Each and Every Day . . .

A little bit of everything...

2012-01-20T09:22:00.001-06:00

It's been so long since I've written that this will just be whatever I happen to think of, what pictures I stumble upon, etc.

Gracie's funnies from the last week.
"I don't want Clara reading my journal. I was examining my conscious."
"Here's the car we should get Mommy, the 'posh'" (can you guess which car she really meant? Here's a hint: she has good, but expensive taste. Hmmmm, wonder who she gets the expensive part from???)
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And yes, we are looking for a new car. Mike is fine, but our Camry is not. A few weeks ago someone side-swiped him (and pushed him off the road) as he was on his way home. So we are car shopping a few years earlier than we had planned. But we are lucky enough to have the luxurious Lexus from Mom while we are looking. Thank you, Mom!!! Otherwise we would all be getting up very early to take Mikey to the bus stop - I can't imagine that would be a lot of fun.
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Train-mania continues from JM. He loves his new Polar Express (a real electric Lionel train) that Santa brought him, but he still wishes for a "real" train to drive. He's going to have to keep on wishing that wish! He did get to ride on a train last week, though. The 'PBS' train according to him. It was actually the TRE train from Fort Worth to Dallas. And he got to ride on DART (the Dallas Light Rail). Gracie and I had taken the train over to Dallas on a Saturday and drove Mom's extra car home. That was the last train riding I had planned to do for awhile, but when you leave your iPhone on the seat of DART, you ended up traveling back to Dallas and over to the DART Lost and Found. So lucky that someone turned it in, and JM got to reap the benefit of several extra rides on DART as we went to the station where the phone was and then back out to the station by Mimi's. Here's a shot of him on the light rail:

Does that boy look happy or what?

And this is on the "nightime diesel train" because we stayed and played with Mimi all day. The poor guy was really wanting to sleep, but of course it is nice and bright on the light rail and train for safety. As soon as we got in the car to drive home, he was out like a light. And this day of train riding just fueled his love of trains and his stories about trains!

And here is what he is looking like today.

He gets big points for getting dressed himself because we were in such a hurry to get to school this morning (what morning are we not in a hurry???), but do you notice anything strange about his outfit???

JM's funny - and he's been saying this for a few months now... "giamantous" - I love this word! The girls keep trying to correct him, but I keep telling them not to. That's not bad, right? I also keep asking him about his "wittel wegs." When we were walking a lot a few weeks ago, he told me I needed to carry him because his "wittel wegs were ty-ud."

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And last but not least, Clara-bear. She's had the run of bad luck with sickness - first a horrible stretch of MRSA in her "girl parts" that had her missing two weeks of school and now she's struggling to get rid of an ear infection. As much as she loves her teacher this year, missing all of this school just made her want to stay home more. Unlike Gracie, she has really struggled with being at school all day - she says she misses me and that "school takes up all of my time." Not much I can say to contradict that, but I hope next year will be easier for her since she will be older.

Here she is on her new bike at her birthday in August- all the fancy touches on it are from Aunt Sue and Uncle Todd. Who I don't ever got a proper thank you, so here it is. She just loves the basket, the streamers and the spoke beads!

And looking at this picture reminds me that it was an extra special birthday celebration because Mimi, Aunt J and most especially, Alex! were able to be at her party.

Lately, Clara's passion has been Super Mario Brothers. Santa brought a Wii for Gracie and Clara and Clara just loves this game!! Unfortunately, there is not a lot of time in the day to play it (on school days), so we have had a few teary nights when she is denied Mario. But, when Mimi was over this weekend and Mike and I went car hunting, we came back home to discover them both playing!!

Okay - lots more to say, but it's time to take Gracie to her Dentist appt. (just a checkup). Hopefully, I'll get back to blogging more regularly! I know there are more photos I want to share and always funny stories. Like about the "circus" show Mike & I got to watch before dinner last night ....

Dad passing, Days passing

2011-10-23T13:52:00.002-05:00

So it's been awhile since I've posted (no surprise there!). But things have finally slowed down around here. After a summer none of us wishes to repeat, we had a nice trip to Amarillo, came back, the girls started school and then it was JBF time (and that means Mommy working and away a lot of evenings). We're settling down to the quiet here, but I'm finding that I conveniently have put aside most thoughts of everything this summer and now it is coming back to slam me.

If you don't know how I spent the summer, here is a ~~short~~ summary. The girls finished school just before Memorial Day. Then they had Art Camp almost a week later. That was great and they loved that and JM & I got to spend the mornings together riding trains and things like that.

JM loving the Forest Park Train. We even got the coveted last seat (backwards facing) one time. I think we rode it three times that week!

Gracie (above) with some of the artwork from the week and Clara (below) with some of hers. They were already asking to go again next summer!

At this point, my Mom and Dad had already been in Houston a few weeks, after a 3 day trip for some blood work for Dad turned into an extended hospital stay. The pneumonia had come back quickly and he wasn't recovering all that well. But mid-June they sent him "home" from the hospital, which in this case was the Hampton Inn. Dad wasn't feeling well enough to travel back to Dallas, and I don't think Mom was sure he was strong enough either. And then after a week at the hotel, Dad was back in the hospital on Friday, much sicker. I'm in awe of how Mom managed that week in the hotel.

I arrived at the hospital on Saturday and while Dad in some ways looked better than I expected, there were definitely signs that his body just was worn out from the toll of six years battling three cancers. Sue arrived next on Sunday, I left on Monday afternoon, knowing that Julia and Carolyn were arriving on Tuesday and that I needed to go home, see the kids and let Mike get back to work. Little did I know I would be repeating the drive just a few days later. On Thursday, I had to call Mike at work and ask him to come home so I could head back to Houston, as things weren't looking good for my Dad.

Mike was such a great support during this time. One of my friends recently asked me how he managed with all the kids so long, and honestly, I don't really know. When I called home, I wasn't in any shape to do more than say hello to the kiddos and give Mike an update about my Dad. And Mike just soldiered on and took care of what the kids needed, keeping them dressed, fed and entertained. And I think he might have had to manage some work in there, too. It's not like he had planned on taking off all the time he was. I'm thankful that his job is so accommodating as well.

My Dad passed away peacefully on Monday morning, June 27th. I'm thankful that my Mom and my sisters and I all got to be there with him for the last few days - as Mike pointed out later, it was kind of like our time to have a memorial for him. I headed home and found out to my great relief that Mike was planning to stay home the rest of the week. I don't think I would have known what to do without him there. I was definitely in a fog. The funeral was the following Friday, after we had a less than spectacular 4th of July weekend.

Mike and I had started a project (which we ridiculously thought would only take a few days) way back during the Memorial Day weekend. Here's what our front yard looked like when I started the brick border for our "path" as we've named the project. Doesn't look too bad, right?

Next view below, is after we've rented a sod cutter and Mike worked hard to get most of the sod cut out from the 300 foot long path. And we put it in the backyard, hoping to fill in some of the bare spots and started watering it. Little did we know that there wouldn't be any rain for the next three months and it would all dry up!

And finally, the big pile(s) of crushed stone that would make up the surface of the path. And I was sooooo worried it would rain on the rock and cause it to clump up and become permanent hills where it was....

The kids had a blast playing on it, though. But I can say that Mike and I had less fun moving it all to the path. And that was after laying the black edging and black weed block. And I also kept asking myself why we had waited until May to start this. Working in 100 degree days was not pleasant! But it was something to do and it was pretty therapeutic when I got home from Houston.

But I didn't know that I was still going to be spending more time in a different hospital. In late July, on a Monday night, I got a call from one of my Grandfather's friends telling me he had a heart attack and was in the hospital. Now why the retirement community where he had lived didn't feel the need to notify any of the family, I will never know, but at least we did find out. So, unbelievably, less than a month after Dad passed away, I was on my way to Fayetteville, Arkansas to see my Grandfather in the hospital. And knowing that he was 96, I didn't think there was going to be a good outcome to this.

Once again, Mike was like the knight in shining armor as he came home from work, helped get the kids fed and insisted I get on a plane that evening (Mom didn't think it was a good idea for me to drive, and I imagine she was right). He loaded the kids in the car, while I packed a bag quickly, a little more prepared this time, since I knew what would be comfortable for being at the hospital after our experience in Houston.

My sister Sue was second on the scene, and thank goodness she came, because Grandpap definitely wasn't going to get better. He was ever hopeful, and even asked the kidney doctor if dialysis would get him one more season to watch the Hogs (yes, he was a die hard sports fan). It wasn't until the hospice doctor told him that he needed to "put his affairs in order" that I really think it sunk in. He never really believed he had had a heart attack (although they told us he had and that it had been pretty significant), but once he knew he wouldn't likely make it back to Butterfield, he started planning and issuing orders for us (really Sue, since she is the one who is handling his estate) to remember things such as "cancel the newspaper. And there should be a refund since I paid for the whole year." That was classic Grandpap. He died the next morning (contrary to what the doctors had said would probably happen, which was that he would linger in a coma for a few days) and again, that seemed to be typical Grandpap - efficient and not wanting to linger. And after several days of not eating, he had a big dinner the night before - again, something that was much more typical. He was always a man who liked to eat and never liked to see food go to waste.

The only good thing to come out of the second round of hospitals that summer, was that Sue and I got to actually spend some time together. Since we live so far apart and with busy schedules, it's not often that we get uninterrupted time together. So we got to enjoy each other's company and bond over things like Hello Kitty at Claire's.

I got to be at home for a week again with my family, before I headed back for the Memorial service for Grandpap. I went without Mike and the kids because I was worried about them attending after just having been at their Pap's funeral a few weeks previously.

So after all of that, it was the first week of August and school was right around the corner. I was thankfully that in early June, I had already looked through the girls' school clothes and really had everything they needed in their closets. We decided to go to Creede, CO for a week (we had originally planned to go over the 4th of July weekend, but obviously that didn't work out.) and then be in Amarillo after our Colorado for Mike's parents 50th anniversary celebration.

I'm thankful that we got that week away in Colorado and that we all got to be together and then on to the 50th anniversary celebration. So next post, I'll talk about that. I'm so glad Mike and his siblings planned such a nice event for his parents. It was a little bittersweet for me, as I was with Mom and Dad on their last anniversary together (June 18th) in the hospital.

(continue pretending it's August...) What we actually did in Colorado

2011-09-10T21:34:00.001-05:00

Well, I don't actually have a picture of us relaxing, but that was definitely the case. We managed about one big "activity" a day - usually some geocaching or a picnic or a trip to town and the "Smokey Bear store" (aka, the U.S. Forest Service office in Creede).

This was our geocaching turned ooops, big hike day. If you click on the picture above and look more closely, you'll see Mike & Clara heading off to reach the geocache (maybe another 1/2 mile from where we were?). JM, Gracie & I stayed behind and I convinced the two of them to go play in what I termed the valley of rocks. It is actually an old lake bed (I know Mike told me the name, but do you think I remember? I was too focused on finding good rocks to climb!)

Here is JM just moments before lift-off. Yes - he was busy jumping off all of the rocks he could. But I will say he did always wait until I had grabbed at least one hand!

Here's Gracie on her little (big!) perch. Amazing view, right? I think it is almost hard to take a bad picture in Colorado when you are outside. Gracie found a "secret" way up to the top of this rock which was pretty tall, maybe 10 feet? I was amazed that Gracie was so excited to climb it and didn't hesitate at all. She needed a little help coming down, but I just talked her through what to do and she made it on her own.

So Mike & Clara eventually made it back after finding the geocache and we headed back home, to take care of another important Creede tradition....Homemade chocolate ice cream. It's not a traditional recipe and it doesn't taste like regular chocolate ice cream - it always reminds me of a Wendy's frosty ... yum! I won't tell you what's in it in case you ever want to eat any & don't want to worry about how many calories/how much sugar you are consuming.

I forgot to mention one of the most popular (with the girls) things we did in Colorado. Mike fixed up two older girl's bikes that were at the cabin, so the girls were able to go riding with him (and once with me). Check out that banana seat! Gracie actually rode that retro bike the most. Down below, Mike & the girls are heading back from town on a trail to the cabin. It's a couple of miles, and they both did a great job!

One thing the kids may think they did was go rafting - who needs the freezing cold river and the trouble of finding a place to put the raft in and worrying about life jackets. Just set your raft up in the front yard, get out the oars and you've got entertained kids!

The other big thing I didn't mention at the beginning that we got to do was hang out with Aunt Mary Jo, Uncle Dick and Cousin Kristopher. The second night we were at their house for dinner (thank you!), MJ had gotten out Kris's old train - can you guess who played with that all night?

The older kids got everyone involved in a super competitive game of Uno. Kristopher didn't make it into the picture, but he was there, too. What fun that was for the girls - quite a change from a quiet game with Daddy or Mommy to settle down for bedtime!!

And more geocaching - but this time to a "safe - no hiking involved" location that we had been to when we were last in Creede (two years ago). And boy, was it easier without a baby and with two girls that could actually look for it, find it and put it back themselves.

Looking at the loot - They chose a ring (Gracie is adding it to her collection she says), Clara picked Tinkerbell bubbles and JM's choice ... a key. (maybe it starts a brand new car somewhere, right?)

And playing at the park was another fave activity. What a novelty to be able to go anytime of the day and stay as long as we wanted (quite a change from not even being able to touch the playground equipment in 110+ degrees, let alone be outside for an hour or two). We actually went to the park every day that we were in Creede, it was such a hit.

I'm sure you are pictured out by now, or your computer is, so I'm saving our picnic and another geocaching trip for tomorrow (you know, the like, 17th of August, right?)

Colorado (pretend it's the second week of August as you read this...)

2011-09-07T18:35:00.000-05:00

So it was great to get away from the 110+ temps and head up to Colorado. The drive wasn't nearly as painful as it was two years ago. A three year old can behave much better (sometimes) than a one year old!

Especially if you provide "the gripper" to play with. We actually use it in the van to pass things to the girls in the back on long trips, but it's been broken for oh... a few years. Mike worked his magic on it some time this year and ta da! Toy & tool in one.

Clara was a little grouchy on the trip this year (sometimes three year olds behave better than five year olds!). She started asking in the first fifteen minutes, "how long until we're there?" and she wanted updates every hour or so. At least the audiobooks helped to distract her for a little while (love those pink headphones!).

We had a lunch break in Trinidad (see the pics below - I was too lazy to cross the street and get the whole word in one shot) including a trip to see the train that Mike used to always see on his way up to Colorado. It has been retired for fifty+ years now! JM was disappointed that it was fenced off - he would have loved to explore inside!

And the last emergency potty stop (about twenty minutes from Mike's parent's cabin) in South Fork, at the rest stop that was in the Chevy Chase film National Lampoon's Vacation. Where I took pictures of flowers (flowers, not dried up, browned, burnt, shriveled up plants and grass!) instead of any scenery you might recognize.

Anyhow, it was lovely to get to Colorado and I'll have to share more about our actual adventures in Colorado in the next post. It's dinner time & the MYOP (or really made by the kids pizza) is coming out of the oven right now - yum!

Snippets of life

2011-08-26T16:51:00.000-05:00

Some of the funnier things that have happened over the last few weeks:

John Michael has fallen in *love* with the "socks" that are available at Payless for trying on shoes. I threw them away after our first visit when he discovered them for the first time. He asked for them several times at home, but I just pretended not to hear him (nice Mommy trick, right?). We were in Payless again today & he kept asking "where are the socks, where are the socks?" I snagged a pair and am saving them for a future distraction technique. He likes to put them on, then put on his flip flops and run. They make you "weally fast!" (and just in case it's not clear, those "socks" he likes, they are the little pantyhose footies... nice, huh???)

Our new dog, Shelly, likes to leave monkey guts & parrot guts lying all over the house. So if you are over & notice white stuffing all over the house, you'll know who the culprit is. Also, crayons are particularly tasty in her opinion. Check out that tail that just curls into the perfect C - you have to watch out when she starts whipping it around though - especially if she's recently had a dip in the pool!

My favorite "funny" of the week:
After months of hot (>100 degrees) dry weather, with a yard full of branches, brown leaves and dirt, what should you do if you want to be outside riding a bike or running on the path around the house when a strong wind (really strong!) starts gusting and blowing all of the above around? Run inside, fetch your swim goggles and proceed to ride/run/walk/play outside again to your heart's content regardless of wind, blowing leaves, sticks, and dust. All siblings should follow suit, while Mother collapses in giggles outside. Too bad I missed the photo opp!

