The Real Deal

Monica's school is the real deal. She has homework every night to practice things learned in class, from reading to reciting prayers.

Anton was especially impressed that she is learning about symmetry in kindergarten. I'm not sure all of my 10th graders would remember that one.

I guess our tuition dollars are worth it!

Ballet?

After ballet class yesterday (which Monica refused to participate in for the most part, but that is another story) she and Jack set up all the cars and trucks in a line and were running circles around them. She said they were doing ballet. I asked her to show me some more ballet moves, and I got is in the photo below.

Perhaps an interpretive dance?

Grouchy

This morning Monica was very grouchy and got dressed at a snail's pace. I tried everything, finally raising my voice to get her going. She was a total pill about it.
Then Jack refused to get into the van to go to daycare and threw a screaming fit.
When I finally got them both secured in their carseats, I turned to them and said, "When does Mommy get to be grouchy?"

Two things

Apparently, all one needs in life is a balloon and a hard hat.

A Win for the Dawgs and a New Treat

Don't be misled by the title of this blog entry. No, not THOSE Dawgs.
TGI-Basketball season! Seattle football is so depressing that I'm beginning to understand our city's high suicide rate. Hopefully our UW basketball teams will do much better.
TGI-I-can-actually-WATCH-a-game-even-with-kids-present!
Tonight I took Monica and Kyle to an exhibition game for the UW women's basketball team. As usual, they were more occupied with snacks, the band and cheer squad, and following Harry the Husky around the stadium than the game itself, but another year of maturity means they can actually sit still for long enough periods that I can watch a good portion of the game. Here are a few highlights:

• When we sat down Mo and Kyle asked if the game had started yet. I said no, they're just warming up which means they're practicing. Moncia, one minute later: "What's the score?"
• We were playing Corban College, a team we beat when I played at Willamette, so not surprisingly the Huskies blew them out. It was an exhibition game, meaning free entry and it doesn't count on our record anyway. Still, Monica said "Look mom, the game IS on TV! There's all the cameras!" Sure, Mo, maybe on the public access channel.
• The rolling ad screen under the scorer's table read "Diet Pepsi: Fueling the Fans." Well it's certainly not fueling THIS fan. I will have to wear my "Real Dawgs drink Mountain Dew" t-shirt more often to these games.
• At the snack stand, Monica and Kyle requested dessert over their usual popcorn snacks. Unfortunately, the closest thing they were selling was dippin' dots. Neither of the kids had tried them before and I was hesitant to shell out 4 bucks a dish when they might not even like it. But the lady at the stand assured us it tasted like ice cream, so we took the plunge. They had five choices of flavors, which I read off for the kids: vanilla, chocolate, banana, tropical, or mint. I asked Kyle which kind he wanted. He replied, "Banana." I asked Monica which kind she wanted. She replied, "Strawberry." Huh? Did I not just read the list moments ago? She ended up choosing vanilla and thankfully, both Monica and Kyle LOVED dippin' dots!
  

Post Election Party

We hosted a post-election-dinner-and-games-random-get-together bash Saturday. Here are a few snapshots:

Tim and Doug, still talkin' politics!

Who can think about politics with such a cutie pie baby in the house!

Bouncy Kate loved the jump-up!

"Hey, I thought I was the cute baby in this group!"

Tim got to work concocting in the kitchen

We had several competitive games of "Pounce" and "Oh Hell." As usual, Jill either won or came in top 3. She is amazing.

Anton had a particularly good night. Note the Obama playing cards!

Rearranging

Before:

After:

I can't say enough about how THRILLED I am about Monica's room rearrangement. Before it was like a landmine of toys and claustrophobic corners just waiting to claim its next victim. Seriously, the poor girl got one toy out and and barely had room to breathe! So Anton and I decided it was time for a mini room makeover. (Thanks, Suzi for the great tips!) Monica was very good about choosing some toys to donate and some to put away in storage. This decluttering combined with MUCH better furniture placement has made her room seem so much bigger. We finished it yesterday afternoon and she has been playing in there ever since. She told her dad, "It's like I have another playroom!"

Cousin Craziness!

We had a blast with Anton's cousins and their families here for dinner tonight. Anton whipped out the deep fryer and cooked up two chickens-- yum! And we finished up with Jennifer's amazing bread pudding for dessert. A must-have recipe!

We are so thrilled that Jennifer, Greg, and Lauren have moved back to the Seattle area recently and tonight gave all the adults time to catch up... and time for the kids to go CRAZY!

