I heard this and loved it from the get-go. I think everyone can relate to this song on some level. Gotta get me the CD!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyX-I-um5Kk
(And yeah, I've never tried to post a youtube video before, so hopefully this works!)
Staceroo and Her Zoo
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Halloween Mania!
Do you remember your childhood Halloweens? You know, parade at school, maybe a class party, and then trick-or-treating that night? A one day event, done and done. I don't know how it happened, but these days Halloween has blossomed into a one to two week extravaganza, with the candy flowing out our eyeballs by the time we're done. I mean this year we had the girl's bus driver giving them candy, and even the dentist, of all people! And today, at church, Lise's primary teacher gave the kids baggies full of all his extra Halloween candy that he had left over from trick or treating. (to be eaten later, of course, as it was Fast Sunday). Needless to say, we've got enough candy to hold us over indefinitely. Or, at least until the Easter Bunny makes his appearance next spring. :)
But anyhoo, back to Halloween mania. It all started in mid-October when Aly's friend had a costume birthday party. Doesn't she make the cutest gypsy? And seeing her in make-up was a trip. We're not too far off from that, but when Aly looked in the mirror she said, "whoa! You can't even tell it's me." I suppose that's the sign of a good costume.
Kylie was our little pumpkin/jack-o-lantern and, amazingly enough, she loved wearing this thing. She would hug it and snuggle it. Super cute.
Besides my gypsy and pumpkin, we had two cheerleaders this year. My mom taught Kate how to make the "U" with her fingers and to say "Go Utes!" whenever anyone asked her for a trick. Lise alternated between being a Gators Cheerleader and a BYU Cheerleader (especially when it earned her extra candy at the Trunk-or-Treat by some very stingy BYU fans in our ward!)
This is the cake we earned at the cake walk: chocolate frosted cake on the inside, surrounded by kit kats and topped with candy corn. Now, doesn't just looking at that thing make your teeth want to fall out?!?
On Halloween day we started out by going to Kate's preschool parade. They went around in little wagons singing jack-o-lantern songs to the college students and staff on campus. Super cute. My favorite costume of this bunch (other than Kate, of course) is the Dinosaur riding witch. Can't beat that. Also, you can't see it very well in the picture, but one of the girls in Kate's class was a mummy. When Kate was telling my dad what all of her friend's costumes were, they had the following conversation:
Next I was off to help in Lise's classroom for their party. They did Cookie decorating, a mini pumpkin hunt, listened to stories, and ate a ton of rot gut goodies.
That evening we went trick or treating on our street. As the only family with kids on the street this was an interesting experience because some people told us they had forgotten it was Halloween, while others told us they had been waiting for us specifically to come to their house and loaded us down with loot. Funny, funny.
Our last stop of the evening was at a friend's house where they had "barfing pumpkin soup", made monster appetizers out of vegetables and fruit, and then spider cookies for dessert. It was fun to hang out and chat, and the girls loved playing and getting out some of their sugar-fueled energy.
So, overall a very successful Halloween season, I'd say. This was my parents first time spending Halloween with my kids. Hopefully they had fun and we didn't overdo too much. We even bypassed a few of the free events going on around town, which I'm glad we did. Towards the end, when I was feeling totally overwhelmed with all the festivities going on, I decided to cancel the "picking a pumpkin at the patch/hayride/cornmazey" thing I had planned to do. So we totally boycotted the whole carving pumpkin tradition this year. Three days after Halloween was over Kate asked me, "so, when are we going to carve our pumpkins?" I told her, "we didn't do it this year because we had too many other parties, but we'll carve some next year, okay?" To which Kate responded with an over-the-top excited "hooray!!" Whew! Dodged that bullet . . . until next year.
But anyhoo, back to Halloween mania. It all started in mid-October when Aly's friend had a costume birthday party. Doesn't she make the cutest gypsy? And seeing her in make-up was a trip. We're not too far off from that, but when Aly looked in the mirror she said, "whoa! You can't even tell it's me." I suppose that's the sign of a good costume.
Kylie was our little pumpkin/jack-o-lantern and, amazingly enough, she loved wearing this thing. She would hug it and snuggle it. Super cute.
Besides my gypsy and pumpkin, we had two cheerleaders this year. My mom taught Kate how to make the "U" with her fingers and to say "Go Utes!" whenever anyone asked her for a trick. Lise alternated between being a Gators Cheerleader and a BYU Cheerleader (especially when it earned her extra candy at the Trunk-or-Treat by some very stingy BYU fans in our ward!)
