Movie Night

Last night we had movie night in our house.  The boys get really excited about it.  We get blankets and pillows out, which they took to mean that we move furniture for every possible blanket in the house.  The first time they started tearing apart bed, so we had to draw the line somewhere.  Now, they get every pillow and blanket allowed, and stuffed animals if they are in the mood.  This time, they were.

We watched Home Alone.  In the past we have watched How To Train Your Dragon, Short Circuit, The Muppet Movie, The Last Starfighter, to name a few.  And Kevin and I were surprised (again) how different a movie is from the perspective of a parent!  The boys LOVED Home Alone, but I didn't remember cursing (so much inappropriate language!), a body being shot, and the kid shooting the gun.  But movies are different for kids, and I am pretty certain they will remember it as I did, as a fun Christmas movie. 

They throw anything they want from upstairs over the balcony.  This wasn't even everything.

The pre-movie set up.

Colin later turned all the animals so they were facing the tv.

Eating pizza, and later popcorn.  

One more thing worth noting - Gwyneth went crazy during the movie.  There is something about movie nights that make her more hyper than usual nights.  She spent about 20 minutes running laps around the house while giggling, another 10 minutes spinning and falling down, and would stop to dance whenever there was music.  She never really sat down at all.

Jacksonville Marathon

Kevin and I went to Florida this past weekend for the Jacksonville Marathon.  We flew out on Friday night, and then returned Sunday.  Kevin did fantastic in his race!  His final time was 2:53, which means that he qualified for Boston!  Our flight left about 5 hours after he finished.  He says the flight home was the worst part of the trip.  I made him run from one connecting flight to another in Atlanta.  (We were at different concourses, and our landing time was the same as our boarding time.  Kevin still says we could have made it without running.)  This made his side hurt for a few hours.  I feel bad about it, but I get way to anxious when I travel, and I was doing so much for him that I was needing control over something for me.

The race was very organized, and it was pretty easy to get around.  I was able to see him 5 times during the race.  The cops were all very nice to the spectators, helped with directions, and just told us to park in the grass to see the runners.  It was so strange though, because they didn't close the roads, so there were still a few cars in the neighborhoods.  (The busier roads had lanes closed.)  Even though it was hot and humid, a decent portion of the race was in the shade.  (Not enough, but a lot.)  I was always too nervous to get pictures when he was running, so I only ended up with a few.  For those who have not waited to see your marathoner run by, and know how he is doing on time/pacing, it is anxiety-inducing.  My mom has only been the one at the finish line with me, and I am pretty much a wreck.  This race ended in a stadium, around a high school track.  As soon as I saw Kevin enter I just yelled his name.  Then I started screaming him on.  (He heard me!)  When he finished I was in tears I was so proud of him.  This is is 3rd marathon, and he has been training for this specific marathon for about 10 months.  No late-night weekends, long runs on Saturdays, running when the kids go to bed, all of it is unreal.  Not to mention that Kevin took a UMR class this semester that had an intense workload.

It is surreal now that it is all over.  Afterwards, he took an ice bath, a long hot shower, and then I had to get him in the car to get food and to the airport.  We got home, got kids, put them to bed, and he returned to work the next day.  It doesn't feel like anything is different.  It went by so fast, and so different from his previous marathons, which were both in St. Louis.  But he did it, and his family is extremely proud of him, even if he is acting like a runner about it.  (Which means, he is rethinking the race constantly, thinking about what he could have done to shave time off here and there.)  This means he is not really satisfied, and is frustrating to me.  He did so much work, took about 20 minutes off his 1st marathon time, easily qualified for Boston, and still is disappointed in himself.  I learned years ago that it would be this way, but for a wife it is perplexing, and a let down.  The kids and I want to celebrate and be happy, and we miss out on that with him.  But he knows we are proud, and that we love him, and that we will support him again.  Just don't run a marathon for a year or so.  (Please?)

A lot of the race looked like this, through neighborhoods.  In the very back is Kevin, I think. 

Only a person who ran 26 miles can sleep comfortably like this.

Bedtime... Again.

