The Miracle of the Moon

One night as we left Grandma's house, the boys ran ahead to get in the van (this was around Christmas and they were highly motivated to get home and play with their new toys).  It was a beautiful moonlit night with clouds moving through the sky.  When I came outside, Ehren and Christian were both standing beside the van saying, "Mom, Mom, look at the moon.  It's moving!  Mom, it's really moving."  I tried to convince them that is was the clouds that were moving, not the moon, but then they took it up and notch, and said, "No just look, Mom.  It's a miracle."  On my second trip back into the house, Anna overheard me laughing about this with my Mom and Bara.  She marched out and told the boys very matter of factly, "It's just the clouds moving, not the moon."  But they were not convinced.

Our Own Stanley Cup for Superbowl Sunday

I think we might have a new Superbowl Sunday tradition.  For the second year in a row, we were invited to our friends' house for Superbowl Sunday.  This year, we decided to play our own family hockey game before the watching the football game.  I wish I had pictures, but I forgot my camera.  Besides, I was too busy sliding around on the pond ice trying to stay upright on my skates {holding a hockey stick does help a lot}. 

It was a perfect day for pond hockey with the temperature holding at around 28 degrees {balmy skating weather and no mushy ice}.  Picture twelve of us out there skating:  a three year old, 2 four year olds, 3 six year olds, a third grader, a sixth grader, and 4 adults.  We played two games, and it was really fun.  Even Anna was out there skating around with a stick and a puck.  Thanks neighbors for a great day!

One Thousand and Three

Tonight my little kisser, Christian said, "Mom, ever since I was a baby 'til now, it was 1000 kisses [that he has given me]."  Then he kissed my cheek three quick times in a row and said, "There.  1003."

Travel Notes - Cozumel Mexico

The second port of call on our recent cruise was Cozumel, Mexico.  Dan and I have been to Cozumel before.  Frankly, aside from the wonderful weather, it's not our favorite stop {it's crazy commercialized}.  The good news is that our ship docked near the town center of San Miguel, so we could take a casual stroll around the shops and restaurants without paying a cab fare. 

The bad news is that passengers are herded through a two-story, winding shopping maze when leaving the ship.  It's ridiculous.  I was so lost that for a minute, I wasn't even sure when I was out on the real street or which direction the town square was.

I had only three goals while in Cozumel:

1)  Find some wi-fi so I could check in at home and see how the kids were doing.
2)  Get the kids a souvenir.
3)  Drink one nice cold beer at a nice cheap Mexican price.

Dan was only interested in goal number 2 and 3 and then he wanted back on the ship to do some quiet poolside reading while all the other people were off the ship.  Here's how we fared.  First, we rode the escalator into Senor Frogs because they advertised free wi-fi, and of course, they have beer.  However, we didn't stay because the music was so loud that there was no way I could sit and quietly nerd out on my iPod.  It was lucky we left because on our way out I heard someone say that a drink there cost $15.

We re-focused on goal number 2 and bought the boys some Spiderman Mexican wrestling masks at a street stand.  Then, after enjoying a cold one, Dan went back to the ship, while I continued shopping.  As a woman alone, I felt like a total spectacle, but I really didn't feel unsafe.  After a lot of wandering in town, I bought Anna a pink dolphin scarf and a little dolphin bracelet at a dollar store {ok, it was a street shop that had a handwritten cardboard sign that said "dollar store"}.  Before re-boarding the ship, I wandered back to the unadventurous comfort of Starbucks for some iced tea and wi-fi.

What is That "X" Again?

Watching your kids learn is so exciting!  Here's what happened at our house the other night.  Christian saw a multiplication equation on TV, and asked me, "What's that 'x' mean again?"  I said it meant "times" but knew I had to find a way to explain it.  The boys have story problems in their homework every night, so I know how they go... I drew the picture below and said, "Here are three baskets of strawberries.  How many baskets are there?"  He answered, "three."  I wrote that down and continued, "How many strawberries are in each basket?"  He answered "two."  Going for the finish, I said, "So if I have three baskets and there are two strawberries in each one, how many strawberries do I have?"  He answered correctly, and I wrote down the rest of the equation {or number sentence, if you're a first grader}. 

I added another basket, walked him through the equation, and kept talking, hoping he was understanding the concept.  {Are you admiring my phenomenal art skills yet?}

Then I said, do you want to do a really tough one?  Of course he couldn't resist a challenge, so I drew the picture below and asked him to write the number sentence.  He wrote it immediately and with the right answer!

I asked him if he could draw his own picture with a number sentence.  He did this one, and thought it was pretty funny.  {When you're used to 1 + 1 = 2, it's hilarious that 1 x 1 = 1.}

I didn't know this stuff until third grade.

Little Milestones

Anna has had a big week.  She started "Learn to Skate" at the beginning of January.  This is where, once a week, prospective preschool hockey players learn how to skate.  {I know, crazy to put those words together:  preschool + hockey?  When I married my husband, I honestly didn't know I was going to have preschool hockey players in my house.  He's a truly amazing hockey dad.  I'm still working up to the title of hockey mom.}  Anyway, after skating, Anna burst through the door throwing her coat off and talking a mile a minute.  I was on the phone at the time and I couldn't understand anything she was was saying, but I heard, "Mom!  Mom!  Moooooommmmm!...."  After hanging up the phone and getting her to slow down, I found out that she made the leap from shuffling on the ice to actually gliding on her skates.  Father and daughter were both excited.

Then last night Dan and I took Anna to Kindergarten Roundup.  All I can say is wow, baby to Kindergarten in no time flat.  I can't believe all our kids will be in school next year!  It was fun to see her with all her future classmates.

We Officially Have a First Grader

That's right.  As of tonight, Ehren is missing one of his two front teeth, so in my book that makes him look like an official first grader.  Dad (otherwise known as Dr. Dan because he fearlessly performs all the gruesome medical tasks in our house) helped him yank it right out.  Yuck.