Box Seats?

How much would you pay for these seats?

For all of you Babywearing Mamas!

You know how much I love my carriers!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Multi-Tasking

She's just like her mother. I'm so proud.

Coincidence or Genius?

Eliana is a little bit obsessed with the television lately. She wanted to watch "Hi-5" this morning but I wasn't turning it on for her. So, the little stinkpot went over to the remotes, somehow picked the right one and even stranger still, turned it on!

Then she was changing the channels and found Sesame Street. Unfortunately, it was over so she started changing the channels again.

She stopped on The View.

The Chippendales were dancing. I couldn't get her attention no matter what I did.

Genius, is what I think!

Freedom!

All 5 butterflies hatched. They were ummmmm....as Sasha called it "fighting"---wink-wink---yesterday so we decided to release them after camp today. It was so exciting and 3 of them sat on her finger. The very last one kept crawling up and down her arm.

Hula Dancers

Ham

Ellie is now saying "Cheese" when she smiles for the camera, but she thinks that she has to get close to it like she's taking the picture. We may have a lot of pictures like this for a while.

We have 3!

I made the mistake of showing them to Eliana. Now she wants to see the "buh buh buh buheye" all the time. She stands in front of the net and pats her chest like she's calling them to her. But if they fly, she screams and runs away.

What a way to save on water costs.

Just send the kids out to play when the lawn sprinklers come on!

That's what you get...

...when you pick up garbage off the curb. I just happened to be driving by as someone down the road was putting this cute princess jeep out for the trash. I couldn't just keep driving so I pulled over and asked him if it worked. He said that he didn't know and that they had thrown away the battery. I asked him if I could take it and being the nice man that he was, he put it in my car for me. I called the company to order a new battery. Get this! $50 (that amount I figured) and then $20 for shipping. Yep! $70 and I don't even know if the car will work with a new battery! In my opinion, so not worth it.

I'll stalk ebay for a while. In the meantime, the girls love to sit in it and pretend that they are driving. It makes me laugh. It's not like they don't have any other toys that actually work.

More Fun in the Sun

Eliana went on her first field trip today. We all met for some play and crafts in our little toddler class and they we all went to the SPLASH ZONE. Surprisingly, it was the first time I had ever been there and it's only 5 minutes down the road. Eliana had a blast. She has no fear and this is why I only got one picture. She walked right in and up the steps to go down the slide. And then we went down the slide over and over and over and over again!

The eagle has landed!

Ladies and Gentlemen! This morning we had our first butterfly hatching. Did you hear Sasha screaming with excitement? So far, there is only one but he/she/it is doing well and eating a feast of carnations covered in sugar water. Mmmmm...

Get used to it, Sasha.

I've been saying this a lot lately. Eliana wants to do EVERYTHING just like her big sister. She loves Sasha's shoes...or in this case, her slippers.

What's wrong with this picture?

Something funny happened on the way to naptime....

Not only did I get a cute tushy picture, there was no mess to clean up!

Maybe

Maybe...just maybe, Daddy will learn his lesson. Like most daddies/men, Matt has a habit of leaving his clothes all over the place. Today, he left a pair of dress pants and a pair of shorts laying on the side of the bathtub. While I was using the restroom, Eliana walked around the bathtub and pushed everything in. Then she turned on the water!

Hahahahaha! She's going to be a great mother. She'll be one that says, "If you don't eat those peas, you're going to wear them!" If you don't put your clothes away, they are going in the bathtub!

Bird Brains?

....errrrr...Dog Brains?

Gaguk! (aka: Dudley)

New 'do

Same old smile

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

The last little caterpillar moved to the top of the jar yesterday and created his chrysalid overnight. We moved them all to their butterfly house this morning. They are attached to the lid of the jar and I pinned the lid to the netting in the butterfly house. The directions say it only takes 7-10 days for them to form into a butterfly so keep your fingers crossed.

A Nice Father's Day

We spent the morning at the beach and had a great time. Eliana just loves the water and wasn't afraid of the waves at all. She and I sat in the sand (lots and lots of sand in my bathing suit) and let the waves break over us. She laughed every time, even when they broke on our faces.

