T-Ball

Stellan is officially a t-baller. He loves it. He joined the Shalimar Little League and plays for the Gold Buyers team, which also goes by the common name "Pirates". Perfect for him, considering his pirate heritage.

He is pretty good at hitting and fielding, but not so great at paying attention. Which is par for the course. If you've ever watched 4-year-old t-ball, you know how hilarious it is; someone hits the ball and then may or may not realize he is supposed to run to a base (specifically 1st base, but let's not get to picky, right?), then about 7 players will rush from all corners of the field to catch the ball, the ball will be thrown to 1st base and the first baseman may or may not realize this has happened until the coach tell him. Watching Stellan's games has been very entertaining for us all. And he's just so darn cute in the uniform!

Catching Up

In an effort to pretend I haven't totally slacked on the blog for the last 3 months, I've just added some posts from Christmas time and will attempt to catch you all up to now in this post. In a nutshell, we're doing great.

• Stellan loves school and has lots of fun there. I got to help out there on Space Day for all the classes, and now enjoy semi-celebrity status when I roam the halls. The kids call me the Space Lady and tell their parents lots of fun facts they learned. I wish it were Space Day every day. Stellan is also getting to be quite the helper around the house and takes pride in that. And finally, I must confess that he is getting really good at playing video games, which he would play all day if I let him. I don't. But he's gotten some extra game time in as I get closer to the end of this pregnancy.
• Rachelle is talking up a storm and is hilarious as always. She does her level best to keep up with Stellan and has formed a strong attachment to friends, in the general sense as well as specific people. If I need her to stop squirming in her carseat, I just tell her we're on our way to see friends. Oh, and she loves to dance. She dances just about every time she hears music.
• Kevin is also doing well. His intramural volleyball team just made the playoffs and is currently ranked second. (Not for long, though.) He loves that he gets off work by 4 every day and can spend time playing with the kids. He has also been doing some work on (and in) his Man Cave, the back section of our garage which has been retrofitted to embrace all things Kevin. Oh, and he's been busy sprucing up our patio, which now houses a fire pit, a table and 4 chairs, in addition to the kids' chairs, the garden plot, the bubble blowing station, and the dirt pit. (The hammock stand is still there, empty, because I'm too much of a chicken to risk getting a new hammock after the broken butt incident.)
• And I'm still here. Pushing 39 weeks pregnant as I type this. This baby girl of ours will not be coming any time soon, at least not on her own, so don't get all excited yet. She is very big and very healthy, and I am assured that she will leave my body eventually.

Please enjoy these slideshows featuring some of our recent activities and, of course, plenty of cuteness on the part of my children.

Florida Caverns State Park

Kevin took about a week off work during the holidays and we spent one of those days at the Florida Caverns State Park, a couple of hours from here. We brought one of Stellan's friends, Brooke, along with us. She and Stellan had a great time exploring together, and cuddling in the darkened caverns. Did you know that the caverns (a series of interconnected caves) extend more than half a mile? I recommend trying it. Especially if it means you have to visit us to do so.

Holiday Happenings

We had a great Christmas here in our own home; this was the first year we didn't travel to spend the holidays with extended family. It was a very Florida Christmas, with a backyard cookout and lots of time to play outside. We did Skype lots of people and enjoy some family Christmas cheer thanks to the intertubes, and the kids have been having lots of fun with all their new toys. Stellan finally "got" the whole Santa thing this year, and knew exactly what he wanted - a set of dominoes so that he could stack them and knock them over. Santa got the job done; word on the street is that he was very happy that Stellan was so easy to please. Would that every Christmas wish were so easy to fulfill!

Merry Christmas!

With love from Casa Cook!

'Tis the Season

Stellan has been helping to get us in the Christmas spirit with some help from his preschool. He's been making super cute art projects (the wreath banner made from green handprints is a keeper for sure), telling us stories and singing us songs. In case you have a soft spot for 4-year-olds singing together, here's an excerpt from his class's Christmas concert, plus a still in case you can't play the video:

Happy Solstice!

Living in Florida, it can be hard to track the changing of the seasons. No changing leaves, no snow, warm(ish) year round. I've had to rely on more subtle cues to decipher these sorts of things. Luckily, this morning Stellan (who, like a good Floridian boy, generally scoffs at sleeping in pajamas and goes more for the underpants-only approach) helped me realize that winter is indeed upon us: