January and February updates

I honestly don't know where all of the time goes. I can't believe it is the middle of February and we've been back in the U.S. for almost one entire year! Here's an update on what we've been up to the past throughout January and most of February...

In the middle of January we went towards Chicago to celebrate a belated Christmas with Mike's grandparents. We hadn't seen them in quite awhile and we all really had a nice visit.

Brett continues to take Tae Kwon Do classes every week. He took his yellow belt test today and did awesome! Will make another post for this one specifically. In addition to Tae Kwon Do, he is also keeping busy with basketball. There are 3 more games this season, then we will be taking a short break (as he isn't that interested in soccer), and then it is on to his favorite sport -- baseball. ;o)

The kids had Spirit Week at school towards the end of January. For $.50 each day (all proceeds were donated to Easter Seals), each child could participate in the activity of the day. The week consisted of Crazy Hair Day (Kami was sick on this day -- so we put her hair up in a crazy manner a few days later while we were at home), Twin Day (the girls didn't have to do much for this since I always dress them alike anyway), Mismatch Day, Favorite Sports Team Day, and finally Warrior Day (the Germatown Hills mascot). In addition to all of the activities this week, Brett was also selected at Student of the Week. All 3 of the kids had a blast participating in the daily events.

My dad's birthday was at the end of January so we celebrated both his birthday as well as his retirement. It just so happened that his birthday and his last official day of work were on the same day (January 29). So happy that he is retired and can do whatever he wishes now. ;o)

The kids all had their Valentine's parties at school on February 10. Since I helped with the girls' Christmas party, I volunteered to "coordinate" Brett's class Valentine party. The kids all had a good time at the party -- and unfortunately, I was so preoccupied by ensuring that everything at the party was going as I had planned, I didn't take my camera out of my purse to take any pictures. With 5 other parents in attendance, I would have thought that someone would have taken a few pictures -- but no such luck. ;o( I was extremely upset (an understatement) about the whole thing...so Brett and I posed for a picture after we returned home. ;o)

After the Valentine's party on February 10, the kids were off school for parent/teacher conferences as well as President's Day. I went to the parent/teacher conferences on Thursday while my dad came over to stay with the kids. Brett, Kendall and Kameron are all enjoying school and getting very good grades. ;o) Then on Friday to keep the children busy, we decided to take Mike to lunch and then the four of us went bowling.

Kendall and Kameron are continuing with their ballet class every week. They are learning a routine that they will perform at a recital in the middle of May. (I tried to post a video of part of their recital routine; however Blogger is acting up and not letting me post any videos. If I can get it to work, I'll post for all to see.) In addition to ballet, they are getting ready for soccer season and then teeball as they want to participate in both this year.

A few weeks ago, the girls joined the Daisy troop in our area. They have had several meetings and they seem to really be enjoying themselves. I registered (background check, etc.) to volunteer to assist with the troop and am enjoying attending the meetings as well as the other activities with them. The most recent activity that the troop had was a Movie and Popcorn Night. Lots of fun for all of the girls (plus it was nice for Brett and Mike to have a night to themselves). ;o)

London continues to keep us busy. She is fitting in very well with our family and she is doing pretty good with the whole house-training bit. She is growing like a weed -- when we got her she was about 3.5 pounds and now she is up to almost 6! She is great with the kids and we love her to pieces...

Time flies and we are busy having fun! ;o)

Wow! How in the world did the last few months go by so fast?! I looked at our blog and realized that I haven't updated since Halloween. Oops!

To bring everyone up-to-date on our lives from the beginning of November...

• the kids continue to do well in school and are really enjoying it. We are definitely keeping busy with homework in the afternoons/evenings.
• Brett continues to take a Tae Kwon Do class on Tuesday nights. He is finally getting the hang of it and really likes it. Over the past few weeks, Brett completed several different exercises that Master Kurtz had assigned and was able to get his initials written in Korean on his outfit (I know the outfit has a special name but I don't have a clue what it is). ;o) It is a very big deal to have this done and we are very proud of him!
• In the girls' Kindergarten class, each week there is a new Student of the Week. At the beginning of November, Kameron was selected as the Student of the Week and at the beginning of December, Kendall was selected. When they are the Student of the Week, they help the teacher out with various activities/projects, get the opportunity to each lunch with the principal, Dr. Nafziger, and also get an "award" which consists of getting a free item from McDonald's. Both of the girls are doing well in writing and learning to read and we are very proud of them!
  
• Kendall & Kameron are still taking ballet classes on Wednesday nights. They learn a new dance just about every week and are really enjoying the class. I am excited to see their recital in May!
• Brett is playing basketball this year. Mike is the assistant coach on Brett's team. It is really neat to watch both of them at the games. They practice on Thursday nights with games being held on Saturdays through March.
  
• I signed up to be a Room Parent for both Kendall & Kameron's class as well as Brett's class. For Christmas, I helped at the girls' party. I volunteered to make the cookies for all of the children to then decorate at the party. After baking 60 cookies, I was extremely happy that the children were going to decorate their own cookies at the party and I didn't have to. ;o) The party was really a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed watching our girls as well as their classmates play games, sing songs, and just enjoy themselves prior to the holiday break. For Brett's class, I have "volunteered" to be the coordinator for the Valentine's Day party. I'm a hoping that the planning will be easy and will hopefully fall into place. Keeping fingers crossed. ;o)
  
  Enjoying decorating their Christmas cookies.
  
