It Must Be Me

Clearly I am not paying enough attention to the girls lately. I took a moment to send an email, and poof! - there go Mia's bangs.














The good part is that I think we have enough time for them to grow back before school pictures mid October. (Ha ha! Yeah, right!)

The Desitin Incident

All I can say is, well, a picture is worth a thousand words...



And, Mia is not off the hook, either. Twice recently, she has made "breakfast" for us as a surprise. The first time, she made graham crackers in water and Benefiber with a sprinkling of baking soda, and the next time she made us Raisin Bran with toothpaste. Yum, yum.

Welcome Cameron!

Just wanted to send a special Congratulations to Laura and Darby on the arrival of their new baby boy, Cameron, who arrived yesterday! We can't wait to visit and see him in person. Welcome to the World, Cameron!

Signs of Things to Come?

And here are the girls showing small glimpses into their forthcoming teenage years.







The brooding pouts and icy stares...
(Pictured with Mia is our friend and neighbor, Catie.)













The sassy and flippant poses...



















And of course, the tattoos...

Moon Party Wedding?

Mia has, for the last 2 weeks or so, shown an increased interest in the topic of weddings. So much so that she insisted on having a "Show and a Wedding" outside in the moonlight the other night. Patrick and I were surprised that she even had a clue about weddings, since the only one she has attended was her Aunt Amanda's and Uncle Travis' back in 2006 when she was just about Laney's age. I have decided her peaked interest is the direct result of watching too much Disney. We have a Disney Princess Singalong DVD that showcases weddings, but I never thought much of it until now.

In Mia's wedding, Laney served as her "Maid" wearing a pink sparkly cheerleader dress; Daddy was the Daddy in shorts and a tshirt; David was the groom, who was unfortunately unable to attend since Mommy was not willing to call his house at 7:30 at night and see if he could come over to get married; and Mia wore her pink and gold sparkly dress-up dress with a Birthday Girl tiara and purple marabou slip-ons.

Iced Animal Cookies were served with Milk at the reception, and she danced with her Daddy to "If You Can Dream" by the Disney Princesses, and "I Wont Say Im in Love" by Meg (from Hercules).

Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children 2008!

I just learned about this, but Monday is Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM! It is a day to sit down for dinner with your children. Studies have shown that those children who eat dinner regularly with their parents have less involvement with alcohol and drugs.

So, Monday night, what are you having for dinner? We'll be having conversation, good manners, and probably some laughs as well.

The link above has recipes, downloadable placemats and menu templates, and loads of statistics about the importance of this often overlooked practice in today's busy lives. Have fun!

CASA Family Day Public Service Announcement

Laney's First Day of School!

Thursday, Laney had her first day of school in Ms. Pam's 2s class at SSNS. She LOVED the fact that she got to go to school this year, too, LOVED having a backpack, and didn't even cry at all when Mia and I headed up to the 4s class. We even forgot Kitty, and she still did well.

SSNS is a cooperative preschool, so I was cooping in the 4s class during Laney's first day. Because her class ends an hour earlier than Mia's and I was working, one of the other moms and I swap kids for the hour and Laney ate lunch with her friend Aidan while they waited for the 4s class to get out. She even did well with that! What a trooper!

School Daze

Today was Mia's first day of school in Ms. Jennifer's 4s class at Silver Spring Nursery School. She missed yesterday due to a bad cough, and was thrilled to be back with her old friends and a few new ones today.

I was impressed she came home without one spot of paint or dirt on her. Perhaps I can buy new clothes this year for her? I hope so. (Last year we went the thrift store route, but as the girls get older, the availability of cute clothes diminishes.) I do love the amount of artwork and the availability of "get dirty" activities at the school - they are way more prepared for it than I am in our little house. :)

Laney starts on Thursday, so she was a bit disappointed to not be staying as well. But she'll have her time soon.

Back to Life, Back to Reality...

Ah, we're back. What an absolutely WONDERFUL week we had in Emerald Isle. The amazing house, the ocean waves, and the company of extended family was just what the doctor ordered. Hanna did not interfere with our trip and we swam, chased crabs, acquired some new freckles, dug for clams, built sandcastles, watched dolphins, celebrated an anniversary, and saw a few rainbows. I couldn't have asked for a better time. The kids were even extraordinarily well-behaved. Bliss.

Hanna, Ike, and Emerald Isle

Well, I'm glued to the site Storm Pulse. My brother sent it to me, knowing I love to watch the weather, and this site is just uber techie and colorful, and well, it's just cool. (Disclaimer: picture above is not from Storm Pulse, but from www.chron.com)

Hurricanes are fascinating, and normally I get a rush watching them show us just how small and insignificant we really are.

HOWEVER, we are supposed to be heading to Emerald Isle, NC on Saturday. Hmmm. As of now, we are still just watching to see what Hanna will do, but my thinking is we won't be there on Saturday.

Mia's Sick

Well, Mia presented this afternoon with a temperature of 104.1, so we're not doing much around here right now aside from giving her Advil and cool baths. She evidently got overheated at the park today. Maybe this had something to do with it:












Happy Labor Day!

X is for Xylophone

Xylophone. Yes, we have one. But what else is X a beginning letter for? Our coloring pages (new ones - I changed sites mid-way through the alphabet) has a few ideas:

Things that begin with the Letter X: xylophone, x-ray, and xiphias (looks like a swordfish if you ask me), then they move to "X as in..."

Anyway, X marks the spot, so I had planned on a good scavenger hunt for this day, but the kids just weren't up to it. Maybe when they are a bit older...

Happy X Day!

Y is for Yo-Yo

Y day, like W and X, passed without much fanfare. We did dress in Yellow, and had Yogurt, and of course colored our Y pages. We even tried to play with a Yo Yo (ours says UPS on it and lights up). A fun, but mellow day.

Happy Y Day!

Other Y words: Yes!, Yogurt, Yo-Yo, Yellow, Young, You, Yikes!, Yak, Yams, yarn, yuck, yacht, yucca

Z is for Zither

Anyone know what a Zither is? Well, we actually have one, believe it or not. I got it when I was about 5 from my grandparents, so on our Z day I passed it down to the girls. They had a blast!







Happy Z Day!

Other Z Words: Zipper, Zoo, Zebra, zainy,

Books we read: Put Me in the Zoo, Dr. Seuss' ABCs