Sunday Biking

Sunday started as a wonderfully brisk autumn morning.
Cloudy, a little breeze, bit of a chill in the air.
Perfect.
We decided to go bike riding. 

The street we live on is too hilly for the kids to ride.  They aren't big bike riders and don't yet have the skills to manage the hills, so we generally pack up the bikes and drive somewhere a little flatter to help them gain confidence.  We like the high school parking lot, but a church is now occupying it on Sundays (complete with parking attendents).  The elementary school, too, was being used.  The lake is OK, but not the best location.  So, we settled on a street that will someday have houses built on it but for now is empty, quiet, and (best of all) relatively flat.

It's not all fun and games, this bike riding stuff.  I don't even remember why she was pouting.

A few minutes later, after riding around a bit, she's a girl with few cares in the world.  She practiced on the small hills (said they were "gigantic!") thoroughly enjoying herself.

Isaac has enough skills to start riding without training wheels but refuses to take them off.

See, the kid can stand up and ride . . .  why does he still have training wheels?

At one point, he came around the corner and got a training wheel stuck on the curb.  Check out the spinning back tire!

Ezren doesn't even want to try yet.  Sigh.  One day he will, but for now, he's content to chase the others and jump around.

This doesn't happen often, but the van window was begging me to take a photo of it.  How I got in the picture, I just don't know.

Chad and Zelda racing with Olivia . . .

My attempt at art . . .

And lastly, a nice shot of Chad . . .

. . . wearing Olivia's hoodie.

House Construction

Some of you wanted to see how the house transformation was going. 
Of course, that was back in March through May when it was actually happening.
Things are still happening now -- only on the insidem, and I'm not showing them . . . yet.

So, here is a peek at what happened on the outside.

I'm in the window wondering what Chad's doing in the backyard . . . with the camera.

Super Lego Brothers

I finally caught one of Isaac's three dimensional Mario creations before he deconstructed it.

Yet another Mario . . . mostly two dimensional this time

Ezren is showing off his ship.

He wants to be just like his brother and has taken to building with Legos.

He's not as into it as Isaac.

He does, however, love getting his picture taken.

The Super Lego Brothers . . .

I love how they bond over Legos.

I love how they love each other.

Even when they fight.  And yell.  And throw things.

Legos always bring them back together.

Ez's Special Day

Last month we had Olivia's special day. 
Just Olivia for one night and one day.  Doing something special -- her choice.
Bad mom forgot to take pictures of that.

Friday was Ezren's turn.
After dropping the kids off at the Grandpa's, we came home for dinner.
Nothing special there -- leftovers.
But we did spend the evening playing Skip Bo, Uno, and the Wii.
FUN!

Saturday morning we went to some garage sales (good finds!) and then home to shower and get ready for lunch.
We have a new Chick-fil-a just up the road.  For the Grand Opening they sent us some coupons.
I love coupons!
Got a free sandwich for me and a free Kid's Meal for Ezren.  Chad had to pay for his meal. 
It was a really fun lunch. 
Ezren was very excited to have us to himself.  He talked a lot.

After lunch was the main event . . . BOWLING!
Ezren's been bowling twice before and absolutely loves it.
Bowling is so expensive these days.  I don't remember it being that expensive growing up.
Thank goodness for coupons!

Got the shoes.

Picked the ball.

We're ready!

Ezren gets a few pointers from Chad (who was in a bowling league as a child...).

The people in the lane next to us had a lot of bowling balls and Ezren liked to choose different ones each time.

Did you know that bowling alleys have these really cool ramps for little kids to use?  They're awesome!  You put the ball on top, give it a big push, and whoosh!  It goes down and (hopefully) knocks some pins.

During the game I had two strikes.

Yes, you read right. Two.

This was not one of them.  In fact, this throw ended up being a gutter ball.

But check the scores!

Ezren:66

Chad: 114

Kathrina: 85

Apparently, Wii bowling does not translate to real bowling.

The bowling alley we were at had a game room, and we decided to play.

I wanted to play air hockey (rock!), but Chad and Ezren wanted to play Mario Kart. 

Ezren couldn't reach the pedals, so Chad worked the pedals and Ez did the steering.

He was so proud they won first place!

It was such a fun day!

How did Ez feel about it, you ask?

I think he was happy . . .

 

In the Mail

I've always loved Classical Music.

I remember in fifth grade we were finally allowed to join either band or orchestra.
Only one.  Not both.

Band was the place to be.  Orchestra was so uncool.
Secretly though, I wanted to play the violin.  It's such beautiful instrument.  Not only in sound but also in appearance.

I ended up with the clarinet.
It was OK. 

Living in Kansas, there was never a classical music station that came in very well on the radio.
Shortly after moving to North Carolina, I found it.  A classical station that not only had great reception but also played all classical, all the time.

This is (generally) what we listen to in the car.
Not always, mind you, but most of the time.
Last year when I had to drive for an hour and a half every morning taking three kids to three different schools, WCPE 89.7 was our station. 

It helped our brains calm down and get ready for the day.
It helped our spirits gain composure and become focused for the tasks ahead.
Mostly it helped because there weren't any words to get in the way of our thoughts.

And we loved The Classical Conundrum every morning.
Rarely answered correctly, but it was so fun trying!

WCPE is a privately funded station.  They receive no money from governments or universities.  They only play classical music.
And it's fabulous!

I recently donated, and they sent me a thank you gift.
It was their anniversary three CD set.  30 years they've been on the air.

Not only do they broadcast local in the Triangle, but they also broadcast around the US on affiliate stations and online.

Go here for their website.

You can listen live!  From anywhere!

And chances are, I'm listening right now.

How awesome is that?!

Check out the songs on this CD set.

It's a fanstastic CD.

I wouldn't expect any less from one of the best stations around!

Dog vs. Boy

Zelda is a big dog.  106.2 lbs. last time she was weighed at the vet.
Isaac is a small boy.  45-ish lbs.

When Isaac gets excited his voice gets loud and high-pitched.
Zelda loves this and takes it to mean he wants to play . . . with her.

If he's giggly, she's comes running to get in on the action.

First, she barks.  Loudly.

Then she growls.  Again, loudly.

Finally, she does a little jump and goes in for the kill.

It looks and sounds very evil.  Like we should pull her off because she just might eat the kid!

But it's not.

And she won't.

She's very gentle with him. 

She nibbles in just the right spots . . . armpits, belly, back.

Armpits are her favorite!

We all giggle when they do this because the sound is so infectious.

Sam and the other cats don't know quite what to make of it.

Occasionally . . . OK, almost every time, it ends with her nipping a little too hard.  Never any blood, just a pinch and maybe a small bruise.  Really small, like the size of a pencil eraser.

She feels bad and looks at him with . . . what else, puppy dog eyes.

We've been working on teaching him to give the "All Done" command to let her know when to stop.

Most of the time he doesn't want to though. 

They just have too much fun together!

Lego Night

After dinner there was some time before bedtime. 
Ezren was sick and went to bed early, so a few boxes Legos were brought down and played with in the living room.

Peeking through the window in my sewing room...

Isaac kept wanting to go upstairs to get "the perfect piece" to finish his car/helicopter/whatever.  Even with all the Legos downstairs, he still needed something else. 

Something better.

Something perfect.

It's not just Isaac who plays with Legos. 

Olivia likes them too...only she pretends with them.  It's not the building that interests her, it's creating an imaginary world.

She's making an operating room ("surgery center") for her little motorized mouse.

Poor mouse.  I wonder what's wrong with him.