The Kolariks

2017 is off to a running start!

We spent the first few days of the month in Ponca City helping Charlie's parents move into their new house, and then soon afterwards Charlie left for a conference in San Antonio for a few days. While he was gone, central Oklahoma had some snow flurries! Some friends invited us to go sledding with them - so we gave it a try! Bruce LOVED it and had so much fun! Abby stayed in the car almost the whole time and just cried. I think she was just too cold, and too tired. Maybe next time. Charlie and I quietly celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary at home with root beer floats, but have plans to go out to dinner one of these nights when the planets align in our favor!

the pic doesn't do it justice, but it was a pretty decent hill!

Abbs did come out of the car for a hot chocolate break!

We went to the OKC Science Museum every weekend this month! The first Saturday I brought the kids up to the city for a free event at another nearby museum, but the activity only lasted a short while, and the kid's portion of the museum was closed that day because the sidewalks that led to that building were too iced over still - so we popped over to the science museum for the rest of the day. The next weekend we were in the city for a Lego store event, and decided to extend our trip by visiting the museum again! The following Saturday was another Lego club meeting, and my mom and Rick were in town and we thought they'd enjoy the museum, too - why not? And then this past weekend, I brought the kids for our weekly field trip - specifically to see the planetarium show (and then stay for the rest of the day, haha)

the kaleidoscope room!

Bruce waiting for the planetarium show to start!

Bruce getting fussed at for not staying with the group during the stage show... eek!

Abby taking Grandma for a ride on her favorite carousel!

showing Papa and Grandma the train room!

Papa and Bruce - twinkies ready for space

Yvonne met up with us that day too, to visit the Science Museum and go to the Home and Garden Show!

enjoying movie night with Papa and Grandma!

Bruce sharing his build with Taylor - our favorite "Brick Specialist"

love these goobers

In addition to attending the planetarium show, we also took field trips this month to a WWII submarine and aquarium in Tulsa, and the Train Museum in OKC. We made some changes at the start of this semester to the way we "do school" - and I think it's been really helpful. Mainly, we get our morning started earlier, and stay pretty scheduled until lunch time. The assessments I gave Bruce right before Christmas showed that he hadn't met some of the goals he *should have* met for mid-year, so I've also added a few more planned activities to our extremely loose curriculum to hopefully boost him in those areas. Although he's well beyond his years in some areas of academics, he's still struggling some with letter and number recognition - so I'm thinking these changes will balance things out a bit more.

I wonder how popular Clown fish were before Nemo?

I want a pet otter! They are so adorable!

the shark tunnel was so cool! (But not migraine-friendly)

Charlie was able to link up with us at the aquarium because he had a meeting in Tulsa the same day!

Don't worry - we still make a lot of room for playing! Some of our neighbors still come over once a week to play in the afternoons, we've had a couple of lunch dates with some library friends, and we've started back up with keeping a friend's almost-three-year-old in the morning a couple of times a month. We also are beginning to get more involved with the home school group in Norman and are becoming more familiar with some of the "regulars" in that group. And then there's Chick-fil-a. We have a standing Tuesday night dinner date there with some friends. And even when they can't come, Bruce and Abby have no trouble making friends with the other kids in the play area. Just this afternoon Bruce and Abby spent probably 30 minutes talking through the fence to our neighbor's kids - so I have a feeling there might be a budding friendship there, too - and maybe more playdates!

the caterpillar Charlie found in September finally hatched from its cocoon!

having never witnessed this before, when it came out like this, I assumed something went wrong during metamorphosis...

but then its wings started growing!!! It was amazing!

and then it hung on this stick to let its wings dry!

If I had to pick one phrase to describe Bruce in this season - it would be "mass producer." No matter what he's working with - the boy just makes and makes and makes and makes - more stuff. If he's working with Legos, you better believe he's got no less than 15 new models to display at the end of the day. If he's in a clay mood - he can sculpt away 10 pounds of clay creations in 30 minutes. And look out if he feels like being crafty... The other morning I finally had to talk to him about conserving materials and supplies when he blew through 20 pages of paper in an hour - and asked for more... It's hard, because to tell him that he's being wasteful implies that there's no value to what he's creating, but at some point - there has to be some level of respect for the amount of consumables he's consuming! It's definitely about the process for him - he's learning how to use new tools - like the stapler and hole puncher - and use them in conjunction with other tools and supplies, to create interesting stuff. But unfortunately, he gets really attached to all of his creations, which is causing another problem - what do we do with all of this???? It's hard to throw it away, because he's got such a good memory that he's always asking me where certain "pieces" are, and he surely doesn't view any of it as trash - but it just.keeps.accumulating! And it's not like we can just make a neat stack of papers in a small box - or really even "take pictures" of it like so many de-cluttering blogs tell you to do - because everything is three-dimensional with straws and wire and yarn and pipe cleaners and rubber bands and tin foil and... you name it, he's probably figured out a way to staple that sucker on to something. It's all fascinating, it really is. But it's too much!

