Veterans Day and Hiding Turkeys

 Reagan had some interesting homework assignments over the weekend.

First, we had to go to the Veterans Memorial Walkway in town and spend some time gathering information.  I remember doing this with Collin when he was in first grade and both times I have thought it was a great project.

Don't mind the outfit - we came right from gymnastics.

 She had to find two quotes by President John F. Kennedy.

Reagan had to use crayon to do a rubbing of a brick and she chose this one.  We couldn't find a brick with the name of anyone we know, so this is just a random selection.

 We did find Great Grandpa's name on the memorial for his service in World War II, so Reagan decided to add a rubbing of his name to her paper.  I was happy to see how proud she was of his service.  Six is really young to understand war and service in the military, so I can't say that she really understood, but she was happy to see his name there.  We have to go back because I didn't even think to look for the name of her Great Grandfather Killoran.

On a much lighter note, Reagan was also given the task of helping a turkey avoid the fate of becoming Thanksgiving dinner by creating a disguise to keep him safe.  Reagan had a similar assignment in Kindergarten when she chose to disguise her turkey as Rapunzel.  This year, she chose a clown costume.

There is definitely no turkey in sight at this circus!

Reagan enjoyed both of these assignments.  I like to see how proud she is of her work and I am thrilled that she takes charge of each assignment with minimal assistance from me or Dad.  She needed a little help with each assignment, but she was happy to do what she could on her own!

Fourteen Months

At fourteen months, Katelyn:

- has eleven teeth (six on the bottom and five on the top)
- struggles with teething
- wears size 12-18 months and still has plenty of room
- is super ticklish
- adores her siblings
- will push me away if I try to take her from Tyler when he is holding her; the other day Tyler had to shower and he had to put her down on the floor so that I could pick her up because she kept pushing me away when I tried to take her from his arms
- enjoys going out to eat and is very good in restaurants
- makes animal sounds for dog, cat, bird, pig, and cow
- says the following words:  Mama, Dada, Tyler, Grandma (she says "Mamma" just like Reagan did at this age), doggie, ball, balloon, keys, book, more, uh oh, thank you, love you.  I'm sure there are words that I have forgotten.
- takes two naps (typically around 9 and 1) each for about an hour, but seems to be close to eliminating the early nap
- goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 and sleeps about eleven hours, although she has woken up in the middle of the night a few times recently
- loves cereal with milk and bananas more than any other food
- screams for ice cream (seriously)
- begs for sweets
- hands me books to read to her all day long; she is particularly fond of Sandra Boynton books and Reagan's old issues of Babybug
- enjoys coloring

- will spend a lot of time filling and dumping; here she is filling up a container with pom poms and then dumping them out to fill it again

- still enjoys taking things out of the kitchen cabinets and is especially fond of my dish washing gloves

Kate is such a joy right now.  We all have so much fun with her.  She is clever, funny, silly, happy, and loving.  Honestly, she brightens every day and we all love her so much.

Happy Birthday Kelly

Kelly is four today.  Happy Birthday pretty girl!  No special cakes or cookies today; every time we make homemade treats for Kelly, she gets an upset stomach so I think we will stick to giving her extra attention!

Around the World Names

A conversation with Reagan:

R:  I don't like my name
Me:  What?  You have one of the prettiest names in the world!
R:  Collin and I have made up names.
Me:  What are you talking about?  Your names aren't made up.  There are many people named Collin and I know people named Reagan.  Plus, your name was on a baby blanket on the cover of Pottery Barn Kids a while ago.  We definitely did not make them up.  There was a girl named Reagan that played field hockey with you this summer.
R:  She wore shin guards.
Me:  Of course, so did you, or you would get bruised shins from the sticks.
R:  Tyler and Katelyn are around the world names.  I want an around the world name.
Me:  I am sure there are people named Collin and Reagan around the world.  If you don't like your name, you can change it when you grow up, but that will make me sad.  I love your name.
R:  I don't have anyone else with R.
Me:  What?
R:  You know, Tom - Tyler, Christy - Collin, Katelyn - Kelly.  No one else in the house has R.
Me:  We had a president with your name.
R:  His name was Ronald.  Reagan is a last name.
Me:  Thomas, Christy, Tyler, Collin, and Kelly are all last names too.  Katelyn is the only one in the house that doesn't have a last name.
R:  Oh, poor Katelyn.

KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!

Soccer Season Ends

Collin had his last soccer game of the season today.  He really enjoyed playing this year.  I am so proud of how hard he tried.  He is a little disappointed that his team didn't win a game all season, but he still had fun.

Collin's favorite position this year was goalie.  I think he likes the mathematical aspects of playing this position; Tom taught him how to use the angles and that clicked with him.

It was a fun season, and Collin is already looking forward to playing next fall.

The Return of Kate

Yesterday was the first day in a week that Kate was back to herself.  The whole week that Kate was sick, she was very angry, cranky, and unable to be comforted.  I held her so much over the last week that my hips and back are still sore.  There was one day that the only way I could keep her calm was to run the vacuum CONSTANTLY.

During this sickness, she would not wave or blow kisses or play or dump out the contents of my drawers and cabinets; she wouldn't do any of the things that are part of who she is right now.  This worried me so much.  I know that it is normal for a child who does not feel well to act out of sorts and not feel like playing, but I still worried.  Most of my worry stemmed from the fact that Kate had a flu shot two days before she got sick.  I am a strong proponent of immunizations and flu shots, but I always worry for a few days after my children have shots.  I hope and pray that they do not have any kind of negative reaction.  So, when Kate got sick and just wasn't herself right after her flu shot, I couldn't help but worry about a connection.  I was thrilled yesterday when she woke up happy and seemed to be herself again.  She played, waved, blew kisses, smiled, and made a lot of messes!

One of Kate's favorite things to do right now is put straws in lids.  She spent a good chunk of time doing this yesterday afternoon.

She is very good at it, especially with the reusable hard plastic lids and straws.

Kate also likes this shape sorter.  She always goes right for the cylinders and usually gets them in without a problem.  The other shapes are still a challenge for her.  These pictures were taken this morning.

I can't even begin to explain how happy I am that my baby is back to herself.  I hope she makes many messes all over the house and I will happily clean them up all day!

Sickness, Candy, and Leaves

The end of the week seemed to go by really slow because Kate was sick and SO. VERY. ANGRY. about being sick.  She had a very low fever for five days.  I brought her in to see the pediatrician yesterday, and her ears, throat, and lungs were all clear.  Today, a rash appeared on her stomach and back, so we think it was probably Roseola.  She is also getting three teeth and has a runny nose, so that explains why she has been so angry!  She is on the mend though.  Also, between her not feeling great and the time change, she was in bed before six o'clock tonight.  It will be interesting to see how early she wakes up, assuming that she sleeps the whole night!

To earn a few pieces of Halloween candy today, I told Collin and Reagan they had to put all of their candy in alphabetical order.  They thought this was fun!

See those huge scratches on the coffee table?  We didn't have the coffee table a week before Kelly jumped across it and gouged it.  Sigh.  I don't really notice it anymore, but it is very noticeable in this picture.  

We have a box of candy ready to send to soldiers via Operation Shoebox.  I will be happy to get it in the mail tomorrow!

Reagan has always been a Memory champion.  We played twice last night and she won both times.

Today was a quiet, lazy day for the most part, but we did clean up a lot of leaves.  

Kate loved being outside in the middle of all of the action.  It was a nice day to be outside.

I am excited that November is here.  I love the holiday season!