Happy 4th, Peter!

Four years Old! It seemed like it was just yesterday you were born and now you are four. I know I have said this every time when your birthday is here but that is exactly how I feel about how fast time seemed to have vanished. You are such a busy boy that a year of time just zoomed by with all the activities you got yourself into. I re-read some of last year's posts and realized how much you have grown since your last birthday. I will try to list some of your recent achievement/endeavor that really popped out from my memories:

~ You STILL eat avocado frequently.

~You love chicken. Sometimes we tried to trick you to eat other meat by saying it was chicken (sometimes it worked sometimes it did not) :)

~ You are able to recite "Go, Dogs. Go!", "Red Riding Hood", "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" and "the Little Red Ca-boo" with such interesting expression in your voice. Even though you could not really pronounce all the words, you did a good job making the noise that sounded like the words.

~ Yes, "My First Picture Dictionary" and "ABC's of the Sea" are still your favorite night time reading and you would not let me skip any of the letters. One time I read it almost to the "Z" page an you said to me that I missed a page that has rhinoceros on it. Yes, the "R" page. :)

~ You started showing interest in the little children's Bible I got for you. I can't wait to start reading all the awesome stories to you from that Great Book!

~Movie watching is still one of your your favorite things to do. But since you are really only allowed to watch them as a special treat (such as at times when I am hosting the monthly CM workshops), you automatically said "Wall-E" every time you saw us pulling the tables out, even when they were not for the monthly workshops.

~When we are leaving the house, we must give you a kiss and a hug and say "I love you" or you would be so sad until we return home, if we forget to do it. We love you, Peter!

~ You could count your numbers from 1- 10 backward and forward effortlessly long before you turned four. Just amazing. This year we will work on more numbers.

~You love to play rough with your brother.

~You actually recognize your oldest brother's picture and says "Erik" every time we point to it. Can't wait for you to see your big, big brother in June.

~Smoothie is your new favorite drink. We try to make it with strawberries and bananas, especially for you. Sometimes I would sneak in some spinach (you have not noticed any difference) for that healthy measure. :)

~You love singing with your brother and sister, especially when we are in the car going somewhere.

~You are now 50 pounds and I need to measure your height soon for the record.

And so much more...

Here are some pictures of your special day(s)...

Birthday breakfast tradition (this morning)

Took a picture with sister before she left for her senior performance audition.

Since We had a very busy days today, we actually celebrated your birthday (the dinner and present parts) last night.

A picture with brother and Daddy.

You loved the card I gave you. When I was creating the cards for my card class, you were so excited about this particular one so I decided to give it to you on your birthday. :)

Reading what everyone wrote in there for you.

Oh, what did you get for your birthday? Pokey!

and Gumby!

We got you some movies from Answers in Genesis. 

Happy birthday, my dear boy!

We love you!

Peter's New Shoes

Peter finally got his first pair of Sunday Shoes.

When he was a baby, I decided I would wait on getting him any dressy shoes because he was (still is) so active and his feet was growing at an alarming rate. He also has wide feet which makes buying children dressy shoes a challenge as well.

Yesterday, while Robert and I were doing a little shopping at Target I saw a pair of pull-on dressy shoes and I thought maybe this will be an easy to put on shoes for Peter and it looked wide enough on the feet part. I was worried that he may reject wearing new shoes because the old shoes are so much more comfortable so I saved the receipt and left the tags on while he tried them out.

He loves it!

He looks like a little English boy with the dressy socks on with the shoes. I think the shoes will stay. :)

Valentine Memories

It is one of our favorite traditions in our homeschooling group ~ Valentine Park Day!

It was a wonderful sunny day as well. We all went and had a splendid day with our fellow homeschoolers.

Christine's grade. Such elegant paper bags!

Joshua's grade - fun bags!

Peter helping me with the bags.

Peter's grade - our bags he helped me made!

Peaking in...

Still too early, he at least saw the one I put in his bag. :)

Some sweet older students baked all these cute cupcakes to hand out and guess what? Peter did not like cupcakes! Strange kid! lol!

But he would like one of these lovelies.

While waiting, he went to the play ground and had some sliding fun with his little friends.

I had to take this picture as last year he did not even want to try climbing these steps.  He has grown quite a bit physically and a bit more adventure some.

Now the bag is full and time to take it home.

