sick and fall

Sickness, it just goes in circles, doesn't it?  First Bethany, then Penny (who got it REAL bad) and now me.  I'm finally getting past it, but I still can't hear anything in my right ear.

On a happier note, I'm glad it feels like fall outside.  The breeze feels so wonderful and I love not running the A/C in my car.  Once I clean the windows on my house, I'll quit running the A/C in here, too!

My second trip through Weight Watchers is going pretty well so far.  Last week I was up a pound (ugh!) but this week I was down 3.2!  Woo-hoo!  That's a total of 7.8 pounds so far.  Here's hoping it keeps falling off!

Penny jumps

My little jumper.

Penny

At her 9-month check-up yesterday, Penny was 18 lbs, 5 oz and 27 1/4 in long.  Just below 50th percentile.  She is crawling around like crazy and pulling up and trying to cruise (though our house set-up isn't really conducive to cruising).  She likes to get into EVERYTHING.  She's going to be a handful (as if she wasn't already!).  Still only 2 teeth but the drool has just been disgusting.  A lot of times she is very disinterested in toys, but loves trying to eat cat food and the cat scratcher.   Now she is interested in typing.  More later!

Bethany in Spanish

Bethany surprised me with this little diddy the other day:

I Hate Fay

Tuesday morning we had to break the news that she would not be going to school because of Fay. We told her that the school wanted kids to stay home with their mommies and daddies to be safe because a storm was coming. We also knew at that point that school would be closed on Wednesday, too.  So we just had to get through those two days.  I also came down with a wicked cold Tuesday, and now Nathan has it, too.  Thankfully, my mom was able to come up Tuesday to help wrangle the girls.  

Anyway, tonight at dinner I told Bethany that she was going to be able to go to school tomorrow. Her response? "But, when is the storm coming?"  Yeah, I'd like the answer to that question myself.  No offense to those living in Brevard county.  I feel terrible for those people. But all it has done here for two days is a moderate rain.  Usually when we get a heavy rain we get a good size little lake at the end of our driveway.  After two days of rain, nothing.  

So about 9:00 tonight we find out that Volusia County schools are closed AGAIN tomorrow!  I don't want to jinx ourselves but it better be good tomorrow or I'm going to be really upset! And I have to break the news to Bethany when she's all set and excited about going back to school tomorrow.  What a tease.  One half-day of school.  I almost feel like if they're going to be closed tomorrow then they should just close Friday and start all over again on Monday.  

So, whatcha gonna do, Fay?

First Day of School

Well, I think I heard more about school today than I did the entire year last year!  It was only a half-day worth of school but Bethany talked about it almost the entire ride home!  When we walked in, the room was so quiet and Bethany went right in.  What a great fit for her.  

For those of you who haven't been here in awhile, because of some last-minute "shake-ups" at her school last year, they ended up with one class of 3-year-olds with two teacher's assistants and 30+ kids!  We really wanted her to be in school last year for some socialization (she just went 3 mornings a week) and this is a good school (also one of the cheapest) so we stuck with it.  The kids were only all together for a few activities (the pledges, snack and playground) but the rest of the time they split them into smaller groups (since there were a few extra rooms in their part of the building).  But it was always a chore to get B into the classroom.  It was so noisy and she always had to take about 10 minutes to assess the situation before choosing something to do.  By the time I picked her up she was fine, but didn't talk about what happened that day much.  

So this year (upon recommendation of her 3-year-old teacher and her current teacher) we put her in the 4-year-old enrichment class.  The basic idea is that everything they learn is "enriched" by deeper study, field trips, projects, etc.  We thought that for her quiet (most of the time!) and thoughtful personality she would really benefit from this class.  When we walked in this morning, she said hi to the teacher's assistant, we found her backpack hook, said hi to the teacher and then her teacher showed B her cubby with her pencil box.  She showed B to her seat and got her a coloring sheet, introduced her to the other kids at the table and B said hi to them, too!  Then Mrs. H started showing B how to color the sheet (based on the color the objects are outlined with) and B said sweetly, "I know how to color a giraffe!"  So she really got off to a good start today.  

