Merry Christmas

First Lost Tooth

 

Since Sean has had a loose tooth, we recently read a book about a little rabbit who lost her tooth.  She got a dime from the tooth fairy.  Sean thinks since he personally knows the tooth fairy, $5.00 would be a good deal. 

He pulled it out today after it came really loose while eating an apple this morning.  This brought back memories of when he first got that tooth at age 7 months.  And how different babies look after their teeth come in.   Thinking how different he will look with more "windows" in his teeth and then again how he will look when the new permanent teeth come in. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's With The Shoes??

Every so often I'll drive by a power line that has a pair of tennis shoes hanging from it.  I don't know if this is a teenage thing or what.  I wouldn't want to be the son that goes home without his shoes though.

I looked up this phenomenon and would you believe it is a sport?  Alrighty then.  Go figure. 

Then today, I'm driving to town and there in the concrete median, about 20 feet apart is a pair of brown casual shoes.  So, I'm wondering if there's a body on one side of the road down in a ditch.  I'm thinking surely someone important, like a police officer, saw the shoes and decided to check out the sides of the road.   I would hope. 

Our Dog

 

Sam enjoyed watching Jeff and the kids working in the leaves on Saturday.  On Sunday, we looked outside and saw her enjoying herself.  Looks like she thought they were just making her a bed. 

Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

As Daddy was scanning the newspaper yesterday, our kindergartener thought he'd join him and so he picked up the front section and read a small headline aloud.  He read, "Voters say no to guy manager." 

Hmm, interesting....  let me see that.  Oops, it said, "Voters say no to gay marriage." 

Good thing he's not up to speed on his reading.  We are not ready to trying to explain that subject yet. 

How Well Do You Spell?

I'm a poet and didn't know it. 

Here's a fun quiz to test your spelling.  I found that I am a better speller when it is NOT multiple choice.  I took the test too quickly and too confidently.   Have fun and let me know how you did.

Toys Worth Buying

Need good ideas for Christmas gifts for your kids? 

One statement I heard once but refused to believe is "Less is More."   Truer words were never spoken regarding how many toys kids really need.  Also true is that the more they have, the less they will play with any of them. 

In order to keep toys interesting, it's a good idea to rotate them every so often.  Keep a large storage container (or a few) for this purpose. 

Now for my choice of favorites for gifts.  Leapsters are a great learning toy for kids approximately ages 4 to 7.  My kids never have spent much time playing with other toys that are electronic but they love their Leapsters.  They are great for riding in the van, waiting for an appt. and so on. 

Other favorites are Legos.  Crayola Wonder coloring books and markers have gotten a lot of mileage at our house.   An assortment of board games are great also but you must be committed to taking time to sit down and play the games with the kids.  They will treasure this time with you. 

Stop by Works For Me Wednesday for more ideas on the Toys Worth Buying Edition. 

Surprises

 

I came home from voting today (which meant an hour of standing in line, by the way, but hey, it's for my country!) and was surprised by the neatly picked up entry and kitchen and stairs.  I looked at my oldest and asked, in a shocked voice, "You cleaned?"  She shook her head and told me her brother did.  That would be my 6 year old with a sore throat virus.  "What kind of virus does he have?", I wondered.   I then noticed how uncluttered the stove and counter were.  Wow, how cool....oops.  That was when I saw that every dirty dish, glass, pan, etc. was now piled high in the sink filling both sides.  It wasn't even possible to turn on the water, the dishes were so high. 

Not wanting to dampen his spirit, I told him what an awesome job he did picking up.  Then I pointed at the sink and gently said, "Never do this again." 

Now I'm waiting to see if I catch this virus that puts people in a cleaning mood.  I could use a mood enhancer like that.  :)  

Aren't they precious?

 

From left to right:  Dancer (Recycled ice skating costume)

                           Some character from an anime movie (Used own clothing)

                           Firefighter ($2.00 raincoat at garage sale, own snow boots)

Voting or Not

 

Click here for a good Dr. Seuss-ish poem about voting.  Sorry for not posting more.... got a little bit going on around here that's occupying my time. 

Hasta la vista! 

It's a what?

This bird at our zoo is a Marabou Stork. I couldn't remember what kind of stork it was, so I Googled "ugly stork" and had no trouble locating this unattractive creature. While most of us are thinking "ugly", our in-house animal wildlife enthusiast not only thought this bird was "so cute" but she also knew what it was. It was amazing to me how much she knew about many of the animals that we saw. She is almost like a walking encyclopedia. Thank you to Animal Planet.

A Little Humor for Your Monday

 

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change! The chicken wanted CHANGE!
JOHN MCCAIN: My friends, the chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.
HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either against us or for us. There is no middle ground here.
DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?
COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.
BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken! What is your definition of chicken?
AL GORE: I invented the chicken.
JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.
AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.
DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.
OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.
ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.
NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
MARTH STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
Dr. SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.
GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file yur important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Zoo and Chuck E Cheese

 

On Friday, we spent the afternoon at the zoo and then off to Chuck E Cheese for a little birthday fun. 

At the zoo, we saw Geoffrey... 

And Nala...

Can anyone guess what this is? 

Chuck E Cheese was a hit with the kids... even the big ones.  :) 

Saturday was the last soccer game of the season.  Our team did really well in the last game after struggling the other weeks.  It was like it finally clicked for them.  All the players get a trophy. 

Nice Shiner

 

The story he would like to tell everyone is that someone punched him in the eye.  Unfortunately, the truth is that he hit himself in the eye with a stick. 

