Wow, I cannot believe that my last post was over a month ago. That is a long time in the blogging world. At least I have lots of things to show for not bragging about my life. We have been so busy! The weather in Seattle has been PERFECT for three weeks now. I think that we have been to Matthews Beach twice each week for swimming and sanding. I will get around to posting about our awesome summer some other time.
Today was Levi's first day back at preschool. This is the second year that Holy Apostles Preschool has been in operation and this year the school is going to start fund raising projects. We had a pre-preschool meeting on Friday where one fund raising idea was discussed. I am so excited about this one too!
On the day after Thanksgiving the city of Seattle hosts the Seattle Marathon. Well, of course, they have a kids marathon. No, I will not make Levi run a marathon before he is 4, but he will walk a marathon before he turns 4!
The kids marathon works like this: Each child walk their 26 miles one mile at a time. They will keep track of their mileage and then by the time Turkey Day rolls around, they should only have 1.2 miles left to walk. All the kids (the web-site says 4000) will "finish" their marathon by walking the last 1.2 miles together. They also get a medal for completing. Sounds great huh!
So Holy Apostles Preschool decided to turn this event into a fundraising event! Each kids will ask people to sponsor them for each mile they walk. This totally reminds me of the "Walk for Hope" that I EVERY summer growing up. I don't know if they do it anymore, since a quick Google search turned up nothing. Anyway, the point is, is that I did the same thing. Neat huh.
So, here is the money begging part of this post. Skip this if you don't want to sponsor an adorable three-year old! But if you do, Levi is looking for sponsors!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Willn't
A few days ago Levi asked me to do something. He most likely was asking if he could jump off his bed over Claire and into the laundry basket. I must have said "no, you will jump on Claire's head and hurt her" and he responded by saying "no, mom, I willn't, I willn't."
Funny how he got the english language rule figured out. Only our language is so confusing! He is correctly making a contraction. Do: Don't. Can: Can't. Will: Willn't or uh... Won't. Why must it be so confusing!
Anyway, I thought it was cute.
On to Claire. She loves to sing. She knows the alphabet, twinkle twinkle little star, Thomas the Train theme song, Scooby-Doo theme song, London Bridges, Bob the Builder Theme song, Puff the magic dragon, and Life is a Highway (from Cars). She is SO super cute when she sings. Someday, I will get off my lazy butt and actually record her singing. Then I will even get more motivated and post it.
Claire has also learned her numbers. She can count to ten perfectly! She likes to stand at the end of the hallway, count very slowly to ten, then yell GO. She then waits about 5-10 seconds before she runs as fast as she can (which is actually pretty fast) down the hallway and then she throws her body on the couch. Fun!
Funny how he got the english language rule figured out. Only our language is so confusing! He is correctly making a contraction. Do: Don't. Can: Can't. Will: Willn't or uh... Won't. Why must it be so confusing!
Anyway, I thought it was cute.
On to Claire. She loves to sing. She knows the alphabet, twinkle twinkle little star, Thomas the Train theme song, Scooby-Doo theme song, London Bridges, Bob the Builder Theme song, Puff the magic dragon, and Life is a Highway (from Cars). She is SO super cute when she sings. Someday, I will get off my lazy butt and actually record her singing. Then I will even get more motivated and post it.
Claire has also learned her numbers. She can count to ten perfectly! She likes to stand at the end of the hallway, count very slowly to ten, then yell GO. She then waits about 5-10 seconds before she runs as fast as she can (which is actually pretty fast) down the hallway and then she throws her body on the couch. Fun!
Mommy Tag
I saw this on another Blog and thought it was cute: (These are Levi's exact answers!)
What is something mom always says to you? "You tell me railroad tracks are fun. Mom can you build one?”
What makes mom happy? "If I do good things”
What makes mom sad? "If I don’t do things that you don’t want me to do”
How does mom make you laugh? "laugh at me and I will laugh. Just do it. I will laugh. Mom, I will laugh at you if you say a funny thing to me. Are you going to do it?”
How old is mom? "Five, no six”
How tall is mom? "Not tall as papa”
What's mom's favorite thing to do? "You like to clean dishes”
What does mom do when you're not around? "You go on a run”
If mom was famous, what would she be famous for? "Listening”
What is mom really good at? "Telling stories and building railroad tracks. That is all that you are good at.”
