Inside mess, outside mess

The inside mess is due to GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! And lots of them. 864 boxes to be exact. As cookie mom, I get to pick them up and store them. And they are here!





The mess outside is due to the ongoing yard work. Today they are putting down sod. I took this picture two days ago from my bedroom window.

Visit with Kara

Kara and family came to visit Saturday through Sunday. We went to Fort Discovery on Sunday and took a walk by the river (that would be the Savannah River) Sunday morning. Kids played a lot, grownups got to watch Walk the Line (ie the Johnny Cash movie).

Here's some pictures:

Garden overhaul

We have a large yard. A large front yard, and a large back yard. It's a lot of work, mainly for Rene. The backyard came with a charming, but slowly decaying vegetable garden, complete with 16 raised beds. And while this might be a dream for some, we just don't have the time to maintain it. On top of that the wood from the beds was rotting and the fence was starting to fall apart. It was becoming an eyesore. In other parts of the yard grass wouldn't grow and there were drainage issues.

Which leads us to our garden overhaul. Hopefully by next week I will be able to post the "after" photos. For now, you can view the before and demolition photos.

Note: I'm testing out embedding a Flickr slideshow with instructions from here.

Inspiration link roundup

Teacher's quilt from Pink Chalk studio.

Mini quilt featured on Sew Mama Sew.

How to make a new ironing board cover.

How to make a rice pillow at Wise Craft. I need to make some of these. When Erin had an ear infection I put some rice in an old clean sock, tied it up and warmed it up in the microwave. She drew a face on it and calls it her "Socky". A pretty rice pillow would be nice.

Cute bunny pillow pocket tutorial. You could adapt something like this for the tooth fairy. I was lame and didn't create a cute tooth fairy pillow or pouch for Erin's first two teeth, but we've got lots more to go, so there's still time.

The bunny pillow reminded me of the cute felt mice I had seen a while ago at Molly Chicken. Mine came out a bit funny as I was very new to sewing, I used "fake" felt instead of wool felt, and I probably should have enlarged the pattern a bit. Here's a cute version done at Pink Chalk Studio.

How to recycle old crayons. Just got one of these silicone mini heart pans at Michaels. Read the comments on this one. These would be cute birthday party favors.

Portrait of Lauren in her monkey pajamas

By artist Erin.

Inspiration link roundup

Too many creative people out there. I'm not worthy (bowing in submission).

I Heart Linen posted a checkerboard mini quilt with buttons as checker pieces!

Fabric pinwheels at Chickpea Sewing.

Fabric balls at Grand Revival Designs. Pattern and tutorial here.

Finally. Bunting flags tutorial from Whip Up. These would be fun for a birthday (hmmm, we have one of those coming up, don't we?)

I think the bunting, fabric balls and pinwheels would be fun for a girls room. I have done a poor job of decorating Lauren's room, and maybe it's time to put a little effort into it!

February is quilting month!

Sew Mama Sew will be posting about Quilting Month and Block-Along Kickoff!. I may be inspired to make a doll quilt. Maybe.

Me and sewing

Last summer for my birthday, I got a sewing machine. (Erin and Lauren tried to convince me I was getting a couch, those tricky devils!) I had learned to sew in 7th and 8th grade, but could really only do basic things. When I owned my first apartment in White Plains, one snowy winter I attempted to make drapes. It was a complicated pattern with swags, and I cursed my way through it, but it scared me away from sewing for a while.

Since I've become a stay at home mom, the sewing bug has gotten me again. So I requested the sewing machine. I really don't know what I'm doing, but I've managed to make a few things. The seam ripper and I are getting reaquainted.

I started by making purses for the girls, just to see if I could. Lauren's requirement was that a bunny could fit in. I'm happy to say that I met that requirement.

Erin's bag
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

First bag
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

First bag
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

inside of bag


Then I made a lovey blanket for baby Natalie, the newest cousin in the family. I made it a "taggy" blanket. It wasn't perfect, but Natalie seemed to like it. Disregard the imperfections, and it's kind of cute!

Lovey for baby Natalie
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

I made the girls these Heather Bailey headbands, which were easy.

Recently, I attempted to make baby bibs for my friend Abby's baby shower. They came out OK, but I wished I had used cotton and chenille instead of flannel and chenille, they kept moving a lot when I was sewing. I forgot to take a picture! Must take pictures of things I've sewn. I used the pattern and instructions from Happy Things for the easy chenille bib tutorial.

I've make a few other things I'll post about in the future.

This week was the first week of the "Sewcial" meeting of some moms who like to sew or want to learn how to sew. It is an offshoot of the Moms Club, not an official Moms Club meeting, which is good, as I am no longer a member. Jordan hosted, and had quite the array of cure and beautiful things to show. She showed a cute boo-boo baggie out of terry cloth, a lovely pillowcase dress, a tablecloth for her husband with military fabric (and demonstrated a mistake made good!), a crayon roll as well as some other things. Melissa showed everyone easy flannel wash cloths. Chantel showed us the design for a quilt she made, and gave us a frugal tip: use goodwill blankets instead of batting! My frugal tip was to use cut up fleece squares for swiffers! I'm glad to see that we're all pretty much on the same level, although it seems that Jordan has more knowledge to educate us all.

And all that is a longwinded way to reveal my secret timewaster. Sewing and craft blogs. I'm addicted to them! I don't really watch much TV (other than the occasional HGTV show). But the creations of so many talented people our there are inspiring! They make it look so easy. Having attempted some of these creations, I know that it's not as easy as it looks. Practice. Patience.

So now, in an effort to make sense of the many bookmarks I have saved of inspirational sewing posts, and as a way to share these with my new sewing group, I will list some sites and posts that have inspired me. Start clicking on these at your own risk. One blog leads to another. Could be addictive.

The Sew Mama Sew blog has a great roundup of many great projects. This handmade holidays link has a summary of many easy projects to make. I keep going back to this link to get ideas. It's here I found the baby bib tutorial.

A pillowcase dress tutorial I found.

Sunny day dress tutorial (shirred or smocked style).

Cute little smocket for girls with pattern here.

Little artists case
Notebook and pencil holder
Martha stewart roll up pencil kit tutorial

Tutorials, including easy chenille baby bib tutorial that I used.

Easy baby flannel blanket.

How to sew a zipper, ie Don't fear the zipper.

Put a zipper in your pillow tutorial.

And finally, amazing quilts! I learned that February is Quilting Month. Beautiful photos on Flickr. (And if you really want to waste some time, look around flickr. Search for random phrases "garden path" "oranges" "doll quilt" and you could be there for hours. If you have hours to spare, that is.)

Next I'll post some links to sites I like to visit on a regular basis.

It's snowing in Georgia!

Whoo hoo!

Christmas recap

I'm a little late on this, but wanted to post some Christmas photos. We had a nice week with Nana and PopPop visiting. Rene took the week off from work. The festivities started with Rene's birthday feast, and of course it wouldn't be Christmas time without some ear infections. Santa visited, and all was well.




Girls making gingerbread cookies with Nana.



Erin staring at oven clock on Christmas morning. She woke up at 5am and we told her she had to wait until 6 to wake everyone else up.


Christmas morning: Girls painting the dollhouses they got for Christmas.



