Keas' Kandids

Halfsies

2010-02-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

The girls had their first sleepover! Well, a "half sleepover", as our friends called it. Friends A & J came over around 6 and stayed for dinner and some fun! The favorite things of the night were the kitchen area (they played restaurant and house and doctor all at the same time it seems!) and (surprise?) coloring! They colored for at least 40 minutes! Oh, and JMan schooled all the girls at Star Wars DS!
They got changed to pjs and ready for bed then went to bed for half the night. Sort of. Mom and Dad came around 11 to get them, and Ally and her buddy had only been asleep for about 45 minutes! They were hilarious. The big girls were talking up a storm but I couldn't hear them. In Ally's room, I still have the monitor hooked up so I can hear her holler for me every night (every. single. night. at LEAST once) to take her potty. I digress.
SO, like the sneaky mom I am...I sat by the receiver and listened to Ally and J talk away. They were precious! They discussed what they are going to be when they grow up. Ally, a vet, J an astronaut. They discussed their favorite sleeping positions and their favorite and special animals to cuddle with each night. Ally is apparently very excited about her bday party (coming up quickly in a short 10 months...!) and was making sure that J would be there. He told her to be sure to send an invitation just in case he forgets. :)
What else...Ally came out to get me at one point to help find J's special Webkins that had fallen under the beds. At this point they were both squished against the wall side of the twin bed. Only taking up about half the bed. This was Ally's doing. She wanted to sleep BY J. Like, immediately by him and next to him! J started out on the pull out trundle. Obviously bringing that out was completely unnecessary!
Anyway, it was tons of fun. Ally woke up to potty later in the night and told me she was worried about J. So sweet.

And This Little Piggie Stayed Home

2010-02-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

The girls had their "Winter Break" this week, and for once we actually had some semi-wintry weather! Very different from previous years!
This year we had lots and lots of rain and cold temps. We did not leave the house for 4 days!! And I loved it. I thought the girls may get a bit of cabin fever but they really did fine. We had lost of P.J. time and just played and watched movies and hung out.
We did a few "special" things while at home.
I gave the girls each a spa pedi! Complete with the foot soak and pumice scrub and massage... aahhh...although Emma could hardly stay in her seat. She is SO ticklish!
Emma made a batch of cookies in her new EasyBake oven from Santa. Ally declined. She was drawing. Oh, the piles and piles of paper that girl leaves around from her "drawings" and "lists"! Another post...
Anyway, a very short and sweet post. TRYing to get back in the swing here. Hang in there!

Okay People.

2009-12-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Nothing like getting me back into the blog swing of things like a good giveaway! Two good friends of mine, have started a Podcast recently. Prior to this post, I have never listened to a podcast and really had no idea what it was...yes, I am behind the times a bit. :)
Anyway, Dawn and Kim at MusingMommies.com have offered an amazing giveaway! A SIGNED cookbook from one of my MOST favorite bloggers, THE Pioneer Woman herself, Ree Drummond!
To keep this short and sweet...I LOVED the podcast! It was very cool to listen to. Kim recorded some live audio from the PW's signing (that I MISSED!!!) and I felt like I was there for a minute! :)
Please check out the Musing Mommies site and the podcasts. It's very cool!

Eyes Wide Open

2009-10-04T22:51:00.000-07:00

How desperately I want to fall into sweet slumberland and wish my worries away!!

I finally decided to get up and do something productive. I may not (edited to read, "Will Not"!) produce an interesting post, but it's a post. And that's a start.

Today was a good day. Did some laundry, a little housework. Played CandyLand and Connect Four. Ate leftovers.

Did not bathe dog or clear off back porch or weed the garden.

Did not even look at the sale ads and that is one thing that is haunting me now. I need to know what I can round up with my minuscule budget this week. I need to know what I can score for next to nothing to add to my stockpile of consumables. And yes, I know I am obsessing over the small things to avoid the big things....

I am calculating how best to go about rounding up supplies for a making a couple of cute Halloween decorations.

Making mental notes that I need to...

change the job list for my class
rearrange the seating chart
create a behavior chart system for my class
email parents on conference times
execute the BOY testing in class this week
call the Pumpkin Patch w/field trip questions
find the blog on how to "Boo" and prepare
research possible parks for Ally's bday
look for toy dinosaurs in the workroom and
make die cut letters for the words "Boo" and "Eek"
come up with an entertaining rendition of the story of David and Jonathan for the enjoyment of 3 dozen four year olds
mail a pkg. to sister
make a list of Cmas ideas that are floating around
take a return to Kohl's
take a return to Walmart
take an exchange to Hobby Lobby
charge camera and take pics of more Craigslist stuff, then post
tell M&D that Ally's book fair is this week (oops!)
send $3 for Emma's class shirt
pick up several bottles of hand sanitizer and halloween-y stickers and ribbon to decorate
find old games from leftover garage sale things and send to school w/Emma

Let me just do everyone a favor and stop here. With each item I add to my list, I think of 3 more... SO... let's try again. Let's stop, chill out, and try to sleep. :)
Please sleep, come to me... or I will get none of these things done, and only encourage this nasty cycle.

In hopes!

~J

Ignore This

2009-09-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

:)

I am only posting about this to increase my chance of winning "it". I actually need it and have been shopping around since mine bit the dust (haha...no pun intended!).

mommysnacks is giving away a Swiffer WetJet! And I want it.

So there.

FB Status Sillies

2009-09-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Usually if I post something on FB I try to include it here in more detail, but it has been brought to my attention that I have missed a couple... (thank you, Gmom!)
So, I'm just going to copy and paste some status lines to make sure it's on here.

I'll title this one, "Oh, Ally." :)

(june, 2009)
I Wonder how to react when the 4 yr. old calmly walks in from the other room and says, "I'm just going to my room now, because I did not do a good job." ....sigh....
(edited to add-she had been adding to her "concoction" of graham crackers, fruit punch, and marshmallow after I told her to leave it alone...and THEN spilled some when she tried to put it in the freezer!)

And this one, "Oh, Ruth."

(aug. 7, 2009)
I lined up Ally's 5 baby dolls and chose one (just ONE!) to go in the garage sale, and I hear "Not THAT one!! That's the one I always play with!!". I turn around and give "the look" (the "are you kidding me" look") to ..... Ally? No. Emma? No.... Who?... My Mother-in-Law!!! LOL

"Oh, Jenni." (what? I can't break the rhythm now!)

(aug. 9, 2009)
I agreed to let the girls make a couple of rounds on the bikes right before we left for church today...I was out there in my wedge heels and pretty white dress trying to keep Ally going while Emma cruised. I'm sure I was the talk of the neighborhood over coffee!

And lastly, "Smarty Pants!"

(aug. 31, 2009)
I tried this morning to explain to Ally that we were "going to school", but we are not "starting school" this week....so I picked her up from the nursery today (there's about 10 teacher kids between the staff, so for work days ...they have daycare) and the first thing out of her mouth, "We didn't learn ANYthing!!" Ha!

She is going to kill me, but....

2009-09-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

I have to blog this!
Here is Emma's first "real" graded paper:

She brought it home with a couple others (one math page w/an 86%), and asked me, "what does that mean, Mama? Is that a B?"

I wish I had a picture of her face when I told her it (the above) was a "C"! Wooaaah...she was NOT happy! We had the big talk about 2nd grade being very different than 1st, and that she has plenty of time to make up for this grade. And not to worry about it, but just be more careful next time, take her time (notice 4 of the 6 mistakes are on the last 4 sentences), it's not a big deal....BUT, I ended with, "I better not see a "C" on your report card!!" Ha!
I'm kidding really-I was the one trying to cheer her up. I don't think I have to worry about tough love when it comes to grades. She really was upset all on her own!

SuperStar

2009-09-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

I was standing at the corner today waiting for Emma to get off the bus and cross over to me. I saw an older boy (maybe 4th grade?) come down the stairs of the bus and just as he was beginning to cross the street he slung his bag up on his shoulder and somehow dumped all of the contents out.
One by one, each child behind him carefully made their way around him, ignoring his clear struggle to get everything at least back in his arms.
Emma stepped off the bus and started to come straight across to me when she saw the boy out of the corner of her eye. She immediately stopped in her tracks and went over to help him! AND when she realized that he still couldn't get situated with all of his folders and spirals in his hands she very simply told him she would carry them across the street. They both finally made it over to the curb and then he was able to get everything back in his bag. He thanked her and she said, "you're welcome", and we were on our way.
I told her how proud I was of her and that most kids wouldn't (and didn't) have stopped to help. I love that there never was an option for her. She is SUCH a sweet kid.
I love her. :)

My Girl

2009-08-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

This girl most definitely didn't fall far from my tree... :)

She had some reading testing in school today. They had to read several passages and then the teacher would count how many words they read in a certain amount of time. Testing for fluency, I think.

Emma said after the first passage, her teacher told her she was only "supposed to" read 44 words. I guess that is the "right" number for the early 2nd grade level. Emma read 125. :o)
Then she tells me, "and everytime I would finish a story, my teacher would say, 'Holy Smokes, girl!'"

LOL!

#8

2009-08-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Another one bites the dust...

Toothfairy thought it was worth $5! :)

Technically,

2009-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

summer is not over.

At least not in my book.

I don't know how many times I thought about this list over the break, but never posted it. We made pretty good headway last year, considering how late it was when I put this together, and we covered quite a bit of ground this year without even trying.
I will put the things we did in bold. And we'll keep plugging at the rest. :)

The Keas Kid's Summer To Do List!

1. Build a sand castle
2. Have a picnic
3. Run in the sprinklers
4. Body paint (kind of like finger paint gone wild!)
5. Plant flowers
6. Hike to the dinosaur tracks
7. Lay in the grass and find shapes in the clouds
8. Make smores by campfire
9. Make a nature box
10. Make an ice treasure
11. Make homemade ice cream
12. and homemade Popsicles!
13. Go to the Zoo
14. Blow BIG bubbles!
15. Play hide and seek at night with flashlights
16. Make a treasure map and hunt for treasure
17. Play hopscotch
18. Go to an amusement/water park
19. Go camping!
20. Paint the fence
21. Have a snow day
22. Jump on the tramp w/sprinkler under!
23. Visit the Children's Art Park
24. Attend free movies!
25. Make a fort and sleep in it!
26. Make our own stepping stone
27. Go to the Botanical Gardens
28. Ride the Zilker Zephyr
29. See a play or musical
30. Fly a kite
31. Take a listening walk

Emma's First Week

2009-08-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

This week has been relatively smooth. Besides the dragging of the bodies out of the bed.... (and I'm NOT talking about Emma-she has been SO good with the early mornings!) we have had a pretty good week.

Emma seems to like 2nd grade. The first day she said she likes Second grade because she gets to do "projects", and then showed me a colored, cut and pasted watermelon. ;) Hopefully next week they will get into the curriculum and she will stay interested.
Emma did get a "color change" one day b/c she did not listen when the teacher told the class there would be no more bathroom breaks. Emma left for a bathroom break and had to change her color when she got back. Her teacher told me that she worked very hard and was able to move up before the end of the day. Emma said as we were walking to the car that she was very worried that she would not be able to move back up. I am so glad she cares, and she tries really hard to please.

By day 4 she told me that she was having trouble w/some boys at recess that wouldn't let her play with them. Some of that story is in another post.
From what I gather, I think it may be a situation of "we would let you play with us but you're a giiirrll..." kind of thing. I am glad she doesn't care about that but hope she doesn't get hurt by the kids that do. She handled it VERY well and came home happy the next day.

So far, so good, I guess. I just hate her being gone for so long for so many days. There are so many minutes, shaping her little life, that I cannot witness! I saw a piece of a special on "helicopter moms". Is that me? I really don't think so.
But I do desperately want to watch my children grow! I want to be a part of a lot of things, but I think I really do give room when room is needed. I very much want to have a hand in their education and benchmark experiences. I want to show them that there may be more than one door that leads to the same place, and that sometimes it's ok (more than ok, it's often more exciting!) to take the door that's down the hall and around the corner, instead of the one right in front of you. I want to see them make messes and mistakes on the way.
Sigh, it's just the same old sob story, I'm afraid. I just can't come to terms with this.

Okay-snapping out of it. I hope we have an awesome year and that Emma has the opportunity to make discoveries, learn life lessons, and build many memories.

All on her own. :)

Our Big Girl!

I won't make a habit of this...

2009-08-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

...but I HAVE to share my deals from today!

CVS
1 Revlon mascara - $8.99
1 Revlon lipstick - $7.99
4 Kraft Mac&Cheese - 4/$4
1 Xtra laundry det. - $1.99
1 Energizer 8 pk. AA - $8.49
1 Energizer 8 pk. AAA - $8.49
2 Reese's PB cup - $.50 ea.

Total OOP after coupons and ECBs: Under $4.00!

What??

Table Talk

2009-08-28T16:07:00.001-07:00

**I almost left the dinner table to record this next piece while it was fresh in my mind.**

Emma was telling us something about her day (ok - (this is not a part of my blog story, but I feel bad skipping it and only recording the humor part...to follow) Emma was telling me that she took my advice and told the 2 boys (who were in her class and QUEST group last year but are in a different class this year) from recess who kept telling her that she could not play with them, that she likes to play what they are playing, and that it might be more fun with more people - and it worked! I told her I was VERY proud of her, gave her a high five, and she continued w/more details...) and while she was talking she accidentally let out a pretty big belch.

You should have seen the look on her face-pure horror! Here is exactly (as best as I can) what she said:

"Pardon Me! I am SO sorry! I did NOT mean to do that! I had no idea I was going to do THAT! I can't tell you HOW sorry I am! Excuse me, that was an ACCIDENT! My Goodness!"

...aaaannd she may have gone on, but I interrupted, told her it was ok, and thanked her for apologizing.

Next comes about a 2 second pause, then.....

a big ole belly laugh from a certain not-so-poised (and apparently impressed) 4 yr. old, then............

says Ally, "I wish I could do THAT!"

A quick pic from after dinner-Ally was holding a chip she had eaten into the shape of a castle, but I cut it off. Sorry Ally!

Lovin' My Frugal Life

2009-08-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

I started to be funny and put some asterisks or pound signs after the F and let you balk in horror at my post title but thought that would be a bit much.... So I'll just lead with it. Ha!

I have had fun this week with the first of my "coupon trips". I'm going to make this quick, because as my sisters and mother know by now I can go on and on and on about my proud purchases. :)

Target:
Dove deodorant
Travel size Hungry Hippos game
8 pkg. ind. Reese's PB cups.
Total before coupons (and tax): just under $10 (my fellow couponers-please forgive me. I know you are shaking your heads at my flippant, less-than-precise accounts. I will do better...)
Total after coupons (and WITH tax): $1.77

Woah! I told my mom it was so strange-I felt like I was stealing! This was my very first super-coupon transaction. It is so strange!

CVS:
1st transaction: 2 Speed Stick deodorants for Men.
Total before coupons and tax: $6.98
Total paid after coupons and 1 ECB: $1.00
AND I EARNED 2 ECBs!

2nd transaction:
1 Schick Quatro razor/trimmer for women.
Total before coupon and tax: $11.49 (this is an AWESOME razor that I would never usually get!)
Total after coupon and tax and the 2 ECBs from above: $3.24
AND I EARNED 2 more ECBs!

3rd transaction: 1 Aveeno body wash, 2 Aveeno hair care, 1 Aveeno lotion.
Total before coupons and tax: $30.96 (again, GOOD stuff that I would never otherwise buy!)
Total after coupons and the 2 ECBs from above: $16.94
Now, I know this one still sounds high-but I did it anyway because I earned TEN ECBs on it! So know, I have ten dollars to spend at CVS w/o any out of pocket. So basically, I was only $6.94 out on this. AND it would have been $4 lower but since I'm just starting on coupons my stash is low and I didn't have one for each Aveeno item. I only had two.

So what was my total out of pocket? OOP? $21.18 (Grr..should have been under $16...!) for over $50 worth of stuff!
AND I have ten bucks going back in!
Pretty good for a beginner. Like I said, it'll get better as I go. I'm pretty psyched for now-and I challenge all of you to give it a shot-just try it once, it's absolutely addictive!
oh-I also got a rain check for a razor for Jason. Same deal as above. Yay!

