Bear Habitat

 The black fuzzy pom poms are a Mom and Baby bear.

 This is a Dad bear climbing a tree and a tiny baby bear.

 The foil is a pond and the cup is the bear den.

 The coffee is the dirt.

The white cotton balls are snow.

Tatoos

Look at those bulging biceps!

Walking

Bike Riding Video

Story Making

The craft this week was Crayola Story Studio.  If you buy a box of specially marked crayons there is a code inside the box for free access to making personalized books and coloring pages on their website.  Maddeck made a story book about a pirate named Maddo.  We uploaded a photo of Maddeck and it turned his face into a cartoon.  He chose his own hairstyle to look like his Uncle Jordan (his hero).  When we finished the book we saved and printed it.  Evan was taking a nap so we didn't make one for him.  He is still too young to color a six page book though so it worked out.  You can also turn photos into coloring pages.  Crayola makes it easy, although you can use regular photo editing programs to take color out of photos too. 

 This is a photo we turned into a coloring page. I want to color it.  I think it would look cute framed.

Biking

I took Maddeck's training wheels off yesterday (they came on his new bike but we hadn't had a chance to take them off yet).  I helped him on to his bike and he started riding it.  That was the easiest thing ever.  Thanks to the balance bike he already knew how to ride.  He needs a little help getting started and he is figuring out how to stop on his own.  I will post a video after I take one.  I was holding Miles, teaching Evan on the balance bike, and making sure Maddeck wasn't going to crash so I wasn't able to shoot a video.  Evan is rocking his balance bike already too.  He crashed several times in the driveway and would get back up on his own and try again.  I think balance bikes are the coolest invention.  At this rate, Evan will be riding a bicycle before his 3rd birthday.  Although, he will probably be happy enough on the balance bike for a long time like Maddeck was.  Way to go boys!!!  Miles isn't ready for a bike yet, but he can walk across the room and walks all over the house holding on to objects for balance.  I look forward to seeing him run after his brothers outside this summer. 

"Ma Ma Ma"

Miles said it.  Miles said "Ma Ma Ma" when I asked him to say Mom.  Yippee!  (Now I will probably hear it a million more times, but I can get used to it).

First Ride

We took the boys out for a couple of minutes last night so Maddeck could try out his new bike.  We have had snow almost everyday and we have been sick so there hasn't been opportunity.  Thankfully, the days are getting longer and we were able to go outside after dinner last night for a bit. 

Maddeck's 5th Birthday

Some people say they look alike ; )

 

Maddeck is 5!

Kyle decided to leave work and stop by The River Academy to celebrate with Maddeck at school.  It was a surprise and such fun to have him in the classroom.  The kids are doing a unit on bears and are building their very own bear habitats.  They are SOOOO cool.  I will post some pictures when Maddo's habitat is finished.  We were talking about habitats the other day and Maddeck asked if God's habitat is heaven?  It was a great moment to talk about heaven with him and also to show him how perfect God's creation in is providing a habitat on earth for every living thing.  It was also a teachable time in explaining to him that our citizenship is in heaven. "God's habitat", as Maddeck put it, will also be our habitat as we know from scripture that God is preparing a place for us in heaven.  

In the morning the whole school sang happy birthday to Maddeck and his classmate Grace.  I wasn't expecting it, so I wasn't able to span the hallway to show all the kids on the video.  It was pretty special.  I think there were probably close to 200 students, teachers, and parents in the hall singing.  (Every Friday morning the school assembles in the hallway and sings psalms before starting class). 

At the end of class we had cupcakes and sang to Grace and Maddeck in his classroom.  Grace's mom brought a balloon for each kinder-prepper to bring home. 

