Birthday Dinner

We had dinner at Grandpa and Grandma Cordes' house last week for my birthday.  Gavin has just as many racetracks at their house (so it seems)!

 He started with the little green track:

And then moved on to one that goes all the way down the stairs:

Then everyone started goofing off with Grandma's cows (what's more fun than that?)

Grandma made a delicious dinner and we all had a great time!!

Pop-Up Pirate

Francis bought a VERY silly game called Pop-Up Pirate.  All you do is stick swords in the barrel until the pirate guy pops up.

Gavin and both grandpas loved it!

Valentines Day in the Cat Room

My regular volunteer day came up in the rotation and as it turned out, I got to be with Gavin's class on Valentine's Day.  They didn't have a party with candy or sweets, but they did pass out Valentines at the end.

Gavin started out playing with his friends in the house center:

He was having a VERY important conversation on the cell phone here:

Next he showed me the tools he loves in the block center:

He won't put on a play hard-hat at home, but at school he didn't hesitate:

Here are the Cat friends sitting in their circle with their Valentine bags.  They were actually really excited to get and pass out Valentines to each other, despite their expressions in this particular picture!

Fun With Cermaks

We had a great time when Auntie Clare was in town for Superbowl weekend!  Gavin showed her his favorite books and toys: 

Gavin and Grandpa showed Clare the silly games they play with action figures.  Clare is laughing so hard, she can't stand it!

We can't wait to see you next month, Auntie Clare!

Swim Class

Gavin has been taking swim lessons at Bear Paddle Swim School for about 5 months.  At our first lesson, he told me he wasn't going to get in the water.  By the end of that lesson, he told me he wants to "do swimming forever!"

The school is beautiful and clean, and the instructors are super patient and friendly (and silly when they need to be).  Gavin is making progress but best of all, he is having a blast doing it.

Nana and Grandpa got to go to Gavin'e lesson last week:

Time With Uncle David

Last week I had Lasik eye surgery (which went great!).  Francis drove me there and we were gone for a few hours, so Uncle David came over to watch Gavin.

David went on YouTube and found some airplane and ship videos, which Gavin LOVES and watches constantly!  They had a great time!

Chilly Afternoon

One of Gavin's Christmas presents is a set of race tracks that go on the wall.  Yes, I said the wall!  It's actually much better than being all over our floor.

He showed Grandpa how to use it.

We even have a section that can go into the bathroom and a section that can go down the basement steps - all connected to this part you see here!

Another gift is this puzzle of the fifty states.  He LOVES it, and loves learning the state names:

Grandma and Grandpa played it with him, and filled him in on various state trivia.

Measurable Snow!

We finally got some measurable snow!  It was only about 2 or 3 inches, but we'll take it!

Gavin and Grandpa brushed off Francis' car:

Fun in the Cat Room

 This week, Gavin's class wrapped up their "Gingerbread Unit," which they started before Christmas.

The kids "acted" out the Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett.  Guess who played the lead role?

All the kids have little masks on, representing their roles.  Most of the other characters in the book tried to chase the Gingerbread Baby.  None of them caught him though!  Good thing Gavin loves to run.


When the book was done, we made ginger bread houses out of graham crackers, frosting, and candy.

Here is our house.  We made a valiant effort!  (This is harder than it looks!)

Here is the gingerbread house. All the kids LOVED it!

Gavin got a turn to play by the kitchen area:

Here is a short video of the Gingerbread Baby being chased.  Keep in mind, a whole bunch of the characters had to try to catch the Gingerbread Baby: