Comic Book for Dad

Julia makes me pictures and crafts all the time.  Most of them are hanging in my office. This weekend she outdid herself, creating me a full-length comic book. I don't own any comic books nor have we ever talked about them, so she came up with the on her own.

I took pictures of each page, but if you want to read the text here, it is:

Cover) Julia's Comikbook! for Aaorn Sudduth
Page 1) I will fly to the moon!
Page 2) I am Astro Boy!
Page 3) This is fun he says.
Page 4) On the moon he finds something.
Page 5) He finds a rocket ship! He flis home.
Page 6) The End!

Crime Scene

The kids were outside playing this weekend and came across a rabbit's leg in the neighbor's yard.  Julia promptly initiated an investigation.  Was it a coyote? A fox?  An eagle??? The world may never know.

First Tooth

Julia finally lost her first tooth!  She was so excited...and you can tell that from her picture below. Her tooth had been loose for months and she was really wanting it to come out since almost everyone in her class had already lost a tooth. If you look closely you can see the adult tooth coming in (which is why her baby tooth came out).

Julia had been wiggling it back and forth for a while. However, neither of us could really grab a hold of it with our fingers. Today it was practically falling out, so I suggested that I use a pair of pliers to gently pull it out.  I promised that I would be gentle and stop if it hurt.  I was banking on the idea that pulling it straight up actually wouldn't hurt at all, and I was right.  The tooth came right out with a soft pull from the pliers.  She was so excited. It bled for a few minutes, but after that everything was fine except that it "felt funny" when she ran her tongue across her teeth.

For several months we have been bantering back and forth with Julia about the Tooth Fairy. She keeps insisting, like Santa Claus, that the Tooth Fairy isn't real...it's the parents. She even mentioned that a friend at school saw her dad being the Tooth Fairy for her sister.  So, although she doesn't believe it, we still have some fun teasing her about the Tooth Fairy and playing it out.  Before she went to sleep she put her tooth in this envelope.  The next morning the "Tooth Fairy" swapped out her tooth for 50 cents and this Certificate of Authenticity (Stacey's idea).

Zoo and Life Pictures

Here are some fun pictures of the zoo and a typical day around the house.

We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with my parents. They let the kids ride on the carousel...while I did funny things like try to run backwards and keep up with them as they went around in circles.  They are having fun, but the smiles are mostly for Dad.

In case you're wondering what the kids do around the house, here's a really good example.  They keep busy by making toy towers and similar things in every room around the house - we follow them around and "help" them clean it all up.

Jonathan in Pictures

Jonathan is a riot.  Here are some pictures of his latest adventures.

1) Spider-man knight and stuffed panda bear sidekick.  Julia made all of us (including my parents) paper hats when we were over for Sunday dinner. If you look closely you can see the paper knight's cape that she also made. It fit perfectly with his dad-repaired knight sword and shield. Even panda got in on the action and was made a helmet.

2 & 3) When we weren't watching Jonathan decided to draw all over himself with one of his markers.  This is the only time he has done this. I asked him why he drew on himself and he said it's because he wanted to be a tiger.  Being the good dad that I am, the first thing I did was grab a camera and told him to give me his best tiger growl.

4) Jonathan looking dapper in his Easter attire and showing off a present he received from one of his Easter eggs. Not too long after this picture was taken he left this bird on the floor.  Freckles promptly turned this into a mangled ball of feathers and I found the plastic feet in different parts of the house.

Daddy Daughter Dance Video

A cute video I took on my phone of Julia dancing...

Daddy Daughter Dance

Our Inaugural Daddy Daughter Dance! This was the first time that Julia and I had gone to a dance together. We're glad that we bought tickets in advance because it ended up selling out. Events like this are one of the reasons we decided to move to this neighborhood.

A couple of months back Julia heard an advertisement on the radio about a dance like this and wanted to go. I looked into it. It was held at a hotel downtown somewhere and was pretty expensive. Then we realized that a few weeks later we were having a smaller gathering in our neighborhood, so I decided we should go to that one instead.

It happened on a Saturday night, just two days after I had been in San Diego for a few days at a conference. We both got dressed up and took this first picture (a keeper for sure) before heading out. The community center had food and lots of candy - the was a Candy Land theme after all. When we first arrived we hit up the bracelet making station. After making a bracelet, we decided to hit the dance floor.

Julia's favorite dance move was for me to pick her up and toss her into the air. Throughout the night we danced to songs from the movie Frozen and all the classic dance songs you would expect (like YMCA and Butterfly Kisses) at a Daddy Daughter Dance. There was a conga line at one point, leis, and mini glow sticks passed out at the dance. In the center of the room was a table filled with cupcakes and each centerpiece at the tables was made from cotton candy and other edible decorations.

It was about the perfect amount of time (2 hours) to eat and make crafts and dance. Julia obviously had a great time and we will do this every year in the future as long as she still wants to do it. Afterwards she told me that this was "the most fun thing" we had ever done together.

Mom's 60th Birthday

 

Today was my Mom's 60th birthday! Michelle flew in the night before and surprised her for it.  Everyone else knew about the surprise except for her, even the kids. Michelle stayed at our house the night before.  We sneaked into my parent's house in the morning while they were at a race.  It was funny to see my Mom's face when Michelle popped her head up from behind the couch. She like the decorations, balloons and cards that the kids helped set up/make.

We enjoyed a lunch out and then we met up for a live show later that night.  Michelle had the great idea to take us to see a Beatles tribute band play.  It was a good weekend.  Happy Birthday Mom!  Thanks for all that you do. We love you very much.

Future Air Force Pilots

World's Biggest Fan

We took the kids to their first basketball game a few weeks ago. He really likes college basketball because he gets to celebrate a score often compared to football or soccer. I love watching how into the game he is.  The first reaction is to the other team making a basket, then Air Force misses the shot but gets the rebound.  You'll most definitely know when Air Force makes a basket.  There is a big celebration and then he grabs Stacey to show his excitement.  I can't wait to watch the NCAA Tournament with him this year!