Sweetness at Midnight

2011-07-16T21:59:00.000-05:00

A few nights ago, I was working at the computer late at night, when suddenly I heard pitter, patter, pitter, patter. But something was wrong with this sound - Coco's nails were more clickety, clack on the floor.

And then a sweet little boy voice saying "Mama, I didn't get to see the moon tonight!"

My youngest had gotten out of his crib (we keep the gate down now & he's quite the expert at crawling in and out) and I guess was ready for a night time adventure. I was surprised at his request because it's been quite a long time since we have looked at the moon. But he picked a perfect night for it.

We went out on to the front porch and took a look. There it was, big, bright, and shiny. It was so bright that JM had to shield his eyes. But he looked happy, if somewhat sleepy, to see it. So we sat down on the porch swing for a few minutes and peeked through the tree branches at that bright full moon. It was still pretty hot outside, so we were both ready to go back inside pretty quickly.

I told JM "Say good night to the moon." And he started to and then stopped and said, "the moon can't talk, Mommy!"

Then it was off to rock my sweet little boy (in the cool of the house) and get him back to bed for the rest of the night. What a great way to end my day.

Hot & Dry

2011-07-16T21:51:00.001-05:00

I think Mike & I might have worked a leeeetttllle too long in the sun this morning.

We decided to go to church tonight and then out to dinner afterward. So we were only gone for a few hours (okay about three - dessert at two different locations-DQ & the snow cone stand- took at least 30 minutes of that time).

When we got home, I noticed that Mike must have left a small sprinkler going to make a damp spot for Coco & to keep her cool. Good thing, since it was 105 degrees when we got home around 7:30. But then I noticed that the dirt in our new flower beds looked darker and moist, hmmmm. And then I saw that our new path looked wet, too. Oh, I thought I must not have realized it but Mike must have given the dirt and path a good watering before we left for church. Although I couldn't quite figure out when he would have done that since I thought we headed out to the car about the same time, but my brain didn't ponder that for too long. I wanted to get inside and out of the heat, so I walked on toward the outdoor faucet to turn off that sprinkler Mike had left on for Coco.

After I turned the faucet off, I noticed that the there was a drip, drip noise. The down spout for the gutter is right next to the faucet, but why would the downspout be making a noise? I shook out the few leaves that were in the end of it,. but didn't see anyhthing other than some wet, old leaves. Hmmmm, I thought. And the drip, drip noise continued. My next thought was "maybe Mike got a little bit of water on the roof when he was watering the ground" but somehow that just didn't seem right either (more likely that I would end up watering the roof than the yard, but not Mike!) Aha! I had a better idea - maybe there was a frog under the downspout trying to jump up and making that repetitive noise (and yes, we have had frogs living under our downspout before so this wasn't such a crazy thought, right???). So I checked .... no frog. Well, my brain was spent, and I had no more inspired thoughts, so I shrugged my shoulders and headed in to the cool house.

All was well until a few minutes later (well, it really wasn't all that well, since I was chasing two naked children around the house, trying to direct them to the bathtub...). Mike came in looking concerned and asked me, "did you know the gutter is dripping?" Yes, I had noticed that, too. Now I was worried again & Mike looked rather worried, too. "Why would it be dripping?" he asked. I had no good answer (obviously), so I gave the good wife answer and said "I've got things under control here (ha!), you go get the ladder and check things out." Meanwhile I had started picturing crazy things - maybe a flood in the attic (but how would that happen, my brain was simultaneously thinking and asking).

A few minutes (and a few kids in the bathtub) later, Mike came in, looking like a man with an answer. I wondered, what could be wrong now - would it be another house repair???? How much time, how much money would this take??
So, taking a deep breath, I asked, "Why was the gutter dripping?" And Mike's response: "It rained."

Some gems from my kids today

2011-06-21T19:32:00.000-05:00

In the midst of Dad being in the hospital in Houston and not doing so well (pneumonia again), it was great to come home & have the kids (and my hubby) remind me of how funny they can (unintentionally) be.

So the first is from JM. Mike always teases JM and says he is going to play with JM's toys after JM goes to sleep. So tonight Mike asked JM - "Can I play with your train tonight?"
"No!"
"Can Mommy play with your train after you go to bed?"

"No! The groundups have to stay in bed tonight - no playing with my train."

Certainly, there are days we feel "groundup" instead of grown up, so we got a good laugh from that.

Then just a few minutes later, Mike made a comment about the expired lunchmeat that I had put in the trash can (he had meant to throw it away last night, but then put it back in the fridge "for some reason"). Well, when the kids and I were ready to have our picnic today, good thing I noticed that the main course of ham seemed a little off, so we ate crackers, applesauce and grapes and then went and got a cookie! But anyhow, back to Clara's funny comment. I told Mike that I, too, had decided the ham was done, "it had bitten the dust." Then Clara asked, "What does that mean - it bites the duck?????" So then Mike started with "Another one bites the duck... another one bites the duck..." And I addedd "Quack, quack!!"

That's all I've got for tonight. Oh - and a couple of cute pictures, just for fun. Lots to put on the blog about our last few months, hopefully I'll get a chance soon.

Getting ready for Donuts for Dad and Field Day on the last Monday of the school year

JM with his Little Gym medal - so excited about that medal! He has had to "borrow" from his sisters until now.

Clara finds the largest clump of crushed limestone in our 16cy pile. (more on our crazy landscape project later)

Gracie showing off the stack of "little, quick pictures" that the campers did during art camp!

Clara at the art camp reception posting next to her layered picture (the yellow one). They had an awesome time at art camp (thank you Mimi & Pap!) and are already excited about next year!

Clara's Birthday?

2011-05-22T21:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm not so far behind that I'm posting about last August...But we did have a 5-1/2 birthday party for Clara in April. We had promised her a "big" party like Gracie had in kindergarten, but she hadn't even started school when her actual 5th birthday rolled around. So we decided to wait until the spring and celebrate then (and she didn't want to wait until this coming fall).

We planned a party at the Little Gym, and I have to say, we've really loved having the girls' parties there. It was so easy and everything is done so well. I didn't even have to load the presents into the car - they had them loaded in the van before the party was even over.

Anyhow, the pictures speak volumes. Check out all of the happy faces.

JM's Buddy!

2011-05-22T20:19:00.000-05:00

Check out my friend's blog to see what John Michael was up to last week:

http://ourgoodthings.blogspot.com/2011/05/ace-jm-get-to-play.html

Jump Rope (for Gracie) for Hearts!

2011-05-22T20:16:00.000-05:00

All of the first graders warming up for their day of Jump Rope for Hearts

High-flying Gracie practicing while her best friend and jump rope partner, Kareth looks on.

Kareth getting in some warm-up time (Gracie was super excited, can you tell?)


Kareth & Gracie in the middle of their routine! They did a great job. Thank you to everyone who supported Gracie & this organization. She was really excited about raising money to help the kids!

So back in April ...

2011-05-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

John Michael turned 3! (April 5th, to be exact). He had a great birthday, and I think the girls had almost as much fun planning our "party" as he did opening and receiving all of the great presents.

But first things first, after the girls got him up and screamed "Happy Birthday" to him, John Michael and I got down to the serious business of making his dairy free cake. He was quite the helper:

Finally, when Daddy came home it was present time! We had to get those out of the way before even dinner or the cake!

Clara was quite the helper with the presents, and she was not easily deterred, even after several warning shrieks from John Michael. I bet next year he won't let her get a finger on *any* of his presents!

JM was thrilled with all of his presents. He got a bat and a bunch of whiffle balls, a mini-sized basketball, some Bob the Builder vehicles and several other things that I can't remember right now!

His Aunt Sue and Uncle Todd sent the awesome-big enough to sit in-Tonka Dump Truck. I can't find a picture right now, but he's conned his sister Clara into make it nice and cozy with a blankie and then pushing him around in it. Must be payback for all of the present opening assistance!

Another favorite on the present front were his "kitties." The Stebbins family sent baby kitty and Grandma & Grandpa's birthday money was used to purchase the bigger "Mama" kitty.

The birthday was fun, but fast. We had hamburgers and sweet potato fries for dinner and finished things off with the fire engine cake.

He's just like his Daddy - already planning his next birthday, trying to see how many he can fit in during the year. He informed me the other day, "we'll have my next birthday tomorrow, okay??"

Guest Post - Strawberries!!!

2011-04-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

It was spring scrapbooking weekend so it must be time to pick Strawberries! We always stop at the park in Godley on the way home - always means that we went there last time. We always get 2 big baskets and one small basket for JM - except this year we all had big baskets. At least we all picked red strawberries this year. We always take the county roads with the water crossings and make the car go Splash! We always do the big dip in the road that makes the car feel like a roller coaster and then talk about all the rides at 6 Flags.

Guest Post by Dada.

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We Started picking on Row 4! But we switched to row 3 and 5 a lot because the strawberries are always redder and bigger and more of them on the next row over.

Look at the Camera this time!

Take a Picture by the Grasshopper!Coco came too!

I ate a couple few while I was picking! Don't put this picture on the Blog Daddy! My brother JM had even more strawberry juice on his face but he xcaped the picture.

Take my picture by the giant Strawberry!

Take my picture too!

I am going to drive for a couple minutes!

I want my picture by the red truck instead. I wish it could go somewhere!

Gracie's First Piano Recital - Feb 27,2011

2011-03-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

At home, Gracie was pretty excited about her concert. I love that it never even occurs to her to get nervous. She is thankfully not a worrier about performing! And she was thrilled to wear her new dress from Aunt Camille!

Gracie was studying the program, checking out the lineup. It was nine or ten kids playing, but it went by amazingly fast. I guess it sounds like a lot when you know they are each playing three or four songs. But then you realize that each song is only about 30 seconds!

Gracie with Miss Dorla and part of her class. I don't know what happened with the group pictures, but we didn't get one of her whole class that actually included Miss Dorla. And there were actually two classes combined for the concert - there are only seven kids in her class.

And after the concert, Gracie chose a restaurant to go to. And she decided by getting on the computer and typing in Mexican restaurant to Google. I guess the computer "knows" that we are in Burleson, so she picked a newer Mexican restaurant in Burleson because "the reviews were good.

And now to the important part, Gracie playing her favorite song (and the one I got the best video of), Ode to Joy:

Quick look at February

2011-03-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

Do we really have to dress like this in Texas??? You're kidding, right???

Ack! It is cold!!

What's this stuff? Hmmm, hard, sort of clear and very slippery. Well, we didn't have to go to school and Daddy didn't have to go to work, but it's no good for snowballs or snowmen.

Keeping busy inside on those cold days. "**I'll*** fix this labtop for you, Dada!"

Doing our part to conserve energy and keep those rolling blackouts in Texas to a minimum. (Plus, Mike lets the fire get really hot and the house get lots warmer when we aren't paying for the heater to run!)

And then the next night, the weather redeemed itself by bringing snow our way. It wasn't a lot, but the girls got a few snow angels out of it, Coco loved it and yes, Mike managed to scrape together a few snowmen (Clara got a big one, JM got a medium and there was a miniman for the side yard).

JM was undeterred by the snow (and the lack of snow pants). Boy was he a chilly boy once we got him inside!

And then the snow was over and it started warming up. And unexpectedly, we had our night of sad good-byes with our wonderful dog, Elvis. She's been with us since before the time Gracie was born so this was a very rough night.

And of course, there were lots of fun things in February to enjoy, in addition to all of the snow. At school, there was the 100th day to celebrate (a big kindergarten occasion). Clara made her shirt using 100 pieces of duct tape!

Next, there was the kindergarten valentine program and party. It was a rough day for me and Clara, though. I had to leave during the performance because JM was fussy (always a problem since her programs are at 12:45...naptime) and she was really upset. It was just a few days after Elvis had died and I think it was just a hard day to have Mama miss anything. But she did cheer up at the party since JM loves to play in the kitchen in Mrs. Matejka's room (the play kitchen, that is), and I was able to give my undivided attention to her. So this happy picture of Clara is at the party!

After Clara's party, we hung around waiting for Gracie's party to start. It was a long day for us, but I was so thankful that Clara and JM got to go out to the playground during the wait and even stayed their during their big sis's party (thank you wonderful teachers who are willing to watch my son!). It was nice to be on my own with just Gracie at her party, but I did start to wonder how I was going to be in two places at one time next year when Gracie & Clara have parties at the same time (elementary grades always have their parties at the same time). Oh well, I'm sure we'll work it out!

Check out this cool valentine holder they made. Her teacher said she had made these as a child for her valentines. I just thought it was so nifty!

And the last exciting event at school this month... Clara's half birthday celebration!! They like to make sure that each child gets a special day at school, so if you are a summer birthday, you get to celebrate your half birthday. So Clara celebrated being 5 1/2. We made a cake (vanilla with pink icing) - 2 cakes in fact, one with 5 on it and one with 1/2, brought some drinks and snacks and got to celebrate with her. In kindergarten, the birthday child gets to stand on a chair and everyone else does the "birthday dance" around him or her and that's when I snapped this picture. They also get to celebrate with a special birthday blessing in chapel (where Mrs. Werner amazed me by knowing Clara "works so hard to do everything just right...", and they can give a book to the school library (Clara chose Olivia Goes to Venice). I'm so glad they make such a special day for the kids at the school. This came at a time when Clara really needed it, too.

We had a few other things going on in February (most importantly, Gracie's 1st piano recital), but I'm going to stretch that into a few more posts. I mean, why not? March is only half over. I'm rapidly approaching being up-to-date. Baaaahhhhaaaahaaaahaaaa. Heaven knows how many things I have wanted to include in this blog that haven't made it in. But I'm thankful for the things that have and I hope that you all are enjoying it as well. Even with all the large gaps and holes!

So I'll end with a picture of my favorite guys. We were eating at "rice and beans"=any Mexican restaurant after Gracie's piano recital. More on that next, promise. Even with video!

You know I'm not really done, right? I just love this picture of JM out in the snow on his own, wandering around. He's got on these gloves that are so huge and his froggy boots, which we just had gotten him to try wearing. And you can see all the smooth snow and the shadows of the trees.

Moving on to recent events...

2011-03-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

So, I'm tired of starting off each post explaining why it has taken me so long to post. I'll just assume you can fill in the blanks (kids, sickness, JBF, school, weather, whatever comes to mind...) and move on to the real deal.

I was talking with Clara today and telling her that she only has 8 weeks of school left (they get out early at their school, esp. kindergarten). I said then you'll be in first grade next year. She informed me that she didn't want to be in first grade, but wanted to stay in Mrs. Matejka's class. I reminded her that she could see Mrs. Matejka everyday if she wanted, but that she would be in first grade. She thought that over for a minute, then announced, "I want to be in 2nd grade!" Don't you love sibling rivalry????

I was pestering John Michael later, tickling him, giving away kisses and he told me "I give all my loves to the bird." "Really, I asked - why did you do that?" "Cause then the bird can give love to all the other birdies." Very sweet, no? So then I had to persist and ask, do you still have enough love for me and Daddy and your brothers (okay, they are sisters, but he insists they are his "bruders"). At first he said no, but then after a few minutes, he said "I have loves for everyone!" and started attacking me with kisses! Which is crazy for him, since he is usually very stingy with them. But lucky for me, right?

And the last story for tonight (unless I think of more while I am typing). Mike got cornered at lunch by the girls with a very philosophical question. Usually I am the one that tackles these things, but I wasn't with them at their picnic on the porch. While they were getting ready for their picnic, Mike had to get out the wasp spray and kill a wasp. So during lunch, Clara asks Mike "Do wasps have souls?" As Mike was relaying this story to me, I knew it was going to get sticky for him quickly when I heard that question. So Mike gave what he thought would be the quick and easy reply and would move the conversation on to other topics - "No, only people have souls." Now maybe he thought he got away with that, but that delusion could only be short-lived. Gracie piped up with "But did Elvis have a soul?"

Oops- have to pause for a quick update. About one month ago, Elvis got sick one night after dinner. Mike had to run her in to the after hours clinic and they found that her stomach had twisted. A horrible thing (she was in a lot of pain, even with the pain med they gave her) and a big, big surgery to fix. Elvis was almost ten years old, so we decided the surgery and recovery would be too much (and the vet thought so as well), so I took the kids up to the clinic and we all got to say good-bye to her and Mike stayed with her when they put her to sleep. It was very unexpected and a sad time for us (and Coco who really misses her playmate), and no doubt part of what contributed to all these questions about souls.

Back to the story, Mike realized his easy answer wasn't going to work now, so he told Gracie that he thought Elvis probably had a soul. Good thing I wasn't there, we might have gotten into a 30 minute discussion on souls, animals, pets, people, etc. But it's good for them to realize that we certainly don't know all of the answers either!