This is the cake we earned at the cake walk: chocolate frosted cake on the inside, surrounded by kit kats and topped with candy corn. Now, doesn't just looking at that thing make your teeth want to fall out?!?
On Halloween day we started out by going to Kate's preschool parade. They went around in little wagons singing jack-o-lantern songs to the college students and staff on campus. Super cute. My favorite costume of this bunch (other than Kate, of course) is the Dinosaur riding witch. Can't beat that. Also, you can't see it very well in the picture, but one of the girls in Kate's class was a mummy. When Kate was telling my dad what all of her friend's costumes were, they had the following conversation:Grandpa - Oh, she was a Mummy, not a Daddy?"
Kate - Yep
Grandpa - Was that funny?
Grandpa - Was that funny?
Kate - No, Grandpa. That wasn't even a joke!
Next I was off to help in Lise's classroom for their party. They did Cookie decorating, a mini pumpkin hunt, listened to stories, and ate a ton of rot gut goodies.
That evening we went trick or treating on our street. As the only family with kids on the street this was an interesting experience because some people told us they had forgotten it was Halloween, while others told us they had been waiting for us specifically to come to their house and loaded us down with loot. Funny, funny. 
Our last stop of the evening was at a friend's house where they had "barfing pumpkin soup", made monster appetizers out of vegetables and fruit, and then spider cookies for dessert. It was fun to hang out and chat, and the girls loved playing and getting out some of their sugar-fueled energy.
So, overall a very successful Halloween season, I'd say. This was my parents first time spending Halloween with my kids. Hopefully they had fun and we didn't overdo too much. We even bypassed a few of the free events going on around town, which I'm glad we did. Towards the end, when I was feeling totally overwhelmed with all the festivities going on, I decided to cancel the "picking a pumpkin at the patch/hayride/cornmazey" thing I had planned to do. So we totally boycotted the whole carving pumpkin tradition this year. Three days after Halloween was over Kate asked me, "so, when are we going to carve our pumpkins?" I told her, "we didn't do it this year because we had too many other parties, but we'll carve some next year, okay?" To which Kate responded with an over-the-top excited "hooray!!" Whew! Dodged that bullet . . . until next year.Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Hooray for Grandparents
How much fun can you pack into two weeks? A whole heckuva lot more than normal when you've got Grandma and Grandpa around! It's amazing how having two other adults around full time to help with homework, housework, and shuttling kids to appointments frees everybody up for extra fun. Oh yeah, it was good times!
Oh yeah, my parents are awesome! My mom helped me make freezer meals, pick out photos for Kylie's first year calendar and the Christmas letter, sewed Kate's bedspread, you name it! My dad fixed Chris' truck tire, fixed up my yard, and also did projects around the house. My parents are amazing and I love having them come to visit. But don't let this deter anyone else from coming to visit - I promise I'm not a slave driver to my guests! And it wasn't all work either. There were puzzles to do, walks to go on, ice cream to eat. And that's before we even left the house . . .
We checked out Baytowne Wharf, something I've been wanting to do since moving here. Fun little outdoor shopping mall that also had a rock climbing wall and a park. (Plus I love the oversized beach chair Kate and my dad are in!)
This is the kids reward for not breaking anything in the shops we looked in. Kylie threw a fit when we took her out. I really noticed while my parents were here that Kylie has become a bit spoiled. I mean, you know it's bad when she's trying to bully her older sisters by pulling them out of my lap, telling them off (in baby talk), and trying to push them out of the tub. Mission Despoil Kylie is now officially underway. But I just want to clarify that she was this way before my parents got here. They didn't cause the spoiling. :) It just became so much more apparent when we were out and about a lot more.
Chris was here for the first week my parents were here, and for that Saturday we took the family to what Niceville is famous for: The annual MULLET FESTIVAL! (I was pleasantly surprised, and yet, at the same time, a little disappointed to find out that the Mullet they are referring to is actually a fish, not a hairdo.) Above you can see Kate and Chris holding the alligator outside the Reptile tent. Too cool. We actually ended up eating some fried alligator a little later on. Go figure. The mullet festival was fun. We went on the ferris wheel and some other rides, and of course had some mullet and other treats. However, everything was WAY, WAY overpriced. Totally not worth the dough. But, like Chris said, we had to go at least once while we lived here. So I'm glad we checked that off our to-do list. It was the best money we ever wasted.
Oh, and my parents also let Chris and I go out on a date before Chris headed out on a month long training exercise in the woods. Thanks guys, we loved it!
