Harry Potter Book 8

Floyd recently read Harry Potter Book 1 with Cole. He loved it. They are now in the middle of book 2 and the problem is that past book 2, I think they get a little too scary for a 5-year-old. Cole insists he is going to read them all and I insist he will wait a few years. Cole really likes making books, so the other day he wrote a little Harry Potter book. The title - "Harry Potter and the Dragon of Justice." He wrote the entire book himself - the only word I helped him spell in the entire book was "justice." He, obviously, did not spell them all correctly, but his invented spelling shows how crazy English language rules are. The whole language people would be so proud of his work. I tend to lean more toward the "we need to teach phonics" side of that debate, but even still it was fun to see him work on it. (You likely have no idea what the whole language/teach phonics debate is if you do not have a child learning to read or did not take a collegiate reading pedagogy class - it's really just another thing to argue about). The book is 11 pages long - here is a sampling with corrected spelling and punctuation added by mom.

"Harry Potter and the Dragon of Justice"

Ron and Harry sat at the table for breakfast.

When Harry and Ron got off the table, Ron was holding a large broom.

Harry and Ron ran away as fast as fast as fast as fast.

Harry and Ron were scared.

When Harry Potter and Ron were happy Professor McGonagall was waiting.

The (can't figure it out) part of Hogwart's was close.

Suddenly a huge dragon came.

But as Harry and Ron were close,

Ron had a large broom.

The End.

He's obviously missing a few details in the plot, but all in all it wasn't a bad story. I quite liked the title, although I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually know what the word "justice" means. It's fun to watch him learn and see words come alive for him. Next week he starts the first grade reading level. We can't wait!

Playin' in Powder

It is about this time of year that I begin to consider moving somewhere down south. I like the snow and all...but...it just gets a little old. Good thing I have Cole to get me out of the house each day and play in the snow. No matter how cold the air is. I did have to draw the line a few weeks ago when the inversion was terrible. The kid could be an Eskimo.

He loves snow-wrestling with Daisy. I'm glad they enjoy each others company. I do not care for snow-wrestling.


And Annie? You may notice she is absent from these photos. She was sitting in the house in her swimsuit dreaming of warmer weather while playing with her babies. She seems to be a warm-weather sort of gal. Can't say that I blame her these days. Thank goodness February is a short month!

Bowling Champ

The kids went bowling last week at their cousin's birthday party. Most of the kids liked it, but were ready to move on to the next activity by about the 7th or 8th frame. Not little Annie. She cried and cried when she found out we were leaving and when I tried to take her bowling shoes off, she curled up her toes and wouldn't let me. Loved it.

Daddy missed out on all the fun while he was freezing in Florida, so for family night this week, we headed back to the bowling alley. She bowled all of her turns and all of mine (since bowling is sort of on the "not approved for pregnant people" list). Her first roll was a strike! Gotta love bumpers and that cool little ramp thingy kids can roll the ball down. They did not have that when I was a kid.
Here's the little bowler waiting for her ball. Actually any ball. She didn't really care if it was the size 6 or size 13. She'd just give them a big shove.
After every roll, she'd run back and give me a high-five and then hurry back to get her ball for her next roll. I guess it was her good luck routine.
So maybe this is her calling in life. If so, she's in luck because the Weber State bowling coach just happens to be our neighbor.

As a side note, I realized watching the college-aged girls in the group bowling a lane over from us that I am not too shabby of a bowler. Good grief they were awful!

And PS, it was cosmic bowling and my camera did not have an option for that, so the picture quality is a little poor.

Princess Party

Little Princess was invited to her first friend birthday party last week. To say she was excited is an understatement. She also really enjoyed reminding her brother that it was a "gil" party and that he didn't get to go. It was a princess party so she got to dress up as her favorite princess - Ariel. She's quite shy with adults, but really loves playing with other kids and didn't hesitate for a second when I dropped her off.

She had a great time! We love our little princess.

And yes, that is a pink swimming suit strap you can see peeking out from under her princess dress. Don't tell me you're surprised.

Little Stowaways...

Daddy left on a trip this morning (Florida, but not-so-sunny - have you seen their forecast?). While he was packing last night, the kidlets hijacked his luggage and decided they were going on the trip too. And what essentials did they pack?

27 dinosaurs for Cole, 8 pairs of shoes and a cell phone for Annie.

She's learned young - I always pack a separate shoe bag too...you just never know.

Then Annie decided she may as well just climb in the luggage. She fit quite nicely, but Daddy still said she couldn't go.

This is why Floyd has to pack two bags when he travels - he is always visiting refineries or water treatment plants or other places that I can never remember the names of because I don't know what purpose they serve. When he visits these places, he is required to wear a hard hat and steel-toed boots. Those items don't really fit nicely into his suitcase.

So I guess he usually takes a separate shoe bag too - such a girly!

Come back soon Daddy - we miss you! And Mom is seriously outnumbered.

Christmas Pics

The trees are out by the curb, the fudge is all eaten, the Christmas music is gone from the radios...it's really over. But here are a few Christmas memories...

New Christmas jammies

Daddy made both the kids not one, but two rubber band guns. Mommy has reserved confiscation rights should things get out of hand.

What would Christmas be without a new Dinosaur...or ten?

More Christmas jammies - she loves them.

Not quite as much as she loves this make-up set, however.

My favorite Christmas pic - Annie dead asleep on the way from one Grandma's house to the other Grandma's house with her arms raised up in the air for the "tickle-tummy hill." We laughed so hard.