What is mom not really good at? "You are not bad at nothing. You are good all the time”
What does mom do for her job? "You watch kids”
What is mom's favorite food? "broccoli and carrots”
What makes you proud of your mom? "laughing”
If mom was a cartoon character, who would she be? “Mr. Bently” (Bob the Builder)
What do you and your mom like to do together? "I like to… huh… stay at Auntie Cyp’s house. That is my favorite thing to do”
How are you and your mom the same? "We are white together”
How are you and your mom different? "You have black eyes and I have blue eyes. That is different about us”
How do you know mom loves you? "You don’t clean the kitchen, you turn on the tv for us!”
What is something mom always says to you? "You tell me railroad tracks are fun. Mom can you build one?”
What makes mom happy? "If I do good things”
What makes mom sad? "If I don’t do things that you don’t want me to do”
How does mom make you laugh? "laugh at me and I will laugh. Just do it. I will laugh. Mom, I will laugh at you if you say a funny thing to me. Are you going to do it?”
How old is mom? "Five, no six”
How tall is mom? "Not tall as papa”
What's mom's favorite thing to do? "You like to clean dishes”
What does mom do when you're not around? "You go on a run”
If mom was famous, what would she be famous for? "Listening”
What is mom really good at? "Telling stories and building railroad tracks. That is all that you are good at.”
What is mom not really good at? "You are not bad at nothing. You are good all the time”
What does mom do for her job? "You watch kids”
What is mom's favorite food? "broccoli and carrots”
What makes you proud of your mom? "laughing”
If mom was a cartoon character, who would she be? “Mr. Bently” (Bob the Builder)
What do you and your mom like to do together? "I like to… huh… stay at Auntie Cyp’s house. That is my favorite thing to do”
How are you and your mom the same? "We are white together”
How are you and your mom different? "You have black eyes and I have blue eyes. That is different about us”
How do you know mom loves you? "You don’t clean the kitchen, you turn on the tv for us!”
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Ben & Jerry's
I love this picture of Uncle James with his two nieces and two nephews! The fam took the long drive to Vermont just for Ben & Jerry's. My mom picked up these shirts for all her grandkids. Aren't they adorable!The Fourth of July
Most of the family arrived on the morning of the 4th. Aaron was the only person not present, as he came in early on the 5th.I got up early and made the long drive to Boston to pick up my mom and two young brothers. My dad hung out in Boston for about an hour to pick up Ben and Kari and the kids.
We were finally all together around noon. Josh and I took off for a short trip to Vermont. It is only about 2o minutes from my sisters house and worth the trip. The small part of Vermont that I saw was really quaint and quirky. Loved it.
So the plan for the 4th were pretty typical. BBQ and Fireworks. We immediately put the boys to work shucking corn. They loved it! Joachim and Levi hit it off and it was really fun having a boy around Levi. (On Josh's side of the family we only have girls. Of course, that could change in about 1-4 weeks! And then again in January!)
The weather was perfect for swimming! Here is John with Joachim. And Josh with Levi. Levi was a semi-fan with the water. He liked it in theory. After he was in for about five minutes, he wanted out. That five minutes satisfied him for the entire day!
Claire is an entirely different story. She LOVED the water. I am going to have to splurge and get her swimming lessons.
Claire is an entirely different story. She LOVED the water. I am going to have to splurge and get her swimming lessons.
While some people were swimming and catching up, some sat inside and watched movies. This person shall remain nameless.
Then came the best part of the 4th of July: Fireworks.
Paul was a total pro at setting them up and lighting the fireworks. He put on such a great show! None of my firework pictures turned out, but I got some great ones of Levi with sparklers.
The whole day was fabulous! The only bad thing, is that Josh and I had to get up at 3:00 the following morning so that he could catch his 6:30 plane to Seattle. He missed Claire and Levi so much! He says that he missed me too...
Monday, August 4, 2008
Patras/Labrecque Family Reunion 2008
In July of 2006, all six children and their families were finally together in Alaska. At that time we decided that we needed a family reunion evey two years. We also thought that it would be fun if each reunion year, a different person hosted the reunion. So for 2008, my sister, Cyprianna, was the host. She decided that she wanted everyone to visit her and her husband in New Hampshire.
Here are the 2008 Patras/Labrecque attendees:
Jim Patras (dad)
Ann Patras (mom):
Aaron Labrecque (brother):
Benjamin Labrecque (brother):
Kari Labrecque (brother Ben's wife):
Joachim Labrecque (Ben & Kari's son):
Macrina Labrecque (Ben & Kari's daughter):
Cyprianna Murry (sister):
Paul Murry (sister Cyp's husband):
James Patras (brother):
John Patras (brother):
And of course, my family!
