Some VERY belated photos

First here's a few from Halloween...

Grace and Alex are dressed up here for the Halloween carnival at Grace's school. Alex didn't keep the mask on much because it was too big for his head. I think he'll be able to wear this costume for the next few years if he wants.


I thought Alex looked funny trying to get candy out of his bag with those big ol' fake hands attached to his sleeves.


Alex went with his Buzz Lightyear costume for trick or treating. Here he is quite in character, most likely saying "To infinity, and beyond."


Alex, Grace and Bella before hitting our street. Bella looked so funny in her geisha outfit. Not only was that face totally painted, but her hair had been colored black. So it was very startling to see her, especially if you knew what that little blond gal looks like on normal days.



We also had our annual trip to the Arboretum to get some pumpkin pictures. The best we used for the Christmas card, so I didn't include it here.

Alex perched himself up here for a rest.


Grace is quite the ham sometimes.


I love it when the kids are full of energy and take advantage of the wonderful wide lawns to run on. Here Grace was having us time her over and over as she ran to and back from various points (a tree, a sidewalk, a group of people, etc.). Poor Alex tried to keep up with her, but his little legs are just still a little too stubby for that.


Since I finally got on Jim's computer to retrieve some pictures to post, I get pleasantly surprised by some I find there. I saw this one and loved it because it captured a moment in time where Alex was laughing his head off because I chased him and swept him up upon catching him. I thought this was my favorite photo from that day...


Until I saw this one. You may need to click on it to see it bigger, but this one just made me smile.

Next post: jumping in the leaves pictures, I promise!

Mommy has strep

Hopefully no one else will get it too.

Ugh

Mommy is sick. I got to nap on the couch some after picking Grace while my kids (pretty much) got along. Jim took care of dinner. Now I'm in bed. Hopefully the low fever, sore throat and overall yuckiness will go away by tomorrow morning.

On a good note, I was searching yesterday in a woven toy basket for the red Power Ranger's sword when I saw a little glint in the bottom of it. One of my diamond earrings, apparently dropped when we were robbed this summer (it was under the window the guys went out of). Luckily I have one earlobe with an odd number of holes, so I have a place to wear it!

Alex

I have so many events to post photos about. We just got back from a few days at a little cabin in the woods. Very fun, and we all ended up sleeping in one room together. Alex slept on the air mattress, since he doesn't have the hang of not falling out of a big bed yet. He found it hard to fall asleep each night. The last night we were there he kept telling me things once the light went out.

"Mommy?" "Yes Alex" "I like our little cabin."
"Mommy?" "Yes Alex" "I'm not very sleepy."
"Mommy?" "Yes Alex" "I like the Stinky Cheese Man book."

But my favorite was

"Mommy?" "Yes Alex" "I hope you have good dreams in your brain tonight." (Which was actually pronounced "I hope you have good dweams in you bwain tonight.").

I don't know where he learned about the brain. But I fell asleep with a smile on my face after that.

Why he's mad

Alex has a tiny little Incredible Hulk figure that he got - I think Grace bought it for him from Target. He and I were shopping the other day and he brought it along. He held it up to me and we had this conversation:

"Look Mama, Hulk is angry."
"Yes, he looks like he is. Why do you think he is angry?"
"I think it is because hims pants are ripped."

Could be.

Sick again

I'm just getting my voice back after almost two days of laryngitis, Jim was home sick yesterday with a flu-like illness and still recovering, Alex is on unknown week of his mystery cough/lung problems (probably getting another chest x-ray next week). Grace is currently the only one not sick, though will produce a feeble cough when she feels like her brother's cough is getting too much attention.

I'll get Halloween pics up soon. The dog snacked on the camera cable, so I no longer download straight to my laptop, making posting pics a two-step process with Jim's big computer. Just not as easy as it was before.

The party

Here's some pics from the big Shrek party we had this weekend. Of course, the day before the party Alex informed me that he wanted a Power Rangers party. I tried to explain that everything was bought, invitations sent out, the party was the NEXT DAY, but he wouldn't listen. I did discover that next time I can probably reply with "we'll see" and drop it, because by the time the next day comes he will have forgotten all about it.

We had a great backyard party - invited six of Alex's friends and four could make it (plus two siblings - three if you count Grace). That combined with the parents and grandparents that came along was a perfect little 3-year old time.


Of course we always play a "Pin the Tail on the (something)" game (the subject always jives with the theme of the party). For once, we could actually pin the tail on a donkey. Alex ended up on the neck.