anyone want a care package?

he's been really interested in robots lately - here's one he's been designing with Charlie

my free spirit

If I had to pick one phrase to describe Abby in this season - it would be "tiny tyrant." I love that girl. I love that girl. I love that girl. But wowza! These past few months have been hard! Generally speaking, she is an amazing, perfect girl. The best. Really. But she is really dealing with a lot of big emotions in that tiny body! The bossiness and stubbornness and selfishness that rear their ugly heads frequently these days wears me out. But we're working on it - one tantrum at a time. And I just keep telling myself this is only temporary, and soon her body will adjust to not taking naps, and her brain will mature a bit, and all will be well. And in the meantime, I'm just trying to enjoy when the real Abby shines though, and listen to all the great stories she tells while she's reading through her book piles, and the narratives she goes back and forth with when she's playing with her toys - and most of all - soaking up all her sparkly-eyed smiles she still gives out all the time.

Abbs was sick earlier in the month - this is Bruce rubbing her legs to make her feel better... My heart is exploding!

We've been enjoying an "off" week of school this week, and Charlie has been working out of Louisiana the past few days - so we're closing out the month in a lazy-just-barely-holding-onto-our-sanity sort of way, but we're looking forward to all the things that are already starting to jumble onto February's calendar!

We December-ed hard. So much so, that by the end of the month, I had zero energy and no motivation to get this update finished on time. Between Thanksgiving and New Years, we've visited five different states, and driven over 3000 miles - sometimes in two different vehicles. We've had a lot of adventures, participated in lots of Christmas-y things, and have had such a wonderful time with family and friends. With it being already almost a week into the new year, bear with me as I settle for sharing mostly pictures with captions. Happy New Year!

We started the Christmas season by attending the lighting of the town Christmas tree and a Holiday Gala at the library.

Abby's letter to Santa was a little hard to decipher...

Bruce opted to just draw a picture of Santa giving him a present.

These kiddos sat on a lot of Santa laps, and every time Bruce asked for Legos and Abby asked for a cat and a dog.

No, he's not pledging allegiance to his cookie, but I am impressed with how much frosting he was able to cram on to a single sugar cookie...

Charlie's company hosted a Christmas party in Kansas City the first weekend of December, and this year we decided to make the trek!

While Charlie sat in meetings, I found a good deal on combo tickets to the aquarium and Lego Discovery Center

This was their first experience with a collection of tanks bigger than what you'd find in a Bass Pro shop, I didn't know what they would think about it - but they loved it!

rays!

the touch pool

Bruce and Abby each had their own bubble - and they probably spent a good hour in there

this was a fun digital aquarium - you could pick a fish template, color it, and then "release" it into the tank - and then find your fish swimming around with all the others!

Although there were some similarities, this Discovery Center was so much different than the one in Dallas

making lego pizzas at the pizzeria

the next morning we met up with some old friends!

the number of kids keeps growing, and the adventures we take together have reached a different level of crazy

we checked out Kaleidoscope - a Hallmark sponsored (FREE!) creative space for them to rummage around in - so fun!

the Crayola Store - my kind of color wheel - Mr. Rogers memories, anyone?

and when we heard about Fritz's - a diner that delivers your food via overhead trains - we had to go there!

placing an order for nine people over a static-y phone line was no small feat!

LL Cool B

then we took the street train to a different part of town to check out an Italian deli/market

fresh mozzarella cheese, gelato, and tiramisu - love these guys!

due to a slight mix-up, we showed up an hour late to the party, but still made it time to see Santa!

It was a Frozen themed party, and although Abbs refused to wear the "Elsa skirt" she asked me to make for her, she did walk around petting this Elsa's dress all evening.

Bruce drawing on the huge floor-to-ceiling white boards

that face though... His "robot"

We took the kids to one of Norman's Friday night art walks for the first time. It was freezing, but fun.

Bruce making sidewalk angels while we listened to the band play Christmas carols

We went to Devon's Saturday's with Santa in OKC again. Three years in a row - that makes it a tradition, right? It was unbelievably cold, but the botanical gardens were nice and tropical!

dancing with daddy to the live music

Abby and I took a mini-train ride while Charlie and Bruce went to meet some friends that were joining us

running around the giant ornament - am I the only one who wonders where this gets stored during the rest of the year?

that afternoon Bruce went to a birthday party for one of his besties

It was his first time bowling, but competition wasn't fierce, and he actually won a couple games

love these guys

birthday boy's family invited us to join them at the Chickasha Festival of Lights. Unfortunately, Charlie was out of town, but we still had a good time. The temperature dropped 20 degrees in two hours I think, but we survived!

