Charlotte - Super Sister

Am I spoiled or what? Charlotte is the best sister in the world...she even feeds Lucas for me! I am going to miss her next year when she is in Kindergarten.

Cupcakes

Annual tradition of making reindeer cupcakes at the park with friends.

Our good friend Judy brings all the supplies to decorate chocolate cupcakes to look like reindeer. So much fun!!

Suzanne's Birthday

My amazing friends surprised me with a birthday night out! They gave Rich scavenger hunt clues to give me at home, and the final clue led me out the front door...alone! When I walked to the driveway, my friends were standing there singing "Happy Birthday!" Boy was I surprised! They took me to PF Changs for dinner. Such a wonderful group of friends!! I am so blessed.

Jack's Christmas list

Jack's Christmas letter to Santa:

Ladies pajama game night

Some of my good friends from Bible study got together for a game night/pajama party on Sunday evening. Love those ladies so much!! I could not live without them :)

Charlotte Turns 5

Charlotte had a wonderful time celebrating her fifth birthday with 8 of her girlfriends and two of her grandmas (dressed for the occasion). The girls arrived at the fancy tea party wearing their dresses and hats. After cucumber sandwiches and jam croissants, they made two crafts: a beaded necklace and a pink purse. When everyone was done playing Twister, we enjoyed pink frosted cupcakes and then opened presents. Charlotte is so thankful for all of her precious friends.

Carefree Christmas 2012

Here we are at the Carefree Christmas Festival for the annual Santa visit!! Jack said he wants an electric train set and Charlotte wants a Lalaloopsy doll. Lucas did not want to sit on Santa's lap this year. He just kept saying "no."

Lucas/Jack measurements

Lucas's 2 year doctor appointment: Height - 36.50 inches (94%), Weight - 26 lbs (39%), Head - 19.5 inches (82%). Jack's 7 year doctor appointment: Height - 49.75 inches (80%), Weight - 50 lbs (45%).

Jack, kindergarten and first grade

Charlotte the songwriter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHh0WIzRNTU&sns=em

Charlotte learns to ride a bike!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEPKaodCk8g&sns=em

Luigi on roof

I could not make this up if I tried! I look out my back window this morning, the roofer on the house behind ours was wearing a Luigi costume for Halloween! I told Rich to run and put on his Mario outfit. He did and ran out the back door yelling, "Luigi, where have you been!? You are late!" It was the funniest thing ever.

Halloween

I went as Super Mario's (Rich) sidekick, Luigi.

Just another night at the Uhl House

Jack's seventh birthday party

Jack's seventh birthday party was Star Wars themed. His yia yia came here to celebrate with us! Eight of Jack's friends arrived dressed like Star Wars characters. The mission was to practice different tasks to develop their Star Wars skills, to defeat Darth Vader at the end. We started out with "pin the party hat on the Star Wars character." Then we played "stomp the balloons with your feet." Next was the final mission, to use their light sabers to hit helium balloons. Finally, they were ready to defeat Darth Vader, the piñata! After pizza and ice cream cake, Jack opened his presents. The guests left with a Jedi Training Academy certificate and a goodie bag, plus their new Light Sabers! The force was with us! Happy birthday Jack, we love you!

Loose tooth number 4

This tooth is really about to come out!

Lucas turns 2

Here is Jack getting his Sparky vest at AWANA!

Thank you!

Thank you to Great Grammy, Grammy Barbara, and Yia Yia for ordering magazines from Jack's fundraiser! He finally got his prize, a glow in the dark Mario T-shirt and spy gear! And thank you to Grandma Susan for donating money to his classroom.

What is wrong with my shopping list?

The princess sleeps...

Another picture of my sweet Charlotte and the funny ways she falls
asleep. I found her like this when I went to tuck her in!

Yes he did lose the tooth!

Jack lost his tooth on Saturday! We were at a birthday party, and the tooth had been loose all day. He told me he was not going to eat anything at the party because he did not want his tooth to fall out. At the very end of the party, he took a sip of water. All of a sudden he yelled, "hey, my tooth!" Sure enough, he had swallowed his tooth with the drink of water! Luckily, the tooth fairy came anyway. She even doubled his money.

