Bath Night

No further explanation necessary.

Good Buddies

We hang out with the W's every week, at our library story time and often at each other's houses or the park...mostly just the moms and kids. (Not that the dads don't like each other--they were really friends first!! We just do most activities during the day). A few weekends back, the dads got to join us at the library's summer kickoff event. The girls had a good time eating hotdogs on the curb and then some ice cream too.

The boys, Drew and Owen, are destined to be friends too. But for right now they mostly just try to gouge each others eyes out.

Sophie and Lydia got their hair spray painted. They were so cute after their makeovers that the professional event photographer even had them pose for a few pictures. We may be seeing them in the library newsletter or on the website soon! (They actually smiled for him).

Thirty-______ Years

Today is my birthday, and I thought I would treat the rest of you to a walk down memory lane. My memory lane. Some of you will remember these photos, having been around when they were taken, or having seen them in a slide show that my dad long-windedly narrated when you visited our house. For others of you, this will be your first time seeing me in all my youthful glory.

You're welcome...

I think I was 6 or 7 here, wearing the birthstone necklace my Aunt Barb had given me for my birthday. Greg says I look like a shepherdess.

I was 11 in this picture. I do not recall having long and skinny legs. Perhaps the mountains in the background are creating an optical illusion.

Ack! This picture was taken one year later, when I was twelve. A lot can happen in one year (unfortunately). I had these glasses before being aware of the existence of Sally Jesse Rapheal. Seriously. And I recall that other girls in my class got glasses similar to these shortly after I did. That doesn't make it right. I'm just sayin' is all.

And this is me now, well, last weekend anyway, with my kids. Thank goodness for contact lenses...and hair dye...and, well, a whole lot of other things that have changed since I was twelve!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum last week with Lydia and her mommy and with Lydia's cousin Eva and her mommy, and the baby brothers and sister too. The adult to child ratio was 3 to 6, but we managed quite well, as far as I could tell.

The museum had a temporary special exhibit about fairy tales, so below you'll see Sophie checking some of those out. She rode in Cinderella's carriage (that's Eva with her)...

And counted the ogre's (from Jack and the Beanstalk) gold...

Sophie supped at Beauty and the Beast's fancy table...

And visited Cinderella's carriage again, this time in costume. Lydia too.

We went to a different exhibit and got to touch real turtles. Woohoo! Then we got to use hand-sanitizer. Woohoo!

The girls even got to pretend to be turtles themselves.

This is Eva, the turtle.

And this is Sophie.

The museum has a really cool outdoor art park exhibit where the kids can make art in various forms. This one had damp sand that was sculptable.

Lunch time--cafeteria-style.

There were face paints set out for a do-it-yourself makeover. Sophie opted for a do-it-mommy makeover instead, requesting to look like a cat.

Sophie and Eva rode the bus, just like the "work bus" daddy rides to work each day. This is how Sophie distinguishes yellow buses ("school bus") from white buses ("work bus").

Doing a little laundry. Too bad it's not our own.
Playing with bubbles.

Adventures in Babysitting

We had Sophie's friends McKenna and Ella over while their parents went out on a date last Saturday night. The weather was kind of dumpy and we couldn't go to the park, so we had lots of indoor fun. The girls played dress-up, colored pictures, played with the tool set (the play one) and generally ran all over the place having a great time.


Owen even enjoyed playing dress-up. Have you ever seen such a cute sword-wielding bunny?

Owen, we do not gnaw on our sword!

Well, the dumpy weather took a more sinister turn, and became a thunderstorm/tornado warning, sirens wailing and all. Greg, of course, was unconcerned, but as we were in charge of other people's kids, I was more urgent about the need to go to the basement. So, we set the kids up in Greg's workshop with our portable DVD player to watch the "Bee Movie."

(Yeah, that's Michael Jordan watching over us in the background.) The girls thought it was a great adventure, never really asking or caring too much why we were down there. We didn't have to stay long. When we came upstairs again, the girls all got into their pjs to finish the movie. They snuggled on the couch, and eventually on a makeshift "bed" on the floor until McKenna and Ella's mom and dad came to pick them up.

Downtown Summer Fling

A while back, our little family attended our downtown's summer fling, a kickoff to summer fun. Sophie got a tattoo, or a "tat" as she calls it. It was a pony, of course.


Sophie and Greg played the "Cake Walk" game...alone. The teenage helper (on the sly) said everyone's a winner. I guess so.

Then they played the "Pop toss" game, where Sophie had to throw a penny on top of a can of pop to win it. I think she got three pennies to try for the pop, but didn't make it. Greg asked if they could just try a few more for fun since there was no one else waiting, and within 2 more pennies she got one! The very nice teenage helper let her take the "pop" anyway. It was a "fruit punch soda." None of us have had the courage to drink it yet.

We had a nice little corndog lunch in the shade on the curb while listening to some (slightly racy) live music. Greg and I also had fried ravioli (so good!!), which we ended up having to share with Sophie, even though she'd already eaten a whole corndog, while Greg and I shared the other one.

Eating her cake walk "cake."

Dancing to the last 30 seconds of the (slightly racy) live music. We finally finished eating and Sophie requested to dance, just as they were finishing their set to prepare for the pie eating contest.
Sophie having an "ice pop" which was pretty much just koolaid in a tube at this point.

Sophie in first place at the pie eating contest!! Well, just sitting in the first place spot, really.

Remembering

I was a teacher before I was a stay-at-home mom, which most of you probably already know. I had my first class of 3rd graders nine years ago, and they are all about 17 years old now. Crazy! One of those little kids/now 17-year olds was just killed in a car crash this past weekend, along with his mom. It happened in the town Jason lived in (where I taught), and was caused by another young girl who likely went to school with him. In an article I read yesterday, it said that he was to have been made an Eagle Scout soon. It is all very sad. I'll be attending the visitation this afternoon.

But, I don't want to be a total downer, so I want to share one of my favorite stories from my first year of teaching...about Jason.

Jason was a bit of a stinker. A likable stinker, though. He often had difficulty getting his work done, and this particular day was no exception. Eventually, I had to move him to a desk by himself over in the corner of the room so he could focus and finish his work. But I kept my eye on him and walked past him every once in a while to incite a flurry of activity from him. On one of my passes, I noticed Jason was scribbling a note on a torn-off piece of paper on the tray under his desk-top. (Do kids seriously think teachers won't see it that way!?) I kind of laid into him a little--he'd already been moved because he wasn't getting his work done, and now he's writing notes!!?? Anyway, I asked him to hand it over. He didn't want to. Not surprising. I insisted. He hung his head and relented.

I crumpled it up (to emphasize my frustration) and stuffed it in my pocket. But when I got back to my desk, I secretly took it out and smoothed it so I could read it. (I'm guessing all teachers do this. It was one of my secret delights...seeing the "secret" thoughts the kids never imagined the teacher would find out) And this is what I read... "You eat shite for breachfest!"

It took me a moment to decipher due to the poor 3rd grade handwriting and bad spelling, but I got the idea. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Hilarious!! That was the best note I've ever confiscated.