Wedding Bells...

The weekend we were up north in January we got some excellent news.  My little sister Colleen got engaged...  

Colleenie is getting MARRIED!!!

We are all so excited for Colleen & Matt and their upcoming wedding.

Colleen, your Godchild (aka the Wedding Dancer) has been working on his moves for the last 6 years...

 

He's be more then happy to help you learn a few moves before your big day;)

Pin

Geremu had another wrestling tournament this last Sunday.

He loved every second of it.  Both Nick and I grew up involved in athletics but when it comes to wrestling neither of us know much...  So I basically have no advice to give Geremu other then don't get pinned.  Geremu has caught on quite quickly.  This weekend he got his first pin.  I actually watched it happen but had no idea he pinned the kid and won- just goes to show how much I know about wrestling.  In my defense it happened very quickly in the match and when it happens so quickly they let the kids continue wrestling for practice.  

When kids get a pin wrestling they often get a pin to put on something.  A lot of older kids were walking around the wrestling tournament with these wrestling beanie hats that said "wrestling" right on them with all their pins attached to the hat.  I had no idea what Geremu actually did with his pin yesterday.  He must have taken some notes from the older kids at the tournament because today when he was getting ready for school I spotted his pin.
On his winter hat....

He thinks it's pretty sweet because
"now it looks like my bear has an earring."

This kid cracks me up.

Star of the Week

This upcoming week Nasuuna is the "Star of the Week" in her classroom.  Geremu had his week shortly after the holiday break.  They are in different classrooms so how it is done is similar but not the same.  Geremu was sooooo excited to be the "Star," he wanted to share as much as he could with his class which included information about Ethiopia.  The week was a very special week for him.

Nasuuna isn't as excited...  She does not want to share anything about herself.  When we talked about it I asked her why she doesn't want to share? I found out she thinks people will ask her questions she either doesn't want to answer or doesn't know the answer.  I've talked with her and told her she doesn't have to share any information she doesn't want to but I'm not sure she is convinced I'm right.  She associates anything with her past as "sad" and thus doesn't want to share anything about it.  I never anticipated the week to be something she would be fearful of or dread.  It easy to forget that she has a past that she both knows and understands.  The understanding isn't always rational but it's in a way that makes sense for a 5 year old...

We have seen changes in her behaivor lately.  I don't want to go into detail about any of it but I'll just be honest and say it's hard.  She is getting lots of extra loving and will get some alone time with both Nick and myself this week.  We know attachment and behavior ebbs and flows.  Sometimes we can predict when we will have problems, like certain holidays or changes in our life.  But when it takes us off guard it's hard to figure out what the trigger is/was and how to help.  And it's so hard to watch one of our kids struggle.

We have talked at length about what to do about this "Star of the Week" homework she has.  Nasuuna suggested that she share information and pictures about...  Uncle Corky.  I told her on sharing day (Friday) if she wants to share information about Corky that's fine.  The paperwork and pictures she is suppose to bring tomorrow we worked on this weekend.  I did have her fill it out on herself, there isn't any personal information on the poster, favorite color, animal, food, etc.  The pictures...  Are not all of Uncle Corky like she wanted but he's included.  If Nasuuna had it her way on Friday during sharing time she would be FaceTiming Uncle Corky just so her class could meet him.

Uncle Cork, Congratulations on your "Star of the Week" status that Nasuuna has passed on to you.  She certainly thinks the world of you and it's easy to see why...

What Cold Weather Can Teach You...

Today it was roughly -150 degrees outside.  As you may remember last time it was this cold I learned a valuable lesson in the form of never tuck your face into your coat because your lip might get stuck to the zipper.  So today I had to park pretty far away from the school I was headed to so I made the block or so run (in a dress) from my car to the school with my head held high.  As I approached the school I realized something didn't feel right... 

I immediately walked into the school and found the one teacher that I knew would be honest with me.  Then I said to her, "Look at me, do I have a mustache?  Because I swear I felt something freeze above my upper-lip on my run into school."  I can only imagine that the feeling I experienced would be similar to a mustache freezing.  The teacher denied seeing it, even after I insisted she get closer to look.  Just to be safe, I'm taking care of business this weekend.  Which means the next time you see me I will be sporting the naked mole rat look on my face.

*Public Service Announcement:  Do NOT ever let your children do a Image search for naked mole rat.  I was trying to spice up my post by photoshopping a naked mole rats face onto my body but now I can't un-see what I just saw...  You've been warned.  

