Glasses

Look how cute my little one looks in her brand new glasses!!! I can't believe how old she looks! Of course they are Disney princess glasses....way fun!





Baby Kanon

Very excited to post an announcement that April had her baby!

Kanon Anton Woelke born yesterday at 8:10am. 10lbs, 10oz, 23inches. BIG boy! April is a trooper!! Can't wait to meet him!!

Gramma Rue

Gramma Rue came for a short visit this weekend. She flew in after class on Thursday and it ended up being pretty low key because Kenna was sick :( On Friday we went to the new Olive Garden in Ankeny. We expected a crowd, but it took us 15 minutes just to find parking! We wrangled the kids in, and luckily Gona and Baca had written their names down, so the wait wasn't long once we got inside. The service was far better than the grand opening of the olive garden in seattle! Josh and I had to wait over 2 hours there :)

--Happy Birthday Baca!-- 

--poor Zachey's chapped cheeks...this cold weather is no good for his sensitive skin!--

On Saturday we had planned to go do some fun things, but Kenna woke up with the flu. She continued to feel yucky throughout the day. That night Josh and I went to his company's party. It was quite fun, as the entertainment picked on him a little. They hired a couple to sing 70s songs, and at one point they pulled Josh up in front of his whole company and she (actually a guy dressed in drag) proceeded to give him a lap dance...I must admit I found it quite hilarious!

We ate dinner, and Josh stayed after to dance and sing karoke. Sunday Kenna didn't feel much better, so we just stayed inside and played. Monday we both had to work, so Gramma Rue stayed home and played with the kids.

On Tuesday we had quite the storm come in. Apparently the entire midwest was under snow. Gramma Rue's flight was cancelled, which ended up working out nicely because Kenna was still feeling under the weather. I got out of school early, but we did make it to the airport later that night, and Gramma Rue made it home okay! It probably wasn't the fun trip she had in mind, but the kids had a good time!

Monkey Joes

Two weekends ago we went to Monkey Joe's with Gentrys. Then we had pizza afterwards. Was a nice way to celebrate one of their last few weeks as a family of 3! Shelly is scheduled for a c-section on the 9th!

--blurry pics of the boys bouncin--

--Monkey Joes has TONS of inflatables, this is one of Zachey's favorite-- 

--another one that is designed for smaller kids-- 

 --Kenna useually plays on the bigger ones, but she was having fun with Zachey--

We can't wait to meet the newest Gentry! More on that soon!

Zachey do it!

That is about all we hear these days. After he loudly announces each morning that he wants "OAT-EEL" we make the oatmeal and he proceeds to say Zachey do it when I poor it, Zachey do it when we get a bib, Zachey do it when we get a spoon, Zachey do it when he eats it...you get the picture....it is pretty cute if you get passed the repetitionn.

On a fun note we have a date for the ultrasound. Feb 7th is a Monday and we are bringing Kenna - should be fun! Announcement of gender hopefully to follow.

I had my first day of internship this last week and I LOVED it! I see now what all of our tax dollars are going towards! Ankeny really ensures that teachers have professional development time, as well as time to collaborate on the curriculum. They allocate funds to purchase research based curriculum and really give Marisa the time to counsel both individually and group sessions. I didn't think I would like elementary school this much!!

ART!

I have decided that rather than rent a storage facility for all of the art Kenna brings home...I will record them digitally and (gasp) throw them out...I am saving a few that are my favorites, but will post the rest online!!

--stoplight--

--kenna can spell a few words on her own, Mckenna and mommy in the flowers--

--didn't realize I didn't rotate this...oops, Kenna and her BFF Campbell (girl from school)--

--Christmas tree--

--yes she officially knows more about art than I...had no idea what stippling was!--

--apparently its artful ripping ;)--

--kenna and her tree with presents--

--we went and saw tangled for a mommy date, this is Repunzel--

--special invite to her Christmas performance (her hand is santa)--

--coloring Dora--

--and barbie--

--Zachey's first real colored picture!--

--she was SOOOO proud of this book! They traced all the continents and drew in the water--

--she couldn't WAIT to bring it home :) --

--getting pretty good at writing :) --

Kenna LOVES all things art. She is often coloring, painting, and drawing at home. I really need to capture her art more often! She does something at school everyday, and at Eski's as well! Busy little girl!

Baby news

I had my 18 week appointment a few weeks ago (almost at 20 weeks now...jeesh halfway done!) All seemed well. I am doing really well in eating and working out - have only gained about 7 pounds so far, woohoo! The goal is to be better with this one than Mr. Z....that pregnancy was do what I want, don't work out, eat everything in sight...bad idea!

Kenna came with me, and she got to hear the heartbeat which she thought was super cool! We are scheduled for a an ultrasound on February 7th, so hopefully I will know if I need to get out little girl clothes, or little boy clothes then!