The homemade gifts from the girls are so cute. They both made cards. For some reason, Sasha decided to draw pictures of all of her friends on her card. She painted a wooden heart box for Matt to take to work.

Eliana made him a card at the My Tot and Me class on Friday. Out of all the pictures that were available to put on the card, you can see that Eliana chose "Mechanic on Duty 24 Hours"! As if. The art project was a painted hammer. It will not get any use but isn't it cute?

Too Fast

Another growing up too fast post.

For the past few weeks, Eliana and I have been going to a Mommy and Me class on Fridays. It's just amazing how quickly she's gotten used to it. The first time we went, she just wanted to run around an play with all the toys. She didn't really care what anyone else was doing. This week, I got tears in my eyes watching her participate in the class. She sat during circle time and knew when it was time to eat. She loves it.

It's Amazing

You learn about the transformation of caterpillar to butterfly in school but have you ever seen it in real life? "Wow", is all I can say.

Aunt Kerri got Sasha a butterfly habitit for her birthday. After we got back from our cruise, we "ordered" our caterpillars. They got here just last Friday and have grown HUGE. I can't believe it. Three out of the 5 have already turned into chrysalides and the other two should be following soon.

The first one climbed to the top of his home the other morning and had almost totally turned into a chrysalis by that evening. Once they are all in their little chrysalides, we'll take the lid and put it in the butterfly habitat. If you have curious kids, it's defintely worth it. This is the one we got.

Fun in the Sun

Sasha had a big girl birthday party today so Eliana and I took a trip to the pool. She was in the pool, to the kiddie fountain, to the pool, to the fountain, to the po...oops no...back to the fountain, to the pool. I think I lost 10 pounds chasing her back and forth.

She has no fear at the pool. It's a blessing but a curse. I have to be right behind her every second because she will jump in by herself. She walks right over to the steps and starts going in by herself. I leave her in the stroller until I'm totally ready to get in. She wants to be just like Sasha.

Mmmmm....Frosty!

If you need a good excuse to splurge and buy a Frosty or 2 or 3 this weekend, for every Frosty you buy this weekend, Wendys will donate 50 cents to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. So go ahead, EAT UP!

Excuse me?

Eliana went to our usual Friday "My Tot and Me" class today and she made a new friend. She was immediately drawn to a little boy, who wasn't so little. He looked to be about her age. While they were throwing the ball to...AT each other, the mom and I started talking.

How old is he?
17 months
Her too! They are both so big!
When is her birthday?
January 4th.
His too!
Where did you go?
....uhhhhhh...excuse me?
Where did you go?
I must have had a total look of confusion on my face because she then said, "Where did you deliver?"
AHAAAA!

I'm pretty good at most Labor/Delivery/Pregnancy speak but this one threw me.

I'm good to the finish cause I eats my....

...spaghetti?

Someone needs to invent...

...a mini tracking device. It needs to be small enough to attach it to things like: cameras, remotes, phones, cell phones, and any small electronic device that a baby shouldn't have but LOVES to have and HAS to have or else she will throw herself down on the floor and cry usually while you are on the phone (whichever phone she hasn't taken).

We are missing one remote (missing for weeks) and one booklight (missing for 24 hours). REWARD!!!!

Yes, I have looked in the refrigerator for them.

If you find them, please let me know.

All Too Fast

They grow up too fast. Sasha graduated Kindergarten today. I can NOT believe that my baby is going to be in first grade next year. Can NOT believe it.

She got off the bus this afternoon and ran up to me. She put her arms around me and buried her head in my stomach and started sobbing. She just got so attached to her teacher who was the absolute best teacher for her. Poor baby. I know exactly how she feels. While I never cried, I did always get teary-eyed on the last day of school because I would get so attached to my students.

I calmed her down and had her call and leave a message for her teacher. I had a little graduation present that totally took her mind off her tears. Phew!


