And sharing them, too!
We Skyped with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David today to have the kids open their presents! They loved everything, but the hats seemed to be the big hit!
Category Archives: Skype
Happy Birthday Grandma Marsha!
Tom outlined the letters and the kids colored it!
A picture for daddy!
Tom is away for work so we try to send lots of pics. 🙂
Birthday dinner, cake, and presents!
Even though we went to Red Robin this past weekend to celebrate Owen’s birthday… AND I took him a Five Guys burger on his birthday at school… We still went out to eat for his birthday dinner! 🙂 (Yeah, we like going out to eat.) 🙂 We tried a new pizza place that’s close to us and it wasn’t too bad. I’m actually getting sick of pizza so I had a Stromboli which was pretty good. And Katie was introduced to the Parmesan shaker. 🙂
When we got home we Skyped with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob, sang happy birthday, ate cake, and opened presents.
Then I gave Owen his gift certificate for the Magic School Bus monthly experiments. Before he opened it I explained it was from mom and dad, Gramma Jean and Grandpa David, and Papa and Grannie—and I was sure he’d be over the moon!! And of course he couldn’t have cared less, LOL. He just couldn’t understand that it meant 12 new experiments (like the volcano he just did) and kept looking at the paper like Aaaand?! I kept trying to explain it and I think he finally started to get an idea…but he probably won’t fully get it until the packages start arriving (it should be mid-month).
Things never turn out as you expect when kids are involved. 🙂
Opening presents via Skype, part 3!
Tonight was presents with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David!
The kids loved everything, but Katie really loved her Olaf hat and tea set (they’re having a tea party in the picture) and Owen picked the Magformers as his favorite! We ALL loved Owen’s MSU PJs and he was thrilled with his Lego Movie PJs, too!
Opening presents via Skype, part 2!
Today we opened presents from Grauntie Marge!
They got to see Katie dance around with her dolly in their new matching outfits (I didn’t get a picture of it because they were watching live and I can’t take pictures at the same time!).
And Katie loved her new Frozen sheets!
And Owen LOVED his Robot Turtles game. We watched some videos online about how to play, then we played, and after we put it away he kept running around the house playing a full-sized version. 🙂
Opening presents via Skype!
It’s at times like this that I love technology!
T-5 days until the pool closes…
Papa happened to call right as we were walking in, so I Skyped them back so they got to watch Owen do a few jumps and watch Katie swim around.
He kept doing this and I finally asked what he was doing… You’ll never guess. He was trying to do a somersault! 🙂 I told him I’d help him when we were in the big pool!
Katie saw Owen holding his nose, so she was trying to do the same thing!
The kids she had been playing with in the kiddie pool were going home, so she was at the fence saying “Guys! Guys? Where are you going?”
He loves just floating like this.
If you didn’t know he liked to do it, it might freak you out because he looks…well…dead.
This is how Owen moves across the pool when he’s not actually swimming.
And then it was time for the special surprise! Not only was daddy at the pool with us…but we ordered pizza for dinner! Poolside! (Ever since Owen saw the signs and saw someone have pizza delivered, he’s wanted us to do it. Since the pool season is almost over, today was the day!)
She loves being tossed in the air…but can’t quite manage to count to three. 🙂
My turn with Katie. The video isn’t that great (meaning Katie doesn’t appear to be having that much fun) but she really was…and it’s rare for me to actually be in a picture or video with the kids. So here it is. 🙂
I finally got a video of Katie getting out of and back in the pool. However, she only did it once. The other day, she just kept going up the ladder then back into the pool—time after time after time.
And the bonus to the whole day? I started talking with a girl at the pool (she was there with a little girl who Katie was playing with in the kiddie pool) and long story short, she’s a babysitter and lives in the neighborhood! WOOHOO!
And the funniest thing of the day? While I was at the kiddie pool talking to the girl, Tom came over to tell me what Owen had just said. Tom said they had a race across the length of the pool and of course Tom won, but when Owen finished, Tom asked if he was tired or if he wanted to go talk to me. Owen’s response? NO! I’M PUMPED UP! LET’S GO! 🙂
Outside time
Upset Owen wouldn’t drive her around:
“Help!”
Finally going down the slide by herself!
Skyping with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
Pretending to sleep.
A snippet of a typical Skype session:
Sibling Fun + Happy Birthday Grandma Marsha
Then Katie wanted up.
They don’t always get along. 🙂
But he can be so good with her.
Then Skyping with Grandma Marsha for her birthday!
And singing!
Road Tripping
We spent just a hair over 12 hours on the road to get to Florida… It went fairly smoothly and was actually quite relaxing without the kids (i.e. worrying about snack breaks and potty stops and whining and napping).
I got caught up on my blog entries and a mini stack of parenting magazines, Alice was texting updates and pictures…and we Skyped with Owen while flying down the highway:
The only annoying thing was the toll roads in Florida. First it’s a turnpike but you have to pay along the way (not just at exits). Then you think you’re getting off the turnpike but wait there’s an exact change only booth on the other side of the traffic light….so you’re apparently off the turnpike but still on a toll road that only has exact change/sunpass lanes and we don’t carry change. Then we hit a manned toll booth and got change…but then we were on I-75. WHAT?!? It was maddening (we’ve obviously never taken that route).
