Our day with Natalie!

So my dear friend Jamie had to go out of town for business. All the way to Idaho, I hope she doesn't get lost. In the meantime, her daughter, Natalie, gets to stay with us. She got here at 8 this morning. Luckily, they go to school at 9 so I didn't totally go insane. After school we did homework, some computer time and then for dinner we played "Restaurant". Best game ever if you are baby sitting. I typed up a menu and let them order what they wanted. They loved it!

This picture doesn't really capture the joy and the magic of our meal, but believe me, it was there. Even Fred had a super good time. See below:

Order up! They both ordered peas, who knew! Kids like vegetables. Then one got macaroni and one got chicken. I made them both from scratch. Okay, that's a lie. They were both frozen and I warmed them up so dinner was ready in 5 minutes.

Then I got to put curlers in Natalie's hair. I LOVED IT! I still don't want a girl, but it was fun to have one for one night. I told her to give me a sassy face. This does not seem all that sassy to me. Somebody moved her cheese!

No excuses

My blog has been really sad lately. And I have no excuse to offer. There has been a lot going on, I just haven't written about it. But I am turning a page and offering you a new glimpse into my life.

We moved! I can't tell you what a relief that is. A million billion thanks to Ashley "The Babe" Gibbs for getting me up off my duff and finding a place suitable for my family. We are still in an apartment, but it is a MUCH nicer apartment. Plus, the experience forced me to expunge a few unnecessary items from my life. I took 5 or 6 truckloads to the D.I. and it's like a weight has been lifted. I love it!

Freddie walks! He just started tottering around on Friday and it is the cutest thing on the planet! I love the first two weeks or so of walking where they are still super wobbly and look a little like Frankensteins monster. He is very pleased with himself.

Henry is getting used to his class at school. He can now count to 100 in Chinese and sing a few songs. I think sometime after Christmas the Chinese will really click in his brain and he will be off. It's going to be so awesome when the commies take over and Henry can save us all!

So that is the big update for now. Hope you enjoyed it!

Fred V. The Banana

Fred seems to battle with food quite a bit. And the kid definitely wins most of the time. My Freddie loves to eat. This time he somehow got his hands on a banana when I wasn't paying attention. He tore into that thing like a fat kid with cake!

Henry at School

My delightful Henry is now in the 1st grade. He is doing a super cool Chinese Immersion program. Half of his classes are taught in Chinese. I mean, the teacher doesn't speak a word of English to them for half the day. It's really been a big adjustment, but it will totally be worth it when he's done with elementary and completely fluent. Right now he hates it, but he hates everything that makes him hold still.

Henry has developed some interesting coping mechanisms for school. Here is a copy of his first math test. You may have to click on it bigger to see what kind of work he did, but it is awesome. He told me he felt like writing 7's. This kid is a keeper for sure!

August

I really can't think of anything to say, but since it's now the 19th and I haven't put in anything for August, I need to do something.

So here is my something. Jesse and Henry leave tomorrow for a trip to San Fran. I wish I could say I was jealous I don't get to go, but I am too excited for 3 days alone with my Fred. We need some bonding.

When the big boys get back I will put up pictures of their trip.

Henry

Jesse: Henry, you stink! Did you fart?

Henry: No. It was probably just some air coming out of my ear.

New Stuff

Kinda deceiving since we don't have any new stuff. I don't know if we're just a boring family or if I have a bad memory and can't write about all the super cool stuff we do. It's probably the memory, cause I'm pretty sure we're exciting.

Summer break from school is the pits! It's only been three weeks and Henry and I are sick of each other. All he wants to do is play pokemon and I just want to do pretty much anything else. We did go swimming this week and that was fun. The pool had a little tube slide that we kept trying to get Henry to go down. He was at the top and starting to cry about it, so I told him to sit down and I'd get him off. He sat down with all the blind faith of a 6 year old and I pushed him down. He wasn't really mad at me, but he wouldn't try again. Fair enough I say.

Then we took the boys to Samurai Sushi. BEST sushi in the world! THE BEST! We got Henry to try one roll (Because it's named the pokemon roll) and he started gagging and spitting. I was soooo embarassed. Then we fed it all to Freddie and he loved it! At the shrimp, the crab, the fish eggs, even the pickled ginger! My baby is already so cultured.

Anyway, to finish it off here are some cute pictures of the cutest kids ever. If you disagree with me I'll whack you in the knee cap. Seriously.