The weather was great while my parents were here. We hit Harborwalk Village one day where we did some fun shopping and then headed off to the beach! This time there was a neat sandbar about five feet out where even Kylie could walk around because it was so shallow. The kids also caught a bunch of jellyfish in their nets. (Not sure if that's totally safe, but no one got stung, so all is well.) They also found half a fish that was still alive! Chris thinks that a shark may have bitten it in half, but we didn't see one, thank goodness! Mostly it was just fun in the sun and waves. (Kate refused to be part of the below picture, but ended up in it anyways. Just having her pouting in the corner adds so much more character to this picture. I love it!)
Another fun thing was that my parents were able to come to the girl's Mile Club, and both of them finished a card while they were there (each card represents 28 laps, or 5 miles) - cool beans. They got to pick out their necklace and toe token as their reward. I also finished a card on the same day - oh yeah!
We also took my parents to the Niceville High School Homecoming game. Unfortunately, this one was not quite as successful as the previous one, since neither Kate, nor Kylie took a late afternoon nap before the game. They were all happy during the pre game parade and for the 1st half, but it was downhill from there. Kate fell asleep on my mom's lap, then woke up screaming because she needed to go to the bathroom. And Kylie just wanted to be held by me the entire time. Thankfully we were next to the student section so that some of my children's crying was drowned out in their cheering. Oh, la. My parents were good sports about it, and it's like I said to my mom, "I said, 'let's go to the game', I didn't say 'let's watch the game'!
On top of all of this, we had a lot of fun trying out some of the local quisine. One day for lunch, we went to "Hog Heaven", which I thought was a family restaurant, but turned out to be somewhat of a biker joint. Good BBQ, although I wouldn't go there at night! But anyhoo, we made the best of it and managed to get these 3 generation photos taken:
Oh yeah, my parents are awesome! My mom helped me make freezer meals, pick out photos for Kylie's first year calendar and the Christmas letter, sewed Kate's bedspread, you name it! My dad fixed Chris' truck tire, fixed up my yard, and also did projects around the house. My parents are amazing and I love having them come to visit. But don't let this deter anyone else from coming to visit - I promise I'm not a slave driver to my guests! And it wasn't all work either. There were puzzles to do, walks to go on, ice cream to eat. And that's before we even left the house . . . 
We checked out Baytowne Wharf, something I've been wanting to do since moving here. Fun little outdoor shopping mall that also had a rock climbing wall and a park. (Plus I love the oversized beach chair Kate and my dad are in!)
This is the kids reward for not breaking anything in the shops we looked in. Kylie threw a fit when we took her out. I really noticed while my parents were here that Kylie has become a bit spoiled. I mean, you know it's bad when she's trying to bully her older sisters by pulling them out of my lap, telling them off (in baby talk), and trying to push them out of the tub. Mission Despoil Kylie is now officially underway. But I just want to clarify that she was this way before my parents got here. They didn't cause the spoiling. :) It just became so much more apparent when we were out and about a lot more.
Chris was here for the first week my parents were here, and for that Saturday we took the family to what Niceville is famous for: The annual MULLET FESTIVAL! (I was pleasantly surprised, and yet, at the same time, a little disappointed to find out that the Mullet they are referring to is actually a fish, not a hairdo.) Above you can see Kate and Chris holding the alligator outside the Reptile tent. Too cool. We actually ended up eating some fried alligator a little later on. Go figure. The mullet festival was fun. We went on the ferris wheel and some other rides, and of course had some mullet and other treats. However, everything was WAY, WAY overpriced. Totally not worth the dough. But, like Chris said, we had to go at least once while we lived here. So I'm glad we checked that off our to-do list. It was the best money we ever wasted.
Oh, and my parents also let Chris and I go out on a date before Chris headed out on a month long training exercise in the woods. Thanks guys, we loved it!
The weather was great while my parents were here. We hit Harborwalk Village one day where we did some fun shopping and then headed off to the beach! This time there was a neat sandbar about five feet out where even Kylie could walk around because it was so shallow. The kids also caught a bunch of jellyfish in their nets. (Not sure if that's totally safe, but no one got stung, so all is well.) They also found half a fish that was still alive! Chris thinks that a shark may have bitten it in half, but we didn't see one, thank goodness! Mostly it was just fun in the sun and waves. (Kate refused to be part of the below picture, but ended up in it anyways. Just having her pouting in the corner adds so much more character to this picture. I love it!)
Another fun thing was that my parents were able to come to the girl's Mile Club, and both of them finished a card while they were there (each card represents 28 laps, or 5 miles) - cool beans. They got to pick out their necklace and toe token as their reward. I also finished a card on the same day - oh yeah!
We also took my parents to the Niceville High School Homecoming game. Unfortunately, this one was not quite as successful as the previous one, since neither Kate, nor Kylie took a late afternoon nap before the game. They were all happy during the pre game parade and for the 1st half, but it was downhill from there. Kate fell asleep on my mom's lap, then woke up screaming because she needed to go to the bathroom. And Kylie just wanted to be held by me the entire time. Thankfully we were next to the student section so that some of my children's crying was drowned out in their cheering. Oh, la. My parents were good sports about it, and it's like I said to my mom, "I said, 'let's go to the game', I didn't say 'let's watch the game'!
On top of all of this, we had a lot of fun trying out some of the local quisine. One day for lunch, we went to "Hog Heaven", which I thought was a family restaurant, but turned out to be somewhat of a biker joint. Good BBQ, although I wouldn't go there at night! But anyhoo, we made the best of it and managed to get these 3 generation photos taken:
Like Grandma . . .
Like Mother . . .
Like Daughters . . .
**Oh, and a few quotes of the week **
And finally, some of Kylie's new words:
Like Mother . . .
Like Daughters . . .
**Oh, and a few quotes of the week ***A conversation between Kate and I when I told Kate she couldn't have the ice cream I promised her because she didn't clean her room like I asked:
Stacy - Kate, the ice cream boat has sailed.
Stacy - Kate, the ice cream boat has sailed.
Kate, looking all worried - Who did we sell it to?
* Me having an argument with Kate over which hand is her left:
Kate (pointing to her right) - No, this is my left hand.
Me - Kate, make your finger and thumb into an "L". Whichever one is facing the correct way is your left hand!
Kate then pulls in the thumb on her right hand, shows me her pointer finger and tells me, "this is a lower case 'l'."
One thing's for sure. I can rarely argue with her logic.
And finally, some of Kylie's new words:Sit Down ("dit dow")
Ready, Set, Go! ("day, deh, doh!")
Here you go ("Hee, go")
Yay! (yay!)
Banana (nana)
Strawberry (da baby)
Thanks for a GREAT trip, Grandma and Grandpa!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Fall in Florida
Well, it is now officially Fall. After living in a few different places I have come to realize that I am really a 4 seasons type of gal. However, that is not always possible in the climates we live in. But that's okay. We'll get there someday. Meanwhile, we bring some of our traditions with us and then try to embrace the weather/culture of wherever we are at. So here is how our first official Fall in Florida is shaping up to be . . . 
The General Conference tent tradition re-emerged when my studly tech husband figured out how to hook conference up from the laptop to the TV in the living room. The girls loved it (Even Kylie. She's just sad because they made her sit down for the picture.) It was awesome - just like how I remember watching conference growing up - eating breakfast and lounging in your pj's on Sunday while having church on tv. Plus there were the ever popular Conference Packets and Candy Corn Conference Bingo. I hope that as my children grow older they will remember conference fondly, absorb some of what is being said to develop their own testimonies of the gospel, and maybe even pass along some of our traditions on to their own families.
Another tradition we brought with us were decorating the house for fall and the super easy, super yummy pumpkin cookies (1 box spice cake mix, 1 can pumpkin, as many chocolate chips/raisins as you want to add. Place rounded spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes). That, along with hosting a "Halloween sugar cookie decorating party" at my house for playgroup, really helped to get me in the mood for Autumn - even though it's still 80 degrees outside.
Something new we decided to try was a Niceville football game one Friday night - super fun, and the kids did much better than expected (we just kept the food comin', and they were great - go figure!) They loved watching the cheerleaders/mascot/band, and yelling and cheering when the crowd did, even though they had no idea what was going on. Also, we sat by some of Chris' friends and he caught a toy football and gave it to our girls, which they totally loved. We also discovered at this game that Kylie knows how to give a high five. So cute!
Also, the sharing of the snowcone kept the two younger girls entertained for quite some time. . .
The General Conference tent tradition re-emerged when my studly tech husband figured out how to hook conference up from the laptop to the TV in the living room. The girls loved it (Even Kylie. She's just sad because they made her sit down for the picture.) It was awesome - just like how I remember watching conference growing up - eating breakfast and lounging in your pj's on Sunday while having church on tv. Plus there were the ever popular Conference Packets and Candy Corn Conference Bingo. I hope that as my children grow older they will remember conference fondly, absorb some of what is being said to develop their own testimonies of the gospel, and maybe even pass along some of our traditions on to their own families.