Wednesday

2009-08-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd just run down a typical summer's day and document sort of a "day in the life". Not the best, most exciting day-but they're not all, are they? :)
(warning-this may be an especially boring post. Just throwing it in for memory's sake)

***Sry-have to interupt this. I just called to Ally, "Ally, I hope you're not jumping on your bed...". She replies, "I am!" She is seriously so proud of herself. When will it sink in?***

Anyway, I woke up to Ally about 3/4 of an inch away from my face, saying, "Get up, Mama! It's nine o'clock!" LOL. I don't think it was 9:00...but I can't say for sure. :)

Emma was on the computer right away (very much enjoying our new (to us) computer! Thank you Aunt M and Uncle S!). I gave Ally her morning shake then made some oatmeal. Put on a load of laundry and jumped in the shower while the girls ate.
Out of the shower-Emma had finished her oatmeal, Ally's full bowl was still at the table....I warmed it up then called her back and sat w/her until she finished...

We had plans to go to the pool w/some friends so the girls got in their suits and I packed the small cooler w/watermelon and water bottles. Got to the pool a little early (VERY unusual!) so we did sunscreen in the parking lot before going in.

We had SO much fun at the pool-as always. We have very much enjoyed our pool time this summer. Me just as much as the girls. It has been a hot, hot summer, so there's not much better than spending a few hours splashing around in some cool water!

We stayed right at 3 hours. That seems to be the magic number for us. Had one snack break and reapplied sunscreen then jumped back in. Emma is all about swimming. She LOVES to be in the water. She floats, jumps, dives, does her "tricks"-the dolphin flip, the mermaid, the spin, the long jump, to name a few. :) Ally wants to jump to me, she loves to swim too-and today wanted to practice her back float/swim a bunch. She's getting good!

Hit the Sonic dollar menu on the way home to get something in our bellies and did a little looking up of recipes and made a quick menu and grocery list. We hit HEB about 6:30 and did pretty good-a quick trip, small total, but got the fixings for at least 4 good meals.
(Chicken tacos, meatloaf (a double batch, I'm going to try and freeze half this time), Chicken Stirfry and Taco Soup, plus spaghetti stuff if we need it, and various sides-my green beans, salad stuff, potatoes, etc.)

edited to add-while we were at the grocery store, I realized Emma had a pretty bad sunburn. It bothered me, because I feel like I failed...I'm the one responsible for her tender skin, and this was her first burn.

Got home before 7:30, made the girls "Ants on a Log". Emma's request-Ally's w/o the ants. :) Got them in the tub and all cleaned up, hair brushed and braided, and got to work applying aloe to Emma's burn. We had just been giving an aloe vera plant and I cut into it and smeared the healing aloe all over her back, shoulders and face. Her little shoulders are pretty bad. Makes me sad to see it. :(
Emma read Ally about 5 books before bed, then read a chapter or so on her own before lights out.
Ally is in a habit now of looking at books after lights out. I haven't said anything and I don't know if she knows that I know she's doing it. Follow that? She'll flip through several books by the light from the hall and I'll always find her passed out w/a couple in her bed or on the floor right beside.

Guess I'll stop here.. I turned on the tube and waited for Jason to get home. He brought me a taco-thank you! We watched some of Dave and chatted a bit then he crashed. I checked FB then followed not much later.

COP

2009-08-18T11:05:00.001-07:00

heh. :) My title is a little homage to my hours of coupon/sale/frugal shopping research I have done the past few days. I have come to understand and differentiate between the plethora of acronyms (are they acronyms? someone help me here. I don't have the energy to look it up) to include OOP/ECB/SS/RP/RR...and many many more!

Just now I came up with my own.

COP
(Change of Plans)

A regular, if not daily, part of our lives here in the Keashold.

I've spent hours this morning researching the sale ads, the best coupon deals, etc. and had my afternoon all mapped out with several stops for specific items here and there. We also had library time scheduled and other random errands like the bank and movie store.

And all before the 3 o'clock dentist appt.

I had Ally's hair brushed and braided and was working on Emma's. Ally not yet dressed, hopped up on the couch and was teasing me with "I'm laying on the clo-othes!". I decided not to fight that battle and that my freshly washed load of towels, sheets and pillow cases from our week of company would survive.
As I finished Emma's hair I glanced over to see this:

And so was born the COP plan. Or whatever. :)

I will now fill the next hour and a half with much needed household chores, so time not wasted. But this means we have to do our previously scheduled errands AFTER the dentist appts., which completely messes up my evening plans....SEE why I usually don't even bother to plan in the first place?!

Smiles

2009-08-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

I made a memory last night. Let the big girl ride her bike by the light of the moon, to show her Daddy her new skills on her TWO WHEELER! (it is no longer a bike-always a two wheeler!) She had mastered the two wheels while he was gone for the weekend and he had yet to make it home in time for her to show off.
So last night, I texted Jason to see if he was close, and at 9:15 pm, quietly called Emma out of her bed to put some shoes on and get her bike ready. She was so proud! Even in the dark I could see her smile beaming-spreading from ear to ear. :) A very special moment. :)

What's it Worth to You?

2009-07-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

Sweet Emma.

She has been very excited and very eager to clear out her room for the garage sale. She started the other day in her "toy drawer". This is basically a "junk drawer". The place for Happy Meal toys, bouncy balls, forgotten party favors, and the occasional water gun.
Emma was extremely proud after she sorted through her drawer and presented me with a bag of oh, half a dozen or so trinkety toys. She had also taken the time to compile a price list.

Oh dear.

Here's how it went: (and this was after we had a discussion AND I gave the recommendation of about a dime apiece...)

Sonic race car (kid's meal prize): $2.00
whistle (the kind that comes in a set of 12 for birthday party goody bags): $1.00
key chain (more of the above): $.50
bouncy ball: $.50
toy gun: $2.00
Kung Fu Panda (Happy Meal prize): $2.00

She also told me she thinks we should price her vanity set at $90.00.

The plan is for her to man her own area the morning of the sale. This is going to be interesting.

;)

Popcorn and a Prize

2009-07-26T12:32:00.001-07:00

As I watch the girls snacking contendedly while watching "Bug's Life", I have to make a note, hoping our simple little game stays in their sweet heads as they grow.
I started giving "popcorn with a prize". Just on a whim one day. Must have had something at the end of a box or bag and tossed it on top of their bowl of popcorn.

And so it began. :)

Now it is so funny that they squeal and shout "YES!" when I announce I'll bring them their popcorn and a prize. I think it's mostly the surprise. The "prize" is nothing big. A few mini marshmallows, M&Ms, gummi bears, and today yogurt covered pretzels. Something very simple but just the little "extra" that brings delight.
It makes me smile that they find such excitement in something so small. "Thank you thank you thank you Mama!" I love that they don't expect anything big and that they appreciate something so small.

Obviously this is about more than a few marshmallows in a bowl of popcorn. :)

Goodness

2009-07-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

We are currently playing the "how long can we survive without going to the grocery store" game. :) Tonight for dinner we had turkey smoked sausage, ranch style beans, zuccini chips (sliced rounds of zucc. topped w/mozz cheese and broiled) and kiwi. I know-it sounds yummy, doesn't it.
Well, there wasn't anything on the plate that I was absolutely sure that Ally would eat. She's iffy on the sausage-she wasn't a fan of the zucc the last time I did it like this, she has never tried beans, and hasn't been happy about eating kiwi lately.

She ate everything! And happily! I make the HUGE mistake of saying, "Ally, I never thought we'd see the day that you would finally be a good eater!"

And then it began...from EMMA! The whining, the moaning, the crying!! Over the zuccini! This is the girl that ate a raw squash straight from the garden and told me, "Garden fresh is good, Mama!" I told her she had to eat 3 slices. O.M.Goodness!! The drama!

Finally I left the room, knowing that my patience was thinning. And she followed. I just had to tell her to leave. And I started to question my approach. Do I make her eat this? It would be one thing if I knew she didn't like it, but she's eaten it before!
So I tried that approach-

"Emma, you have eaten zuccini before. What is the big deal? It's THREE little slices! You could have been done by now!"

And through the tears, she tells me...."I just like it un-cooked!"

You have got to be kidding me. I had one zucc left on the counter. I sliced up a few pieces. She ate it. No whines. No problem.

So next time I'll skip the olive oil, the sprinkling of salt and pepper, the careful arrangement of mozzerela cheese....and just serve it raw. ;)

The Simple Life

2009-07-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

I am overwhelmed with all the catching up I have to do! To get the ball rolling, just a quick post about the NOW...

As many of you know, we had an EXTREMELY busy week last week with our vacation at Nana and Pops house. We were go go going constantly!

Since we have been home we have not had a playdate, a swim day, nothing. Today we are getting ready for the free movie. Other than a string of errands yesterday, this will be our first time out of the house! I have not even checked the mail. Zip.
(this did result in an extra yummy chicken spaghetti dinner last night. I didn't have the usual ingredients for the sauce, so I grabbed some bell pepper, a squash, a handful of green beans, and cherry tomatoes from my garden stash and chopped those up to throw in. Yum!)

So, we've been enjoying the Simple Life. Lots of coloring and design time for the girls. Emma made a mobile of 5 or so planets for cousin C. Just got a wild hair. Ally has been practicing her people skills (drawing them!). I have spent way too much time on Facebook and negleted the blog... op!

Ok-just a quick teaser-lots more to come! Including giant ostriches, life size dinosaurs, hair-nesting birds, manatees, a man in a mouse costume, 3-D fun, pool time, tractor rides, fireworks, slip-n-slides, Dinosaurs ALIVE!, a train ride....and....oh yes! the Hokey Pokey! ;)

Stay Tuned!

Symphonies and Sprinkler Play

2009-06-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the weekly Children's Day Art Park hosted by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Each week is a different band/act/group performing for the kids amidst bubbles machines, clowns, storytellers, magicians and mimes, lots of balloons, and 10 cent lemonade. There's even an instrument petting zoo-the kids can try out any of the brass instruments that are hung by rope under a covered porch area. (alcohol wipes provided!)
This week was the group "Beto Y Los Fairlanes". I have no idea what that means, Beto and the .... something, I guess. But I was surprised to see a group of middle aged white men on stage! lol!

They were entertaining. One of them is a professor in music at UT. Maybe they all were?

Emma got some giggle time w/her bff.

Ally was a clingy whiny mess (because she woke up waaaay too early and would not go back to sleep!!) until she got this:

After the show we followed the lemonade trail down and around to the craft area. The girls waited in line for face painting then found some shade and some lemonade before heading home. There were other crafts and things to check out, but with this heat we were ready to go. Can't wait for next week! It's the Biscuit Brothers!

Face Painting:

Three Little Kittens...

Made in the shade.

Well, as you may have gathered from my title, I intended to include a couple of sprinkler play pics in this post. Seems none of them turned out. I only snapped few, don't know what I did wrong. Anyway, just so you're not completely disappointed (I know you were SO looking forward to these!), here's one I managed to pull off.

Even the dog got in on the action!

Oh-and today's free summer fun movie was Charlotte's Web! I didn't realize we'd never seen the new one-it was SO good!

Pool Time

2009-06-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

More fun in the sun today. Another 3+ hours. I see LOTS of pool time this summer. I can't keep the girls out of the water! Today was another new pool. It only went to 3 feet, which was nice. Lots of sprinkler/sprayers, a little bitty slide, and wading area. But, what did the girls want to do the most??
Practice their swim lessons!
We went to the 3 foot area and I took turns letting each of the practice their "lessons". Emma mastered hers quickly (the back float), and now I need to call and see what her next station is before lessons on Friday.
Ally is still unsure about letting her feet off the bottom. She is supposed to do a "starfish float". Yes, in our day this was called the "dead man's float". :) Ally will put her arms out and put her face in the water, but unless I lift her she won't bring her feet off the bottom. Just not used to that yet. BUT, she never. stopped. trying!
She would come up gasping, almost panicked looking, and half a second later, say, "let me try that again!". I think she'll get it with her teacher by Friday.
I even got to SIT OUT AND WATCH for awhile. What?? It was very strange. This was a very small pool with lifeguards everywhere, and I could see the girls at any point in the pool, so when we were about 20 min. from leaving I decided to sit out and dry off before I called the girls out. They had so much fun! We didn't have any friends along today so they were left to play with each other, and it was neat for me to sit back and watch instead of being in the middle of it. We'll have to hit this pool again just for that reason. I think all of the other pool in the area would be too big for this. Not any deeper, just too much space between them and me. This one was just right.
Anyway, just a quick post while we have a movie on-I need to do dishes and laundry... Fun!

Zucchini!

2009-06-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm being overrun by the stuff! We're getting at LEAST one per day from the garden. Today two. Right now I have 6 on my counter that I need to use.
So, I have tried my first batch of zucchini bread. Looks yummy. I'll let you know how it turns out!
But, what prompted this post is a funny "article" I found on allrecipes. First of all, let me say that apparently it is very common among gardeners of this veggie to have their hands full with them! I saw several comments as I read the reviews about people having more than they knew what do to with. This took me down memory lane a bit...
I remember our garden in Utah as a kid. I was probably about 12? I guess my parents decided to plant anything and everything they thought they could fit in? We had zucc, yellow squash, watermelon, carrots, pumpkin, canteloupe, onion, tomatoes, and who knows what else. I remember having to push leaves and vines aside with my foot before each step to make sure it was safe and clear of veggies!
My mom made zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, zucchini brownies, zucchini pancakes...and I remember her sending my sisters and I around to the neighbors delivering these things!
Anyway, here's the article that made me laugh. Enjoy!

Random (yes, I should be vaccuuming..) Thoughts.

2009-06-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

**I love that the girls squeal and run to their rooms when I announce that I'm going to vacuum (hence, my title. hee!). This started years ago when Ally was genuinely scared of the vacuum cleaner. Not it's just habit. But they run to one bedroom or another, and stay in there playing for a good 30+ minutes before they realize I'm through! Funny, if I sent them to the bedrooms to play it would never last. This way they think it's their idea. :)

**I love our time in the kitchen. My table is NEVER clear-there is a constant mess of papers, markers, scissors, etc. If I'm stuck at the sink I get to witness their creations. I love the "stories" that come from Ally's drawings. One day she made a "juice machine". A huge web of lines, pipes, and who knows what else that somehow became a juice machine. She had it all planned out very well! Today we had the easels out and the girls were making chalk drawings. Ally drew a picture of me being chased by a wolf! The wolf bit my arm off...but don't worry-she fixed it with a band aid. (i'm laughing as I type this!)
Emma drew a picture of a "green" house-with a solar panel for energy. And labeled it "Environmental Saver Mama". Cute! Funny, she didn't know it, but while they were working I was washing dishes and took my dirty water out to the tree in the front yard. I made sure to tell afterwards that I had just re-used my dish water! She was very proud.
AND, all the while, we usually jam to BOB FM (from the huge antique stereo. Gmom-help me out, how old is it?). The only station in Austin where you can hear The Eagles, Vanilla Ice, and Avril Lavigne consecutively!

**Emma lost her 7th tooth today. I was watering the garden when it happened this morning. She didn't know I was out there and went roaming around the house looking for me, dribbling blood all over the place. Yuck!~

***The dog, now over 75 I think in dog years, still doesn't get that when I leave one room I'm usually coming right back. She still gets up and follows me, attempts to lay down and doesn't even get settled before I'm moving again, then she struggles (it's getting harder for her to get up) to get back up and follow me again. Sometimes if I tell her to stay she will, but I can tell she's very uneasy with that. She has always had some serious separation anxiety issues! As a younger dog, if we left her out back for too long, she would jump the fence (at the time a 4 foot chain link) and come sit on the front porch.

***I love my girls' love for music! Yesterday I overheard Emma singing along with the radio-just belting it out. It was priceless! made me wish I had a video camera that picked up sound....I digress.
And Ally has been making up songs lately. They all have the same sing song-y sort of rhythm, and the same choreography. :) Shakin' her little hips and her head, singing "I love you Ma-ma. Oh yes I do-o, yes I love you-oo!"