What to do when you get up really early before school and the weather is great...

2011-03-17T20:06:00.000-05:00

And that concludes the scooter ballet portion of our program...

What's New?

2011-02-20T23:27:00.000-06:00

Lots here since I last wrote, but that's no surprise since it's been over a month - acckk!

But here are a few things that I've wanted to share (all unrelated and all photo-less. It's late and this has to be fast). So, hopefully some posts with photos soon!

Things I thought would be waiting on for *years*, and yet now I can't believe they are happening:

I don't have to get out of the car to open the gate (to go in our driveway) if I have on of the girls with me - they can both now unbuckle from their car seats and get out and act as my automatic gate openers. Believe me, when you have a chain link fence gate that you have to open and close everytime you go in and out of the driveway, there are days when it seems very tedious. I thought the day would never come when I would have an "automatic" gate. I love it, but it also makes me a little sad, because I can't believe how quickly they are growing up. Yes, the thing you always here people saying, but I really understand it, finally .... at least a little. I'm sure there are bigger surprises to come!

Gracie will also go across the street to the mailbox and get the mail now on her own. A big deal, especially for Gracie. She really likes to be superconfident in everything she does.

And an even bigger milestone for Gracie is what she accomplished yesterday. She finally rode her bike all the way around the block. She had ridden it a little in the fall, but never really got going on it like Clara. As is usual for Gracie, she wants to be 100% sure she can do it before trying and failing (or falling in this case!). But she did a great job! All the way around, no falls and all smiles.

Clara, of course, has been a big bicycle rider for awhile. After riding 10 miles in the Waco bike ride in September with Mike, there has been no stopping her. Her big accomplishment on the bike today was bumping off the edge of the driveway, circling through the grass and then bumping back onto the driveway. Reminded me of riding my bike in Fayetteville - flying down our driveway then into the grass and down the hill (and hopefully not into the pasture or the fence). She was also practicing one-handed riding - she got up to 200 seconds and then decided she would wait until tomorrow to try for 1,000 seconds (or 10 one hundreds, as she termed them).

JM has discovered how to use the pedals on his tricycles (who knows how many he thinks he has - he rides whatever is handy, and if you have seen our garage, you know there is no shortage), but his primary interests outside include climbing the ladder on the side of the swing set and "pixing" (fixing) the boards (he pounds on them with his plastic hammer). While he is up there, he also likes to reach out and grab the chain of the nearby swing (this is where I cower and cover my eyes as he has to reach out quite far (at least in my mind) and is up about 4' high on the ladder). Once he has hold of the swing, he can rattle it and bang it. I think he is making train noises, but I'm not sure.

Oh, and JM has starting collecting all sorts of things in his pockets (thanks for the blog post about this Erica, I didn't know it was something little boys did!) - large rocks that make huge clunks in the dryer, sticks (which are called either kitty treats (when he is playing kitty) or tickets (when he is playing train?)), and who knows what else. I certainly hope I learn soon to check those pockets!

I know there were lots of other things I wanted to get down, but that's some of it and I have one last gem for you that made me laugh.

Gracie was telling us proudly after dinner the other night that she got to hold the bible in chapel that day (it rotates between 3rd grade and 1st grade and she had been excitedly waiting her turn). So she sums it up by saying, "That bible was heavy. Let me tell you, that was no teddy bear picnic holding it!"

Clara's Christmas celebration at school

2011-01-13T20:52:00.000-06:00

So guess what country Clara got to be from? In the kindergarten class, they study Christmas around the world, so for their program, they all do a dance from a particular country and say a few lines including how you say Merry Christmas in that country. Clara was excited about her part - particularly since she got to link arms with her friend and skip around in a circle for her dance!

It's hard to tell here, but she really was having a good time. I was way off to one side, but John Michael was sitting contentedly in my lap (a first during one of Clara's programs!) and eating raisins, so I could only do so much with the camera.

Okay, I think this should be the grumpy kids picture. I swear they were all so happy right before I managed to snap this picture. I guess they were ready to get back to their room for the party and food!

Clara loved her party, and I think JM liked it almost as much. He looks forward to those kindergarten parties so he can either play in the play kitchen or up above it on the loft where there are blocks and trucks.

It was a fun time for Clara & JM, but unfortunately, we couldn't leave when it was over. We hung around and waited for Gracie's party to start. They were kind of worn out by the time that started (2:30) and I only got one lame picture, so that will tell you that Mommy was worn out by that time, too.

I love the kindergarten program at the school, but it takes a lot of participation by the parents! It will be good to have a break for a few years.

Oh ... Gracie had a Christmas program, too, but it was just singing a song with her class - and even though I was the only one there with her (Mike, Clara & JM stayed home to get to bed on time), I didn't manage to get a good picture. All of the classes went up at the end & had a "jam" session with some of the parents playing different instruments. Somehow, Gracie & her quiet friends ended up in front of the drums - hence the ear covering!

What we did over Christmas Break ...

2011-01-11T23:08:00.000-06:00

This is

This is the "plasma car" - it's more commonly known as the taxi around here. Clara's rates vary from $1,000 to $2 (if you catch her on a bargain day).

Clara still trying to beat Pap - I think they almost always end in a draw!

JM has deemed that spot at our table "Mimi's chair"

Yes - this is breakfast when your on vacation from school... and only in Texas - popsicles in front of the fire!

Having a blast at the Polar Express with "Friend Alex" (as opposed to cousin Alex!)

The part I liked best about Polar Express - the "snow" on the walk to the train!

More goofiness from the kids. They got to see Santa on the train and enjoy a short train ride at night! It was fun, and I'm glad we could enjoy it with our friends!

Fun Stuff - this was the toy Clara wished for one day in Target - she was soooo excited about it! It's fun, but the little flying discs get lost easily ... or land on the roof!

The only really not so fun part of our break - the weekend before Christmas & New Year's weekend (he was well in between!) was spent trying to help JM breathe better and get better! But isn't he funny in his Froggles? He normally wears sunglasses, but I thought he might see better (he's watching t.v.) with the goggles. The staff at the urgent care thought we were a little crazy when I asked them if they had any glasses he could wear for the treatment. Somehow, JM was sure one time that it was bothering his eyes, so ever since then, he is much happier when he wears some type of glasses. And believe me, it's whatever it takes to!

But overall, we couldn't have asked for a more fun and relaxing break. Mike got to take off a whole week to spend with us and we were all sad when he had to go back to work after the New Year!

And just to end on a fun note (and reward those of you who kept reading to this point!), a quick recap of a conversation with John Michael.

It was Christmas eve morning, and I was going in to get JM out of his crib. So I was doing the usual, and chatting with him about the day and I said "Guess who's coming to our house tonight???" He quickly responded "The Garbage Man!" Hmmm...no, try again. "MIMI!" No, guess again - what's on your jammies? "Santa Claus!"

Don't feel too bad big guy, the Garbage Man and Mimi get to visit a lot more often!!

Believe it or not...

2011-01-10T23:37:00.001-06:00

Some of the things that are just too funny and I want to remember.

Clara was really starting to question things this year. The best was about our Elf on the Shelf, Callie. So you know that the Elf on the Shelf is magic - you can't touch her and each night she goes back to the North Pole to tell Santa how you have behaved and if you have any special wishes (and on Christmas Eve she goes back until next year). Well, some elves must be lazier than others, 'cause there were several times that Callie didn't move. Of course, we (the kids and I) reasoned out that I had been up late (past midnight) or up tending coughing/sick kiddos on those nights, so she probably didn't have time to go. And I think she probably had to make some early morning arrivals at new spots, too. It's hard to remember to go to the North Pole every night if you are an Elf in a warm, comfortable house - you might just fall asleep and forget what you are supposed to do! But the kids loved getting up in the mornings and looking for Callie.

Well, one weekend morning, *I* couldn't find Callie. So I went to the kitchen and was asking Mike if he had seen her and he didn't really answer me. Of course, she turned up safely in a new spot, but Mike was quite amused that I was so concerned about where she was and how she had gotten there!!

So back to Clara. She was talking with Mike at dinner one night and Callie was just off to the side of the table. Clara was asking "Is Callie really magic? I mean, her eyes are stickers!" Mike didn't say anything and I guess she moved on...

And then we had a discussion about Santa Claus a few nights after Christmas. Clara came up with the question that I have always had, too. How does Santa go to *all* the houses in one night? So I answered that we just can't really understand it, it's just the magic of Santa Claus. Then she thought and she told me "I know - Mrs. Werner told us in chapel, that God gives each of us a special talent. I think that must be Santa's special talent."

Christmas

2011-01-10T23:26:00.001-06:00

Writing letters to Santa (on Christmas Eve) - they had already sent all of their wishes by our Elf on the Shelf, Callie.

John Michael was running around like a mad man in his Santa pajamas that say "Ho, ho, ho." And he was busy practicing that saying - he started a few days before Christmas. We were driving in the van (as usual) and all of a sudden I hear this quiet, low voice "ho, ho, ho .... Merrrrrry Christmas!" It was too funny. I have a video clip of it somewhere I'll try to get posted.

After finally getting the little ones to sleep, Mike & I managed to get to bed by 1am. I don't know how that always happens - it seems like we were more prepared than ever this year, but we still couldn't get to bed early! But we were luckier than some - the kids managed to wait until 7am to get up (I heard tales of 4:30am awakenings - yikes!). After the fun of looking through our stockings, eating some candy and checking out the presents (but not opening!), we headed off to church.

Thank goodness I snapped this picture (even though it is in the garage). When we came home from church, I didn't get any pictures, so I have none of the kids altogether in their Christmas outfits except for this one.

There was lots of excitement that day - and that was just during the present opening!

Some of us had too much excitement and were lucky enough to be able to nap ...

And look, JM got another towel - he just loves his hoodie towels. He still wants to sleep with one every now and then, even though he loves all of this blankets, too.

After being cooped up inside all day opening presents, the kids went out to enjoy some of their new toys and the great fall-like weather we had. Clara was certainly pulling for snow (especially after last Christmas), but it was really a beautiful day and nice to be able to go out and enjoy it.

And after our fun outdoor time, Mimi & Aunt C were able to come for Christmas dinner. We had such a grand time with them that we managed to take no pictures at all!! Shocking, I know. But we did have a good time - we even got Mimi on the plasma car. And hmmm, I'm thinking I actually did take a picture of that, so I better check Gracie's camera. That can be it's own post if I find it!

So we really had a grand Christmas. Here are a few outtakes from the rest of the day:

John Michael just loves his piggy bank from his Aunt Susie, Uncle Dave, and cousins Sarah & Katie. Of course, he knew right off the bat that he needed something to put in it. He told us he wanted to fill it up. Hmmm ... we didn't have too many pennies lying around, so we gave him a little bit of change and told him he could earn more money doing things for us around the house. Thank goodness he was happy with that!

John Michael with his "tackages" (we think maybe he's calling those rolls of Lifesavers packages, but who knows!) - he would devour a whole roll at a time. I really don't want to estimate how many rolls he ate that day - he and Clara both got a Lifesaver "book" (remember those, j, s, and c?)

Our little ballerina, Gracie. She was just thrilled with her ballet shoes and tutu. In fact, since it was one of the first things she opened, that is what she is wearing in most of the Christmas pictures!

Clara gets points for having the best smile and the most photo "opps." When you scroll through our Christmas pictures, you wonder if she got like ten times more gifts than the other two. But fear not, Santa was as fair as ever (and the relatives were, too) and there were almost exactly the same number of presents for each kiddo.

Snippets

2010-12-18T21:31:00.027-06:00

All from the last few weeks in the life of John Michael:

"I turn on Christmas! More Christmas, I turn on Christmas!"Yes, that's what he announces when he plugs in the lights for the tree and around the house (no lectures on a 2 and a half year old plugging things in, please!)
And also, we've discovered whenever he spies a Christmas tree somewhere: "They have Christmas!!"

Last Saturday, after spending a few hours at urgent care and JM receiving two breathing treatments and oral steroids (picture him on high speed, non-stop, full throttle!):
"I ready to check out!" and as we are finally walking out the door, I ask him if he wants me to carry him or if he wants to keep walking and "stretch his legs." To which he responds by taking long, straight strides and announcing "I stretch my legs!"

And from the back seat of the car on the way home ... (it was just the two of us in the car), a deep voice exclaiming: "Ho, ho, ho, Merrrry Christmas!"

John Michael went to mass with us this morning (Christmas), but he didn't manage to be quiet enough to stay in the church the whole time. So while we were in the back of the church "stretching our legs," we stopped by the cry room (which always has the door open) and he spied the font with the holy water. He wanted to bless himself, so I thought no problem. He dipped his fingers (he doesn't have the one finger thing down!) and then proceeded to cross himself (with my help). And then ... those fingers went right to his mouth! So he's good, inside and out.

And later today as we were sitting on the porch swing watching for Aunt C and Mimi, JM called out "I see them, they're coming!" So I look down the block, don't see anything, look again and then ask him, "Did you really see them? Are you pretending? Are you teasing??" Lots of giggles and that cute little grin "I teasing!" He is quite the joker these days & is always happy if he can make you laugh with his silliness.

I know I am leaving out many, many funny moments, but these are all my Mommy-memory brain can recall right now.

A Clara Production - and oldie but goodie

2010-12-11T21:53:00.000-06:00

From Summer 2009:

And here's how the girls looked back then! Hard to believe they are growing up so fast. Another post on that tomorrow.

Makes me laugh!

2010-12-10T15:49:00.000-06:00

So today we all decided (at John Michael's suggestion) to have a popsicle on our way to take Clara to school. As I was buckling JM into his car seat, I could see him eyeing my popsicle. In the past, he has rushed to finish his popsicle so he can then ask for mine (and I usually give it up). But he must have assessed that he had too much of his pop left for that to work this time, so instead he went with: "I need test yours!"

Gee, I wonder where he learned that phrase?

Needless to say, he got a lick of my popsicle!

Tiiiiiimmmmmbbbeeeerrrrrrr

2010-12-09T09:48:00.000-06:00

There was a dead tree (dead since last year) on the school lawn, so I did the logical thing and volunteered my husband to cut it down. Thoughtful, eh? Well, I know he is a man of many talents, so I thought we should put them to use. Plus, we'll have enough firewood for several years now!! And, they were worried about it falling down and hadn't had any luck roping anyone else into cutting it down.

And if you are a patient child while your parents work on a crazy project, this is what your reward is (but only since they didn't yet know that JM had an allergy to milk!):

Mother Goose was on the loose ...

2010-12-09T09:35:00.000-06:00

at Clara's school about a month and a half ago. This is their fall program that they do and it's filled with all sorts of Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

Clara decided she wanted to be a sheep (as in Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep), and one of her good friends, Avery, was Little Bo Peep. For her sheep costume, we started off by finding an old white t-shirt in Mike's drawer and then we started gluing on cotton balls with the glue gun. Well, by the time we had used one package of cotton balls and covered only about one third of the t-shirt, I decided maybe this wasn't the way to go. So we looked in the costume closet at the school (which I had somehow not managed to find out about even though Gracie has spent the last two years doing lots of performances that require costumes!). And we found a great looking sheep outfit - it was white, fluffy and just the right size. We popped it on quickly, found a headband to match and I figured we were good to go.

On the day of the performance, about a half hour before we needed to go, I told Clara we needed to get her into her costume. We got it on and about five minutes later, she was miserable. The costume was hot and itchy and the headband wouldn't stay on. Oh, dear - I'm not the world's most creative person, and that was one reason I had been so thrilled to find a costume already made. But I guess necessity is really the mother of invention, because we whipped together something in about 10 minutes: Clara's own white t-shirt, black leggings, a skirt fashioned out of the t-shirt that I had ripped the cottonballs off of (it was semi-fuzzy looking), cut the feet off of black socks to use for "legs" (slip onto the arms) and then use the bottom of the socks for ears pinned to a black headband. Pssshewww .. we made it. And she looked pretty cute!

Here's her whole class. They had a bunch of spiders, Little Miss Muffet, Little Bo Peep, a couple of sheep and the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker.

Clara did great during the program. I didn't take any video this time - I tried to snap a few photos, but I decided just to sit back and enjoy the show this time. I think the whole last minute costume redo had worn me out! So here's a happy Clara in the middle of one of their songs:

And I couldn't get any pictures of this, but they always do a version of the Itsy, Bitsy Spider at the beginning of the program. The kids slip on all black shirts and have on white gloves. Then they use a glow light and it's great fun to watch their fingers as they make the spider crawl up and down and all around!