Me, Nana, PopPop and girls

Thanks Barack Obama, for reconnecting me with my colleauges

I've posted before that I worked with Barack Obama at one time (I think it was the first job out of college for both of us). So I've followed with interest his rising political career. I read his first book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance with interest. He devoted a few pages to his time at Business International, and after I read those pages I thought that his memory of the place where we worked differed from mine.

Fast forward to last month, and I read this New York Times article. The author interviewed some former coworkers of mine, including Dan who writes this blog, Analyze This. I guess the reporter found him, due to this posting, where Dan takes issue with Obama's memory of our former workplace. Well, the New York Times article had some very funny quotes. That the old office was like "high school with ashtrays" (an accurate description), and a great story about one of our managers who realized he wiped butter off his mouth with his tie because he was unaccustomed to wearing one. I emailed Lou and he said the NYT author had interviewed him for an hour and that was the one quote that she took from him.

A few of my former coworkers saw the article, as I did, and commented on Dan's blog. So now we're reconnecting via email. I also created a new Linkedin group, Business International Alumni. There are 11 of us so far!

So if you worked for Business International, feel free to join the group. If you worked for Business International in the 80's (before the Economist bought the company), and you worked in the Finance group in the New York office, you'll likely remember pub crawls (perhaps you had a Flaming Chartreuse at Harglos?), Wang word processing terminals, the coffee wagon, the Poodle with a Mohawk poster. You remember how to spell Dag Hammarskjold, and the quirky cast of characters who worked there. It was a great first job for me. Not as memorable, it seems, for Barack.

2008 Masters Rental

Dear bloggerjeanne readers, posting this in case someone in internetland does a google search for such a thing! If you know anyone would like to rent out a home for Masters week (you know, golf!), post a comment here and I'll get emailed.

Lovely large 4 bedroom home, each with queen beds, on beautiful lush 1 acre property with front and back patios and deck for entertaining, just outside West Lake. Recently remodeled kitchen and bathrooms. Beautiful hardwood floors. 40 inch plasma TV with digital cable, DVD player Wireless internet access. Bonus room with futon and TV. (Queen bed or twin beds available to put in bonus room at additional cost). $6000 for 7 day rental (negotiable), daily maid service plus extra day rental available at extra cost.

Here's two pictures, more available by request:

What's up with us and getting sick at Christmastime?

First of all, we did have a wonderful Christmas. My parents, aka Nana & PopPop were here, and we had a nice relaxing week. The festivities started on the 23rd for Rene's birthday. I made a rib roast and at Rene's request, yorkshire pudding, which I never had before. I admit, I was skeptical, because the recipe looks like pancake batter cooked in the grease from the roast. But it was surprisingly good. Even the girls liked it! Score one for the birthday boy!

Christmas morning was fun and exciting, and although Lauren seemed a bit overwhelmed at times, we had a nice relaxing day. The gift the girls liked the most? The wooden cd box they got to paint as a doll house. I got the idea from this post from Amy Carol's blog Angry Chicken. I also bought some wooden figures the girls painted as dolls. I'll update this post with a picture soon. Erin also enjoyed the "art set" Santa brought, and lots of arts and crafts activities were done on Christmas day. And eating, too.

So here's the health update.

Dec 17th: Both girls have ear infections (left ear for both).
Dec 24th: Erin complains that her ear still hurts, so we get new antibiotics prescription.
Dec 26th: Lauren complains that her ear still hurts, so we get new antibiotics prescription.
Dec 27th (today): Erin complains that her ear still hurts, and Lauren has a rash. Doctor says Erin's ears look great (and thinks her pain might be due to 6 year molars coming in), but Lauren's is still healing. Lauren has a yeast infection. That was this afternoon, and now Erin seems to be in a lot of pain and says her right ear is hurting a lot.

Sigh. Hoping they both feel better tomorrow.

Sigh.

Happy Winter!

Lauren has been learning about the seasons at preschool and for the past two months every day she asks, "What season is it?" and "What season is tomorow?" I think she was getting frustrated that my answer was always fall. Today I was happy to report it was winter! Hooray!

The ear infections seem much better. My parents flew in on Tuesday, and yesterday was Erin's last day of school. Today is Rene's last day of work until the new year. So it feels like Christmas. It's remarkably calm here, which is good. I need to work hard at not getting the girls over excited and keeping to a good sleeping schedule. I want them to remember this is a time to enjoy your family, not a time of getting presents. I'm inspired by this post and this post to keep the season simple, sweet and special.

Two children, two ear infections

One tired mom.

Look at our lovely gingerbread house!

Or what's left of it.





Saturday was a rainy day. Hooray! Hallelujiah!! We desperately need rain here in Georgia. So it was a good time to whip out the gingerbread house that got at IKEA in Atlanta. The girls put the frosting and candies on the pieces, and Rene and I assembled them. I needed to get dinner ready so I put the house on the dining room table. At some point during the evening I walked past the dining room table and I realize that half the gingerbread house was gone, and bits of frosting were on the tablecloth and rug. I took the above picture, and I pushed the house to the center of the table and the next morning the WHOLE THING was gone. The girls were not too upset, which was good.

Either Jake or Daisy got to it. I suspect Daisy. Although Jake has a long history of eating things off of tables (a steak, and entire quiche, a stick of butter, turkey cheese enchiladas), I don't think he easily can jump up to the table these days. I inspected the doggie mouths for evidence of frosting, but it was a clean crime. We sent them outside for a good portion of the day to avoid any reappearance of the gingerbread house on our rugs and floors.

Erin complained that her ear hurt last night, so I'm waiting to see how she is this morning. I fear we may have a doctor's visit in the near future.

Mice have overtaken the house!

I joke. But not really. I decided to make the felt Christmas candy cane mice that I found on the Family Fun website here. While I thought it was a good idea at the time, I must admit I'm a bit tired of cutting out enough green and red felt to make mice for 2 ballet class parties and 2 class parties. Might also make some for the neighborhood Christmas carolling event I'm helping to organizing. I hope Santa notices how good I've been!

Turkey in the sun

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I didn't write a thing about it. It was nice, quiet, just the four of us but lots of neighborhood kids around, so we were not lonely. We ate a lot of turkey and the other fixings.

Here's some art by Erin to commemorate the occasion.

The tooth is out!

A gentle tug by Rene with some dental floss, and Erin has officially lost the first tooth. She was quite happy.

So tooth fairy, we're expecting you tonight!

Made in China - NOT!

I'm so sick of these toy recalls, aagh!  I'm done with buying crap.  We'd gotten into a bad habit of giving the kids a dollar or two and taking them to the dollar store, basically, to buy crap.  Crap that breaks.  Crap that contains who knows what kind of chemicals.  Crap, crap, crap.

My secret pastime for a while now has been reading craft / sewing blogs.  I'm inspired every day! (More on that later).  Some of these bloggers have posted great alternatives to buying crap.  

Soulemama just wrote a great post about this great wood shop that has fun wooden fruit,  doll like shapes you can paint, even wooden acorns!   And Amy Karol over at Angry Chicken (great name, eh?) posted a lot of alternatives to buying crap here.  I especially like the idea for this simple dollhouse.

Get the CD box for the dollhouse, some wooden dolls from Casey's wood, some paint, fabric, a few decorative items, and some lucky kid can decorate their own dollhouse and dolls!

I think that will be one (or two) Christmas gifts down.

Tooth fairy: please be on alert

Dear tooth fairy,

I wanted to inform you that Erin will likely be losing her front bottom tooth within a week or too, and I wanted you to be prepared.

