Locks of Love

Ashley finally did it!  (or maybe I should say Andy finally did it)  I don't know when I would have "gotten around" to taking Ashley to get her hair cut.  The longer it grew, the more I loved it and LOVED braiding it.  She has been asking to get it cut and Andy has really been in favor of this, so today on their errand runs, they just "happened" to be by a hair cut place that just "happened" to have an opening.  Now I totally love her short hair, but I told Abby she wasn't allowed to get her hair cut anymore.  As long as I have 1 kids hair to braid, I'll be ok.  Here is Ashley with her short hair and NEW GLASSES!

And you know Abby has to get in on the action too.  Ashley was getting WAY too much attention.  Here is Abby with her "long" hair.

"You can just bwaid my haiw and den we'w stick it on my head."

Abby's letter

This was Abby's Christmas letter to her teacher on the last day of school before break. 

It says, "To Mrs. Goudy. Love, Abby. I am wearing Christmas clothes today." 

I asked her if she would rather write something like - "have a good Christmas" or "thanks for being a great teacher" but no, she was pretty intent on pointing out that she was wearing Christmas clothes.  Not that her red skirt, red tights and "thuper" sparkly shirt and shoes could leave any question of that.   

Christmas Sunday

How can it be Christmas already in 6 days?!!  We had an exciting Christmas Sunday with the kids choir and Ashley singing her solo.  She did great and said she wasn't even nervous.  It was so much fun seeing her up there enjoying it.  They all did great.  It's a 1st - 5th choir, so 2 more years until Abby can join them. :)  Awesome.  Merry Christmas!!!

Charlie's Favorite Toy

Charlie likes lots of different toys.  Anything with wheels, anything that makes noise, strollers, yes, even baby dolls.  Not to digress, but here are some pictures of him hugging and kissing Abby's baby.  (remember he has 2 older sisters)

Anyway, Charlie's favorite toy isn't any of these.  Charlie goes crazy over balloons!!!  Any balloon.  Any shape.  Any color.  Any size.  Preferable ones that float.  If we have one in the house, he walks around with it constantly.  It is utter torment for him to put it down to eat, change, leave the house, whatever.  Exhibits A - C:

He's looking for the other one: 

He found it:

He's not letting it go:

If we see one in the store, he will ask for it over and over until it is out of sight.  The catch here is that he can't actually say the word "balloon".  He says it with his mouth closed, which is actually kind of nice because even if he's yelling for it, it's not that loud.  See for yourselves.

I'm sure this phase will pass, but we plan on enjoying it as long as we can.

Holiday Traditions Night

This post is mainly for the benefit of Erika (even though she won't blog for me).  She was not able to participate in the yearly anticipated Holiday Traditions Night at Abby (and formerly Ashley's) school with the rest of her family, so I thought she could see what she missed (which she probably didn't miss at all).  :)

For the benefit of others (and sales pitch for future years), this is an awesome and FREE event.  They have 6 stations with different crafts/activities focused on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  Here are a few pictures of the evening.

Andy and Charlie waiting for the cookies to arrive at the decorating station:

Frosting the cookies.  (ie - eating the frosting)  You will notice that Andy looks exceptionally happy in a few of these pictures.  I think it was just the joy of the season getting to him.

Bingo with marshmallows - then you can EAT the marshmallows!  (don't worry, Er, we gave Caity an extra shot of insulin - and some purell)  :)

Story time with candy canes.  I think Charlie was stealing someones water.  Don't worry.  No germs here. 

Making cards for the soldiers.  Rhett was supervising/marveling at their amazing art skills.

Singing Christmas songs with instruments!  I think this was Andy's the kids favorite station.

Making the advent chain.  Never mind Andy in the background.  This was totally safe.

An excellent way to kick off the Holiday season!  We got out our Christmas decorations this week.  I don't think we've ever been this early.  Maybe this means we'll take them down before February.  Don't hold your breath on that one.

Arctic Blast 2010

Today was the first snow day of the 2010-2011 school year.  We've managed to handle the situation ok considering the treacherous conditions.  Our food and water supply is ok although we are starting to ration it in case we can't get out for a few more days.  We have extra candles and flashlights handy in case of a power outage due to the weight of the snow.  We know from past Arctic Blasts that the unpredictable can happen in the blink of an eye.  They (the experts) warned us against going outside unless absolutely necessary, but I managed to open the back door long enough to snap a picture of this momentous event.

Arctic Blast 2010!!!

It may not be the best quality picture, so if you can't tell, there is at least 1/16" of snow on the table.  It may not look like much, but that snow can get ahold of your tires and you won't know what hit you.  I am so glad that they cancelled school so we don't have to trek out in this.  I'm just hoping that there is some way that it will melt before Thanksgiving so we can make it out of town.  I'll keep you posted!

