Rockin' Out to the ABCs

Short video from my camera of the kids this morning -
They crack me up, especially Kara with the head banging!

Happy Birthday to Cooper!

We now have a 4 year old. He tells me everyday, "I big boy".

We had a big pool party for him with about 20 other kids and 20ish adults. It was a lot of fun and he only had 1 mini-meltdown at 10:30 at night when we told him he couldn't ride his bike upstairs. I didn't think we were being that unreasonable but the 4 year old did. So he received a bike and about a thousand other gifts that Kara promptly claimed - everything is Kara's you see. If she sees it, it's hers. All she has to say is Mine and poof, done. Of course, that starts an altercation with the 4 year old who says, NO, it not Kara's, it Cooper's and back and forth until someone ends up crying or I get a migraine, whichever comes first. It's all good though.

Back to the party~ Since it was his first real birthday party (we met them in Russia a week after his 3rd birthday) we probably went a little overboard but no regrets. It'll just be a lot more simple next time.

Here are some pics:

These balloons lasted all of about an hour in the 100+ Texas heat. We started with ~100 balloons blown up in the backyard and just about every 10 minutes, POP, it couldn't take it!

The MUCH-TOO-EXPENSIVE cake that did not even taste all that good. Live and learn.

I made this cake for his school party - it came out cute and Cooper loved it. The idea came from Family Fun - I really love their ideas.

This was from this morning, it's Luau Day at school today. I wonder if they'll roast a pig for lunch...

Wow!

It's been awhile! Happy belated 4th of July everyone!

My laptop broke TWICE - first the motherboard died then they had to do something with the harddrive. I don't know anything about the techie stuff but I'm glad it's fixed.

Kiddos update: They're doing G.R.E.A.T.

Cooper talks a mile a minute, non-stop, fairly good English. He knows a lot of numbers and all of his colors in Spanish. He holds onto two Russian words and uses them interchangibly with English - malenkie for small and bolna for hurt.

He was moved up to a class where his peers are the same age and that has helped him learn a lot more (not all good!).

We've been getting ready for his 4th birthday party and if he gets mad or doesn't get what he wants, he'll say, "you not coming to my birthday party!". It's really funny and hard not to laugh.

He takes gymnastics on Fridays and they have water works (water play) on Tuesdays and Fridays. He's active, funny, smart and healthy.

He loves trucks, tractors, swimming, all animals, and anything with buttons for pushing. He's a freak for our phones, the remote control and our computer!

Kara's words are coming along better as well. She was also moved up to a class where she's in the same age as the rest. It helped that they were in a younger class to begin with because they weren't so intimidated by the 'bigger' kids but now they're so comfortable, they absolutely love school and all their teachers. The transition from Gaby's class to Valerie's went pretty well. She cried for Gaby the first day when she saw her but all is well now. She gives Gaby hugs and kisses whenever she sees her at school.

She's is still very much a girly-girl and will always pick a dress over shorts to wear. (I love that about her). She is really comfortable in the pool and 'swims' by herself now. It's not truly swimming but she treads water alone while she has her floaty suit on. She continues to mimic every move Cooper makes.

Recently, we were having a dinner of chicken, mac & cheese and green beans. Kara was eating everything including the beans when Cooper announces that he doesn't like the beans. Kara immediately said yuck and pushed her plate away pointing at the beans. Little rat!

I can truly say they are very well adjusted and very normal 2+4 year olds and we thank God for them everyday.

Oh, we had playdates with fellow bloggers! Chris and Christian met us at the zoo and Susan and Artem came over to swim and have dinner! Both were so fun and we can't wait to do it again!

Here are some recent pics from the 4th of July in Chappell Hill, TX- a small town about an hour outside of Houston -