B told me what she is to do when she comes in in the morning and what they had for snack (I never could get her to tell me what snack was last year!) and basically gave me the whole rundown of the day.  What a difference!  I'm really looking forward to hearing about school this year!

I...am...exhausted

Nathan has been gone (to Arizona) since early Saturday morning.  He'll be home this Saturday evening.  Chasing after two little ones in itself is exhausting.  But I think what wears me down the most is Bethany's incessant talking!  She just never stops.  Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly and a lot of times I love listening to the crazy things she talks about.  But it is difficult to listen to when I'm so tired.  And the questions, OH the questions.  Why, this; Why, that?  And, even when I make a statement that includes a reason, she STILL asks, "Why...?"  Ugh.  

I need a spa day.

Maybe a week.

I win!!!!!!!!

I apologize for the crappy video, but I had to be in another room for her to do it. You will hear me say it, and Bethany some, too, but try to focus on the crying Penny in the distance. It's pretty clear, I think!

busy little artist

Bethany has been busy all summer making creations with Daddy. It all started one day when she colored and cut out a piece of paper that she thought looked like a "tail" so Daddy helped her finish off Ariel (seen above). Then, after reading Charlotte's Web, she had to make all of the characters. You'll see we have Fern but not Avery. Bethany decided to give Avery to her friend, Michael J. She also had made Charlotte but, after reading the end of the book, decided that her Charlotte had to die, too. I'm sure you'll also be able to tell those done with Daddy's help and those done all on her own! Here they are!

Mice

So, last night after reading Stuart Little, Bethany asked us if we could get a pet mouse. We told her that Oscar wouldn't like that very much. Today she says to me, "Mommy, when Oscar dies, THEN can we get a pet mouse?"

4 years old

I still can't believe that Bethany is 4 years old! She had her annual check up on Tuesday, including 4 shots! Poor girl. She didn't really cry during the shots, but after the first two (in one arm) she FOUGHT to not get the other two (in the other arm). She was a trooper, though. She got her Snoopy band-aids and not one, but TWO stickers when we left.

Well, Bethany is 39 inches tall and weighs 32 little pounds! She is starting to become aware of her stature. She knows that even though some kids are younger than her they are "bigger". Bethany has a friend who turned 4 a couple of weeks after her. After Bethany's birthday she kept saying, "Betsy is still 3, but she's bigger than me". I hope she doesn't develop a complex.

The preschool class she'll be in next year is an enrichment class. She'll already be probably the youngest one in there, but from what I've heard, some parents put their 5-year-olds who aren't quite ready for kindergarten in this class. So she has the potential to be a very small child in that class! We'll see what happens.

Some of you know that Nathan started reading "chapter" books to Bethany at bedtime. He was getting board with the other usual night time books and she was starting to tune out, too. They started with Charlotte's Web and they just finished James and the Giant Peach. I started Stuart Little with her last night (Nathan's going to Arizona this coming week). She really loves reading these books. It's fun to listen to her tell you what happened in each chapter. I'm looking forward to Stuart Little. She already thinks (after one chapter) that Stuart's family is human.

Well, only a little more than 2 weeks and it will be time for school! Bethany is excited to pick out a lunch box (back, sack, what do they call those things now? Because I haven't seen hardly any actually lunch BOXES, they are all fancy insulated bags and stuff) since she'll be eating lunch at school this year. That should be interesting. She takes anywhere from 30-90 minutes to eat lunch normally. I feel bad for her little friends when we meet for lunch at Chick-Fil-A or something. They try to wait for her to finish, but they end up playing alone until B finally finishes everything! I bet for several weeks she will be so distracted eating with other people that she won't eat anything! Hopefully that won't last long, though, and she'll figure out that she needs to eat to make it through the rest of the day!

We'll keep you posted on how she does in school this year. By the way, I have a TON of pictures of things she has made this summer (most with Daddy's help but some completely on her own) and I'll get them up as soon as I can!

update

Nathan has added pictures to the main page! Now you will see pics of Bethany and Penny, as well as some of them together! You may start wondering if some of those baby pictures of Bethany are of Penny. :) So, now you should be greeted by some newer faces when you visit the page!

okay...

