Artwork, etc.

James drew this giraffe family on a piece of construction paper. I like the little baby giraffe.

And he drew these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Isn't he incredibly talented? Since we moved the computer paper to a more accessible place, he just goes to grab a piece to draw on periodically throughout the day.

Amelie brought this paper home from school on Thursday. She hasn't been bringing her writing home! I asked about it at our last parent-teacher conference, and the teacher had her pull out her writing portfolio, and it seems like she's just been saving all of it. I suppose this one didn't make the cut:

Translation: Sirkru (?) is a Pokémon that is one of my favorites. It is pink and green and black. it is a serpent Pokémon.

My favorite phonetic spelling is "wun uv" = one of! Ha! Also notice how she put the accent mark over the "e" in Pokémon both times :)

More Random Pictures

Okay, I'm unloading more photos from summer than never made it on the blog. I have a few more old(ish) photos, but those can be clumped into real posts more than these picture dumps.

Here's James crawling across the dinosaur bones play structure at Cosmo Park.

 And this is Amelie the very first time she climbed up on the big rock at Stephens Lake Park. She'd wanted to get up for a long, long time before she actually was able to do it without help.

James being James.

This is James in the Potter Room at church with a mask he made. Grrr.

Amelie at her last well-child check up. I think that book may make her weight check not 100% accurate.

And finally James climbing on the spider web at Shepherd Blvd Elementary School.

How's that for some summertime fun in the middle of this cold weather?

Teeth

All four cousins spent the day with their grandparents on the last day of break. Just to make it extra-exciting, Ellie lost a tooth to match Amelie:

And then the boys wanted to show their teeth, too :)

Thanks for the photos, Grandma Mary!

Photo Dump

This picture dump is brought to you by the impending ice storm. I found a bunch of photos on Sam's phone and decided to upload them here.

This one is old, but never-before-published :) Since I have on a swimsuit & Amelie has on a swimsuit cover-up it was during swim lessons, and it's pretty clear James hasn't had his first haircut yet. I'm guessing June or so of 2015? We're eating frozen custard from Randy's.

And this is from Demolition Night at Adventure Club last year. James got to participate even though he's not a Ridgeway Ram just yet.

Amelie looks like a mad scientist.

 And then these are from a rest stop in Kentucky, somewhat close to Metropolis, Illinois.

And then there's this gem! How'd he get up there?

Both Sam's and my offices are closed today due to ice, and then we'll have Monday off for the Martin Luther King Holidy, too. James and I went to HyvVee and bought out all of their food on Thursday afternoon in preparation, so we're set :)

Amelie made a stop motion video today at Adventure Club with the help of one of the college student aids.

Amelie Says / James Says

It's been a while since I published one of these posts! I'm not really good at writing the cute things down that the kids can say - and then if I don't write it down, I forget it right away. Here are some saved up over the last several months.

We went to Fazoli's the other night and as we were pulling into the parking lot, James asked: "Are we going to the around and around? Or inside?" meaning the drive-through, of course. (We went inside.)

Amelie to Sam: "We're ready for anything! We're sharks!"

I wrapped something in a cardboard cylinder of oats again this year and got another "Wow! Oats!" from James. If he were older, I'd think he was pulling my leg.

This morning we had pumpkin oats for the first time in a while. Apparently James was somewhat suspicious because after a few bites he said, "These are gooder than I thought."

Overheard while they were playing in the other room: "Am I they bad guy?"

Dinnertime wisdom:
James said, "If you get to the core of an apple, you have to stop eating."
I said, "If you give a horse an apple, it can eat the whole thing, core and all."
James said, "Well, if you give a Squirtle a pokepuff, it just throws it in its mouth."I just take his word for it on anything pokemon-related.


Sam: [something, something] in a second
Amelie: I know what you mean when you say 'in a second'! You mean TWO MINUTES.

More dinnertime wisdom from James: I'm really into chicken.

In the car, James asked me who was playing on the radio. I didn't know, and he said, "If DADA was in the car, HE could tell me."

Also, since we watched the new Disney movie Moana twice, they both just randomly belt out song lyrics, and then sometimes I hear a yell of, "I am MOANA" from the bedroom.

Arkansas Wedding

We went to Little Rock for Sam's cousin's wedding (at the beginning of November!)

This is the kids with their uncle James Cooper (one of their many uncles named James!) sitting on the blue tractor at the Buffaloe farm in Conway, Arkansas.

There was a neat bridge within walking distance of our hotel.

Amelie wore her hair in braids to the wedding:

James wore some spiffy clothes, too:

The kids had a wonderful server for the reception, who brought them 7-up with bendy straws, which is basically kid champagne, and between that and buttering the rolls, they were occupied for the entire dinner.

James was very impressed with the bride, who he thought was a princess (and the bride was very impressed with him, though in the interest of full disclosure, I think James was perhaps off his guard and much better behaved in the fancy setting than he might have been otherwise!)

I forget what we were talking about:

I think somehow we managed not to get a family photo again! Though Sam did take a selfie with the kids, it seems.

Many, many congratulations, Sarah Beth and Josh! Here are some of their lovely professional photos: Link.

Christmas Program

For many, many days leading up to the Christmas program, James would ask, "How many days is it until my Christmas program?" and then a few times since we've been home on break, he's asked me, "How many more days until my NEXT Christmas program?" I guess he really loves performing :)

Amelie and her missing tooth:

Reindeer antlers! I'm also a big fan of the reindeer vest, but James wasn't so much. He was VERY pleased whenever Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" would come on the radio, though.

All pictures just a little blurry, courtesy of Sam's phone.