A Cold, Hard Lesson in Gravity!

On Saturday the 8th, the kids set off for a new adventure... their very first ice skating lessons!

This was a whole new challenge of balance and determination. There was a whole lot of falling down going on though! Samantha got a little fed up about 20 minutes into it, but I bribed her with the promise of a snack from the snack bar after her lesson if she would just give it one more try. So she scooted back out onto the ice for just a little bit longer.

David, on the other hand, was very eager to make some progress. That's the wonderful thing about David, he always puts all his effort into things, and he gets very excited when he sees that he has made progress or accomplished a new skill.

What's funny is that Samantha was the one who wanted to skate, but I signed David up too, even though he initially was not interested, just because I didn't think he would want to sit there on the bleachers with me and just watch. So now he is the one most looking forward to his next lesson.

Here are some pictures I took. I wish they were a little clearer, but parents are asked to stay back away from the rink, so this was the best my zoom and no flash could bring me.



And he's down!!! While she is clinging for life to a staff member!




She's up!!




He's up now too!!!




Getting better!!

The best part of all... all the laughs we got to share together at the snack bar afterwards...and all the laughs I got to have to myself the rest of the day when all I heard was, 'Ow, my butt! Ow, my butt," from the both of them when they tried to bend over or go up stairs.

We'll be back out there again on Saturday!!!

Picture day...

Well, it's that time again...time to smile pretty for picture day!

Here is what the kids wore today... and now the long wait until the pictures actually come back!

Happy Tuesday!

The Goofy Goober Crew Take Over Knoebels

Friday found us bouncing along up to Knoebels for a day of fun...this time with a twist, our friend Paden was along with us for the day. We tried to arrange an outing for earlier in the week with his family, but funerals and weather made that impossible this week for them. Feeling bad that the kids would not get to enjoy the park with their friend, I asked his mom if it would be okay for him to be our third child for the day. So the five of us went on up and had a fantastic day!!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day: (If you haven't seen Paden on here before, here's a tip, he is not the Mexican or the girl. ha ha ha ha)








This last one I just like because I was snapping in a series while the kids were waiting for this ride to begin...it's one of those that takes a while because there are many kids to strap in safely...and looking at their faces I just wonder what they were thinking, but adore how close Samantha is cuddled up to David.

and then the next picture immediately after that gives you some idea that whatever Samantha was thinking...it was probably devious! ha ha ha ha ha


Have a great week everybody!!!!!

Splish Splash

David and Samantha start swim lessons...





Happy 4th of July!!!

It's not that...

Here's my "It's not that..." post. ha ha ha

It's not that....
I haven't taken any photos lately
I haven't been anywhere lately
I haven't enjoyed life lately

it's just that...
I have been working
I have been working
I have been working...

Last year, this was a challenging and difficult thing because I was stretching my skills and reaching beyond myself a little -- while poorly managing time. I would say, "I've been working" with a different tone and meaning... meaning more like, "I've been struggling to juggle."

When 2007 began on a sour note, I felt I was doomed for the year, but I can say that career-wise, 2007 is kicking butt! I am so happy right now... it's like a breath of fresh air. I have turned work into a positive, and it is allowing other areas of my little world to be brighter... in spite of the fact that we still have some challenges we are dealing with right now. "I've been struggling to juggle" has turned into, "I'm finally starting to balance." I wouldn't say I've got it all figured out...just that it is 75 percent better! I'm excited now, not worried.

So though I would have loved to share so much these past couple of weeks about the kids and stuff, I can just squeak two pictures in here for the moment. I will start posting more again soon...if anyone is still out there reading this! ha ha ha

Here are my two favorite pictures of the moment....
1. "The Mouse Takes the Cheese" (Knoebels)




2. "I'm Sensitive, and I'd Like to Stay that Way" (my little flower picker)


Oh, and a little Random Act of Cuteness...

Samantha comes up with a scribble drawing of a flower. Her scribbles are actually starting to resemble things now! ha ha She hands me a marker and says, "Mommy! I want you to draw a Honey Bird." Oh, a honey bird, huh? What is a honey bird? She replies, "A honey bird has a long nose and it sucks out the honey!" I respond, "Oh, yes, a honey bird!" So I drew her a scribbly rendition of a humming bird and she was very pleased that I captured a perfect image of a honey bird sucking honey out of a flower.