Here are the 2008 Patras/Labrecque attendees:
Jim Patras (dad)
Ann Patras (mom):
Aaron Labrecque (brother):
Benjamin Labrecque (brother):Kari Labrecque (brother Ben's wife):Joachim Labrecque (Ben & Kari's son):Macrina Labrecque (Ben & Kari's daughter):Cyprianna Murry (sister):Paul Murry (sister Cyp's husband):James Patras (brother):John Patras (brother):
And of course, my family!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Family Trip Day Three: New York City
Okay, day two in New York.
We began the day very leisurely at my friends house, a mere 40 minutes from the Bronx. Since by now we were totally pros at the whole NY thing, we decided to park on the street (free). We caught the same subway and headed to Manhattan.
Today we started at Times Square. This place is massive. Huge. Enormous. There were so many people! It was everything that I thought it would be. We walked around and found what we were searching for. Toys R Us. Yes, that is right. We flew all the way to Boston, drove to New York just take our kids to Toys R Us.
But really, this place was awesome. There is a farris wheel in the store where the cars are all fun characters. The one Levi liked was Scooby-Doo. There was also a huge T-Rex near the lego section and the original Bat Mobile. Not to mention Levi and Claire's favorite thing, a Thomas the Train section. The train track that was set up was huge! But the lame thing was that there were only 5 trains for the kids to play with. This caused lots of problems, as sharing gets really hard with a huge train track.
We must have stayed in TRU for over an hour. We let each kid pick out a toy too. Levi got Scooby-Doo Action figures. Claire got a pet dog.
By the time we were done it was lunch time. And the reoccurring theme during this trip reared its ugly head once again. FAST FOOD. Yes, I took my kids to their very first McDonald's. Crazy I know. Luckily they were not blown away by the sheer goodness of the food. I am not even sure if Levi recognized it as the "Big M" (that is what he calls McDonald's) by our house.
Next we boarded the subway and headed further down Manhattan. We wanted to see Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty. Luckily they are within walking distance! We did not take the ferry to Lady Liberty, just caught a glimpse from Battery Park.
Although it does not sound like a full day, it most definitely was. We (Josh and I) were exhausted from doing all that walking. Claire and Levi (one on Josh's back, the other in the stroller) were tired from, well, being kids. We took the subway back to our car at the Bronx and headed back to Lis's. Another fantastic meal was awaiting our arrival. Lis is awesome; did I mention she is single?
We began the day very leisurely at my friends house, a mere 40 minutes from the Bronx. Since by now we were totally pros at the whole NY thing, we decided to park on the street (free). We caught the same subway and headed to Manhattan.
Today we started at Times Square. This place is massive. Huge. Enormous. There were so many people! It was everything that I thought it would be. We walked around and found what we were searching for. Toys R Us. Yes, that is right. We flew all the way to Boston, drove to New York just take our kids to Toys R Us.
But really, this place was awesome. There is a farris wheel in the store where the cars are all fun characters. The one Levi liked was Scooby-Doo. There was also a huge T-Rex near the lego section and the original Bat Mobile. Not to mention Levi and Claire's favorite thing, a Thomas the Train section. The train track that was set up was huge! But the lame thing was that there were only 5 trains for the kids to play with. This caused lots of problems, as sharing gets really hard with a huge train track.
We must have stayed in TRU for over an hour. We let each kid pick out a toy too. Levi got Scooby-Doo Action figures. Claire got a pet dog.
By the time we were done it was lunch time. And the reoccurring theme during this trip reared its ugly head once again. FAST FOOD. Yes, I took my kids to their very first McDonald's. Crazy I know. Luckily they were not blown away by the sheer goodness of the food. I am not even sure if Levi recognized it as the "Big M" (that is what he calls McDonald's) by our house.
Next we boarded the subway and headed further down Manhattan. We wanted to see Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty. Luckily they are within walking distance! We did not take the ferry to Lady Liberty, just caught a glimpse from Battery Park.
Although it does not sound like a full day, it most definitely was. We (Josh and I) were exhausted from doing all that walking. Claire and Levi (one on Josh's back, the other in the stroller) were tired from, well, being kids. We took the subway back to our car at the Bronx and headed back to Lis's. Another fantastic meal was awaiting our arrival. Lis is awesome; did I mention she is single?
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