Erin has been waiting to lose a tooth for over a year now, so she's excited for your arrival.  By the time this tooth falls out, the permanent tooth behind it will be almost fully in.  Our consultations with our neighbor the dentist, cousin Paul the dentist, and even our pediatric dentist assured us that all would be well.

Despite these assurances, Erin came home from school very sad one day a few weeks ago.  She claimed, you see, that she was the only one in her class who has not lost a tooth.  (A claim I later found out was not true!)  Her dear friend Chandler from across the street decided to help Erin out by tying a string to Erin's tooth and the other end of the string to a doorknob and then slammed the door!  Well that loosened the tooth a  bit, but here we are, tooth fairy, still waiting for your first visit to our home.  (I told Erin that it was a good thing she didn't tell Chandler that her leg hurt, as Chandler might have cut it off to be a helpful friend!)

So, tooth fairy, when the tooth falls out we'll be sure to let you know, and we hope you'll visit Erin that night with something special. 

Halloween

Halloween was fun, many opportunities to dress up and get all sugared up. Note that Erin was Sleeping Beauty on Halloween, but for other Halloween events, she was Tinker Bell. Erin was consistently a black cat. Annual neighborhood halloween photo shoot featured here, as well.  Last but not least, Daisy the wonder frisbee dog.  (Click on pics to see larger version, use the browser back button to return to this page.)

Heavy stuff

I joined Weight Watchers again three weeks ago, and I'm happy to say I've lost 7.4 pounds. I have a ways to go, but I feel good about eating healthier and trying to exercise. Made small steps in the exercise department this week, but hope to keep adding on. The pleasant weather we're having helps to want to be outside.

Migraines

Yesterday I got a migraine headache. I get them infrequently, these days, one or two a year. Some years I've gotten more, some years less. For me they are triggered by hormones, caffeine, alcohol and just stress. The last time I got a migraine was the Friday before Masters week, the day before we were leaving on vacation and had to leave our house spotless and ready for renters. It was also the day that Erin had two ballet performances.

If I get a migraine, it is usually first thing in the morning and I know that it's coming. I should check into the migraine medications that are out, but I don't get the headaches so often that I make this a priority. For me, they only last a few hours. I get sick, need to be in a dark room. If I can sleep for a few hours, by noon I am usually OK, but tired.

I think I started getting migraines when I was 13 years old, but we didn't realize that's what they were. When I was an adult, I read this essay by Joan Didion in The White Album that I realized what I suffered with was migraines.

For a few hours, I am helpless. I get sick. Can't make the lunches, can't walk Erin to the bus. I do managed to call the piano teacher and tell her we won't make it. Rene stays home a bit and learns the details of who gets what snack and lunch and which water bottle. He gets to look up the school lunch menu on the computer. I get a day of forced rest.

Almost fall

This is the first week that it's cool outside in the early morning. Hooray! It's actually pleasant to be outside. We've started talking about what we want to be for Halloween (current plans: Erin, black cat; Lauren, Tinkerbell or Barbie Fairytopia). Luckily we have most of what's needed for these costumes.

And we are busy! Erin seems to be much more confident in first grade than she was at the start of kindergarten. We got our first progress report / report card already and Erin is doing great. Last year, she didn't seem to really bond with any particular school friend, so this year I decided to have a few Friday playdates with some classmates (one at a time) and that has worked out really well.

And as for our other activities, we are busy. When I list them all, I'm embarassed that I'm one of those moms guilty of overscheduling her kids. But these are all things that Erin is interested in, and enjoys, and for now it seems to be working. Erin has always needed to be on the move. For starters, Erin is now a Brownie scout, and I am a Brownie leader or co-leader, as my friend Paula is the real leader. But I do what I can. Paula made Audrey and Lauren their own special "vests" to wear during out meetings. They are too cute. Erin will be selling cookies this year, so if you're craving some thin mints, let me know.

Erin continues with ballet, but after attending the Arts in the Heart festival this weekend, she expressed an interest in Irish Dancing. Hmmmm, maybe next year. She has been taking piano lessons for a month, and really loves it. Saturday mornings we're taking swim lessons again.

And of course, it wouldn't be the start of school without strep throat. Erin got strep throat last week, but luckily we caught it quickly (thanks to Mommy's intuition) and she only missed a day of school, which was a half day anyway.

But Erin's big news is she's getting a new tooth! Unfortunately the baby tooth it's replacing is still there, and the dentist told me to encourage her to wiggle it, but it doesn't seem to be moving too much. I'm making tooth fairy plans for the big moment.

Lauren is really loving preschool this year. It's a little more structured this year. I dropped her off late one day, and saw her friends come to great her in the yard. They shared a hug that lasted a few minutes! She's excited to go to school each day, which is a change from last year when she was more clingy with me. And finally, finally, she's taking ballet! Which she loves, loves, loves.

When we're not busy with school and other activities, we're playing in the yard or neighbor's yards, riding our bikes, taking walks (at our usual Savannah Rapids Pavillion route along the river and canal), painting, making things, reading books (which Erin can now do on her own!) and Erin is obsessed with documenting everything in her life in her new diary (actually a dollar address book from target).

Summer recap: final edition

Whoa, I'm way behind on my summer recap. Need to start writing about current events, so I'm hoping for a few posts here. Oh well. Let's see, what did I forget?

Swim team. Swim team ran from the end of May through June, and while it seems a long time ago, it really consumed our time. When Erin started, she couldn't swim very far (certainly not across the pool!) and wouldn't put her head in the water. By the end of the season, she swam in six meets, participating in freestyle, backstroke and sometimes relay. Her times vastly improved over those six weeks. And she had fun! She was hesitant sometimes, but she always did it, and I am proud of her for that. She enjoyed the concessions too! Parents need to volunteer, so I worked the concession a number of times which was fun and crazy busy! Best selling concession candy: Sweet Tart Squeeze, which is basically a toothpaste-like tube full of sugar gel. I ultimately convinced Erin that the candy was disgusting and would rot her teeth. Our concession was one of the few concessions to sell fruit, which always went quickly too. Of course there's nothing like a swim team burger on the grill.

She even participated in the championships at the Augusta Aquatic Center, which was very crowded and a little overwhelming.

The best part of swim team for Erin was getting ribbons, and finally, at the awards banquet, a trophy! She is proud of her trophy and ribbon. Oh, and being on the number one undefeated team! Go Crocs!

Art classes: Erin took some art classes through the Gertrude Herbert museum. Her weeklong class was a sculpture class. I need to photograph her artwork, but, this was right up her alley.

4th of July: Our neighborhood had an all day 4th of July cookout, which was quite lovely. Lots of food, kids, dogs, did I say food? Thanks, Miss Molly, for hosting!

6th Birthday! Erin turned six, and requested a small party with a few friends. We had the option to "share" our birthday with a friend and have a big party, but Erin wanted a few friends to go to Art's a Way and paint pottery and come home for a tea party lunch. So that's what we did.



Beach! The girls and I went to LBI while Rene had to take a training class in Orlando. Rene missed a fun week. We flew a day early and stayed at Carolyn and Paul's house. Then we headed to the beach. After our annual family meetup at The Chicken or the Egg, we got an early beach start before we could get into the houses. Most of the family was staying in a nice big old Victorian house, and my parents, the girls and and I stayed in a smaller house just behind it. The setup worked great. Thanks to Carolyn and Aunt Joan for planning and organizing the houses.

