One time we made these little pom pom critters from a Martha Stewart kit (did you know that Wal*Mart carries her line now?).  The kids had a lot of fun with it.  (And Natalie has a gift for closing her eyes in almost every picture I take of her, oh well.)

Thursdays -- all three girls have dance class on Thursday afternoons, so Josh and I get to wait around the dance studio from 4:00 to 6:00 (their classes are staggered).  The way the class times cross over, we don't really have time to go to the store, so we draw, play Uno, read, and otherwise amuse ourselves.

Fridays -- we STAY HOME!  Actually, Fridays we get our house ready for Daddy to come home.  Lately his flights have been in the early evening so the kids can come with me to get him at the airport.  There is usually a mad dash to give Daddy a hug (accompanied with "DADDDYYYY!!!", with other passengers looking on and smiling at the enthusiastic reunion.  I decided to video a bit last week, but didn't get the full effect!

don't mess with Josh

Josh demonstrating the motorized door on his LEGO fortress:
(you'll have to turn up the sound on this one)