Rick Kulp Family

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Lights at the Zoo 2012

This year was probably the best we've had at Lights at the Zoo. The weather cooperated (it was only 55 as opposed to 35 or lower like in years past), there wasn't a huge crowd, and all of our children can walk the whole thing instead of being carried or pushed in a stroller. The best parts continue to be the hot chocolate (my favorite) and roasting (or burning to a crisp) marshmallows. Some of the pictures are blurry and we don't really know why. Could be the camera, could be user error. :) We don't know. Happy Holidays anyway!

The annual Mommy-makes-us-stand-in-front-of-the-car-before-we-can-go-in picture.

Aubrey & I liked the green lights, Andrew just wanted to be in the picture.

It was beautiful!

Andrew and the snapping crocodile.

Standing under the fake snow.

Aubrey & Rick liked the candy canes.

Davis and I have the tradition of taking our picture in front of this tree where the lights are set to music.

Getting ready to roast her marshmallows.

Andrew liked his a little crispy...

...apparently Aubrey did, too.

However, Andrew only liked the eat the ones NOT toasted.

Davis' turn!

Yum!

Aubrey only liked to roast hers, not eat them. She gave them to Rick, who did enjoy them!

They have the absolute BEST hot chocolate!

Last picture before going home. By this time, Aubrey was done and didn't want to take anymore pictures. She was asleep before we even left the parking lot.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Monkey Joe's

Aubrey has been driving us all crazy begging to go to Monkey Joe's (a bounce house) for some time now so I promised her we could go on the first day of Christmas break. She's been counting down the days and she woke up so excited this morning. She even told Rick she was sorry he had to work because he would miss it! We ended up taking Sean, Andrew's friend, with us and met up with our neighbors, Shannon, Little Davis, & Hayden. They were sweaty and tired but they had so much fun!

Up goes Davis!

Aubrey was already at the top waiting for him.

Aubrey & Davis waving at me from the top.

Davis at the bottom.

Aubrey LOVES to jump!

Andrew, Sean, Davis, & Aubrey at the bottom of an obstacle course.

Hayden, Aubrey, & Little Davis in the photo booth.

Playing arcade games.

Aubrey loved Whack-A-Mole the best.

Hot & sweaty but they had a blast!!!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Aubrey's Christmas Program

I think we could all use a little something to lighten the mood after today's tragic events in Connecticut. I definitely hugged all my children a little tighter tonight.

Today was Aubrey's preschool Christmas program. She was so excited and did an excellent job. She even had a line (the first line) and her name was in the program. It was a little bittersweet knowing this is her last Christmas program in preschool but I'm not going to dwell on that tonight! :) After her program and snack, we headed over to the boys' school to have lunch with both Davis and Andrew. They both paraded her around like royalty. I love how much they love each other!

Walking in.

Singing on the front row! No, she's really not that short but that boy next to her really is that big!

Reciting her line.

Enjoying her treat!

So proud of my sweet girl!

Daddy's girl!

Lunch part one with Davis.

Headed to lunch part 2 with Andrew and he is apparently telling her something!

They were so cute holding hands.

So sweet!

Aubrey's Christmas Program Videos

I took two videos today. The first one is of her saying her lines and the second one is from, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Her line, by the way, is "Blue is for Mary's dirty gown, from traveling with Joseph to Bethlehem town." Sorry about the quality, I had to use my regular camera to take the video with and it's not as good.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Rodeo Day in Kindergarten

Andrew has the most fabulous Kindergarten teacher! She does such fun stuff! All week long, they have been having Rodeo Week in Andrew's class. They made stick horses, designed their own brands, and learned all about cowboys. Today was Rodeo Day. The students were all dressed in jeans, bandannas, and cowboy hats. They ran races with their stick horses, dug for "gold," ate beans from a tin can, "branded" their cattle, and generally had a great time! Here's hoping Aubrey gets Mrs. Cook next year!

Lining up to listen to instructions. The big kids are their book buddies, a 4th grade class who comes to read with them every week. Andrew is the 3rd Kindergartner from the right with his head bent down.

Seeing how much his "gold" weighed.

Writing down that it weighed 2 bear counters.

My little cowboy.

Getting ready to race.

Riding his stick horse.

"Branding" his cow. His brand was an "A" with wings.

Me & my cowboy.

Listening to Mr. Bates play "Home on the Range" on the harmonica.

Such a fun morning!

Thanksgiving 2012

We love Thanksgiving! Our children look forward to traveling to TN every year for "Nana's Big Feast." This year, I surprised Aubrey on Monday morning after the boys left for school, and we headed to Nana's a day ahead of the boys. She was thrilled! We were able to spend some time with Nana & Pa and we also headed to story hour and lunch with Caron and Molly Cate. The boys arrived Tuesday night and on Wednesday, we headed over to see Jill, Emily, and Olivia. Of course, everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving Day (thank you to Dick & Faye for always coming so we don't have to do Thanksgiving twice) and on Friday, my fabulous husband took all 3 children to Tullahoma for the day to give Mommy a day off! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we certainly did!