We went out for a little treat after that. Sorta a sweet little tradition we have. Joshua is way taller than me now.  I love this picture.

Me and my little guy ♥

All the "sweet" love for Peter from his classmates!

My Name is Peter

Yup! He said it tonight! We were having our orange dessert (!) and we were having conversations about names.  Out of the blue, he said - matter of factually, "My name Peter". We were so surprise and then we broke out in laughter! We taught him to say it correctly (my name is Peter). He then said it correctly.

This week will be one of those busy weeks for me. Getting ready for the income tax and having my first card making class this Friday.  We also need to help Christine with her scholarship application process a bit. I am so proud of her.  She is doing the bulk part of all the paperwork.

No picture for this post ~sorry~ I need to get back to work.

Boy and Fort

One of Peter's favorite things to do - building a fort with chairs and blankets.  It was so cute to hear him shout "help! Mommy! Blanket baaken! (broken)" when the blankets slid off the chair backs. :)

"Mommy, come seet here with Peter!"

What is for dinner tonight? BBQ Chicken with pasta and stir-fry kale! Yum!

Keesteen :: Red Chard :: Shirt Pouch

I have been worried in vain about Peter not wanting to talk. This morning Peter came down stairs and turned around yelling upward: "keesteen, time to get up!" What happened to "Nie-Nie"? He used to call Christine "Nie-Nie" but I guess now he can almost say Christine! We love how he says it as "Keesteen" though. :)

Finished two more cards.  I only have six more samples to make.  I am on a roll. I did intentionally space out the activities as I do have other commitment/duties besides making cards! lol!

I have been shopping at Lassen's for fresh un-bagged vegetables and eat it the same day I got them home. All I can say is: Yes fresh green!

The picture is side way again! Urg! It is fine in my picture file but after I up loaded it, it turned this way and I can't make it right side up! Anyway, Stir frying red chard with mushroom was just heaven and simple, too.

The picture is a bit dark but I want to keep it because I love how he corrals all his wood blocks/toys using his shirt.  He loves doing it this way as the shirt can gather quite a bit of the stuff he wants to carry from one place to another. I will try to get a better picture next time.

Another day wonderfully spent with my family. Praise the Lord!

Monday Joy

What a productive day it was today.  I literally worked every single second of the day (at least it felt like I did). I found that when I fill myself with scriptures on Sunday, my Monday is anything but blue. I took some good notes from our Sunday school class and a great Google search on the net of some scriptures last night.  I can't focus on Sunday's sermon at my church because I need to keep Peter in place during the service - I do this so my family members could hear what the pastor is preaching.  The problem is that since I am not fed with the Word, I became stagnant in my walk with the Lord.  I became depressed easily and just not motivated to do much.  Yesterday was a good day.  I am making it a goal to study the scriptures more diligently this year.  I am thinking up a plan...

Peter drew this banana...

...and he is trying to write the word "banana". :)

A lot got done today. Praise the Lord!

Weekemd :: Game :: Project

We seemed to spend all day yesterday at the basketball game event but it was only for one game actually.  Perhaps I had been looking forward to this game with such eagerness that when it was actually here, I felt like I'd spent the whole day enjoying it!

I was excited about the game mainly because I finally can watch a game without bringing the stroller and diaper bag.  Peter actually sat (ok, not the whole time) and watched the game with little problem.   Peter has been doing much better in places we go now that I feel a little easier to take him with me to stores and events.

I like this shot of Josh running.

You can do it, Josh!

Christine said that Peter was the comic relief! Rightly so in this picture. :)

Our dear Jodi turned 16 that day! How time flies! Happy birthday, Jodi!♥

What is this? Well, this, my friend, is a project I have been wanting to do for AGES. We spent Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon planning and working on a partition solution.  It is almost done.  I will share as soon as it is all done.

Peter's Words

"Mummy! Time to get up!"
"Mummy, I got my people!"
"Mummy, may I please have yogurt and syrup?"
"Mummy, come y(l)ook!"

Those were the words from Peter's mouth this morning.  I was smiling inside. I have been so worried about him not being able to say anything clearly that when I heard all of these phrases, I knew he is going to be all right.  He might just be a little late in his verbal skill but he sure is one little guy that is eager in learning e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!