We got to meet baby Natalie, and as Lauren still says often, "baby Natalie is so, so cute!" It was fun to see Lauren, Lara and Samantha play together. We spent some nice hours at the beach. Erin ventured into the ocean, and loved it! Finally, on the last day, Lauren ventured in for a minute. The kids got to take turns on the kayak at the bay one day. Erin saw a boy selling shells he had colored with crayon, so she stole his idea. She set up shop every day at the end of our driveway. "Shells for sale, dollar or a quarter!" I thought the smaller shells were a quarter, and the larger ones were a dollar. It wasn't until the end of the trip that she told me that people could choose how much they paid, either a dollar or a quarter. She ended up making $10! And not all of that was from family either.



As always, we loved our week at the beach, and seeing our family. We loved the waterpark, the bay, the few nightly walks to the ice cream shop, the outdoor concert at the park across the street, the dolphins, the Beach House dinner (thanks, Nana and PopPop for watching the girls!), the cool evening breezes, good NJ pizza (no cool evening breezes or good NJ pizza in Georgia), playing with chalk, sand castles, shell collecting, the kiddie pool at the beach, Yahtzee, and so much more.

At this point, summer was moving along pretty quickly. School started for Erin on August 13th, and we hosted a neighborhood ice cream social on the Saturday before school. A good time was had by all.

And then, school started. I'll post school updates later. For now, here's a picture of Erin and Lauren as we waited for the bus. The hazy effect? The steamy hot outdoor sauna that fogged up the camera lens.




Summer updates now officially over. Phew!

First day of school

Today is the first day of school in our area. Never mind that the temps around here last week were over 103 just about every day. Ah, well while the schools are roasting, I mean teaching the children, I'll be hosting a back to school moms brunch for a few friends. The little ones will still be with us.

We ended the summer break with a neighborhood ice cream social in our front yard on Saturday night. Lots of fun, lots of sugar, lots of kids running around all sugared up.

Happy first day of first grade, Erin!

Summer recap: Barbie ballet

Next up on our summer recap is our week at Barbie ballet. Erin's been taking ballet since she was 3, and Lauren has watched Erin take dance class since she was 1. Tired of waiting in the front room, Lauren finally had her chance to take ballet class for one week! The girls were in two different classes. Audrey, Maya and Lauren were in the 3 year old class and Erin and Emily were in the 5 year old class.

Erin had fun, but Lauren loved, loved the class. She dances just about every day for us. Both girls will continue weekly lessons when school starts. Erin had made some noise that she might not continue in the future, which is fine. Lauren, for now, is dedicated to dance!

Barbie ballet
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

Barbie Ballet
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

more ballet

Summer recap: pony rides

At the beginning of the summer (May, around here) we went on a Mom's Club outing to the stables at Fort Gordon. It was our first trip to Fort Gordon, and my first trip to a military base, for that matter. I didn't realize they had so many things for civilians! The pony rides were great, and there was a great play / picnic area that we visited afterwards. The play area had three different playset areas, and a shaded picnic area. We also found this biggest pine cones ever! Keep in mind for Christmas crafts.

pony rides
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

Pony rides
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

Pony rides
Originally uploaded by bloggerjeanne

Summer almost over

On Monday, Erin starts school. Crazy I know! So in our world, summer is almost over. At least school is starting two weeks later than last year. I've done a pitiful job of blogging this summer, so my plan for the next few days is to post a recap of some of the highlights of our summer.

Too much night in my head

This morning Lauren said, "C'mon Mr. Sun wake up." And I said, "You wake up too early. You wake up before the sun." And then she said, "That's because I have too much night in my head."

So much I need to post, but for now, I'll leave you with that.

Thinking of our friends Josh & PJ...

in California, as they await their twin baby girls, who may arrive today! We're thinking of you guys, and can't wait to see pics of the babies!

Erin joins swim team

Erin joined swim team at our pool. Erin's never been a real risk taker in the pool, and up until recently didn't
want to put her face in the water. Swim team started almost 3 weeks ago. They meet for 1/2 hour Monday through Thursday. One of her friends quit in tears after the first day. Erin was doing well and jumping in the water, but wasn't always putting her face in the water for freestyle and backstroke was nonexistent. Tuesday night was time trials night, which is really a practice swim meet. (They're a lot of fun. You eat a lot and cheer a lot.) That day she said she didn't
want to to the race, and I said, this isn't a race, it's just practice. Then her friend Sam said she wasn't going to swim and Erin
said she wasn't either. Finally somehow they got swept up in the crowd.

Erin's first race was freestyle. It was just Erin and Sam in their "heat", which was great. (We're learning all the swim meet
terminology and routines. Like I have to write Erin's name on her back with a Sharpie pen and the codes for her events on her arm).

Erin did great! Face in the water, big arms! She might have grabbed the rope here or there but for the most part she did great! Then later was her backstroke event. A boy who raced in the heat just before Erin got stuck trying to swim but went nowhere. He was flailing about, so one of the coaches jumped in and flipped him around and had him swim freestyle. Rene and I looked at each other and we guessed that Erin might suffer a similar fate. But when the race came, Erin backstroked fine, head up, big arms, going straight, and didn'tgrab on to the rope once! We were shocked and amazed!

Erin had a great time, so I guess we're continuing to do swim team! It runs through the month of June.

Next week, in the mornings we start our one week of Barbie Ballet Camp. Both Erin and Lauren are going, in different classes. Lauren has wanted to do ballet since she was one, and insisted on wearing a ballet outfit to sit in the waiting room while Erin took ballet. (And continued to do that through this year, too.) So finally Lauren gets to take ballet. Erin is going to take some morning art classes later in June sponsored by the local art museum.

Summer is here.

Kindergarten graduation

Today Erin graduated from kindergarten. Yesterday her class had a party that a few moms organized, and Lauren and I went and helped. It was a fiesta theme and a good time was had by all.

This morning Lauren and I went to see Erin's kindergarten presentation. (Rene was stuck in a meeting, so couldn't go). The kids sang a song about first grade (to the tune of New York, New York). They then peformed the ABC's of kindergarten. Erin's line: "J is for good jobs and praises we have earned." Then her teacher awarded each child a "candy award". Each child got a different candy bar as she told everyone why that candy was appropriate. Erin got sweet tarts for being sweet and nice. Each child also got their graduation certificate. Then there was a slideshow presentation with pictures of the kids, and if that didn't get you teary enough, a video where each kid said what they liked about kindergarten. The finale was the kids singing "The Greatest Love of All" (Whitney Houston song) that really got me crying.

After that, the kids could stay or go. Erin wanted to go, so we met Rene at McDonalds. Now I'm sitting in the front yard watching the girls play. Summer is here.

Plague seems to be gone!

Yeah! No fever today! Hooray! So business as usual for a rainy Saturday. Swimming lessons for Erin in the am, followed by a trip to Target and the library, and then Indian food. Yum! The afternoon was lazy. We had planned to go to the Pops Under the Stars concert tonight with our friends, but the rain cancelled that for us. So mellow evening is planned. A good night sleep for all is in store, so plague be gone!

I've been home with sick children from Thursday, April 26th through Friday May 4th. Do I get some kind of mommy badge for that? It could have been worse, for sure.