After Gwyn's bath tonight, the boys took turns taking showers.  While Colin was showering, Kevin took Gwyn into her room and read her books.  She was even doing the hand motions for some of them!  She LOVED it.  Then, when Kevin was in the shower, Colin read to Gwyn.  Colin, to no one's surprise, was still nekkid.  So I had to get a picture.  And I included Gwyn's bed.  (She is moving into her toddler bed over winter break.)  A girl who loves books this much has a bed that looks like hers.  And she adds a new one every few days.

I am also adding a few door hangers.  Kevin made sure than Gwyn's room had the penguin.  And one of the boys even put the gingerbread man in the gingerbread bathroom!

Zoo Wild Lights 2012

We have a new December tradition, which is going to our zoos Wild Lights. (Here is last year's post.) This year is our 5th year attending. We arrive at the zoo at 6:00, eat dinner, walk to the cafe that has desserts, and then walk around the zoo.  (The best year was two years ago when it was about 12 degrees outside, because so few people were there.)  This year was warmer than normal, and no children broke down in tears.  (Unlike last year.)  Kevin is no longer terrified of the people dressed up as animals, but Gwyn screams and clings to me if she can even see them.  I like it for the snuggle factor, but no for the terror factor. Here are a few pictures.

Aunt Kelly Birthday

Bath Time

Bath time pretty much works like clockwork around here.  One parents can do all three kids pretty successfully, without even having a drink afterwards.  Gwyn gets her bath.  Then while she is getting books, the boys take turns in the shower.  They still need help rinsing all the shampoo out, but they are getting better. 

Gwyn's hair still has some curl to it, so I got a picture to show.  (Here and here are previous pictures of her curls.) 

Which led to being chased by Bubby...

Which led to following him everywhere he went...

Which led to finally saying good night to everyone to then get pajamas on...

Which led to a dance party while reading Barnyard Dance!

Too Beautiful For December

The past few days have been in the 70's.  And it is December!  (Why couldn't we have waited until this weekend to put up decorations?  It was about 30 when we did it.)  So that past two days we have gotten up from naps early and out of the house by 3:30 to get outside.  Yesterday we went for a walk and wagon-pull on the Katy Trail.  Today we went to Creve Ceour Park for bike rides. 

The boys just rode ahead and then would wait for us to catch up.

Gwyn got to choose between the wagon and stroller.  She chose this!

Ever since Zoo Camp in July, Colin wears his cheetah mask EVERY TIME he is on his bike.  It is adorable, and typical Colin!  One very kind person even commented on it.

He was too hot after a while and pulled his mask down.  And, of course, he kept talking to me.

Bye Bye Blanchette Bridge

The Blanchette Bridge is near our house, and it is being torn down!  It is old, and, guess what is being used to tear it down?  Explosives!  So naturally, I took the boys to see the first chunk come down. 

 Last Sunday, at 10:15 the first explosion went off.  We were on a nearby hill with Gwyn and about 150 other people.  At about 10:14:27, a very tall man moved to the front and stood in front of us and 20 other people.  It made everyone start to stand up, so I didn't get a picture of the blast.  But here are some pictures!

The right side is carrying both directions of traffic.

Boom!

Ummm... I thought the bridge was coming down.  Turns out, just the first part was going down, and none of the trusses went down that day.  Darn it.  That would have been cool to see.  I almost wish we were down lower so we could have seen it fall into the river.

You can kind of see the missing part.

Now you can see it!  We went to the river to see what came down.

We went down and then up those stairs.  And, as usual, Gwyn had to do everything her brothers did.  Including walking up and down by herself.

The best part? Throwing rocks at the puddle near the construction vehicle.

Colin Reading

Kevin is reading, and has been for a while now.  He has books that he reads each night at bedtime.  (Or throughout the day.)  Well, Colin has wanted to join in.  So now he has about 5 books that he has memorized.  (For those who don't know, this is a stage in learning to read!)  He points to the correct words and everything.  I love it. 

For my mom's birthday the boys each decided to do a nice deed for her.  Colin's choice was to read books to Gwyn.  Here are some pictures.  She LOVED it!

Also, Sunday night Colin pretended to be a monkey.  So when it came time to read his book at bedtime, he read each page as "Who who ha ha."  This kid is amazing.

Gwyn Throws A Fit

We are getting used to Gwyn throwing a fit.  She has perfected it.  At first it was just in grocery stores, but it has spread to our house and places we visit.  Here is what it is.  She just lies down and cries dramatically.  We have yet to respond to it, but she hasn't picked up on that part yet.  It just makes me laugh!