I could go on and on! I need to try and do this sort of post once a week or so just to catch little every day stuff.
Think it'll happen?? :)

Refreshing

2009-06-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

I guess after almost a week of lots of (delicious!) grilled meals....I am really needing some light, cool, crispy sort of food. Don't get me wrong, the meat was awesome! But, just kind of heavy. Make sense?
Last night the girls and I had salad for dinner. I wasn't sure how this would go over...esp. with Miss A...but she did great! Of course, she had to have her ranch dressing...and she didn't eat all of it, but she ate a lot!
I had our salads piled with spinach leaf lettuce and purple leaf (or red leaf?) lettuce, then diced up tons of good stuff to mix in. From the garden we had zuccini, yellow squash, tomatoes and bell pepper. Then I added diced apples and pears, cucumber, chopped up a few deviled eggs, grated some cheese... and had red onion in mine. oh my goodness, I was in heaven! Neither girl liked the zuccini or squash. It's not great raw, but I tried. Next time I'll saute it just a bit to add some flavor.
We finished off with some yummy corn on the cob and a slice of cool lime pie. Delish!
Today we're just finishing a lunch of string cheese, cherries, baby carrots, tangerine and kiwi. Ahhh...so refreshing! And so colorful! I love colorful meals.
OK. here's the good stuff. Enough of my boring menu ramble. :)
The pie I made took about 3 minutes to put together (actually the girls did it all, after I got the yolk ready), and 20 min. to cook. It is really good! Got the recipe from Jason's mom.
3 ingredients:

1 graham cracker pie crust
3 egg yolks (yolks only!)
1 can of Eagle Brand milk (I actually used store brand, this is just what I've always called this milk-the sweetened condensed milk.)
1/2 C. of lime juice

Mix with a whisk. You don't even need to beat it. Poor into pie crust and bake @ 350 for 20 min. Let cool and top with Cool Whip. Yum!

Nitro Intro

2009-06-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Today was our first lesson at Nitro Swim School. Both girls LOVED it! Ally was first, and she jumped out of the pool and made her way over to me-she was shivering and shaking and I thought she was mumbling something about having to go potty or wanting her towel. Nope! She wanted to "go again"! She had a BLAST!
She passed the first station in less than 15 minutes. She had to put her whole face under water for at least 5 seconds. That's a long time! At first she would just dip in really quickly and pop her head out sort of panicked. But she kept going and going and eventually got it! She was on to the next station which is the "starfish" float. I think this is arms straight out to the sides and legs out? I think. I know she had her arms out. I saw her floating with a noodle once, and I saw them trying to float on their back. I'll have to find out more so we can practice before next week.
Emma did awesome as well! She also ended on station 2, but it's different in her class. She has to be comfortable with floating on her back. I think they have to master doing a streamline (arms straight up behind ears and hands together at the top) swim halfway across the (short side) pool, then flip over to a back float. She tries to curl up and stand up insinctively instead of relaxing on her back. Just a little practice and she'll have it!
Both girls were ALL SMILES the WHOLE TIME! Ally, apparently does not ever stand still on land or in water. She was bouncing non stop. Both only had one other kid in their group. The other girl in Emma's group was also named Emma-this was a highlight for them!
A few pics I got. I tried to stay across the pool, so they're dark and maybe blurry, but still sweet!

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

2009-06-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

We have hit the ground running this week! Seems crazy it's only the 2nd official day of summer break.
Yesterday we went to a super cool pool. We stayed for over 3 hours and only took one little 15 minute break! The girls would have stayed hours longer...and me too-I had so much fun! But, being the only grown-up among us, I had to make the responsible decision. Bummer being the mom sometimes. lol!
This place had a little lazy river, a wading area with two small slides, a small open area with sprayers or buckets, and a side spot with two bigger slides. The big slide and the lazy river were the hit for sure. I bet we were up and down the slide 50 times! Just one-Emma is tall enough for both big slides but would only go on the straight one because I could go with her. Ally is not tall enough for either but could go on the straight one IF I went with her. My little one is for SURE the adventurer/dare devil of the pair. Emma is very timid and anxious and takes the safer route. I'm so glad I could go with her on the straight slide, because she loved it-but still wouldn't go on her own, even after we did it over and over. Ally on the other hand-it was all I could do to get her to wait for me to sit down before she took off!
Both girls loved the lazy river. Emma would go round and round, swim/floating through. Before I remembered I had a ring floatie for Ally, I would carry her (against her will-she kept telling me to "let go"!) and she would watch Emma over my shoulder, cracking up the whole time at Emma bobbing up and down. I couldn't see what Emma was doing, but whatever it was made Ally laugh the whole way. It was cute.
Here are the few pics I got. Had a friend snap some from the slides. The ending one of Emma and me didn't come out, but just as well-she was panicked because we went under quite a bit. :)
Oh-and notice the different "hold" I have on each girl on the slide. I barely have ahold of Ally's shirt, and I only got away with that because she didn't know I was holding on. Emma's practically in a bear hug! But, we didn't do that again because I told her I think that's why we went under so much when we landed.
Anyway-tons of fun. We'll definitely go back!

Waiting patiently.

And, our outing today was the first free movie for the summer! We saw "Everyone's Hero". We saw it last year, but was so cute, we didn't mind seeing it again. We actually ran into several friends there. Looking forward to many more!

For the Small Screen

2009-06-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today the girls and I took part in a commercial shoot for my good friend, Jamie. Last year, this friend invented a super cool Childproof Straw! The straw will NOT come out of any juice box, fast food cup...she has used them for almost a year with her kids in yogurt cups..anything that has a foil lid or a straw hole. They are AMAZING!
Today she was shooting a "commercial" for a couple of things. I know one reason is to have an audition reel for a new show coming up on TLC hosted by Kelly Ripa, all about mom inventors. Also, there is a major drink company, I think, interested in putting the straw into production and they need more info. I think. There have been so many developments over the last year that I can't keep up. Anyway, the girls were very excited to be a part of this! Emma can't wait to be "on TV". I was reeled in to recite one of the many testimonials that Jamie has received via email or her website from straws she has sold on her own.
Both girls did sort of a "school lunch" scene. Emma did one shot with putting a straw through a drinkable yogurt-easy, no mess, no fuss. Then she did another shot showing her struggling to get the foil lid off (you'd be amazed how hard this is!) and actually spilling the yogurt in the process. Emma was oh-so-dramatic with this shot and REALLY got the point across-throwing yogurt all over the ground and herself!
Ally did a scene showing her using one of the straws in a milk box and they wanted her to actually pick up the box by the straw to demonstrate that the straw really will not come out. This was EXTREMELY hard for Ally! Her whole life she's been told, "don't take the straw out!" and especially don't pick up the juice box by the straw! lol! She eventually got it and gave her winning smile at the very end. So cute!
Here are some shots of my shining stars in action!

So excited!

PAR-TAY!

2009-06-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emma had her luau party on Friday for the last day of school. It was complete chaos. 20something loud, chanting, hula-hooping 7 yr. olds. Yikes!
It was fun, though. Emma was one of the winners for the hula hoop contest, she also won bingo, and gave a valiant effort at limbo.
Of course, on the day before the last day, I decided I wanted to make a stool for her teacher. I had been doing alot with Emma's class the last couple of weeks and on more than one occassion wished I had a stool at the front of the class!
So, we ran around Thursday and found a stool (not as easy as you would think) and found a paw print stamp to represent their mascot, the Lion. Emma had asked the all important "favorite color" question before we left so we got a few paints in just the right shades.
I thought I had some stencils left over from when I did my mom and dad's. I know I had a little heart, an apple...teacher-y stuff like that. Apparently not anymore. Must have tossed them.
So....this stool had lots of polkadots and stripes to fill in the gaps. Ha!
Emma's teacher LOVED it and called in other teachers to brag on it. (grins!)
Anyway-a fun day. And SO GLAD it's summer time! We already have pool playdate on Monday. yay!

I'm so Bad

2009-05-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

I just overheard the girls planning some Mother's Day surprise, and I totally eavesdropped! :) Hey, it involved chocolate ice cream with crushed up Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Yummo!

Seriously, who needs diamonds??

Emma has been making and hiding things all day. She got very upset and cried when I found a card on the front table. I gave her a quick pep talk about leaving things out in plain sight....and told her I didn't really see anything-which I didn't.
This evening she has Ally in on the action too. They've been scheming for an hour. And Emma has made several calls to Jason. I need to check with him...I think that she thinks that he is going to get her in the middle of the night and take her shopping. lol!

****omgoodness! As I'm typing this, the girls just brought me a water bottle mixed with one of those Crystal Light powder mixes, and Emma recited the following poem:

Rose are Red
Violets are Blue
I can't believe
I got a Mom like You!

Too sweet!

1st QUEST Presentation

2009-05-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

Emma did SUCH a great job with her QUEST presentation a couple of weeks ago! Each student presented in front of their peers (there are 6 other 1st graders in QUEST with Emma) as sort of a trial run before the big fair.
Jason asked me later that night if Emma was nervous during her presentation.
My answer:

"Are you kidding? She had an overhead projector,a pointer, and an attentive audience. She was in heaven!" LOL!

She did really, really well. She covered all of the facts on her transparency and also added in tidbits of info and fun facts that were not included in the text or diagrams on the page. Her back was to the group for most of that part (arrrgh! the teach didn't point out until her critique at the end that Emma could have #1, lowered the paper, and #2, stood beside the overhead and point the the things on the page from there so she could better address her audience) but she did turn and address the group regularly.
Emma called students to read the "Did You Know" facts from her interactive poster. She was so cute introducing it..."If you like, you may come up to look at my poster and find out what you may or may not know about dolphins!" :)
She also had bookmarks that she made to pass out that included more info about dolphins and a dolphin that she drew at the bottom with an arrow that said, "color me!"
And the piece de resistance...the much awaited, the much anticipated....3D Product!
Nana had so smartly suggested that Emma make a paper mache dolphin. How fun, right!? :)

Well, our third attempt ended up turning out great.

The first attempt turned out like this:

I cannot even begin to explain the reaction when that thing sunk in....we were literally putting the very last piece on and were ready to let it dry. Emma had been holding it for 40 minutes or more while I slapped on the gooey stuff. I smoothed out the last piece and it sunk.
We both just sat there in silence for a good beat of 5....then Emma said, "Do you have to start all over???"
Then she cried. Poor thing!

Anyway, after attempt #2 we figured out that this has to be an indoor project. The balloon can't handle the heat and sinks after awhile.
Jason was a dolphin making pro by the third attempt. He made the form each time and the girls and I would add the paper mache. Even Grammy had a hand in it on the final day because we were running out of time!
All in all, it was a lot of fun and Emma learned SO much. She loved researching. She brought home lots of books about dolphins, she would show me pages of written out notes that she had done during class, and even did some Google time at home. This class is really good for her.
The big fair is next week, and we'll be adding some finishing touches before then. She wants to find a recording of dolphin sounds, and make a costume of some sort....she has in mind a wet suit complete with flippers.
We may have to compromise. :)
Here are a few pics of her presentation. Emma's teacher from last year came to see her and snapped pics while I filmed -another aggravation-my ancient camera didn't get any sound! :(

Precious

2009-05-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

Aren't they aDORable?!!?

Looks like the Cherry Tomatoes will be the first on the table this year! We also have little blooms and buds on both yellow and red bell pepper plants and some on the zucc. and yellow squash. Hooray! I LOVE tending to the garden and seeing some exciting results!

Acrostic

2009-05-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Funny the things you learn about yourself when your children start writing poetry...

Emma's latest poem, just for me, about me:

M athmatic
A rtistic
M isty
A lligator-lover

Stapled together with the Acrostic was a nice letter (spelling and punctuation intact):

Mama you are great becuse you care for ant bites and love us as well as care for us and you are vere swell with a keen eye for love I love you Mama! as much as a Dove.

Edits

2009-05-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

I meant to add to my last post the other night, but I'll just put it here. A little funny from the end of my disaster day.

I realized as I was finishing up cooking dinner that I had managed to make:

breakfast tacos w/egg and sausage
bacon on the side
AND
biscuits and gravy

First of all, yes, I said "dinner". I love breakfast for dinner.

Secondly, I ate some of ALL, AND drank a FULL glass of milk. And I don't drink milk.

Can you say, comfort food?!!? Ha!

When it Rains

2009-04-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you know the rest.

Did I mention the RAIN???!! I'm NOT talking about the wet stuff falling from the sky, though we do have some of that lately. I like that.

I'm being metaphorical.
Right?

Sweet Ally and I were rear-ended on the way to work today. It was a VERY scary thing! Not much damage to our car (actually MIL's car-I have her car while Jason has my car while Jason's truck is in the shop), but MAN, did that hit pack a punch!

I was slowing down ready to make a right turn on a very well known intersection around here (let's just I'm now a new fan of taking 183A down to 1431), and seeing 2 cars coming my way at 60 mph I decide to wait and turn after they had passed.
The car behind me apparently did not anticipate this decision. Or just wasn't paying attention at all.

SMACK! It sounded like a gun went off in the car. And at first I didn't even know what happened. When I did realize what happened, I screamed. Loud. Hit something within reach I'm sure, then went FLYING out the door around to check on Ally. I don't know what happened to the cars that were coming towards me. Thankfully they were either gone or slowed and veered, because I did not even pause to look for traffic. And I was 2 lanes out in the intersection now.
I flew around the car and flung Ally's door open.

And there she was, calm as could be. Not even phased, not upset, worried, crying.
Nothing.
Just calm. It was weird.
She kept asking what was wrong with me.

The other guy came up behind us and asked if we were ok then jumped in my car to move it to the side of the road. He was thinking a little bit clearer than me. I was still standing in the middle of the 60 mph road, clutching my sweet baby girl and crying.

We exchanged info (** a funny note-we found out we live on the same street. I told him to avoid problems in the future why don't we just carpool. Ha!) and I was off to work. I broke down again on the way there and was crying when I pulled in. I felt almost silly. By looking at the little bit of damage on MIL's car, you'd think we got nothing but a small nudge. But I was so shaken up-physically shaking for a loooong time afterwards and again every time I recounted the story.
Someone asked if this was my first wreck. Without pausing, I answered, "The first one since I've had kids." It really takes on a whole different category, you know?

Anyway, one lingering headache and one sore neck and back and we'll be ok. Sweet Ally still fine and still tells me she was not scared. She's my hero! :)

Tell me a Story

2009-04-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to document Ally's latest craze. Well, by now she's moved on a bit. She's trying to draw more rather than write, but about a month ago if she had a free minute, you would find her at the table, markers in hand, writing "stories".
Sometimes they'd be stories, sometimes just lists of friend's names. She can spell many of them without asking now. And sometimes pictures for friends or family members.
She was so serious about it. Pure concentration, very intentional with shapes, colors and marks.
I joked to someone about this, but in all seriousness, she may have gone through an entire 500 pack of printer paper in about a month. lol!

Take A Hike

2009-04-27T12:42:00.001-07:00

This is one of our favorite things to do. We make it out here about, I don't know-quarterly I guess.
We went over Spring Break and I never posted. This is from a (practically) dry creek bed just up the road, that has a neat set of dino tracks. I first found out about it when I was taking an earth science class at ACC. My prof gave extra credit to anyone who checked it out.
Anyway, I love this because it's close, quick, easy, and always gives something new.
If Jason is with us, he always catches crawdads or tadpoles.
It's a neat little trek for the girls. They can hike and climb and explore, and all we need is a couple of cold water bottles.

My nature lovin' beauties:

Sunshine and Rain

2009-04-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sigh. Seems like Mother Nature is currently showing the story of my life. A quick tease of beautiful, shinyhappy kind of promises, quickly washed away by rain.
And not just rain, my friends, but storms.

High winds and hail.

Sigh.
Did I already say that? :(

I am always the ultimate, "chin up" "This too shall pass" kind of gal. But man, there's only so much, you know?

Today Jason's truck will be towed to the mechanic with promises of "very costly" repairs. Man. We'd suck it up and go to one vehicle for a couple of months, except for the fact that his truck is not just transportation. It gets him to the job, but it also hauls everything he needs to complete the job. A cab and a bed full of tools and supplies, usually backed with a trailer loaded with more.
It's his whole livelihood. And let me tell ya, lately it's not so lively in the hood.