Another tradition we brought with us were decorating the house for fall and the super easy, super yummy pumpkin cookies (1 box spice cake mix, 1 can pumpkin, as many chocolate chips/raisins as you want to add. Place rounded spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes). That, along with hosting a "Halloween sugar cookie decorating party" at my house for playgroup, really helped to get me in the mood for Autumn - even though it's still 80 degrees outside.
Something new we decided to try was a Niceville football game one Friday night - super fun, and the kids did much better than expected (we just kept the food comin', and they were great - go figure!) They loved watching the cheerleaders/mascot/band, and yelling and cheering when the crowd did, even though they had no idea what was going on. Also, we sat by some of Chris' friends and he caught a toy football and gave it to our girls, which they totally loved. We also discovered at this game that Kylie knows how to give a high five. So cute!
Also, the sharing of the snowcone kept the two younger girls entertained for quite some time. . .
Also, something we've never done in October before is go to the beach and swim! We headed to the Bay one day with some friends who, coincidentally, have five girls of their own.
The girls had a blast. Here is a picture of the longest boogie board train I've ever seen . . .
. . . Lise and Kylie had fun wading in the inner tubes . . .
. . . there were some pretty impressive sand castles . . .
. . . and a massive aquarium, which included a half dozen hermit crabs, a half drowned dragon fly, and an "eel", which I think was actually a needle nose seahorse. Pretty neat-o.
Now that the weather has cooled off a little (like I said, mid 80's instead of 90's, but 60's at night - woohoo!), we decided to go camping in the Blackwater River Forest. These were the nicest campsites I had ever seen. It was like camping in a park - grass, a playground, showers (with HOT water). We were still close to nature though, and the stars were absolutely beautiful.
Also, I need to say that, for many reasons, I love camping with my hubby. He just makes it enjoyable for me. One of the main things I love is that he likes to cook while camping, making us all these nice pancake and egg breakfasts, smores, etc. It is WONDERFUL!
The hard part about camping for me is that I can't sleep well in the same vicinity as my children. The older ones are starting to do better, but Kate had to sleep next to me, needing reassurance and more blankets intermittently, and Kylie ended up "sleeping" with Chris and I for more than 1/2 the night (I don't think she ever stopped moving). Hats off to Chris for handling all the potty breaks in the middle of the night while I was holding Kylie. Man, that guy's a stud. Did I mention that?
The girls had a blast. Here is a picture of the longest boogie board train I've ever seen . . .
. . . Lise and Kylie had fun wading in the inner tubes . . .
. . . there were some pretty impressive sand castles . . .
. . . and a massive aquarium, which included a half dozen hermit crabs, a half drowned dragon fly, and an "eel", which I think was actually a needle nose seahorse. Pretty neat-o.
Now that the weather has cooled off a little (like I said, mid 80's instead of 90's, but 60's at night - woohoo!), we decided to go camping in the Blackwater River Forest. These were the nicest campsites I had ever seen. It was like camping in a park - grass, a playground, showers (with HOT water). We were still close to nature though, and the stars were absolutely beautiful.
Also, I need to say that, for many reasons, I love camping with my hubby. He just makes it enjoyable for me. One of the main things I love is that he likes to cook while camping, making us all these nice pancake and egg breakfasts, smores, etc. It is WONDERFUL!
The hard part about camping for me is that I can't sleep well in the same vicinity as my children. The older ones are starting to do better, but Kate had to sleep next to me, needing reassurance and more blankets intermittently, and Kylie ended up "sleeping" with Chris and I for more than 1/2 the night (I don't think she ever stopped moving). Hats off to Chris for handling all the potty breaks in the middle of the night while I was holding Kylie. Man, that guy's a stud. Did I mention that?
So anyway, despite the lack of sleep, Chris and I decided that we are building memories for our family and it is totally worth it. I mean, look at those happy smiling faces. What more needs to be said?
The next day we went for a nature walk. I wouldn't exactly call it a hike, it was pretty short, but we all had a great time and Kylie even walked for a good chunk of it, when she wasn't sleeping. We saw lots of exciting thins on our walk - turtles, spiders, lizards, frogs. We were hoping to see an alligator (no such luck), but the girls ended up having a water moccasin cross the trail in front of them. Luckily Chris was there to talk the girls through it and help us all maintain a safe distance.
Eventually our nature walk led us to . . . Blackwater River. The water was cold, but we had a fun time splashing around and floating down the lazy river. And the final thing we did was a little geocaching on the way home. Super fun mini escape. I wish we could have stayed a week!