**Once I actual found the animal a naked mole rat I learned they have long whiskers and bad teeth... Not exactly the makeover look I had in mind when I mentioned the animal.

More from the Weekend

A little more about this past weekend...   Last year at the end of the winter season I got Nasuuna a pair of pink snowshoes.  When I went to put them on her I realized that she is in the right weight range but her boot is too small for the binding.  Geremu gracefully allowed Nasuuna to wear his snowshoes and he sported the pink ones.  He looks good in pink anyways so it all worked out.  

The kids are excellent at getting ready quickly when it's time to go outside.  The one thing they can't yet do is put their snowshoes on.  So instead of freezing my fingers off, while sweating profusely under my winter coat, I decided to put their snowshoes on in the cabin.  So this was the scene before I dragged them by their legs out the door...

As soon as they hit the snow they were off and running...

 As mentioned previously Geremu was willing to try a few stunts in his snowshoes.  Here he is after jumping off a tree that was about 5-6 feet off the ground.  It's hard to see just how high in the air this was because Nick and I were a distance from the kids when this picture was snapped.  

Geremu did not land his free-style jump...  But he also did not get hurt.

 Geremu received several well deserved face-washes in his many stunt attempts.  

You would seriously think after the first few face-washes he received from falling he would stop attempting his stunts but this kid is the definition of persistent.  We are currently rethinking our parenting philosophy of natural consequences.  Geremu will pretty much try anything- twice.

Nick even found time to perfected his bowling technique...

Good Times

Weekend Away

This weekend we headed up north for some rest and relaxation.
The weather was beautiful (mid 20's) and we all had a lot of fun playing in the snow.  

We all headed out together early Saturday morning.

I ended up hanging with the two littles after about the first 40 minutes because they couldn't keep up with Cullen's plan.  That was fine because these two seemed to have plans of their own.

Which mostly involved Nasuuna wondering through the woods singing (her versions) of hit radio songs including but not limited to "Girl On Fire."  Geremu on the other hand was drawn to anything that seemed remotely dangerous.  He attempted stunts that only Geremu would come up with that resulted in a few falls with free face-washes.

Nick and Cullen did a lot of exploring together making plans for later in life along the way.

Thanks to Geremu's animal calls Nick and Cullen were always able to figure out approximately where we were so we all could enjoy a little fun together.

After a morning of snowshoeing cousin Bailey and Josh came over after lunch.  They brought us the best popcorn.  I could have single handedly polished it off but I felt a little obligated to share a little with my kids.  After they left we headed out for some wild sledding...

We came in just long enough to warm up and eat dinner before heading out again.  This time our fun was in the form of hide-and-go-seek in the dark...

Two of my kids insisted on wearing head-lights.  They have this irrational fear that a "full grown sperm whale" is going to get them.  Apparently they want the see the sperm whale before it attacks...  Anyways, thanks to the headlights they were never very hard to find.  

I did have a great time hiding in the woods making sperm whale sounds until they would get close enough so I could jump out at them.  Of course this resulted in screaming, running and good times.  

They love to hang together as a team and I love hear their conversations during this time.  At one point Geremu got frightened and tried making a run for it.  In the act of fleeing he hit Cullen in the mouth and they both fell over.  I head Cullen yell, "Ouch!"  Geremu was helping him up and Cullen was all, "I have blood in my mouth."  Geremu and Nasuuna were both looking in Cullen's mouth trying to figure out if he was bleeding.  All of the sudden Cullen announces with enthusasm, "Geremu that was the BEST thing you've ever done to me.  Now I have a loose tooth!"
Geremu responded with a, "You're welcome!"

We made the most of our day today by getting up early and heading out again to hit up some spots we didn't get the chance to make it to yesterday...

I'll leave you tonight with pictures of my four favorite people...

Bitter Cold

When it's -25 degrees outside it only makes sense to stick your tongue on a metal flag pole today...

This picture was taken after the car was warmed up when Nasuuna was showing Geremu what she did to "urt her mouf."  But this did happen today and it will probably never happen again.

*I'm only saying "probably never happen again" because I pulled a similar stunt making a mad dash in the cold.  I had my coat zipped up and I tucked my mouth into the neck of my coat to breath easier...  Next thing I knew my bottom lip was stuck to the zipper.  

Tomorrow is suppose to be colder then today.  If you're looking for cheap entertainment go outside and blow some bubbles.  They land without popping and if you hit them just right in the air they shatter- AWESOME!