Plague continues

Lauren still has a mild fever, congested, coughing, now sleeping on the couch. Could this be the fever / virus thingy a few friends had before Masters week? That lasted 8 days for them. Blah.

Diagnosis

Doctor says Lauren does not have plague. Or strep (anymore). Just a cold virus coughy thingy with a fever. That's it? Why did she nap at 10:30am? Why did she ask to nap again at 1:45? Surely there is something seriously wrong with this child.

Mom is getting stir crazy.

Still plagued

Erin went back to school yesterday, but Lauren still has a fever, so we're off to the doctor, AGAIN. Blah.

Almost done with the plague

Kept Erin home on Tuesday too, as she had a slight fever and said her throat still hurt. But yesterday afternoon and this morning were fever and pain free! So off to school she went. Lauren did not go to school today as she still has a fever. :( She's not complaining of anything, so that's good. Come on antibiotics, kick in!

First fire, then flood, now plague?*

Well not too long ago we had the dishwasher fire, soon followed by the washer hose coming loose and flooding the laundry room. Now we've been hit with the plague.

Long story short, Erin was diagnosed with strep throat on Thursday evening. Got antibiotics. Antibiotics didn't work, so we had a miserable weekend. After calling nurse helpline twice ("give it a few days"), we all trekked backdown to the after hours clinic. Erin didn't seem to be responding to the antibiotics and Lauren had strep too. Oh Joy! So we're on sick day number 4. Throw some vomiting and lots of coughing and me playing musical beds last night between the hacking children, and we've been having a barrel of fun.

Good news: no fevers today, and Erin reports her throat is much better.

*Title for this post provided by Rene. Thank you, Rene!

Erinisms

I started this post back in April. Here are some Erinisms:

"Dashing through the snow, in a one horse sloping sleigh." (Yes, we're still singing Christmas carols in the summer!)

"You're a grand old flag, you're a high fiving flag, and forever a piece may you wave!"

Ready or not...

We're renting our house out for the masters, Erin has two performances in the Roar of Love ballet tomorow (in addition to a an Easter egg hunt and party at school), Lauren also has an Easter Egg hunt, and we have to be packed up and ready to go by 5:30 am on Saturday.

Disneyland, odd as it may sound, is starting to sound relaxing.

First fire, now flood

Was doing laundry yesterday afternoon. I was in the kitchen, and something didn't sound right in the laundry room. Opened the door, water everywhere! The water hose had come off the washer. :( "Big leak! Get big towels!" We all helped and quickly mopped up the water. Rene reattached the hose. Now I'm washing lots of towels. :(

You may remember we had a small electrical fire in our dishwasher weeks ago.

Glad that these happened before Masters week. Praying nothing else breaks!

Got pollen?

We do. All over the place. A greenish yellow powder covers our world. Sniffle, sniffle.

Erin the firefly

Remember Erin the Angel year? Well this year she is Erin the Firefly. Click on photo to see larger copy. Use browser back button to return here.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Today Lauren is 3! Hooray! (Although we're celebrating tomorrow, so we're not making a big deal out of today).

Happy Birthday Lauren! We love you.

Masters!

Yes, we've been rented for the Masters! We enjoyed our windfall for a few minutes. Had to write check to realtor. Will pay for maid service. Then I had to start shopping! White sheets, white towels, some new pillows, new cushions for outside chairs. The list goes on and on. Like everyone else in Augusta, we are cleaning, sprucing up, getting ready to show the best of Augusta. The azaleas are starting to bloom.

We're going to visit Rene's dad during Masters week, and then we'll meet our friends Mark, June, Nathan & Lauren at Disneyland. We fly back to Atlanta, but need to kill a little time in Atlanta before we can get back into our house. Luckily, we won tickets to the Atlanta Zoo and The World of Coca Cola at Erin's school auction, so that's what we'll be doing. In the meantime, I clean.

Set clocks ahead, check smoke alarms

This is a good time to check your smoke alarms. Our smoke alarm worked for us this week. I had set my dishwasher to delay start and run during the night. After we went to bed, the kitchen smoke alarm went off. Rene and I ran downstairs and could smell something burning. We quickly realized it was the dishwasher. Long story short, there was an electrical fire starting in the wires of the dishwasher door. I don't want to think about what would have happened if our smoke alarm was not working!

Happy daylight savings!

What's up?

"What's up, bloggerjeanne?", you say? Well, let's see...

We went to Charleston for the weekend, which was very nice. On the way there, saw an armadillo on the side of the road. Whoo hoo! Went to the very nice aquarium, and then the IMAX movie next door. It was very funny watching Erin and Lauren wearing their 3D glasses, and Erin reaching out trying to touch the wild animals of Africa that seemed so close! We then had ice cream, and returned to the aquarium for a bit more. Had dinner and went to hotel.

The next day, we went to the very nice Childrens' Museum, the Lowcountry Museum. Then walked a bit and had lunch at Jestine's Kitchen, for some good lowcountry food. We walked around the market for a bit and then took an hour horse-drawn carriage ride tour. Lauren was a little restless, then slept. Erin was a little bored, but she was impressed when we passed a house that our driver told us had been visited by Maria Von Trapp and her family. (Erin likes the Sound of Music). We went to some outlets (new shoes!) returned to the hotel, went in the hot tub (highlight of trip for Erin), and then dinner.

On the way home we stopped at a plantation, but it was a bit to cold to enjoy walking around. Then home.

Since then:

We heard that we had renters for the masters, then not, then we did, now it appears not.
Lauren got pinkeye. :(
I cooked green eggs and ham for Erin's class. :)
Girl scout cookies arrived!
We discovered we'd left Erin's camera at the children's museum in Charleston. :( I called and they are mailing back. :)
Daisy got shaved and now she looks like freak dog again. But a cute freak dog.
The dishwasher set off our fire alarm. I've been washing dishes by hand until repairman comes. :)
We're planning Lauren's 3rd birthday party, princess theme.

That's all! I promise to update more after my dishpan hands recover.

Charleston

We're heading out to Charleston tomorrow. Haven't done too much planning, but things we may do are visit the aquarium, children's museum, see a beach or two, ride in a horse drawn carriage and eat some good low country food.

Our kitchen and family room floors will be revarnished while we're gone. We're hoping to avoid the stink.

Introducing the book

Funny, funny video. Especially if you've ever called tech support with a problem or helped a computer novice with an issue.

Condolences from a 5 year old

My uncle Tom (dad's brother) passed away last week. He was 81. He had been in bad health for a while. My dad got to visit his brother a few months ago and they had a nice visit.

I told Erin that PopPop's brother died. She asked if PopPop was sad, and I said yes, but he knew that his brother was in heaven and that made him feel better.

The next day Erin said, "I want to make PopPop a card to make him feel better." She was drawing and occassionally asking me to spell words for her so she could put them in the card. I wasn't concentrating on it too much, and then finally I said, "what does your card say?"

"When someone is old, they must die."

Hmmm. "Erin, where do you get to the part where you write something to make PopPop feel better?"

"I'm working on it."

She then wrote, "I am sorry." She also insisted on taping a stuffed hedgehog to the envelope. Nothing says I'm sorry for your loss like a stuffed hedgehog. She then asked me to mail it. I smiled and said certainly, and hid it away.

Who are you?