The next day we went for a nature walk. I wouldn't exactly call it a hike, it was pretty short, but we all had a great time and Kylie even walked for a good chunk of it, when she wasn't sleeping. We saw lots of exciting thins on our walk - turtles, spiders, lizards, frogs. We were hoping to see an alligator (no such luck), but the girls ended up having a water moccasin cross the trail in front of them. Luckily Chris was there to talk the girls through it and help us all maintain a safe distance.
Eventually our nature walk led us to . . . Blackwater River. The water was cold, but we had a fun time splashing around and floating down the lazy river. And the final thing we did was a little geocaching on the way home. Super fun mini escape. I wish we could have stayed a week!
Oh, and the final highlight for me on this camping excursion was when I was rolling up all the sleeping bags/deflating the air mattresses and I turned around to find a naked Kate brushing all the sand off her bum with the tent whisk broom. Like I said, building family memories, right? Thanks Kate, for doing your part.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
A Salute and a Howdy
On September 23, Chris became the Charlie Company Commander of 1st Battalion, 7th Group, Special Forces. It was held outside, which was neat, albeit very hot and humid. It was a neat ceremony and Chris did a great job giving his speech. I had taken a great video of the official passing of the flag ceremony -- and it was actually like being there, with Kate talking and waving her yellow rose in front of the camera (they gave one to each of the girls, including me) -- unfortunately, after three attempts to download the video, I gave up. It was just too big of a file. So the pictures will have to suffice.
The girls sat pretty well through the ceremony, but enjoyed getting some pent up energy out after the fact.
During the reception afterwards there was brunch and a cake - there's always got to be a cake. So the girls had cake for their second breakfast . . . and then found this utility cart to play on - more pent up energy I suppose. 
And here he is in his new office - hooray for an office with a window! He just looks the part, doesn't he? Chris, you're going to be a great commander! We support and salute you.And now for the howdy . . .
September 23 was a very busy day for us, because, that night, was Kate's Howdy night for her preschool. Families brought a picnic lunch and then the kids performed a few songs. It was super cute. My favorite song went like this:5 little cowboys galloped off to school,
The first one said, "ya-hoo, school is cool."
The second one said, "there's learning to be done."
The third one said, "there's also time for fun."
The fourth one said, "I'll learn my abc's."
The fifth one said, "I'll learn my 123's."
"Yippee", said the five, as they learned all day
And the five little cowboys galloped off to play
They also taught the families a cowboy dance, "Yippee yi yo, yippe yi yay, do the cowboy dance this way!" It was just as much a crack up watching my family "do the cowboy dance" as it was watching the little kids. Aly and Chris were kind of bending their knees up and down and Kylie was bee-boppin' along, but Lise was doing some sort of interpretive dance that was very interesting to watch. Wish I could have gotten some video of that.
After Howdy Night we took the kids to Dairy Queen for ice cream. We were pure entertainment for the entire joint, as everyone kept staring at us and counting our kids - especially when Chris got into a tug of war with Kylie over a cup of ice cream. She's got the death grip, I tell ya.Family Pictures and a Tropical Storm
So, it was that time again. Time for the annual family picture. I wanted to do the ever-popular "pictures on the beach" at least once while we lived here. Little did I know the adventure that would turn out to be . . . 
First of all, you can never underestimate mother nature. I had scheduled our photo shoot weeks in advance, only to have Tropical Storm Lee hit the coast on that very day. So, we did the only thing we could do - take the kids to see "Winnie the Pooh" and rescheduled.
On our next attempt, the weather was beautiful - not too hot and sunny. But man it's hard to smile with that sun glaring in your eyes. And trying to get the girl's hair all nice was kind of a joke too, because of course it is always windy at the beach!
And finally, there's the kid factor. It is hard enough to get four kids to smile in pictures without having them completely distracted by seashells and wanting to run on the sand and get soaked in the water!! Kylie wanted to do nothing but run straight toward the water any second someone put her down. So we got a lot of pictures like the one above as well.
So yeah, one of our best shots is this one of us from behind, where Kylie is content because we are actually moving, the sun isn't in our eyes, and it doesn't matter that our hair is all blowing in our face.
First of all, you can never underestimate mother nature. I had scheduled our photo shoot weeks in advance, only to have Tropical Storm Lee hit the coast on that very day. So, we did the only thing we could do - take the kids to see "Winnie the Pooh" and rescheduled. 
On our next attempt, the weather was beautiful - not too hot and sunny. But man it's hard to smile with that sun glaring in your eyes. And trying to get the girl's hair all nice was kind of a joke too, because of course it is always windy at the beach!