Catch my drift??

I found myself searching the TEA website today to find out what all I need to do to update my certificate.

I go back and forth every single day on how much-is-too-much? kind of worries. Have I gone too far? Put the family in jeopardy just because I want to stay home with my girls? And then, "you can't buy this time! You cannot put a price on these precious years! My days are numbered, and I'm going to stick this out!"

I HATE to be so personal on here and I HATE to divulge so much.

But I need help. I NEED some prayers, some positive juju, SOMEthing to help me muster it up and get through this.

I love you guys! I know you're sending some well wishes my way. :)

Make A Wish

2009-04-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

I had just dropped my kids (my class-kids) off in music and walked into the workroom today when I heard Ally's teacher hollering (I know, it's hick-ish, but it's the best word!) at me from down the hall.

"Jennifer! Jennifer! Are you in here? Come here-you have to see this!"

I can't decide if it's an excited or a panicked holler, so I move pretty quickly to get to her room.

Then I see the beaming smile on her face. Whew!

She had helped the kids make a dandelion painting (is that the flower that you blow the little white whispies off and make a wish?) and was asking them all what their wish would be if they had a real dandelion.

I looked on the board and found Ally's name with her wish written out.
"I wish to be a princess."
Not bad, I think. Not original, but not bad. :)

Then I look directly below it and see her classmates wish.

**Now I have to give a little back story here.
One day, out of the blue, Ally and her classmate "J" became, well....attached. I don't even know how to describe this. I have to keep reminding myself that we're talking about 4 yr. olds here.
I know I've talked about the little guy before to some of you. He's the boy that is usually holding hands with Ally in line. Once I saw him walking beside her with his hand just barely on her back, like he was making sure she stayed close.
He's the boy (4 yr. old boy) that when Ally was attempting her first go at the "big slide", ran to the bottom and yelled, "I'll catch you, honey!"
I have heard (through Ally) that he wants her to come watch him play soccer. How sweet!
And he's the one that, every day, walks past the other 5 or 6 classmates, stepping over other's toes and wiggly legs, to go alllll the way down to the very last seat in the row for morning assembly, to the spot right next to Ally, where she is always waiting, with such a sweet little grin. And he smiles back and sits right down, usually not even saying anything at all.

I know! I know it sounds ridiculous-but it is the strangest thing! It is the sweetest relationship I have ever seen between two children. And they only see each other twice a week!

Anyway, back to my reason for posting. Quick recap. Ally wishes to be a princess...yadda yadda....
And little "J" wishes...

"to be Ally's prince."

I could cry!

Feed Me

2009-04-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

(is it obvious I'm trying to hammer out some catch-up posts??) :-)

The girls and I were EXTREMELY excited to start our garden. After missing our scheduled weekend for the bed assembly because Daddy had to work, we mustered up our collective girl power and decided to do it ourselves!
I had two very eager assistants.

This is how Ally helped,

and then she off to play with Missy.

This is how Emma helped,

and I couldn't have done it without her!

Before we knew it, we had one ready to fill raised garden box!

this is mostly true...after seeing the (small!) size of our finished product, we decided to rethink our original plan. we decided to forgo the 12 inch height and get double the space. so-we needed daddy to dig up the grass in the area we were going to use, so we were sort of stuck until he could help.

BUT everything's been in the ground now for several weeks and so far we have several tomato plants, a few squash and zuccini, some green beans and maybe sugar snap peas?, and yellow and red bell peppers. I have spinach seeds and.....something else that we're waiting for fall.
We're just watering and watching right now! Can't wait to harvest something!

What the Hail?

2009-04-20T12:51:00.001-07:00

I know this is old news, but wanted to document the ridiculous hail storm that came through last month. The girls were not scared one bit. They loved it and had to be pulled from the doors and windows, eagerly waiting to play in the ice covered yard! This thing came out of nowhere and dropped a huge amount of hail and rain.
We had several little plantlings on the porch waiting to be put in the garden, and Emma sent Jason out to save them. She was crying, "Hurry, Daddy! Hurry! Get in!" Jason's mom was here and thought it was so sweet that Emma was worried about her Daddy.
Emma told me after hearing that, that she was "a little bit worried about Daddy, I guess, but mostly worried about the plants." lol!
Jason says he'll never forget-we were all anxiously watching the weather updates, and his mom said, "Son, I am so glad I'm over here". And not 2 minutes later, the sky fell! Her poor car was pretty beat up. She drove home later to RR, and found out that not one piece of hail fell at her place! So much for being better off over here! oops!

**I found two little cups of hail in the freezer a week later. ha!

Bluebonnets

2009-04-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

I better throw these on in case they're all I get this year. Definitely not ideal conditions for BB pics...a very small circle to sit in, and the whole area was littered with fire ant hills. The girls were afraid to move, as you can tell by the stiff postures!
We made another stop after this one that was much better, but it was too dark by then and my shots didn't turn out. Oh well. I planned on getting back out, but I think I've waited too long now. Seems like we're always chasing something!

Call Me

2009-04-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

A quick note-

Emma interupted me while working on the last post to ask-

"Mama, do you know who sings the song, "I Don't Even Know His Last Name"?

I'm wondering why, of course, and how in the world she knows this song, but I say yes, and tell her, "Carrie Underwood".

"Oh, good! I want that to be my ring tone when I grow up!"

First of all, ring tone??? Secondly, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing! Um, NO....WAY!! Ha!

Marry Me

2009-04-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Emma had her second gig as flower girl last weekend at cousin Mandy's wedding. Man, did she get the royal treatment! Starting off with a girl's day at the spa...Emma was pampered and got her first french pedicure! (I have pics of this on Mandy's camera. If I get them I'll add later) She and I went for pedi's one time before Kinder started, but this was the FULL treatment-a bubbly soak, foot and leg massage, and her adorable french tips! So cute! And I, holding the important position of "mother of flower girl", was also pampered with a pedi AND a full body massage! Ahhhh..... :)

The next day started off with hair appointments.

And 34 bobby pins later....

It was a BEAUTIFUL outdoor wedding. A gorgeous spring day. A bit breezy and threatening to rain, but we made it all the way to the reception before we got wet. And we did get wet, because by that time I was so exhausted I was just glad to be sitting down and eating that I really didn't even bother to move. The food was good and the company great-and what has a little rain ever hurt anyway? :)

It was EXTREMELY stressful trying to keep the kids off the rocky hills, the grassy knolls..., the wooded area, scolding them from running around and through the chairs so carefully set in perfect rows, from playing hide-and-seek in the bridal suite.
At one point I luckily overheard someone mention musical chairs.

"No WAY!" I said, just picturing the kids running and jumping for the chairs, spilling over, tearing their gorgeous dresses and mussing their hair!
So, one of them had the idea to 'pretend play' musical chairs.
I then witnessed the most hilarious thing of the day. 4 or 5 children, following each other in a tight circle, humming some sort of tune. Someone yelled "Stop!", and they all "sat" in the air, freezing on the spot.

They were playing musical chairs. With no music. And no chairs.
Classic. :)

It couldn't have been a better wedding. The bride beautiful, the groom very nervous!

Mandy was her usual, goofy, gorgeous self. We were so glad to be a part of her special day!

A few pics.

Great Grandparents.

Cousin Mandy.

Sweet cousins.

Oh-no pics of Ally, but she was also spoiled. Nana and Pops took her while Emma and I were away. She got a trip to the outlets, picked out some treasures, helped harvest tiny oak saplings from the front yard, went bunny hunting with carrots and peas (and found a bunny!), and had more priceless fun-it's not often she gets one-on-one time with her N&P. Thanks Mom and Dad!

W-A-T-E-R-M-E-L-O-N

2009-04-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Patch

2009-03-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

We loaded up on Thursday and headed out for Sweetberry Farms in Marble Falls. We have done the pumpkin patch here several times, but for some reason, only once before have made it out for strawberry picking.
My main memory from the last time is hearing Ally from across the rows, yelling, "Puuuullll!" She was about 2 1/2, I guess?

This time the phrase of the day was,

"I found one, Mama! I got one! Come look! I found a good one! I got a good one!"

Each girl picked about a pound apiece (say that 5 times fast!), and we had SO much fun. I didn't have to tag behind either of them this time. Even Ally really got it-she'd see a nice red one, then turn it over and say, "nope, still some white there!", and move on.

We had no agenda, no schedule, we just took our time, and enjoyed a beautiful day in a strawberry patch. Does it get any better?

We did have to hunt a little bit. It was Spring Break after all. It was the busiest I've ever seen the place, but we still have rows and rows to ourselves. There is definitely a lot of room to roam.
I would LOVE to go back in a few days and snatch up the hundreds of berries that will be ready this week. Man, it was so hard to pass up all of the 'almost ready' ones!

We picked (or 'patched'...Ally kept telling everyone she went "strawberry patching!"), then visited with the animals, then broke for our pack lunch (and had some bee issues and low-sugar moments from Miss E), then picked some more.
Topped the visit off with some nice homemade ice cream and called it a day!

Grammy tagged along on this trip. I heard she made some jam with her batch. Yum! We polished ours of in a couple of days alongside some French Toast and Belgian waffles!

It was a wonderful trip! Here are some pics-I wish I could include them all!

The Funeral

2009-03-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

The girls went with us to Jason's Uncle Eddie's funeral last Monday. They knew him and had met him a couple of times, but were not extremely close with him, so I thought it would be okay for them to attend and to be introduced to the fact that we do sometimes lose our loved ones.
Emma was pretty upset that morning and didn't want to get out of the car when we got there. She was sad and did not like being at a cemetery. After a couple of talks she loosened up, and she was excited to see some other family members there.
Ally had no clue. She kept asking where he was. I think we had phrased things like, "We're going to say goodbye to Uncle Eddie".
She would try to run around, being her usual goofy self. I did my best to contain her and I hope no one else was bothered by her antics. The girls and I sat in the car for most of the wait time.

Eddie was a veteran and had a very nice service. Two guards folded and presented the flag to his son, and another guard played Taps behind us. It was beautiful.
Emma sat still and quiet through the whole thing. Ally sat still, and was very quiet, but was VERY curious! She kept asking about the flag, whispering,

"What are they doing with the flag, Mama? Why are they doing that? Why are they making it into a triangle? Why are they giving it to his son?" and on and on and on...
Then she noticed "the box".

"Why is that box there, Mama? Why is that there? What is in that box, Mama? Can we look in there? Are they going to open that box?" etc. etc....

When the service was finished, I whisked her away and we took a walk along a pretty little tank and found some geese and ducks to occupy us.

I know this in not my typical, upbeat, fun and games post. I'm trying to include more of our life events, simply to help me remember them down the road.
I think this was an important event-both girls understand that Uncle Eddie is in a better place, and them being a part of the event opens up doors to discuss other concerns or fears.

The two of them had included him in our prayers lately, asking God to take care of him, and to make sure Eddie finds his Mama and Daddy.

They have also had an argument about whether or not he has met Dr. Seuss.

All in a day...

;)

The Big Day

2009-03-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

For Emma's actual birthday day, we went to SeaWorld. It was quite a bit busier than the last time we went (in the fall), but I know it's going to get much worse. We managed to squeeze in 3 shows and several rides. The girls love the ShamuCoaster in the kiddie area. They also had a ferris wheel sort of thing that we did.
Our second stop was the Shamu show. We did this one in the fall and were able to walk in as it was starting and pick our seat. Not this time! There were people lining the top of the bleachers, standing in the isle, etc. Determined to find a seat, we kept going down, down, down the stairs. Until we ended up on the second row.

In the Splash Zone. Clearly labeled. You WILL get wet.

Oh Dear.

We left the place soaking wet. Drenched. Head to toe, socks and underwear, dripping hair.

Wet.

Wet, like, we were the lucky bunch that, after the usual three rounds from our big whale, and after they lined all 5 whales up at the big stage in front, they called THREE of those whales back over to our section to give us one more go. THREE Killer Whales who somehow are both graceful and ginormous, with perfectly synchronized form, showered (or pelted, IMO) us with fish water.

Really? Was that really necessary??

This was a somewhat chilly day. If you're wet, anyway. It was about 64 degrees, and we were walking around dripping with 52 degree fishy salt water.
Jason wasn't as wet because he had Ally in his lap. Somehow most of Ally's legs were dry too. Emma was wet through and through, but once we took her jacket off, her thin wind pants and t-shirt dried pretty quickly.
I was soaked from the waist down and had a mop for hair. I kept my sweatshirt over me to protect what I could, and also tried my best to hide behind Emma.

Yeah, I hid-you would too!!

I had on a sweatpant like suit, so it was heavy, holding water, and sooo uncomfortable.
We tried another show and left with chills, so decided to walk to the car to eat lunch and let our clothes dry some. The girls were fine by the time we got back. I still had wet socks when we left, and my undies had not been dry for long.
And I swear I still smelled like fish. ;)

The other big event of the day was Emma riding the BIG Steel Eel roller coaster with her daddy. I never thought it would happen. I was fully expecting them to come walking back down the entrance ramp, having changed her mind.
Nope. They waited through about 5 rounds until it was their turn.
She had the biggest nervous smile as they were getting loaded in. Here's a snap of the "pep talk".

Here's a shot of the second big hill. The first one was even bigger.

How I WISH I had a picture of her sweet face when they excited the ride. Emma did not follow the crowd down the walk and towards the ramp. She came straight to her Mama. She walked straight over to me where I was waiting (a WRECK, by the way) and said....

"I don't ever want to do that again."

And here is a picture of the picture you can buy at the little booth after the ride. I was fully prepared to pay for this picture! Such a momentous occasion!
BUT....
Where's Emma? She was scrunched so far down in her seat with fear, it looks like Jason is riding by himself. Ha!

A few of my faves:

Wet girls.

Watching the "Viva" show.

Riding buddies.

My smiling Sea Lion.

The Party

2009-03-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Emma had a pseudo-sleepover last Friday with a few of her girlfriends. I was a little disappointed at first that so many of them could not make it, but I SURE got over that quickly! Emma didn't even seem to notice once we got started that half a dozen or so of the invitees were missing.
I cannot imagine what the decibels would have topped at if everyone had showed up. Wow. Four 7 yr. olds (plus one very excited, show off little sister) can really stir up some noise.
I guess by throwing them into a room with a karaoke machine and a video camera, I really was asking for it!
We had fun. The kids decorated pillow cases, sang karaoke, played "hide-and-sleep" (a game that Emma "invented", then wrote out the rules and explained to her friends), dressed up and giggled their way through the evening. They ate pizza and made ice cream sundaes and had a very special cake (more on that in a minute).
Emma "allowed" Ally to invite one friend over, and she choose best buddy, Lil' J. He came decked out in spiderman pjs and never once seemed to care that he was the only boy. He and Ally played so well-staying in her room most of the time. He joined right in with the crafts and treats, and even took a goody bag filled with girly treats like an eye mask and a Hannah Montana pen. :) Such a good sport!

Anyway, I have ZERO pictures from the party! I did lots of filming, so I guess it's one or the other with me. I did get a picture of the cake though, and each attendee has a likeness on the cake....

That's Emma on the far left. Notice the marshmallow pillow and bubble tape bedskirt? :) The girls LOVED this cake. Seriously!

And although NO pics of the bday girl (I know, it's terrible), one of Miss A all dressed up, then one of her with buddy J in their awesome hiding spot! They were not IN her little house, but behind it-for at least 20 minutes! I don't think the big girls even knew they were playing along-no one was looking for them, and they stayed so quiet!

It was a lot of fun-AND little stress for me~thanks everyone for coming!

F-R-E-E!

2009-03-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

With a catch!

To the first 5 people who comment on this post will get something made by me! Lucky you!

My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
What I create will be just for you.
It'll be done this year.
You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a book or a re-gift. It may be poetry or a copy of my favorite recipes. I may do you a favor. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Easter?