After the program, the kids have a "carnival" of Mother Goose based games. Clara had been before with Gracie, but it was still lots of fun. Here she is doing "Jack & Jill."

John Michael got in on the "action," too. Well, he's supposed to be doing the cake walk, but once he had that ring pop, he just sat in the chair! Who cares about cake when you've got a ring pop!

Just a few of the things I've missed (blogging about) in the last few months ...

2010-12-08T21:58:00.000-06:00

In October, we all got a chance to go down to San Antonio and visit Uncle Scott. Mike and the girls had been down before, but this was the first chance JM & I had to visit him at the seminary.

We left on Friday night and broke the trip up by stopping about an hour short of San Antonio. The kids loved the hotel, especially the pool. I was a wimp, so Mike was the one that had to endure the chilly water! And he definitely does not like cold water. But the real challenge was actually holding on to John Michael. Two months before he was fussing about getting in a swimming pool, but then at the hotel, he suddenly became convinced that he could swim! He spent a good portion of the time screaming "let me go!" But he (Mike, John Michael?) survived. But it wasn't an easy night - JM didn't all asleep until around 10pm and then woke up at 6am. I snuck out of the room with him in the morning, hoping the girls and Mike could get a little more sleep (which they did).

Then we headed down to San Antonio, to meet Uncle Scott and go to the mass for him for the conferral of the ministry of acolyte (one of the steps along the way to becoming a priest).

It seemed like it was going to be a really nice mass, but unfortunately, John Michael and I didn't get to find out. He didn't even make it through the opening hymn before he was fussing and being way too loud. Once I got him outside, I realized the lack of sleep was doing him in. So instead of church, he got a nice nap on my lap while I sat on a bench in the sun. It was a beautiful day, so even though I didn't get to be inside, I was glad Mike and girls were and that we had been able to come down.

After church we headed to the Riverwalk for a yummy Mexican lunch. Can you tell Gracie is trying to convince Uncle Scott not to jump in? I know that's what Mike was telling JM!

After lunch we scouted around for a pumpkin patch. The one that had been at the Catholic church the previous year wasn't around this year, so we ended up supporting the Methodists that afternoon at a nice little pumpkin patch.

Apparently, Clara thought it was important to test the toughness of the pumpkins!

It was a nice little pumpkin patch until we got the little wagon to pull the pumpkins to the front. Check out that expression on JM's face. Clara was sure he needed help pulling/directing the wagon and John Michael was sure he didn't! And Gracie and I are just standing by watching ...

Fast forward a few days - pumpkin carving time. I can only comment on the pictures here. I definitely don't have the patience or ability for this activity!!! I love the difference in the expressions on their pumpkins - kind of sums up their personality differences, right?

Fast forward another day or two and it's .... Halloween!

Here's the costume lineup for the year:

MEOW!!

Indian Princess

And my favorite (costume, that is) - the "man" in brown!

My favorite grown-up man was also dressed in brown, but I didn't happen to get a decent picture.

Any guesses what I was? I think it fit my personality that week - here's a hint:

Finally, I had to post this picture just because the kids look so cute going up to the house. And also, to point out that this is what happens when you go too Texas crazy. Yikes! Look at all of those stars, longhorns and who knows what else...

So that's how it was most of the night - JM running to catch up. But let me tell you, once he discovered there was candy involved, he wasn't going to be left behind. Ironically, all he wanted to eat from the loot over the next few days were the "gummies" (the fruit snacks).

I didn't get any pictures of the girls unloading/sorting/trading the loot, but let me tell you there was a lot! I think we sent at least 5 pounds with Mike to work and the kids still had more than they could ever eat by Christmas. I think next year that we really just need to go halfway around the block! (of course, there would be some logistical problems with that plan ...)

Some of my favorites

2010-11-30T16:51:00.000-06:00

Here are a few of the phrases the kids have been using lately that always make me laugh:

From John Michael: "I'll be riiiiiiiight back ... (picture the backside of him running away, toddle, toddle, from side to side)." And in the we're still learning our consonant sounds category: pire engine, water pountain, pire man, ...
Finally, the funny story from last night - Mike was telling me that they just announced no raises for government employees for the next two years. Not good news for us, but not much we can do about it. We know there are plenty of people that work for the government that don't really do much work, but my husband doesn't happen to be one of them, so it's a shame they can't figure out how to reward those that actually do work. Anyhow, Mike was saying that he heard the commentators on the radio talking about the no raise issue and the "lazy bums" that work for the government. Well, JM picked up on that phrase and just ran with it. We couldn't understand the first few sentences he said, but they definitely had "lazy bums" in them. Then he went on to say "I put the lazy bums in a cage... so they won't scare you Daddy." Watch out you lazy bums! JM will get you!

Clara gave us a good laugh on our drive home from Amarillo. We were trying to find a place to eat dinner when she moaned from the back seat, "when are we going to eat? I'm about to starve to death!" Needless to say, she made it to dinner, although it barely resuscitated her. She was almost asleep by the time she polished off her rice and bean burrito.

Sadly, as Gracie gets older, there are fewer funnies from her. Plus, as I get older, the chances of me remembering them gets worse. What a bad combination! But she did write a neat acrostic poem (they learned about them before Thanksgiving) the other day:

When I asked her when she had done that, she just said "in my spare time." I was impressed!

Here's another project that the younger sister did in her spare time. It's a school and school bus. Cool, huh? Those blocks have been really fun and have been transformed into many, many different things. The school and the school bus are new, though!

Over the river and through the woods ...

2010-11-26T23:08:00.042-06:00

To Grandmother's house we go! We headed up to Amarillo to have a pre-Thanksgiving visit.

John Michael was very excited about going to Grandma's house. When I woke him up this morning, he was sneezing. I asked, "do you want a Kleenex?" "No...there's a Kleenex box at Granma's house." Then he went on to talk about playing with the tea set in the bathtub. It's been awhile since he's been over to Grandma's and Grandpa's, but he remembered a lot about it.

Once we were here and unpacking, he claimed the back bedroom as "his." Never mind that Gracie and I would be sleeping in there as well. His light, his clock, his big table (the nightstand), and his Kleenex box (!) all made him very happy!

JM started out sleeping in his pack and play the first night, but after a night of listening to random cries of "let me out" throughout the night, I decided to rethink the sleeping situation. For the second night he ended up on a cot between the bed and the wall. It was much more restful, and except for the fact that he woke up at 5am and decided that I had his pillow? and that he had to get it back, I got a much better night's sleep. So, as Virginia put it, we'll have one less thing to pack for the next trip.

One of the things we did on this trip was take the kids to the Alibates Flint Quarry. It's actually a National Monument that's a little bit northeast of Amarillo (about a 45 minute drive from Mike's parent's house). It's a guided tour, so we hiked about a mile to the top of a mesa (and almost got blown away in the process) and got to see the Alibates flint that the Plains Indians used for arrowheads, knives, etc. It was really pretty amazing. I guess this type of flint isn't found anywhere else in the U.S.

Listening?? at one of the shelters to the guide talking about ... something ... (I was concentrating on the kids not blowing away and not confiscating/rearranging all the rocks on the mesa)

Sitting at the first shelter, on a rock that had some Alibates flint in it.

Daddy carried him down, I carried him up.

The girls were troopers. Clara was about to give out when we were on the top, but she went lickety split down the hill!

The goal! Looking at one of the flint quarries at the top of the mesa.

I don't know how much the kids took in, but I think it would be neat to go back in five or so years and see what they remember. Since it is a national monument, any rocks or anything (the flint type rock was all over as we got close to the top of the mesa) you see can't be taken with you and is supposed to be left where it is. If you pick something up to get a closer look, it's supposed to go back to approximately the same place. So, with a 2 year old boy, I'm sure you can imagine that we had a few challenges with that rule! Mainly he wanted to stack lots of the rocks together, especially on the benches at the little shelters we stopped at on the way up. But surprisingly, it was Clara that had the hardest time about the rules. She had found a pretty sizable piece of the flint that she really loved. I think she found it at the last shelter we stopped at. I thought she knew she had to leave it there. But about ten minutes later when we were at the top of the mesa looking at the quarries, I saw Mike carrying her and that piece of flint was snuggled up between her and Daddy (I'm sure he appreciated the extra weight! plus, it's a very sharp type of rock). Mike finally convinced her to leave it, and when we got back to Amarillo, Grandpa saved the day by letting Clara have his flint rock to take home. And I think it was even bigger than the one she found at Alibates.

And to make sure that no one got cheated on the rock front, we went to McBride Canyon before we headed home. It's just a few minutes from Alibates, and Mike remembers picnicing there and picking up rocks from the creek bed when he was growing up. Of course, it's deer season, so there were lots of campers aruond in there day-glo orange hats. That made me a little nervous, but once we got to the creek bed (which was lots smaller, according to Mike), I forgot all about it. Apparently, we were all a little rock crazy that day. I filled my hands full, Clara had a Subway lunch bag that was fulllll, Gracie had her hands full, and JM was thrilled that I had dressed him in cargo pants that morning. I'm surprised his pants didn't fall off on the way back to the car!

The kids had fun (as always) hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa, Daisy and kitten. Many trips were made to the basement to retrieve and exchange toys, and I have to say, Joe & Virginia have a lot of tolerance for noise and mess. Because there was a lot of both for a few days!

Clara proudly showing off her almost perfect report card to Grandpa (she only missed counting to 100 correctly). Gracie's had several almost perfect report cards as well (all A's in conduct and 98,99 and 100s for grades!!). She didn't have hers on this trip though because the "graders" (as Gracie always called them last year) get their report cards every 6 weeks, and Clara will only get 3 report cards for the whole year.

Riding scooters was a big hit this trip. I didn't get any pictures of it, but they all rode their scooters (JM included) out on the driveway and of course, Clara had to ride downhill through the grass and then JM did that too. I went back into the house at that point. Mike told me later that Grampa got JM to give hi
m some scooter lessons! The kids also wanted to scooter (and play) at the park, so we did that on Monday morning.

And of course we got to see Aunt Susie, Uncle Dave, Sarah & Katie. But JM and the girls didn't get nearly enough time to play with their cousins. And even though I tried to convince Aunt Susie that the girls should stay home from school, they did have to go to school on Monday (our kids had the whole Thanksgiving week off). So they didn't get to be in our good-bye picture!

Then it was time to leave. Poor JM had a little too much excitement over the weekend and could barely keep his eyes open. If we hadn't needed to get on the road, I'm sure he would have fallen asleep in Grandma's lap:

And I thought this picture summed up the whole weekend for the kids - big smiles and happiness (and a little tired)!

Can you keep a secret?

2010-11-26T22:48:00.001-06:00

So I found out last Thursday that John Michael can keep a secret, especially when it is in his best interest.

It was almost noon and time to make our second trip up to the school, to drop Clara off for kindergarten. JM really didn't want to go (I can't blame him, we spend lots of time in the car going back and forth to school!), so I told him I had a secret to tell him but that he couldn't tell Clara. I told him the secret and he was ready to run to the car and get Clara to school.

We got Clara to school, walked her in, took a quick peek at the giant paper maiche cornucopia that the kindergarten class had made for the food from the canned food drive, and then headed back to the car. As soon as I had loaded JM in his car seat, he was done keeping that secret...

"We go Mimi-Pap's!!!!"

And yes, I didn't tell my oldest two, but John Michael and I snuck away to Dallas to visit with my parents for the afternoon and evening. I heard from Mike that those girls were mad when they found out where I had gone and that their little brother had gotten to go without them!! It's not fair, they said.

Thursday is the day that the girls go to the afterschool program, so Mike always picks them up on his way home. So that left JM & me free to go to Dallas for a reasonably long visit. I didn't feel too guilty about not taking the girls because they always tell me that Thursday is their favorite school day because they love going to afterschool. They have a Craft club and a Sports club on Thursday that the kids participate in and Clara's done both, but Gracie is sticking with (and loving) Craft Club.

But back to our Dallas visit, John Michael really was happy about going and eager (apparently) to do anything I told him. Once we were on our way and on the highway, I told him he should shut his eyes and try to take a nap so he would have more energy to play with Mimi .... so he did!! As soon as I asked him. Amazing.

And yes, he had lots of energy to play with his beloved Mimi:

Pap wasn't feeling the best when we were there, but JM did get to play with him later in the visit. We visited Pap in the bedroom, so JM tried out the bed for jumping, explored the bathroom (he liked the biiiig sink (=jacuzzi tub)), and played with the end table drawers and the little extensions that slide out to put drinks on (J, S and C, you will know what I mean!!). He and Pap had a bit of a tickling match and then it was time for dinner.

The afternoon/evening seemed to fly by, and it was soon time for Mimi & Pap to head out for Pap's choir rehearsal. But I got in a last picture. JM doesn't look too happy, but he knew his fun time was about to end!

And don't tell his sisters, but JM & Mimi invented a fun new game. Here they are in action, I think on round four or five:

Clara's Birthday (as told by Clara)

2010-10-13T18:55:00.000-05:00

"This is my first party at the beach. It was really fun. And I played in the sand. I saw Aunt Sue go outside while I was blowing out the candles, I thought she was setting off the smoke alarm!" (Note: Mommy accidentally bought the relighting candles, which turned out to be quite funny, but a little frustrating).

"When I opened my sister's present, I was sooooo happy, happy, happy! She gave me a Webkinz and I named it Snow Bear. And the other presents were fun, too."

"I was really lucky on my birthday because I got lots of presents and I whacked the pinata down (Note: the pinata was a last-minute homemade by Gracie deal. Clara reallly, really wanted one, so Gracie fashioned one out of 3 old party hats & we filled it from the candy bowl and hung it from the basketball goal.)

"I was so happy when I opened Gracie's present. And it was an Amazing Hamster."

" When I was icing my cake, I thought it was going to be really yummy. I made Curious George's striped ball. And it was a good birthday after all."

"When I opened Sorry I was really amazed that I got a Sorry. And it was brand-new. Nobody touched it. I was sooo, sooo, happy. " (Note: I think the brand-new might be a comment on so many things coming from JBF!)

"Daddy put together my Hot Wheels and the Hot Wheels really did work, but not when I had it by myself. But then Mommy found a better Hot Wheels." (Note: She really wanted to include this picture because "I love my Daddy!")

"John Michael is really silly. He took black pictures when he was using the camera and when he was one year old."

"Gracie was really silly. She ate with her hands and she made that face. She's a really good sister!"

"THE END!"

As promised long ago & since I haven't mailed the b-day presents yet ...

2010-10-12T22:21:00.000-05:00

Well Sue, here it is. The requested in jest, but I took it seriously "All-Sue/Aunt Sue Ocean Post." Oh wait, did we go to the ocean the first week in August? Is it fall now, too cold for the ocean? Well, at least it's not snowing.

[Oh, and if anybody out there is reading these things, you should let me know with a comment every now and then. Just so I don't start thinking my blog is similar to my life at home - tell somebody something ("kids, clean up those toys!") and have them pay no attention whatsoever!]

On to the ocean, the Atlantic Ocean at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in a house large enough to hold us all (13-9 adults, 4 kids) just one block from the boardwalk. The first time we have been on vacation with all of my family in a long time (since before any kids, I think).

So here is Aunt Sue, on the first day we (the Schwinds) arrived at the beach. JM stayed behind at the house with his beloved Mimi, but the girls couldn't wait to get their first glimpse of the Atlantic!

We talked about putting swimsuits on, but it was late in the day & the kids assured us that they wouldn't get wet. Ha, ha, what were we thinking! I think Aunt Sue got the fun of helping to hose them down once we got back to the house.

It was lazy mornings around the house, most of the time. Aunt Sue was up & out for a run most mornings, but I must have caught her on a late morning hanging with Gracie at the breakfast table. I think Uncle Todd might have roped her into a long bike ride on this day.

Lots of days I didn't get pictures of Aunt Sue, or she wouldn't be a huge fan of the pictures I got, because they were shockingly, in a bathing suit! (can you imagine, at the ocean?). Anyhow, here's a modest photo:

Good thing for her I decided against the videos that I shot a little later on this day - the modesty towel was gone and Gracie was being threatened with a toss into the ocean & Alex was being threatened with a toss into "The Pit." "The Pit" was quite a fascination for all of the kids (big - Mike& Jamie!- and little). Each day at the beach, they worked on digging a big, deep sand pit. Alex, Clara & Gracie loved to come back later that day or early the next and see if it was still there or if it had been washed away. They also loved running & jumping into it ("Geronimo" was the war cry) and also pretending to be walking along and "fall" into it.

