Children's Museum, Benjy Pictures, Throwback Pic

This past week was a bit stressful, so I didn't have my head in the game to take pictures of what we were doing. Benjy had sports class, I made a trip down to the cannery, went to the gym, Joy School happened... all that jazz. I made food for the teachers at Eli's school for the whole week to fulfill some of my volunteering requirements, so that added to the stress factor. Time to regroup and get ready for this coming week. 

But going back a little, Eli had Martin Luther King day off from school so we went down to the Children's Museum. We got there right as it opened to avoid the late morning holiday crowd (and to actually get a parking spot). We have gone before at midday and had to leave because there were no parking spaces. The museum recently added some new exhibits, and this was our first time seeing them since they opened. The boys loved the  new climbing exhibit and energy exhibit. Eli spent 45 minutes blasting his paper rocket off an air-pressurized blaster thing, trying to get it through the rings suspended from the ceiling. He would've spent longer if I hadn't dragged him away! The old exhibits were a hit, too. You can never go wrong with bubbles, or with making stuff out of recycling.

I took a picture of one of the recipe cards in the play kitchen, and when we got home I made the recipe for lunch. It was delicious.

The cutest R.O.U.S. I have ever seen, and also the most beautiful butterfly.

There was also a new water exhibit that was lots of fun. After getting wet, the kids took turns rowing and keeping their balance in the suspended kayak.

After we got home, Benjy discovered that one of the nails from his project fit in the hand of a Lego person perfectly, and he thus armed his Ninjago Stormtrooper with a "sword of Na-eel."

Dress up in Dad's clothes. Why not? 

When we were at the grocery store that week, I bought some garlic. Benjy said in surprise, "You're buying pop-its??" I had to think a second before I realized he was talking about those little exploding things that you throw on the ground and they snap. I guess garlic does look like a giant pop-it!

I realize this post is mostly about Benjy, and he deserves some spotlighting after his brother and sister's birthday posts. This kiddo is growing up so quick on me. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he will be in kindergarten this fall. I kinda felt like he would be my home buddy forever! He is so smart and loves to play games and pretend. Pretty much every day we play pretending games where he is a dinosaur hatching out of an egg, a kitty named Violet (or Pickles, since he found out Violet is a girl's name), a puppy, or a character from Star Wars (usually R2D2). Sometimes I fully enter the game and pretend to be a mother cat teaching her kitties how to catch mice, or a mother dinosaur watching her baby hatch, but oftentimes we just go about our business while pretending to be characters ("Ok R2, will you put the plates on the table so we can have lunch?"). Emmie loves to join in all the pretending games and is always a cat named Daisy when we are playing cats, or C3PO when we are playing Star Wars.

This last week during nap time one day, Benjy and I played Traffic Jam. This was the first time we had ever played the game the real way; usually he just likes to play with the cars on the "parking lot." I showed him how to set it up according to the picture on the card and how to move the cars and trucks backwards and forwards on the spaces. The object is to free the red car (ours was brown, since the red one is lost) through the one open spot in the border surrounding the grid. We did a bunch of cards together, and I tried to just give him clues and let him work most of it out on his own. After awhile I taped him solving one puzzle alone that we had previously solved together, and it was pretty cool.

I'm posting a pre-blog picture that I found on my phone so it doesn't get lost forever. I might start posting some throwback pictures when I don't have much to post, or maybe on Thursdays, since Throwback Thursday is a thing. This one was taken at Sprouts on 9/18/14, so Emmie was about 9 months old and Benjy was about three and a half. 

I sure do love these little ones (and their brother). I have to remind myself every day to cherish the time I have with them while they are little because they are growing up before my very eyes.

Sportin' Around, Benjy's Drawings, Sick Day

I am behind on blogging because our internet connection has been running at super slow speeds lately. We had a technician come out this past week to look at it. He said it was fixed, but the internet has still been super slow... anyway, I'm going to try to catch up tonight since Justin doesn't need the internet. :) Backing up to the week after Eli's birthday, Monday I took the kids to the library and then to Benjy's sports class at the Rec Center. We got to the library before it opened, but the outside doors connecting it to the adjacent community college were unlocked, so we went inside to wait. There was a long corridor leading to the college that was completely empty, so the kids ran up and down it for about fifteen minutes while we waited. 

 The sports class Benjy is taking is at the Westminster Rec Center. I signed him up for a month-long session, and each session they work on a different sport. This month they are working on soccer. Emmie and I hang out and take selfies while Benjy kicks it in class.

Emmie likes to get upon the bathroom counter and play with water in the sink. I found her washing her feet one afternoon. I have a feeling this kid is going to be my pedicure buddy when she gets bigger.