This month for school we played through a "Royalty" theme. It tied in perfectly with the advent season as we remembered the birth of the King, and we await his return! We made a new advent wreath this year (maybe a new tradition?) and found a big candle holder that looked kind of like a golden crown, but also included another grapevine wreath that I thought resembled a crown of thorns. I intended to do more with adding treasure to the wreath every day, but that didn't really pan out. We did light the candles nearly every day though, and sometimes it was requested at every meal, and we talked about the candle of prophecy, the candle of preparation, the candle of joy, and the candle of peace. We talked about how whatever God says will happen, always happens. He said he would send us a savior and King, and He sent us Jesus. Jesus is going to come again and we need to prepare the way for him to return. God will go through any length to reconcile our relationship with him - which is the root of all joy. And when Jesus comes back to the earth, He will bring peace with him and defeat darkness.

Abby is still in the throes of Three, and constantly swings back and forth between the most precious nugget of goodness and an irrational basket-case - but it's manageable. One thing that helps, is that she's started saying "I love you" to us and giving us unsolicited kisses. Maybe most kids are doing this by 9 months old, but believe it or not, our kids haven't really caught on to the notion that they can express their feelings for us in those ways. It's been nice. She's not napping, which makes afternoons challenging - but she's sleeping in... until almost 8 o'clock some days! She is crazy about the Lion King these days! Often she is playing the roles of Simba or Sirabi while she's about her day, and can belt out "Circle of Life" like the Broadway Rafiki herself. The musical is coming to OKC in May and I want to take her to see it so badly. Right now the tickets are too expensive, but we're going to cross our fingers and hope for a last minute Craig's List deal. She also loves Squinkies. Google it. They're teeny tiny little plastic animals and for some reason, they're the best. She even has Bruce hooked on them now and both of them are saving their money to buy secret mystery villas from Walmart...

For field trips this month we visited a Victorian House and a tea room.

Bruce's new favorite expression is, "Oh, man!" I know he gets it from me, but it sounds a lot cuter coming out of his mouth. You know what doesn't sound cute coming out of his mouth? My attitude. He seems to be showing his exasperation towards things with a pretty crummy attitude, and I wish I could say I didn't know where he was getting it from... Things for me to work on in the New Year, I guess. Bruce changes his mind every day almost as to what he says he wants to be when he grows up, or says he wants a combo job - like a librarian/clay pot maker/air force. But lately he says he wants to an electricity factory worker or a farmer. Bruce is so relational and really hates to spend any time by himself. The one extrovert in the family I guess. He still enjoys playing Legos, but often will convince Abby to build with him. When she gets tired of that and leaves, Bruce is more than willing to drop the Legos and join her in whatever she wants to do. They play dinosaurs together, play squinkies together, take care of lovies, have dance parties - you name it - the two are nearly inseparable. Except when there's a huge explosion - and then every one is screaming at every one to get out of their rooms and not play with such and such toy. I've been trying to give them space to figure out how to work it out on their own, and typically it lasts less than five minutes and they're back to playing camp-out together again. As much as I hate their stink faces, I love that they reconcile quickly.

Bruce and one of his besties made masks to scare Paperman

We went to the farmhouse in Kansas to celebrate an early Christmas with Charlie's parents.

Grandpa made hot chocolate!

Duck Dinner!

Charlie, Bill and Abby went to cut down a small Christmas tree!

the ended up getting a not-so-small one...

stomping ice

Since all of the Christmas decorations were packed away because of the move, we made a few paper ornaments!

the face you make when you actually think you got diapers for Christmas...

Abbs got Bruce a daddy Polly!

this photo was taken because Bruce thought the static electricity was fun - but I'm sharing it because he's beautiful!

below zero degree weather + snow, but the kids never seemed to notice how cold it was!

Bruce just face planted in the snow - just because... and stayed like that for a long time - why???

going to break up the ice for the cows - the water had the most interesting ice formations

have you ever seen anything like that? Like feathers!

they even got to walk out on the frozen creek!

This was the first Christmas - ever, I think - that we were at our own house for Christmas proper. It was weird because there was an unexpected stress to make things "special" and we weren't really prepared for it. Things weren't perfect, and they weren't always pretty, but I think we had a good holiday weekend.

looking at neighborhood decorations, Abby screeched, "They're cooking Jesus!" We got a good laugh out of that one...

we made gingerbread men cookies to leave out for Santa

we attempted to visit the dinosaur museum because the website said they were open, but they closed early and we only got to stay for ten or so minutes.

we did our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so we wouldn't have so much leftovers before going to Louisiana

Christmas morning the kids actually both slept in until 7:30! I was expecting a pre-dawn wake up call!

thank you Craig's List for making this boy's dreams come true

random Goodwill gift for the win!

Since Charlie missed out the first time, and since it was nearly 70 degrees outside, we decided to go back to see the lights in Chickasha that evening.

Abby petting Abby-the-camel

my resourceful one... picking up the corn kernals others dropped so he could feed the sheep

we had hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies by the pond, took a carriage ride through the lights display, ate a hotdog and kettle corn dinner at the food trucks, and called it a night.

The next morning, we headed for Christmas in Louisiana!