• During the holiday season, I worked at Bath & Body Works (at Northwoods Mall). I absolutely love it! Besides the fact that the pay is almost non-existent, I really love interacting with people, helping them shop, working a few days a week on Mondays through Fridays during the hours the kids are in school (if they need me), and having no work stress. When I leave work, I am honestly leaving and don't have to worry at all about it. ;o) They have asked me to stay on staff and since Cat hasn't called me back, I accepted and will continue working there one to two days a week.
• On Thursday afternoons, I continue to volunteer in Kendall & Kameron's class for their Center Time. I love going in and working with not only our girls but also all of the other children in the class. I also volunteer with the parent helpers and assist in the elementary school and intermediate school offices when they need me. We have been lucky this year as many parents signed up to help, so I have only been going into each office about one time a month to help out.
• Over the holiday break, we all enjoyed sleeping in a spending lots of time together. Playing games, sledding, and just enjoying each other's company was absolutely wonderful! I was very sad when the break was over and Mike had to go back to work and the kids had to go back to school. ;o( Here's hoping the next vacation/break arrives quickly...
  
• We were lucky enough to be able to spend time with just about everyone in our family (except for Keri, Chris, Taylor and Pyper -- missed you all this year!) over the Christmas holiday. Fun times were had and memories were made that will last a lifetime!
  
  
• And last but not least, Mike and I decided to get the kids a puppy for Christmas. We fretted for several weeks (okay -- I fretted) on what type of puppy to get. I didn't want one that shed much and we had to be very careful as we weren't sure how allergic Kendall would be to the little one. We decided on a Cairn Terrier (just like Toto in the Wizard of Oz). On Christmas Eve morning, we took her up to the kids' rooms so she could wake them up. They were very surprised and extremely excited! ;o) We named her London in an attempt to help the kids remember all of our great times in England. So far so good... ;o)
  
  
  Crazy hair was had by all of the kids as we had just woken them up with the new puppy. ;o)
  

Well, I keep thinking that I am forgetting something...but I guess if I am, I'll create another post. Our 2009 turned out to be a wonderful year and we are looking very forward to a phenomenal 2010! We are truly blessed...

Happy Halloween 2009

I absolutely love that Halloween fell on a Saturday this year. It was wonderful being able to spend the day just hanging out as a family until it was time to get ready for trick-or-treating. I love not having to rush around. ;o)

We haven't ever lived in an area where there are a lot of trick-or-treaters so when Brett was very small, we started trick-or-treating on the street that my Mom and Mark live on in Pekin. Then for the past 2 years, we trick-or-treated near the Dea's house outside of Peterborough, England. (People in England don't really celebrate Halloween so it was nice to be able to go to their house as the people in their village would be prepared for all of the Americans and would have candy on hand to pass out.) This year, we have moved to an area where there are lots of trick-or-treaters. The kids and I headed out around 6 p.m. to one of the streets nearby and then about 7 p.m., we went back to our house so I could switch places with Mike (since he was handing out candy) and he could enjoy watching our kiddlies trick-or-treat on several other nearby streets. I loved listening to our kids say "trick-or-treat" as well as "thank you" to every house they went to. (They knew if they didn't that we were heading home.) All of the children that came to our house to get candy were also very well-mannered...love it! The kids had an absolute blast and we now have so much candy that we will probably be eating it for the next few months. ;o)

Brett dressed up as Harry Potter this year; Kendall dressed up as Supergirl; and Kameron dressed up as Batgirl. (Spray-painting Brett's hair black was a bit frightening to me as I wasn't 100% sold on the fact that it would come out with a few washings. In the end, it took about 6 good shampooings to get all of the color out. I would have washed it 100 times if needed to get it all out ... as our babies are definitely supposed to be blonde! ;o) )

Kindergarten field trip and activities

I am thoroughly enjoying my flexibility in being able to help out at the children's schools whenever they need me. I volunteer every Thursday for center time in the girls' Kindergarten class and then a couple times a month I help out in the office at both the Elementary School (where Kendall & Kameon go to school) and the Intermediate School (where Brett goes to school). On October 16, I attended the girls' class field trip to the Germantown Hills Fire Station. There are 17 children in their class and all of them were very well behaved. We rode the fire truck to the station and then were able to walk back to the school after the field trip was done. The fire chief explained to the kids what all of the things were that they use on fire/emergency calls and two of the firemen put their gear on in front of the kids which was great so the kids could see what the firemen look like and what they sound like with everything on so they don't become frightened if there is ever an emergency at their house. It turned out to be a great field trip!

The kids having story time as we wait for the fire truck to arrive.

All loaded up on the fire truck ready to head to the station.

Kendall enjoying being up on top of the fire truck.

Kameron wasn't as happy to be on top of the truck. ;o)

Class photo after the field trip (missing is the girls' teacher, Mrs. Stivers, who was taking the picture)

Mrs. Stivers took this photo of the girls in the class after they returned from the field trip. ;o)

I know I mention this very often, but Brett is really enjoying third grade and is getting wonderful grades. We are extremely pleased that this year is going so much better than the end of last year. ;o) Once a week, Brett continues to take a Tae Kwon Do class in Germantown Hills. He enjoys taking the class and is doing very well. In the picture below, he was receiving a new "tip" on his belt for accomplishing a task that Master Kurtz had set for him. ;o)