Direct quote...

Kevin and I have noticed that every time Noah picks out a treat at the store, it's a Kit Kat bar.



I just had to ask him about this new preference. So yesterday after lunch, as Noah was polishing off the last little piece of his most recent Kit Kat, I asked him why he likes them so much.


I'm NOT making this up. Kevin is my witness.


Noah replied:

"Because they fill my body with joy."


I have no argument against that. :)

Hoosier Dadddy

This post is a little late by about 3 days or so... Hope you all had an amazing Father's Day!!! Kevin's day started out on a good note by having all his morning meetings canceled before church. Then after church I made him his favorite chicken and broccoli soup with fresh crescents. It's amazing that I had everything to make it in the house since I hadn't been grocery shopping since returning from camp! And then, in true Kevin fashion, he sacrificed his own Father's Day nap and let me sleep after I collapsed on the couch. I love him SOOOO much...




Happy Father's Day, Kev! Next year it will be steak and a 3 hour nap for you. I promise. :)

Love,
Coley
@>->--

Reading & Gymnastics

Well I'm sitting here on the computer watching all of the flopping (this happens to be the Slovenian variety) while they hold a 2-1 lead on the U.S. First it was soccer, then the world brought flopping to the NBA. Is it any wonder that American-style football hasn't caught on anywhere else? If they fall down like they've been shot whenever they feel a stiff breeze, how could they ever accomplish anything? Hmmm... maybe that's why they generally only play as kickers/punters (examples of flopping kickers: 1 & 2).

ANYWAY... I guess I need to blog sometime before Nicole comes home tonight. After a week of Noah/Abbie duty I honestly don't know how she finds time to blog. Ever.

First, here's a video of Noah reading one of his books (sadly, the plot of Toy Story 3 has been spoiled several times over by the numerous books he has acquired over the past month - he doesn't care, but we have to read them to him).

Yeah, he's not actually reading but he has it pretty well memorized after only 2 or 3 read-throughs and that's impressive too. That will come in handy later in life ;)

Second, last Saturday we took Noah to his first gymnastics class at one of the YMCAs here. He was pretty shy and unsure about the whole thing at first, but he warmed up to it pretty quickly and can't wait to go back tomorrow.

And here's a video of him "running the gauntlet." Notice how he won't let her help him jump off the stairs at the end now that it's his second time through. Funny kid.

~Kevin

Hi Ho Hi Ho....

It's off to CAMP I GO!!!

I will be at Little Sioux camp for the next week as the Level One Leader (for those familiar with Girl's Camp, this is for the first timers! Usually 12 years old....) It will be an adventure for sure. All I can say is that this week will fly by, drag on relentlessly, and I'll be sad and elated when Friday comes finally! :)

So in my absence, Kevin will be running solo on the family blog and he's got some OUTSTANDING material to bring forward. I may just rev up my iphone in the middle of the Iowa wilderness to see what he has to say. But I just want to leave you with one of the funniest things I've seen in a LOOOOOOONG time. Enjoy:

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

.... "I'm on a horse." Classic

Blog you later!

CoCo

@>->--

A Swing and a Wiffffff-le Ball

A few fun things from this weekend: We cleaned out the garage on Saturday (Nicole is all about the spring cleaning) and we took advantage of the empty garage to practice Noah's swing. Note the immense concentration!

He was doing so well that I had Nicole go and get the camera to take some video. Of course, his hit streak ended at about the same time. I know the video is a little long, but I think it's worth it to see the payoff at the end. (I considered editing it down, but there are too many cute little Noah moments in there!)

The observant among you may have noticed that Noah is batting right-handed in the picture but left-handed in the video. We think he just might end up being a lefty since he tends to prefer throwing and catching with his left and he naturally picks up and holds the bat like a lefty. Might as well make him a switch-hitter.

Another fun development from this weekend was that Noah and I got summer haircuts. Nicole will get hers following girls' camp but I doubt she'll get it this short... even though I keep offering to cut it for her ;)

I can just hear my Dad saying "Why would you cut your hair so short while you still have it?" My only response is that I can finally tell how quickly I'm losing my hair!

~Kevin

Cleaning "UP"

SPOILER ALERT: This blog contains information about a certain movie and its major plot points. If you haven't yet seen this movie... Why NOT??????

As you probably know, one of Noah's most favorite movies EVER is UP.

He loves to imagine that he's actually Carl Fredrickson and that he lives in the Up house. He reenacts every scene imaginable from the movie. For example, the other day I came out of my laundry room to find the coat closet open and the cord to my vacuum cleaner unwound and stretched into the living room. Intrigued, I dared to follow the electrical cord until I found the plug. Noah was pulling with all his might on the "rope to the Up house!" He was pretending that he was good ol' Carl and that he had to pull on the garden hose to keep the house from falling off the big air ship. Outstanding. My vacuum cord remained unwound and all over the place for the next week or so. Until I put it away and got an ear-full about it! It's not surprising to see Noah with his 3D glasses on and using his "walking stick" whenever he's playing around the house. I just have to be well versed and on top of whichever scene he is playing at the moment. And I do pretty well... Until the other day....

Just after breakfast I heard a HUGE commotion coming from Noah's bedroom upstairs. This actually is common... but this time there were loud thumps and a few booms and bangs. I didn't even guess... I just ran up the stairs. By the time I got there, this is what I found in his room:



Can you spot Abbie in this picture?



Yeah... You know that scene toward the end of the movie where Carl figures out that if he throws all the furniture and his belongings OUT of the house, it will fly again? Well, that's what Noah was doing. Quite fervently! He even threw his bookshelf:



What did I do? What did I say? I just laughed... and took a few pictures. What can you do? I did tell him that I didn't want him to do that every day though. Let's be clear. Then my little Carl said, "Yeah... this is just a silly mess. But I will clean it up before I go to bed, O-Tay?"

I promised that I would help. :)