But we made it to the hotel without major incident. 🙂
Katie being silly Skyping with daddy
She just decided to lay down next to Maggie.
I love that I could temporarily exit Skype to take a real picture!
Skyping with some cousins
Doug and Marie and the kids are at Gramma Jean’s house so we all Skyped. Owen had to show them lots of his Christmas presents and Katie was a bit of a whiny mess…though Robert got her laughing with a few rounds of peek-a-boo!
Owen’s explanation of the MSU win.
We were Skyping with Daddy and he mentioned that Sparty won.
Owen: Yes! They did! The green guys got lots of points and the red guys just got some.
Owen’s Halloween Party
I walked into controlled bedlam. Or maybe it just felt that way to me, since I am unaccustomed to being in a room full of little kids. 🙂 It was actually quite calm—just noisy. I regret not taking a video so you could fully understand. 🙂
Katie loves coming in (which she rarely gets to do because I leave her in the car while I run him in or pick him up). She gets into everything. I tried to keep her corralled with cheese and crackers today but it only lasted so long.
Then daddy called so he could see the party.
It didn’t last too long, though, since we couldn’t hear each other due to all the ambient noise. But what was funny is that the teacher saw me holding my phone up and was like “Oh, what do you have there?” I’m guessing she thought I was showing Owen something or taking a video. When I told her it was Owen’s daddy on Skype she was really surprised! And excited! So she got to meet Tom briefly today. (Again, it was loud so it wasn’t much more than “Hi! Nice to meet you!”)
Peekaboo with daddy
Katie loves daddy!
Holy crap! Owen is pretty good at hitting!
Papa wanted to surprise Owen with his own baseball bat so he got it the other day and planned to give it to him after school before his dentist appointment when we’d be at the playground.
Then after a few quick attempts and after getting his grip and stance corrected, he was hitting most of my pitches! We were stunned. They weren’t perfect, of course, but I’d guess he was at least making some sort of contact on 80% of them…and probably good contact on 50% of those! He even smacked me with a ball a few times and had me ducking more than once as a ball whizzed by me.
While we were playing, Tom happened to Skype in, so he could watch Owen! It was awesome! Tom loved it!
Daddy’s watching you!
He’s good at building cars!
I have had magnatiles on Owen’s wishlist for quite some time but have never bought them because A) he has so many toys already and B) they are damn EXPENSIVE. So when I saw these Magformers available on Amazon Vine (the program where I get to pick items for free and then I just have to write a review on it), I snatched them up!
Owen picked them as his weekly Chore reward this week. (Normally expensive toys aren’t options, but since they didn’t cost me anything—and mostly because he saw them before I could hide them!—I let him choose them.)
As it happened, Tom Skyped in right as Owen was wanting to open them, so Tom got to watch the fun for about 20 minutes! Even though the age said 3+ I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to follow the patterns to make the cars without getting frustrated—but he jumped right in and before I knew it, he had laid out all the pieces for the spaceship with no problem!
Then he made two cars (with a little of my help since the pieces kept snapping together) and then he was making his own shapes and vehicles without the patterns.
Of course, now I want at least one or two more sets so he can build bigger and better things…I’ll be adding some to his wishlist. 🙂 The other good thing about these is that the pieces are big enough AND the magnets are enclosed so they are fine for Katie to grab and play with (though it tends to make Owen melt down when she does that).
Halloween costume!
Owen picked out his Halloween costume at Costco today as a reward for being a good boy at the hospital. I had hoped he’d go for Iron Man (since we already have the real mask and arm band) but no, he wanted Robo Knight (one of the Power Rangers). He has never watched Power Rangers (as far as I know) and really only wanted it because it was called Robo Knight. 🙂
Of course, he had to put it on for daddy.
And then of course I made him pose for me:
Edited two hours later to add: He still hasn’t taken it off!
Home again, home again.
Almost as soon as we got home and walked through the door, Tom happened to Skype. Within 30 seconds, Owen told me he had to poop! WOOHOO! So all three of us went in the bathroom (yes, Tom came with us) and…OWEN POOPED! It was still all water but he did it all on his own!!! I was amazed, really.
As we were both praising him, he gets off the potty, points to his mouth, then points to the toilet. Huh? I didn’t think much of it because he has a recent habit of being silent while mouthing words and pointing. But then he leaned over and barfed. Again and again.
One one hand…WHAT?!?!
On the other…YAY!!! He finally realized what was coming and actually remembered that we told him to barf in the toilet!
So Tom got to watch him barf from halfway around the world! And I didn’t have anything to clean up!
Owen: Can you wipe my face?
I’m pretty sure it was just the pizza plus the milk he had when he got home. I guess I should have given him lighter fare for at least a day or so.
But, as usual, he seemed no worse for the wear!
