Homework

Kyler was stomping around after school today. I asked if he was grumpy and he said he was disappointed because he didn't get any homework. He is now happily working away with the color word worksheets I found online. I love my little nerd!

Ghost Story

Recently I was explaining ghost stories to Kyler and he gave it a try. I thought he was pretty successful with those expressive eyes and the way he used his voice to really sell the story. :)

 

Hope you don't have a nightmare about No-Noggin' after watching this!

(P.S. The story line is loosely based on a Curious George Halloween special.)

First Day of School

Kyler is in pre-Kindergarten this year. Unlike last year, he was (and is) very excited to go to school. He goes three mornings each week (last year was just Tues/Thurs). On Fridays he has to wear a Sts. Peter & Paul School polo with khaki pants along with the rest of the school. The main reason for this is that they have an all-school mass on Friday mornings which Kyler will start attending once per month after Christmas break.

Here he is on the first day of school. He was cooperative for pictures and ready to go!

His little sister thought she should be part of the activities too, so she grabbed her backpack and came out for pictures.

Here is Kyler in his classroom playing quietly before class starts.

He had an assignment to do and was eager to start on his homework as soon as he got home from school that first day. What a good student!

Here is one page of his completed homework. He drew a picture of his family.

And after that he was so tired that he crashed on the hard, tile floor.

Baptismal Birthday

We celebrated at home with Grandma and Papa coming over for dinner and chocolate cake. Kyler received a gift and he decided he wanted his charitable donation to go to help poor children. As such, we made a $100 donation in honor of his baptismal birthday to Save the Children's Syrian relief fund. Unfortunately it seems we did not take any pictures this year. Oops!

Kylerisms - The End of the Calendar

This is sort of morbid but Kyler is a very inquisitive kid and is also curious about death/heaven...
K - When will we die?Me - We don't know. K - Probably when we get to the end of the calendar?Me - (lol) No, we will just get another calendar. K - Okay. Then I hear him praying quietly. K - God, please can I go to heaven? Okay, thank you.And then he immediately fell asleep on the floor where he was playing. My first thought was, "I hope he wakes up." When his dada got home, I told him and he immediately went to check on Ky-man.

Lessons from Kyler: Apologizing

The kids are down the hall playing. 
I just heard Kyler yelling, "Say you're sorry and give me a hug and kiss!" 
Myelle: "Whyyy?" 
Kyler: "Because when you hurt someone you say sorry and give a hug and kiss."
(Pause)
Kyler: "Say sorry first!" 
Myelle: "Sorry."
I'm pretty sure the hug and kiss came next, but we like to let the kids work out their own problems as much as possible so I can't be sure.

"Matching"

Kyler has gotten to the age where he "matches" his own clothes when he gets dressed in the morning. You know, black matches black, navy matches bright blue, etc. Some days he is looking super awesome.

Independence

Kyler has gotten to the age where he "matches" his own clothes when he gets dressed in the morning. You know, black matches black, navy matches bright blue, etc. Some days he is looking super awesome. *wink wink*

4th of July

We spent the whole weekend (actually almost a full week) at the Centralia Lake camping for the 4th of July. It was close to Papa's store which was nice for him since it is the busiest weekend of the year for him. We borrowed Great Grandma Rita's motor home and even after spending so many days at the lake, the kids were not ready to go back home. The first couple of nights were really chilly which was unusual for July in Kansas. But by the weekend it warmed right up and we were able to go swimming. Before getting in the water, Kyler was sure to ask if there were any sharks or crabs. He's always thinking, that boy. It was nice to have time to just hang out and not be in a hurry to get anywhere to do anything. Centralia has a lot of festivities for the 4th, including a parade and fireworks. Kyler's Great Grandpa Remi asked him to ride on his motorcycle in the parade. He rides with the American Legion Riders. Kyler decided he would and he did great. We were afraid he would be nervous because of the loud noise, but as you can see he was really enjoying himself. Grandpa Remi was too!

Baseball Buddies

We went to a Royals game for Dada's birthday this year. It was K-State day. We had around 40 people in our group, including Kyler's buddy Kendal. They waited in line and ran the bases at Kauffman Stadium. They are a couple of sweet boys. Let's hope they stay that way!

Cousins

In the past two years, Kyler has gained a lot of playmates. He is the oldest of these five cousins. The youngest is almost a year old. There are going to be lots of fun years at Grandma and Grandpa's farmhouse!

