Thursday, December 30, 2010

10 years later....


Our New Years Eve Celebration won't be freezing for 6 1/2 hours in the cold to watch the ball drop in Times Square (an amazing ONE TIME experience), but rather, a night at the Hyatt getting dressed up for a black tie affair, staying up really late, and probably the most exciting part...sleeping in.
Cheers!!!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas!

Jonathan driving on the country roads of Eudora, KS-Watch out farmers!

Making gingerbread houses with the extended family




Cousin Audrey helping Kate & Nick


The night before Christmas...and they wouldn't CALM DOWN!!!

Love my little rascals
Ah, we think* the children are asleep.

Thanks to my sister, we have some killer aprons


Christmas morning...Santa and Gaga/Grandpa were GOOD to them this year!

Jonathan set the table for Christmas dinner...then provided some rockin' entertainment.






Christmas with the Kazmaier's




Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Montessori Celebration of Life


I just love how birthday's are celebrated at Nick's Montessori. They call it the "Celebration of Life" and it's more than just singing "Happy Birthday" and having cake. This is Nick's second year experiencing the ceremony. The candle in the middle represents the sun and the months are placed all around. For each candle lit, the kids sing "The earth goes round the sun, the earth goes round the sun..." and Nick carries the earth while walking around the sun from December all the way back around to represent one year of his life....a great way to visually represent the concept of time. I then have the privilege of telling his classmates a few things about Nick during each year of his life beginning with his birth followed by Nick walking around showing them each a picture of himself from that year. Finally, the kids sang happy birthday and he blew out all the candles....and had cupcakes.
Happy Birthday, Nick. You are our sweet blue-eyed, dimpled, soft spoken angel. We love you SOOOOOOOOO much!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Montessori Performance




Nick had another moment in the spotlight yesterday during his school program. He, along with 20 other little preschoolers, belted out the following songs (and adorably way off-key).

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
Frosty the Snowman
Deck the Halls

All things Christmas

There are three presents sitting under out tree that were handpicked by Jonathan, Nick and Kate. I took each one of them out separately to pick out a gift for their siblings the other night...it was both heartwarming and hilarious. Jonathan completely understood the task and was quite methodical about the process...taking careful consideration of what his brother and sister wanted. Nick just started filling his basket with random things.
"Nick, honey...are you sure your baby sister wants a package of plastic roaches? Let's think about this for a minute."

I'm fairly certain Jonathan knows exactly what his brother and sister picked out for him...they have no concept of keeping a secret. Jonathan, on the other hand, knows how to play the game.

WILLIE
Meet Willie. He's our Elf on the Shelf...(and yes, he represent diversity in our home...thanks Aunt Katie). This has been a very effective means of manipulating the the kiddos to comply with our requests. :) If you know the book, our Shelf Elf sits and observes the behaviors and actions of our three little angels, and each night, flies to the North Pole to report to Santa only to return the next morning to a different location in the house. It's been fun for the kids to find Willie each morning...and even more fun for me to have an ally.


JONATHAN'S LETTER TO SANTA:
Dear Santa,

I like your reindeer. Did Rudolf do good things? When is it going to be Chrsitmas? I've been a little bit good today. I will try harder to be good next Christmas. How many children did you give present to? How many did bad at Christmas and gotted a black rock?
I would like for Christmas:
  • Lego set
  • A new skateboard
  • Guitar
  • Star Wars guys
  • Sword

Love, Jonathan

P.S. What kind of cookies do you like?

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

New Hope Church Christmas Program









The morning service included the children playing the Handbells.







Kate and Nick had their moment in the spotlight too!



My father's article in Milestones in the Clinton Daily Democrat:
The Christmas lights and decorations throughout the region are spectacular this year. One, in particular, is the Houk Family Christmas Lighting Display located at the residence. This is 501 South Orchard St., a block south of West Ohio St. Christmas is 10 days away. In the meantime, Christmas Pageants taking place in area churches and some schools. Three of our grandchildren, who are also the grandchildren of Rev. and Mrs. Jerry Kazmaier of Clinton, participated in a Christmas Pageant at their church in the Liberty area over the weekend. Jonathan, 5, was a shepherd. Nicholas, 4, fulfilled the role of a donkey. Come to think of it, his mother, Emily, was a donkey, too, some 25 years ago, during a Holy Rosary School Christmas Pageant. This would make Nicholas a second generation donkey. And Kate, 3, portrayed a little lamb. Think back, you, too, were most probably in a Christmas Pageant many years ago. What role did you fulfill? Perhaps it wasn’t the role you wanted. This brings us to Nicholas, 4, when he was informed his role was to be a donkey during the pageant and particularly, the manger scene. He promptly informed his mother, “I don’t want to be a donkey.” He insisted, “Why can’t I be a pirate.” “Nicholas,” there aren’t any pirates in Christmas pageants.” “Why?” Good question. Perhaps pirates could be written into a Christmas Pageant script. The premise could be a pirate ship raid along the coast of Judea with the pirates foraging inland and encircling Bethlehem. They encounter the three Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem and, at the point of their swords, take their gold, frankincense and myrrh along with clothes, all personal possessions and camels…leaving the Magi afoot and without any resources. The pirates then sense a blessed event is about to occur. Visited by St. Michael the Archangel, who is carrying a 50-foot Jedi Knight Light Saber, the pirates have a change of heart, restore everything to the Three Wise Men, and travel to the manger to witness the blessed event and appear in the closing tableau. This would be an interesting twist to your traditional Christmas Pageant. One thing for sure, those in attendance would be talking about the performance for years to come. If you had a choice, would you rather be a donkey or a pirate?




Wednesday, December 1, 2010

It can't be true...


...can it?

My 5 year old informed me he had a girlfriend when he brought home the following (his classmate and gal pal, Katie, made it for him). Seriously? I know that all it is to them is sharing animal crackers at lunch and playdates at recess. It is not like they won't be monitored...but aren't I still supposed to be the only woman in his life?