Deep Thought By Ceithlinn Gates

A couple weeks ago at the breakfast table Ceithlinn asked, "Mom, why is it that in all the princess and fairy movies they don't have toes?"

I asked, "What?" a little uncertain if I had heard her correctly.

She said, "Their feet are all stuck together. They don't have toes." I then silently wondered what she had been dreaming about the night before. I said the only thing I could, "I don't know, honey. Maybe toes are hard to draw (with an uncertain shrug).

We are now doing research to see if princesses and fairies have toes. We have only watched one animated princess movie since this conversation. I am pleased to announce that Pocahontas has toes in at least one scene. Now, on to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the others.


(Our own princess, Ceithlinn, in her new favorite dress)

Matthew-isms

I just LOVE 4 year-olds! They say some of the best things. Below are some of my favorites over the last several month's. Many I don't remember when he said them, luckily, I wrote them down so you all can enjoy the whit and wisdom of our son.

At dinner one night we had peas and carrots and soup. I put spoons on the table because I find it easier to eat little rolling veggies with a spoon. Matthew looked at me and almost in tears said, "Mom! I need to kill them. (meaning the veggies)" I asked if he wanted a fork to stab the veggies, to which he said yes. I guess that old caveman instinct is still there.

We were picking up some groceries one morning. I asked him if he wanted to get the turkey. A worker asked Matthew what a turkey said. Matthew didn't acknowledge the man so, I repeated the question. Matthew put his ear up to where the turkey's head would have been, listened and said, "The turkey says nu-fing." He looked a little confused when we began to laugh. He was right, that turkey was done talking. I love how literal he can be at times.

I was looking at photos on Facebook. I pulled up the newest pictures of our niece, Bella. She was sitting next to her family's dog, Angel. Now, you have to understand that when we visited in August, Matthew only acknowledged Bella's existence twice the whole week we were there. So, as the kids looked at this picture Ceithlinn said, "Bella!" and Matthew said, "Angel!!" He loves that good dog Angel, as you can tell.

I know there are other Matthew-isms. I just can't seem to think of the or find where I wrote the rest of them down. If any of you know of one that hasn't been mentioned, let me know please so I can keep track of them for his personal history.

Matthew makes us laugh. He brings so much energy and life into our family. He is such a joy! We just love this boy so much! We can't believe he will be 5 on Friday...5!! Where has time gone? We are so blessed to have him in our family.

Newest, ism, just happened. We were looking at other's blog and looked at Grandma JoAnn's blog. Matthew likes Roxy, their dog. Then we looked at Grandpa Dave's blog. I asked, "Who's this?"

He said, "I don't know."

Ceithlinn responded enthusiastically, "That's Grandpa Dave."

To which Matthew very happily informed us, "Grandpa Dave is our uncle and he loves me very much." Well, he knows the important stuff... Grandpa Dave loves him. We will help him figure out all that family tree stuff later.

Viking SAIL Awards Jan. 28, 2010

Bonney Lake Elementary's mascot is the Viking. The theme the last couple of years for the school has been, "Vikings SAIL!"
SAIL stands for:

Safe with bodies and feelings
Achieving excellence
Include everyone
Leadership - making responsible choice.

The school has 4 assemblies a year. One of the things that is done in these assemblies is students receive awards SAILing.

Ceithlinn was recently given an award for ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE. This was supposed to be a surprise for her, but she read a letter that was address to her parents. She decided that she wanted to look her best. So, she choose a new hair do and her Bonney Lake Elementary Jog-a-thon shirt.

(Josh and I call this her Cindy-Lou Who do)


We are so very proud of her. She is such a kind, loving, creative person. We are so blessed to be her parents. WAY TO ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE, CEITHLINN!!

Roller Skating Jan. 14, 2010

Every few months the school has a skate night at Auburn Skate Connection. We have been a couple of times. The evening starts out the same.... clinging to the wall and terror in the face.

Once the kids get a little more comfortable it is time to skate a little away from the wall with parental support or closeness. Matthew doesn't like to hold hands when he skates. It slows him down and he can't escape to play arcade games as easily.

Then comes the unaided skating and laughter.

Matthew is skating by the race line. At some point in the evening they hold a contest by age to see who skates the fastest. Auburn Skate Connection also has a speed skating team that practice after the school is done. Matthew thought that he was in a race with every kid there and would actually strong arm and almost knock kids down if they tried to pass him. He is very competitive. It is a good thing I am fairly stable on skates and could catch the kids before they hit the floor. Once I figured out he thought skating was all about racing, I came up with our own race. Something like... let's see if we can make it to the line three times without falling or let's see if we can catch up with Dad and/or Sister. The strong arming ended at this point much the my relief.

I LOVE this picture of Ceithlinn. She is starting to get pretty fast and confident in her own abilities. It is so fun to be a part of this growth.

We all had so much fun skating and are looking forward to going again. Maybe I will remember to bring the camera.

Family Photos

These photos were taken last August by our friend, Sarah Alston. We really like her photography. You can check out her work at http://www.sarahalstonphotography.com/ She has been in business for a couple years now. It has been fun to see her growth. These are just a few of our favorites. We may add more later.

Josh and I are still so in love 9 years later. Isn't it great?!

Here is the oldest. Ceithlinn posed herself for the one on the tree. The shoot was officially over, Sarah had put her camera away, then Ceithlinn said she had a great idea for a photo. Out came the camera and a few more shots were taken. (One of the many reasons we really like Sarah Alston)

Mr. Matthew, is such an angel. Don't let the innocent eyes fool you. He is still very much boy and can play hard, laugh hard, and love hard.

These are a couple family photos that we love. Sarah had heard of this fabulous place with waterfalls (which is what we told her we wanted) --- Tumwater Falls. It is an oasis in the middle of Olympia. So refreshing and beautiful!

Sarah told Ceithlinn to give her a princess look and Matthew to be a super hero. This is what the kids came up with.

I am repenting....

So, it has been a very long time since my last post. So much has happened. I am not, however, going to catch you all up on the last several months of our lives. I will be writing from here out. I am going through our photos from February and will be posting photos and stories with that. I will also be putting these into a Word document to be sent to those who may want them snail mail or who don't have access to the internet.

Here's to turning over a new leaf and being better about keeping up on our family history. I miss telling everyone about the kids. They are so fun and continue to change.

Breast Cancer Walk (part 1)

This is now posted on my other blog. It is quite lengthy, and I don't want the hassle of reformatting it on this blog as well. So, go to www.jenis3day.blogspot.com to read up on this event. There will be more coming over this coming week. This event was HUGE and AMAZING! I wanted to split it into smaller chunks.

HUGS!