It's me and you, just us two: September 2008

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Random pictures from my trip

Olivia hanging out on Grandpa & Grandma's swing

Jack's first attempt at our self portrait

Much better!!!

Michael, Friday night at the football game. I had to trick him into this little bit of a smile- it was a boring game

Carter watching his big brothers playing flag football- or he may have been playing with the Cheerios in his tray :o)

On Saturday morning, the older boys had flag football games. Michael played first- he is really good at football although that is really not a surprise since he seems to be good at most athletic things. After his game, he helped Jason coach Jack's team. Jack will probably not be the Olympic athlete in the family but he certainly has fun while he is on the field. Both games were fun to watch though and I am glad I was able to get back to see them!

Jack's Game- he is in a black vest with red flags- usually pretty close to Jason

Michael's game- he is in an orange vest over a tank top with jeans

Olivia's Cheerleading Debut

Olivia took a cheerleading clinic and they were performing at the Friday high school football game. They had 3 cheers and rotated the lines between cheers so each group of girls had the chance to be in front. It was cute and I am glad to know there might be another cheerleader in the family! :o)

Jack's "Breaking Show"

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While we were at Grandpa & Grandma's house on Friday, Jack found a small stick and was breaking it. He decided to get a new stick from the front yard and wanted me to take pictures of his "Breaking Things Show". He started with the breaking-over-the-knee method which had previously worked. When that failed, he tried the grunting-while-breaking-over-the-knee method. Again, the stick was still in one piece so he went for the traditional breaking-by-hand method but again had to adjust his grip- the stick was very stubborn! He decided to use the table to help get it started and when that didn't work, he went for the shoe method. After a short intermission in the show (where Aunt Melissa broke the stick part way) Jack finished the show with a grand karate chop! The next show included breaking leaves :o) The first one was breaking it with his teeth (yes, he has a leaf in his mouth) and the next trick was to break the a leaf with his nose :o)

Kitchen Helpers

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Michael, Olivia, and Jack love to help in the kitchen. These pictures are from the day we were taking a lunch with us so they got to make the sandwiches. The first ones are from making their own, showing them off, and then making the rest of the sandwiches for us. While I typically have a rule that I don't like to eat things kids make, they did a great job and the sandwiches were delicious.
We also made Rice Krispie treats one night which is a great lesson not only for kitchen rules but also great practice for the math lessons they were all learning. We practiced addition, subtraction, and fractions- who knew they could be so educational. What did Aunt Melissa learn you ask? Why it is important to butter the waxed paper before you try to use it to press the hot, gooey mess into the pan!
For my last full day there, we made Halloween cupcakes- white cupcakes with orange and black inside, white frosting, and monster sprinkles on top. Jack and Olivia were pretty excited to break eggs and Michael got to use the mixer. After they were mixed, Michael helped me scoop the batter into the Halloween baking cups and then the three of them sat in the kitchen to watch the timer.... for 23 minutes each pan :o) The second pan was more exciting because I got a second by second countdown of the timer! Once they cooled off, Jack and Olivia frosted them (with a little help from me) and then applied the monster sprinkles that Jack picked out. If you remove the mess that I made trying to clean the mixer off and the 1/4 of the bottle of sprinkles that Jack knocked all over the counter and the floor, we did a great job!!! Everyone loved them after dinner and Jack was pleased that Grandpa John ate the cupcake that he had made just for him. It was a lot of fun to be in the kitchen with the kids! :o)