Happy Spring!!! Love you all!

Random Act of Cuteness for March

(I've been keeping this one in my head and very late to post it, but I can't just let it slip away!)

While hanging out in the kids' room, I overhear this role playing by Samantha and her "Holly" (Polly) Pocket dolls:

(One is a boy and the other a girl.)

Girl: (In a shrill pretend voice) "Marry me or die!"

Me: What? Samantha! Do you think you have to die or get married?
Sammy: I want you to marry me, Mommy!
Me: I can't marry you! I'm your mommy!
David: I'll marry you, Mommy!
Sammy: Yeah, you can marry David!
Me: I can't marry David either! I'm already married to Daddy!
Sammy: Okay. Then you can die for Daddy.
Me: Oh, really? Let me think about that one!
David: Yeah! You grow up. You get married. You are happy. Then you die.

And another little bird spreads her wings and tries to fly...

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, mostly because I'm running off of very minimal sleep, but Samantha stepped onto the kindergarten campus today and began the registration process! I can't believe how time flies. (I know, I always say that!) It just seems to keep getting faster and faster though. Wasn't I just doing the registration process for David? Now the boy is reading and writing and telling me all about worldly things with such excitement.

Samantha is nothing like David though! David has been the model student so far from start to finish. I don't know if it has to do with his age or his personality. Samantha though is like an electric tumbleweed!

First I tried to get her ready for registration. She was on the floor in front of the TV in her underpants watching Noggin. She yells to me, "I don't want to go. Take Caesar!" Yeah, like I'm going to dress up the cat and pass her off for my daughter... although, Caesar probably wouldn't have shoved his paw up his nose and then stuck it in his mouth in front of the principal like a certain someone ended up doing! Arrrggh!!! She scored very low in her evaluation, so she might become an all-day kindergarten student, but that will probably be good for her. I expected this because she hasn't been as interested in the alphabet and numbers as her brother has always been. She marches to her own little punk-rock drummer, and you can't get into her stubborn little head when she is having one of those moments. Nonetheless, she is growing up too, and she is looking forward to school...if only they wouldn't start it so early though! ha ha ha

Down the hallway from the library...I made my way to David's classroom to drop something off. He was so surprised to see me there! His teacher is the sweetest. There he was working hard on a drawing and story for the day. His little classmates are so cute. They all looked up and whispered about the unexpected visit. If only you could just bottle every moment like that!

Happy Valentine's Day...

From the Cookie Protection Program!!!





Unfortunately, though David doesn't seem to mind, school was canceled due to the weather conditions today...so David will have to deliver his love letters tomorrow...if there is school tomorrow, that is!

First Annual Valentine's Preparations!

Yes, it's David's first year of school, and thus the first year to make Valentine's!!!!!

Here's all the loot!


Mr. Casanova himself...

working on a very, very, very special Valentine for the little cutie he has a crush on...


And Samantha had some of her own to prepare too for David, Daddy, and Mommy!


It's just the beginning of many years of holiday school traditions, and it's so much fun! Remember those days of picking out who got which card, and being careful not to give the kids you didn't like that much one that said something too mushy! How about the anticipation of getting all the cards from your friends... awwww, the innocent days of puppy love! LOL!

More snow, but just a little bit!

Well, we got a little bit more snow on Wednesday...but I doubt it was even more than an inch. There wasn't even enough to shovel...so we used a stiff broom! The kids enjoyed it for a little bit anyway. It was all melted away by this morning, except for a little blob of the former snowblob named Fred.




So happy to have a little snow and a two-hour delay to start school!




Fred the Snowblob. Just a tiny little guy, but enough to make David really smile!




A close-up shot of Fred the Snowblob. David had a hard time getting the raisins to stay in!





This little one was only outside for a short time. She's such a spoiled girl and got cold quickly. LOL!

Just a little snow...

Happy Feet...

Music from Heaven...

