Category Archives: Siblings
Promise them candy and look what cute faces you get.
And the comparison photo from 2012!
Minecraft in the morning.
The last day of the year is Pajama Day!
And of course Katie didn’t want to wear PJs on the one day she technically could…
Matching Santa hats!
Finally! Owen has had his for years and once I had Katie I kept checking but Pottery Barn never had them again! Until this year!
I’ll get better (more seasonal) pics later. 🙂
Inclusive Schools Week—Blue Day
Thursday: “I am Blue-tiful” Day!” Wear blue.
Trying to get a pic of my swimmers
Cookies with Santa
The local high school hosted a huge craft fair that I wanted to check out (we missed it last year) and they also had a “Cookies with Santa” portion that we wanted to take the kids to. We got to the North Pole shortly after it opened so we didn’t have to wait too long. While daddy held our place in line, the kids worked on bead candy canes:
Can you guess which was Owen’s and which was Katie’s? 🙂
Santa! (They had someone taking pictures, but it wasn’t anything really posed or official—she was just off to the side snapping so we had NO idea what we would get. I was taking pics the whole time.) Katie wasn’t eager to sit with Santa, but she didn’t turn away…and she talked to him but didn’t get excited about the hug.
Owen’s turn! He’s too big for Santa’s lap!
At the end we had Katie go back up. I snapped about six quick pics and this one actually turned out great!
This was one of the ones the student elf took—I was impressed that it turned out as well:
On the way out, Katie decided she wanted to make antlers:
Nutcracker!
I saw a link on Facebook for VetTix so went to check it out—and ended up getting free tickets for the Nutcracker! (If you are Currently Serving or a Veteran use my link to sign up and earn 15 coins!)
I had never seen the Nutcracker before, so it was going to be a new experience for me, as well (Tom had seen it many, many years ago). Once we told the kids and told Katie she was going to see ballerinas, she was ALL IN. Of course, she wanted to wear a ballerina-esque dress. I didn’t bring out any of her actual ballerina outfits because I am 100% sure she would have chosen that. As it was, this was a brand new dress so she was VERY excited.
I’m thankful I read the synopsis beforehand because otherwise I would have been completely lost. As it was, I was still a little confused, and was surprised there wasn’t more actual ballet. Both kids did very, very well considering the first act was an hour long. After Katie took a bathroom break, she said she wanted to dance, so I told her to go right ahead…and then daddy and Owen came back from their bathroom break and she danced in the aisle!
The second half had MUCH more ballet than the first and was more impressive…and Katie was entranced, sitting on the edge of her seat for almost the whole thing. I, on the other hand, learned that ballet is really not my thing. But overall it was a nice afternoon out yet away from any hustle and bustle of Black Friday!
Time to decorate!
The kids were super excited about putting the tree up (since the bag had been sitting in the living room for a whole day)!
Owen was excited when I handed him two bags of Christmas Legos! He had forgotten about them!
Katie’s placement of her first three ornaments:
They were both really good helpers and I didn’t even have to help them much! Yay! And my OCD-tendencies don’t bother me at all—I don’t much care where the ornaments end up!
Just a quick shot before school.
Little marines
The same stage!
On the same stage where my school pictures were taken cough 30+ cough years ago. I’ve been wanting to visit the school for probably the last 15 years and finally just went and did it! It was a bonus that I was able to take the kids, the gym was empty, and I could take a picture! Funnily enough, I had forgotten my phone in the car so after our brief walk around, I had to go back to the car to get my phone so I could get my picture! I had waited so long to do it that I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity!
Throwback Thursday—In Owen’s jogging suit
This is a 2T outfit—he was in it under 2 and she’s in it over 3! I’ve been meaning to put her in it for quite some time now and finally did it today; the pants are slightly too short but the jacket is almost too big.
Edited to add: Whoops! Those aren’t the right pants! Now I remember why I haven’t put her in that outfit before now… I couldn’t find the pants that go with that outfit!
Owen finally likes jeans!
I can’t get over how long he looks!
Headed out to an art festival!
Submings Gavin Gun
That was supposed to be Siblings having fun but apparently autocorrect wasn’t working. I thought it was funny so I just left it. 🙂
T-ball Tuesday
New socks and shoes! (I wasn’t planning on getting him shoes, but I found them on clearance at Marshall’s!)
This is what Katie does during the games.
This might be the kids’ favorite part: snack time! (I seriously wish we could do away with it—it’s not like these are serious athletes who played a rigorous game and need sustenance.)