My calling at church this year is to teach the four and five year old class, which is Benjy's class. The kids are such a fun age and I love teaching them. Let me just say though, when I ask the kids to draw something, most of them draw a few straight lines and some scribbles. Benjy, however, draws in elaborate detail and has to be forced to stop or he will keep going and going. This was his drawing (front and back) from Primary a couple weeks ago.

 That week I took a video of him doing some drawings. He is such a creative kid and his imagination blows me away.

Joy School was at our house that week. Tuesday the kids learned about goals and I told them some stories from the lesson to help them grasp the concept of wanting something and working hard for it. Benjy's favorite part was hearing the story about Jason who wanted to go to the circus and earned money to be able to buy his ticket. It was a cute lesson and I was surprised at how much some of the kids actually seemed to understand about goals. On Thursday, I had to cancel Joy School unfortunately because Benjy wasn't feeling well. He had been complaining of his tummy hurting the night before and when he woke up, he was still complaining of the same pain. He was also extra tired, so I knew something was not right. Right after I called Joy School off, Benjy threw up. With my sudden free morning under house arrest, I made some pumpkin muffins and egg quiches to freeze for breakfasts. I pulled out the good camera to get some pictures to post on a food/craft blog I have just started. Benjy is by far the cutest little sick person ever.

I got a couple short videos of Emmeline saying the names of some My Little Ponies and trying to pronounce "marshmallows." 

Speaking of marshmallows, here is Benjy asking for some more to go in his hot chocolate.

On Saturday I got an awesome rug to go in our living room. I have been looking for a rug ever since we moved into our house over three years ago, and I have found plenty I've liked, but I've never been able to pull the trigger on the high price tag. I went to Goodwill last Saturday because it was 50% off day, and I found an awesome, brand new rug that I'm guessing was donated by the Target across the street. It wasn't half off because it was new in the package, but it still was a great deal. It has a nice high pile that we all like to sink our toes into. Justin and the kids made a double-stuffed human oreo on it the other day, which was too. stinkin. cute.

A New Year, Eli's Birthday

We've had a pretty mellow start to 2016. Eli went back to school on Wednesday after having almost three full weeks off. Our break was really relaxed; Justin had the week between Christmas and New Year's off, and we didn't have any major plans but mostly stayed around home, did some organizing projects, went to the bank, etc. This past week we eased back into work and school. We went to the museum on Tuesday as a last hurrah before Eli went back to school.

 The kids made animal headbands. Can you guess what they were? (cheetah, frog, cat/bear)

Eli tucked Emmie in on the couch one afternoon with her blankie and some shades. 

On Saturday, we had Eli's birthday party. He chose to go to Jump City with a few friends for his birthday this year. He invited Ewenn, Greyson, Henry, and William, who are all in his class at school.

 Afterward, we came back to our house for pizza and cake. It had to be Little Caesar's, of course- Eli's favorite.

Eli asked for a cake with a toy airplane on top. I had to go to several stores to find the plane I had in mind, but I finally found a perfect little Matchbox plane at Walmart. 

Eli got lots of cool toys from his buddies.

Afterwards, some of them stayed and played for a little bit. It was a fun party, and relatively low-stress compared with last year. It was a fun day! Sunday was Eli's true birthday. He got to open his present from Grammy and Grampy- a Rubik's cube! He loves it.

After church, we celebrated with my family at my grandparents' house. We forgot to bring the camera (or take any pictures at all, oops), but we had a nice time celebrating this great boy. I try to do a birthday interview with the kids each year starting when they turn four. I don't think I've posted any of them before, but here's this year's interview.

I can't believe Eli is already seven. We sure do love this wonderful boy. Eli is such a loving, good, smart, adventurous kid, and he's a great big brother to Benjy and Emmie. We love him so much. Happy Birthday Eli!!!

End of Year Wrap Up

Last weekend I had a Top Ten of 2015 party, where some friends and I got together and shared some of the best things we discovered this past year. The things on our list included recipes, local places, books, movies, products, and anything really that we loved this past year, with the intent of sharing so that others could enjoy them too. Here are some things I shared (duplicates from farther down on the page are not included):
Gym Classes

More than anything else, this motivated me to go to the gym! Classes include yoga, spin, kickboxing, weights, and more. Classes and childcare are included in the cost of gym membership at Better Bodies.

Jefferson County Library Culture passes

Get free passes to places like the Butterfly Pavilion, History Colorado Museum, and others. 

Summer  Library Reading Programs

We did Westminster and Broomfield this year, and both had great prizes.

 Home Slice

Volunteer opportunity providing birthday cakes and/or gifts for kids staying at the Denver Children’s Home. Like their page on Facebook to see sign ups.