Since my family is in California, at Christmas they send money and ask me to shop for the kids, rather than wasting money on excessive postage. No problem! So this year, I bought the gifts...and needed to sort them out on Christmas Eve for wrapping and assigning.

I tell the kids that Santa delivers these special presents from people we love that are far away. I try to match them up appropriately...but this year I was looking over the gifts and sudden inspiration came to me.

I flashed back to our trip two years ago in 2005 to California. We made a trip to downtown L.A. and visited Olvera Street, where we got the kids two colorful little guitars. They had so much fun here on Grandma's front step playing with them... (David wanted the pink one!)




When we returned to P.A. though, It became clear that these novelty items were not really the best for teaching the kids how to actually play a guitar, and they've been sitting in my closet, where they will be safe. David asks about them often, and sadly I have been denying his request.

Funny though... a few weeks before Christmas, I was in Target and suddenly stopped to see an end cap full of kids Little Lyon guitars that came with an easy learn guide. Perfect!!! Something inside of me just told me to buy them, especially for only $20 each!

So now I'm sitting on the floor wrapping presents Christmas Eve, and I'm still having a hard time losing Grandma the night before...and it came to me... these guitars will be from Grandma... this is how I applied the Christmas money she sent.

The kids unwrapped them Christmas morning...and I made sure they knew that these were gifts of music from Heaven.

So David and I are learning. Sam is not quite ready to sit and learn yet, but David really has a knack for music, I think. He picks it up quickly, and we had a lot of fun...


We are having fun. We are learning together. We are smiling and thinking of Little Grandma with each new note we figure out.

Return of the red dress...

Samantha has this little red velvet dress that our friend Jennifer gave her at Christmas a year or two ago. She wears that dress ragged! Anyway, she was parading around as usual and I noticed how filthy it was! "Sammie! That dress has to go in the laundry now! Hey, how about I find your other little red dress from Yoko's wedding?"

Sammie: "Yeah! I want to wear my wedding dress!"

Yes, she remembers the dress. She wanted to put the little black shoes on too, and that resulted in a tantrum after what resembled a scene from Cinderella. She wears a size ten now, and these were size six!! It was hilarious!

So she puts on this dress... WHERE DID THE TIME GO???? I know, I say that a lot, but man, these kids are growing so fast.

THE RED DRESS: THEN AND NOW...

January 2005...


December 2006...


January 2005...Dancing with big brother...


December 2006... Still love big brother...(Who was brushing her hair, by the way!)







and here she is... the little girl who somehow takes my breath away. I love her so much!



(To be honest, this face she is making is really, "Mommy, can we go inside now?" Yes, the temperature was somwhere in the 30's, I believe. I know, Bad Mommy!)

Gobble gobble...and let the season begin!

Wow, Thanksgiving came and went in a blink! How does this keep happening?

The festivities got started on Tuesday when David had his special Thanksgiving Feast at school. I went to help out, which made it possible for me to also see their cute little performance. He has such adorable little classmates. They are all so sweet and happy. I think their teacher is to thank for that though. She is really kind and gentle with a great sense of humor. When they do something well, she says, "Kiss your brain!" She's just really a warm person, and David loves her! I am so happy that David's first year of school has been so positive. I have been getting great feedback on his performance both academically and socially, and it warmed my heart on Tuesday when I introduced myself to another mom and she said, "Oh, David! My son talks about him all the time!" (I assume she meant in a good way! LOL!) Seriously though, David is great at making friends, and I am just so happy that he is so happy.

Here is a picture of him up on stage with the other chiefs and pilgrims.



and here is the little cutie that David has a major crush on! He is such a little romancer! She looks more like she should be a California Girl....maybe that's why he likes her so much! He comes home and has something to say about her every day. He even made her a little heart ring out of Floam!


Thursday we had a nice dinner at Aunt Lynn's and just hung out...

Friday we went shopping.
Let the season begin now! Here they are with Santa Claus already!!!


Yep...December is breathing down our necks already! When we drove up after shopping, David squealed with delight. While we were gone, Daddy was busy, and we returned to the wonderful surprise of our house lit up with color. That made me so happy because I just can't describe how excited David and Sam were to see the sparkling lights of our house!



Have a good weekend!