A Week Sans Dada

 Andrew had an industrial trade show to be at last week.  He had to be there the whole stinkin' time.  He left last Saturday night and got home Saturday by noonish shortly before Charlotte's birthday party. Sheesh! It was super important for him to be there and he did a lot of great stuff while he was there but boy, did we miss him. 

 Our first day as a temporary party of 3 was Sunday.  We went to Columbian Park Zoo. Watch out for that wallabee! Or should I say, "Watch out for those two kids!"

 We spent $4 for a train ride.  Pretty soon we'll be charged for a lot more things since Charlotte will be 3! We have to enjoy it while we can!

 We spent a lot of time on the playground. 

 It was such a beautiful day!

 Enjoy our day? We certainly did!

 My two little lemurs in the sun.

 Here are the lemurs on a tractor.


I took a bunch of Boomerangs of the kids that day and compiled them into a repeating video on Instagram.  It won't repeat on youtube unless you just hit play over and over again.  You are more than welcome to do that.  But hey, how great is that song for that video?? 

It was a wonderful day.  It was a great way to start the week. 

 We had a lot of really random moments during the week. Tommy came up to my room while Charlotte was napping. He had put on his entire Captain America costume and was standing at my door saluting.  One of my favorite moments of the week.

 He also got a new mattress this week too.  I was putting Charlotte to bed and I came to his room to find him completely asleep with lights so bright.  I couldn't believe it.  Must be a good mattress!! He has never done that.  He also slept for 11.5 hours for the first few nights in that mattress.  Maybe the problem was that his old mattress was so bad.  Yikes!

 The kids did so great all week.  The renovations are done at school and now they are in their actual classrooms again.  They hardly look back when I drop them off.  They are so happy to have classrooms with windows again!  I sent this picture to Andrew and he said it looks like a moody album cover picture.  Ha!

 On Wednesday we celebrated the life of my grandfather Delos Anthony Keiper. We drove to Renssy and met Andrew who came home from Chicago.  We attended the funeral and spent a lot of time with the family.  It was a nice day and it was great to see Andrew even if for a short time.  My aunt took this adorable picture of Charlotte playing at my parents house after the events of the day.

 By the end of the week, the kids started to get tired. 

 And a teensy bit moody. :)

 But they kept up good faces!

 We watched both versions of The Jungle Book the last two nights.  First the people version and then the cartoon.

Saturday morning before Charlotte's party, we had to make one last trip to the store as a temporary party of 3.  Of course we went in our jammies.  There's no other way to do Meijer at 9 in the morning!
We survived our week without Dada. But we are so glad to have him home after his very busy week!

Wyatt's First Birthday Party

The kids were so excited for Wyatt's first birthday party.  Why? 1.) They love their baby cousin.  2.) They love Mickey and it was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party!!  YES! 

 The kids went right in and Wyatt immediately decided Andrew was his favorite person.  He really took to Andrew from the beginning.  He loves his funcle! :)

 The kids did a lot of playing but then... "Where's my cake, people??"

 Yay! Cake time! Erin's friend made the clubhouse cakes.  They were adorable and also delicious!! Wyatt LOVED them.  I haven't seen very many kiddos who love their smash cake but his cake was delicious so I understand why he loved his!

 We took a cousin picture. One of these, I keep saying, we will get a picture where they are all looking at the camera at the same time and smiling.  Might be when they are 30 but one of these days...

 There are quite a few outtakes that I had to include because they were so cute.

 So close! Ha!

 Charlotte loved the edible arrangement (and me too actually).  Yum pineapple!

 Here's the kids group shot.  Charlotte was having a total meltdown in the other room.  Sigh.  But she hadn't had a nap so I can't blame her. 

 After the party was over, the kids helped Wyatt open his gift. 

There was more playing too! 

What a wonderful party for Wyatt's first birthday.  The kids had a blast.  Happy birthday, Wyatt! We love you!

First Kindergarten Field Trip

 Tommy's first field trip was to the Apple Orchard. 

 We hopped on the bus and off we went!

