Happy 6th Birthday, Skyler!

Skyler turned six on Monday, March 16th.  For his party, he decided he wanted to go bowling with the Edge's.  We had a great time at Rosa's, eating pizza while we bowled, then opening presents and having cake and ice cream.  It was Andon and Zack's first time bowling.  Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy! Even the adults showed off their bowling skills.:)

We are so thankful Skyler is a part of our family.  He is full of joy and determination, and has a service-minded heart.  He is an organizer and builder right down to his core, and he spends hours building.  He has enjoyed his Kindergarten year at home with mom, and  I have loved being his teacher!  The last two months, his reading has really improved, and he is officially a reader!  It is so fun to see him decode a word and realize he can read it by himself!  He also has impressive coloring, writing, cutting and art skills.  He will spend long mornings in his room listening to a book on CD while building a Lego set or building a castle with blocks, Trio blocks, and army men.  His favorite books to listen to right now are Magic Tree House.  His favorite friends to play with are his siblings:).

We love Skyler!

Here are his six-year-old pictures taken by Ashley Elliott.  What a handsome boy!

Gymnastics' Buddies

Skyler & Andon began a gymnastics/tumbling class in January.  They have had a blast getting some extra energy out.  It has been fun to see their improved balance and other skills in a very short time.  Andon is much more of a "tumbler" at home with somersaults, hand stands, etc., than he ever was before.  It's pretty cute!

 

These two have a lot of time to play and be together.  Thankfully, most of the time they get along well.  They are definitely buddies!  I'm not sure what Andon is going to do next fall when Skyler goes to public school.  I'm not sure what I'll do, either!  (sob, sob!)

Head Wounds and Other Musings

Original story and artwork done by Skyler Allen McCune.

Our friends came over, the Edges, and it was on Valentine's Day and we were playing down the stairs and sliding.  And then this is how I got my head cut open.  I was sliding down the stairs and then I started rolling and then I falled down and hit my head on the wall.  And that's how I got my head cut open.

Luckily that my friends were here, the Edges.  Because their mom and dad are great doctors! They helped me get my head better.  They put a wet paper towel on my head and then they put these butterfly things on and we couldn't get those sticked on, so Daddy got Gorilla Glue and then we glued Gorilla Glue on and then we put a huge band-aid on my head.

I also had to shave my head just where I got cut.  It felt like I was getting a hair cut.  I got a little stuffed boy because I was brave. Our friend, Sara, gave it to me. Miss Sara's friend, Sheila, sewed it for me.

February Fun

In February, we had a fun dinner with the Edges and Shaffers, Kylene and Kyle went to the Daddy-Daughter dance, we finished up Spencer's basketball season, Skyler and Andon began gymnastics, Kyle took two trips to Denver for work, Spencer had his baptism preview, Kylene and Spencer participated in "Jump Rope for Heart", we had  a great day of sledding, and Spencer had his Second Grade music concert.

Kylene and Kyle enjoyed this year's Frozen-themed Daddy/Daughter Dance.  They practiced their moves for several nights beforehand.  Kylene had a blast seeing friends and being dipped, spun, and twirled.

February has been unusually warm and sunny.  Still lots of cold-ish days, but very little snow or rain.  One pretty Saturday afternoon, we went to the cemetery then drove into downtown to see Spokane Falls.  They are running really high right now with all the early runoff.  It could be a pretty dry summer, we'll see.

 February 26th was Snowdon's Second Grade Music Concert.  Spencer got to play the Marimbas for one piece.  They all did a wonderful job!  Our favorite was the song "Y-M-C-A" put to new lyrics.  The chorus went: "Everybody come on and L-O-L!"  It was hilarious.

 The three musketeers: Spencer, Erik, and Lee.  They all looked so dapper!

 Here is 2014 and 2015 side-by-side.:)

In January and February, Spencer enjoyed his second season of basketball.  He showed great improvement again and had a great time.  I enjoyed coaching his team, the "Cheetahs."  His friends Erik, Lee, and Matt were all on his team.  Go Cheetahs!

On Valentine's Day we decided to hit the slopes for some sledding. Since there has been very little snow this year, there were virtually no crowds.  The tubing hill at Silver Mountain is a lot of fun, and the tram ride up was a beautiful ride.  The kids all loved it.

That evening, we had a "gourmet" Valentine's dinner and had Erik & Zack over to celebrate.  (Mark & Sara went out for dinner.)  I asked the kids what fancy dinner menu they wanted and they chose heart-shaped pizza.  Nice!  I had to laugh.  We made a few heart-shaped foods (strawberries, tomatoes, bananas, etc.) to go with it, added chocolate milk, and called it good.  Kylene and Spencer got excited to set the table "fancy".  Then we watched a movie and played.  It was a fun evening.

After Mark & Sara got back we were sitting around visiting.  The kids started sliding down the stairs on our sleeping pads and their coats.  It was getting pretty wild and we asked them to calm down.  Seconds later, Skyler came sliding down, only his sliding turned into a somersault on the stairs.  He hit the back of his head pretty hard on the edge of a stair.  I asked him if he was okay and he said he was, jumped up and ran back up the stairs.  I followed him and found him sitting on the couch crying.  When he took his hand away from his head, there was blood everywhere.  He ended up with a pretty shallow gash about 1.5" long.  Sara and Mark (both trained medically) jumped into action.  Sara ran home and got some butterfly bandages and after we shaved around the cut and got it all cleaned, she put those on.  They wouldn't stick very well so we ended up using super glue.  Nice, eh?!  It hurt, but he was so brave and did a remarkable job holding still while we shaved around it, cleaned it, and put the bandages on.  He has such a high tolerance level for pain.  We were so grateful the Edges were there to help and saved us a trip to Urgent Care or the ER.

It has healed up very well.  We ended up having to cut the bandages off eventually--the super glue worked so well!  Ha! But other than a small scab, it is mostly healed.  Yay for the miracle of our bodies and their ability to heal.

Lee Dumlao turned eight and had his birthday party at a skating rink.  We all got to go, except daddy.  It was a lot of fun to be in a skating rink again, although I only ended up skating for about five minutes.  I tried to take Andon, Skyler and Spencer (all non-skaters) out at the same time while I was also on skates.  I know: crazy!  It didn't go very well.  I ended up renting "trainers" for Spencer and Skyler and Andon and I got to cheer from the side.  (Andon didn't like the first five minutes very well and got scared off.)  We all had a ball, though.