...you know you haven't blogged in a long time when blogger sends you to the "start" page and not directly to the page to start writing!

I've updated the at home and out and about pages and added Bethany's birthday pictures. Older albums have been moved to the archives page.

Penny had her 6 month check-up last month and she was 15 lbs 11 1/2 oz, and 25 3/4 in long. She is currently recovering from pink eye which seems to still be making its way through our church since VBS at the beginning of June.

Hopefully I'll get back here soon. It's storming pretty bad right now so I'm going to get away from the computer!

big weekend

Something that I didn't have time to do then was to tell you all about our busy and fun weekend from May 30 to June 1. It started with me heading down to Lakeland on Friday night for a performance with Mobile Performance Group at a reception for patrons held by the Polk Museum of Art. Mommy stayed home with the girls.

It was a very relaxed gig and we all did minimal prep work. It was fun to just get together and let loose for once. Usually we are traveling to important conferences and have to be sure we are very well prepped and ready to impress. This was a crowd that was very new to our type of act and appreciated our little jam session.

Except for one guy. Right at the start of our set, this older gentleman comes up to me while I am performing and asks, "What are you doing?"

Not uncommon. I replied with my stock, "We're making music."

This usually provokes a more specific question. Instead his reply was, "That's not music. I know music and that's not music. It's just noise." This was followed by some muttering that I couldn't make out because after all I am trying to perform. Followed by "Maybe it's 'music' the way Bill Clinton defined 'is'. You know what I mean." He smirked in obvious satisfaction with his joke. I didn't get it. It's not like I am a Clinton fan, it just didn't make sense.

After this his wife dragged him away like she had done this sort of thing before. I that might be a bad omen for the night, but the rest went off without a hitch. We were well received.

On Saturday, mommy was hosting one of her meetings with the ladies at the house. So I grabbed the girls and headed for the grandparents. Maybe you have seen my dad on TV recently as he is now a local celebrity.

Anyway, Penny stayed with Grandma while Grandpa, Bethany and I went on a canoe trip down Rock Springs Run. I have fond memories of doing this growing up and was excited to take my daughter on the trip. It's four hours and 8.5 miles from King's Landing to the Wekiva Marina. Bethany sat in the middle while the men rowed.

We saw turtles, butterflies, herons, catfish, gar, raccoons, a water snake and one big gator. One is enough.

After our picnic at the Indian Mound, Bethany decided we should play pirates to spice things up. She made Grandpa the captain. She and I were the maties. She knew all the lingo from "argh" to "ahoy".

It was just about then that we shipwrecked. Daddy tried to push off with his oar and got caught. We tipped enough that we started taking on water. "What's happening?" asked Bethany rather patiently, but not totally calm.

"It'll be OK," I assured her. I scooped her up and sat her on a stump that was protruding from the water. From there, she watched while Grandpa and I raised the canoe out of the water then flipped it over to rid it of the offending water.

We were underway again shortly, but B had no more interest in playing pirates anymore. I guess things had gotten a little too real.

Toward the end she leaned forward against the crossbar and gently closed her eyes to take a nap while still sitting up. Very tired, but a real trooper.

Sunday started off early with church (website coming soon). I was running sound so we all had to be early for rehearsal, one of the compromises of having only one car.

After nap, we decided to have a family outing together to a Cubs game. Unfortunately Wrigley Field was too far, but we are fortunate to have a class A affiliate nearby. Unlike their Northern namesake, an early game here means 5:35pm and they don't have too many. With two young girls, we didn't want to let the opportunity pass us by.

It is a great little ballpark right on the intercoastal waterway. Lots of history too.

We had a great time. There are lots of kid friendly activities between the innings. B got friendly with the mascot and gave him a hug. I bought her a hat because she had expressed some envy for Mommy's a few days earlier.

After the game, kids were allowed to take the field and run the bases. How cool is that! Bethany lined up at the gate with me, but was very clear that she wanted to go by herself.