My boy is growing up. Sniff.
Owen decided that he wanted to walk to the bus stop by himself. I’m perfectly fine with that as he’s a good kid, he needs the responsibility, and there are lots of other parents down there. 🙂
Katie wasn’t happy—she wanted to go so she could play with the kids. (We’ll go sometimes but not every day.)
She watched for him from the back steps. When all the leaves are gone she should be able to see them, if barely. We can hear them now because they run around playing and screeching.
This is what she kept saying. Poor kid.
A new family picture!
Tom was home this morning…because he was going to surprise Owen at school for Morning Program (Owen was getting a Good Character award—which was also a surprise for him!). So I took advantage of us all being home to snap a new pic! It turned out great!
These were the other pics I snapped beforehand. You see what trying to get a picture of the kids together can be like? Not one “good” one in the bunch. 🙂
Katie graduated to Turtle 1!
Pllaying before lessons started.
Then Katie had some successful jumps…
…and she graduated to Turtle 1 (red cap)! (It took her 11 classes, or just under 3 months of classes!) Unfortunately they were out of red caps, so hopefully she’ll get it next week and then we can take her official photo!
Now I just hope they can rearrange some students so that their classes are more convenient—there’s no Turtle 1 classes adjacent to Owen’s Shark 1 class so we have to be there from 11 (when his class starts) to 12:30 (when her class ends). They said they’d try to get us something better so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
Our little Sparty fans
Owen didn’t want me to take the picture.
Kindergarten & 1st Grade
Owen’s first day of 1st grade!
We bought a bunch of new lunchbags for Owen in various patterns—red owls, multi-colored dark stripes, pirate treasure map, etc…and what one did he want to use for his first day? The pink multi-colored hearts!
I figured I should prepare him for kids teasing him about it (I didn’t actually expect it, but better safe than sorry).
Me: Owen, what would you say if some kid made fun of you for bringing a “girl-colored” pink heart lunch bag.
Owen: [You could see his heart sink.] I would say that was mean.
Me: Yes, it would be mean. You just tell them you like pink and it’s a cool color.
Owen: [Getting sassier.] And if they ask me if it’s because I love anyone? I’ll tell them NO!
Me: You don’t love me? Or daddy? Or your sister?
Owen: Well yes. 🙂
And then it was time for pictures! I did Katie while Owen got his shoes on. She had to sit on the very top step.
“Mama, take a picture of me upside down!”
The same questions I asked him last year. The funny thing is that he usually just spouts something off the top of his head! Like I can’t remember the last time he asked for an orange—it’s always strawberries. And I can’t tell you the last time we watched Incredibles–it’s usually Lego Movie or Wreck It Ralph. And it was the very first time I heard anything about wanting to be a policeman. Kids are silly. Oh! And the favorite book? I think we’ve read it maybe twice that I can remember, so I asked why that book and he said “Because it shows how you take care of me and love me.” Awwww.
And then it was off to the bus stop…where it was hotter than hell. Holy wah. It was horribly hot and the kids were sweating from running around. I love the first day of school, though, because there were more parents there than kids! 🙂
I was really excited about his new backpack—it’s from Costco and is much more well-made than the Minion one he had last year…but it’s really overkill for him (it has a laptop pocket, room for lots of pens and pencils, a phone, etc.). We’ll see how it works, but we may end up getting a bit smaller one.
Old suit, new suit
These were on a real camera, so I forgot about them. This was back on August 23!
Off to the pool…Owen in an old suit and Katie in a new suit from a grandma (I forget which one). 🙂
Throwback Thursday—two years ago!
Pre-Back to School Night
Waiting for daddy to get home.
Throwback Thursday
A new outfit for me—a shirt I bought probably 6-7 years ago (pre-Owen I’m pretty sure) that still had the tags on it! It fits great!
Mornings are always interesting.
There’s usually crying by Katie at some point, the kids playing nice, doors slamming, arguing between the kids over something/anything/nothing, sometimes yelling on my end…and then there’s this.
I had finished my shower and gotten dressed and it was quiet. Too quiet.
Owen was reading Katie the book that Tom had started the previous night.
Cue my heart melting. 🙂
My favorite picture of the day.
They do this all on their own.
If I let them do what they wanted all the time…
…this is what it would look like 24/7.
But I make them do things like this (yes, make—they often give me grief until they’re out there and then they love it):
This is how they sometimes watch movies.