We had a little birthday celebration for Clara (her birthday was just a week later) and it was fun to have all of my family there for her party! Here are Uncle "Togg" and Aunt Sue looking on.

Later that night ended up being game night. Gracie must have snuck out of bed and stayed up late that night - I really don't remember. But I do remember loving Todd's version of Go Fish. According to his rules, you can just ask for any card you want - you don't even have to have it in your hand. Hmmmm.... got to watch out for that Uncle Togg!

And on the last day at the beach, we all headed down to the arcade/fun land. It was crowded, but we got in a little bit of Skee Ball. Aunt C was the real pro, but notice Aunt Sue is in there, too.

After Skee Ball, apparently Uncle Todd and Aunt Sue were giving lessons to Alex on how to get more money out of his parents for the arcade, or ice cream, or whatever. "Now first, you hold out your hand like this ...(Uncle Todd's advice). "Then you give them the squinty eye like this... (Aunt Sue's advice).

Look, it's Sue with her 3 sisters!

And the last day - "Please Aunt Sue, we'll fit in your suitcase just like this... And we'll keep you warm snuggling you like this in all that fog & rain in CA...

Hope my hard-working Sis enjoyed her post. She's got a big trial coming up in a few days (last I heard) and I know she's been super busy, so I thought she might get a kick out of my silly post!

Clara & School

2010-10-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

The only complaint I've gotten about school so far is why we have to wait until the afternoon to go. Clara loves it so much that it is hard to wait until noon to go everyday!

She started off the year a little uncertain about things. Unlike Gracie, she's not a big fan of change or new things. So even though Gracie was in Mrs. Matejka's class last year and Clara spent a fair amount of time in the kindergarten room (I think they have parties almost every month!), it was still nerve-wracking for her. She loves it now and even last week when she said her throat was hurting, she didn't want to miss a day. I think she still must worry a little though, because every day on the way there she says we can do drop-off (at the front door) instead of walking her into the classroom. And every day, I check again when we get to the school and the answer always changes to "mmmmmm... walk me in!"

But she's definitely over most of her worries about school and nothing can deter her from her beloved kindergarten. In fact, two weeks ago, we got the special treat of having Mimi at our house for the day. And Mimi got to walk Clara in to kindergarten that day. Well, she was so excited, but as soon as she got there, quickly showed Mimi her table and her cubby, she was ready to get to work in her "center" (different areas where they play for the first 10-15 minutes of class). I had to remind her to tell Mimi good-bye!

Here are a few of the "special moments" so far of kindergarten:

Mrs. Matejka at our house, reading stories with Clara & tucking her in. She takes the time to visit all of her students at their house in the evening, read them a bedtime story, pray with them and tuck them in. Gracie got to enjoy it last year and this year, Clara just loved it. In fact, Clara talked Mrs. Matejka into 3 stories somehow. And it was Mrs. Matejka's birthday the night she came to our house, so we got to make her some homemade caramel popcorn and a homemade, rainbow-striped duct tape bag. I didn't get a picture (what was I thinking?), but it turned out really neat!!

The next big event for kindergarten was the circus! Clara's first plan was to be a lion, since one of her buddy's at school (Byron!) was going to be the lion tamer. But during the practice the day before the circus, she decided to be an acrobat. "Because," she informed me, "I'm the only one that can do a cartwheel, and an acrobat *has* to do cartwheels." I was relieved, just because I didn't know what kind of lion costume I was going to come up with in a few hours, but I was curious to see how these "cartwheels" were going to come out, because she really hasn't mastered that skill yet! But she did a great job & it was fun to see her having so much fun. And her big sister got to be in the room watching as well (she's in the 2nd picture below).

They've also made rice babies (fill a sock with your birth weight of rice - Clara was 9lbs6oz - that was a lot of rice!). Of course I forgot my camera on that day, but we've got "Clara" at home now, so I'll get a picture of her and Clara's Bag Buddy ("Rose") that they made in the same week. The week they called "Meology."

I was really surprised on the day of the creation of the rice babies by Clara's reaction. Mrs. Matejka has a rocking chair in her room and for all of the kids, she holds the rice baby (after they've been stuffed, decorated with eyes, paci's, belly buttons and swaddled in a blanket), talks about how the babies came to be with their parents and then hands the baby to the student. When it came to Clara's turn (we were last - we had the most rice to get into that sock!), she was almost crying when Mrs. Matejka handed her the baby. I don't know what made her so emotional, but I hope it was happy emotions! And maybe, the goal of the lesson just really hit home with her - to realize how special it is to have that little baby in your arms.

Of course, there are all of the other academic things that are happening for Clara in school. She's officially learning all of her consonant and vowel sounds and applying those to her rapidly improving reading skills (she's really reading lots of things these days - as long as she doesn't get too intimidated). She's writing her first and last name with the correct lower and upper case, and they aren't really doing any math yet, but she's got a workbook at home and was busy at it tonight. Coming back to ask me about "seven take away five, is two?" Yes, yes, Clara.

And the Ranger Rick "Just For Fun" puzzle magazine that Mimi & Pap sent and Mimi thought might be too hard? She's been working away on a fill in the word puzzle (12 sentences all with one incomplete word. The incomplete word has the letters "rat" in it, but has other letters missing. You have a list of 15 possible words you can use.) I didn't realize it until tonight, but she's been working on it over a few days and has five of them done! I was impressed. Although I suggested that "My sister takes --rat- lessons" might not be "My sister takes 'pirate' lessons."

Latest & Greatest

2010-10-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

Of course it's impossible to catch up on what has happened in the last two months in one post, but I'll try. No wait .... I mean, I won't *even* try.

Here's what the kids look like, in case you've forgotten:

And many, many thanks for all of the lovely birthday presents (for Clara, myself and Gracie), for the support of the girls' Read-a-thon and the great summer trips, especially the ocean trip!

I want to blog about all of these things (birthdays, school happenings & summer trips), but I'm sure it will take me awhile to catch up. But I'm back on the blog-wagon, so check in every now & then and I'll try to have new posts.

Three Talkers ... wait, I think I mean Four

2010-08-25T17:14:00.000-05:00

I guess I have to count myself in there. If you know our family at all, you can guess who I'm not including in the count. He almost doesn't stand a chance nowadays.

As soon as the girls get in the car afterschool, it's a fight to see who can have a turn to talk. I am trying to have them take turns telling one thing at at time about school, but it's hard to share that time and wait to talk.

And meanwhile, JM is pointing out "'cool buses" and "Jeeps" left and right. I have to say, there must be something instinctive with boys because he is actually spotting Jeeps, both old and new. I don't think Mike has given him any secret tutorials, but who knows...

So John Michael is busy repeating everything we say and trying to tell us all sorts of things. The other morning, I was getting ready to get him out of bed (I was trying to finish up some work at the computer first) and I could hear him calling something. When I got closer, I discovered it was "Wake Up . . . Mommy!, Wake Up . . . Mommy!" Again and again and again. But it was very cute. I guess he thought he would be my alarm clock.

Then the other day, he was so cute, that he got to skip afternoon nap. I was working on the computer (again - yes, it's that time of year, JBF is right around the corner and I'm busy actually working), and I called out "John Michael, are you ready for your nap?" Which, as any halfway intelligent person knows is really not a good question to ask, but anyhow, I asked it. And I actually got a respose: "No ... Mommy .... I playing."
It was very cute. I asked him again later to see if he would repeat it and he did. His speech is so funny to listen to right now, one of my friends summed it up by saying he sounds like a robot!

The only thing he really has difficulty with is those starting "S" or "sh" sounds. His stuffed shark is a "arksh" and he was telling me all about the railroad crossing "ign-sss" for his Thomas train. So it's kind of funny to tell him an "s" word and then hear him say it.

That's all for now - I'm hoping to get some beach pictures up soon. I managed to post a few along the side of the blog, but I have lots more (of course!) But I suppose I should fix dinner for my family now, rather than continue to blog???

1st Day of School!

2010-08-25T10:11:00.001-05:00

Two happy girls - I think Monday was the longest day ever for them! They were so ready for this day, but Clara was still a little uncertain, but definitely excited.

Dropping Gracie off:

A few hours later & it was Clara's turn:

Even JM enjoyed himself, at least until I dragged him out of the kindergarten room (which has lots of fun stuff to play with) and then when he realized that Clara would be staying behind.

They both came home yesterday afternoon still happy about school. Clara told me "I was a little worried, but I *love* school!"

And we made it through morning drop off again today - although Gracie missed being tardy by about 1 minute - yikes! I guess I relaxed a little too much after the first day went so smoothly. We'll shoot for a happy medium tomorrow!

Talking away

2010-08-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

JM has moved on to sentences these days. He tries to echo just about everything you say. If you don't know what he is trying to say though, it can still be tough. But he does try at just about every word!

And I've finally discovered what "bin" and "ben" are. Bin = Put in and Ben = Put on. Aha! What a light bulb moment. Now I'm curious about what he was always asking me to put in or put on.

It will be fun to see how much he talks next week when we are with my family at the beach. Busy getting ready for that big plane trip. Maybe I'll get in a few more posts before we leave!

The Tooth Fairy has been busy . . .

2010-08-04T22:01:00.000-05:00

Can you believe the tooth fairy gives out gold dollar coins? Or silver dollars, as Gracie likes to call them. She's got a total of seven so far - one from her kindergarten teacher at graduation, two for the first tooth she lost (bottom front), two for the first top tooth and one for each of the other teeth.

She's had quite the adventure with her teeth. The first one she lost was actually the least dramatic - just a normal wiggly tooth that she kept wiggling and wiggling. The only drama came from me when I saw it leaning over at a ninety degree angle in her mouth - I had to send her off to Daddy to help her with that. Apparently, I'm not made for teeth pulling or looking or anything. Then, I guess (Mike is actually having to tell me because I already don't remember! acck!) she lost her other bottom tooth, and that was just your average wiggle, wiggle and then (I'm just finding this out as I'm writing this and consulting with Mikey) pulled out by Daddy.

The next tooth out was definitely more exciting - and unexpected. We knew she had a couple of teeth that were starting to wiggle, but they weren't what you would call loose. I knew she didn't like to crunch into anything and I had to cut up her apples for her, but that was about all. So, we were at the reception for her Art Camp (more on that later), and Mike, Clara and John Michael had already left. We were milling around looking at the kid's artwork that was displayed on the walls, window sills, stairways, and ceilings and Gracie decided she would have an apple from the refreshment table. Next thing I know, she's looking concerned, holding out her apple to me and mumbling something. I finally grasp that she's asking me if her tooth came out. What??? Sure enough, I look in her mouth (wishing Mike hadn't already left) and there is only one upper front tooth left. Wow - that was one crunchy apple, I guess. So I look down at the apple, assuming the tooth will be there. No tooth. Hmmmmm. . . so I ask her, "is it in your mouth? Did you swallow it?" Okay, so I asked that second question several times before I realized a) I was going to freak her out by asking that and b) she probably would have noticed swallowing something as big as her tooth. Once the rational part of my brain kicked in, I finally located the tooth on the floor under the refreshment table (luckily, no one else was paying attention to me and my frantic tooth search). I was thrilled we had found it and Gracie was happy to have another visit from the tooth fairy.

Or so she thought. For some reason, the tooth fairy didn't show up that night. I thought it might have been because Gracie went to bed so late (10pm), but Gracie decided the tooth fairy wanted her to be able to show her tooth to Aunt Carolyn who was coming for a visit the next day (and who was thrilled at the sight, I might add). Luckily, the tooth fairy did come that second night, and even brought her 2 gold dollars since it was her first top tooth.

And the other top tooth had an exciting finish as well. It was actually wiggling, but not ready to come out yet. In the midst of Gracie and Clara having a grand time playing with one of Gracie's school buddies (Alex), Gracie got bumped in the mouth and her tooth started bleeding. It didn't come out, but I guess if I had been brave enough, I might have pulled it out. But ... I didn't. So we headed home and she said it was fine, but she wouldn't touch it either. Fast forward to 5am... Gracie: "Mommy, I woke up and there was a tooth in my mouth." So Gracie got to take her tooth on her first ever camping trip with Daddy and Clara. And the tooth fairy managed to make it into their tent that night and leave her another gold dollar.

I'm kind of hoping the rest of the teeth will be more of the wiggle, wiggle, and then Daddy pull variety. I think I've reached my handling loose teeth quota for the year.

And as a final note, of course Clara has been checking in with us every few weeks or so, sure that some of her teeth must be loose, too.

Finally! The girl's accomplishments

2010-08-04T21:59:00.000-05:00

And since it's been what, 2 months? There are so many more to report now! But I think I'll stick with my original plan.

Clara -

She finished out her year of gymnastics at The Little Gym. She really enjoyed it, but we are switching back to music for this coming year. And, the big news of the past few days is that Clara will be a kindergartner next year. Mike & I have debated endlessly about this and finally after talking to Mrs. Matejka (who knows Clara from all the parties and other events we attended for Gracie last year), we decided to go ahead and let her start. She'll be an afternoon kindergartner, since those are the spots that were left. Hopefully, it will be a good fit for her and it will be nice to have her year be a little different than her big sister's!

But, back to her gymnastics - here's are two short clips of routines she did during the final performance:

Gracie -
So this video clip is from her recital at the end of her music camp. It was her first keyboard classes (she'll continue in the fall with the same - group keyboard) and it was the first camp of the summer. Poor Gracie missed one of the four days after she got some sort of cold/virus and ran a fever. I don't know that she really felt well on the last two days, but I hated to have her miss when it was such a short camp and she was so excited. But she hung in there and here's the end result:

I'll have to make a new recording of her playing that (or something else), because we now have a lovely new (to us) piano in our living room! Thanks to my Mom & Dad for scouring the metroplex to find us a really nice piano. We've had it for about 2 weeks now and the kids really enjoy it. Gracie has learned to play all of the sheet music she has (simple songs from her classes) and even wrote out a duet for her and Clara to play.

In other exciting news, Gracie has now lost *4* teeth. And yes, those would be all of her front teeth. When she lost the last of the front ones, we poked some fun at her about how tough it was to make those "ss" sounds, but she was a good sport about it. And luckily, she now has both bottom teeth about half way in. Those top teeth are probably going to be awhile coming in, but more on that in another post.

Accomplishments - Boys first

2010-06-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

Yes - sleeping! No, actually this is a quick time out when he was finally able to run free at Clara's final class (performance!) at The Little Gym.
His big accomplishment is all the talking he has been doing lately. He's really trying for sentences, and is happy to repeat, repeat, and repeat a word if you don't get it. And then repeat it and repeat it again if you still don't get it.

Some example "sentences" from the past few days:
1) Ready to leave the house and knowing he has to put on his new shoes first. (We had a big struggle getting him to wear a new pair of shoes, so Daddy volunteered and took him shopping to get these new ones.) "NUU, Nuu, Nuu...Dada, Dada, Dada . . . GO!GO!GO!"
2) Waving goodbye to me in anticipation of the babysitter coming and me leaving (a first! usually he's not so happy) "Jess . . . . playplay . . . go . . . BYE!"

He has been trying to put two words together without all the repeats. We've heard "Dump . . . truck" a few times this week. There are still long pauses in the middle, but he's definitely getting there.

Of course, with all of these words, it's definitely a big help if you know what he is talking about. And of course, lots of times we really don't! I'll be thrilled when I finally figure out some of his words. There is something he is always talking about "bin" or "ben" and I have no idea what it is!

And while it's not too relevant to the post, I thought this was a cute picture of "the boys." I guess they are reading "The Prince and the Potty" and Mike has been trying to work on that with JM (he seems to be in charge of the potty training with the kiddos - he had good luck with the girls, so I'm happy to let him forge ahead with John Michael).

But Mike's real accomplishments have been all his workouts and cycling. He's lean and mean (okay, you have to know that's sarcasm if you know my husband at all) these days, down to his college weight. He did a 60 mile ride about a month ago in Burleson and averaged 21mph. This past Saturday he cycled 78 miles at a ride in Waxahachie and completed that in 4 hours 15 minutes. He was aiming to do the 100 mile ride, but missed one turn so ended up with a shorter loop. He'll be riding the Hotter than Hell Hundred come August, and there's no doubt he'll be ready this year. I bet he's aiming to make it in under 5 hours . . . again. Go Mikey!

Reading

2010-06-22T18:50:00.000-05:00

Just finished listening to both of my girls reading! Amazing!