 First things first, we went on a wagon ride.  Everyone squeeze in for a selfie! We went by a soybean field and I asked the kids if they knew what that was.  They did not.  Come on, Tommy! He knew that at one time, I know it.  :)

They had a nice little session with some former first grade teachers that now work there.  They did great.  They learned about a lot about apples and we got to try four different types of apples.  Turns out, kids love sour apples.  Eww! :)

 After we did all that learnin', the kids were able to pick two Gala apples to take home. They did great!

We ate our sack lunches in the barn where you can get married.  I took a pic of the four boys in the class.

 I also took a picture of the girls but the lighting wasn't as good.  The preschoolers went on the trip too and it was so crazy to see how little they were compared to the kindergartners.  Crazy how much they grow in a year!

 The kids played one of their favorite new games called Apples Apples which has a song and is a lot like Hot Potato.  Very cool to see how well they sit and play and don't freak out when they are "out". 

 Oh I almost forgot the Wagon Ride Selfie.  Photobomb by his buddy Mason. :)

After we got back from our field trip, I brought Tommy to my office with me.  He was a little jealous that Charlotte got to come with me to the office when she was sick.  It was nice to give him a turn too. 

I took a comparison photo.  The picture on the left is from my first day in my new office after we moved back to Lafayette.  The picture on the right is FIVE years later.  Absolutely crazy how time FLIES.  My little guy is really growing up!

The day I brought Tommy also happened to be a day when I was doing my cultural project requirement for the office.  We made tissue paper marigolds for Dia De Los Muertos, ate empanadas, and drank non-alcoholic margaritas.  I taught them all that I had recently learned about the day of the dead which was inspired by the kids movie, "The Book of Life" which I highly suggest you watch. 

Anyway, it was a very special day for Tommy.  Pretty special day for me too because I got to spend the whole day with just Tommy T.

How's School Going?

I'm really enjoying the school's app. We see lots and lots of pictures of the kids throughout the week. But I'll be honest there were some during the first few weeks that weren't too exciting. 

 Like this one with their art teacher. Where's Tommy? Oh he's behind the art teacher.

Or this one? Where's Tommy? Behind the paper chains.

And there was the one from Charlotte's dance party in the last school post.  Where's Charlotte? Behind some other kid. :)

It truly makes me think of Monster Inc when Mike always got blocked out of the picture.  Haha!

Anyway, kindergarten seems to be going pretty well for Mr. Thomas.

 Most of his pictures, he is full of personality.

 Or completely offended he has to be in a picture.

 Or just not in the picture hardly at all.  :)

 Or he's the star of the show!

 It's mostly all personality though.

 He's been hard at work making new friends and being, in his words, the "best in the class."  He never says what he means by that but he claims to be the best. 

Painting A's! 

 The room that they are currently in is pretty dark and drab but next week they will be moving into their new classroom now that the renovations are finally done. How exciting! They will have windows again!

Tommy is so funny.  He is so full of... he's so full of WORDS! That kid talks so much! He is a leader too, according to his teachers.  I thought this was a good thing until he told me that he "likes his new friend Bode because he does everything I say!" So we are working on what it means to be a good friend.  Haha!!
He is so inquisitive and smart too.  The other day he asked how a baby gets out of mom's belly so I told him a mom has a hole at the bottom that it comes out of.  He thought about it for a moment and then said, "Like a duck?"  I said, "Yes.  Exactly like that." "Okay." He didn't ask any other questions after that.  Hahahahahahaha! I laughed so hard (later of course). 

So how is Charlotte doing??

 Does this picture explain anything?? Haha! No, she's doing fine and she loves books. I have no idea why she is looking at the camera in this picture.  Too funny.

 She actually let me put her hair in pigtails so they took lots of pictures on this day!

 These cuties are waiting on their friends to finish going potty. 

 Charlotte made a school bus in art class.

 I got this message the other day.  I thought I had the accident figured out until I picked her up and she told me that Jude puked on her.  OMG!! Even worse than I thought!!! 

The next week she was home sick with me, if you can imagine.  I picked up Tommy when she was sick and her teacher told me there were only two students left that weren't sick that day.  Sheesh.  It spreads quickly! She doesn't look too sick though, does she?

 But yes Charlotte is loving school. 

 I think she loves it most of all because she gets to play dress up all the time. 

And I mean All. The. Time.  Fun stuff!

I'm so glad they have so much fun at school.  I'm glad they get one more year of going to the same school.