Grace got suspiciously close to the rear end.


Once Alex had his turn he kicked back next to the tree to watch the game and enjoy his juice. I had no idea he was doing this until I saw the pictures from the camera tonight.


Jack checks out the sprayer on the hose. If I could only find out what was going through his brain right then. I'm sure some sort of mischief.


Mike takes a whack at the impossible-to-break pinata.


Kate tries to break it.


Donovan tries.


Grace REALLY tries (check out that expression). Jim finally had to cut a hole in the thing with Dad's pocketknife.


This was the scene after the first singing of Happy Birthday to You. We discovered that we were incorrect in it because we addressed it to "Alex" and not "Spiderman."


After the second singing of the song, everything was fine and the candles were blown out.


A picture of the pretty big sis. She was a wonderful help at the party, and totally of the age where she thinks it is actually fun to help out.

Belated Birthday posting

My little guy turned 3 this past Thursday. I'm not sure why I didn't yet post a Happy Birthday to him - I really enjoyed my relaxing day with him that day. We had the party today, so as soon as I get the pictures off the camera I'll post some more about that.

Unbelievable how quickly it goes by. And what a great little guy he as turned out to be. I love him so much.

Another recall

I can't believe it. Now Starbucks has recalled some plastic kids cups, and of course two of them are the turtle and ladybug cups that my kids LOVE. Am I a bad mom if I don't immediately take them from my kids? The problem with them is apparently the faces on the cups can break off, which may end up with a child choking on the pieces or being cut by them.

But the face portion of the cup is near the bottom. So my rationalization is that my kids are old enough that they drink out of the cups like normal people. And if they were to break my kids are also old enough to alert me to it before any mishap occurs.

The Thomas recall people are doing it right. They sent me an email upon receiving my return, and I got a check the other day for $1.32 to reimburse me for my postage. Now we are just waiting on our replacement toy to show up. They did have an embarrassing problem with some of their replacement toys also having to be recalled due to lead levels, but apparently that has been fixed.

Our paper had a feature today about toys you can buy that are "safe". Of course, they were all hand-painted wood or hand-knit dolls, and cost $50+. Not a real practical alternative for those of us in the real world.

My Super Stallion

No, this is not a post about my husband.

We got a letter the other day from Grace's school saying that she'd been chosen to be a "Lakewood Super Stallion". It is an award given every six weeks that recognizes students for "achievement in academics, behavior or character-building." The Super Stallions are selected by their teachers at the end of each six week grading period.

We didn't know what this actually meant; whether it is something just a few kids get or that entire classes receive. So Alex and I went to the little presentation this morning to cheer Grace on (unfortunately Jim had to be at work early and couldn't make it), and we discovered that it was 2 kids from each class, so only 10 kindergartners out of over 100 were selected. The kids had their names announced over the loudspeaker during morning announcements and then were presented with a certificate and had their picture taken by class in the auditorium.

We are so proud of our big girl!


Grace with her class awaiting the beginning of the day. For some reason her class and one other kindergarten class were brought to the auditorium instead of their rooms. I think they remained in there for something after the presentation. Worked out good for us because we got to see her more than if they'd gone to their room.


Grace having just received her certificate from Coach Coleman. I couldn't quite figure out why the P.E. coach was handing them out and not the principal.


Grace with the other Super Stallion kindergartners. Not the best group shot because everyone is looking around and Miss Judy is covering one boys head, but I liked it because Grace was looking right at me taking her picture. Miss Judy is the registrar that helped us secure our transfer, so she can get in the middle of any picture I take for all I care!


Grace with her certificate.



Thought I should throw this picture in for Alex. I amused him while waiting by taking pictures of the transformer he brought along.

Fun at the Fair

This past Friday was elementary school day at the state fair for DISD. Grace was so excited to receive a free ticket - she couldn't stop telling people about it and showing them the actual ticket. We headed out there with Mom and Dad and had a fun time despite the fact that it probably got to 100 degrees that day (it's October for goodness sake). We did rent a scooter for me to move around in, which was a great idea. There was no way I would have been able to make it out there otherwise. Turned it into a weird trip though. I'm not used to seeing everything from that low of a vantage point, and it was slow-going through crowds. Maybe if I used one of those things all the time I'd be more aggressive with my driving, but as it was I ended up politely waiting while people milled about in front of me.