This is what Jack looks like today! If this front tooth does not fall
out today, I will be shocked! It is hanging by a thread.

Band practice

Charlotte and Lucas practicing for their next performance.

Lucas sings

This video is fuzzy because it is dark, but here is Lucas singing "Jesus Loves Me" in his crib. He knows the words and sings it to himself even when I'm not there! So sweet.

Curly

His hair is getting quite curly!

Waiting for Jack at the bus stop!

Charlotte's new project

With Jack in school, I have more time to help Charlotte with her new kindergarten workbook. She does a few pages each day. Right now, she is practicing writing each letter of the alphabet (upper case and lower case) and identifying which sound each letter makes. She loves to learn!

Scavenger hunt

The days are long (and boring) when it is 115 degrees outside and we are cooped up inside for months and months! I always say it is like winter on the East Coast. But, we try to keep it interesting ... Rich put together this scavenger hunt for the kids today. Pretty cool! Five solid minutes of excitement.

Good Day! (finally)

Today (day 3) is the day that Jack finally came home from school with a smile on his face! And boy am I relieved. Why did he have such a good day? "The girl in my class who has never been to preschool or kindergarten, and always cries, did not cry today. She made a promise to the teacher that she would not cry today, and she did it!" He also ate his entire lunch! (The first two days he hardly touched it.) I was surprised to see his dessert ('Jake and the Neverland Pirates' gummy snacks) left in the lunch box. "I didn't want my friends to see me eating such a 'little kid show' snack." Oops! I guess we are BOTH learning how to make it in first grade.

horsey ride

Jack's first day of school

`

Aug 13, Jack's first day of first grade. Here he is standing out front with his tote bag (no backpacks allowed). He came home very tired and did not say much. I packed him a nice lunch: sunflower butter sandwich, carrot sticks, pretzels and a rice crispy treat. The only thing he ate was the rice crispy treat. He said the sandwich was too hard. I asked him what he thought of his class, and all he said was that he did not know anyone. When I looked through his folder it turns out he got an excellent rating for his first day! He asked me if he is going to first grade again tomorrow.

First Day of School 2012

First day of school (first grade) is tomorrow. Me: a nervous wreck, bought way too much food at the grocery store. I guess buying a lot of food for Jack's school lunch is how I cope!? Jack: calm and cool as usual. Charlotte: excited to have her own play dates and to "eat fruit snacks and play on the computer." Lucas: the same as always. Rich: proud.

As Jack was getting ready for bed, he showed me that he had neatly laid out his clothes for tomorrow on his bed (without being told to do so). I asked where his new shoes were. He went way under his bed and pulled out the shoe box. Inside, he had stuffed the original shoe tissue stuffing back into each shoe and wrapped them in the original thin tissue paper that they came in. The shoes were arranged neatly and looked pristine, just like they had been when we bought them. That is SO Jack!

Party

Charlotte attends a ballerina tutu birthday party!

Charlotte celebrating too!

First Monsoon. Jack Celebrates!

Bowling with friends

Here we are at the bowling alley. The three of us took a total of 7 kids under the age of 6 bowling! We must be crazy! Lucas kept running away and an employee threatened me, "if he runs down the alley, the machine will get him, and you will never come back here again. I've seen it happen before." Ummm...ok? Guess he was not trained on customer service. Overall it was a fun day. Jack scored a 110, pretty good for a 6 year old! He got two strikes in a row!

Charlotte's ballet recital

Charlotte had her ballet recital last Wednesday and Grammy was here so it was extra special. She got flowers before the performance. Afterward we all went to Chickfila for a celebratory lunch.

Sleep

This girl falls asleep in the funniest places! I wish I could relax that easily.

Ballet

Charlotte's first ballet class, her dream come true! She has been waiting for this day for so long. The teacher told me that she thought Charlotte had taken ballet classes before, but I said no - that is just from watching so many ballerina shows on television.

Click on the picture below to view this album:

Ballet

Moments

Moments that melt my heart and make all the frustrating times seem so worth it. Jack reading a bedtime story to Charlotte.