Jack and Cate Update -- November, 2008

Saturday, November 1, 2008

The kids were invited to another ice skating party at the [Plaza of the Americas](http://icesk8aig.com/website06/logo.html). Before taking to the ice, Jack talks hockey smack with one of his best friends, Evan.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

While Cate had a chance to ice skate a year ago, it was Jack's first time on ice. Perhaps it was his rollerskating experience or his innate skating ability or a little peer pressure, but Jack quickly got the hang of things.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

He's a lean, mean figure skatin' machine.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Cate was a little less sure about her return to the ice, but she was inspired by her good friend, Jett.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Once Cate found this walker "skater," she was on top of the world. But the racket this thing makes as it slides across the rough ice is hard to fully appreciate or describe.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Cate and the aforementioned Jett. You'd be hard pressed to find two more photogenic young ladies.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Jack and his posse strike their latest pose, complete with gang signs. Trust me, Evan is a lot more menacing when he hoists his fly...

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Evan and Jack: two thumbs up! And two peace-signs down. I'm not sure what to make of that. There are a lot of mixed messages here...

Saturday, November 1, 2008

With a little help from Jett, we pried Cate off the "skater."

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Cate demonstrates supreme confidence and the unparalleled power of the tongue.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The Hansen's got a new Cockapoo puppy, and they brought it by the house to get everybody (read: Cate) riled. His name is Duke, and he seemed happy to let Cate pet him and hold him and generally have her way with him. Our days as a dog-less household seem numbered.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

For the second year in a row, Butterscotch tops Cate's Christmas wish list. Because she gets to ride real horses every other week, I think she'd quickly tire of anything less, and I'm quite sure anything four feet tall will not fit down our chimney (I personally checked the diameter just to be on the safe side). Luckily, there are also sixteen different Webkinz that she can't live without. I guess we'll have to wait another month to see how good Cate (and her stuffed animal Scruffy) have been this year.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

The Krugers invited us over with the Chabrias for a long overdue get-together. The kids executed a carefully choreographed Jedi coronation ceremony. It was quite moving.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Ceremony complete, we also had time for a old-fashioned Jedi battle. Good times. Good times.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

After defeating the servants of the dark side, we were actually able to corral the kids for dinner. As usual, Josh is fully working his doe-eyed charm.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

If you look carefully, you can see Jack sitting quietly (even contemplatively?!?) at the dinner table. A rare sighting indeed.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

That explains it -- there's a juice box bag involved.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Why have two photos of a kid sitting quietly at the dinner table when you can have three? For him to sit with his friends without talking a blue streak, he must have played himself out of energy.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

And finally, Cate exhibiting her most natural behavior: eating.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

We helped Jackson Hansen collect data for his science fair project -- he needed to measure different kids' athletic performance in multiple events to confirm that some kids will excel in one event while other kids will do better in other events. More than anything, it was an excuse to run around, throw frisbees, and jump rope. Shriver demonstrates supreme confidence and the unparalleled power of the tongue.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Canyon Kidd demonstrated the ability to out-run everyone else. He also demonstrated he can nearly wreck himself with a jumprope.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

If you're serious about competing and I'm mean really serious, you choose a t-shirt three sizes too small -- it cuts down on wind resistance. He came to play.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Cate excelled at both the jumprope competition as well as the long-distance run. Imagine what she might've accomplished if she had worn an ill-fitting shirt...

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Kevin Kaufmann (Greg's cousin) drove from Houston to join us for Thanksgiving. Although our families used to share all our holidays together, we decided it had been at least ten years since we had seen each other. He's a professional window installer, and I let slip that we had a problem with one of our storm windows. When we returned from lunch, he immediately went to work (much to my horror and appreciation). Jack loved the opportunity to see a real man doing some real work around the house.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Cate has a hammer twice her size and Jack has a high-powered pneumatic nail gun. What could possibly go wrong?

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving with the Chabrias at Carlene and Jack Strobel's home. Josh only slightly less doe-eyed than usual.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

We played a quick game of driveway football before dinner, but otherwise the kids played quietly by themselves all evening. We lavished them all with praise when the night was over, but I'm pretty sure they're up to something. That much quiet play means they're up to something big.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...