But it is really nice not having to walk the expanse of Fair Park. And we ended up having one kid in the stroller and one on my lap the entire time, so they lasted a lot longer out there too.

We ended up out there until about 3pm, when we were forced to finally come home due to running out of money. Man it is much more expensive to go there once the kids get old enough to realize there are rides to go on and games to play. But it was lots of fun and I can't wait to go again next year when I'll be (hopefully) standing upright again.


The kids playing on my sweet ride. You can just barely see my crutches bungeed to the back of the seat. I hoped that people would see those and not just think I was a lazy chick not wanting to walk at the fair.


We had pretty much this same shot last year. Jim and Grace on the ferris wheel.


And Alex and me on the other side.


Alex digs in to his Fletcher's corny dog.


Grace tries to de-stickify her cotton candy fingers. I think cotton candy is her favorite thing at the fair, topping any rides she may go on.


Alex examines his own stickiness.


Alex went on his first solo trip on a fair ride. This is a good one to start on. He pushed that bottom lip out a bit when the canoe when through the tiny tunnel portion where for a split-second he couldn't see Jim, but the little drop down the hill that followed was fun enough to put the smile right back on.


Jim decided that when you look at the cost of the State Fair rides, Six Flags ends up being a much better value (despite incredibly higher ticket price) since you don't have to pay for each ride once you are in. So he is ready to go to Six Flags next year on opening day like we did last year. Genet family, start saving your pennies so we can make it a family affair again.

Klutz?

Stepped off the back side of the front porch at 6am to turn on the sprinker. Foot hits an object on the ground. Entire body hits ground. Get back inside to find huge goose-egg swelling on my ankle. Now on crutches for two weeks.

Great.

Thankfully it is sprained but not broken.

May rent an electric cart to keep our family date at the State Fair on Friday.

Recalls

So I'm sick and tired of all the toy recalls. Used to be they never seemed to affect us - it was always stuff purchased at the dollar store, or some other discount store we never frequent. But now the mainstream companies are being affected more and more, and we have just been hit with our third recall affecting our family.

The first one we dealt with was the Thomas recall because two of the multitude of trains we inherited from my sister were included. Not too hard to work around. Once I got them out of sight, there were enough other trains (especially when combined with the cheap ones I got at Target - my kids aren't tied to having just Thomas ones), that they were quickly forgotten.

Next recall was the Polly Pocket one. Grace has one set involved in that, but was okay with sending it back when she realized she'd get a $22 voucher and would be able to get a new Polly.

But this latest one popped up today. I've hit the point where I realize many times it is simply easier for me to purchase two of something to keep the fighting ("I had that first!") to a minimum. But now I have to figure out how to explain to Alex that HIS David Kirk snail push broom and bug rake from Target can't be played with anymore, but his sister's are okay. And of course being almost October there is no chance of finding replacements. Damn.

Anyone know if the federal government is looking into the rash of China-oriented recalls? Or is free enterprise too much of a hands-off system to merit concern?

Another Alex word

Pokey pine - name used for both porcupines and pine cones. Pretty much works in both situations.

Also, probably about a year ago he started describing something he didn't want to hear or see (a song on the iPod or a movie that Grace picks out) as being "too wobbly and long." As in "Mommy, I don't want to watch Mulan again - it's too wobbly and long." Don't know where he came up with that one.

If you kids only knew what we gave up for you...

That's the phrase we think a lot when we actually go out on the town on a date. Especially when we go see a live music show. Every time I go to a show it hits me again just how fun it is to see a band play. Last night Jim and I went to the Lakewood Theater to see Richard Thompson. It was an amazing show. The last time we went to see him I was pregnant with Grace, it was standing room only in Deep Ellum, and we had to leave halfway through because Jim had a 7am flight the next morning. This time we had reserved seats (aahh), it was closer to home, but weirdly the average age at the show had to have been about 50 years old. We very much felt like the whippersnappers there. Other things that were strange is that it is ridiculous to get carded when you have as much gray hair as I do, and it is insane that anyplace in Texas that serves beer would NOT have Shiner Bock available, but the show was wonderful just the same. Richard Thompson himself is 58 years old, and he rocked out for at least 2 hours straight. He is such an amazing storyteller, and when he played "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" solo on an acoustic guitar I had goosebumps for the entire song.

By the way, that song is on the "Rumor and Sigh" album from 1991, which I highly recommend. That is the album that introduced me to Richard Thompson, and will probably always be my favorite.