Chatter-Box!

Mr. Zachary has really burst out of his shell these last few weeks and is talking up a storm! Here are a few of my favs, although I am sure that he can say hundreds of words by now!

"oohhhh Bite!" - oh bright (usually in the morning)
"more, pease!" -the kid never stops eating
"nenefant" - elephant (followed by his imitation of what one sounds like with arm fully extended)
"I-lee o outsie?" - rylee go outside? (very concerned if rylee waits by the door too long!)
"dink" - drink
"away, away, away" - (we started singing this song with Kenna to put the toys away, we learned it in Kindermusik, now whenever he puts ANYTHING away, he sings the song)
"eakfas time, ninner time, bat time" - breakfast, dinner, bath time (if we associate "time" with a task he thinks its fun!)
"orry mama, orry nena, orry daddy" - sorry mama, Kenna, Daddy (he has to do this a lot....)

Some other fun things are his labeling of everything. We could be walking by something and he will stop to lable the nose, eyes, hair, ears, etc. He just has a verbal naration of everything that is going on. "daddy shoe, go bye bye, coat, hat, bye bye!" I wonder what is going on in that little brain of his....its so stinkin cute!

BOOBS!

Kenna and I were walking through Target because they were the only place in town that sold the right sized baskets for our new shelving unit in the basement. We bought them and were walking through the store to checkout. Luckily there weren't many people around, but when we walked through the bra section she shouted "BOOBS!" at the top of her lungs (very uncharacteristic of Kenna to yell!) The staff that was working in that section burst out laughing and I just turned around and said "Pretend you didn't hear that!" We had to have a conversation about appropriateness of language, but it was rather hilarious :)

Ora?

We have FINALLY discovered what Zachey's "Ora" means! Dora! Apparently he has watched it at Eski's a few times and just LOVES it, almost more than elmo I think!!! He even plays along with the show repeating words when they ask. He must have seen the picture of Dora on our new 3D TV in our basement. We were scrolling through streaming netflix options and there it was..."ORA!!!"

He has been so patient in communicating with us :) Its at the point now where he can usually tell us what he wants if we listen hard enough!! I just love this age!

Calendar

We had way too much fun making the calendar this year. When we were in college we were broke, so we took a bunch of pictures of Josh and I and pasted them in a Seattle calendar (dangling from the space needle, throwing fish at Pike's Place Market, etc.) Well we have continued the tradition and this year we did a Disney calendar. Too fun!

--she gets this face from her mother....poor child--

Christmas' Galore!

We started our Christmas on the 23rd this year. Eski had her annual Christmas bash where all the parents bring food, and Santa comes to deliver one gift to each of the kids! The food was good, and it is always fun to socialize with the parents a little bit!

--My kids were of course were the first to dig in--

--JJ and Xander were being silly--

--Baby Grace (not really a baby anymore :)--

--silly kids again--

--Macie--

--halfway through the evening Santa came!!--

--the kids who weren't scared sat in for a picture--

--Kenna anxiously awaiting her present!--

--getting her gift!--

On top of Santa's gift, the kids each drew a name of another child. So each kid got two gifts that night. It was a good time! Eski of course made amazing goodies and we left with full bellies!

That evening the kids spent the night at Gona and Baca's so that Josh and I could do some last minute present completion. This year we made gifts for the people that we drew. I sent Adam some homemade apple caramels and Kenna made Gavin a picture frame. Josh and his dad put together a giant hawkeye and state metal frame (which Denny welded) and Josh made a framed wooden carving with their last name that sat in the metal frame. It was awesome (going to try and post a picture.) He also made his parents a picnic table, and we had to finish the now famous Skinner calendars for our parents.

That evening we headed to Gona and Baca's to have just a immediate family Christmas. We always have pasta and this year we were spoiled with Tali's lasagna! Those culinary classes are really paying off!

--these were actually taken at thanksgiving, but fitting for now--

--opening gifts--

--they got matching hats--

--Zachey was digging the lasagna--

--and kenna too--

Christmas morning we had a blast at our house playing with what santa brought! I will do a separate post for that since all of the photos are on Josh's iphone. Both blankies and camera were left at Gona and Bacas...not sure what was more tragic actually!

That afternoon we headed over to Gona and Baca's again for the Mace Christmas. We had a great meal again and got to open more presents (man we are so spoiled!) We also do the Chinese christmas which was pretty funny....the highlight this year was Monster!

--more present opening--

--kenna and kitty--

--with Gona--

--kitty with Grandma Great--

--and with uncle mike--

--check out the boots....my goodness--

As usual we had such a great Christmas....what a wonderful family we have! And while I missed being away from my side this year, I do feel fortunate to live so close to so many of Josh's family, especially this time of year!!!