Lauren and Jack try out a puzzle


Monica and Lauren showing off their acrobatics

Hansie says, "Don't steal my cars!"

Time for ice cream!

A Kitchen Helper and a New Show

Monica has always enjoyed helping in the kitchen. Unfortunately, until recently she was more of a liability than a help. It would often take me longer than normal if she was helping me, since it required me to set up jobs for her to do, supervise her, and still make sure the meal was moving along. Now, she can actually help me (when she wants to and is in the right mood) and she does actually help!

Here she is helping make pasta with chicken and broccoli...

Yum!

O-Bama O-8!!!

My house is a mess. I have grades to finish and turn in. I've only slept about 15 hours total in the last three nights. The leaves need raking and Jack could use a haircut and Monica's room needs a thorough cleaning and dusting.

But I don't care. It will get done later.

It's all worth it, because Barack Obama is our new president.

-

Four years ago, we hosted family and friends at our house to watch John Kerry get smashed by George W. We had signs covering the door that said things like "Welcome to Kramerica," "It's a Political Party," "Go-go Gadget Gregoire" and "C'mon Florida Democrats: Take it back, Baby!" But there was one other sign that I will always remember. Knowing that Kerry was probably going to bite the dust, I had also posted "O-Bama O-8" on the door. People told me I was crazy or merely responded with "Who?" I can't say I really believed at that point that he would actually get the D nomination and be elected our 44th president. But as time went by, us Kramers believed more and more, and last night we listened to his triumphant speech with tears of joy!

We spent the evening at the Brouillards' along with my cousins Mary and Clare. Although the kids went to bed before Barack was actually declared the winner, they seemed as glued to the TV as we were while they were awake. The future of America, witnessing history!

You can read Jill's summary of the evening at http://javajill.blogspot.com/2008/11/election-day-2008.html

Cheez-e Mountain Dew lovers for Barack!

It probably looks like I took this photo by accident, but actually I thought it was hilarious that all you can see at the kitchen bar are the three Obama t-shirts, all different colors.



Monica quickly got to work coloring her electoral map...

...and what a colorful job she did!

Kate with her mommy, sporting her "Baaa + Rock" t-shirt.

Doug was on the laptop ALL evening...

...while Jill kept busy on the whiteboards calculating numbers. (We miss you, Tim Russert!)

Our next prez giving the big talk.

Late into the night, still on the laptop...

What a great day to be an American!!!

Trick or Treat 08!

We had a FABULOUS Halloween this year. We did a combined Kramer / Carter / Martin family extravaganza, and I think it was a toss up as to who had more fun: the kids or the parents!

All evening, Batman Oliver kept the city safe from daring pirates like Kyle "Sparrow," while Monica the Explorer and Abigail Ingalls Wilder set off on adventures of their own. Meanwhile, a toddling Pooh Bear (Tyler) and a happy green frog (Jack) ran lose everywhere!

Vamonos! Monica the Explorer!

Tagging along with the kids trick-or-treating was hilarious. We teamed up with several other neighborhood kids, making it a group of close to 15 kids. Total awesome chaos! We had actually debated if we were going to take Jack out or not. We worried he wouldn't really understand what was going on and get trampled by the other kids, but this was far from what happened. Jack diligently trotted along behind the group and followed them up to each doorstep. He quickly figured out that he was supposed to take a piece of candy from the bowl and put it in his pumpkin bucket. Then he'd say "tay-yoo" (thank-you) and hurry along after the group in his big green suit. It was seriously one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.

Note the serious look on his face. This trick-or-treating stuff is hard work!

It's not easy being green, but someone's gotta do it!

After regrouping at the Carters, we managed to get ALL of the kids to bed so the adults could enjoy late-night cocktails and games. We ended with a giant sleepover and woke up to Uncle Anton's giant pancakes for breakfast! What a Halloween!

Orange and Black Day

Thursday (the famous orange-and-black free dress day) Monica's class had a party. Parents were invited, so I raced over to St. Francis from Kennedy once my 5th period class was over. I arrived just in time. Monica and her classmates first performed the ABC song, then the Zoo song, and finally the Calendar song... all little tunes with hand gestures that Mrs. Dirks is using to teach them concepts. It was very sweet and I was so impressed they learned so many lyrics in just a couple months!

Singing along with her classmates.

Class photo

Smiley Monica in the back row

Yummy Halloween treats

For All Saints' day, each student brought in a photo of a loved one who has died. Monica brought the picture from her room of Jennifer holding her when she was about 6 months old. Here are all the photos the children brought in spread out on the class prayer table.