The kids stayed with a babysitter for the first time since the grandparents weren't available for a sleepover. But that went great also - we had Grace's teacher Miss Andrea from last year babysit. Grace has been excited about it ever since we found out a month ago that Andrea was going to babysit. Alex was resistant to the idea, but I knew it would be a good night for everyone when he stopped the game they were playing to run over and tell me goodbye before we were even ready to leave for the evening.

2-year old fun

Funny Alex stuff:

New word for the lexicon from Alex. Attackle. What he says he does when he runs up on an unsuspecting creature (Jim, Lucy, etc.) and does a flying leap/tackle onto. Pretty accurate.

He gave me a "stamper" on my hand yesterday, which if you are a parent of a small child you know is an ink stamp. Later that day I noticed a telltale pink circle on Lucy's paw. "Alex, did you give Lucy a stamper today?" "Yes, Mama." "Don't give Lucy stampers anymore." "But Mama, she LIKES them."

In the bath last night we are playing with his Backyardigans pirate ship. I describe how Uniqua has an eyepatch and Pablo has a pegleg. "But Mama, Pablo isn't a pig. He's a penguin." "No Alex, not pig leg, PEG leg. See - made out of wood." "Mama, it looks like a pig leg." Said with the expression of "you idiot" written all over his face. Hmm...maybe you had to be there for that one.

All out of sorts

I've gotten so bad about posting. My only excuse right now is that I've had a houseful of sick kids for the past week or so, combined with constant sinus pressure the past couple days for me and just the overall trying to get back into the groove of things with the school year starting.

I did have a true "mom moment" when I had to write my first note for my child explaining why she missed two days of school last week.

Maybe I'd have more energy if I started exercising and I'd be able to get more done. But getting over that first hurdle of actually waking up early enough to exercise before I have to rouse my family is a hard one to get past.

Class of 2020

First day of school photo. I don't know if Grace's expression is from being nervous about starting kindergarten or if it is just the forced smile she ends up with a lot.


Showing off the big new backpack.



Alex likes the playground at Grace's new school. He finally stopped crying this morning when he spotted the bridge on it.


Alex was actually a pretty good sport today - there was lots of waiting around for Grace. Here is he making Superman fly while waiting for the kindergarteners to come out for pick up.


Grace and her new teacher Ms. Watkins.


This was from last Thursday night. As we were leaving the school from the kindergarten orientation (which Grace actually had a little overwhelmed breakdown in the middle of - just a few tears), we were taking her picture in front of the school. I told her to hold her arms out for the picture, and she belted out "I LOVE LAKEWOOD!"

Small victories

Alex did the first "on purpose" poop on the potty tonight. There was much rejoicing.

PostSecret

If you don't yet eagerly check the PostSecret blog updates every Sunday, maybe watching this video the creator made will intrigue you to start reading it. I actually tend to check late Saturday night because I can't wait to see the new secrets posted.

Close call

Jim took Lucy out yesterday morning for her morning potty break. He stepped in the door and not 3 seconds later a loud boom occurs and he looks out to see a huge tree branch on one of our pecans out back snapped off. Would have killed him if he'd been under it.

Jim surveys the damage.

Gives you an idea of the size of this branch.


It looks like the back door was covered, but there was actually a space of about 4 feet or so in front of it.


Snapped the porch umbrella in two.

Luckily the tree guys who are already scheduled to come out this Wednesday were able to come out that afternoon and cut the branch up. All we can figure is that it is a bumper crop of pecans this year, and the weight of them dragged the branch down. Alex was worried when he saw our two metal chairs underneath it, and cried when he saw the kids picnic bench that had been flipped over by the branch (undamaged, but flipped nonetheless). I wish I'd gotten a picture of the view out the back door - it was like looking into a dense forest.

Just some pics

Alex lately has been wanting to fall asleep downstairs for nap, versus going up to his bed (he doesn't want to miss out on the fun I guess). Here's how I found him sleeping the other day:



And here he is today on the couch in the front room:________________________________________________________________


Despite Alex's initial misgivings at us getting a female dog, he loves the little girl now. She gamely takes it all from him with no complaints.


Just about the only time she actually will bark is when the kids pull out their little push brooms. She goes nuts anytime she sees either one of them. And it's not just the snail on the end of Alex's broom - Grace's caterpillar features fell off hers long ago, but it still sets off the barking. Lucy doesn't bark at a regular broom though.

