Pics to come!!!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Snow Days
The last two days have brought more snow to Lexington than we have seen at any one time since Josh was born. A whopping 4 inches!! The roads are a mess so we are staying close to home. Since Ma and Pops live five minutes away and they have an awesome sledding hill in their front yard we have been there except to sleep. Ma's parents, Mimi and Bob, have been visiting since before the snow and we have had a wonderful time with them. Cousins Adam and Rachael arrived in town from Louisville this afternoon and are ready for fun in the snow as well. The newest Baker boy, Eliot, should be here late tonight so the kids will get to meet him for the first time tomorrow.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Back to Life, Back to Reality
I opened email this morning and to my surprise, there was a practice schedule for Josh's baseball team. Um, 10 degrees just screams Play Ball! don't you think? Well, such is the life of a baseball family. I do find it funny that I have had contact with the baseball coach when the season officially starts in March, and the basketball coaches for the league that starts this week have made no contact at all.
Both boys will be playing basketball at the YMCA this winter. Monk is on the Bucks and Josh is on the Lakers. Maggie continues to kick serious gymnastic butt. She has a meet coming up in the Cincinnati area this weekend. I should be able to have that video posted here by next Wednesday.
Well that was the least interesting post ever. I'll put some Christmas pics up later to make up for it.
Both boys will be playing basketball at the YMCA this winter. Monk is on the Bucks and Josh is on the Lakers. Maggie continues to kick serious gymnastic butt. She has a meet coming up in the Cincinnati area this weekend. I should be able to have that video posted here by next Wednesday.
Well that was the least interesting post ever. I'll put some Christmas pics up later to make up for it.
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year
So I am as bad as Tom at posting. I used to have a blog that I updated daily for years, but no more. This year I will do my best to update more regularly. I won't promise much, as life at times gets in the way.
Since summer we have lost two of our beloved family members. Kevin, Tom's uncle, passed away after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. Michael, Tom's cousin, was suddenly taken from us in a car wreck just a few days ago.
It is hard to focus on the positive of a year when so much was lost. My heartbreaks for my children. They have had to face the pain of loss too early in their lives. I hope that we are guiding them well through the grieving process. It is so hard to know.
We are closing the door on 2009 and looking forward. We will live this as the year of no regrets. We will leave no positive word unsaid and be sure that what others receive from us is kindness and respect.
The Baker Family wishes you peace and love in this new year.
Since summer we have lost two of our beloved family members. Kevin, Tom's uncle, passed away after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. Michael, Tom's cousin, was suddenly taken from us in a car wreck just a few days ago.
It is hard to focus on the positive of a year when so much was lost. My heartbreaks for my children. They have had to face the pain of loss too early in their lives. I hope that we are guiding them well through the grieving process. It is so hard to know.
We are closing the door on 2009 and looking forward. We will live this as the year of no regrets. We will leave no positive word unsaid and be sure that what others receive from us is kindness and respect.
The Baker Family wishes you peace and love in this new year.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Summer of the Monkeys Part I
The first week of summer vacation is over. I think it will take a full week to recover. Each day this week we had a special activity and many also had baseball, gymnastics and Bible school.
Day one:
We stopped by the library and signed up for the summer reading program. Josh was not very excited about the prospect of 15 hours of reading, but I think that's because he doesn't realize how much reading he does. Maggie picked out some American Girl books and then helped Caleb choose his. They sat quietly reading together for 40 minutes while Josh and I hunted for his books. I find it funny that he didn't want to listen to my suggestions, but ended up with my offerings. He hates that I know him that well. I found a series by the author Tamora Pierce and finished it this week. It is aimed at 6/7th grade reading level, but I don't like sex/ violence in my literature, so juv fiction is for me. As I was reading it, Maggie had so many questions, I just gave her the first book to read when I was done. She is pleased with herself for following the story and has minimal intervention from me. Her decoding skills are fabulous and she can figure out almost any word, but sometimes needs help with their meanings. We also hit the sprinkler at home and the pool. Josh had a baseball game. His team won by slaughter rule in the fourth inning. It was a fun day all around.
Day 2:
After morning chores were done we headed to the pool. We spent most of the day there. We met up with friends and the kids had a great time.
Day 3:
We went to the zoo (in the rain). Josh brought along a friend that I will give credit to for keeping everyone's spirits up. Our family has been spoiled by years of zoo membership. His sense of wonder and excitement opened everyone's eyes to just how cool the zoo really was.
The rain was a bit of a downer, but soon everyone was in a poncho and had their shoes off. Poor planner that I am, I had dressed myself for a heat wave in a tank top and shorts for this lovely 75ish degree rainy day. I had to buy a hoodie from the gift shop just to survive.
Because the zoo was less crowed than usual, we were able to see things for the first time like the tiger training. Next time I'm going to check the weather before we head to The Ville. Skyline chili ROCKS!!
Day 4:
We picked up an extra monkey while at the zoo, Baker monkey that is. We stole the kid's cousin Adam and brought him back to Lexington to help give his parents a break and me a breakdown! No, he was awesome and we went to the Explorium on Thursday.
