She is a DINOSAUR!

Noella went to dinasour camp ("Jurassic Art" at the College of Creative Arts) last week.  The program culiminated in a dance performance.  The kids started out as dinosaur eggs and then "hatched" before their dance.

Noella had fun, and was very excited to bring home her arts and crafts projects.  This week is it Mariel's turn at camp, and then soon we are all off to "camp Grandma" in Henderson!

Keeping Busy!

We have been keeping busy with all sorts of adventures: parks, playgrounds, museums.  While I struggle with ambivalence about living in the midwest, there is certainly much to be said about St. Louis and small kids.  The number of different activities that can be fun for kids- even for those of us parents who are less than enthusiastic about many child-oriented activities- is astounding.  Among the things that we have done in the past two weeks are hiking at Powder Valley, the annual Art and Air Festival in Webster, and picnicking in Forest Park.  More fun ahead, too!

Last Day of Kindergarten!

Today was Mariel's last day for the school year.  She dressed nicely, because they get to go and spend part of the morning with their teacher for next year.  She wanted to "look like a first grader and impress the new teacher."

 And here she was in August, heading to her first day.  How does she keep getting so much taller?

Mariel's last day!

The Summer of Anne

The summer of Anne has officially begun.  I submitted my last grades yesterday.  The first 18 hours of the summer of Anne have involved laundry, cooking, cleaning, a run, summer phonics workbooks with Mariel, Holden deciding that he wants to climb on everything in conjunction with the discovery that he can use chairs to get on top of tables, and Noella peeing in her bed.  Patrick is a little disappointed; he thinks that the summer of Anne should more closely resemble the summer of George (Castanza).  He is looking for more leisure suits, naps, and a big block of cheese.  Maybe tomorrow?

Happy First Birthday to Holden!

Here he was a year ago on May 10th

 And here he is this year on May 10th!

 We had a BIG party.  I love the first birthday parties, because they are really for the parents.  The babies have no idea of what is going on, so I get to plan the party that I want.  We had lots of guests- about 15 kids and well over 20 adults.  As you can guess, there was plenty of good food and desserts.  Holden (read: I) wanted a dog themed party, since he loves dogs. 

 Mariel decorated with crepe paper, I got to do the flowers.  Noella declared herself in charge of cutting up crepe paper into teeny tiny pieces for confetti.  Unfortunately, while I was cleaning up the counters before the party, I knocked over the confetti and made a giant mess.  I suppose that is the point of confetti, but the timing was off!

 Here is our birthday Prince!  The smile was thanks to our friend Sarah, and I have no idea how she managed to do this. He does not like things on his head at all!

 He was initially a little hesitant with the cupcake, but once he had a taste was ready to jump right in.

 And of course, the honorary birthday plate for the first of many celebrations!

 Some of his birthday cards out on display

 And here is the big man, contemplating his next move.

For his official 1 year stats at the doctor, he was 30 1/4 inches and 23 lbs 10 oz.  A bit bigger than last year at this time :)