Nicholas Reads to Kaylee 1.29.09

How sweet is this? At bedtime, Kaylee asked Nicholas if he would read her a book and he promptly agreed. So, he climbed in her bed and was reading her Barbie and the Diamond Castle. He loves to read to her. January 29, 2009.

The Results Are In!!

After a fast response on the beard question...the results are in!
Several opposed the whole idea and could not fathom the idea of their sweet baby faced Kevin with facial hair, some said way to go Kevin - grow it out, and the overwhelming majority said to do whatever - you can always shave it off if you don't like - SO...he took the advice to heart, got off the fence, and shaved it off last night. Bye - bye rough whiskers - we'll miss you. Baby face Kevin is back! By the way, many of you wanted to know what I thought of it...I could not decide, I was in the category of - you can always shave it off later.
Thanks for all your input!

101 Days of School at BWF ~ January 22, 2009

Today is 101 days of school at Brookwood Forest Elementary and Nicholas' class celebrated by counting out 101 items, listing 101 words, and writing 2 papers (I thought they were so cute and funny, I just had to share):

The first is "I wish I had 101... 1 dollar bills because I want 1 hundred and 1 dollar bills so I could be rich. So I could buy me 101 lightsabers. So I could save people's lives."

Awwhh - that is so sweet!

The second paper is "When I turn 101 years old, I will... watch tv all day. Sleep and read. Wear a potty pager and pee and poop. Have surgery. Back will hurt. Wear the same clothing every day."

How funny is that?

To beard or Not to Beard - That is the Question!

Kevin went duck hunting last week and did not shave then thought "hmmm, I kind of like this. I'm going to grow a beard." Ever since then, he has been wishy washy about wether he likes it or not. He asks everyone if they think it looks good or not and the results are mixed with love it, like it, could care less, and shave it off. What do you think - we would love to hear!

Bowling ~ January 19, 2009

The kids were out of school today so we got together with some friends (the Hecker's) and went bowling. The kids did great and had so much fun. Nicholas finished in first place with a 101 (much better than I could do) - of course, that is with bumpers up, so no gutter balls. We bowled for 2 hours, had 3 pitchers of Coca-Cola, and two large bags of popcorn - what's not fun about that?

Duck Hunting with Ryan

Duck hunting again! This time Kevin went with cousin Ryan Dunlop (nice hair). The guys had fun and even got some ducks.

Wild Thang 1/15/09

What do we do when Kevin is out of town hunting? We switch to the dance music channel on the TV and start cutting the rug! The kids were having a ball dancing to "Wild Thang."

Rock Star Clayton 1/15/09

Clayton got an electric guitar from us for Christmas and is now officially taking lessons. Nathan, our church's youth minister, agreed to help him learn the basics. Clayton was so pumped before, during, and after his lesson. He already wants to join a band!

Nicholas' PowerPoint Presentation on The Chinstrap Penguin

Wow, look at what Nicholas and a classmate (Laurel) did! The children started off the week doing research in groups on the specific penguin that they were assigned. They had a research form to fill out with all of the important information that they found. On Wednesday, they typed their information into a PowerPoint. On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, they recorded their voices reading the information on the PowerPoint using Photo Story. All that to say, they have worked really hard! Way to go Nicholas!

Kaylee writes her name!

Kaylee started a new preschool this January and has been loving it! She now goes to Brookwood Baptist Church's Early Childhood Center (ECC), which is the same church we are members of. Kaylee is learning to write and has started writing her own name - all by herself! She is doing an amazing job!

The Boys go Duck Hunting!

January 9-11, 2008. Waterproof Waders - check. Waterproof gloves - check. Waterproof jacket - check. Warm layers for under all that - check. The boys are officially ready to go duck hunting with Daddy in Ruleville, Mississippi! They woke up at 4am and headed out to hunt... Not many ducks, but lots of water, cold weather, and fun!

Girl's Week-end ~ January 9, 2009

What's a girl to do when her brothers and Daddy leave for the week-end to go duck hunting? You got it! Have a girl friend (Lilla) over and break out the cheap make up, nail polish, and hair accessories! This past week, I was shopping down the 75% off Christmas aisle at Wal-Mart and saw this huge make up set. I made it mine for only $3.00! Last night, we opened it up, took a large mirror off the wall to use, and had some glittery fun. It's so much fun to be a girl!

Our New Wall Art

Thanks to Uncle Matt, we now have these gorgeous canvas hand prints of our family! I thought they turned out really good! Kevin and I shared one and the kids each got their own and wrote their names and year on them. They look fabulous on the wall, too.

Our Favorite Things from our California Trip

At the end of our trip, I videoed the kids telling me what their favorite things were from our trip to California. It took Nicholas a little while to remember, but he finally figured it out.

Our Family Vacation to California 12/27/08 to 1/2/09

Right after Christmas, we took the whole family along with Grandma and Papa Dunlop to California. We wanted to take the kids to Legoland! We stayed in Carlsbad near San Diego and went to Legoland for two days, the San Diego Zoo, the USS Midway aircraft carrier, the Maritime Museum, an Aquarium, and saw a few beautiful sunsets along the way, too. We kept the kids going all day long! It was a fabulous trip, and very nice to have two extra sets of hands every step of the way!

Maritime Museum of San Diego

The Star of India

Raising and lowering the anchor.

This is where immigrants slept aboard the Star of India when being brought into America.

The Surprise.

Cannons aboard the Surprise.

This is where men who were manned on the Submarine slept - very, very, very tight quarters in that sub!

Thursday, January 1, 2009. The first day of the New Year, we headed to San Diego for the Maritime Museum. Talk about a must see place! This was really cool! In the words of the boys, "Wow! A real War Sleuth Pirate Ship!" We toured the Star of India ship, the Surprise which the ship used in the movie Master and Commander w/ Russell Crowe, a Russian Submarine used in the Cold War, and few other small vessels.

Legoland - Day 2 - New Year's Eve

Wednesday, December 31, 2008. Day 2 of Legoland was just as fun as the first day we went! Volvo sponsors a car racing section for kids, so we got the kids their "driver's license" and let them drive the course in Lego looking Volvos. We saw more amazing things made of Legos, of course, and rode some cool rides. As it got dark we made our way to the Miniland, USA for a Kid's New Year's Eve Party. There was singing by the Legoland performers and then instead a "ball drop" at midnight, they did a Lego "brick drop" at 6pm followed by fireworks. We found this much more enjoyable than staying up till midnight :)