New Smyrna with the Berts!

We had a great weekend at the beach with the Bert Family. I am so grateful for my friendship with Kelly, and our kids hit off very well! Of course there were a few arguments throughout the weekend, but mostly they were between siblings. ;) James did get a little ticked off at Bennett for pushing the button on the elevator, because HOW COULD HE? :)
I realized I don't have any pictures of Bennett because while my camera was out, he was up on the sand building a castle.
Thanks for joining us Berts!

Sammy enjoys the sand? ;)

Kaitlyn and Anna play with their Barbies in the ocean- thanks for the Barbie, Anna!

Sammy in the water.

Anna is mastering advanced Yoga moves at the age of 3.

Nathan took the kayak out for a spin.

James enjoyed playing with is new water gun from Bennett until it got taken away for shooting at other kids. ;) We gave it back, don't worry.

James and Anna play together.

Kaitlyn helps Barbie take a dip.

Fun in the water!

Kaitlyn enjoyed (probably) her last sink bath. It was so funny.

The Wilcke Kids!!! My most amazing accomplishment....

Of course there are no words to express how much you love your own children. Hopefully you can see my love through this project. Thanks, Nathan, for being my assistant... twice. ;)

"Tea" Party at Grandma's House

The kids like to have tea parties at Grandma's house. However, there is no tea involved... it's chocolate milk. :)
Two different times this has happened, the first with cookies, the second with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Gotta love Grandma's house!
:)

Memories of childhood

My mom used to play these songs for me, Cindy and Carey to dance to when we were little. It's so fun to do this now with my kids! :)

You've got a friend in me!

James received a few fabulous birthday gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Wilcke for his birthday. One of them was a snorkel set (which he has been bothering me to use in the pool already), and the other was the complete Toy Story gang. Woody, Bullseye, Jessie, Buzz, Rex, etc., everyone. Such a great gift! When we went to the movie on James' birthday, the girl behind the ticket counter gave James a set of 4 collectible something-or-other paper books about Toy Story that has a list of character toys in them. He has been checking the box by the ones he wants next. Silly boy. He tells me some of the details from the movie, which I am surprised that he remembers.
James came up to me yesterday and asked me if we could write his name on the bottom of Woody's shoe. I told him we could write it on them all. He was VERY excited. :)

Seiza!

James is taking Karate. We started going to The Dogo in Baldwin Park after it was suggested to us by some of my closest friends. He really is enjoying it, and Sensei Adam is fantastic! He is so great with the kids, is fun, tells jokes and entertains them as well as teaches them.
James really wants to wear the green belt (since it's his favorite color), but he has a few years to learn before he'd have that privilege.
James really likes to learn the new kicks, and usually is the loudest in the class when Sensei Adam has them respond. In fact, sometimes he's the only one to respond. In such an instance, the word seiza (sounds like say-zol when Adam says it) means to sit on your knees. Most of the time, after Sensei Adam yells, "Seiza!" the rest of us hear one voice yell, "ZA!"
Get it? Say-za! ZA!!! ;)
We look forward to going to Karate twice a week now, that is, if we don't forget to go. Ha.

James' 5th Birthday Part 2

We had a very successful party today for James! We had some friends over for cake and ice cream and then we went over to Monkey Joe's (a very large place full of bounce houses and games). Then we came home and had pizza with the family and then present time.
This is James in the box that Grandma and Grandpa Wilcke sent from Iowa. You can't get any better than packing peanuts. ;)
Mom has more photos from the party so I'll be posting hers when I get them.


... and the CAKE! He wanted a Darth Vader cake, so we put some action figures on it, a mask, some storm trooper and Vader rings and candles to make a 5 (although it's hard to see that).




Here is the video of James blowing out his candles... which were a LITTLE bit too close together. :) We removed the mask before the song for fear of it lighting on fire or melting. HA!