Week 4

Our little girl has gone and turned six.  How is it even possible?  I can remember the day (and weeks leading to) she was born like it was yesterday.  She is growing so quickly.  Today alone, she discovered three wiggly teeth.

Punky is a friendly, sensitive, sweet, silly and smart little girl.  She seems to make friends wherever we go and enjoys playing with all of the kids in her classroom.  I worry about her sensitivity because I know how difficult the middle school years are going to be.  Punky is a sweetheart and always includes her little brother.  I am so thankful that they are friends.  She also can be very silly and goofy, especially when with her brother or friends.  And of course, she is smart.  But what mom isn't going to say that about their little girl?

Happy Birthday Punky!  We love you to pieces!

Week 3

One of my favorite things on weekday mornings is the first half hour after the kids wake up.  Fortunately, Punky's school bus doesn't come until 9:10, so we are able to take our time getting ready in the mornings.  I don't work until 11 or 11:30 and that is only two days a week (once every two weeks I need to be there at 9:30).   The three of us are slow to wake up and we ease ourselves into the morning on our various devices.  When Punky wakes up, she heads to our room.  (Buddy is already there sometime during the middle of the night.)  She unplugs my phone and her kindle from the wall and we spend the next half hour playing games (or checking facebook and blogs).  I feel so fortunate to get to spend this time with the kids, even if we are tuned in to technology.  It's still bonding, right?!?

Week 2

For Christmas, we gave the kids gift cards to Build-A-Bear Workshop and promised them a fun day at the Mall of America.  We let them choose which restaurant to go to for lunch (McDonalds) and then we visited Sea Life Aquarium.

She is definitely her father's daughter- she had to read every single sign!

At Build-A-Bear, Buddy chose a saber tooth tiger which he named Stripe.  And Punky chose a panda bear which she named Rainbow.  They each wanted to add a sound button in their animals too.  Punky chose a monkey sound for the panda- ???  Whatever, I guess it's her's!

We browsed the Disney Store and the Lego Store and let the kids each chose a ride at Nickelodean Universe.  Buddy chose the ghost ride which is completely in the dark.  I thought he was going to be too scared, but he was more interested in shooting things to even notice.  Punky chose a real roller coaster.  This was her first time and she loved it!  It was a fun day and we timed our trip right- the crowds were getting to be too big by the time we left!

Week 1

I'm back.  I seemed to have quit blogging for the last few months.  It felt good at the time but I realized I was not happy about not having a place to record special memories.  I am ashamed to say I hardly picked up my real camera in November and most of December.  So, here I am, back in blogland.  Hoping to pop on each Sunday night with a quick photo of two capturing something special (or not) we did that week.  Words may be at a minimum because that is the hardest part of blogging for me.  Hopefully I still have a reader or two (Grandmas and Grandpas, I suppose).

On New Year's Day, we took the kids ice skating.  We attempted to go ice skating last year, and it didn't work out.  This year, though, was a blast.  Punky had so much fun that she was in tears the whole way home.  She loved it so much, she didn't want it to end.  She picked it up quickly and was skating on her own after an hour.  Buddy enjoyed skating, as well.  He was fearless!  He had the most fun when we let him take his skates off and run around the rink in his shoes (like our neighbor boy was doing).  Punky has been asking when we are going to go back.  Maybe we'll have to get them in lessons.  Hockey, no.  Ice skating lessons, sure.