New belt - New class!

Laura is still cruising right along in Karate. In January, she earned a new belt (white with 2 gold stripes) and that moved her up to a new class also. This new class is full of very big, loud boys up to age 10 and she holds her own quite well. Here are some pictures from her "test" to get her newest belt.

My favorite picture

Hooray!

Colorado! Happy Happy Wedding

Did I mention I went to Colorado with Kim in January? Our cousin Matt married beautiful Beth and we thought it was a good chance to support them, see family that we haven't spent time with in years, see beautiful Colorado, and spend time with each other. Aside from altitude sickness, we had a very nice time and I loved every minute. 

Have you ever taken a really wrong turn, but found something super cool so you were so glad you messed up? Well, while Kim was hanging on to her lunch by a thread due to the altitude and car sickness from Denver to Buena Vista (locally pronounced B-you-na Vista), I followed Google Maps and drove us 45 minutes out of our way. But she held it down and we both momentarily forgot our issues and were awed by these awesome rock tunnels. 

I just love it when humans merge with nature, instead of flattening it.

We drove along a gorgeous creek that isn't given proper justice by this picture I may have taken while driving.

Don't see those in Minnesota! 

Gorgeous

Bam! There's my massive earring.

And two happy sisters!

A silly and pretty set of concrete furniture in a park.

And the headwaters of the Arkansas river (or Ar-KANSAS according to Jim). I could drop a stick and Mom and Dad could walk right out their door, down to the river, and watch it float by. I wonder how long it would take?  Crazy how connected this world is.

Bet you were expecting some pictures of the wedding, huh? Or at least family, or maybe the gorgeous lodge and Young Life ranch where we stayed? Oops. I have a few, very fuzzy pictures of the wedding, but they just don't give it justice. And I was way to busy relaxing at the lodge to worry about snapping pictures. But you'll have to trust me, everything was beyond lovely and perfect. I promise!

Adam and me at the Children's Theatre

I've been taking Laura to a few plays this year at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis. It has been so fun! This week, I took Adam to a special one for preschoolers. I wasn't sure how he'd like it, but it all turned out so wonderfully! 

When we arrived, they had puppet socks for us to wear over our socks.

Goofy

Silly

The play was titled The Biggest Little House in the Woods. It was one actress with some small puppets and super cool set. The kids were enraptured or giggling the entire time. It included bubbles, pillow fights, enormous sneezes, stomping to make thunder, all perfect things for a 4 year old boy to enjoy.  There were benches for the kids to sit in front, and Adam just went up and sat himself down like he belonged there. I'm telling you, he has grown so much more confident this school year. It feels good.

After, we went to Laura's and my favorite diner nearby called The Bad Waitress. 

And we even got to sit at Spiderman's table!

What a great date!

Snow Fun

Butterflies

Two of the butterflies are still hanging in there. 

I think they have gone dormant waiting for sunshine and warmth, which will never come in their lifetime.

But its pretty neat to have these little guys around still.

Superheroes

Adam has settled nicely into a world of Superheroes and Villains. Correction, Adam is obsessed with Superheroes and Villains. We recently joined a new gym and the Kid's Room attendant lets him watch Batman cartoons. That's fine with me because it is the first place in 4 years that he willingly walks in, no screaming, hitting, running away, etc. This is a huge improvement in all our lives and has actually carried over into him getting out of the car by himself at preschool too. Wow, what a difference. Yes, I am A-OK with a little Batman if this is the result.

Anyways, via Netflix and Youtube, we have also discovered original Batman episodes and Spiderman cartoons from the 80s. Its amazing how much more innocent those are than some of the stuff on today. So its pretty much dawn to dusk superheroes.

A typical morning conversations goes like this:

Me: "Good morning Adam."

Adam: "Do you want to be Magneto or The Joker? You can be whichever you want. But do you maybe want to be Magneto?"

Me: "I'm going to make coffee."

I remember Laura's pretending phase. Actually it never ended, she just started school and doesn't have as much time. I  mentioned it here and here. I must admit I am better at pretending superheroes than I was at horses, seals, dogs, or whatever Laura was interested in that day. Superheroes can still do regular people stuff. For example, Spiderman can fold his laundry and Firestar can cook dinner while talking to Mr. Freeze.

An interesting thing about pretending with both of them right now. Adam is soooo good about playing along with the game. What I mean is, he will "faint" when sprayed by fainting gas, or "freeze" when hit with a shot of ice from IceMan. And I do the same when it hits me. Laura, on the other hand, always manages to out maneuver the stuff you send her way and just can't be brought down. Its always "you missed me, you missed me!" Jim tried to explain that to play this kind of pretend, you sometimes have to let yourself get hit. She doesn't really get it. I wonder why it is so natural for Adam?

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

 

The Side Bar

First, a request...
If you visit a country other than USA and you have time and access to a computer, would you please open this blog once while you are there? I'm not trying for lots of readers here, that's not the purpose of this blog. But I do have a gadget at the bottom that tells me where people are when they open it and I'm  kind of silly about collecting different countries. In fact, the Finland and Estonia flags are from me last year, so its not like I have a dedicated Finnish reader. Michelle opened it in Canada, which made giddy. So, if you happen to get a chance, it would really make my day. Thanks very much!

Second...
I started collecting the names of the books I read last June. You can see them in the side column and I've tried to keep updating it.  It has been so much fun for me. I have used it to go back and remember authors I want to read more, or series I want to continue, or books to recommend to friends. If I like a book enough to finish it, it is on the list. If I don't like a book, I have no problem returning it to the library the minute I decide its not for me, so it won't show up on the list. I really think I'll try to continue this list forever. I'd love to have a lifetime book list (at least from age 34 on).

Hello there