How will they ever survive their youth?

The whole Hollenbeck family was able to gather at the Vassar's this year for Easter. The boys each wore their Easter shirts made by Nammy (or "Mommies", as Cedric says. Sometimes it comes out "Mammy" which I don't much prefer :)



Some of the most interesting exchanges take place between Kadin and Cedric when we're not paying attention. This makes me concerned that we are going to have to keep an eye on these boys as the years go by... This time, Cedric was at risk (which will probably always be the case, if not both. Kadin seems to be the 'idea' guy.)

We were sitting around digesting our ham dinner chatting about this and that, which is very boring for 4 and 2 year olds. Tim & Lin have a bean bag chair and Kadin put it in the center of the room... Right in front of our eyes, mind you. He then positioned cooperative Cedric on the edge of it. Kadin then walked away into the kitchen - Cedric stayed put. That was all pretty interesting in itself but it looked harmless...

Before you know it, Kadin comes barrelling out of the kitchen, jumps in the air, and lands on the bean bag chair!




Cedric flies into the air, falling head first inches from the edge of the hope chest! Both boys laugh with glee for their successful launch, not really believing it worked either!

All the adults around the room are speachless... We decide that it would be better if we supervised this stunt and made some adjustments for them to ensure each of their safety. Too funny!

Moments with Grandchildren

One scene from Easton's 1st BDay party that I will hold dear for a long time took place during the cake and ice cream...

The couches were full with adults and kids were sitting indian style on the floor. Navigating across the house took skill and was slow going with all the wiggley bodies :) Kadin, however, sat in the center of the living room holding never ending conversations with the surrounding adults and kids alike. I noticed Cedric slowing making his way to his cousin. Once there, the toddler kneeled infront of his big cousin's plate, without saying a word.



Never missing a beat from his conversations about WoW or bikes with the Airmen sitting nearby, he begins to feed half of his cake and ice cream to Cedric.

Not a word between them... But full communication.

Not a drip or crumb lost... The plates bounty was evenly shared.

It was such a unique sight that other adults around the room began watching and quietly commenting on the exchange: Kadin carefully spooning his 19 mos. old cousin cake and ice cream. Not a grumble or demand between them. It was priceless...

Now, I'm not saying these kids are always so symbiotic... That very evening Kade slam-dunked Ced onto the floor in an effort to keep him away from Easton's toy. :/ He dove under couch cushions to hide while Cedric held his aching head!

The next "moment" that I'd like to share took place that evening after we had all shared a pot of Beef Stew Pie and were having a Family Meeting. From Greg down to Easton, we were all in attendence! We were discussing a possible timeline for jointly buying a parcel of land in the outlying Spokane area. We were all sitting in chairs around a table that was not big enough to hold us all so we crowded chairs off the end with Greg at the apex of the circle.

Soon, I spied Cedric coming out of Kadin's bedrm with a little chair painted in primary colors, just his size. He places it on the floor next to Grampa's and sits on it looking up into the circle of his family's adults. There's a bit of a smile on his face as he joined the circle. Seconds later as if on cue Kadin is pulling up a midsize dinosar chair just his size and finds his place in the circle on the other side of Grampa.

They sat a while without inturrupting the important grown-up talk but didn't stay long... But the look on their faces told me that they knew they had joined the family circle.

Awesome...

We are the dinosaurs!

At the bottom of my webpage you will find the video of one of my favorite songs to sing with the kids ("great", that is :) We only sing the chorus. Enjoy!

FingerPlay for Grandkids

I use to play this with Joshi, Linny, and Holly when they were small. I just ran into it in some lost files last week. Here it is:

This is our world (form big circle with arms like holding ball)
Our big, big world
And this is a mountain high (make mt.peek touching finger tips together, elbows apart, like inverted "V")
This is a tree (put one hand parallel to ground up high and other hand parallel down low)
A tall, tall tree
And these are the birds that fly (lock thumbs together and flap fingers like wings)
This is our sun (form big circle with arms like holding ball)
The bright, bright sun
That shines and keeps us warm (hug self like warm and cozy)
This is our world (form big circle with arms like holding ball)
Our big, big world
And God has made it all! (point up)

Remember doing that?! :)