Clara needed help (of course), but she got a lot of the words on her own. She was reading a Level 1 Barbie book (yes, I Know - I'm not a big fan, but I let Gracie buy it at the book fair with her money since she really wanted it and we were trying to encourage the reading).

Then I got to listen to Gracie reading. She amazes me with her fluency/inflection in her reading. And some of the words she knows (creatures!). And just to be completely different than her sister, she was reading The Rhyme Bible.

And JM came in at the end and cuddled up to listen a little bit to each sister reading.

Bread and Jam(Plum) for Mike

2010-06-21T08:09:00.000-05:00

So it's been a great year for our plum tree. Last year we had a late freeze and some storms that took the fruit off the trees. But not this year. Clara had been asking about "her" plum tree, since she loved the plums when we had them several years ago. She didn't end up actually eating many this year, but she was really excited about picking and helping to make jam.

Clara started off picking from Daddy's arms . . .

But then it was necessary to switch to the ladder. She went all the way to the last step. She was determined to get every plum she could!

Here she is with about 2/3 of the crop. Mike had to pick the rest from the top step of the ladder - it's a tall plum tree! And yes, we picked lots of them green this year. We've learned from experience to pick when we get the chance instead of waiting. We found that waiting leads to too much waiting when other things in life seem more pressing and before you know it most of the fruit is rotting on the ground. But they actually ripened very nicely in the house where we spread them out on the rock area surrounding our wood stove.

Back to the picking . . . it took long enough that we all managed to wander outside before it was all said and done. Everyone managed to find a job for him/herself. Gracie and I sorted the plums in the wagon (green and ripe) and John Michael had some complicated, and understandable only to him, job of putting the leaves and greenery that accidentally got picked into his wheelbarrow.

Then it was time to bring the harvest in:

The girls and I took off to Houston a few days later (more on that in an upcoming post!), but Mike persevered and ate lots of plums, got lots of jam made and ate lots of plum jam. I've been joking with the kids that he might have a plum tree growing in him!

Luckily for Clara, there were still some plums that needed to be turned into jam. She was really excited to help and there were enough for two nights of plum jam-making.

She even got to stay up late the second night to help since she took a 2 hour nap that day and Gracie was off at VBS with a friend so it was a fun time for her and Daddy (JM was in bed).

And that's it for the plums this year. Now we just get to enjoy about 8 quarts of yummy plum jam (okay, I think we're down to 6 - Mike really has been eating a lot!). We'll give you a taste if you drop by, but you better hurry, it's going fast.

And the pool is . . .

2010-06-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

Open! At least at Mimi & Pap's. We got to spend a nice relaxing Sunday (on Memorial Day weekend) in the pool.

Gracie & Clara managed to get in a couple of swim sessions. This is the first session, when the sun was going strong.

Mike eventually got in (and got comfortable as this picture shows!), but of course he is one that has to inch his way into the pool, agonizing at every drop of water is splashed his way (and believe me, there were some!).

Pap even got in the water for the second round of swimming. And I think he turned into a shark - Gracie & Clara were having a blast "swimming" from him!

And you might notice the absence of JM in these shots. He came with us, he just wasn't in a "pool" mood. I'm afraid that watching too many swim lessons and not participating may have made him think that he shouldn't get in the pool. But I'm hoping to remedy that this week by having him have a mini-lesson after the girls' lessons.

After the pool, everyone was ready for a snack. Mimi made some popcorn - which was fascinating for the girls since it wasn't popped in the microwave.

I know we did more throughout the day, but I only captured pictures of the pool and popcorn making. That's what happens when you're having fun. Thanks for having us over Mimi & Pap. It started the summer off right!

Graduation

2010-06-18T20:31:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm finally catching up on all the events of May and the beginning of June. So just pretend it's not as hot as it really is yet (especially if you're here in N Texas) and sit back and enjoy!

Gracie had a great kindergarten year. The graduation celebration was an hour long program featuring songs, slides from the year, recognition for different reading accomplishments, attendance awards, and then the most important part, the awarding of the diploma! Gracie was super excited about switching over her tassel - she knew that once she did that she would officially "graduate" from kindergarten.

It was a lovely program (like all of the other one's they have done this year) and the kids performed an amazing amount of songs with movements accompanying the words. And after the program, there was an amazing reception out on the lawn, under a huge oak tree decorated with lights. As part of the school's tradition, the first grade parents put together this reception for the kindergarten. I really like this tradition and am looking forward to being part of it next year!

Do you see that excited smile on her face? I thought she (and all the other kindergartners) might just explode with happiness and excitement!

Gracie was full of silliness that night as well!

And finally, check out the tassel in the picture below.

Receiving her diploma from Mrs. Werner and Mrs. Matejka. Thank you ladies, for a wonderful year!

First and Last

2010-06-18T19:45:00.000-05:00

How to get things done around the house ( or yard)

2010-06-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

And don't forget to think outside the box. You can invite school friends over for a "play" date.

Our Garden

2010-06-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

This year, everything started a little later than usual. We had a very, very muddy yard. When Mike was finally able to till the garden area, he looked like he might even go under with the tiller. He didn't, and now we have a nice lovely garden patch.

It's not the 1 acre garden we had growing up, but we've got lots of stuff in our little area - tomatoes, beans (a whole row of those, the girls insisted!), eggplant (no luck last year, but I wanted to try again this year), cucumbers, zuchini, basil, marigolds, sunflowers, a vinca (which Clara saw at Home Depot and had to have!). I think that's all, but in reality, Mike is the master gardener. I just like to admire and eat the "fruits" of his and the kids' labor. I did think about doing some weeding the other day, but it was awfully hot and I'm sure one of the kids wanted me to play with them (always a handy excuse, right?).

Gracie, working hard, as always. Digging like her Daddy does, foot on the shovel.

Clara was busy planting, too. She was on bean detail and also helped with cucumbers (her favorite!) and squash.

Daddy distributing seeds to plant. He got smart this year and put popsicle sticks to mark where the plants were. Well, it seemed smart until I looked up and saw John Michael pulling up all the popsicle sticks and then digging around for seeds! I guess JM doesn't quite have the whole garden thing down yet.

So that's our little garden. We haven't harvested anything yet, but the bean plants are big, I've seen flowers on the cucumbers and there are at least 4 green tomatoes on one plant. Yipee!

And I'm just realizing that we have harvested something - one of my favorite things - basil! I love to add it to our tomato sauce, on top of pizza, or in salads. It's so yummy. I really missed it over the winter when we didn't get our plant inside before the first freeze.

I'll post soon about our harvest from our "orchard!"

Clara, Clara, Clara

2010-06-09T23:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know if it was the slight fever she had today or the cold she has inherited from Gracie (who is almost recovered now), but Clara was non-stop entertainment in the car today. Our journey consisted of driving to Gracie's piano camp and then to various stores and then back to pick Gracie up.

On the way to the piano camp, Clara was sure we had gone too far and missed our turn (she really likes to help you out with your driving - I can't wait until she's working on that learner's permit). "Mommy, we missed the H-turn - where's the H-turn???"

Let me preface this next part by saying that last night, Clara wanted Gracie "OUT" of "her" room (they share a room) during her storytime. So today about 5 minutes after dropping off Gracie, Clara started talking about what would happen after she and Gracie were grown-ups.
Clara: I won't see her anymore.
Me: Yes, you will. Remember how I get to visit my sisters?
Clara: But it won't be everyday...It will be different. It will never be the same again! And I won't get to see you ... and you will be really old.
Me: (I had to pause and think about the really old part!) . . . Well, you can always come visit us and you can call us. Everyday, if you want. We can talk everyday.
Clara: No ... that would be too much. Not everyday!!!

Then, in the parking lot where it was raining: "Look at all the windwipers - they're wiping off the wind....Is that right, Mommy? Do they wipe off the wind?"
So I didn't give her a straight answer - I just couldn't inform her that they weren't windwipers. It's much more interesting sounding. So I told her I supposed they might. I guess eventually I should tell her what they are really called. But I'm sure Gracie will set her straight (one of her most recent favorite activities) if I don't.

I know she had a few other funnies, but it's late and I'm definitely having Mommy memory (=no memory).

But here's my all time favorite so far & I still don't correct her because it always makes me laugh!
Clara's a big fan of a show called Zoboomafoo (which is all about wild animals). So here's one of the things she's learned on the show: "Animals have to protect themselves from their creditors."

Sundresses!

2010-06-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

Just in time, as the humidity has risen and so has the temperature, a package arrived from Aunt Sue. Can you sense the excitement?

Not only did the girls get a beautiful sundress each to wear, but I got the pattern complete with additional instructions and examples (which you know I need - sewing a circular poodle skirt for the girls is about the extent of my skills!).

The girls love their dresses and Clara packed hers to wear in Amarillo that weekend!

Look at those smiles! Thank you, Aunt Sue!

Round #3 - JM's Birthday

2010-06-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

So after watching Gracie's encore performance of Hallelujah Hop, Mimi & Pap came over to celebrate JM's birthday. He was thrilled & had definitely gotten the hang of opening the presents. Clara was sure he still needed some help, but I'm sure he would have done fine on his own. Then after presents, he got to have a birthday treat - a cupcake. And boy, did he love those!

As soon as he woke up from his nap that afternoon he started talking about "cake, cake." I think that look on his face must be wariness, just in case anyone is trying to steal that delicious cupcake!

And of course, no visit would be complete without another matchup between the checker champ and Pap:

The next day, the girls were playing with the toys JM got (yes, that's how it goes when you have older siblings and you are not that old, yet!) and JM was playing with his gift from Aunt Mary Jo and Uncle Dick (which he loves!) And just so you younger siblings don't worry too much, JM did get a chance with his new bubble blower . . . eventually!

Hallelujah Hop - Take 2!

2010-05-31T12:32:00.000-05:00

This was Gracie's second year to be in the "Hop" (it's for the PreK 4 class and the kindergarten class) and she was very excited. JM had to stay home with the sitter for the evening performance, since it didn't start until 7:30 but Clara got to come this year.

So both girls got a new "poodle" skirt. They were very excited to choose their fabric and then I let them choose which applique they wanted since the pattern had a few choices. And they both ended up with Kitty "poodle" skirts.

Gracie had a grand time (again) and was almost as excited as the year before. She was really proud of her speaking part (all of the older kids get bigger singing/speaking parts) and did an awesome job. Sadly, I was too slow with the record button, so here's what she said with a picture. And you should have heard the emphasis on the last line!!

"One of the verses we learned in chapel this year was John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever shall believe in him will have everlasting life.' AND I BELIEVE IT!"

This is her whole class before the show (1/4 of the kids in the show). Mrs. Matejka, her teacher (on the left) is in charge of it all and does an unbelievable job. The whole production takes an hour and the kids have to learn all the songs, hand motions and lines/cues. Anyhow, you'll get to see a lot of Hallelujah Hop pictures over the next few years. With Clara starting PreK 4 next year and then JM 2 years after that, we'll end up with a total of 6 consecutive performances in the family.

The next day the kids do the performance at a local nursing home. This year Mimi & Pap came for that and it was great that they got to see Gracie "live." Then we went back to the school for a "cast party" complete with the 50's theme. Gracie got to show off her poodle skirt twirl some more ...

and then, it was back to our house with Mimi & Pap for another party for JM (he managed 3 parties for his 2nd birthday!). And I'll cover that in another post!

Two Wheels!

2010-05-16T13:17:00.002-05:00

Yes - that's right! Two wheels for both girls!

Of course, Mike had just spent an hour yesterday putting the training wheels back on their bikes so they could go around the block with him. I had been asking him to do it, too because the girls go pretty fast on those bikes with training wheels. Then I have to run (with JM in the jogging stroller) to keep up. Nothing like seeing your kids getting way ahead of you on their bikes and careening toward the ditch to make you run fast!!

And then this morning, Clara started off balancing on our third bike (bought it cheap at a garage sale with the idea of replacement parts) and then she got the hang of it, balancing and pedaling, after about half an hour. She was doing circle around that driveway like a pro.

It took a little longer to get Gracie warmed up to the idea, but after she had a while to decide for herself she suited up and headed out. She got discouraged more easily, but Mike took her into the shade of the driveway and had her going straight up and down. He helped her for a little bit and then she took off on her own, too.

I know it's hard for Gracie sometimes to see her sister accomplish these things at the same time, but I guess it's teaching her the lesson to persevere and not get discouraged!

I'm so proud of them both! Hopefully, in a few weeks I'll be jogging?/running along with them around the block and we'll be avoiding all the ditches. Mike found a bike ride in a month or so with a 9 mile route. We'll have to see if the kids would be ready for that (JM would get to ride in the trailer).

He's 2!

2010-05-10T08:25:00.003-05:00

There's the birthday boy on his actual birthday, April 5th! (This was the best picture we got - everyone was still tired from the Easter trip to Amarillo, especially Mommy & Daddy!)

With his "poo-boo". Every bear is a Pooh bear.

The boys having a blast with the tike bike.

And the best of all, the 3 second video that always brings a smile to my face:

Strawberry Farm and Spur Ct

2010-05-09T14:01:00.010-05:00

This is my first guest post! I didn't know it until this afternoon, but Mike composed a post about his day with the kids yesterday (I was off scrapbooking). So I got a day off yesterday, a post for my blog, and breakfast in bed this morning (the girls initiated and helped with that, but JM wasn't allowed to help). What a nice Mother's Day!

Katherine
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We visited the Strawberry farm in Granbury this weekend.

On the way we stopped by Spur Ct (Scott's old house)

to see what it looks like these days.

After picking strawberries for an hour we drove back through Godley and stopped at the city park. The new playset was fun.

Everyone rode the merry go round even if their feet ouldn't reach the pedals.

We were tired of mowing around the basketball goal so we just put it back up. It had been laying on the ground since 2007 when we built the playroom onto the house. We got this blue basketball for free at a garage sale.

Rest Stop Realization

2010-05-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

On our way home from Amarillo we stopped at our usual rest area to play. Thank goodness it was the perfect day - what are they thinking not putting a canopy above these playsets? There isn't a real tree around for miles and the slides are dark green, a combination that equals *ouch* for little legs when the temperature gets above 80 or so. Anyhow, it was hot on the playset, but not burn your legs hot, so everyone was able to have a blast!

Mike headed off to the playset with Gracie & JM first. Here are a few snaps of the fun they had together:

Then watch out, here comes Clara!

Gracie headed off to play on her own while Clara took over hanging out with the little man. They had a blast going down the biggest slide time and time again. Here they are on their way up:

And my fave picture of the day:

I only wish John Michael would have gotten in it, but he had more important things to do, like go "drive" the fire engine on the other side of the playset.

So why did I title this the rest stop realization? Take a look again at the first picture. Notice all three children in one shot and no adult hovering nearby. Mike and I both had the same "aha" moment at the rest stop, realizing that this was really the first time we had been out with all the kids and were able to just sit back, watch and enjoy.

What a treat to see them all growing up, especially John Michael, on the day before his second birthday!

Amarillo Again - My Wordless Wednesday!

2010-05-05T08:33:00.001-05:00

Our trip to Amarillo

2010-05-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

aka - visiting the animals. At least when we were at Susie & Dave's. Looking through the pictures was pretty amusing. I didn't really filter out too many. Most of them featured Maggie. And then there was Sarah's hamster and then JM right below the other hamster (in its cage) in Katie's room. So, here they are:

And just a note, JM didn't want to leave Katie's side. We still get to hear about "Ka-ee . .. bye,bye." He was very sad when we had to leave.

Dinnertime madness

2010-05-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Or what happens when Mommy & Daddy decide they should just keep eating dinner regardless of what's happening at the other end of the table ...

I'm not sure what actually ended up in the salad bowl, but definitely some things that we didn't originally intend to be in there. And it would be great if JM had really been interested in *eating* salad, but alas, he was only interested in the mechanics of it all.

Easter Festivities!

2010-04-19T22:44:00.000-05:00

This post is *full* of pictures! The kids managed to get in lots and lots of Easter fun. It started with a visit with Mimi the week before Easter. She brought some fun Easter bags and got to read all of the kids a book (check out which one - appropriate, eh?).

What is in there????

Oh - it's a floppy bunny. What fun (and what great entertainment in the car on the way to Amarillo!)

Mom told me after her visit that at the end of the story (Peter Rabbit, if you can't see it), Clara had pointed at Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail at the end of the book and said "they got deserts because they were good little bunnies" - and then she sighed deeply. Yes, she's our little bunny that struggles to obey the rules - I can't count the number of times I heard the dreaded "no!" today.