This morning I was talking on the phone with my mother and I must have accidentally hit the "voice changing button" on our phone. Why this feature exists, I don't know, unless you like to make prank phone calls. I thought I had hit the "off" button, so I said, "Hello, are you there?" No response. The following is the rest of our conversation:

Me: Mom are you there? Hello?
Mom: My line must have crossed with someone else, I'm hearing another conversation. (I now realize I've hit the voice changing button.)
Me: Mom, can you hear me? Mom it's me!
Mom: Who's you? What's your name? (She's thinking I'm some man now.)
Me (laughing): Mom, it's me, Jeanne!
Mom: What?
Me: I pressed a button on my phone and it makes my voice sound different.
Mom: What?
Me: Hang up the phone, I'll call you back.

Lost in McDonalds

Yesterday we went to McDonald's for lunch (after a major Erin meltdown, temper tantrum, followed by a nap--halleluia!

While we were there, the girls went into the playstructure which looks like it was made for very large gerbils, lots of tunnels. Erin doesn't like to climb too high, but immediately Lauren crawled up to the top tubes. After about 10 minutes she did not reaappear. We'd periodically see her crawl through one of the tubes, but she wouldn't respond to our calling. (Note there were about 1000 other children, more or less, also in the playstructure.)

Finally I found two girls who were 7 or 8, and asked them to go find a blonde little girl named Lauren wearing a pink jacket. If they weren't up to the job, I'd have to find a skinny McDonalds' employee The girls reported back that they found Lauren, but Lauren did not want to go down the slide. I told them to walk her down through the structure. They reported back that she did not want to go. Finally, I told them to tell her that her mommy and daddy would take her to the dollar store. Shortly they emerged with Lauren.

Next time we'll do pizza.

Y is for yucky

Got a call from Erin's teacher that Erin was complaining of a sore throat and she didn't touch her lunch. So I picked her up, picked Lauren up, and took Erin to the doctor. Diagnosis: strep throat. So the three of us are home today having a sick day. It's raining outside (forecast was for icy rain), and generally a good day to stay inside. Crossing my fingers that no one else gets it. Yucky!

Y is for y'all

When I was helping out in Erin's class this week, they were working on the letter 'Y'. The teacher asked the children to tell her words that begin with 'Y'. One of the children said, "y'all". And since we are in the south, that was a correct answer!

Sniffle, sniffle

Erin's been complaining of headaches. I took her to the doctor yesterday. Theory #1 is that allergies are causing her headaches. Yes, it's January and the pollen is out in Georgia. We're both sniffing. So now Erin is taking allergy medication. Theory #2 is that Erin's six-year molars are coming in and that may be bothering her. (This might be the case as she complains sometimes when she is chewing food.) So we're going to wait and see how she feels with the allergy medication and if the headaches continue, take her to the dentist.

And speaking of health issues, I never wrote about the Christmas illnesses. Wouldn't be Christmas without them, now wouldn't it? Two days before Christmas, Erin got an ear infection. A few days after Christmas, Lauren got a tummy virus, stomach flu or some similar crud. Once Lauren recovered, Rene got some kind of flu, coughing, fever, aching. I escaped the holidays healthy.

Mickey Mouse Crocs

Lauren likes to say "How cute" when seeing pictures of puppies or babies. I had the same reaction when I saw these! We're gearing up for Disneyland, so I had to get them:



Mickey Mouse Crocs

Feeling down today?

You are not alone! See this article.

Maybe that's why I feel like a really need a nap. Of course on the one day Lauren doesn't seem to want to nap.

Top 10 things moms (and some dads) do in the carpool line

1. Go sit in a friend's SUV or minivan and chat.
2. Sit in your SUV or minivan and chat on the cellphone.
3. Sit in your SUV or minivan and read.
4. Sit in your SUV or minivan and sleep.
5. Sit in your SUV or minivan and eat.
6. Get out of the SUV or minivan and take a walk.
7. Get out of the SUV or minivan and go into the school. (What were they doing in there?)
8. Back your SUV or minivan into the front of the carpool line, saving yourself lots of time while incurring the wrath of the moms in the front of the line who've been sitting there for 30 minutes.
9. Get enraged at the mom who backs into the front of the carpool line. Give her a good talking to. Go get the principal. Shake your head in disgust and let any moms in the front who where sleeping, chatting, or reading know what transgression just occurred.
10. Sit in your SUV or minivan and watch the drama of the other moms fighting.

I've been a bad blogger

No posts. Bad me.

Quick updates from this week:

100 days of school celebration!
Found out my part time tech writing job won't continue after January. :(
Will now have time to organize the suitcase of photos my mother brought at Christmas!
Will now have time to help with the girl scouts "Thinking Day" project. Our troop's country: Bolivia!
We decided to rent our house out for masters week. But since it ends on Easter Sunday, attendance might be down this year.
Lauren got her big girl bed today! Had no nap so groggily went into bed just fine.
It's a movie night and we're watching The Sound of Music (or "Maria" as Erin calls it.

That's all. I promise to blog more in the future. :)

cool things I've found on the internet

The Inventor or Ramen noodles dies.
Place the state on the map, see how you do!
Yahoo Answers. Ask a question, any question!
Martha Stewart on crack! (Amy Sedaris, very funny.)

The bus has brought my baby home!

Hooray. Erin is a bus rider!

My baby on the bus!

At approximately 4pm today I will be nervously awaiting Erin's arrival on her first trip on the dog bus. Of course I had dreams of bus crashes, etc which kept me awake.

I had been avoiding the bus because A) I had been misinformed that we would be first pickup in the morning and last dropoff in the afternoon even though we live pretty close to the school; B) I had gotten used to spending all that time in the carpool line reading; and C) my baby is too young to ride the bus!

But after six months of Erin's pleading with me and me getting information on the route, I gave in. I hear the driver is wonderful, and they will attempt to drop off and pick up right in front of our house. But this morning my friend (whose son is a veteran bus rider) informed me that the driver told her there would be a substitute driver this afternoon! AAAGGGH! Luckily she talked to him about Erin and he told her Erin was on the route and all would be well. Plus I gave Erin a note for the bus driver which I've only told her 50 times to give him.

It'll be a long afternoon!

More on Christmas in another post!

Holiday travel! Joy! Joy! Joy! NOT!

Early Thursday morning, Alex left Calgary. More than 36 hours later, he arrived at our house.

His trouble started when he arrived in Chicago and the spillover Denver mess had affected flights in Chicago, plus Chicago had rain and fog. His flight was delayed, delayed, then he was bumped so he had to spend the night sleeping in a chair in the Chicago airport.

Meanwhile, Rene was waiting at the Columbia, SC airport for about 6 hours. Alex had forgotten to bring our phone number. He finally got a hold of his neighbor who looked up our phone number (thank you internet!). So Rene returned home, after spending about 8 hours waiting at the Columbia airport (an hour away).

The next morning, Friday, Alex called that he would be flying to Washington D.C. and then to Greenboro, NC, which is over 4 hours away. So Alex, flew, got in an hour later than we expected. Of course Alex's suitcase was not in Greensboro. Luckily, I called the Columbia, SC airport baggage claim and it took them two minutes to find it. Rene and Alex stopped along the way to get the suitcase. Rene left at 8 am to pick up Alex and they returned 8 pm.