Her First Day of Kindergarten


Her Last Day of Kindergarten
(minus 2 teeth, plus 3 backpacks
and at least 2 pairs of new sneakers)

Miss Independent

I love Crocs for Eliana and Sasha. They are easy on and easy off. It was a little surprising to me the other day when Eliana came up to me with hers on. She was barefoot but she put them on by herself. They were on the wrong feet but even so...

We be jammin!

I heard about a free outdoor jazz concert at a nearby (manmade) lake. We thought the girls would love it and they did. Eliana danced the whole time and made quite a spectacle, a very cute one, of herself. Sasha loved the fact that she could fall asleep outside if she wanted to. Of course, there was NO CHANCE of her actually doing it but it was a good idea.

It's funny you should ask.

I had already decided that I was going to get Eliana a play kitchen for Hanukkah this year. I even had this one from Little Tikes picked out. It's so cute. It has a kitchen on one side and a grill on the other side. So really, it's like having 2 toys in one!

So anyway, I sent the link to Didi (my mom) and told her to start saving her money. She emailed me back and said that she was sure I would find it much cheaper way before the holidays.

And then it was naptime.

And then I woke up (This is starting to sound like a 2nd grade story, isn't it?) and Eliana was still asleep and I thought I'd check my email. I saw the message from mom and thought I'd check Craigslist just for fun.

And then there it was.

I'm not kidding. Play kitchens NEVER last on Craigslist if they are ever even listed. So I called the phone number right away and it was still available. The woman lived less than 10 minutes from us. When Eliana woke up, we drove over to buy it.

But wait! There's more!

When we were carrying it out of the house (by the way, it looked brand new and I paid 1/2 the price), she said that they were expecting another baby and didn't have room for a playroom anymore. I said, "Congratulations! When are you due?"

Do you know what she said?

"Oh, I'm not pregnant. We're adopting." Their 4 year old daughter was adopted at birth and they were starting the process to adopt again.

So how about that for coincidences? Or how about that for Didi's ESP powers?

Coffee and hamburgers anyone? (Please don't look at my daughter's dirty dress.)

Yahtzee?!

Yes, that's the ELECTRONIC Yahtzee game in the water table. Guess the plumber left it there?

Teaching Flashbacks

My living room is really starting to look like a classroom.

Oh well, it's fun and comfy! Who could ask for more?

Now that's a cute tushy!

The plumber came by to take a look at the water table today.

Do Lizards know how to tease?

Murray has been trying to catch this little guy, the one you see on the wall above the plant, for weeks. I really think he was sticking his tongue out at poor Murray today.

"Wards Day"

Today was the Kindergarten Awards Ceremony, or as Sasha explained (yelled) it this morning, "TODAY IS WARDS DAY!"

Sasha earned a Kindergarten Certificate, a Character Education Award in Respect and Caring and an Academic Excellence Award.

Now, that's my girl!!!

Oh and the very best part of the whole ceremony was when some mother's cell phone rang. The ringer was the song "Get Low". Yes it was and it was loud! We actually like the song and, as a matter of fact, Eliana and I were 'getting low' the other night when it was on.

I'm in love with another...

...washing machine.

Bravos is my new squeeze/main man/heartthrob. He's my Boo, my Sunshine, my KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR! I have been begging, yes begging, for a new washer for over a year now. At certain times during the cylce, we had to open the lid to get the washer to actually spin. But that wasn't good enough for Matt. When the front of the washer looked like it was going to fall right off, Matt FINALLY agreed that it was time for a new one.

My new love senses how big the load is and adjusts the water level. By the way, it holds 2 times as much as our old washer. He tells me if I can add more clothes without overfilling the washer. He has 10 different cycles and also a cleaning cycle, a rinse and spin cycle, or a spin only cycle. 10+ DIFFERENT CYCLES!!! But even better...it has a see-through lid! What is more fun than watching your laundry?

Oh boy, I need a life!

You know as I'm typing this, I am really starting to think that Bravos must be a woman. She does too much and is much too efficient to be a man. Oh well, either way, I love her!

I don't want this to happen to me!

Now I really don't want to go back to teaching. Can you imagine?

Teacher Dies Minutes After Finishing 36-Year Career

Yes!