Our next stop on the Easter train of fun (yes, it's getting late as I write this), was at the Amarillo zoo. On Saturday, they had all sorts of special activities at the zoo, so we decided to check it out. Well, I hadn't counted on it being 45 degrees until midday. And I guess I forgot about the wind. So the kiddos look a little cold, but we had them dressed in the warmest things I had packed ....

As you can see from Gracie's face, one of the fun things was face painting. The girls also got to plant carrots seeds in a little pot, make Easter bags, pet a bunny and see the Easter Bunny himself. It was a fun trip and the zoo is just the perfect size for all of them to enjoy.

The girls & Daddy with the sleeping bear. We hoped he would move, but not so. JM was too fascinated with running up and down the ramp to the bear exhibit to be bothered with looking at the actual bears!

But he did like the donkeys:

Saturday continued with more festivities - egg dyeing with the Stebbins clan:

Then it was time for the Easter egg hunt. Sarah decided not to hunt - instead she got to hide the eggs. Susie & I were supposed to be helping, but I think there was more chatting (at least on my part) than hiding. Sarah did a great job! I think we had over a 100 eggs to hide, so it was no small task . . .

And they're off! Gracie was collecting those eggs pretty fast. I think was being a sweet older cousin and taking her time to make sure our kids found enough!

Check out that hiding spot! And sharp eyes (Clara) found it.

Some were better egg hunters than others ....

Yes, that's grass he's putting in his basket ...

The Egg Hunt Crew

And finally, getting a snack ready for the Easter bunny. Thank goodness Grandma had some lettuce tucked away in the fridge, since all the carrots were gone. Then the girls decided some grapes and walnuts would be good, too. Yummy, right?

Look at those late night, goofy with excitement kids!

Checking out the loot on Easter morning, before church. And those bunny whiskers just wouldn't wash off...

Happy Easter!

More pictures of JM to come - I've still got his birthday post(s) to do!

The Week before Easter - Spring is Coming!

2010-04-19T22:17:00.000-05:00

Who can ask for more than a Barbie kite, a great breeze, and one of your dogs lounging nearby? This was a fun day!

Spring Break, Part 2

2010-04-05T16:05:00.000-05:00

On Monday of spring break, we had a fun-filled day. First, cousin Alex (and Aunt J) came to play for a little

while. I can't remember everything they managed to do in the few hours they had together, but here are some pictures:

Chillin' in front of the tv

Finally got them off the couch and back out to the sunshine!

Next, it was time to bring out the Barbies. The babies had to go see Dr. Barbie and one of them had to go to the hospital to get a cast on her broken foot (the cast was a big white Barbie boot) - oh my!

Gracie got bored with this before the other two did - they would have played for hours, but it was almost time for Alex & Aunt J to leave. But first, the kids got to enjoy the treat Alex brought - Ring Pops!

This picture doesn't even really begin to sum up the madness that ensued a few minutes into the ring pops. There were lasers (ring pop bases) firing and all sorts of things going on - lots of shrieking and giggling!

And then, all too quickly, the visit was over. But the kids didn't have to despair for long because Aunt Susie, Uncle Dave, Sarah and Katie were on their way. They arrived an hour or so later and we got to have dinner with them. But apparently, our family lost the camera mojo, because we only got one picture during their visit.

And no, you're not imagining things, Susie, Dave, Sarah & Katie are not in that picture. I don't know how we managed it, but we didn't get a single picture of their visit here. They'll just have to come again so we can be sure and get some pictures!

We did have a great time with them on Tuesday, hanging out at the museum and going to lunch. We didn't end up at the Science & History Museum as planned (which is really the kid's museum) because the line was 45 minutes long just to pay! So, we headed a few blocks over and went to the Amon Carter museum. I didn't know how long my kids would last, but we were there enjoying ourselves for about an hour. The museum had a "postcard tour" for the girls to do and it really kept them engaged. There were about 20 postcards of different paintings and sculptures that they had to find throughout the museum. We only had to ask for help in finding one of the sculptures. And at the end, the girls got a free postcard (they are holding them in the picture). I really enjoyed the museum, too. I had been there for special exhibits but hadn't really taken time to look at the rest of the museum. After seeing how the girls enjoyed it, I'm hoping we can go to some of the other museums (like the Kimball and the Modern) and have a good time, too.

Spring Break , Part One and a Half

2010-03-29T21:52:00.000-05:00

So these are my two "crazy" bears, playing together outdoors. And there wasn't any fighting or pushing, they were just having a blast. Clara was quite pleased they were playing a "game" together - I think it might be the first time they have really been able to do that!

I'm not sure you can see it, but John Michael has a litltle plastic dog in his hand. (And don't you just love his "necklace?" That's Gracie's - it's actually the leftover chain from our ceiling fan pull and she's turned it into a necklace & just loves to wear it - just love that, right?).

So here is how the game starts - you race to climb into the slide (clearly Clara goes over the top and JM goes the more traditional route).

Step 2 - "Drop the Dog" (that's the game title, I think). JM is in charge of positioning the little fellow over one of the little holes in the top surface of the slide and letting him plummet to the ground below.

See - he's just about to drop it. And I didn't get a good picture of the next step - but I think it's called shriek, scramble and search. And as they race to get down off the slide, Clara goes over the top, JM propels himself off the platform over the ladder (why would you want to actually go down the slide???) and they run to go underneath and find the plastic dog. Over and over and over. Apparently, it's a blast to play. Unfortunately, they haven't played it again since that day becasue the poor little puppy never made it inside. Hopefully, it didn't make it into Coco's belly ...

Spring Break - Part 1

2010-03-24T09:50:00.003-05:00

Well, we're trying to get back into the swing of things after a week off, but it's been a little bit of a struggle. Probably I shouldn't turn off my alarm in the morning and we should probably all be out of bed before 7:45 since Gracie is tardy at 8:15am. And today was picture day, too! Oh well, she actually made it there right at 8:15. I'm so thankful the school is so close.

Spring break was pretty fun this year. Gracie kept telling me she was going to sleep in, but she was out of bed by 7:30 every day (and some days earlier). She got an extra long spring break since kindergarten conferences were Thursday & Friday. So the break started off with me getting to hear that she's been doing well in school. You think everything is fine & she's doing well, but it's always nice to hear from someone else.

Then on Saturday I did something I had long promised the girls we would do - I took them roller skating! We found a great rink in Arlington (the Skatium) that offers skating classes on Saturday morning (all levels - beginner through advanced. (Sue, I was having flashbacks to the Skate Place!)) and after the lessons the kids can skate free at the session. And I get to skate for free (and the girls did too, since it was their first time to go).

It was a little bit of a rough beginning for us all (why don't your legs seem to remember how to skate after only, hmmm... 20 years?), but then the kids went to the class and the teachers really helped them out. Gracie seemed to really catch on pretty quickly and surprisingly, Clara was the one that had a harder time (it's usually the reverse with things that require balance and coordination). But they both stuck with it through the lesson.

Then we had a snack at the snack bar (ring pop and starburst) and then I headed with them out onto the rink floor. We made it around a few more times (Gracie skated on ahead and Clara and I took our time) and that was plenty for them. We were there about an hour and a half and Clara counted 3.5 times around the rink for her. Gracie probably made it a few more times, but she wasn't counting.

So we went again this past Saturday and I actually brought the camera! They had a blast and Clara finally really got the hang of things right at the end of her lesson. She just reminded me that she made it around the rink *13* times! She really kept after it. Gracie and I had already gotten off the floor & she decided to go around one more time. Gracie was busy working on trying backwards skating and doing a little hop (they work with them on that in the class).

So here are some pictures - it's not actually that dark, I think my flash wasn't strong enough since the batteries were giving out.

And they're off. I'm sure we'll keep going. We're even thinking about taking JM.... definitely will have to get some pictures of that if we do - I think he would love it!

Reality Check!

2010-03-21T21:50:00.003-05:00

Clara and John Michael were both playing outside the other day. Clara was on the driveway and John Michael was playing on the driveway until then a truck drove up to our neighbor's house. So he took off across the front yard. Now even though our whole yard is fenced (chain link fence) and the dogs are always out with the kids, I don't really like the idea of JM standing at the far corner of our property near a truck that had a man standing outside it talking to someone inside (and I didn't recognize the truck or the man . . . but it did turn out to be the meter reader for our water company).

So I started calling to John Michael, telling him not to go so far away. I kept hoping he would listen to me and come back, lose interest in the truck, whatever, because I knew he would pitch a big fit if I went over and carried him back across the yard. So after no luck with my calling to him, I asked Clara to try and call him to see if he would come back for her, and I kept calling to him as well, saying don't go so far away.

Finally, clearly exasperated with me, Clara piped up with "Mom, it's not like he's going to Chicago!"

Thank you dearest for the reality check - what *was* I thinking? And how do you know where Chicago is anyhow?

Surprise!

2010-03-21T21:41:00.002-05:00

Mike took Clara & JM off on a surprise adventure and got rid of all of our recycling and our branches and came home with the best thing ever ... GRAVEL!

Most of it was efficiently unloaded by the two workers you see here, of course with the help of the dump truck.

So in addition to making a better transition between our concrete driveway and the dirt (mud?), it's been lots of hours of fun for the kids. There were only a few upsets about the trouble it causes when trying to ride your bike through it, and once the girls discovered the fun of making tracks in it with the bikes that was resolved. JM's method was just to "ride" (push with his feet) the trike full speed at it and get stalled out by it.

It has been a great $30 "surprise."

My "B" Bears!

2010-03-21T21:37:00.002-05:00

Brownie Bear

Bunny Bear

Berry Bear

More to come soon, I promise. I found the card reader, so it's much easier to blog now that I have pictures on the computer to remind me of what we have been doing for the past month!

Heard (or thought) around the house . . .

2010-02-14T16:25:00.003-06:00

Gracie - "I've got to write that down . . . in my head!"

Clara, with sarcasm (after Gracie sat down too close to her) - "Last time I checked, that was my arm!"

JM - "No." "No." "No." (answers to: let's change your diaper, time to go night-night, let's clean your face off, and a bunch of other questions we must learn to phrase as statements!)

Me (thought) - why did I feed a one and a half year-old cottage cheese right after cleaning the floor?

Future Engineer?

2010-02-06T20:28:00.000-06:00

This is from several months ago - I don't know why I never got it posted, but here it is, better late than never!

So during the Mother Goose week at her school, Gracie and her class got to participate in an egg drop experiment. They were given sandwich bags, a variety of materials to choose from and an egg and told to try and devise something that would keep their egg (Humpty Dumpty?) from breaking when they dropped it from a few feet up.

Well, Gracie and her friend Kareth were the only two (out of 16 kids) whose eggs survived the fall. Gracie will tell you that she didn't choose the straws because they were "like pokey" and she thinks that the blue ribbon, which only she and Kareth had tied around their bags, were critical to the design.

Mike's Birthday

2010-02-06T20:12:00.004-06:00

Even though he tried to convince us it was every other day of the year, we knew that January 22 really was Mike's birthday (and coincidentally, my Grandfather's as well). Clara was concerned that he had to go in to work on his birthday, but I told her he would be home in time for dinner and a party. She informed me that he would be home early. I found out later from Mike that she had instructed him to come home early & good Daddy that he is, he listened and made it home an hour or so early. Which was good, because everyone was super excited about him coming home. Here's everyone watching (and I do mean everyone!):

So as soon as we saw his car coming down the rode, the girls started screaming "hide, hide!" So we did. Of course they popped out pretty quickly and JM was kind of oblivious to the whole hiding/surprising thing. But he was happy to see his "Dada!" home:

Next, the girls informed Mike that it was time for him to find his presents. They had decided the day before that they would hide all of his (wrapped) birthday presents to make things extra fun. It wasn't too hard to find them, though. The girls were both so excited to give hints (i.e., point out present locations) that I don't think Mike had to really spend any time searching.

Here are a few he had accumulated.

Then he had to open the present Clara had picked out at Target a few days before (she was *so* excited, she almost told him what it was several times the night before). And it was ... Battleship! They had to set it up and play it right away. Which was fun, but made harder by JM running off with the bag of all of the pegs.

After a dinner of Cowboy stew and cornbread, it was time for the apple pie & ice cream.

And if you look closely, you'll see that we were able to use supplies on hand for this party (puppy hats and Elmo hats and red plates!), which was grand since Clara and JM were still under the weather. And Mike certainly didn't mind (he might not even have noticed!) Mike's always one to say not to worry about things matching or being "perfect," he's good about always keeping the big picture in mind and passing on that attitude to the rest of us.

So Happy Birthday, Dada, Daddy, Mikey!!

Heard around the house

2010-02-06T20:02:00.002-06:00

"Peas for it hot, peas for it cold, peas for it in the pot nine days old." - Gracie

During a game of Parcheesi - "Watch out or I'm going to fire you." - Clara

"Mine, MIne, MINE!" - JM

"Is the internet working on the labtop yet, Daddy?" - Gracie & Clara (and that's not a spelling typo!)

"Don't touch the stove, JM, it will fire you." - Clara

"Just hold still for one moment & I'll have that tooth out." - Mike to Gracie, while brandishing the pliers.

"This is called stalling." "What is stalling?" "This is stalling." "But what is stalling?" - Mommy/Gracie/Mommy/Gracie, at bedtime

A favorite word: "POP!"

2010-02-02T14:10:00.002-06:00

"I'm getting serious now - stop taking those pictures!
Don't you see me standing here & don't you hear what I'm saying???"

What's up at our house

2010-02-02T13:51:00.007-06:00

Here's the latest & greatest:

Gracie - reading up a storm, but gets worn out if there is too much. She stated the other night "I'm *sick* of reading." She wasn't even reading at the time, it was just the idea of the reading she needed to do that night. We teased her about it & got her to laugh & I don't really think she hates reading (I hope not, I can't imagine that!). She read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" the other night by herself. Pretty neat, considering it was one of the first books I ever read to her!

She's always busy with little "projects." At school they get a little bit of free time in the morning to go to a center, and she usually chooses art, writing or science. If she's been in the writing center, she almost always comes home with something for Clara or JM. Here's her project from yesterday:

It's a puzzle with a picture of Humpty Dumpty saying "Aaaaa" (before he falls, I assume). She made the matching picture on the envelope and then that's a receipt that she included as well. She informed me that she was trying to trick Clara about where it came from with the receipt (see the red "Target?")

Clara - Well, I don't have a lot of new things to say about what she has been doing, because she has mainly been trying to get better. She endured six shots last week of antibiotics (2 shots a day, for three days) & these suckers hurt - she hurt too much to walk or stand afterward for a few hours. But on the positive side, it did finally get rid of her ear infections. Now she just has fluid in her ears, so we'll see in a month if that has cleared up. If not, then we do go on to the ENT. Hopefully, we can get her completely healed up.

She did recount the whole story of the people coming from the desert and walking around the wall seven times for seven days, and then the wall fell down and Jericho was theirs! (we have the Veggie Tales movie). As usual, she has a lot to tell us and likes to give lots of details (I don't know who that comes from ... ha, ha).

Oh & before all of the ear infection got bad (along with a respiratory virus that put her on breathing treatments again), she & Gracie got out their Barbies & took them to the portrait studio. Here's Clara's rendition with the Barbie posing next to the drawing. The one on the left was the final product - the other two were practice ones, she told me.

JM - okay, he should probably have his own post! He's saying lots of things, but still in that phase where we are not sure what half of them are. Here are some of the more recent ones: amen (after grace), dee end (the end), brush (hair & teeth - he loves to do both!), *CRASH* (people, toys, things, whatever!), no-nut (donut, his all time favorite food that will drive him to a 20 minute fit if you tell him no more - as I found out yesterday, but Clara helped him get over that by suggesting .... a "pop," as in a popsicle), coat (as in - put my coat on I want to go outside!).

One of the funniest things he's taken to doing lately is "practicing" the piano like Gracie does for her music class. Gracie has been working on the five finger scale & she is supposed to sing along (do, re, mi, etc.) as she plays. She has a plastic folder for all her music stuff and props it beyond the keyboard when she's practicing. So JM found a plastic folder in a bookcase, started saying "do-do-do" and ran to the keyboard and started playing, of course. He's done this several times now, & if we ask him if he is going to practice the piano, he will go and get that notebook and tell you "do-do-do."

John Michael has finally learned to really enjoy his books, too. It used to be a good night or naptime if you could get through a couple of shorter books without him becoming too wiggly. Now you have to give him the last book warning & even then he is sure he still needs more and more books - it's a great thing, though. But we'll have to keep Gracie from telling him about the whole "bonus" book thing.