We went to my parent's house for dinner and to celebrate Maddo's birthday with the family.  My sister came over from Seattle with her family as well as Kyle's Mom.  We skyped with Jesica and Steve, as Maddeck opened presents and got his awesome new bike.  Thanks everyone for going in on the bike purchase.  He LOVES it (even though there is too much snow to ride it).  The rest of Maddeck's birthday was a bust as our entire family came down with the worst stomach flu.  By 10 PM Maddeck and I were sick.  By 1 AM Kyle and Evan were sick.  In the next 24 hours Miles, Mimi, Papa, GG, Jordan, Sarah, and Grady were all sick.  We had to cancel Maddeck's bowling party with his friends for Saturday.  We will reschedule in a couple weeks.  Grandma Cindi stayed with us for most of the day on Saturday and took care of us and stocked our kitchen with everything we may need to feel better.  It was such a gift to have her here.  I told her to get out of town and save herself from the flu but she insisted on staying.  She didn't get the flu.  She has a superman immune system or something. 

We are so blessed to be Maddeck's parents.  We pray that Maddeck continues to grow and mature into a young boy with conviction and a desire to serve Jesus Christ.  We thank the Lord for the fruit we see in his life and for 5 years of protection and growth for our son.  We love you Maddeck Kyle!!

Coloring & Drawing

Maddeck's name got cut off when I copied this.  With my help he is able to sound out and spell our names.  Evan is an easy one to sound out for him.  Maddeck has a mask on in his drawing because he is a super hero.

Practicing writing numbers.

I always find random words on his artwork.  This has 'flag', the number '10', and 'fork'.  I think he copied the words out of a spelling book he had been working on.

I Love You

As Maddeck was leaving for school this morning he wanted me to give Evan a message for him ...
"When Evan wakes tell him Maddeck says "I love you"" 
What sweet words from big brother as he was heading out the door.  We were up late last night and Evan was sleeping in so Maddeck wasn't able to see him before leaving today.

Kyle was giving Evan a shower and while he was scrubbing him with soap Evan says out of nowhere "I love you".  It is the best to hear I love you at random times when you least expect it. 

sick, sick, sick, and sick

All the boys are sick.  I took Maddeck to the doctor after 10 days of having a cold and a few days of complaining about his ears hurting.  Sure enough, double ear infection.  Poor kid.  He is on antibiotics for the first time to clear up his ears.  Kyle has been sick for over a week and is also complaining of clogged ears.  Thankfully, he is able to take over the counter medication for relief.  Miles and Evan are still in the early stages of this cold.  Evan coughed so hard he threw up last night.  Miles is teething (he got a top tooth last week and is about to get his second) and is especially drooling and covered in snot.  Everyone is coughing, including me.  On the very thankful side of the coin ... we are so blessed!!  Blessed to have doctors, medicine, and time off work for Kyle.  Blessed by God's perfect design in creating our bodies to heal and fight illness.  We had been looking forward to our extended weekend for quite a while.  Being sick was not in our plans but it has worked well for resting.

Here is a video of our tiny one not feeling well.  Sad, but cute. 

Collage

Crafting today ... making collages from magazines.  Maddeck has done this one before but it has been awhile.  He likes Kyle's ESPN magazines because there are so many sports things.  His finished project had a pack of gum, a basketball shoe, a bunch of basketballs, and some superheros.  Evan opted for practicing his cutting skills by cutting pages of High Five magazine into little pieces.  Ev also loves stickers so he created some art with stickers today. 

Making Music

The boys were making music, or should I say sounds?  We took out all kinds of things to bang on.  We practiced making beats.  Evan was not interested in beats.  Maddeck liked making beats but keeping the rhythm was hard.  After they were drummed out, the drums turned into hats. 

Valentine's Day

Last week Maddeck came out of school and said he had something for us that we couldn't see because "it is a surprise, but I will give you a hint.  It starts with a 'V'"  When we got home he ran and hid our surprise under the bed in the back bedroom.  On Valentine's Day morning we were making a craft (see below) together and he realized that it was time to give us the card he made.  He waited until lunch when Kyle was planning to be home and he gave it to us.  He is so sweet.  I love him.  I love Jesus for blessing us with our boys. 

 We melted crayon shavings between wax paper.  I traced heart shapes from the cookie cutters from our wedding on the paper.  Maddeck cut the hearts our all by himself.  We hung the hearts on our kitchen light fixture to catch the light.  Evan cut the scraps into teeny tiny little pieces while Maddeck cut out the hearts.  They turned our pretty cute.