A little Christmas cheer

I've got a few holiday-time pictures to share.

We made our annual visit to Santa with Grandma Bonnie this year. We went back to Willow Bend in Plano since it is usually less crowded than the madhouse Northpark has become.


Alex had been talking all year about getting to ride on Nu Nu again (if you ever watch Teletubbies, you know the character). The mall has about six of these little rides next to the play area.


Grace chose the Mustang to ride. She looked stylin', but got out about halfway through the ride. She's finally reached the age where it is "too boring." They only go back and forth, so I have to agree with her.


Both my kids after seeing Santa. I'm surprised we got Alex to smile for this one. After meeting Santa and telling him everything he wanted (and neither kid crying!), they each received a little puzzle as a gift. Alex then proceeded to bawl his eyes out. I finally got the reason out of him - he said "But Mama, I wanted a cool cool gift." Poor little guy thought that crappy cardboard puzzle was all Santa was going to give him that year.


Grace likes to pose herself for pictures now.


This is Grace (in the middle) with her friends Sarabeth and Amanda as peacocks in the church Christmas pageant. Peacocks and butterflies in the show are explained as being the "exotic" animals that came with the wise men. I think it is just a way to keep a lot of little girls happy without making them all angels once they outgrow (either in size or desire) the chicken/duck/cow/donkey/sheep costumes.


Alex had his Christmas show for school on the last day before break. His class sang Jingle Bells. You can see Alex above singing his heart out - one of the only ones in his class that did. Joy of joys, this was the first year he went up "on stage" and didn't cry!


A winning smile from my little guy after doing such a great job.

Woo hoo!

No accidents today! I had to explain to Alex that we take off our Spiderman underpants at night ("But Mommy, they aren't wet") because we have to change them every day just like our shirts. I hope tomorrow goes as dryly as today did.

Better?

Only two accidents today.

But we're taking no chances tomorrow. Pull Ups for both church and grandparent's house.

Lots of laundry

Alex started wearing underpants today.

He went through five pairs. The last pair was close enough to bedtime that he could go straight into the tub and then into a pull up.

Sigh.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Busiest mailing day of the year?

Or so trumpeted the newscasts today. But I stopped by my friendly neighborhood post office this afternoon around 1pm and spent all of about 5 minutes there mailing my two packages. The lady behind the counter did say it had been crazy earlier in the day. Guess I just got lucky.

And to the Ohio clan - your package should arrive via Priority Mail in a few days.

Leaf-jumping photos, plus a few others

We seem to get an inordinate amount of leaves in our front yard from our one (admittedly large) ash tree every year. To the point where there is always an annual moment when Jim and I can look down our street and every other house has a fairly empty lawn, while ours looks like someone exploded a tree in it. But it always provides us with a wonderful day of leaf pile jumping each year.


Alex about to jump.


Grace about to jump. Love this action photo Jim caught. Anyone else think she looks a lot like Emma?


This and the next couple photos just show in the kids faces how fun such a simple activity can be.






This was Grace almost entirely covered in leaves. She said she was being a "skeleton head."


Now for a few other random pics:

This was but a drop in the bucket of our pecan haul from the three trees in the back. We don't know how much of it is due to weather conditions and how much is due to the addition of a dog scaring squirrels away.


Grace DESPERATELY wanted to teach Lucy to jump through a hoop. I think Lucy was just plotting which one of my plants she was going to dig up next.


Alex is now in a big boy bed. And today we had the milestone of going 24 hours without peeing in his Pull Up (he went on the potty - don't want everyone to think he just held it). We're going to try the big switch to underpants when school is out for the holidays. Lord help us.


I just noticed this cluster of medications on the counter this evening. Pretty much sums up the state of my house these past few days. Luckily both kids tested negative today for strep, though Grace does have an ear infection. But I think we are all going to survive.

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.