Making daddy dizzy
Tom Skyped in just now and I needed to hand the phone to Owen so I could get Katie more milk. Well, Owen doesn’t really understand that he needs to keep his face in front of the camera—he was just carrying Tom around the house. Tom kept telling him to stop because he was getting dizzy (all he could see was the walls and ceiling fan bobbing around). I finally came back and made Owen stand still.
He made it!
Our first brief Skype:
He popped up in gmail instant messaging asking where I was. I asked where HE was! He meant he was trying to connect on Skype but I wasn’t logged on. My laptop lost its webcam somehow so I can only use the iPad, iPhone, or desktop computer…so I logged on with my phone!
It was just about two minutes—long enough to say he got there with no issues and he loves us! The connection wasn’t great—there was a big lag and I could still only make out about half of what he said. But it’s a start!
I love technology. 🙂
Daddy’s Deployed Book
So, in addition to the Daddy Dolls, I also got Owen a personalized book called Daddy’s Deployed. Of course I had it for two months before I could even bear to read it myself…and then I made Tom read it to Owen the first time because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through it without crying (I was sitting behind Owen so he couldn’t see me). Owen did pretty well during the story, but did get a little teary and sad. Especially on the page where we’re all saying goodbye to daddy with sad faces. 🙁
But he asked to read it again the next night…and it was up to me. I steeled myself and got through it…even with Owen being sad again.
He’s also been sad on and off throughout the day for a few days now…back to saying how much he misses his daddy. 🙁 Thankfully it’s not as bad as its been in the past…but I’m keeping my fingers crossed anyway.
So then this afternoon Tom overheard Owen playing:
Owen: When daddy is deployed we are going to send him letters and packages and call and Skype and he will love it!
Awwww.
Tonight’s Skype
Katie crawls up…
…and over Tom.
While Owen is off wandering.
Skype Craziness
We have no idea what got into him during the Skype with Grandma Marsha.
Happy 4th Birthday, Owen!
Fun with leftover Lego parts!
Balloon fight with Grannie Lin!
Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
One last attempt at a good Katie pic:
Our attempted family photo:
And just for comparison…last year’s photo:
Our last Christmas!
Grauntie Marge sent Christmas gifts so we Skyped tonight to open them. The robotic bugs were a HUGE hit with Owen (and we think they’re cool, too). Here he is, showing them off:
And here we are having fun with them in the kitchen!
Katie’s Gund Peek A Boo Bear
Merry Christmas!
Well this morning was…not quite what I expected. I thought Owen would wake up and be super excited about Santa…but all he wanted to do was play his Xbox game. 🙁
We excitedly said “Owen, who came to visit last night?” and in the most quiet and bored voice simply said “Santa.” Not quite the response I expected. About 20 minutes later we convinced him it was time to check out what Santa left—and he was a bit more enthusiastic. Here we are coming down the stairs to find the stockings…
And then it was off to see the presents…where he got upset because Santa ate “his” (Owen’s) cookies—even though Owen didn’t want any himself last night or this morning—and then back to happy again remembering there were presents to open.
Of course, he was happy to pose with all the presents:
And smiled with one when I asked him to:
And enjoyed playing with some of the things:
But honestly, he seemed less than thrilled with most of his stuff (though I guess to be fair, it’s hard to get excited about clothes or games when they’re in a box). I mean, he enjoyed opening them (which I guess is good enough, right?) but then they were pretty much immediately tossed aside and it was on to the next present. (Yes, I know he’s three. But it was just such a change from last year when he wanted to play with everything as he opened it). He did like a few things (meaning he expressed some awe over them—like both new Xbox Lego games, his Cars cars, and his Indiana Jones minifigs)…but the biggest hit wasn’t even from us or Santa—it was a bug vacuum and fishing rod (that you put your iPhone in to pretend fish) from Tom’s mom that were both immediately turned into guns. And an activity box that was for Katie.
I guess I was expecting too much from a 3yo, right?
And less than an hour later, he was already done playing with everything new and wanted to play the stupid xbox game I had hoped would be forgotten about with the appearance of two new games. 🙁 I feel bad that I’m a little upset, but I just keep telling myself it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal because I know he’ll eventually play with everything and like the games, etc…but it was just a bit disappointing because it wasn’t what I envisioned (and you think by now I’d know better).
There were lots of smiles and fun moments, though. 🙂
We Skyped with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob while Owen opened the presents they sent and some from Santa and mom and dad.
We had labeled everything with big name tags because Owen knows his name, so with just about every package he picked up he said “O-W-E-N spells me—Owen” and it was completely adorable. So then it was funny when we caught him opening a package for me and we said “Owen, is that yours?” YES! “Owen, whose name is on the label?” He looks for the label, sees it’s not Owen and immediately says “I’m sorry! So so sorry!” 🙂
Katie enjoyed the tags on one of her gifts:
And Charlie enjoyed a box in the middle of the floor—and watching everything from her perch:
And he was excited about this Captain America figure…
…until Tom pressed the button to make it speak and it freaked Owen out:
And he liked his trampoline…for about 15 seconds. (That was free so it may end up being gifted elsewhere because we don’t really have room for it if he’s not loving it.)
So overall I’d say it was a success, even if it didn’t go quite as we planned.