I had to write my cell phone number on Adam's arm because he wanted as much freedom as my own kids. The front desk people thought it was hysterical. I don't think we saw everything although we were there all day. The bubble room alone kept their attention for more than an hour!
Day 5:
With cousin Adam still in tow, we headed to Kids Place. I should have known better. The weather was not good for a pool day, but the kids and I had different expectations for Kids Place. There is a giant play structure with tubes and slides and ball pits and a trampoline. I figured it would be a great way to get extra energy out. What kids place also has is arcade games with tickets one can cash in for cheap plastic crap. The start of our trip I let them know they had to play for an hour before they could get their 4 tokens that came with admission.
Adam had a blast playing in the ball pit and building a house out of funky puzzle piece blocks. My kids kept comming up to me asking if it had been an hour yet. I caved after 45 minutes. They had no clue, I'm sure it seemed as much like an eternity to them as it did me. Their tokens were gone in less than 10 minutes. They decided that they could get something cooler if they pooled their tickets. Score! Cooperation! Whoohooo! I held their tickets and sent them back to the tubes to play. Adam walked up to me a short time later and asked where the kids were. I had told them to stick with him, so I was more than angry whe I found that they sneaked off to the prize counter to scope out the loot. I kept the tickets and they will not spend them until we go back there...if we ever do.
Day 6:
The fun didn't stop on Friday. We had 2 birthday parties 3 baseball games and it was Caleb's half birthday. Having no time to prepare a (half) cake, I just gave him an IOU. He was good with that. There was plenty of junk food that day.
Day one:
We stopped by the library and signed up for the summer reading program. Josh was not very excited about the prospect of 15 hours of reading, but I think that's because he doesn't realize how much reading he does. Maggie picked out some American Girl books and then helped Caleb choose his. They sat quietly reading together for 40 minutes while Josh and I hunted for his books. I find it funny that he didn't want to listen to my suggestions, but ended up with my offerings. He hates that I know him that well. I found a series by the author Tamora Pierce and finished it this week. It is aimed at 6/7th grade reading level, but I don't like sex/ violence in my literature, so juv fiction is for me. As I was reading it, Maggie had so many questions, I just gave her the first book to read when I was done. She is pleased with herself for following the story and has minimal intervention from me. Her decoding skills are fabulous and she can figure out almost any word, but sometimes needs help with their meanings. We also hit the sprinkler at home and the pool. Josh had a baseball game. His team won by slaughter rule in the fourth inning. It was a fun day all around.
Day 2:
After morning chores were done we headed to the pool. We spent most of the day there. We met up with friends and the kids had a great time.
Day 3:
We went to the zoo (in the rain). Josh brought along a friend that I will give credit to for keeping everyone's spirits up. Our family has been spoiled by years of zoo membership. His sense of wonder and excitement opened everyone's eyes to just how cool the zoo really was.
The rain was a bit of a downer, but soon everyone was in a poncho and had their shoes off. Poor planner that I am, I had dressed myself for a heat wave in a tank top and shorts for this lovely 75ish degree rainy day. I had to buy a hoodie from the gift shop just to survive.
Because the zoo was less crowed than usual, we were able to see things for the first time like the tiger training. Next time I'm going to check the weather before we head to The Ville. Skyline chili ROCKS!!Day 4:
We picked up an extra monkey while at the zoo, Baker monkey that is. We stole the kid's cousin Adam and brought him back to Lexington to help give his parents a break and me a breakdown! No, he was awesome and we went to the Explorium on Thursday.
I had to write my cell phone number on Adam's arm because he wanted as much freedom as my own kids. The front desk people thought it was hysterical. I don't think we saw everything although we were there all day. The bubble room alone kept their attention for more than an hour!Day 5:
With cousin Adam still in tow, we headed to Kids Place. I should have known better. The weather was not good for a pool day, but the kids and I had different expectations for Kids Place. There is a giant play structure with tubes and slides and ball pits and a trampoline. I figured it would be a great way to get extra energy out. What kids place also has is arcade games with tickets one can cash in for cheap plastic crap. The start of our trip I let them know they had to play for an hour before they could get their 4 tokens that came with admission.
Adam had a blast playing in the ball pit and building a house out of funky puzzle piece blocks. My kids kept comming up to me asking if it had been an hour yet. I caved after 45 minutes. They had no clue, I'm sure it seemed as much like an eternity to them as it did me. Their tokens were gone in less than 10 minutes. They decided that they could get something cooler if they pooled their tickets. Score! Cooperation! Whoohooo! I held their tickets and sent them back to the tubes to play. Adam walked up to me a short time later and asked where the kids were. I had told them to stick with him, so I was more than angry whe I found that they sneaked off to the prize counter to scope out the loot. I kept the tickets and they will not spend them until we go back there...if we ever do.Day 6:
The fun didn't stop on Friday. We had 2 birthday parties 3 baseball games and it was Caleb's half birthday. Having no time to prepare a (half) cake, I just gave him an IOU. He was good with that. There was plenty of junk food that day.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas time
Here at Baker Monkeys we've been having a fantastic time celebrating the holidays. We just got back from Saint Louis visiting my grandparents and will have another gigantic picture post from the trip up soon. In the meantime, enjoy this video of our monkeys (plus an extra, the Baker Monkey cousin Abby) sing their favorite Christmas song.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Pedway Tag
Last night Tom took Maggie to a basketball game. As usual around here the fans were obnoxious and stupid. They left at half time and did some exploring downtown. Tom showed Maggie how all the buildings with pedways were connected and that one could get completely around without going outside.
