2 kids on 2 wheels

Vilate wanted to ride her new bike that we bought last year. First thing after breakfast we went outside to try out her bigger new bike. When we bought it I wanted it to last a few years but I think it was just too big. But with an extra year of growth and lessons on the smaller bike it made all the difference. She got on her bigger bike and after a short time she was an old pro.

I wanted Taydom to try the small bike without training wheels but he would have nothing to do with the bike until I put them on. He road it around our house for a while after breakfast. After lunch and around 1:30 the kids wanted to go to a park to ride bikes, so off we went to the park down the street. The training wheels were too big for the small blue bike and so I was not able to put them on very tight and of course they became lose at the park. It made Taydom very mad when I would not go back home to fix them. I told him I would help learn to ride without his training wheels and after an hour of being mad at me he finally decided to try. It did not take him long but he got it. He had his own way of getting started but it works. I guess this means I need to buy another bike. He is so proud of himself.

2 Wheeler

Last summer we bought Vilate a bike. All summer long she tried to ride it but it just did not come. The training wheels kept moving no matter how tight I made them. It became so frustrating for Vilate. This summer she really wanted to learn and I wanted to help her find a way and then a few days ago a neighbor gave Taydom a bike. Their son had out grown it and we had been talking about getting Taydom a bike and so it worked out great. This new(old) bike is smaller and much lighter. I though it might be a better bike for Vilate to try. I lowered the seat as low as it would go so she could sit on the seat and still haver her feet on the ground. For about 1 1/2 hours she practices balancing as she sat on the seat with one foot on each side. After it looked like she had gotten the balance down I showed her how to push one foot on the ground while another foot pushed on a peddle. It did not take long before she was off and riding. SHE IS SO EXCITED!!!! We were outside practicing the rest of the afternoon. With scratched up and tired legs she finally decided to come in about 4:00 to rest, but as soon as dad got home at 4:45 she was out there again excited to show him. And again after dinner; the only thing she could think about was riding. As she was getting into bed she asked me if I would wake her up at 6:00am so she could ride her bike. She wants me to take the training wheels off her bike tomorrow.

Mud, Mud, Mud

We went to kids school this last Saturday. The kids said they wanted to play on the play ground. Behind the Playground is a large hill the kids are not allowed to go up while they are at school. After getting to the school I found out the true reason why they wanted to go there. Taydom and Vilate spent most of the time climing to the top of the hill and running or rolling down it. They had such a blast. Ofcourse Vilate found the mud. This time it was on her butt. I should put all Vilate's mud photos I have together and make a huge scrapbook page.

Dog Sitting

Saturday morning a friend called and ask us if we would watch their dog while they went out of town for a few days. I know the dog and know it would be fun for the kids so of course I said yes. Sunday morning came and the kids were so excited. Crocket was so friendly he took to the kid right away. Vilate had been over to play with him a few times so I think that made Crocket fell okay right away. Taydom was so excited he was jumping around and could not hardly control himself for a while. Crocket did not seem to mind the excitement. We took Crocket out on many walks and play fetch over and over. That night when the kids went to bed they put Crocket in his crate. He cried and cried. Taydom came to me and said he did not like that it. We tell Crocket out and Taydom put his arm around him and said he was so sorry he put Crocket in his crate. Crocket slept at the foot our Tyson and my bed that night. The kids played all day Monday with Crocket. We went for many walks again and played outside all day. One of the walks Crocket pooped. I told the kids they needed to clean it up. They did not want to do it but I told them if they wanted a dog they need to show me they were ready for one and if they could not pick up the pooped they were not ready to have their own dog. Taydom ran away but Vilate was brave enough to do it. I put a plastic bag on her hand and she grabbed it and put it in the outside trash. I was so proud of her and very surprised too. Vialte is ready but Taydom is not. We are looking for the right dog at the right price. We have found the right dog but NOT the right price so we are still looking.

Friend at the play ground

Last Saturday was such a nice day; the first nice day of the season. We wanted to get out of the house but there are not many playgrounds around. We decided to go to Zea school playground. We did not go to the school were the kids go but to a school acrost town. It's one of the bigger playgrounds in the area and it's was not a glayground the kids play on every day. We had only been there for a short while when one of Vilate's friends came walking around the corner. They had the same idea. Vilate was happy to see her and they played well together.

Taydoms's Project

A few weeks a go Taydom brought home an assignment to learn about an animal, write a short report and them make its habitat. Taydom choose the Polar Bear. We found a great National Geographical TV show that Taydom watched and found out some really cool information about the Polar Bear. We checked out some books from the library and we enjoyed reading them together. Writing his report took about a week. It was long hard work but we did a little each night. Building the habitat was fast fun. One night Taydom panted the blue and white to make it look like the snow and the water. When it dried I sprinkled some extra fine glitter on the water to make it look shiny and icy I sprayed sticky spray glue on the white and Taydom ripped apart some soft polyfill and stick it to the extra sticky spray glue. He did not like it when he touched the very sticky glue. It was coming together nicely. The water and snow look really cool. Taydom wanted the snow to sparkle too. I then sprayed a very small amount of glue of the top of the snow and then added some glitter. It did not show up too well so I hunted around the house and found some left over sequence I had from a Halloween costume. It was white and shinny, and just worked perfectly. I was afraid that the sticky glue would attracted other thinks so I wanted it to dry. I heated up my embossing tool and tried to dry the glue. It dried the glue but it also started to melt the polyfill. I wanted to stop but Taydom liked the melting and so I continued. It made a thin crust on top that really look cool.
I drove Taydom to school the morning it was due just to make sure nothing happened. Later that day the first graders hosted an "Animal Home Show". All the first grades sat by their habitats and told each person anything and everything about their report and animal's habitat. It was so fun to see all the different projects that everyone did. I loved to see Taydom so proud.