And finally, there's the kid factor. It is hard enough to get four kids to smile in pictures without having them completely distracted by seashells and wanting to run on the sand and get soaked in the water!! Kylie wanted to do nothing but run straight toward the water any second someone put her down. So we got a lot of pictures like the one above as well.
So yeah, one of our best shots is this one of us from behind, where Kylie is content because we are actually moving, the sun isn't in our eyes, and it doesn't matter that our hair is all blowing in our face.However, despite all the obstacles, we did end up with some cute pictures, and *hooray!* family pictures are over for another year.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The things that keep life interesting
Despite all my best intentions to do a blog a week, it seems the mass 3-4 blogs at one time at the end/beginning of the month seems to be my plight. At least it eventually gets recorded for posterity's sake, right?
The past month has kept us hopping with lots of busyness, running around, and lots of fun and silliness as well. Here is a picture of our family at Back to School Night with the Plew Panther. Good times there meeting the girl's teachers and the pizza dinner they offered in the cafeteria while listening to an impromptu PTA meeting (Ooh, they're sneaky, those PTA people!) It was even more awesome because Chris was able to come participate and see the girl's classrooms and stuff. They loved it.
Hey, is that a Duct Tape Purse? That's right, duct tape really does work for everything!! We were at our friend's house for dinner and they had all these different colored/patterned duct tapes. The kids went wild with it, turning it into bandaids, hair bows, etc. Obviously, duct tape is no longer just for men; it's a fashion statement.
The past month has kept us hopping with lots of busyness, running around, and lots of fun and silliness as well. Here is a picture of our family at Back to School Night with the Plew Panther. Good times there meeting the girl's teachers and the pizza dinner they offered in the cafeteria while listening to an impromptu PTA meeting (Ooh, they're sneaky, those PTA people!) It was even more awesome because Chris was able to come participate and see the girl's classrooms and stuff. They loved it.
Hey, is that a Duct Tape Purse? That's right, duct tape really does work for everything!! We were at our friend's house for dinner and they had all these different colored/patterned duct tapes. The kids went wild with it, turning it into bandaids, hair bows, etc. Obviously, duct tape is no longer just for men; it's a fashion statement.Aly is transitioning well into school, learning to become an independent studier, and excelling in all of her advanced classes. She just finished giving her first current event oral presentation on NASA's new rocket program and got 105% on it! Go Aly! She has to give one of these a month, so she is off to a good start. She's also set a goal to be one of the top 10 runners in her grade for Mile Club. I just hope Kylie and I don't slow her down! (She runs/walks with us for about a quarter of every lap).
Aly also got a great "quote of the week". We were having a caesar salad as part of our dinner. Lise asked why it was called a "Caesar" salad and what a Caesar was. Chris and I started to explain when Aly burst in, "If we have the Caesar dressing, then we'll all have Caesar's". Chris and I look at each other and asked Aly what did she think a Caesar was? To which she replied, "It's when you fall on the ground and start shaking". So, apparently Aly thought we were having a "Seizure" salad. No wonder she never wanted to try the dressing!! :)
Here's a picture of Lise with her cute new haircut. Lovin' the bob. Anyhoo, Lise and Aly have been involved in The American Girl Book Club through the library, and they love it. You have to read the assigned American Girl Mystery book for the month and then they get together to talk about the book, make a craft, and eat snacks that came from the time period they are reading about. Super fun. I have also joined in on this fun by volunteering to read the books out loud to the girls; otherwise they could never both read it in time.
Lise still likes to be super silly with her friends and sisters. She also tried to convince me the other day that she needs a cell phone "now", because she's going to get a cold and die when she's 16 and so then it would be too late for her to get one. Nice try Lise. I think I might actually be extending your life (and brain cells) by not exposing you to the radiation emanating from said cell phone. :) (Oh yeah, don't even try to outlogic me!)
Kater-schmater-bug is L-O-V-I-N-G preschool. I was able to go to her school for "grandparents day" as a fill in (since the grandparents all live far away), and all Kate wanted to do was put together puzzles the whole time. She was very good at it. She is learning how to write her letters and already knows all of the sounds they make. She also likes to paint, sing songs, and play with her friends. We've had a few of her friends over for playdates and she has loved that as well.
Kate has also discovered that she likes to climb trees. I was cleaning one day when Kate asked me if she could go out on the back porch. I said yes, and, about 10 minutes later when I looked out the window, I saw Kate all the way to the top of this tree, purposefully making it bounce back and forth. It freaked me out just a tad.