Tonight the whole family went. We scouted out the whole thing with the intention of playing pedway tag tomorrow night. We are going to make up some guidelines and set up teams tomorrow and the fun starts at dusk.
Having absolutely no money really gets the creative juices flowing. If anyone has any other free family fun ideas, send them on.
Tonight the whole family went. We scouted out the whole thing with the intention of playing pedway tag tomorrow night. We are going to make up some guidelines and set up teams tomorrow and the fun starts at dusk.
Having absolutely no money really gets the creative juices flowing. If anyone has any other free family fun ideas, send them on.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Inspired to Write
Josh hates it when we make him write. It's okay if he does it on his own terms, but I really want to encourage writing more than just the bare minimum to get through school. Tonight we were at praise band practice with Tom and he was acting kinda, well, eight. I offered to pay him a dollar to write me a story that was front and back of a page (he writes big and on every other line).
I started him off with a line and he responded with very little and went off again to play. I didn't want to give up so I wrote another line and asked him to alternate with me. This is what we came up with:
The day my mom was turned into a toad...
We kicked her out of the house. She was gone for good. She was on her own. (tres harsh)
Then there was no one to wash clothes or dishes.
So daddy did it. Nothing was in place. (hehe)
I couldn't find my underwear and there were plates in my dresser drawers.
Then mama's drawers made out of chocolate. I ate them all up. There was nothing left.
I had a tummy ache. I really missed my mom. I decided to go find the witch that turned her into a toad.
But it was too scare [sic] that I never went. The next day I was too busy playing game cube that I never went.
Then my brother, who is much braver then me, went and found the witch and had my mom restored to her proper form. She found my underwear!!!
Then she turned back into a toad.
The end!
I started him off with a line and he responded with very little and went off again to play. I didn't want to give up so I wrote another line and asked him to alternate with me. This is what we came up with:
The day my mom was turned into a toad...
We kicked her out of the house. She was gone for good. She was on her own. (tres harsh)
Then there was no one to wash clothes or dishes.
So daddy did it. Nothing was in place. (hehe)
I couldn't find my underwear and there were plates in my dresser drawers.
Then mama's drawers made out of chocolate. I ate them all up. There was nothing left.
I had a tummy ache. I really missed my mom. I decided to go find the witch that turned her into a toad.
But it was too scare [sic] that I never went. The next day I was too busy playing game cube that I never went.
Then my brother, who is much braver then me, went and found the witch and had my mom restored to her proper form. She found my underwear!!!
Then she turned back into a toad.
The end!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ripped!!!
Maggie got her first rip on Monday. In gymnastics, this is inevitable. Rips are painful, yet the first one is important to a gymnast. Everyone at the gym makes a big deal out of it. It is a rite of passage. You are one of us now. That doesn't mean everyone is happy that you are in pain, it is what it is and you have reached a point where you are serious. You ask yourself if what you are doing to your body is worth it. Do you love the sport enough to endure pain for the joy it brings you. Maggie said yes.
At any point, if she wants to change sports, it is okay with us. I do not enjoy seeing her push her body to exhaustion by holding a chin up on a bar till she falls off just to build upper body strength. I live in fear of her first major injury. Gymnastics is dangerous and physically taxing. That crazy child loves it!
I found Maggie's kindred spirit as I was doing research on minimizing Maggie's soreness and first aid for rips. I don't know those people and haven't read anything else from their blog. I did find some really good info though. For those who are curious about rips, go here and here.
Also, if you just don't get why... here.
At any point, if she wants to change sports, it is okay with us. I do not enjoy seeing her push her body to exhaustion by holding a chin up on a bar till she falls off just to build upper body strength. I live in fear of her first major injury. Gymnastics is dangerous and physically taxing. That crazy child loves it!
I found Maggie's kindred spirit as I was doing research on minimizing Maggie's soreness and first aid for rips. I don't know those people and haven't read anything else from their blog. I did find some really good info though. For those who are curious about rips, go here and here.
Also, if you just don't get why... here.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Big Picture Post Holden Beach Edition
Monday, August 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Giant Picture Post... Dominican Edition
It has been a long time since we posted. Along with baseball keeping the monkeys busy from dawn till dusk, we have peeked into the life of the rich jet setting folks. So here it is, in pictures, our trip to Punta Cana.
More coming soon!
More coming soon!
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