2009-03-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

Not to disappoint, my family has already managed one Easter celebration. Why pay attention to calendars? We plan holidays when they're most convenient. :)
We had some family in from Europe for a few weeks, so we decided to do our big bash a month early. I mentioned this in a previous post. And I think I jokingly said there would be approximately 200 eggs to be found between the 6 kids. Well, I was wrong. The top 5 egg-gatherers collected, respectively: 85, 84, 71, 67, and 64 eggs. I didn't add it up, but I know that's more than 200! Plus there were two little ones that had maybe a couple dozen eggs each.
This event is all about good food, good fun, and good company. We had to get on the road early this year, so we missed hot tub time, but the kids had plenty of time to swing, run around, assault each other with their mini-marshmallow blow guns (a first for me!) and feed the horses.
I saw a certain three little boys attacking their sweet and innocent great-grandmother with imaginary webs and force shield something-or-others while she was guarding the door during the "big egg hide".
I even enjoyed a leisurely swing myself while watching the kiddos dig up a dog grave. Come on, I didn't know it was a dog grave until I actually got off my rear and walked over to where they were so quietly "working". ;)
Some of my favorites:

My Girls.

The loot.

Cutie Pie.

Operation Arrival!

2009-03-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we all trekked in to DFW Airport to surprise Uncle Shawn with a big welcome home from his 10 month assignment to Iraq. And when I say "we", of course I mean...

my girls and me
my sister and her 3
my other sister (his wife) and the new babe
my parents
my grandparents
one cousin, with his wife and 2 sons
4 pairs of aunts and uncles
one family friend (considered an aunt)
3 of my parents' cousins and one of their kids

I'm sure I'm leaving someone out, but you get the picture. We had 30+ people there. My sis had made arrangements through a USO rep to get us all through security and to the gate. The kids had made signs with their classes, and all the little ones had t-shirts that read "Proud Niece/Nephew of an American Soldier".

This guy didn't know what hit him when he walked through those doors. He was overwhelmed, relieved, elated, and in shock all at once! He gave my sister a big hug, then was handed his little boy for the first time ever. The little guy was half asleep, and on the transfer, snuggled down in his daddy's chest. Precious.

He had a great welcome then we all drove back to my parents' house for a big spread. Lots of his favorite foods, plus more.

We are so glad to have him home!
Here are some of my favorite pics:

The kid crew.

My girls going through security. So cute!

Emma with the sign her class made.

A kiss.

Daddy and baby

Whew!

2009-03-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

I'm going to throw a post together while I wait for a phone call. My week has been crazy and it's not slowing down yet. If I don't get to pics today, stay tuned...

Monday-last minute Dr. Seuss playgroup event that turned our kids into green-egg-and-ham eating, blue haired "Things"!

Tuesday-beginning of Dr. Seuss week at school. Had a class full of blue haired "Things", painted Cat Hats, ate Cat Hat snacks, played with rhymes all day. After school, had a call from MIL that she needed to be in Temple ASAP and could we come get the cats????
Drove MIL to Temple, brought cats and all paraphanelia home (except the all important scratching post...who knew??? more on that later)

Wednesday-continued Dr. Seuss stuff at school. All about fish today. Read One Fish Two Fish, graphed colored goldfish and made fish-sickles. Came home to one missing cat, later to be found IN the lining of my GOOD couch!! Swatted other cat for scratching on my GOOD couch!
Actually made a balanced meal for dinner.

Thursday-culmination of Dr. Seuss stuff at school. All about feet today. Funky Feet Day!
Got to school and realized I left my foot shaped cookie cutter at home. Drove home, got the foot, drove back to school. Read The Foot Book, and Fox in Socks. Ate Toe Jam, made foot art. Witnessed the rescue of a huge turtle in the parking lot (we named him Yertle. Get it?).
Realized I will be going to Emma's class tomorrow to help make a poster for Uncle's arrival from Iraq.....start researching ideas for poster for Uncle's arrival from Iraq...
Got home to discover that when I ran back this morning for the cookie cutter, I left my house key on the end table. Tried the back door. Locked. Tried the garage door. Locked. Luckily...remembered I had MIL's keys still in my car and she has a house key. THANK YOU!
Got in the house to find the cat in the couch again, and my heavy glass bowl with plastic fruit on the floor in front of the china hutch. I'm going to skin a cat!!

Waiting on the call from Grandmother saying she and cousin and cousin's new baby are finished with the Dr. appointment and ready for pizza dinner.

***there's the phone!!***

--------------4 hours later------------------

Took pizza to cousin's house and saw the beautiful baby. Had a nice visit w/Grandmother.
Girls in the tub. Emma convinced that she's going to make the dolphin costume for her QUEST fair when she gets out. ;)

Friday-must pack for the weekend away! Laundry, house cleaning....jewelry making playdate in the AM for Miss Ally. Quick lunch then to Emma's school for poster time. We'll probably leave early to pick up visiting Grandmother and head to Ft. Worth.

Saturday-BIL's arrival at DFW around 3. Big crowd expected to greet him then head to Mom's for huge spread.

Sunday-early Easter w/extended family in Denton. Probably have 6 kids there and a total of 200 eggs.
Okay, I may have overshot, but I promise not by much. This crowd does eggs w/money, eggs w/numbers for door prizes, etc. Lots of fun for the kiddos.

Wow. If I make it back, I'll update next week. :)

Heart Breaker

2009-02-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

I am officially the meanest mom ever. I "grounded" Emma from all crafty projects and using any crafts supplies for a day and a half (which, mind you, was more of a punishment to me seeing how the full day part landed on a weekend).
Her reaction:

"NOOO!!!" (stomp, stomp, sob, sob) "That's not FAIR!" (more sobbing, storming out of the room...)

and then returning with:

"You just broke my heart into a million tiny pieces!!"

I couldn't make this stuff up, folks.

She stormed to her room, slammed the door, and continued to wail and yell things somewhere along the lines of "I would never treat my daughter this way if I was a mom!"

Yep. Meanest mom ever. ;)

Here's the best part. Ally went back to check on big sis, and was quickly sent out with a message for me. Which she delivered impeccably:

Her hands on her hips, eyebrows bunched up: "Mama!"

"You broke Emma's heart into tiny piece all the way to her foot!"
(picture me trying to look concerned)

and then the finale:

"You better be nice and make Emma happy. And you better be a good widdle grown up!,
OKAY?!"

priceless!

I'm Sorry....

2009-02-16T20:43:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd better apologize right off the bat to my sweet baby girl for this one. She's gonna hate it later, but I just have to blog her funnies. :)

My Ally girl. The poor thing. She was on the toilet this morning. And with her, it's never a quick visit to the bathroom. She has so much trouble in this department. Anyway, knowing I had at least 5-6 minutes, I went around to the laundry room to start the washer.
Once I got some clothes in and shut the door, I could hear that she had been yelling for me at the top of her lungs!
I rushed to her with a panicked "What?!?"
And her emergency:

She tells me, with a very defeated look, "I can't get my poo-poos out, Mama. Come squeeze me as hard as you can!"

I nearly fell over! LOL!

Junie B!

2009-01-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

The day finally came! Emma and I enjoyed our first "special day" yesterday. We saw a musical production based on the Junie B. Jones chapter book series. Emma has enjoyed these books for a long time, and we were thrilled to find out about the play!
We got all gussied up and ready to go:

And it was so much fun! Such a cute production! It was held at one of the older downtown theaters, not a big event center. I enjoyed it so much-it was more intimate and special. The cast is out of New York, and has been travelling the states with this show for awhile. They were very good! I love, love, musicals and this one was adorable. It made me laugh out loud countless times. Emma had a few giggles as well, but she spent most of the show literally on the edge of her seat, leaning forward, a fixed gaze on the stage and everything going on. At her age, I guess it is still a bit overstimulating, but she had a great time. She came home and was singing some of the songs from the show, and retelling her favorite lines to her daddy.
No shots from the show-it was way too dark (oh, how I wanted to get a picture of the 6'2 mid-twenties men that played twin girls, all dressed up in frilly, hoop skirt/pettiskirt dresses and Goldilocks curls!!), but here's one as we were leaving (you can see the marquis on the far right):

I love doing things downtown. So beautiful and so much history!

Enough is Enough

2009-01-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

I have to start somewhere. So many things to blog, so many thoughts, stories and pictures swimming around, and I just can't make myself do it.
So...here's a start.

A couple of funnies I heard today:

Miss E:
(as we are SPRINTING for the bus this morning. I swear it was a whole minute early!!)
I say: "Girl! You are faster than I am!"
She says: "I know. My legs are skinnier than yours."

Thanks. lol!

Miss A:
(as I am drilling her on whether or not she went potty when she got her p.j.s on. She insists she did, I don't believe her.)
I say: "When did you go??"
She says: "Thursday."

Needless to say, she went straight to the pot! And I got a big 'ol belly laugh out of it. :)

Seriously

2008-12-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

I just showed up an hour early for lunch with Miss E. Wrong time. Seriously??? If I could get half my *!#$ together, I MIGHT actually be a productive human being. Aaargh!

Love Rocks

2008-12-11T16:24:00.000-08:00

Miss A is so full of love these days. So many times per day telling me she loves me. We have started the "who-loves-who-more" thing lately. She gets a kick out of that. She's so sweet with her comments, telling me I'm the best mom ever, that she loves me to the moon (that's our thing-I love it) :), or that I'm her best friend.
Today she was singing a little tune on the way to school. I wasn't paying too much attention. I sing alot, for some reason. Well, not really singing. Just saying regular conversation or phrases to the tune of a song or jingle or nursery rhyme. I'm sure a strange thing to a fly on the wall. I don't know when this started, or how. But it's what I do.

For example:
(to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)

"It's time to get you in the tub,
in the tub, in the tub-
It's time to get you in the tub,
so take off all your clothes..."

OR

(to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell)

"It's time to go to bed,
It's time to go to bed-
Brush your teeth then choose a book,
It's time to go to bed."

OK-not all of my songs start with "It's time to", but you get the drift.

ANYway...back to My Miss A. She was singing a little tune in the backseat, and I finally tuned in. And here for your listening (or reading, whatever) pleasure:

(to the tune of "We Will Rock You". Yes, by Queen)

I. Just. Love. You. Mama! Mama!
You're. The. Best. Best. Mama! Mama!
I love you to the moon and I love you everywhere
I love you all the time and I. See. You! (had eye contact in the rear-view mirror there)
I. Do. Love. You. Mama! Mama!

Not only was it so sweet!! (and just what the Dr. ordered for me!) But to fill in her own words and carry the tune right along?? Wow!
I hope you can get something out of this. I can hear it exactly how she did it in my head. And I teared up while driving. Wish I had it recorded! I may have to ask for an encore. :)

The Retreat '08

2008-12-08T13:43:00.001-08:00

So, so, so much fun! We all had a GREAT big time. Miss E and cousin G (sort of-the child of my cousin, what does that make her to my E?) ran the whole time. Gathering golf balls from the course off the back yard...and snail shells...and sticks, which became (for Miss A) magic wands, pencils, drumsticks, and many more things I didn't catch.

We shopped a few little shops downtown which was plenty for me this year. I just love to look anyway, and that's not exactly relaxing in these wall to wall specialty shops with two very busy sets of inquisitive hands!

Got to play a couple of games, so got a little bit of fix for now. Sorry, Mr. C, my hand of Go Fish with you at Thanksgiving was just a teaser! :)
I would try to explain the games...but I can't even begin to. The hit this year was "Soggy Weiners". Yes, you read it right. Hilarious, and enlightening...to say the least!
The ornament exchange did not disappoint either-one sobbing 6 yr. old and one near brawl between the most senior participant (83 yr. old Grandma!) and the most umm...(let me be delicate here because she reads my blog..) passionate participant. Ha!

And lots of good conversation and good times. At one point a couple of us noticed a generational division-after dinner, somehow, several in my generation got caught up in a "birth stories" discussion. There were three new babies, and one expecting mama, and two non-mamas. These two were extrememly grossed out, but entertained. :)
Then there was the group at the table next to us, discussing signs of aging and extra skin...and then the group of 5 squealing screeching girls, ages 4-7, making hay of the beautiful guest bedroom (stress!).

And the occassional bits and pieces of converstaions I would catch, which I'm sure had very meaningful and poignant moments, but the parts I remember having something to do with dirty dancing, loaded rum cakes, farting a blue streak...and naked sleepers!

Ahh...the memories.

I laughed till I cried, my sides hurt, and my cheeks ached. I had an amazing visit with some amazing women. Made memories that I'll never forget, and was able to share it with my most cherished possesions. Thank you ladies!

Thanks, Aunt D for the pretty pic. (That's me in the middle-I now it's a rare sight!)
I'll have a slide show soon.
Can't wait for next year!

Full of Love

2008-11-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

The girls were playing with stickers and Ally made a story. I asked her what it was about and this is what I got:

"Well, today is a beautiful day. I just looove today. And I love my Uncle Eddie and my Uncle Shawn. And it is very nice to meet you. And it is very cool, and so are you. I am veeerrry important. And I love Daddy too. And I love Grammy, and Nana and Pops too. We are going to Nana and Pops' house, and it is great. It is a wonderful day. I think everyone is going to be excited! I love Grandmama and Granddaddy and everybody too. The sun is very purple, and it is cool. It is verrry cool and I love everything and it is very beautiful, and waaaait a minute! The end!"

She'll do this every now and then when "reading" a book, or card, etc. Just starts talking jibberish. But she is super serious about it, and will not stop or pause until she's good and ready! I'm sure I didn't get half of this right. I tried to run back here mid-story to catch some of it.
Funny!

What If?

2008-11-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

...overheard today from Miss E to Miss A:

"What if you were a tiny ant and someone squished you? How would you feel?"

She also broke down in sobs one day last week when I smushed a spider hanging from my visor in the car. Eek!
Her exact words: "That is what's wrong with our world, Mama! Too many people kill our innocent insects instead of letting them live in their natural habitat!"

I told her,
1. A spider is an arachnid, not an insect. (correction not appreciated at the time)
2. My car is not the spider's natural habitat.
3. Next time I would let her hold it until we could stop and set it free.

Yah, right.

Week in Review

2008-11-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hey, at least I'm bloggin', right?? Here's a quickee to catch up some.
Mon, Nov. 3-Miss A and I started off with a quick conference with E's teacher. All good reports. I was told she is quiet in class (at this point I made sure she was talking about MY kiddo) and a hard worker. That she's way above level with reading and will soon be tested for the accelerated math program. And that she will be starting soon in a writing enrichment class. Good to hear. I bugged the teach a bit more about how I can stay informed on what they're covering in class. Still not clear on that one, but we shall see. Would it be too much to ask for a copy of weekly lesson plans? :)
Moving on.
We left there and dropped some things off at the library then went to meet our friends at a favorite park. Ms. J read a book about Elmer the Elephant then the kids did an Elmer craft. We had fun with it, then hit the hills! Ha! This park has a fun hill to climb and hike. It has become a tradition now to run the hills for the kids. If the moms were smart (or not so lazy...) we would join them! :)
Once we wrangled the kids back in we played a round of red light/green light, using the Spanish color names, then a round of duck duck goose. There's a pick in my slideshow of Miss A chasing a little Miss J...this was part of our duck duck goose game. :) Miss J "goosed" my little A, then headed for the hills! Hee-we're still learning this one. We ended with a game of freeze tag then had more play time at the park. Miss A and I picked up a drink and a snack and surprised Miss E by picking her up at school. We hit a different park from there and hung out some. It was a beautiful afternoon.
Wed, Nov. 5-this was an early release day for Miss E so I let her choose somewhere to go after school. She choose Radijazz and off we went! We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was fun. I think this was the first time Miss A got into the jumping into the volcano since she was a little bitty thing. She loved it! The girls also did the tunnels over and over and ran hard. We did some grocery shopping at Walmart afterwards with promises of a milkshake if they made it there awake. We made it-Whew! Little A is a terror lately to get to bed if she gets the slightest nap!
Fri, Nov. 7-Lil' J and his Mommy picked us up to head to another favorite spot. Another beautiful day! We are completely spoiled right now with this gorgeous weather! Miss A found courage today to climb to the top of the net/wall thingy. She was so proud!
Sat, Nov. 8-Miss E was all about making and icing cookies today. She found a decorating set in the pantry from long ago, so we HAd to use it! I pulled out my fancy tools I got from their Uncle Shawn last Cmas and we went to town! Made a BIG mess, used LOTS of frosting, and had a blast with it!
Another busy week ahead-I'll TRY to keep up. I still haven't posted anything on Halloween! Sigh.