Tonight he entertained us with some of the songs from the musical "Hello Dolly!" Peter loves musical movies. "Mary Poppins" was the first musical movie he saw and then "Sound of Music" and than "Hello Dolly!".  I will continue to see what other appropriate Musical movie I can find for him to see.

Because movie watching isn't really that good for young children's brain waves, I have purposely cut back his movie viewing time.  He has not watched any lately but I know he will get some in when I have my CM workshops.  That is once a month.  I just do not like the whining attitude he has after a movie.

Speaking of movie, I am off to have our Friday movie night (without Peter as his bed time is 7:30pm).  We are watching "The Boy in Striped Pajamas".

Peter's fine motor skill is improving daily as well. He can now snap those little people's hands together.  Something that requires both precision of sight and strength of the thumb and fingers.

Red Riding Hood

"...and Granny, what big teeth you have."
"THE BETTER TO EAT YOU MY DEAR!" cried the wolf.

Oh yes. One of my children's favorite childhood storybooks.  Red Riding Hood came to live with us since my oldest was about five.  I remember it as if it was yesterday.  I got a Scholastic catalog from his Foundation or Kindergarten class and was told there were some fun story books available to order as a fundraiser. I ordered the set of a few books that came with cassette tapes (yeah those good old days). We listened to them all.  Since English was/is my second language, I so appreciated the story tellers' animated voices. It brings the story alive.  My most favorite one out of the set, of course, was Red Riding Hood.

Its moral was to teach kids to be aware of stranger with "charming manners" who could "eat" them up at the end if they disregarded mama's warning of "do not tarry, do not speak to any strangers".

Peter loves this story so much that it has become one of our night-time readings.  I have misplaced the cassette tape but still remember how the narrator threw his voice around the story so I imitated him to the best of my ability.  We have a great time reading that book nightly for over a month now. So when I heard him reciting the story to Joshua this morning, I chuckled. Yup! Another Red Riding Hood fan we have here!

The book is probably going to stay in the family for a long time. Waiting for our grandchildren to come over and be read to by me someday. Yes, I will be sure to throw my voice around the story to capture their attention. Promised.

Can you see all the marks on the cover? The book is so loved!

Peter and Mommy Time

We got this easel from Ikea for Peter this Christmas. He loves seeing his names written all over the board. We "boxed" his names together and had a great time giggling with each other.

On the other side of the easel is a chalk board but since I don't like the chalk mess - at least not when the house is in its utmost chaos, I put in the paper roll and let him draw to his heart's content.

This item is totally worth the price tag of ten bucks!

A fun activity with my Peter. Need to do that again!

Busy Days

I just realized that I have not blogged for ten days!
Life has been so full these days with all the grad parties we have gone to and the re-starting up of Creative Memories.
I have been taking photos though.  Peter is loved and cared for even in the midst of these busy days.
Robert continues to work very hard at his temp job.  He leaves at 4:30A.M. and does not return home until 4:00P.M. We so appreciate his diligence in providing for us. 
Christine is busy taking photos (what else would she be doing? :)) and is getting so excited to check out a college summer camp and seeing her out of state brother and his family. She is also working hard in preparing yet another wedding workshop.
Joshua is all about CAP.  Everyday last week he has been studying to pass a module test. He did so with flying color. So proud of him!
Peter, oh our little Peter! He is "reading" Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb! book by Dr. Seuss. Of course he does not read yet, but he turns the pages and read with sounds like "hend-hend, pingers, dumbs", he seems to memorize the whole book with each page's sound (what the phrases of each page sounded like to him - does that make sense?). That reminded me of my oldest son, who when he was younger, did the same thing.  It is so wonderful to hear Peter "read".  We read about 3-4 books before every nap time and night time. He won't let us lax on it! 

 Cutie-Pie!

Do you remember those birds that stayed on your ONE finger? 

 My hard working girl.  She loves photography and is seriously paving that career path.

 Boys at play!

 Building super highway...

Nice job, guys!

 Another Lego bridge. Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!

 So glad to see Joshua building with his Lego again.  He is very good with it.  We had to put the whole collection away when Peter turned one. Now they enjoy building together!

 Robert and Joshua went to a baseball game on Father's Day. Free tickets and all.

 I did mention Peter likes to line things (or food) up, right?

 A new wood construction. This almost look like the camp fire structure my older kids use to build when we camped.  Time to take Peter camping!

 Pattern... Here we go again...

More handy works!

Have a great week, everyone!