Flag Raising

We were invited to a friends home for Family Home Eveing tonight. Taydom and Nathan are in the same Cub Scout Den. Nathan is about to turn 9 and earn his Wolf badge. Taydom is just earned his Bobcat and starting to do his requirements for a Wolf badge. They both needed to perform an outdoor flag ceremony and so part of FHE we did a flag raising. It was so fun to see the boys take pride in what they were doing.

Wedding Decoration

This last Thursday, a friend asked me if I could help decorate for a Wedding Dinner. It was lots of fun. It took two days and many hands but it sure looked good. I was not able to stay to see it all finish but is was really starting to look pretty when I left. Thursday I help only for a few hours and Friday I spent most of the day there. We made the lanterns out of Hula-Hoops, paper and ribbon. The woven false ceiling made out of roles of thin plastic. (I only put up one. The worst looking one) The sticks had artificially gardenias hot glued to them. That was my favorite. It really gave it and New England Spring look to it. The over head lights were all turned off and the lanturns, the lights of the tables and a few uplights through out the room gave it a romantic fell to the room. The cultural hall have never look so good. Burt, the lady that designed it really did a great job making it all come together. Well done Burt!!

The Dessert Maker

I made this video for you so you can watch my dessert video for you. Love, Vilate Winfrey About 4 weeks ago Vilate brought home an assignment to make an invention. She had a lot of fun coming up with the idea and then how it would work. She just brought it home from school today and wanted to share it on the blog.

Opening Day

Today is opening day for the Red Sox. At the kids's school they are having a opening day spirit day were the kids are asked to wear Red Sox stuff or the Red Sox colors. Vilate came home yesterday wanting to participate. All night long she talked about wanting to wear a Red Sox shirt. After dinner and homework we went and bought her a Red Sox shirt. SHE WAS SO EXCITED!!!!! I asked Taydom if he wanted one too and he said he wanted to wear his Colorado Rockies shirt. I told him his friend would be wear Red Sox shirt and I would buy him one too if he wanted one. He kept saying no. This morning Tydom found his Rockies shirt and got dressed without me asking him to. HE WAS SO EXCITED TO WEAR HIS ROCKIES SHIRT!!!

Happy OPENING DAY everyone.
In Boston it is better then Christmas.

We love Conference

The Primary President e-mailed all the children Conference packet to do if they wished. Taydom and Vilate loved finding the speakers in their packet. Beside each person was a necktie they colored to look like that speakers tie. They also enjoyed playing Conference BINGO. Every time Vilate heard one of the speaker talk about something on her BINGO sheet she was so excited to color it in. At the end of each section I gave the kids a treat to thank them for being quite and reverent so Tyson and I could lesson too.

Vilate lost another tooth

Vilate lost another tooth yesterday. It had been loose for a while and the now tooth was coming through behind. We had to get the old tooth out. Tyson tried and tried to get delta floss around it but he could not get it tight enough, so he just grabbed it with his fingers and pulled. Vilate was scared that doing it that way would hurt, but after it came out she looked at Tyson and said, "Is that it? That did not even hurt." She will not be able to eat if she keep loosing teeth at this rate.

More swimming

I am so proud of Taydom. This day was the first day he ever put him head/face in the water. He was practicing at the other end of the pool and I did not get the video but once he got to the the end were I was he wanted to show me.

Taydom Swimming

For Special Olympics Taydom is swimming. I can not believe the progress he has made. Before now he was afraid of the water and would not move away from the steps and alway held in to the handrails. High school swim team member are always there to volunteer so each kids has one on one help.

This morning (Saturday) I wanted to sleep in. I told the kids to let me sleep and please not to turn the TV on. About 8:00 I finally made my way downstairs. Taydom had his logos and Bioniclas out and made the coolest stuff. It just amazes me what he can make and how creative he cane be.

Vilate's painting

For about a week Vilate had been asking me if she could paint. On Saturday morning I got out the paints and made a few canvases out of cardboard and tinfoil. She had a great time painting all morning. On Monday she took them to her art teacher at school. A few days later I was at the school and look up and there were her paintings, hanging on the wall in the art room. I asked Vilate about them when she got home. Vilate said she was so happy that the art teacher hung them up for every one to see.

My first blogging

Our Family moved from Colorado to Massachusetts about a year ago. It has been hard to be away from family and friends so I thought it would be fun to make a blog to try to stay in tough easier.