But Alex was not alone in his travel woes! Just after I had located the suitcase, Richard (Rene's oldest son) called to say that he and Liam (Rene's youngest son), had an adventure. They were supposed to fly direct from Calgary to London. For some strange reason someone at the airport told them they'd need to fly to Vancouver (uh, hello, wrong direction!) So they flew to Vancouver. You guessed it, when they got to Vancouver they had to fly back to Calgary to get to London! Doh! They arrived in London earlier today.

I was happy not to have to drive, fly and just be command central at home. The girls and I picked up my parents on Wednesday. Luckily they were only 20 minutes late. Dietrich, Leticia and Andrew are due in a few hours. Cross your fingers they arrive on time!

Happy Holidays!

We're all busy preparing for Christmas. Tomorrow is Erin's last day of school. Then the family starts to arrive. First my parents, then Alex, then Rene's dad & his wife, and Rene's brother Andrew. Full house! We did a lot of food shopping yesterday!

Erin had her Christmas play, "The ABCs of Christmas" last week. It was very sweet. She performed her "D is is Decoration" part very well. The first 15 minutes of the presentation was Erin's Spanish teacher leading the class in their Spanish. The class is an immersion class, so the teacher speaks no English to the children. It was quite impressive! The week before there was a Santa breakfast at the school. Erin went right to Santa, but Lauren wouldn't go, although she did yell out "Baby Alive!", which is what she wants from Santa. Baby Alive is the doll that eats and pees. Erin requested the same.

Rene and I went out to dinner for the first time alone in well over a year on Saturday. We finally got a babysitter who worked out great! The dinner was an early celebration of Rene's birthday. We booked her for January, as well, for our anniversary.

Our extended family got a nice Christmas present: My cousin Jennifer gave birth to her second daughter, Natalie Ava. The pictures of the baby are adorable, and big sister Lara seems to be adjusting. Congratulations!

Finally, here's a picture of the girls, in their Christmas finest!

Dec 1 and it's 74 degrees

Well at times it has been cool, but yesterday and today it's hot! Crazy living in the south.

We had a nice Thanksgiving, and only have some turkey soup left in the freezer. On Thanksgiving weekend we took a Petersburg boat tour on the Augusta Canal which was very nice.

Now the preparation for Christmas begins. Yikes!

Go, Erin, Go! And Stephen, too!

This morning Erin ran her one mile Fun Run at school. She had warned me that she might be near the end, but she did great! And Lauren had fun cheering her sister on.

Now one mile is quite commendable for a kindergardener, but we must also give a big congratulations to my cousin Stephen who completed the New York Marathon last week! Many family members were on hand to cheer Stephen on.

Tip: Lizard in the house?

How do you know if there's a lizard in the house? Get a puppy!

Tip for moms: Too many stuffed animals?

Get a puppy. :)

We had a happy halloween!

Our first Halloween in Georgia was a hit. We had fun trick or treating in the neighborhood. All the kids (and parents) went from house to house in a group. (When it was your own house, someone had to dash inside to hand out the candy). Since no other kids outside the neighborhood venture down our court, the kids got spoiled by the neighbors. I even convinced Lauren to put on her ballerina outfit at the last minute! Then we ventured over to our friends neighborhood because we didn't have quite enough sugar. :)

Happy Halloween!

We're very excited that today is Halloween! Erin is a princess and Lauren is still insisting that she wants to be Lauren for Halloween. Lauren does not want to get dressed up! On Friday we had the mom's club halloween party which was fun. I created and ran the pin the nose on the pumpkin area.

We visited friends Kara, Walt, Samantha and Sean this weekend and had a really nice time. The kids played nicely together and it was good to spend time with them. Their neighborhood had a Halloween festival which we attended and the next day we took a nice walk which resulted in Lauren napping most of the way home and sleeping 12 hours! She did not nap yesterday, but has slept 11 hours so far! Go Lauren!

Today we'll trick or treat with the neighborhood kids. We have learned that the thing to do is trick or treat here early and then go to another neighborhood, so we'll trick or treat with our friends Emily and Audrey afterwards.

A year ago the girls and I were in NY with my parents while our stuff moved from California to Georgia. That was a stressful week! But we made it.

Freeze warning in Augusta!

Seems like it went from roasting to freezing in just days. As of last night, we have turned on the heat. Weather.com shows that it is 34 degrees now and there is a freeze warning.

Today Erin is home for her last day of fall break. Yesterday we went to Target and got some warm clothes for the girls.

Last week Lauren and I had a tummy virus. She seemed to have a relapse yesterday. This only seems to occur when we meet Rene for lunch.

This weekend we go to visit Kara, Walt, Samantha and Sean in Woodstock, GA. Hooray!

Fall and random notes

Well we had a week or two without air conditioning, but now it's back on. Evenings are getting bit cooler though. Makes me feel like pumpkin bread and homemade soup! (both of which I've made this week.

Erin is now a Daisy girl scout. She has a meeting every other week. Last week, Erin attended the Magic Slippers Masquerade Ball for area girl scouts. Erin's troop got dressed up as princesses! Click here for pictures. Also pictures of Lauren at school on picture day (wouldn't let the professional photographer take her picture). Oh, and me with a king and queen at the Rennaissance festival!

Don't worry, Daisy Scouts don't sell cookies, so I won't hit anyone up! (Next year, however...) If you do have any of the pink boxtops for education on general mills cereal boxes, betty croker, ziplock bags, and many other brands, you could send them our way. :)

Rene was away last week in Raleigh, NC. We survived. He arrived home just in time to see Princess Erin return from her masquerade ball.

Lauren and I recently went to a mom's club sponsored field trip at the airport on Tuesday. It's a small airport, not the oh so grand Augusta airport, but it was great! We got to walk around the planes, meet the mechanics, talk to the medivac helicopter pilot and peek in his helicopter, and the kids got to sit in a small airplane. Lauren chose not to get in the plane.

For Halloween, Erin will be (surprise, surprise) a princess. Lauren prefers to be Lauren for Halloween.

Christmas plans are underway and we expect that there will be 10 of us here, and we're excited about that.

Daisy had to get shaved last week as her hair got too crazy. She looks like a completely different dog, a somewhat freakish one.

Yesterday, Daisy ran out into the front yard and pooped. Being the good dog caretaker that I am, I went out with some plastic bags to remove the offending items. Erin came out yelling, "Mommy, there's a phone call for you!" Erin's never answered the phone before, so I was surprised. I took the phone. It was my doctor's office, letting me know my thyroid check was AOK. I asked Erin what she said to the lady on the phone. She said, "I told her that Jeanne was outside picking up poop!" Oh well, I guess I gave the nurse a laugh.

Today is the start of Erin's fall break. We went to the library park this morning and then met Rene for lunch. I went to the rest room, and came back to discover that Lauren had gotten sick! So we all dashed home. Rene changed clothes quick and went back to work. We're just hanging out. Laure is in good spirits, so I think she's fine. Always something around here!

Working girl

My mom sent me this old newspaper clipping of herself from way back when she was a working "girl". (See how the caption refers to ladies as "girls"). Not sure of the date (need to check with mom), but I'm guessing approximately 50 years ago! Anyway, looking good, mom! (She's in the foreground, in the dark skirt, cardigan sweater with the oh so cute purse!)

Click on the photo to see a larger version (then hit your browser back button to return).

Da cute wittle puppy is soo big now!

And look at those crazy eyes!