___________________________________________________________________

Both my kids are NUTS over the Power Rangers. We have a lot of mock PR fights at the house, accompanied by lots of "HYA! HYA! HYA!" sounds, which if you've ever watched an episode you'll know is the sound the Rangers make with every kung fu move they do. Alex has perfected the slo-mo collapse when you defeat him. Grace was showing off some PR moves to Jim today:



I'm not sure what the significance of the hula hoop was. Maybe just to prove her prowess at the killer moves.

Meet Lucy

Oh my lord we have a dog. We drove about 40 miles east yesterday and got ourselves this beautiful boxer puppy. Since Grace named her Lucy we let Alex pick her middle name. He wants to go with "Licky", since that's what puppies do. So here is Lucy Licky Hutchinson.

Two new links

Wow - two posts in one day!

I'd save this one but chances are I'd forget to post it for another week.

I want to showcase my two new links on the right. I'm replacing Elisa's K Stuff blog with her Elisalou one, mainly so I can more easily check it every day and to show off what neat stuff she puts on it.

And I'm welcoming Christi back to the blogging fold with Little House. We've missed you!

Frustrated

I'm going nuts with my email. Luckily we still have Jim's desktop Mac to use here at the house, so I now have no problem checking messages. However, if I don't pay attention when I send an original message (vs a reply to someone), the computer defaults to Jim's email address as the sender. And if someone replies to me through it I don't ever know, since Jim no longer uses his home email address - he's a Gmail man now. If I were to check his now-unused address, I'd probably end up downloading 1000+ spam messages, along with the select few directed to me. So I'm afraid people think I'm ignoring their reply to me, when I'm actually not getting the message at all.

I do have my own Gmail account now. I just want to sit down and enter in a few more email addresses so when I send a notice of my new address I'll hit most everyone at once. Then my husband will quit hounding me about switching over, and I can stop sending the "Oops, this was sent from Jim's address" follow-up messages to people.

So if you get an email from Jim at the 5504 address, know that you can forward your reply to my address and call me an idiot for sending it incorrectly.

Small blessings

I discovered this week that while thieves took off with the camcorder, they didn't get the tape with Grace's dance recital and Preschool graduation on it. We'd loaned the camera to friends about a month ago, and had taken the tape out then. Since we are so bad about actually videotaping the family, we'd not used it since then and the tape was still out. It was a nice thing to smile about.

One more headache

So I came to realize today that whoever took my laptop has accessed my email at least once. It's the only way to explain the recent emails people sent me that I never received. So if you sent me a message that I didn't reply to, chances are I may have not ever received it.

All is fixed now. And if anyone has any webhosting needs, I highly recommend WingSix, simply because they have been extremely nice people both times I've had to call them recently.

How incredibly boring must it be to read someone else's email. Once you wade past the spam I get, I can't imagine much of what I receive would interest anyone other than me.

Bastards.

Heartbroken

Well, I was all ready to post a couple new pictures of our caterpillars in their latest form, only to come home last Thursday to discover our house had been broken into. The fence had been hopped in the back, the unlocked window found, and they were able to get in and out without setting the alarm off. Not a lot of stuff was taken, but definitely things that add up. Both my and Jim's laptops, our nice digital camera, the Playstation 2 (doesn't get used much, so no big loss there), most of my and Jim's dvds, the digital camcorder and the entire contents of my jewelry box.

Strangely, I'm not upset by the fact someone was in my house going through my stuff. I'm more upset over the sentimental value of some of the things taken. Irritated at the inconvenience of the laptop and camera being gone, but sad because the tape in the camcorder had Grace's last dance recital and preschool graduation on it, and no telling what else.

I'm most heartbroken over the loss of the jewelry. In addition to my new diamond earrings I got for my birthday, I had things like both the necklaces I received from Jim to honor of each of my kid's birth and all the gifts Jim has given me throughout the years. All the rings and necklaces I got for birthdays growing up are gone too, plus stuff I got from my mom and grandmothers. I had amassed a nice collection of earrings and necklaces for every occasion made by my friend Maja that is now gone. And I get so sad when I think about how one of Grace's favorite things to do was get my jewelry box down and try everything on.

This was the first break in we've had that the kids are aware of. They got a little traumatized because when I realized what had happened I whisked them out of the house to wait until the police showed up. Grace was concerned they had taken her "soft bear", and once we came back inside with the officer she was relieved to be able to point out all the things of hers that weren't taken. Alex just wants to "mush those bad guys."

Oh, and please send me an email if you read this. I once again have to rebuild my address book.