Bean Boy

Waiting to go back to the surgery room

We had quite a bit of excitment on Father's Day weekend. Kyler and Myelle were "helping" me in the kitchen so I decided to give them some flour to play with. When Myelle started choking on it because she was eating it by the spoonful, I decided to give them some uncooked noodles and beans to stir. I kept an eye on her so that she wouldn't put them in her mouth. Brett and I were talking when Kyler excitedly tells us, "Hey! I got a bean in my ear!"

Waiting for our little man to wake up

Right away we told him "NO!!!" and I'm sure he tried pulling it out but pushed it in further. We couldn't tweeze it out because it was in far enough and I even tried sucking it out after telling him to lay on the floor and bob his head side to side. So we went to the ER. That was a bad idea. They made it worse.

Ready to get out of there!

On Monday, we went to Topeka first thing to an ENT. They ended up having to put him out to get it out of his ear, but no cutting was needed. Kyler was very brave and cooperated well with all the doctors and nurses. We were relieved that the ordeal was over, although we are not looking forward to the medical bills to come.

Kyler and "the bean"

A tiny thing can cause so much trouble!

Remember?

I am beginning to understand why Kyler is always having dreams. He just came out of his room asking if I remember shooting the bad guys when we were on the boats. "Uh, no Kyler. I have never shot anyone. I think you were dreaming." He proceeded to explain they were like roller coaster boats. I told him they were bumper boats and just squirted water at each other but not bad guys. He told me the bad guys were in cages. I was getting a little freaked out. Then I realized he was remembering a ride from Silver Dollar City almost a year ago. The kid's memory is insane!

Blast Ball - Year 2

Kyler played blast ball again this year. It went remarkably better than last year. He did great, participated, and did as he was told. See for yourself...

P.S. I love that he still looks so small on those big bases. :)

Questions for Kyler - Age 4

Here are the 20 questions I asked Kyler on his birthday last year, this time with his new "4-year-old" answers!

1. What is your favorite color? green 
2. What is your favorite toy? a tow truck 
3. What is your favorite place to go? to the children's museum 
4. What is your favorite TV show? Mickey Mouse 
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? stromboli 
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? pajamas 
7. What is your favorite game? Uno 
8. What is your favorite snack? granola bar 
9. What is your favorite animal? zebra 
10. What is your favorite song? Jake and the Neverland Pirates (the theme song to the cartoon) 
11. What is your favorite book? Curious George 
12. Who is your best friend? Brynlee 
13. What is your favorite cereal? (brought me the box of Frosted Mini Wheats) 
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? swinging 
15. What is your favorite drink? milk 
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween 
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? 'Affe (his giraffe, which he no longer sleeps with) 
18. What scares you? nothing 
19. What is your favorite car? a Highlander 
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? cement truck driver

Four!

Kyler celebrated his birthday in Gulf Shores, Alabama again this year. The weather was wonderful and we had a great time!

One of our first days there, we decided to check our their little zoo. It was much better than we expected for a zoo of this size. There were two options to pay a little extra and have an animal encounter. We gave Kyler the option to hold a baby kangaroo or a snake since it was his birthday weekend. As much as we tried talking him into the kangaroos, he insisted that he wanted to hold a snake. Even when we found out it was an 8 foot boa constrictor he didn't change his mind. In fact, he loved it. Unfortunately, a parent had to accompany him because of his age. Brett gave in and did it, and he was definitely more afraid than Kyler! He was able to hold a baby alligator and a turtle as well.

We had a lot of great beach days. It was much less windy than last year and the temperatures were great. The only rain we saw was on the day we drove from the airport to the condo. Kyler kept very busy in the sand.

We invested in a puddle jumper to give us a little more confidence taking him out into the ocean. He did really well with it in the pool as well.

We took the ferry to Dauphin Island. Kyler thought it was really cool that we could bring our cars on the boat. It was a first for all of us.

While there, we visited the aquarium. Kyler was able to pet some rays and skates.

As we returned to the beach one night, Brett found a crab running through the sand. We took it back to the condo for a few pictures. Kyler had found a shell for it to hide in and really made his little container into a home. Unfortunately, we didn't know how to properly care for him so we set him free under the bridge.