Kids took turns saying their name into the mic and home plate and then took off around the diamond. B's motor was about half speed, but she took great pleasure in waving HI to each kid that passed her. When she reached the plate, she was winded but immediately said she wanted to go again.

"No sweetie, we need to head home. You've had enough excitement for one weekend."

new pics

I took the girls to Portrait Innovations yesterday.  I wanted to get a good picture of Bethany in her dance costume, plus some new pics of Penny and some of the girls together.  They turned out pretty good!  Here are the spring pics!  And just so you know, there are almost 100 pictures, if you're wondering why it's taking so long to load!  :)

some updates

I have updated the at home and out & about albums and added a family reunion album.  Check out the new pics.

Penny started eating some rice cereal this week.  She loved it.  Much better first feeding than B's, though I think I tried too early with B!  Penny gets very excited when she sees me mixing up the cereal.  I figure we'll do this for at least another week (until she's 5 months) and then try our hand at some sweet veggies.  But, I'm in no hurry.  She seems pretty content to do this for a while.

B is amazing, as always.  She makes up stories and songs all the time.  We also have a daily dance recital (sometimes 2!).  I watched her learn to skip in dance class yesterday (sniff!).  And, I know this is so silly: I never get sentimental about anything.  But the other day I got her some new "undergarments" and as I was folding the laundry I noticed how big they were.  They aren't these cute little things anymore!  Of all the things...

We had a really fun time at the family reunion last weekend.  It really got me motivated to start that family tree, Matt.  The kids had a water gun fight, we at some good BBQ, had some cake...good stuff.  I can't wait till next year!

Whoops!

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? And I just realized that my last post was on my birthday. I don't even remember that.....

Anyway! Kid growth update: Bethany got on the Publix scale and she weighs 33 pounds! She finally broke 30!! She'll look back at this and wonder why I kept everyone up to date on her weight. How long will I continue to do that???

Penny had her 4 month check up yesterday. 13 1/2 pounds, 24 inches! She is such a cutie and smiles at everything. If you are ever mad about something, just come over here and let her look at you. You won't stay mad for long!

So here are some pics -

Bethany after her dance recital:


Bethany and her friend Michael J at the splash pad in the zoo:


Me and the girls after performing on a recital of music by women composers:


B doing a performance after that recital. This is her pose:


A cute one of Penny:


Another cute one of Penny:


This one is random. This spider was in my car a couple of weeks ago. He was smaller than my thumbnail and was very jumpy. If anyone knows what kind of spider it is, I would love to know!:


Sorry I haven't had time to post any pictures on the website recently. I will have more time once all of the concerts are done with next weekend. Yay!!!!!

Also - I have finally finished working on my SAI Chapter website. If you're interested in seeing my AWESOME work, go here. I'm very proud of myself. Of course, I have a lovely husband who gives me a little bit of help...

wrong

Yesterday Bethany, Penny and I were watching an episode of The Little Einsteins. In this episode, the kids have to go find animals to help pull Rocket out of a waterfall in which he stuck himself while they were on a safari. So as they approach each animal, Leo (the leader of the group) asks what the animal is and for fun I say the wrong animal. Bethany then corrects me and tells me what the animal actually is. After doing this 3 or 4 times I look at Penny and say, "Penny, your big sister is so smart. One day you'll be as smart as she is". Bethany says:

"And when she's big like you, she'll be WRONG."

Smart aleck.

bad mom? i don't care!

So some of you may think this is just terrible, but because of what I did Penny took a 3 HOUR NAP!!! (For those of you who don't know, the child sleeps maybe 90 minutes TOTAL during the day)

Here it is:




She fell asleep on my shoulder yesterday (after unsuccessfully trying to get her to sleep in her bed or the swing) and I was tired so I tried laying down. This put her on her tummy on me. Then I just had a thought to try putting her in her bed like that and it worked!

She just takes after her daddy, I guess. And I LOVE her for that!

new pictures!

I can't believe after the past two days that I have a free moment to do this! I've posted some new pictures. Click either of the pictures below to go to each gallery:




And here is another favorite. This was taken on B's camera, that's why the quality isn't as good. But this is a preview of her dance recital!


Enjoy!