Here's a picture of Lise with her cute new haircut. Lovin' the bob. Anyhoo, Lise and Aly have been involved in The American Girl Book Club through the library, and they love it. You have to read the assigned American Girl Mystery book for the month and then they get together to talk about the book, make a craft, and eat snacks that came from the time period they are reading about. Super fun. I have also joined in on this fun by volunteering to read the books out loud to the girls; otherwise they could never both read it in time.Lise still likes to be super silly with her friends and sisters. She also tried to convince me the other day that she needs a cell phone "now", because she's going to get a cold and die when she's 16 and so then it would be too late for her to get one. Nice try Lise. I think I might actually be extending your life (and brain cells) by not exposing you to the radiation emanating from said cell phone. :) (Oh yeah, don't even try to outlogic me!)
And another great Analise Quote:
Aly (bringing Kylie to me) - Mom, Kylie's poopy
Lise (walking into the room) - Hey, what smells like popcorn?
Kater-schmater-bug is L-O-V-I-N-G preschool. I was able to go to her school for "grandparents day" as a fill in (since the grandparents all live far away), and all Kate wanted to do was put together puzzles the whole time. She was very good at it. She is learning how to write her letters and already knows all of the sounds they make. She also likes to paint, sing songs, and play with her friends. We've had a few of her friends over for playdates and she has loved that as well.Kate has also discovered that she likes to climb trees. I was cleaning one day when Kate asked me if she could go out on the back porch. I said yes, and, about 10 minutes later when I looked out the window, I saw Kate all the way to the top of this tree, purposefully making it bounce back and forth. It freaked me out just a tad.
Also, Kate is really into trying to make funny faces lately. . .
Kylie's quickly becoming her own person as her personality continues to emerge more and more. We are finally done with the baby food phase (hooray!), and bottles and formula have given way to sippy cups of milk. She also has Kate's climbing bug, and I have found her up on chairs and the kitchen table a few times. She's got Kylie also loves when her Dad is home. Here they are chillin' on the couch, watchin' a show, and sippin' her waterbottle.
We also recently discovered that Kylie likes celery. When I was chopping some up for chicken salad, she picked the end out of the garbage and started eating it. . . We gave her her own stalk. Kylie's also gotten a few more words: Wow, Thank you (Day-doo), Yes (knee-es), and No,no,no,no (that's, right, 4 no's. She never says that one just once.) And finally below, a funny picture of Kylie as we were getting ready to go to a neighborhood Labor Day pool party. For some reason she reminds me of a penguin.
Below is a picture of Kylie playing with her babies. She likes to carry them around and push them in the stroller. What a cutie!
So, as Kylie is becoming a little person, not so much a baby anymore, one day Kate decided to reverse in the opposite direction. I was rotating Kylie into the 12-24 month clothes, and Kate actually remembered wearing the clothes I was pulling out! So she started reminiscing about her favorite jammies and such . . . by trying them on. The kicker is, they still fit! (kind of.)
So here is a picture of Kate and Kylie wearing the exact same 18 month shorts and 24 month top. There is an obvious height discrepancy, but the thing that cracks me up is that they are the same size around and that my four year old and one year old could be sharing clothes if I let them. Too funny.
Kylie's quickly becoming her own person as her personality continues to emerge more and more. We are finally done with the baby food phase (hooray!), and bottles and formula have given way to sippy cups of milk. She also has Kate's climbing bug, and I have found her up on chairs and the kitchen table a few times. She's got Kylie also loves when her Dad is home. Here they are chillin' on the couch, watchin' a show, and sippin' her waterbottle.
We also recently discovered that Kylie likes celery. When I was chopping some up for chicken salad, she picked the end out of the garbage and started eating it. . . We gave her her own stalk. Kylie's also gotten a few more words: Wow, Thank you (Day-doo), Yes (knee-es), and No,no,no,no (that's, right, 4 no's. She never says that one just once.) And finally below, a funny picture of Kylie as we were getting ready to go to a neighborhood Labor Day pool party. For some reason she reminds me of a penguin.
Below is a picture of Kylie playing with her babies. She likes to carry them around and push them in the stroller. What a cutie!
So, as Kylie is becoming a little person, not so much a baby anymore, one day Kate decided to reverse in the opposite direction. I was rotating Kylie into the 12-24 month clothes, and Kate actually remembered wearing the clothes I was pulling out! So she started reminiscing about her favorite jammies and such . . . by trying them on. The kicker is, they still fit! (kind of.)
So here is a picture of Kate and Kylie wearing the exact same 18 month shorts and 24 month top. There is an obvious height discrepancy, but the thing that cracks me up is that they are the same size around and that my four year old and one year old could be sharing clothes if I let them. Too funny.
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