Obviously, this one was on laundry night.

Our Bed & Breakfast

Ever since we were dating, Kevin and I have had a bed and breakfast that we have gone to about once a year.  We usually don't even tell people the name of it, but since it is closing we wanted to blog about it.

We found out in June that Linda and Alan were going to stop running Dear's Rest Bed and Breakfast at the end of 2012.  They had been running it for about 20 years, and we have been going for 8 years.  We planned on going for many more years, but this was a second career after their first retirements, and they are ready to move on.  We have some fun memories there.  The cabin is Amish-built and located in Ozark, MO s few miles south of Springfield.  It is for one group at a time, sleeping up to 6.  (2 on the main floor and 4 in the loft.)  So your don't share anything with anyone.  It has a hot tub on the deck that overlooks the hills.  They have always had Sandy, their dog, whom we love to see.  This time there was a cat named Hemmingway.  Linda found him near starvation a few months ago.  They have a wood-burning fireplace that Alan makes sure is going when we arrive on cold evenings.  (It reminds me of when I was younger, so I like to take care of the fire, even if I don't get to very often.)

The first time we went, we were dating.  (It was a few weeks before we got engaged.)  The next time we were married.  We went on a hike and I was exhausted!  We found out a few days later I was pregnant with Kevin.  The next time we showed up,  we had a four month old baby!  The next time I was pregnant with Colin!  We always had something new!

Most of our time is spent watching cable tv, and almost always HGTV.  The other time is spent in the hot tub or in line at Lambert's Cafe, which is a few miles away.  We have explored the small town nearby, walked to the stream to feed the fish (and local dog),  hiked, swam, and 8 years ago was the first time we saw or played the game Ladder Ball.  We drove to Springfield to go shopping one time, and another time we saw a movie (Avatar). We have only been there with another couple once.  The Kerr's went with us one summer.  That was right after the pool was added.

Since our first visit in 2004, they have updated many things!  They have added an outdoor room (a small enclosure in the woods with an opaque roof and screened-in walls.  It has both chairs and a hammock.  Great for reading!), a waterfall by that room, an in-ground pool, a fire pit, an upgrade on the tv, wireless internet, paved paths from the car to the house and from the house to the pool, and probably more. 

Here are some pictures.  We don't have any from the outside :( because we were too busy getting video.  We will miss it!

Kevin in the blue chair we used to fight over, before the couch upgrade.

Av view of the living room and fire place.

View of the kitchen and dining area, from behind the blue chair.  The stairs to the loft are included.  The entire cabin is Amish-built, so there are no nails.  Very cool to see!

Hot tub from the dining area.

View of the hills in autumn.  The picture does not do it justice!

Gwyn's Hair

She really doesn't like her hair in her face, so Gwyn's hair is almost always pulled back.  I try to keep it down the day after a bath, but it ends up soon after breakfast. At bath Sunday, I actually saw her with her hair down.  I feel like I never get to do that, so I took some pictures to share.

Halloween 2012

If you remember, last year Kevin was a mummy, Colin was Batman, and Gwyn was supposed to be a ladybug.  She screamed every time we put the costume on her.  Well, she must have remembered that.  The first time I walked towards her with the bumble bee costume, she turned and cried.  We finally broke down and tried to put her in it, hoping she would calm down.  The pictures pretty much explain it.  In the end, I just told people she was going as a temperamental teenager.

As for the boys, they were Hulk and Wolverine.  One afternoon I was waiting for Kevin at the bus stop.  Colin came out wearing his Hulk costume.  It was adorable to see this miniature Hulk yelling "Mommy!"

Gwyn Helps With Laundry Again

Why I Love Kindergarten

Outer space with a rocket and aliens.

More rockets and the moon.

His monster.

"I like rain play because it is fun."

"I made a snow angel."

"I like to go down the waterslide." (Or as he thinks, waterflied.)

"I like to jump in a pile of leaves."

"I like summer.  I like to play in the pool."

Something about how artworks transforms in school.  His people are actual people, not sticks anymore.  (But those pictures are still adorable.) But nothing can top the phonetic spelling!