Alex's Picasso

Alex brought home this picture with this note attached. We had no idea it was hanging in the school art gallery until we saw that note. We would have liked to have seen it there, but we decided to put it up here for all to see.

Dream Dinners

Today, as an early anniversary present toeach other, Becky and I checked out Dream Dinners in Bedford, MI (about 10 minutes from our house in Toledo, OH). We enjoy cooking but sometimes we feel like we don't have time for the menu planning, prep work, and clean up of elaborate meals. We picked out and prepared 6 meals according to the preprinted directions and packaged them up for the freezer. They serve 6 and so the next time we do this, we'll split some of these up into 2 meals of 3 servings each. They took care of the cleanup and had cooking instructions and suggested side dishes printed for all of them. We had a lot of fun doing it together and I expect we'll be back.

Super Butterfly & Power Man

Alex prepared two art pieces for display in the gym/auditorium where we had snacks after the concert. Super Butterfly is fairly self-explanatory, but it should be noted that Power Man has every super power (though, according to Alex, he lacks the power to go really slowly - he says that's not a real super power). The secret is in his power hat. That's probably why he looks so happy.

One Little Drop of Sunshine

Alex's Spring Concert 2006

Today we went to Alex's Spring Concert at school. Like his last Winter Concert, he sang with the other kids in the preschool in the Millenium Theater. This year's theme was Outer Space. Alex participated pretty well, though at times you could tell it was hard for him to stand there when other people were singing. He even had a few spoken lines by himself in the song featured above, "Little Bear and Her Friends" (they built a spaceship and flew it to the moon, sort of). Notice the picture of Alex hitting a high note.

Butterfly House

Today Becky and Aaron met with a friend of hers at the local Butterfly House. Aaron loved them and was amazed that the butterflies loved to eat "juicy fruit!"

Happy Mother's Day 2006

We hope all you mothers out there had a great day! Becky got breakfast in bed made by Jason and Alex, along with some pretty flowers and cards. The boys also got her a gift certificate for a facial at her favorite spa. We topped off the day with dinner at Abuelos's, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. They were having a busy night, but dinner went well. While we were waiting, the kids watched Dora the Explorer on Daddy's iPod. They were almost disappointed when our table opened up and they had to stop it.

MVCDS Western Round-up Auction

Becky and I went to a fundraiser for Alex's school tonight unlike any we've ever been to. It was an auction that included a silent auction portion and a live auction with some high dollar items, like vacations and a signed McCartney guitar. Becky was on the decorating committee and spent all day working on this event (as well as weeks of planning and borrowing Western-themed items). Becky made some jewelry and her mom crocheted/knitted some blankets and ponchos that raised hundreds of dolloars for the school in the silent auction. We bid high and won a preschool book full of photos and drawings of/by the kids that one of the parents put together in a hardbound coffee table book. Becky and I dressed up in our Western best - I must say that I felt odder in those clothes than an Oklahoma boy should.

Rocket's Space Adventure

Alex has been illustrating stories about Rocket from the Little Einsteins show. The story ideas come from the show, but with Alex's spin on them. He draws the pictures and then gets us (mostly Becky) to transcribe the story as he tells it to us. This is his 1st one. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them)