Enjoy the show!

MTM

2008-11-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

No pic today, but we went with a "G" food or green food theme. :) We had grapes, goldfish and one green gumdrop. Then some honeydew, kiwi and avocado.
Of course Miss E ate it up. She has been a great eater from birth and will always try new things (though nothing new in today's tin for her)
Miss A actually ate one bite of kiwi! Yay! AND a couple bites of honeydew! I was SO proud of her. She has been a TERRIBLE eater from birth. I remember taking weeks off at a time from baby food because she wouldn't even open up for the stuff. She's big on textures. Doesn't like to try different or new things. I finally have coaxed her to "take a lick" on new foods. This is how we got the kiwi in. Hey, baby steps, right!?

New IQs

2008-11-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't added any of these in a while, though we always have plenty of them...

Miss E piped up from a quiet breakfast early this morning:

"Hmm...I wonder if McCain is still in the lead...?"

What??

And Miss A when I guess I said or did something too loudly after bedtime last night:

"Mama, if I hear one more word....!"

:)

SeaWorld, Round 1

2008-11-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

I absolutely cannot imagine doing this park (or any for that matter) with two small children in one day. It would completely stress me out! Nana and Pops gave Miss A (and the rest of us an early gift) a SeaWorld season pass for her bday last weekend. We drove down last Sunday to check it out.
We had tons of fun, and didn't even scratch the surface of things to do and see at the park. We only saw two shows, and a few rides, with the coral reef aquarium, the penguins and dolphins in between. It was so, so nice to be able to take our time and know that we didn't have to rush because we only had one day.
And actually, that would have to be our quote of the day, courtesy Miss E:
"I can't believe we can come back whenever we want!!"
Enjoy the show!

Miss A's Big Day!

2008-11-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

If I don't blog this soon, I'll forget it all together, and it's already pretty much a blur! I don't know exactly why I was such a mess...at least not specifically.
The morning started out well enough. We all had French Toast and strawberries for breakfast. I did have a fleeting question of, "should I be sitting here right now enjoying a leisurely breakfast when I have x,y,z and a-g that I should be doing??"!
HA!
That question was quickly answered!!!

While Jason got busy with mowing, etc. I began tying up loose ends around the house and with party things. Putting together prize buckets, situating the different game activities and paraphernalia, doing one last vacuum and floor sweep, etc.
WHAT among these things took so much of my time, I do not know! It must have been just everything put together.
Jason had to go to Lowe's after weed eater string, and then the corner store for gas.
Finally we were ready to put together stuff in the backyard. We had the ticket booth to secure, games to set up, and the flag pennant entrance and strings of balloons to tie up. Thank goodness we'd done the animals the day before!
Halfway through putting up the "tent" (a plastic tablecloth stapled to the top of the playscape and angled down to the fence), the wind picked up pretty good, and we realized it was not going to work. The thin plastic ripped right out of the staples and pretty much went flying. I made a frantic call to Grammy, who was basically killing time before the party. She grabbed a white sheet at Walmart and headed this way. We got it up in no time, it was going to work fine, we strung the balloons on there, and she set to work on rolling pigs in a blanket, popping popcorn, and setting up nacho stuff. At this time, I already had the girls frosting cupcakes (seriously!) and adding the cut apart marshmallows to make a popcorn effect on top.

I jumped in the shower about 20 min. before party time and had wet hair when our
first guests arrived. Lovely.

Anyway, the kids got busy checking out the back yard. We had a "knock-over-the-cups" game, a homemade juggler bean bag toss, a clown standee for the kids to put their face through for a cute photo-opp (also homemade!), scarf juggling, a "ducks-in-the-pond" game, face painting, and a balloon animal making station. Not to mention the playscape and trampoline!

Ahhh, but I would be remiss if I failed to mention my masterpiece, the piece de resistance....the obstacle course.
This was my baby. The event I was most proud of. I had borrowed lots of props from a very good friend, and had the neatest stuff set up.

It all began with the first child pulling on a pair of oversized clown pants and suspenders, and filling them with a few balloons. Add a red nose and clown wig, and they were to run to the fence and back, then switch to the burlap sack and hop back to the fence again. After that, they grab the sparkly cane and top hat and walk across the little buckets in a row (to be a tight rope). Then jump through the "Rings of Fire!" (hula hoops on stands) and crawl through the tunnel. Next, up the ladder and down the slide and we all meet up on the parachute for a fun game.
Sounds great, right??

WRONG!

ONE kiddo was willing to try all this stuff and actually made his way through the activities. Then he sat on the parachute for TEN minutes waiting for the next big thing......

It never came.

The rest of the kiddos were completely confused, and the birthday girl was just plain over it!
I will say that most of the kids warmed up and did at least one or two parts of the course once they caught on. :-)

And we went to cupcakes next so all was well.

I guess it's a good party when you end up with one in the pool (wink!)

And...I managed to remember the big "Pie-in-the-face!" finale when there were a whopping 4 friends left at the party. Oh well, live and learn!
Enjoy the show!

Check

2008-10-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, at least it's off the list. And if I don't blog this in a hurry, it won't get done at all. So....I give you:

Pumpkin Pictures!

They're not great, they're barely good. They're full of squinty eyes and forced smiles. But they're here. :)

Some faves:

And some runner-ups:

She just couldn't resist...

And, after 15 minutes straight of me barking "look this way!, look at the camera, MY camera, look here, look at me!", this is one of my faves. :)

You Know it's Bad When....

2008-10-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

your six yr. old tells you....

"Mom, I don't think I need to have any candy at all today."

Aww! Poor Miss E is all messed up with "the allergies", as she calls it. Or, "the algees" as little sis says.
The poor girl has circles under her eyes, a stuffy/runny/sneezy nose, and is just not her normal spunky self. What a bummer way to spend a three day weekend.
Please let this pass quickly!

B is for Blog

2008-10-11T19:00:00.001-07:00

Okay, okay! Since I have now seen several posts on friend's blogs about things I have planned...I guess I should get my rear in gear and blog myself!

Where to begin??

We had lots of fun with our letter B events the last few weeks.
I think it all started with our Bubbles! Bubbles! playdate at a really cool park. We used traditional and non-traditional bubble tools, with traditional and non-traditional bubble solutions. We had the usual bubble wands, etc. but we also had fly swatters and colanders! We tried some colored bubble mix (didn't work so well!) and some other home-made mixes. We had tons of fun with the bubbles, but the most fun was had in the drained out creek bed! Poor Miss A-slid down one side like a champ, but had THE hardest time climbing up the other side! I had to slide down in my flip flops and practically shove her from behind! She finally made it and joined the band of pirates (I think it was pirates-these kiddos had lots of pretend plays going on) at the top.

Oh-this may be my favorite shot. Our friendly neighborhood "Momarazzi"!

And did I mention there were donkeys?? Such a fun place!

I put together a neat park playdate where we made binoculars with TP holders. The kiddos painted them their color of choice, then played while they dried. During this time I hid all sorts of things from home I had hauled over that start with the letter B! I had a baby in a tree...a bear in a bush...a balloon tied to a sign...a bow on a branch, and much more! The kids were SO cute running from place to place, searching then finding 'B' items with their precious binoculars! It was so much fun to watch. Here are a few pics I got.

Miss A seriously passed out like this. I unwound the binoculars from her neck, but she held on to that balloon for her entire nap. Crazy!

Miss A played host to her cooking group a few weeks ago. And keeping with the letter B theme, we made Bran muffins!
Oh, I'm sorry-I cannot blog this without stressing how annoying I was about the letter B. Any word that started with the letter B, I preceded with the buh-buh sound. And I promise you, you have NO IDEA how many words you might say in a one hour stretch that start with the letter B!
Let's see....while we were mixing the ingredients for our buh-buh-bran muffins, we could already smell the buh-buh-bread from the buh-buh-bread machine. We passed around the buh-buh-bowl so each child could participate as much as possible. We took turns, letting the first kiddo add the buh-buh-buttermilk, and the next measure the buh-buh-brown sugar. Then came the buh-buh-buh-bran flakes and the buh-buh-buh-baking powder.
Oh, did I mention this event was on my buh-buh-buh-birthday?
Annoyed yet?? :)
The moms were quick to join in, and I think (hope?) that we all had fun with our letter B day. I was so bu-buh---(sorry!) busy helping to mix and measure that this is the first picture I got!

Hey-I think they were a hit!

And finally...BONES!! Yes-Miss E hosted her age Science group last week and we brought bones! Well, they were covered in fur and feathers...
This is getting worse, right!?
We discussed nocturnal animals...animals of the night...and then dissected owl pellets! I had NO idea how much these girls would get into this! Literally! Miss E and a couple of the others were digging in with their hands! I was so excited to get these. I don't know when I did this for the first time, but I have never forgotten it. Such a super cool hands-on learning experience. I highly recommend it!

BTW, the aforementioned (and pictured) moms also have pics of these events on their blogs. And they're MUCH better than mine. Check 'em out!

M-T-M

2008-10-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Muffin Tin Mondays!

I saw this idea on a blog about a month ago, then again on a friend's blog. Very cute, and a great fun way to try new foods. I do mine as our after school snack to let Miss E get involved too.
This week I don't think there was an official theme. I saw this orange theme from a comment on the original blog, and decided to steal it!

From left; baby carrots, sweet potato veggie chips, veggie chips, baby carrots, orange sunkist jelly beans, tangelo, tangelo, jelly beans, orange bell pepper, cheddar cheese, bell pepper, cheese.

Both girls tried (at least licked) each item. Miss E liked the bell pepper, Miss A ate one thinking it was a carrot and was not pleasantly surprised...! Miss E ate most of her tangelo. She's always been sort of hot and cold on oranges and the like. Miss A licked it, made a sour pickle face, and didn't try it again. Baby steps...

Last week's theme was shapes, so we stuck with circles/spheres. A great opportunity to discuss three dimensional shapes, and why grapes are not circles, but spheres!
We had grapes, circle cookie cut cheese, circle cut apples, mini rice cakes, and melon balls (cantaloupe).

And...for some reason I can't load the photos, so I leave it at that.

And Fun Was Had By All!

2008-09-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we all drove in to help Daddy install a much needed fence at Nana and Pops' new house! The girls were very excited to go back for their second visit, seeing how the first visit yielded lots and lots of frogs, a pesky armadillo, and a jack rabbit!
We did find a frog. Named her Jesse. But the poor frog was quickly overshadowed by a new friend. An adorable little box turtle! Named Sparkles. I have one picture of Sparkles-taken after Super Daddy found her. My camera battery died so I took most pics with my parents' camera. More to come soon.
The girls had SO much fun watching their daddy work. They wanted to help with everything! Miss E was especially neat to observe-she was asking questions and genuinely interested in what her daddy was doing.
We enjoyed the visit and had LOTS of fun. Lots of laughs-sometimes we didn't even know what we were laughing about! Gotta love those pregnancy induced laugh-till-you-cry moments!
Again, we had so much fun and can't wait to go back. Our next visit will be for the arrival of baby C! Yay!

Serious Business

2008-09-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

My Gmom sent me this pic from my sis' shower last weekend. Miss E, hard at work on one of the games-the "answer the Nursery Rhyme question" game.
There were 20 questions. The winner answered 14 correctly.
Miss E was a close second with 12 correct!

Magic in the Morning

2008-09-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

Miss A was up a little too early today, so I went to snuggle with her, and possibly help her fall back to slumber. At the very least, I wanted to keep her quiet so not to wake Miss E or Daddy, on his only day off.
As we lay there, it was evident she was very much ready to wake up. She kept talking to me, asking to play and read books. And I would shush her, over and over. Finally she lay still for a moment or two and I heard a soft whisper come from the quiet. I was pretty sure I heard her clearly, but asked again, just to be sure.
Yes, what I heard was correct.

Her early morning thoughts:

"I want to be an armadillo when I grow up."* LOL!

I giggled and snuggled her tighter. What a goofy girl.

Shortly after, we heard Miss E waking in her room across the hall. Was she talking to herself?
Oh, no. I recognize it now.

And I tuned in just in time to catch the last line:

"Please don't take...my sun-shine awaaayy...."

Ahh...what a way to start the day. :)

*Explanatory post to follow soon....

Miss A's First Day

2008-09-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Although she had been up at school with me for over a week, Miss A was still very excited for her first official day. She was VERY excited to take her "pack-pack". And just HAD to bring her 'very-old-but-new-to-her' Cabbage Patch doll, (re-named because I had NO idea what her name was) Penny.
She was all grins as I took the traditional first day pics!

Sorry. I know this is WAY too bright, but it's the only pic I got. I had moms and kids already showing up in my room!

Although she is excited, I have mixed feeling this year. Last year I taught music and saw her every day. And I did not teach on a day that she didn't attend, so I didn't miss much with her at all.
This year, I have my own class. In a different building. And I teach on a day that she does not attend, so I don't even have that little "I might catch a glimpse of her on the playground" hope to hold on to.
I really think, that if I did not have to work right now, that I wouldn't even have her in preschool. Our 'little-playgroup-that-could' has grown so much and is doing so much more towards the homeschool preschool agenda, that I'm not at all concerned with her getting a "preschool education". And I know that this is really for the social aspect and exposure to structure for my kiddos anyway.
When I started Miss E in preschool (way back when!) it was just one day a week, and I didn't have a playgroup, or any friends really, that we were hanging with. We had just moved to Leander and I looked into preschool as an outreach to find some social time, I think.
So when it was time for Miss A to attend, I think it was more habit-plus the fact that a job opened up for me...it just made sense.
Not making as much sense this year, so far.
I'm enjoying my class-still sorting out the "rowdys" and establishing our routing, but we're having fun. And A does have a really neat teacher.
But I still hate that I'm missing the better part of 3 days each week with her. I'll settle into it, I'm sure.
In the meantime, Miss E is enjoying 1st grade, except for the "bunch of handwriting practice we have to do every day" part. :)
We had her Open House last night and it was about as informative as I should have expected. I sure hope when I go back to teaching that I remember what it feels like to be a parent left in the dark.
I think I'll set a conference w/the teacher next week for some one-on-one and try to get some questions answered. Sigh.
More later!

Jackson Pollock

2008-09-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

"When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It's only after a sort of "get acquainted" period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own."

I came across this quote and fell in love with it. And his work holds true. Miss A and I attended a Jackson Pollock playdate last Friday. She had fun-she didn't get into it as much as some of the boys....I'm sensing some anger issue brewing with a couple of those. LOL! Just kidding, Mommas. It was neat to see the kids really enjoy making art out of a mess!

Here are some pics I got. Oh-how smart do I need to be to realize I shouldn't have stood behind the paper/in front of the arteest?? I left there with my own personal body art! Some on my neck...some on my arm...my shirt...Ha! :)

Boys 'N Girls

2008-09-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

After our playdate today, Miss A and I headed for Sonic. I figured I would treat her to a special lunch since this is actually her first free day w/just me. She has been SUCH a trooper during the last few busy, busy weeks.
Anyway-her lunch of choice: Grilled cheese and a vanilla shake. On the way she realizes that buddy Lil' J's van is right in front of us-and they also pull in for some lunch. She asks that we park next to them, and then asks me, "Is J going to get a boy cheese?"
It took me a minute, but I got it. She pronounces the sandwhich "gIRl cheese". Get it? BOY cheese? Ha!

And the other day, I was in her room, straightening up, and realized she had been very quiet for some time. Afraid that she was asleep, I called out to her and asked what she was doing. Her answer:

"Just counting my toes!" ????

One more quicky (sorry, I've been such a bad blogger lately. I went through this at the beginning of the school year last year too).
Miss E got a special package in the mail from her Aunt M and Uncle S. It had a brand new Hannah Montanna pen, some special pencils and erasers, and a new pair of scissors. She took off with the pen and said she was going to her room to make a list of very important things. Little did I know it was for me!
Here's my list of very important things (her words)to do every day:

1. Be Fashionable!
2. Be Punctual!
3. Be like a Princess and shop for fashion!

Okaaaaay!

And my last thought, very random....my title to this post reminds me of an interesting nursery rhyme from one of our books.