On his actual birthday, we asked Kyler what he would like to do. He wanted to play somewhere. Luckily, Papa had spotted a really neat playground earlier in the weekend. It was a lot of fun!

We had a birthday lunch at Lulu's. It's a fun place for the kids and we were there for his 3rd birthday as well.

We sat in a booth on a deck that overlooks the channel. As soon as we sat down, Kyler spotted some dolphins in the water. We also watched some sailboats cruise by. The best part about Lulu's on your birthday is the amazing chocolate cake and ice cream they give you. Yum! Kyler has been into taking goofy pictures, so here he is on his fourth birthday being a goofball.

We had ice cream cake again at the condo with the rest of the gang. It was a fantastic birthday, one that most kids would be very jealous of (except for that snake he held!).

A Crappie!

San Diego

We took a trip to San Diego in February to see Uncle Ryan, Aunt Jessica, and cousins Ally and Holden. We had a great time.

I caught this precious shot on the way to the airport.

We had to stay over in Kansas City before the trip due to a massive snowstorm. The luggage cart was a big hit for these two stir-crazy kids.

We toured an aquarium where Kyler got to touch a sea star. He has been into animals and particularly sea life so this was fun for him.

We also visited the zoo one day while we were there. We were up early (never did adjust to the different time zone) so went in search of a place to have breakfast on the water. Kyler saw these birds and was so excited. We let him feed them a couple crackers and then when we kept walking he said he wanted to see more animals. When I pointed to a pair of dogs, he seemed a little underwhelmed. It took me a while, but I finally figured out that he thought this area was the zoo.

He had a blast at the zoo. Like I said, animals are his thing right now.

We did a little exploring at a park and nature trail.

The favorite activity was beach time in pajamas. The kids would wake up and step right outside of our beach house to start playing in the sand.

One of the big highlights was the helicopters. We stayed on the Naval base so we saw and heard lots of helicopter, some flying very low right over us. It was really neat. Uncle Ryan even let Ky sit in one of the helicopters.

Recent Kyler-isms

Here are some of the funny things Kyler has said/done over the past couple of months:

Trying to get Kyler to pick up... "I'll have to potty in my pants if I clean up too much things."

Myelle threw her cup at Kyler while he was lying on the floor. His response... "Don't throw your milk on me you little stinker. You poop duster!"

After he went to the bathroom his dad asked if it was a good one. His response: "Yeah, it was big like sidewalk chalk!" You can't make this stuff up.

Grandma Rita: Are you my friend?
Kyler: No I just want some money.

Christmas

We were fortunate to have a white Christmas this year. We got 10 inches of snow to play in this holiday season. You may or may not be able to spot Kyler in front of the house. I love the look of snow!

The kids loved it too. And the dogs. Being pulled in the sled was one of the favorite activities. It's just too darn hard to walk around in all that snow gear.

Kyler also had a lot of fun decorating Christmas cookies. He did a great job. My cookies looked like a 3-year-old decorated them, and this year I had an excuse as to why!

Our elf, Alf (named by Kyler), left with Santa on Christmas Eve. He was good to Kyler and left him lots of little treats while he was around.

Santa was ornery and barricaded Kyler in his room on Christmas morning. Myelle was the first one up so we had to wake this sleepy guy to get him out to all the presents. He was a little tired to be dealing with obstacles.

Once he made it out, he had to check out the loot. Santa had eaten his cookies and Rudolph ate all but the very end of his carrot. Kyler got what he asked for this year - a monster truck set and a new Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book (his old one was tattered and torn). We also got some new board games and card games to play and the kids each got a big toy box. We were able to fill both toy boxes with no problem. Now the house is looking a little cleaner when we pick up.

Baxter even got some Santa treats. Ky was excited to give them to him.

Later at Great Grandma and Grandpa Haverkamp's, there was some goofing around with reindeer antlers and Christmas light headbands.

And after Christmas, we got a surprise in the mail. Grandma Tammy and Grandpa Charlie sent these adorable recliners. They melt my heart each time I see them in our living room. The kids love them too.

Kyler kicked back and watched Monsters University the other night in his recliner. He had popcorn, his blanket, and his new flashlight.

It was a great Christmas and we talked a lot about the real reason for the season - Baby Jesus!! We were able to spend a lot of time with each other and our loved ones which was the best part of all. Kyler would agree - he loves playing with his (actually mostly my) cousins and would probably trade his toys for cousin time any day.