Christmas Greetings!

I remembered how well things went when I tried to take a nice picture of the kids for a Christmas card, so this year, I thought I'd get each one individually.

Merry Christmas, from the kiddodiddos to each one of you! We love and miss you!

Simon wanted to sing "go, go Joseph" because he made up his own words. Also because he was Joseph for the Joy School Christmas program and got confused on which biblical Joseph he was. He actually got the other Joy Schoolers to sing "Joseph, Joseph is it really you?" over and over during rehearsals. Maybe next year he'll get it sorted out.

What you see here is take 18 and that's as close as it got. When we were done, she shook her head and said "I tried my best." I think she improved it.

The videos turned out cute, so I thought I'd try all the kids together. Here's what happened, the kids insisted I put this one on too :

Yep. That's Simon punching Jonny in the face because he started saying "cheese" before he was ready.

Long live the king!

Last week, we had an ultrasound to check on the health of our new baby. The baby is healthy, growing well and scheduled to be born in mid May. I am grateful for the news.
We did also happen to find out the gender of the baby and here's what our kids had guessed:
Simon: girl
Jonny: boy
Amelia: boy (but I really want it to be a girl)
James: boy
Jonny and Simon were at a friend's house during the ultrasound, so they didn't find out right away. When Gary and I picked them up, we talked about the baby for a little. Jonny said "if it's a boy, I will play with it and if it's a girl, I will take care of it" (actually he may have said that earlier in the day.) So when we told him the news, he was prepared to be happy either way.
In order to tell the big kids, Jonny and I made and frosted cupcakes for a special snack, with the frosting color being the clue as to which gender the baby is. He had fun with that, especially licking the knife when we were done.
The kids were a little late coming home from school, because the stopped to play on the way home from the stop. They were trying to chip off an icy patch on the side walk, but they only had pencils for tools. It took a while. When they came in, they took the cupcakes, but were more interested in telling me their adventures with the ice patch than anything else.
I told them, that their cupcakes were a clue to something Daddy and I learned today, and Amelia said "that's nice" and kept eatting. James got huge eyes, looked at his pink cupcake and announced "it's a girl." He was right and he kept munching. Amelia started screaming and jumping up and down excitedly. When she was done, Jonny said "I have more exciting news: we bought King Vitamin (breakfast cereal) at the store!" That cleared the table. Suddenly, all the boys were jumping up and down and screaming for love of the King and his crunchy goodness. Amelia was equally excited.

Here she is!

I liked this shot best because you could see the whole profile, including lips. And check out that arm... I think she'll give Popeye a run for his money!

The Future

Yesterday, I asked the kids to tell me 5 things they would like to do in the future. They didn't come up with 5, but here's what they said.
Here is what they said
James: don't know
Amelia: invent a time machine, learn a foreign language, invent a new kind of food
Jonny: be a turtle with weapons... and a blue mask
James: yeah- I'm with Amelia building a time machine. That would be cool.

Kid Speech

There are a few sounds Jonny hasn't figured out yet. /r/ mainly, but /ch/ and /sh/ also give him some trouble. Normally I think it's pretty cute, unless he's asking for Chex cereal at the store (you can use your imagination.) Today I had to grin when he asked me what a "wino" is. I had to stop myself before answering "It's looks like a hippo with a tusk on it's nose."

One I Haven't Heard Before

When you are big and fat like a termite mound, then the baby will be born!
- Jonny, age4

I am Thankful for Sharing

I thought my 300th post would be profound or thoughtful, but I guess that's not really the KiddoDiddo Way. Because Gary is blogging from the library and I am at home, it turns out that my 300th post is this:

I am thankful for children who are learning to share. After breakfast last week, I found Simon's pal Chicky's beak stuffed with Wheat Chex and raisins and I was glad that he was caring for his little friend.

PS The kids did get over the Swine Flu. Glad that's done!

Google StreetView at Hersheypark

The Google StreetView trike has photographed one of our favorite places: Hersheypark! Check it out!

A Few Photos

Here's a few photos of Gary and James in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. They did a great job. Watching my sweethearts perform was a huge payoff for all of the nights away at rehearsals.
I didn't take these photos, I had Jonny and or Simon on my lap and couldn't do a camera too. Milan was kind enough to share the photos he took with the cast and I sorted through hundreds to find ones with my guys in them. Thanks for sharing!

Here's Gary popping out during the Jacob and Sons song that introduces all the brothers. He was Levi.

This is Gary whistling to start off There's One More Angel in Heaven. It has a western flavor. The guy who had the solo for this was really good, sorry no pictures of him, he's not in the family-diddo.
Here is poor Joseph, stuck in jail. The children's choir came and sang that song with him. They sounded really pretty. James is in the red, second from the middle on the left. Simon got really excited to see him on stage.

The children's choir sang to wrap up the intermission. It was a song called All God's Critters Have a Place in the Choir. It was really cute. James is in the red, to the right of center in the front row.
Gary was invited to be in the Horus Chorus and here he is, 6th if you are counting from the left. I don't think he prefered this costume, but he did sound nice in the group.

This is Those Canon Days, a comical French sounding song. Gary is all the way to the right. He had solos to start and end this song. He did great. The whole scene was very well done and was a reported crowd favorite.

The whole play was really well done. I am grateful they got the chance to explore their talents and try new things.

Oink! Oink!

Just found out we've got the Swine flu floating around the house. James had it last weekend. Jonny and Amelia came down with it this weekend. Poor Gary is out trying to get some Tamiflu, as he is coming down with it today. Me? I'm fine. I had my Swine Flu shot weeks ago, thanks to a my thoughtful obstetrician.
Lest you think I am uncaring, hogging all the vaccines for me, James came down with swine flu the very day he was scheduled to have the shot. Amelia got the shot, but got sick anyway (though she was only REALLY sick for 24 hours.) Jonny and Simon were to get the shot today. Simon got the shot, Jonny (already sick) got the nose culture to prove once and for all what has been knocking out our family one at at time.
Please keep our family in your prayers.

Green Thumb!

In Joy School, Jonathan planted some lettuce seeds in a cup. The lettuce has started to grow! It's hard to see the sprouts from these photos, but they're there. In the closeup photo, you can see one little white sprout.


Jonny wanted to give this plant to a cousin for Christmas. I told him that wouldn't work out since the plant would not survive being shipped that far. Instead of breaking down into a tantrum, he handled it like a big boy and resolved to give his plant to Mom instead. What a sweetie!