Look what he's learned now...

Before we know it, spring will be here, followed quickly by summer and then fall again.  This fall Michael will be starting Kindergarten so I've been working with him on certain things to make sure he is as ready as possible.  Yesterday we were working on counting to 100... (we have a long way to go), I tried to motivate him by saying, "Michael if you work on counting to 50, I'll teach you how to tie your shoes."  Just like that he became completely motivated.  And a few minutes later I was showing him how to tie his shoes. 

The approach to tying shoes has changed since I learned many years ago.  When I learned we just did one loop followed by the other lace, wrapping around the loop, in the hole and pulling the lace through.  Not anymore.  Thankfully, last year with Gabriel's Kindergarten prep class, we (Gabriel, Dad and I) learned the correct way to teach the art of tying shoes.

Immediately Michael picked up tying and I think after showing him three times how to do it, he had it down.  I thought he might forget in the coming days and that we'd have to have a refresher course in a few weeks or months.  Instead, today when I picked him up from school he said, "Mom, can I tie your shoes when we get home?"

So when we get home, we used Gabriel's shoes and he went to work again.  Here's Michael showing us what we learned, yesterday, without mom having to help or remind him at all... (Oh and never mind the sighs in the background... that's just Gabriel complaining about the amount of homework he has.  Funny thing was I didn't even notice he was doing it until I watched the video myself.  I guess what they say is true... parents can become experts at tuning certain things out.)

Dad and I are very proud that Michael picked up this so quickly.  Sometimes being the second child, you don't get the same attention as the first one when you learn something new.  So we wanted to recognize Michael's effort.

Great job Honey!  Dad and I are proud of you.

Until next time,
Angie

Michael's observance....

Today after picking Michael up from school I asked him how his day was and he said the usual "I don't know."

And then I followed up with my second question of everyday, "What did you learn today?"
Expecting the same answer I usually get every other day, I was surprised when he answered differently.

"Mom, did you know that girls smell sometimes and sometimes they toot*?  That is what I learned today.  Raven told me."

*Toot is our word for passing gas

Trying to contain my laughter, I responded, "Wow that is great honey. I'm glad you're learning so much."

Completely moving on Michael responded, "Mom, do you toot?"

Until next time,
Angie

F1 Race Factory...

While our guests from Iowa were visiting we took them to F1 Race Factory for some adult racing fun...

I'll let the pictures tell most of the story and I think they'd prefer I didn't share how everyone finished...

Trying to find the right sized helmet... was the first challenge.

Excited much?  It is hard to tell but my brother was very excited to race.

While others planed their racing strategy...

my brother gave the competition dirty looks to "try" and intimidate them.

but he ran into a problem when his big head couldn't fit into the helmet.

The before race photo

Ready...Set...GO!!!!

 And meanwhile the boys begged and pleaded to let them drive the race cars.  Even though the place has a rule that you have to be older than 10 or 12 to drive, the boys were convinced we could get the employees to bend that rule. Gabriel said, "Mom, maybe if we say please please please they will let Michael and me drive."  And then Michael tried... "See Mom, the helmet fits, I can drive."

 But thanks to Grandma we were able to satisfy them.  Grandma and the boys spent some great quality time at the arcade.  And here they were able to race...

Until next time,
Angie

PS:  Jonas, don't you love your big sister who you can always count on to embarrass you?

Hall of Flame...

After Christmas Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jonas, Kacey (Jonas' girlfriend) and the employees of their business came out to visit for a few days.  Of the group there were 3 current or retired firefighters so we decided to visit the Hall of Flame museum.  Although from the outside it doesn't look too impressive, once inside we were thrilled and completely impressed with all of the cool firefighter memorabilia and trucks the museum has.  Plus the people working there were super nice and even gave us a personalized guided tour.

We were able to see firetrucks from the late 1800's and even one of the firetrucks they brought down on train from Milwaukee WI to Chicago to help fight the Great Chicago Fire.  The tour guide told us many stories about each of the trucks and even showed us a truck they have from Iowa.  It was really neat and I think everyone enjoyed it.  Although we were limited on time, we didn't get to see everything in the museum so I think we'll be going back again.

For anyone locally who hasn't been there, I'd definitely recommend it.  The boys keep asking us to take them back there.  It may just be because of the "real fireman's suit" (for kids) they have for sale in the gift shop but I think they liked looking at all the cool trucks too!

Until next time,
Angie

Baseball for Michael

We've gone through two seasons of baseball and through both of them Michael watched Gabriel closely.  Now, it is finally Michael's turn to give Dad's favorite game a try...

Michael was really excited to have his first game (just in case you couldn't tell).

And Aunt Anita came to watch him.  He was happy to have some fans!

Now that it was Gabriel's turn to watch, turns out he doesn't think it is very much fun and was sad he couldn't play.

Until next time,
Angie

Flossing...

This morning after showers and breakfast I asked the boys to go brush and floss (attempt that is) their teeth.  In record time Gabriel was in and back out of the bathroom.  Knowing that he couldn't have successfully finished either of those tasks, I asked...

"Gabriel did you floss?"
Yelling from the other room he responded, "No Mom.  See I'm so good at brushing my teeth, I don't have to floss." 

Guess we'll let his dentist decide that.

Until next time,
Angie

Snack please...

I'm not sure if it is just because they are boys or if it is just the way our boys are.  The truth is they are hungry all the time.  People joke and tell me to wait until they are teenagers.  I'm not joking when I respond, "I know, I"m seriously thinking about a part time job at a grocery store just to get an employee discount on food."

It no longer surprises me that one of the first things out of each of their mouths on the way home from school is, "Can I have a snack? I'm hungry."

I try to give the boys options of what to snack on... yogurt, crackers, grapes, even cereal.  And although the boys love the choices above, the other day I had to laugh at what Gabriel picked out of the fridge to eat.

Here's a picture that shows what he chose...

It looks like an apple... but it isn't.

It's actually a tomato!

And when I asked him if he wanted me to slice it up, he said, no mom I want to eat it all.

I can never imagine as a 6-yr-old wanting to have a tomato, in fact I can't even imagine as an adult wanting a plain tomato.  The kid loves his fruit and I guess that means tomato's included (tomato is still a fruit right?)

Until next time,
angie