 North Pole Amusement park

Super fun, kid-friendly, affordable amusement park  near Colorado Springs. Worth the trip!

Pumpkin cake bars

My new go-to dessert for company or special occasions. Easy and delicious!

 "Fixer Upper"

Great reality TV show about a husband and wife duo that fix up homes in need of TLC. Season 1 is on Netflix.

As I thought back on the year, I thought it would also be fitting to do a list of the best and/or most important life changes, decisions, goals, events, etc. that happened over the past year. Here's the list I came up with (in no particular order):

Blogging. I have loved keeping this blog! I love seeing the number of posts grow as more and more memories are recorded. This is my first full calendar year of keeping this blog, and I am excited to print off my first blog yearbook.

Family trips. We had some awesome family vacations this year. There was the Kulbeth Family Reunion in June, our Steamboat trips in May and August, and California adventures in October. We got to see some great places and spend some quality time with immediate and extended family. We love our families and are grateful for the time we spend together.

Violin Lessons. We finally found the right teacher for Eli, and we love her! Eli has progressed so much in his playing and really likes going to lessons. 
Joy School. This has been fantastic for Benjy. He has become a more confident, articulate kid, and it's nice for him to get to be the smartest kid in the room for a change. It gives us some structure during the weekdays and has just been really fun!
SPHR Certification. This was the certification Justin studied and took the test for earlier this year. Extending his area of expertise has helped him at his current job and will be valuable for his career advancement in the future.
Paying Off Student Loans. We met this financial goal this year, which was a huge milestone for us.

Clarifying life ambitions. In May, I had an opportunity to pursue a long-held career goal in obstetric nursing. Finding out that my "dream job" was not right for me was a difficult realization to accept. Knowing this, however, will help guide me in the future to the career path that is right for myself and our family.
Becoming A Full-Time SAHM. I stopped working at Lutheran in October, after a lot of prayer and consideration. It finally felt like the right time. I know I will go back to work at some point, but right now I love staying home with the kids full-time (and not having to stay up all night). I'm grateful for Justin's support, both emotional and financial, to make this possible.

Singing with The Colorado Mormon Chorale.  I love singing with this amazing group and I and look forward to the upcoming season.
Reading. During the later part of the year especially, I delved into reading like I hadn't in quite awhile. Books I enjoyed included An Invisible Thread, The Taming of the Queen, What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, The Time Keeper, History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time, The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles, Artemis Fowl, The River, Heaven is Here, and Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. 

Shrinking the Unfinished Projects Pile. This one is most frivolous, so I put is last. But I got a whole bunch of half-finished projects DONE this year, which made me so happy!!! There was the USA map, the last garden veggies applique quilt (3 of 3), my Christmas-tree-skirt-turned-lap-quilt, the scrap quilt I made to practice free-motion quilting, and my mom's Christmas tree patchwork that she never did the finishing work on. I only have two old unfinished projects left... we'll see if I get those done before I start some new ones! *Update: I totally didn't even think about this when I originally posted, but the reason I was able to finish so many projects was that I broke down and bought an embroidery foot for my sewing machine and finally figured out how to do free-motion quilting. I've really enjoyed it and it has allowed me to take my projects to a new level. That definitely belongs on my Top 10 list. :)

There you have it. My end of year wrap-up. I can't wait to see what 2016 brings!

Little Emmie Bear

I thought I would do a little post on Emmeline since she just had her second birthday. I want to always remember what things she loved and what her personality was like at this age.

She is starting to learn her colors. She does pretty well with red, green, blue, and orange, and is working on yellow and purple. Justin took this video of her a few weeks ago and I didn't want to forget to post it. She also is starting to count. She can count up to about 13, although this video doesn't show it.

Her favorite book right now is Each Peach Pear Plum. We read it many, many times a day. :) She calls it "plum plie."

I know I have posted this before, but she is such a little girly girl. She LOVES having her nails done; one time I clipped, filed, and painted all her nails, and when I was done, she promptly grabbed another color and wanted me to do it all over again. She loves makeup, and whenever I am in the downstairs bathroom, she asks me to put some lipstick on her. She started climbing up onto the counter and getting into the medicine cabinets to access my makeup, so I had to move it to the cabinet by the door, which she can't reach. Last week I got interrupted as I was getting ready and left my makeup bag on the counter. When I came back in, I found that my pretty little kitty had helped herself.

She changes outfits at least ten times a day. She empties her drawers on a daily basis, and I often walk in to see her room looking like this:

She loves dresses.

 And ponytails.

Piggy-tails and purses, too.

 She likes playing with her tea set she got for Christmas. I peeked in on this cute daddy-daughter tea party the other day.

We all adore this darling little girl. She is definitely our little kitty princess and we are so blessed to have her in our family!