Boys and girls come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your sleep,
And join your playfellows in the street.

Huh?

Sweetness

2008-08-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

We're driving up to church in silence this morning. And all of a sudden I hear:

"Mama, you're a genius!"

Me: Thanks, A! Why do you think that?
A: Because I like you. And you're my special Mama.

I melted!

First Days

2008-08-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our first day went smoothly. E was easy to get up and excited to get to school. After she got dressed, she told me, "I'm sorry, Mama, I know you didn't want me to grow up, but I'm officially a First Grader!" Cute!
After getting over the disappointment of not riding the bus, she sucked it up and we all loaded in the car to take her to school. Miss A was still half asleep. Probably hadn't said one word-was just going through the motions, and barely that.
When we got to the school parked, E hops out of the car and says, "OK, I know where my class is, I can go by myself!"
Um, NO!
I told her we were walking her to class, and taking a few pictures, PERIOD! What's the deal?? :)
She unloaded the rest of her supplies and got to work on an assignment of writing a sentence about something she did over the summer, then drawing a picture to go along with it.
She chose to write about Chalk Bluff, and later told me she drew a picture of her (70something year old) Granddad swinging from the rope that hung from the bluff! ??? This never happened!! How funny.
After school she said her day was "Great. But we only did 2 crafts, and just listened to a lot, lot, lot, lot of rules." Ha!

Here are the few pics I snapped...seeing how I wasn't allowed to linger...!

Miss A somehow made it home from my workday awake...barely. She had just dozed off as we turned the corner to our street, but I made her wake up when we got out of the car.
She did surprisingly well for most of the evening. She brought ALL of the kitchen stuff in the family room and fed me most of it!

Around 6:30 she asked to watch one of her DVDs from the library, so I set it up to start. After 5 or 6 minutes I realized it was stuck on the menu, just playing the little theme song over and over again, so I went over and pushed the 'start' button.
She. Flipped. Out.
Big time.
She started crying, telling me she wanted to hear the song (from the menu). And kept crying. And crying. After about 15 minutes I finally went to try to comfort her, knowing she was just exhausted and not making any sense. I held her and offered a snack, some juice, water...even offered to restart the "movie" (menu!). Nothing helped. She kept crying. For another 15 minutes! I tried plain asking her to tell me what she wanted..."I don't want ANYFING!" was all I got.
So I just held her, and eventually the cries slowed and slowed, and the breathing settled...and she was sound asleep!
I carried her to bed just after 7. Let's hope she sleeps through the night!

Well, we made it through day 1. Anyone got a count on how many to go?? :)

Silence

2008-08-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

I put the girls to bed at 8:30 and didn't hear one peep. That never happens! Miss E, of course, was anxious to get to sleep, knowing that tomorrow is her "First Day of 1st Grade!!"
Miss A, I was just sure, was going to fight the early-ish bedtime. She'd been staying up later than that lately, but, she would get all wound up right before bedtime due to some late night Daddy time. Today, we had Daddy all day. It was a very relaxing day. We played board games and hide-and-seek (I had the winning hiding spot!), read books and had our traditional day before school fried fish and shrimp dinner. E's choice, of course! She also chose her first day outfit. I gave in. I defeatedly hung up MY choice-an adorable, hot pink one-piece shorts/jumper type suit, and laid out HER choice, some cute jean shorts and a new Hannah Montana shirt. Oh well, chose my battles, right?

No exciting news here...I just hadn't gotten around to posting any of our "countdown" days like I had planned. Thought I'd check in and wish all our of first grade friends a happy first day!
I'm off to bed-it's gonna be an early morning! And a long week. Miss A and I will be at the preschool every day this week. This will be a big adjustment for her too. She is excited, though. She told me today she hopes they have a hamster in her room, and she hopes her teacher can do a forward roll! I'll update on our findings! :)
Have a great week, everyone!! Happy School Year!

In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle!

2008-08-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

We had a blast today at a new place called Jungle Java! It's a neat indoor play place, kind of like a McD's playscape on steroids. There were tunnels and bridges, over sized punching bags that swung over walkways, slides, a little zip line, big rubber "rollers" to slide through, vertically or horizontally....and much more! The girls had a blast and I mostly sat and visited w/other Moms! We were there for almost 3 hours. How fun!

Here's Miss E just hangin' around on a big swinging medicine ball.

And this is right before I got smacked with the punching bag...!

And the zip line!

The Good, the Bad, and the Incredibly Informative!

2008-08-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

I can walk into and completely around the grocery store without ever noticing a sign, and ad, or display stand. I know what I'm there for, and I go after it. Usually not straying...too much. :)
Miss E walks beside me, the entire time, reading. Reading the sign in the front window. "HEB has higher standards, and lower prices!"
Reading the labels as I compare cleaning products. "This one is new and improved!"
The incentives on the detergent bottles. "That one has 20 percent more!"
And the magazine covers while we're waiting in line. "Miley Cyrus' Secret Life! Can I get that one? It's for kids!"
Um, not it's not.
It cracks me up!
Yes, it's a great thing that she is such an advanced reader. While I was helping Miss A get ready for bed last night, Miss E stayed curled up on the couch and read 4 chapters of a Magic Treehouse book.
But Oh My Goodness! It makes it harder to shop, to drive down the road, even to quickly surf the web with her over my shoulder.
We were waiting at a car place yesterday for my inspection, and she picked up a Redbook and was flipping through it. I saw a couple of the article titles on the cover and took it away quick!
It's neat to see her world growing by leaps and bounds. She is very excited for 1st grade. Told me today that she expects to have "boxes" of homework.
We'll see. :)
Oh-and little Miss A-we were talking about kites this evening and I asked her what letter kite started with. She thought for a loooooong time. Surprised me. And proudly said, "K"!

My Summer To Do List!

2008-08-14T17:08:00.001-07:00

My life is full of lists...I list what I'd like to make for dinner next week, what activities we have coming up, what food items we are currently in need of, wish lists, chore lists, to do lists, bills and budget lists, etc. etc.

Thanks to a tip from friend M, I found a new list, that I love! My Summer To Do List.
M stumbled across this list on one of my new favorite sites, Crumbs In My Couch. I love this mom's ideas and approach to hands on learning!

So, I've decided to start my own list. Better late than never! Mine will include things we have done this summer that I would like to do again next year, things we didn't get to do this summer that I want to put in plans for next year, and ideas that I've found from other moms blogs that I love and want to try. It will include ideas from as small as an at home craft to as big as a (small) family vacation!
(and I got a head start and took a lot from the 'Crumbs' Mom. Why not?!)Enjoy!

The Keas Kid's Summer To Do List!

1. Build a sand castle
2. Have a picnic
3. Run in the sprinklers
4. Body paint (kind of like finger paint gone wild!)
5. Plant flowers
6. Hike to the dinosaur tracks
7. Lay in the grass and find shapes in the clouds
8. Make smores by campfire
9. Make a nature box
10. Make an ice treasure
11. Make homemade ice cream
12. and homemade Popsicles!
13. Go to the Zoo
14. Blow BIG bubbles!
15. Play hide and seek at night with flashlights
16. Make a treasure map and hunt for treasure
17. Play hopscotch
18. Go to an amusement/water park
19. Go camping!
20. Paint the fence
21. Have a snow day
22. Jump on the tramp w/sprinkler under!
23. Visit the Children's Art Park
24. Attend free movies!
25. Make a fort and sleep in it!
26. Make our own stepping stone
27. Go to the Botanical Gardens
28. Ride the Zilker Zephyr
29. See a play or musical
30. Fly a kite
31. Take a listening walk

...more to come...this is a good start for just banging out ideas. We'll see how much I can cross off in the next week! Some we've already done, of course!

Out of the Mouths...

2008-08-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we made one last trip to Graham, TX. The girls had a blast at their cousin's pool party, got in a nice visit with Nana and Pops, and enjoyed some good quality play time and some yummy pizza.
You would THINK after a fun filled evening like this, they would be ready to crash, right???
Apparently, WRONG!

When it came time for bed, we were comfortable enough, with Miss E on the top bunk and Miss A and I on the bottom. And they weren't overly hyper/wild/rowdy.
Just not tired!
Miss E was tossing and turning, hanging her hands over the edge of the bed, and commenting or questioning on the most random things.
For over an hour!
I finally got up, took Miss A potty again, gave a rather stern whispered warning (the baby was asleep right next door) threatened something or someone I'm sure, and turned my back, praying for peace and quiet!
Miss E quickly settled down.

Miss A, on the other hand, was still going strong. She was talking to her stuffed animals, playing with her shadow, putting her feet up on the wall, and constantly moving back and forth from the foot to the head of the bed.

I was sooooo tired and just wanted to sleep!! SO, when she saw something on the floor (my phone, I think) and was determined to get it, ignoring my numerous warnings to Be Still! Be Quiet! Go to SLEEP!....I popped her quickly on the rear.
I wanted to get her attention. And it worked!

She whipped around and told me off!

And so was born my newest IQ.
Enjoy!

"Don't you spank my bottom, Mama!"
...pause for about three beats...
then,

"Do you HEAR ME!?!"

THEN....
a HUGE dramatic sigh, a huffy, puffy, elaborate rollover so her back was to me, and finishes with:

"You gotta be Kidding Me!"

I. Was. Dying!
It was all I could do to contain myself! I was shaking, I was laughing so hard. There was no way I could even attempt a response.

I wonder where she's heard this before?? :)

Rock On, My Little Hippie Chick!

2008-08-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Obsessions

2008-08-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

I know I have a long road ahead of me full of little obsessions as the girls grow. I know they'll come and go, and I'm TRYING to take the latest with a grain of salt.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It's hard!

What's the problem?? Oh, let me tell you.
I have to listen to lengthy conversations about the newest websites, the latest addition to her EcoPet collection (some kind of eco-friendly link on the PBS website where kids can create their own animal, environment, etc.), what shade of eyeshadow she put on the dress up Barbie AND I have to review and approve each and every e-story submission. Because, one of these times, it's "gonna be on TV, Mom!!"

But all this pales in comparison to the Webkins. Please save me from the Webkins. I won't go into detail on this one, but let me just tell you...when she works it into the dinnertime prayer....
Oh yeah.

Tonight-"and Dear God, thank you for letting my Daddy have lots of work, so he can save money to buy me a Webkins."

I can't even imagine the days to come of shopping, cell phones, and BOYS!! Oh My!
If I don't laugh, I'll cry....!

Moments

2008-08-08T06:49:00.001-07:00

I have had several conversations lately about how I'm noticing changes in my little Miss A. She's finally maturing a bit and becoming such a sweet little girl.

Now, she still has her moments...and has already had some this morning...but they are fewer are farther between. And even less when not aggravated by a certain big sister. :)

She has been initiating play so much more now. She wants to dress up, play with dolls and animals, she plays with imaginary friends, she dances and sings, and says the sweetest things to me ("Mama, I like you!") when I play with her!
Right now she is walking around telling us, "My name is Ms. Jennifer." "Come to my class"! She's carrying around some animal matching cards as her 'school work', telling us we have to find the sheep/camel/cow etc.

The other day, after I'd had a VERY long and sleepless night, I put a movie on in the afternoon thinking I would catch a nap on the couch while she watched. She had other ideas. She had NO interest in watching a movie. She wanted to PLAY!
She wanted to play babies, and tried tucking them in with me on the couch. I tried to tell her I didn't feel well, and needed to rest. I was so out of it I must have been dozing in and out during her attempts to rouse me. One time I realized she was repeating over and over, "Give me your arm. Mama, give me your arm. Let me have your arm...".
She had gone to get her doctor kit and was trying to take my blood pressure!! The next thing I new I had an otoscope stuck in my eye. LOL!
I didn't have the heart to lay there any longer. I put some more water through the coffee maker and eventually came around.

Well, I've gone way off track in this post. I thought I'd get on real quick and make a note about how I found her in bed last night. Sorry!
For a couple of years now, Miss a has been a bit obsessive about taking things to bed with her. Not always an animal or doll, just anything she happens to be attached to for the day. Or week. Or month! Sometimes it's one certain thing for a month or more. After one visit to Nana and Pop's house, Miss A came home with a goody bag. Yes, like kids give away at their bday parties. This one had a few trinket toys and some candy, etc. She carried this EVERYWHERE, AND slept with it for months. She never once opened it. I did not have to worry about her getting into the candy over night, or ever, actually. She just wanted to have it with her.
Anyway, this little idiosyncrasy has evolved a bit, and sometimes she'll just grab random things on the way to bed. (the day of playing doctor on me, she slept with the big, chunky doctor kit case!)
She almost always wants to put our bedtime story book under her pillow, and usually has several stuffies in with her.
Last night was no different. She had 3 or 4 animals and the book, I think, when I left her in bed. She had to tell me several things after laying down, ask for something to eat/drink, and ask questions about our activities the next day....but she stayed in bed. So, we're getting better.

I went in to get her a couple of hours later and almost laughed out loud at what I saw! She was snuggled up with a women's softball, a Cake Mix Magic cookbook, and about six large wooden puzzles pieces!

I guess she got a little lonely and went rummaging around her room before settling in! I was shocked that she did this on her own and didn't bother me about it. Usually, if she even drops an animal off the side of her bed, she'll yell for me to come and get it.
I wanted so badly to take a picture. Wish I had. It was so cute!

Ketchin' Up.

2008-08-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

I wanted to keep track of our last days of the summer...and have fallen behind already! Here's the Cliff Notes version so far.

Friday, August 1-ACM. Some details below.

Saturday, August 2-Kids workshop at Home Depot. Not one of my favorite crafts. A flag holder with a Home Depot sticker and an Olympics sticker for the flag. Buy hey, it was some free fun, we enjoyed putting them together, painted on them after we got home, and now they have mysteriously disappeared....

Sunday, August 3-A day at home. Daddy was home, and Grammy came over to watch the races. Played lots of board games later and had Freezer Pops for dessert!

Monday, August 4-playdate at J's house. Fun with yarn!

We also played a new game called Twister Scram! LOTS of fun-I like this one. I may have to put it on our wish list!

Tuesday, August 5-Hosted A's Science Kids group. We experimented with mixing primary colors! The kids colored in some parts of a coffee filter with red, blue, and yellow markers. Then painted on water and watched them bleed together, creating the secondary colors (orange, green, and purple!). This was a big hit.
Then they each got to mix up their own bowl of Goo. AND decide what color it would be! I had red, blue, and yellow food coloring and each kiddo chose their own color combination to dye the Goo. The Goo was a HUGE hit! And a HUGE mess! But it cleaned up super, super easily. Everyone played well together and had a big time. On the way out, each child got to take home a Ziploc baggie with two ice cubes, each one a different primary color. As the cubes melted together, they too created a secondary color. Such fun!
Some pics from the fun:

The whole gang-mixing primary colors.

The beginnings of Miss A's masterpiece...and the drip down her arm that I did NOT see through the camera...!

Checking out her buddy's work.

Oh, the girls and I made Puppy Chow later.

This totally looks like an ad for the store brand.
But, Yum and double Yum!

Wednesday, August 6-The last free movie of the summer. We went with our buds and saw Doogal.

Again, not my favorite, but I guess it's always neat to see a "big" movie, as Miss A calls it. We roamed around the mall a bit afterwards and hit the Dollar Tree. Each girl chose two items from the store.

Miss E chose two little make-up sets. Some lip gloss and fingernail polish kits.

Miss A chose.....

a spring loaded gun that shoots plastic balls, and an FBI kit, complete with gun, handcuffs, whistle, walkie talkie and the baton thingie that they hit with!

Am I in trouble or WHAT?!?

I need to get dinner ready....something quick for sure. The girls are playing "school" in E's room. She just realized yesterday how soon she'll be starting 1st grade. Yikes!
I opened her door and made a little noise in her room this morning, trying to rouse her for the movie. She jumped out of bed and peeked out at me from her doorway, and announced, "ONLY NINETEEN MORE DAYS UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS!"
The very first words from her mouth.
I'm glad she's excited. I'm hoping for a good year!

Following Suit

2008-08-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Since I am procrastinating posting about our outings the last few days, and a friend came across a cute survey for the kiddos....here goes!
Answers by Miss E.