It will make for great birthday pictures in a couple of days.  Oh, and if you cannot tell, he was thrilled that I wanted to take his picture.

Sierra is feeling rough this morning.  Up very early with sneezing, runny nose and a headache.  But she still wanted me to take her picture too so here it is. 

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

 

On the way home from preschool today, we were discussing things.   Today was Sierra's "me" day so they talked about Sierra's favorite things and she got to be line leader and take the snack.  Her favorite song at the moment is "Down By The Bay".   Sean added, "Little Rabbit Foo Foo was my favorite until I didn't like it anymore." 

A few minutes later, as I noticed dark clouds in the sky, I told Sean I wanted him to pick up toys in the yard when we got home before it rained.  He thought for a second and asked "Why do you think toys are more important than our lives?  We could drown out there in the rain!"   I replied that it wasn't raining yet and I wasn't sending him outside in a flash flood.  Talk about drama king! 

Sean had a little accident today with a stick.  Somehow, he managed to hit himself in the eye.  He has a sort-of black eye.  He must have whacked the bone underneath.  It looks nice.  Not.  

Say Cheese

 

Here's Sean's soccer picture.  They made this picture AFTER his first game which is why he has so much color in his face.  Another boy was beet red from the top of his head to his neck, so I was happy that Sean only had rosy cheeks.  His hair also had time to dry a little.  Overall, we were pleased.  

It's A Contest!

 

One of my favorite bloggers is celebrating her blogging anniversary with a contest.  Pop over here to enter to win and take a look at Renee's blog.  All you have to do is leave a comment on her post.   

Thanks!

Look Who's Got a New Do

 

 

When Callie mentioned she wanted to get her haircut and get bangs, I wanted to go right away before she changed her mind.  That wasn't possible since it was on a weekend, but we did go today and she got her hair layered and now has some long bangs.  The wind adds a nice touch for pictures.  I wanted to snap some since it might be a challenge to get the same look on our own. 

Another Year Gone

 

....  a few less brain cells.  I do not feel any older today.  I keep waiting for the one benefit of getting older that I keep hearing about.  It's the one that says the older you are, the less sleep you need.  I could use that benefit but for some reason, I still require a minimum of 7 hours in order to function halfway decently. 

Happy Birthday!

To Patch or Not to Patch

 

Sierra visited the ophthalmologist today and he said she is doing better so she can quit wearing the patch.  However, "Don't throw it away", he said. 

I'm very happy to see both her eyes again. 

Hurricanes in Indiana?

Who knew?  We were expecting to get some rain from Ike but instead, we got heavy winds... around 60 mph winds.  There are still many folks without electricity.  We were blessed to not lose ours for more than a split second. 

Amazingly enough, our trees and shingles held on for dear life and we did not suffer much wind damage.  Our giant sunflowers, however, did not fare so well. 

Before the winds (taken a couple of weeks ago): 

 

 

After leftovers from Hurricane Ike (taken today):

 

Birthday Girl

 

Sierra popped into the kitchen when she woke up on her birthday and quickly asked, "Am I four?"  

I think she wasn't sure we had been telling her the truth or else she thought it was all a dream. 

Here Sierra is showing her joy over her new doll

Big brother Sean lends a hand to read her card.

Sean has entered into the longest 30 days of his year.  Those days between Sierra's birthday and his.  Such torture. 

Remembering September 11

 

Click here and pick a name and remember and pray for that family today.  

Almost Four

Nothing makes a mom feel old more than her kids' birthdays.  Sierra is turning four this week and it is hard to believe.  My baby girl is growing up and boy, is she proud of that. 

Here are some pics with the patch.  I will try to take more on her birthday without her patch. 

I'm a Soccer Mom

I never dreamed I'd be a soccer mom.  I will not be putting a bumper sticker on the van or those cute soccer decals on the window.  Sean has been wanting to play soccer so we signed him up this fall and his first game was today.  For someone who has not played and who does not have any older siblings who play, he does really well with it.  He seems like a natural.  Here are some pictures.  He did score one goal.  I did not get pictures of that.  He almost scored another goal but it hit the side of the goal.  Enjoy!

Look - Only 2 wheels!

We had a nice weekend.  The weather was warm but not humid so it was nice to be outside.  The kids swam in the small pool all three days.   Uncle K and cousin R visited on Sunday.   Sean learned to ride without training wheels.  He picked it up pretty quickly.  He also knows how to "bail out" before crashing into a tree.  He needs to learn how to get the bike started. 

Sierra starts preschool tomorrow.  She is so excited.  They only go for an hour on a shortened schedule so they can take half the kids at a time to start them slow.  There are only 8 in Sierra's class so tomorrow she will be there with 3 other children. 

Bicycles and Scooters and Running

Fun summertime stuff. 

Sierra has learned how to keep the pedals moving in the right direction and how the handlebars work.  She wants to ride all the time now. 

Sean loves his scooter as much as his bike.  Here he thought he was really beating Braden in a race.  Braden was being very nice. 

Every once in a while, we see this one running barefoot in the neighborhood. 

On Saturday, Sean was Daddy's big helper all day.  They disassembled an old doghouse, moved a bunch of bricks, nailed down nails on the deck, etc.  It was a big day. 

Craft time.  If Sean had his way, we would do crafts and science experiments all day every day.  Sierra is wearing a patch on one eye to help the trying-to-be-lazy eye work harder so the brain will not stop sending signals to it.  She's been doing well with it.  The hardest part is when she gets sweaty from playing outside and the salty sweat stings her eye.  I think the adhesive is starting to irritate her skin so we will be looking into alternatives for that also.