Special helper of the day

Erin was the special helper of the day. She came home with a large piece of paper that said the following:

Today is Wednesday, September 6, 2006.
Erin is our special helper today.
P.E. is Erin's favorite school activity. She likes pink. Her favorite number is one million. Erin likes the story, "Jack in the Beanstalk." Her favorite animals are flamingos.

A few updates...

It's been brought to my attention that it's been an entire month since I last posted here. Whoops! Time flies. Here's some quick updates:

Erin's doing well in school. After a few days, we found out they needed to add a new kindergarten class and Erin's name was chosen in a lottery to move to the class. I was upset, but Erin didn't bat an eye. It's been an exhausting month for her, but she's doing well. Erin has Spanish class 4 times a week. She's starting to read some words, and has completely memorized her phone number, area code and all! Yeah Erin!

Speaking of area codes, months ago they implemented 10-digit dialing in the Augusta area. Which means if I want to call my neighbor across the street, I need to dial the area code. Without the "1" in front. If you dial the one, you get some recording that you've dialed in error. Arrrgggh!

The carpool line at school sucks. I get there 30 minutes early and sit there with all the other moms (and a few dads) just so Erin doesn't have to wait in the heat for 20 minutes for me to get her. Half the time, Lauren sleeps, which is fine, because then I get to read. When it cools down, I can take Lauren to the school playground.

Lauren started her "children's morning out" class a few weeks ago. She likes it a lot! Same teachers as last year which helps. Last week Lauren fell off a chair in the family room and her head bumped on the hardwood floor. Ouch! Big old goose egg. Lauren did not go to school that morning.

Our friends Kara, Walt, Samantha and Sean visited us this past labor day weekend. They stayed over Saturday night. On Sunday, we went to Walt's parents' farm in South Carolina. We got to feed the horsies, go swimming, and Lauren chased the dogs (and vice versa).

Finally, we're famous! Erin, Lauren and I got our pictures in the local Augusta Parent magazine and I got quoted in the article. You can't see the picture, but if you go to this link and scroll down, you'll see the article: http://www.augustaparent.com/shortstuff.html

That's all for now!

First day of school

Erin started kindergarten on Friday. Our baby is growing up. We didn't find out until Tuesday who Erin's teacher is. Her teacher is Mrs. Swenson, and the assistant teacher (not sure about her official title) is Mrs. Partridge.



On Thursday night we went to the open house. Since we were in the second half of the alphabet, we had to go from 7 -8. First thing we learned about Stevens Creek is that they don't have enough parking! Lots of cars parked on the side of the road, so we did that too. We live less than a mile from the school and can walk on the bike path, but it was late and the forecast was rain, so we opted to drive. Erin met her teachers, who seem very nice. She found her desk and her locker where her bookbag and supplies were waiting for her. Then we went to the cafeteria to sign up for the Parent Teacher Organization (ie write a check), pick up a t-shirt, and write another check for Erin's cafeteria account. Then it was back home to get everyone to bed for the big day.

Erin woke up and immediately put her new school clothes and sneakers on. She was ready! We all piled in the car and navigated through the many school traffic helpers. We walked Erin to her classroom. She had painted a picture of a butterfly for Mrs. Swenson, which Mrs. Swenson loved. It was short and sweet. We kissed Erin goodbye and then off we went. As we walked down the hall, Rene was in front of me and said, "That wasn't so bad, was it?" When he turned around I had some tears in my eyes. I got through it, though.

Soon after that, Lauren and I joined a few other kindergarten moms and siblings for a first day of school brunch. It was very nice. I learned that I wasn't the only one to cry. I also learned that the rules for bus riders are that boys sit on one side, girls sit on the other. Girls get off the bus first.

Pickup was another story! I left the house at 3:14. It takes one minute to get there, and I was one of the last cars inside the school grounds. Lauren and I waited over a half hour in the carpool pickup line! It had to be 100 degrees. We finally got wilted Erin. In the future, when it cools down, I may walk to school and push Lauren in the burley trailer along the bike path. I had heard that even though we live close, we'd be first for pickup for the bus and last to drop off. I check and discovered because we live within 2 miles of the school, technically we're not eligible for the bus (which Erin would love to ride!)

Took a while to get details, but Erin liked her first day of school. She drew a picture for me, she liked lunch in the cafeteria (pizz), she reported with a laugh that all the kids couldn't stay still during nap time, she liked recess, and was evasive about it, but I finally got it out of her that a Spanish teacher visited them and she had a wand.

We celebrated the first day of school with Thai food. Great job, Erin!

Our condolences

Richard, Alex, and Liam's mother passed away last week. We're so sorry that they lost their mom. We know that Lisa was very proud of them, and loved them dearly. Our condolences, prayers, and love to them.

They say owners start to look like their dogs...

but this is ridiculous! Rene has recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism which may be causing high cholesterol. Now, a month later, our dog Jake has been diagnosed with the same thing!

I just hope Rene doesn't get fleas.

Mom's pizza tip

A mom at Erin's birthday party gave me this tip: If you have a little one who needs their pizza cut up, just use clean scissors! Cut up pizza, easy as can be!

Birthday extravaganza

The plan for Erin's birthday was to have the kids slip and slide in the front yard. The forecast was for rain, but it held off for most of the day. At 4:30, scheduled time for the party to start, the neighborhood kids were the first to arrive. The big inflatable kiddie pool was filled up, the slip n slide was in place, but the clouds were dark and I heard thunder. Fearing that the kids would be struck by lightning, I told everyon not to get in the pool. Just then the raindrops started to fall. So up to the playroom we went.

But 20 minutes later, the rain stopped and the sky wasn't quite so black, so everyone was in the kiddie pool and slippin and slidin on the slip n slide. Then lots of pizza and cake was consumed. A great party, after all!

Happy Birthday Erin!

My baby is 5 today! It really did go so quickly. Now Erin gets to experience life without training wheels. Literally. Her new purple Schwinn awaits!

Smoothies!

Our new summer breakfast staple seems to be smoothies (aka how mom can sneak a lot of fruit into her kids). We usually put strawberries, bananas, orange juice, sometimes blueberries, peaches and yogurt. Usually some of the fruit is frozen. If I have fruit that's getting ripe and I don't think we'll eat it, I'll cut it up and freeze if for future smoothie use.

Now if I could just figure out a way to sneak green veggies in there..

Vacation is over, sniff, sniff

We had a fun vacation. The first week we spent at Nana and PopPops. The girls got lots of attention. Got to visit a few old friends.

Here are some of the highlights of our trip to Long Beach Island:

Cousins! And lots of them!
Great dinners by cousin John!
Ice cream at the Melt Down, with a celebrity visitor, Spongebob Squarepants himself!
Seeing dolphins in the ocean.
Building sandcastles, digging holes.
Art projects with cousin Carolyn.
The kiddie pool at the beach.
Collecting shells.
Rene and I dining out on our own, no kids!
Everyone riding the big bike.
Aunt Joan's pancakes!
Jeanne got to read an entire book! Whoo hoo!
Jeanne and Erin got pedicures. Whoo hoo!
Lauren riding the baby bike seat behind daddy.
Evening at Fantasy Island. Lauren, Lara and Samantha go on their first rides by themselves. (Little cars, little boats).
Buckets o' margaritas.
The kiddies swimming in the bay while some of the others kayaked by.
Fireworks!
Flav-o-ice!
Lucky Charms!

Here's pics: click here