Our Spelling Bee Champion!

Natalie came home from school with a list of words a while back. She wanted to be in the all Kindergarten spelling bee at her school. Well, she never wanted to study much until the week of the event - so every night last week we practiced with her until she didn't want to do it anymore. The night of the event arrived and we got there to see that she was the very first name on the list so she had to go first. She stepped up to the microphone and spelled her first word correctly "m-e". She didn't even seem very nervous even though there were about 200 people there. The second round she got "hug", then "milk", then "off", and then came the one that did her in - "away". By this time there were only three kids left so she had to have a spell-off for fourth place. She got the word "knot" as in I have a knot in my shoelace (pretty tricky for someone kindergarten). She stepped up to the microphone and confidently said "k-n-o-t". I think the crowd was a little surprised because people let out a little cheer when she got it right. The other boy got "want" and spelled it wrong so Natalie is the alternate for the district spelling bee (which will be in May while we're in Utah). We were so proud of her for being so brave and being able to get up and actually think in front of all those people. We're pretty sure she was the crowd favorite because she looked so cute up there - but we're biased so you can judge for yourself! Great job Natalie!

Lincoln

We were in the car yesterday going to UW campus to pick up Kurt driving through the U district where there are always a LOT of people everywhere. Lincoln is in the back seat pointing out whatever he sees.
Lincoln-"Look mom there's a bus"
Mom-"yep there's a bus"
Lincoln "Look mom there's someone riding a bike!"
Mom-"yeah, lots of people ride bikes around here."
Lincoln "Look mom there's a giant dinosaur and he's trying to eat all those people! They are running away very fast!"
mom-"oh really?"
Lincoln-"just kidding there isn't a dinasaur. But there is a lot of people."

Lincoln loves to have control of things. He gets a little weird when he feels like things are not working like he wants. One morning a while back he woke up sometime around 6:30 and came into my room. I told him to come get in bed with me. After a few seconds I started to doze back off but then hear this slapping sound. Lincoln is smacking himself in the face. I ask him why he's hitting himself and he says, "My eyes won't stay open!" I tell him that it's because he woke up too early and he needs to go back to sleep. He proceeds to slap his face and his head jams back and bangs me in the lip. So then I say, "Lincoln! You just hurt mommy! Please stop hitting yourself" He continues but now he is out of bed doing a sort-of break dance move only he's really smacking and kicking at himself.
Seriously? Completely absurd.

Ok my last Lincoln story--I am the Primary chorister so I am constantly saying, "Ok I am going to call on whoever is most reverent." So the other day Lincoln wanted to take a page of stickers to the daycare at the gym. He said he wanted to pass them out. After we checked in and right as he's walking through the gate he says loudly raising them up above his head, "I have stickers for whoever is good today." Then later that week we had homemade rolls--the kids favorite--and we were telling L he could only have another roll if he ate some of his other food first. He reached and grabbed one anyway. Dad started coming over to him so he quickly raised the roll up high and announced, "This is for whoever is the most reverent" Kurt had already grabbed it so he says, "Dad was the most reverent!" really quickly. He cracks us up.

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Why I go to the gym to work out

Ever since I started working out at the gym regularly I've had a several people ask me why I don't just work out at home. Friday, I had to, and was reminded why I cannot count on a good work out at home. It starts with an L and rhymes with Lincoln. I decided I would put Maya down and stick Lincoln in front of the TV and run stairs and work out on my step and jump rope, then do some weights since Maya's nose was running pretty bad. (I think it's because she's teething but who knows) Anyway, the pictures can tell you how well the step workout went. And as for the stair exercise, he thought we were racing. I always beat him up the stairs but then he would slide on his fanny and be so proud to beat me down. I tripped on him several times and we are lucky nobody was injured. I have to say, though, that I wore him out. After racing for a bit he said it was time to take a rest and I'd say, "nope come on, we're exercising" and he'd get up and run up the stairs again. He was ready for bed for sure last night. . . And it is so worth every penny I spend to have a gym membership that includes babysitting.

snow day

I woke up last night around 3am and saw that it had dumped about a half foot of snow. I hardly watch the news lately so I really didn't expect it at all. Natalie, Lincoln, Maya, and I all bundled up and headed out to play in it. Maya wouldn't try to walk in it so she just stayed in that spot while she watched us make angels and throw snow at each other. She was so happy and intrigued by it all. I made her her own snow ball and she kept chattering with every sentence ending with a very clear "ball." She looked like a marshmallow in her suit----thanks Ginger!--- and she was so warm. After awhile I made her a little chair out of the snow and she just sat there and jabbered at us.

Natalie

Natalie lost her first tooth a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure who was more excited Kurt or Natalie. He used some floss to finish the job--at first it didn't work, the floss kind-of got stuck in there so I whispered to him to just yank it, he did, and it came right out. After a few tears she was very excited for the tooth fairy. It's so cute to me when she smiles. I can't believe she's so old!


So lately Natalie has been trying out new words. When we were walking home from the bus stop today I asked her why her hair-band was so far back on her head and she said, "Ben" and sighed. I asked who Ben was and she started dropping her new favorite word. She said, "Oh it's this boy that I always end up sitting by on the bus or at school. He's so distracting."---her new word. I asked her if he actually pushed her head-band back on her head and she said that he did and that he was only nice if she talked about pikachu. "If I don't talk about pikachu he's mean and so distracting." I'm not really sure if she knows the full meaning of the word or if she absolutely does. She cracks me up.

Lincoln's prayer

I just got done putting the kids down. I haven't been really good about making them say their prayers with me I just occasionally remind them that they should as I turn off the lights and close the door. But tonight I decided to make sure they said their prayers and asked Lincoln to say his with me. He said, "Heavenly Father, thank thee that Christ likes me, bless that no people will go in the bushes." and then he ended. After he was done I asked him what he said because I thought I heard him wrong but he said word for word the same phrases and then looked concerned and said, "oh sorry I'm going to say another one. I was glad because I thought maybe he would elaborate on the bush people. He said, "Heavenly Father, thank thee that Christ likes me and mommy, and bless that no people go in the bushes" then he ended and looked at me like--better? So I guess we all have Lincoln to thank when we see all the people-less bushes everywhere.