It Can't Be Done

Carson has been obsessed lately with owning a BB gun. He talks about it constantly, wants his Mom and I to agree to get him one, wants a time line for when this purchase will happen, and on and on. He REALLY wants one.

So I drop the challenge on him yesterday....'I want to see you listen better than you have recently. You also need to help out around the house more than you have been.' It took him about about a day to marinate on those marching orders but today after school, he was ready to give it a shot.

He asks me again if he can get a BB gun; I again set the ground rules. Once we get home, he's off.....putting clothes away, letting the dogs out, feeding the animals, and pulling sheets out of the dryer to make his bed. He's literally gone for about 30 minutes doing things to help me out while I make dinner......and it's quiet around the house. Absolutely no fighting with his sister.

When Carson arrives downstairs for dinner, he has that look of accomplishment on his face and I make sure he knows that he's doing a great job meeting my expectations. Then he asks the question: 'Can I get a BB gun now?'

Well, that's a start but I expect you to continue on this path.....

This was apparently the wrong thing to say to an 8 year old. He put his head down and said, 'I just can't do this every day.'

Apparently being nice to his sister (and lending a hand around the house) is something that can't be done!

Filling in the Gaps

Here are a few photos of things past...

Hannah had a pie social around Thanksgiving where Carson and I came to visit. The kids decided that they wanted another piece of pie and forget about performing the skit they had rehearsed:

Hannah in her homemade Pilgrim hat:

I broke down and purchased a smart phone several months ago. When Hannah heard I was getting something different, she immediately had plans for mine and promptly called 'dibs.' She was so happy with her new phone, she fell asleep that night carrying on a conversation with some imaginary friend or relative:

Holiday Picture

Here is the current photo taken of the kids. This year (2010), the photographer we always use really did a great job of capturing Carson and Hannah's normal look.....none of those cheesy smiles or goofy poses inconsistent with the kids' normal actions:

As a New Year's resolution, I need to do a better job of putting content on the blog. Hopefully I can keep this 'promise' by following up this post with a few more.

Happy 2011!

~The Stilles

Congrats, Carson!

Carson is learning lots in 2nd grade....and so are we. Several weeks ago, Carson brought home his weekly spelling quiz and he missed a few. Even though Tara and I thought the words looked pretty difficult, we asked him, and his TEACHER, about the spelling test. What we didn't know is that Carson aces his regular spelling quiz every week....and if this happens, he gets another 'advanced test' that is quite a bit more difficult. Here is a photo of his most recent 'advanced spelling test':

As usual, GREAT JOB CARSON!!

Of course, school work isn't the only thing going on around our house. Carson just had his last soccer game of the season however soccer isn't over. He rolls right into another session of indoor soccer for the winter season. Here is a photo of Carson controlling the ball. It's really amazing how far these kids have come in the past 3 or 4 years.

If you ask Carson whats been going on recently, he will undoubtedly give you a big smile and tell you the same thing he's been telling everyone else for the past week......Grandpa (Don) in Elmwood is helping coach his Dominator's select baseball team. This is a really big deal to Carson and goes to show you that it isn't a $300 Playstation 3 or a $500 Ipad that means the most to kids. Carson says, 'Thanks Grandpa.' And he really means it.

Sight Words

Tara and I went to Hannah's parent-teacher conferences a few days ago and were told that Hannah was working on 'sight words'. She brought flash-cards home to help work on these and tonight unveiled these cards. She has several of them down but asked for help on a few. Here is an example on one she needed help on:

She wasn't quite sure if the first letter was an 'h' or an 'n'. Radically different meanings so I hope it's an 'n'. At least for a word they are learning in preschool. To top it all off, her teacher sent home some of Hannah's school work completed during the day. Of course, they were working on sight words again. Her teacher got a kick out of it....and so did we. Again, I'm not quite sure what they are trying to achieve in preschool but she has a few choice sight words down:

...And Hannah's View on Vacation

Hannah had fun on vacation with the camera. She especially liked taking pictures of herself! After taking a few pics of something that caught her eye, she would say 'now, I'll take a picture of me.' Here is one of those pictures:

Here is one that she snapped....but Carson is practicing his 'major league no-pictures' pose:

Another of herself:

And another:

And one of the statue in the room....it's kind of an interesting picture:

Vacation Pics

As promised, here are a few pictures of vacation. This one is of Carson near the top of the mountain:

This one is Carson on a Bungee set-up at the activities center near the entrance to the gondola:

Here is one of Carson, Hannah, and I looking down one of the ski runs near the top of the mountain:

This one is a staged picture by Carson. He fell in love with a $3 million dollar home and wanted his picture taken by the front of it. We told him to offer the owner $3.1 million for it but they can't cash the check for another 15 years...

Pushing out the Cessna 182 before the flight:

Here is a photo taken by Hannah near the top of Fish Creek Falls, an extremely scenic place that we visited...

This first one is of the kids off a trail at the top of the mountain. We rode the gondola to the top and started to walk the trails...

Here is a view of the kids at the top after just getting off the gondola...

Our 'ride' up in the mountains. Cheryl let us borrow her CJ-7 to drive up Buff Pass and around in the mountains. The kids liked driving around without any doors!