1. What is something that Mom always says to you?

"Honey Bun."

2. What makes Mom happy?

"When I say something nice to her."

3. What makes Mom Sad?

"When I get sad."

4. How does Mom do to make you laugh?

"Be silly."

5. What was Mom like as a child?

"Always happy."

6. How old is your Mom?

"31"

7. How tall is your Mom ?

"Pretty tall."

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

"Shop."

9. What does you're Mom do when you are not around?

"Go teach Music at A's school."

10. If your Mom becomes Famous what will it be for?

"For cleaning so well." (wOw.)

11. What is your Mom really good at?

"Being nice."

12. What is your Mom not really good at?

"Ummm...I don't think you're not really good at anything..." (my favorite answer yet!)

13. What does your Mom do for her Job?

"teach music at A's school."

14. What is your Mom's favorite food?

"Crabcakes." Uh, no.

15. What makes you Proud of your Mom?

"She is sweet."

16. If your Mom were a cartoon Character who would he be?

"Cinderella because she acts like her and she cleans the house."

17. What do you and your Mom do together?

"We help clean up the house and shop and play games."

18. How are you and your Mom the same?

"We both have kind of the same skin."

19. How are you and your Mom different?

"I don't have glasses."

20. How do you know that your Mom loves you?

"Because she helps me all the time and she cares for me."

1. What is something that Dad always says to you?

"Cooter Bear." (one of her many silly nicknames from Daddy!)

2. What makes Dad happy?

"When I say something nice to him."

3. What makes Dad Sad?

"When something bad happens to me."

4. How does Dad make you laugh?

"By tickling me!"

5. What was Dad like as a child?

"Curly hair and brown eyes."

6. How old is your Dad?

"32"

7. How tall is your Dad?

"Really tall."

8. What is his favorite thing to do?

"Play with us."

9. What does you're Dad do when you are not around?

"Work"

10. If your Dad becomes Famous what will it be for?

"Dancing."

11. What is your Dad really good at?

"Working."

12. What is your Dad not really good at?

"Singing"

13. What does your Dad do for his Job?

"Fixes stuff for people." Sort of...

14. What is your Dad's favorite food?

"Brussel Sprouts."

15. What makes you Proud of your Dad?

"It makes me proud when he's funny, 'cuz he's a funny Dad."

16. If your Dad were a cartoon Character who would he be?

"Bugs Bunny."

17. What do you and your dad do together?

"Play."

18. How are you and your Dad the same?

"We both have brown hair."

19. How are you and your Dad different?

"We don't have the same color eyes."

20. How do you know that your Dad loves you?

"Because he always says that he loves me."

Chalk Bluff '08

2008-08-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

I always kick myself on trips like this for not packing a little notepad to jot down the memorable things the girls say and do while we're away. I never remember them all once we get back!
I Love, love, going to Chalk Bluff each year.
Just so many moments of sweet innocence. No peer or society driven influences. No agendas, no schedules.
Just pure fun and family time.

Some of the things I heard while we were there:

From Miss A:
"Good idea, Dude!" Spoken to Miss E (complete with an enthusiastic thumbs up!) when they came up with the 'throw the Nerf ball through the fish floatie' game for some late night play.

"Mama, your a Genius!" I cannot for the life of me remember what I did or said. Very sad. I really should keep track of these things!

And...

"Eww! Grass poop!"
yes, this from Miss A, whom I was trying to convince the little bits of floating sea-weedy type stuff was not poop, but grass...

From Miss E:
-this came after I was trying to hurry them along with their evening snack, saying we were missing out on the fun. E said it was dark, what could we do after dark? I told her "this is Chalk Bluff! We can do anything!"
Her reply-hands on hips and all,
"Well, we can't go shopping, that's for sure!" (wait there's more) "But we do have a river, AND our friends and family.(now picture her, one hand extended as if holding a tray, and a bit of a head wiggle)...and THAT'S the best of BOTH WORLDS!"
I know this is a Hannah Montana song, but it was so precious and so true!

and, when I rounded her up from a friend's cabin, saying it was time to get ready for dinner:
"I thought we had a lot of daytime left! It's not fair-the days are so short at Chalk Bluff!"
I love it!

-----OK, I have to break and blog this. The girls have been giggling and whispering in E's room for a while, and this is what just emerged....

OK. Moving ON!
I may have to add more to this later. I KNOW there were other things I wanted to add to this. For now, I'll have to let the pictures do the talking. Be warned-there are a BUNCH! We had a blast!

Breakfast Time
Here's Miss E getting pancakes from the best pancake maker in the west! And a pretty darn good syrup pourer too!

Skipping Time
There was a LOT of time spent searching for the perfect skipping rock, and plenty of skipping lesson and skipping practice. The big smile from Miss E below was her first "Three Skipper!"

Quality Time

Water Time

Play Time

a quick comment on this last picture. I don't quite know what this is...some sort of merry-go-round contraption that spins by pushing/pulling on the bar at your feet. It has some kind of hydraulic pumps going across the center. And it's ANCIENT. It was ancient when I was a kid, and that was mrflefarble years ago...but the kids always LOVE it! And it somehow seems to go faster now...or maybe my stomach is just weaker. :)

Squish Time! Aww! Sisterly Love. :)

Well, I'm sure this seems a bit jumpy and awkward, but I've had this post in my edits for over a week and just need to post it. Enjoy the pics. Thanks for looking!
And to finish it off...

Bedtime.

Thank Yous and More IQs

2008-08-02T08:37:00.001-07:00

I guess the countdown has begun. It's August. The official school starting month. I need to get out of the funk I'm already feeling about the new school year. I am going to make the most out of these next few weeks, fill them with fun times and new memories, and wear these kids out! They'll be begging to get away from me by Aug. 25!

August 1st-a trip to the Children's Museum. We finally made it back down there after several failed attempts. It's still the same Sound Exhibit that we've seen for months now, but the girls love it. We actually played upstairs quite a bit more this time, in the craft area and the Tinkerer's Workshop. Miss A surprised me by working a wrench pretty well. She tightened a nut? bolt?...something... all the way down then loosened it and started another.
We eventually made it downstairs and made our way through the crazy chaos of a busy Friday.
Later on in the day we made a quick trip to HEB for a few things. Namely crabcakes. Miss E decided on the way home that she wanted these with dinner. I don't know how it even came up, really.
Anyway, along with the request was Tilapia and brussel sprouts. So off we go.
The entire time at the store, I'm getting Thank You after Thank You from Miss E. This is not unusual from her, but Man! She was just pouring it on!
-Thank you for bringing us to HEB to get crabcakes!
-Thank you for letting us taste the Ice Pops from the sample cart!
-Thank you for letting us buy some Ice Pops!
-Thank you for making brussel sprouts for dinner tonight!
and on and on and on!
In came more thanks for the museum trip, later at home more thanks for dinner, for allowing computer time before dinner, for sharing some of my crabcake, etc. etc.
Such a funny girl-and I feel like I can't take credit for the manners and genuine gratitude. MOST of the time, she's just naturally sweet!

IQs of the day:
On the drive back from the museum, the big girls (Miss E and bff Miss A)were tired, hungry, and played out. The giggles and sweet conversations from the drive down there were no more...and at one point I could tell from the changing tones of their voices that things had turned a bit 'snippy'. I couldn't tell what they were saying before, but I flipped down the visor and opened the mirror just in time to see E give a nod and a knowing look to Miss A, and say, "Look, your my best friend, and you always will be."
Awwww! Such a big lesson for a little girl!
All was well by the time we got home, and a sweet phone call from A later assured E their friendship is intact. :-)

And now my Miss A (I guess this could be confusing. Stay with me.):
Daddy had called earlier in the day and said he hoped to be home "early" (shortly after 8, he hoped) to see the girls, so we waited up after dinner for some playtime before bed. The girls love to hide and 'surprise' Daddy when he walks in. Their hiding spot of choice is usually the front room couch. So there they are, huddled together, covered in a blanket. Nothing but a few small telltale toes sticking out.
Miss A has a hard time containing her excitement and I can almost always hear her muffled giggles escaping from under the covers.
After several 'shushes' from Miss E, Miss A finally quieted down. I was posted as lookout, and after a couple of quick silent beats, I then heard another familiar noise (not a giggle) escape from hiding.
Miss A: (giggling) That was me tooting!
Miss E: (a strong whisper) Well, what do you say??
Miss A: (quietly. defeated.) Excuse me.
Miss E: (a stern whisper) Now be QUIET!

I had to leave the room. I thought that was such a funny exchange! And, I will say-I'm sorry if you don't enjoy reading about my tooting stories or potty humor-but if it made me laugh outloud while I was trying to doze off to sleep last night, I'm posting it!
This is just part of our daily beats. Esp. with my little Miss A. She's a horse of a 'nother color, marches to her own beat. And keeps me on my toes.
And this was true form for Miss E, too. Even in the urgency of their hiding, she still took the time to be Ms. Manners.
Enjoy!

IQs

2008-07-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

I'd like to start adding little interesting/entertaining sayings/quotes that I hear from the girls from time to time. Things that make me laugh or melt my heart, or maybe roll my eyes. LOL!
Who knows if it'll last long, but here goes....

IQ (interesting quote. you follow?) for today. From Miss E.
me: Would you like a string cheese for a snack?
E: No, I don't like string cheese.
me: Well, what would you like then?
E: I don't know. Anything but string cheese. Maybe I'll try some brussel sprouts.

???????????

A Beary Nice Nap

2008-07-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

I don't exactly encourage Miss A to nap anymore. She's at that stage where, if she does nap, she's up till after 10 at least. And I very much enjoy our 8ish bedtime. SO, we've sort of strayed from her daily naps. But, I really have to watch her in the mid afternoon hours and on. She needs to stay reasonable busy. Cannot veg in front of a movie, etc. or she'll fall right off.
Today there was a movie on TV around lunch time, so I let the girls sit and watch the end of it after we ate. It was, after all, before 1:00. I thought I was safe!
I went to my room..for something. I can't even remember why I was in there. Anyway-it wasn't long. Maybe 15 minutes? When I came out this is what I found. How sweet!
She does need a little more rest, sometimes, than a good nights sleep. She had a busy day w/her daddy yesterday and was up fairly early, so I'm glad she took a good nap.
2 1/2 hours!

Bumper Babes!

2008-07-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

July is "letter X" month for our playgroup, and we've really been stretching it for some playdate ideas.
SO, we decided to add a "X is for STRIKE!" day to the calendar, and headed to The Main Event for some bumper bowling!
We had so much fun! The girls were very into it. I was secretly disappointed that Miss A was so into it. I really thought that she would lose interest (it goes VERY slowly with the little ones) and I would end up taking her turns. No such luck!
She would anxiously await her turn each time around, and even once bowled for someone else when they took too long to get to the plate!
Oh-Miss E enjoyed it too...but when it wasn't her turn, she was very much occupied with her Root Beer. Her FIRST Root Beer EVER! Oh my goodness. I had to pry her away from that thing!
Anyway-this playdate totally took me back to my bowling days. At most of the bases overseas, there are two forms of entertainment.
#1-The movie theater. We would get the new blockbusters around a month or so after the rest of the world...
#2-The Bowling Alley! This was always THE place to be. THE hangout for the teen/preteen crowd. Oh, the days of over carbonated sodas and goopey chili cheese fries. YUM!
And everyone who was ANYone, was on the bowling league! Man, that place would be packed from morning till night on league days. SO much fun!! We'd hold friendly competitions against the neighboring teams, and my sisters and I always kept up with each other's high scores. And, if I remember correctly (and because neither of them really read this blog...) I'm pretty sure that I was usually in the lead. :)
J and I used to bowl too, in our kidless days. -ahem-I always beat him too-
I would love to start going again. We'll have to pick one of the "specials" nights and go to town. Let the girls keep busy with the bumpers and set up our own lane next to theirs and get our BOWL on!!
I ended up there without my camera, so here are some shots the lovely Miss M snatched.

(those are Miss A's droopey sock feet. Love it!)

Summer Days. Drifting Away....

2008-07-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

I cannot, WILL not believe that our summer is almost over! What happened to my weekly schedule of events? Of having productive, active days and taking advantage of this precious free time?? It seems many of our days have just drifted away...
Last week I was reminded of the free movie program at Lakeline Mall. This has been going on all summer and I completely forgot about it! I remembered from friends' experiences last year that if you don't get there early and claim your spot in line before the doors open, that you may not get a seat. Soooo...I woke the girls from their sweet dreams (the movie starts at 10:00, but the doors open at 9:00. Which meant we needed to leave about 8:45!), dressed their sleepy bodies, brushed teeth and hair like zombies, and fed them toast in the car.
All in the name of a free movie!
We arrive at about 9:10 to a semi-full parking lot and no line at the door. Sigh, I'm thinking the line has already made it's way in and the show is full. Oh well, we can walk the mall, I guess. But ABsoLUTely no funds to shop! :)
I guide the girls into the empty lobby and must have looked lost because one of the teeny-bopper boys pointed me towards the concession counter. Still hopeful, I ask if there are any seats left for the "free movie".
And the girl behind the counter tells me...(with just a hint of that 'are you for real?' look, "Um, no one's here for that yet".
Really.
SO...we have 45 minutes to kill in an empty, un-opened mall.
Thank goodness for Chick-Fil-A. It was the only place open, and they had relatively cheap coffee and a yummy bagel. We sat and enjoyed our little breakfast then hit the 25 cent candy machine on the way back. Miss E chose Chicklets and Miss A chose peanut M&Ms to add to the apple slices and Teddy Grahams I had stashed in my purse.
The movie was AWESOME! Everyone's Hero. SO cute, and clean, and funny! Both girls laughed throughout, Miss E exclaiming several times, that "this is a funny movie!"
It had humor that they could get, but that was also entertaining for the adults.
The most graphic language may have been a couple of 'stupids', and a very funny part where the talking baseball says, "Ow! My head! My butt! My head!" as he bounces down some stairs.
I think the main character gets taunted and called 'loser' once or twice, but it was so quick I can't even remember.
After the movie we went for the promised stroll around the mall, stopping to "only look" at the Webkins in Hallmark. Miss E understood that we were not buying, but Miss A made a nice little scene as we left after I pried three or four of the little plush animals from her grip!
A quick stop at the Dollar Store for a prize apiece and we were headed home. A really nice, summer morning.
And we were even treated to a small shower over lunch! Rain, rain...come again!

The Magic of Mozart

2008-07-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I came across some of my classical/instrumental music CDs that I used to play in my classroom. I decided to play some each afternoon to help enforce our "quiet time" activities.
WOW!
What a difference! The girls have colored, done puzzles, drawn, and even just sat and listened to the CDs. It is so soothing and calming, but gives just enough 'noise' in the air to keep them distracted from whatever I'm trying to do.
And they're being introduced to the classics. Hey-it's a win-win!
Like I said, it's Magic!

From teeth to...well....I give up.

2008-07-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

I should know by now, that a quiet house usually means trouble. But it always takes a minute to sink in. Like, I realize, "wow-it's really quiet" after it's been quiet for a couple of minutes already.
Anyway-just had one of those moments.

"Wow-It's really quiet", I think to myself.
I find Miss E quickly. Laid out on her bed reading her latest chapter.
Where's Miss A? Well, I last sent her to brush her teeth.....
And then I see her. Sitting quietly in the family room floor. I walk towards her and ask,
"Miss A, did you brush your teeth?"
"Yes I did."

And then I see.

That she is cleaning her toes with her toothbrush.

And this is why I keep spares on hand.

BLUE GOO!

2008-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today we made BLUE GOO!

While the girls were gone to B'town I picked up a little science workbook from the $ spot at Target. Miss E read through a bunch of it last night and decided that today we would make Blue Goo. A group in our playgroup has done this before, but I have never made this stuff with the girls.

It was SO WEIRD!
If you just poke at it, in the bowl, you can't really break the surface. It seems solid. But if you dig down into it and lift it up, it drips like a liquid. Strange!

Miss A did not want to touch it and was VERY unsure about it.

Miss E, on the other hand, played in that gunk for 20 minutes!

Blue Goo Recipe:
1 Cup Cornstarch
1/2 Cup Water
Several drops of blue food coloring
Mix with hands and have fun!