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

Visiting the folks

In NY this week with Nana and PopPop and the girls. Got to see some friends and just hang out. Nana is spoiling the girls and they are enjoying it. Looking forward to the beach. Now we just have to sing: rain, rain, go away!

Got a job!

As I was packing for our vacation, I got a phone call with the offer for a part time job as a technical writer / editor! It won't ever be more than 10 hours a week, and I can do it at home on my own time. Hooray for me!

Bloggerjeanne is going on vacation

Off to NY to spend time with the folks, and then the beach in NJ with family. Rene will join me and the girls for the week at the beach. Rene just sent this email to a friend, and I thought it was funny, so here is an edited version:

Summer is going alright here. It is expected to be warm the next 2 days, with highs in the mid 90's. High humidity, but not REALLY high. Jeanne had her birthday yesterday. Can you believe it that she is 29 already??? Seems like only yesterday that she was 19!

She leaves for New York tomorow with the girls. I join her next week; one whole week of bachelor-hood. Who-hoo!

I had a temper tantrum last week; the tree people cut down some trees for us, broke a water pipe (of course they wouldn't pay for the repairs), a bunch of sprinkler heads, etc. Then my tractor died (still isin the shop) and I was attacked by a swarm of killer mosquitoes while I was trying to deal with everything. Of course the painter's mother died (I thought she died a few months ago when they failed to show up for another job?), and his assistant broke his back, so my door never got painted. Still isn't. Might happen any day now. "Hard to say". Did I mention that we have a hard time finding and keeping healthy tradespeople? We do. We must be jinxed. I secretly envy renters.

Erin is enjoying living here more. She opened the door on Saturday and was greeted by a very calm looking turtle waiting for her. Yup, we have armadillos, snakes, turtles, gators, and weird looking lizards. Never had wildlife like this in Canada! She has been taking swimming lessons here. She actually got on an diving board! Of course, I should add that she promptly walked off muttering "no way".

We have a REALLY big vegetable garden here, which is very fortunate as the previous owners provided little food for the rabitts and leaf-footed bugs. What? Never heard of leaf-footed bugs? Me neither, but they adore tomatoes. They have these little group gatherings on tomatoes where they suck 'em dry one at a time. Apparently nature has equiped them really well for survival. They taste so bad that even lizards won't eat them.

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday dear me,
Happy birthday to me!

I love letter K

This morning, Lauren said to me, "I love letter K".

I can't say that I love letter K, but it is a useful letter.

Blah day

The neighbors are gone, no kids to come play.
The sun is not out, so no pool today.
The tree men are here and they cut down some lumber.
But they drove over a waterpipe,
So we're waiting on the plumber.

Rene versus the ivy

On this very hot weekend, for some reason Rene decided to tackly the ivy that had slowly been taking over the back yard. My verdict: Rene won! Although Rene might not think so as he is tired and achy today. :( On top of that his eye is still puffy from getting sunscreen in it. Erin and Lauren had the same thing happen. We're not using that sunscreen on our faces any more.

I know the battle of the ivy is not over yet, but for now, it looks like we have a winner.