He also loves to sit in either his little rocking chair or the recliner in his room and page through books on his own. If it's not naptime or bedtime, he's not really interested in you reading him a book, though.

He loves to carry around a pencil/pen/any writing instrument and a notebook/piece of paper/Mike's old driver license/anything he thinks should be written on. And just trying wrenching those objects away from him when it is time to sleep/eat/limit the destruction!

I know I am leaving out tons of new/neat things he can do now. Just this afternoon, he was helping me load firewood (not sticks but actual logs, although they were split logs) into our yard cart. He's a very determined boy!!

Here he is with his Sis just this morning.

And last, but not least. Coco has learned to (mostly) stay in the yard when the gate is open, to stay outside and not complain too much if we don't have time to let her in & dry her paws off every half hour, sleep through the night (as long as you consider being awake and ready to play by 4 or 5am morning), sort of sit when you are giving her a treat or a biscuit.

And that's all for now, folks!

Lost all my momentum . . .

2010-01-20T20:04:00.003-06:00

Well, I was on a roll there with those pre-Christmas pictures, but then the great sickness of 2010 (I can hope, right) started in our house. JM's had the yuck and now Clara. Last night was the first full night of sleep in almost a week. But amazingly, I was more tired this morning. Is that the way it is supposed to work? Oh, well.

The kiddos are, of course, up to new tricks, even the sick ones. Gracie's big accomplishments involve reading, reading, reading! She got almost all the way through Hop on Pop (five pages from the end) by herself with help needed only on "they." (Aren't you sorry to have missed that Dr. Seuss read aloud, Pap??) I think she finally realized, too, just how far she has come. It's amazing to hear her reading and nice to know that it is starting to "click." She also spends lots of time helping JM & teaching him. She worked with him on his bathtub shape sorter ship tonight - and he got it right after she had showed him! I think they were both excited.

Clara is still busy conquering new games on Webkinz. The latest are Battleship and Dicekinz. I don't even really understand Dicekinz, so I was watching her play and got some insight into how she figures out all these games. Trial and error, trial and error. She's not really interested even if you offer to read her the directions. She is definitely a "hands-on" learner. Clara has also been working on "reading" although I think she's lost some of the drive to compete with Gracie on that front. She is more interested in finding the words that you are reading on the page - I don't think she will be a learn the sounds, sound it out, kind of reader.

JM is busy, busy - even when he is sick. Watch out for your electronics if he's loose in your house - he seems to reprogram Mike's alarm clock every day (although I never seem to catch him back there) and he's been working on the laptop and regular computer (but hopefully, hasn't made too much progress on those, although he does know how to turn the monitor on and off).

JM's also very fond of his "baby" now. It's a small baby doll that he carries around some but mainly wants (along with his blankie) when he goes to sleep. But he loves it if you give the baby doll a kiss when you are giving him a kiss. I think maybe he is working up to kisses or hugs. He still doesn't like to give those out! He also loves to carry around a purse. I guess all kids must love to carry bags - poor guy, with two older sisters, I guess he is going to get stuck with purses for now.

That's all on the kiddos. Here's the funny from my husband. And a reminder that we still do get to talk and laugh together sometimes, even if it does happen during a household chore. So we were making the bed the other night (yes, I don't always get those clean sheets back on the bed before bedtime! and yes, Mike doesn't complain, he just helps! Yay Mikey!), and I was saying that I could never tell which direction the fitted sheet goes on (we have a king and the sheet is almost square). So Mike helpfully pointed out "the stripes go vertically." Aha! I thought. Then I looked at the sheet and noticed it had a plaid pattern.

Christmas Traditions

2010-01-13T19:38:00.004-06:00

I guess this is one of our traditions - this is the third year we've made it to Whistle Stop Park to enjoy the lights.

And of course, since JM's favorite thing to say at the time was "ights, ights!" this was a blast for him! Even though it was super cold (for us!), the kids had fun and ran around for about an hour.

The big tree is one of my favorites, second only to the arches of lights that are throughout the park:

We like to race through them for some reason. And after a few times the girls got really goofy (and tired, I think!):

This is the two of them collapsed/wrestling/snuggling under the arch.

The girls (and JM this year) love the gazebo. It has a ramp for running up and down or steps for climbing if you get bored. And lots of room to run around and dance underneath all the lights.

Lots of fun to be had and all for free!

Old Pictures, New Stuff

2010-01-10T12:37:00.002-06:00

The pictures are mostly self-explanatory, and I didn't think it would be right to post without any chit chat from me (don't I always have something to say??). So, it's probably about time for an update on new happenings at our house.

First, JM. There is so much that I don't know if I can cover it all. Lots of words lately, some that we can even understand (baby, duck, choo-choo). He's also a great jumper now, on or off a bed. It's a little scary to see him jump up just from standing, but he can do it. And when we were over at Mimi & Pap's over the holidays, he watched his big sister (guess which one?) and thought about trying to jump up the stairs. But we headed that one off. His latest attachment is to his hooded bath towels. Beware to the person that tries to take it off of him. Here's how he likes to wear it mostly:

When he's not carrying around snacks or toys in his hands, he holds the towel around himself. He hasn't had to go to bed with it yet, and we haven't left the house with it (I don't plan on ever doing that!). What a funny thing to be attached to - the girls never did this.

On to Clara. She's growing like a weed - some of Gracie's size 6 outfits don't fit her! Her latest passion is Webkinz. She's gotten to play on their with less supervision than Gracie had (since I figured she would just do the stuff that Gracie usually does). Well, bad assumption to make. She's found all sorts of new things to do. Her absolute favorite is "Checker Champion." That's checkers to you and me, but she really is the checker champion. After she got the hang of the game online, she's been getting out the board here and begging us to play games with her. I don't think Mike has played her yet, but she's beaten the pants of me and Gracie. And I tried pretty hard when I was playing her, usually only giving her one hint per game and trying to make strategic moves myself. So put your thinking cap on if she wants to play checkers with you!

And Gracie. She's been having to practice reading more & I think she could really take off with it if she wouldn't get so frustrated when she has to sound out a word. But she's doing really well and her new motivation is working toward earning a ticket to Six Flags. Hmmm, I guess that means we'll have to take her to Six Flags. And she's loving her 2-wheel scooter that she got for Christmas.

Here are the pictures - first set from the rest stop on the way home from Amarillo and second set from Christmas picture taking night.

Check out the height of this slide! I couldn't watch.

Ta Da!

Good smiles from both girls - too bad JM wasn't in this one!

One example of what lots of the pictures looked like ... not bad, but trying to get everyone coordinated - tough!

And the winner, in terms of comedy value:

(check out the shoes!)

Just two more posts before I get to Christmas pictures!

"Over the river & through the woods ...

2010-01-08T18:12:00.006-06:00

to Grandmother's house we go!"

Two weekends before Christmas, we headed up to Amarillo to visit with Mike's parents. Gracie and I might not have made the best company because we were both bringing along a cold with us. I think we managed not to get anyone sick, though & we had a good time in spite of feeling icky.

See, here we are:

We really wanted to be able to go up to Amarillo that weekend because all of Mike's siblings would be in town at the same time which is a rare thing these days.

There was lots to do, even when we weren't visiting with Mike's siblings. The girls love to play with the toys at Grandma's and Grandpa's, especially the ones that come from the basement (and yes, I mean basement, I'm not just confused and using that word for the garage!) That's usually Clara's first question within 10 minutes of arriving at their house - "Can we go to the basement and get a toy?" Mike takes the girls down (and I think JM might even have gotten carried down there a few times this trip) several times over the course of a visit and they get to each pick a toy to take up each time (meanwhile returning the one they had previously chosen). Of course, Grandma and Grandpa also have a closet full of toys in the living room, so there is no shortage of things to do.

Apparently, being silly was one of the things to do:

Another was to play with Grandma's cats at the window:

as you can see, even JM got to enjoy this!

And to continue a Christmas tradition, Mike (and the girls) worked on those gingerbread men that he makes every year:

We went visiting to Susie & Dave's house, where Sarah and the little guy entertained us with piano concerts and Gracie and Clara got to play Webkinz with Katie (they were so excited about that!)

And here's a good picture of MaryJo and Dick who were staying with Susie and Dave (and who get early Happy 10th Anniversary wishes!)

The girls live in "fear" of Uncle Dick. They always talk about how he likes to eat toes (which he tells them all the time). Hmmmm... there might be some proof here:

On our last night in Amarillo, Scott made it home from San Antonio and we had an early birthday celebration for Virginia.

The girls were so excited to see Scott, but not excited when they found it we were leaving in the morning and wouldn't get to spend more time with him. They really enjoyed their trip to San Antonio earlier this year.

JMS and JMS

Katie loves to hold a baby (or toddler). JM was so content with her - who knows how long he would have sat with her if Clara hadn't gotten mad and wanted a turn!

Happy Birthday, Ma/Grandma/Virginia!!

Way behind - trying to catch up

2010-01-03T16:17:00.003-06:00

Well, I knew I was a little behind in my posts, but I didn't realize just a few posts back was Gracie's Thanksgiving program. Hmmm... I'm definitely behind.

But I'm on the path to catch up. Soon, maybe even tonight. But for now, here's the latest.

We have a new member of the family. She (yes, we're trying to make sure the boys remain in the minority!) is super sweet and pretty darn cute. She came with the name of Coco and since everyone (including JM) can pronounce it, and we didn't have any other names handy, and she had been hearing it for the last 30 days or so, we decided to keep it.

So here she is, shortly after arriving home yesterday:

She's done really well since she came home with us yesterday afternoon. She likes to jump up sometimes and that has scared Gracie and Clara a little, but they are learning what to do to handle that. She is mostly very sweet and gentle. The girls just took a trip to PetSmart with her (and Elvis) to get a new supply of dog toys and treats. We are talking about taking her to a training class and Gracie is very excited about that.

She is Mike's (early) birthday present and we didn't really have plans to adopt a dog yesterday afternoon, but fate intervened. We decided to go the shelter and look at the animals there & then wait until we found one that met all of our criteria (around 2 years old, calm, good with children, good with Elvis). We liked Coco after we saw her, but we still might have waited until later to come back and adopt. But then the officer at the shelter told us that Coco only had until Tuesday and the shelter is closed on Sunday and Monday. They are limited by space and Coco had been there for over a month and they had six dogs waiting for spaces. Once we heard that, we knew we better get serious quickly! We got Elvis and brought her back to meet Coco and all seemed well, so we brought her home. I only hope that there will be five more adoptions before Tuesday.

So hopefully for Coco, the story ends with "and she lived happily ever after." We certainly hope so!

Here she is enjoying her new monkey toy:

Snow!

2009-12-14T23:01:00.003-06:00

December brought snow to Texas. Well, at least snow showers. And at a perfect time - we discovered the big flakes just as we were heading out to take Gracie to school.

Everyone (even Elvis) got a few minutes to enjoy the flurries.

I don't remember if she said it tasted like chocolate or vanilla!

Clara's picture was snapped when she was getting a little cold, but she had a grand time, too!

It was John Michael's first time to really "experience" snow. And that was a happy boy! Joy!

New Stuff

2009-12-13T21:06:00.003-06:00

So I saw JM jump, jump, jumping around Gracie & Clara's room tonight & I realized I should note that new achievement. He gets the honor of being the youngest to learn to jump. He beat Clara by just a few months, but Gracie by almost a whole year. Poor Gracie - Mommy was a little overprotective and didn't like that whole jumping thing!!!

On a funny note, JM was jumping because Clara had skinned her knee earlier in the evening and was insisting on hopping everywhere (yet it was okay to sit on her knees at dinner time and at the computer ... hmmmm).

And Clara went from one monkey bar to the next. She's frustrated that she can't move on to the third one yet, but I told her to keep trying. To which she responded, "I'll probably be *six* before I can do it." Oh the woes of a four-year old.

No funnies on Gracie right now. The poor girl is sick again, so it's probably harder to be entertaining for your parents when you are not feeling well!

Christmas Tree Decorating

2009-12-13T20:50:00.003-06:00

Even though we got the tree up nice and early (Thanksgiving weekend, can you believe it?), this post is a little late. But at least it's still before Christmas!

As usual, I got the fun task of actually sticking the tree together - I thought maybe Clara might stick it out and help me, but those branches are awfully prickly and tricky to get into those slots on the tree. So I finally got it all up & then I took a break. When I next saw the tree, it had been decorated with the first round of ornaments and I got a good chuckle.

Here's a sampling of the decorating mania. I'll post later with the final version of the tree.

Everyone was a helper. It was hard to concentrate on hanging that candy cane with those cute dogs around. It was tempting to stop and push the button and make them bark "Jingle Bells."

Number 2 with the 2-handed approach to make sure she gets to hang her fair share of candy canes.

Our tall girl getting them up as high as she can.

The "finished" product (at least for that night).

2009-11-27T08:13:00.003-06:00

Gracie had another program at her school last Friday and it was quite the show! Gracie had been telling us for several weeks that she was going to be the Turkey, but I didn't really know what to expect. Watching her walk in (picture below) was too funny.

And then throughout the story she was quite funny. If you have the patience to wait for it to load, this is about a 50 second clip of the performance.

After they finished the Thanksgiving program, they also sang several songs. Gracie got to stand front and center for that part as well & she was quite at home up there on the stage! It was lots of fun to watch. It also made me really appreciate how easy going she is about all these performances. She's never nervous or self-conscious (sp?) and really enjoys herself.

Here's a picture of her class after the performance. Simple costumes, but they all looked really cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T21:47:00.006-06:00

Here's our special greeting to you (courtesy of Gracie's Thanksgiving Program at school):

New Things

2009-11-17T19:26:00.002-06:00

I'm a few days behind on this news, but better late then never.

On Friday, while her big sis was at school, Clara learned how to jump rope! She was so excited.

She beat Gracie to the punch on this skill and it's nice to see her have a chance to learn something first! She tried to "teach" Gracie later that afternoon, but Gracie didn't have a lot of patience for that. But then over the weekend (after a little talk with Gracie about how nice it would be to let her little sister get to help her for once), she let Clara help her practice a little bit.

Who would think it would take so much effort and practice to get that rope around and under those feet? I didn't get any pictures yet, but I'll try for some this week.

Indian PowWow

2009-11-10T20:28:00.004-06:00

Last week at school, Gracie studied Indians (or Native Americans if you want to be PC, but I'll just be sticking with Indians for convenience and ease). She learned an amazing amount in a week of study (and for only three hours a day, including recess, snack and chapel time)! JM, Clara and I got to go to her classroom on Friday for the PowWow. It was tons of fun!

JM & Clara had the best time just playing in two of the kindergarten "centers." I almost didn't know Clara was there during the two hours - she was content playing and entertaining herself! JM kept checking in with me, looking at what the "big" kids were doing and eating the occasional bead (yes, bead, but it was teeny, tiny - he was just too quick for me to get it out of his mouth!).

I snapped the picture below shortly after we got to the classroom.

JM was *so* pleased to get to play in the room. Every day we walk Gracie in, he is sure he needs to get done & play, and he was thrilled to finally get the chance. And boy did he play hard. We left the school around noon, drove the seven minutes home and he was sacked out when we got home & didn't blink an eye when I carried him into his room (I don't ever remember that happening!)

I thought I was just going to watch my two youngest and get to see what the PowWow was all about, but it was all hands on deck. I worked with another Mom at the rainstick making station, and some other Moms were able to help me keep an eye on John Michael (the bead incident happened when he wandered over to check on me!)

Here's the other Mom putting a name on a rainstick and Gracie in the background working on her teepee. They decorated them with some of the Indian pictures they had learned that week.

I love the Indian name Gracie chose - "Little Heart" it is just right for her!

She loved her wampum (she said she figured each "bead" was $10, so she had $100) and her headdress. Notice what she is wearing? We got use that Indian dress that I made again & get a little more use out of it!

They also got to watch their teacher make stick bread (fried dough, basically) and then eat it and some venison jerky. Of course Gracie loved both. In fact, the whole class couldn't get enough, especially of the jerky!

The PowWow ended with what I would call a "song," but Gracie kept telling me, "No! It was the way they spoke." So who knows, but it was very cute & impressive that they all knew the "words" and did accompanying motions.

I am constantly amazed at how much her teacher can pack into a day for them. In the 2 hours we were there, I learned a few things, too. Did you know that in tribes that used teepees, Indian babies were strapped to boards and then those boards were hung on a rope high in the teepee to keep them safe from animals at night?

Finally, a sweet picture of our "Little Heart:"