All Hallows Eve

Ok, I'm back on-line, as they say, so here is an update on our trick-or-treating.  I was most excited about Charlies costume (price included!) but Charlie did not share in our joy.  We tried it on about a week before Halloween, and he kept pulling at the hat saying it was "stuck".  He was also not thrilled that the sleeves were too long.  So, we did some test runs of trick-or-treating where the kids would dress up, ring the door bell and I would give them candy.  Charlie liked his costume very quickly after this.  Ashley was an ice skating princess, Abby was Cinderella and Charlie was Yoda.  Here are kids with their pre-trick-or-treating hug.

And posing in front of their pumpkins.  You can't tell in the picture, but Charlie's pumpkin was carved too.

We had great weather for trick-or-treating - 50's and DRY!!!  We were meeting up with some of Ashley's friends from school last year, and decided to leave early and try out a few houses on the way.  Here they are at their first trick-or-treat stop.

Charlie was a little unsure at the whole process.  He was surrounded by masses of odd looking characters who would run up ahead of him, and then at a moments notice (after they got their candy) rush back towards him.  He would chase after them, but as soon as he saw them rush back, he would turn and run in order to avoid getting trampled.  He was getting frustrated at all this work and still an empty Elmo. (his treat basket and favorite part of his costume)

Charlie at the back of the pack:

Andy carried him for a bit while he seemed to evaluate the process.

He then got his courage back up and decided to walk. This time he was on a mission. "Try not.  Do or do not.  There is no try."

From this point on, he was on his own, refusing to be carried.  He would weed his way through the masses in order to get to the candy.  And candy he did get.  More people were handing out full sized candy bars than ever!

Towards the end his basket was getting so heavy that he couldn't even lift it off the ground, but he refused all help.  Here is a group picture towards the end.  We were out for 2 hours and I can't estimate how far we walked, but the kids were beat!

And, of course, sorting candy out at the end.  Charlie ate several pieces with the wrapper on, then he gave the rest to Abby.  A great, unintended way to teach your kid that candy tastes like aluminum!

The kids had a blast.  Now Charlie will pull out his costume, ask to put it on, then ask for candy.  Apparently he thinks all you have to do to get candy is look cute.  Sometimes true.  :)

Blogging Hiatus

I have to apologize for the break in writing.  I had what turned out to be only a momentary loss of my pictures.  Thanks to the amazing skilz of our good friend Rhett Lee, my pictures are now recovered.  I now need to reload my photo software and re-organize my pictures.  That should only take about 10-12 years, so stay tuned.   In the meantime, here is a story to entertain.

I was at Ashley's school yesterday eavesdropping, I mean volunteering, and I ran into the English teacher.  She said she had an interesting encounter with Ashley.  She was reviewing spelling words with her and they would practice each word and then Maureen (the teacher) would ask "what does this word mean to you?"  (this is for her to get a sense of if they know what the word means).  She asked Ashley what the word "satisfaction" meant to her and Ashley said, "like when you write a bunch of things on a list and get to cross them all off."  I don't know if Maureen was more puzzled by Ashley's response or by my fist pump and "YES!"  We may be odd, but we're efficient!!!

I hope to be able to post some pictures of the ice skating princess, Cinderella, and Yoda after this weekend.  :)

Haircut take 2 (or 3)

So I took Charlie for his first professional cut on Monday.  My first 2 attempts to do it myself failed.  I regularly cut Andy's hair, and he likes it, so when he asked me to please take Charlie in somewhere, I knew it was bad.  The lady did a great job.  She asked if I was going to hold him on my lap or if he would sit by himself.  I have never held a kid on my lap for a haircut in my life so I wasn't about to start now.  I also have never had a kid cry for a haircut.  Until now.  The drama started when the lady brought out this horrible apron and proceeded to strap it around his neck of all places!!!  Can you believe it?!?!  He started fake choking and gasping.  It really was humorous.  (Unless you were one of the adults getting your hair cut in there wishing I wasn't so cheap and would have paid another 7 bucks to take him to a kids haircut place where no one cares if your kid cries)  Anyway, he was momentarily distracted by some action figure she had on hand, until she started cutting his hair off!  This was disturbing to him.  No so much that he was losing his hair, but that it was making a mess!  (this is Andy's child, remember)  With every lock of hair that fell, he would sob, look at it messing up the apron, and say "dirty!"  He could hardly keep up with each cut.  Anyway, this attracted several of the ladies to come over and laugh/blow bubbles/console/whatever, which only made him turn it up a notch.  This is about that time that any part of me that thought he might actually be in need of comforting went out the window.  He was having the time of his life.  We made it through the ordeal.  It was pathetic how they bathed him with kleenexes and stickers afterwards.  He soon was able to regain composure (the moment we walked out the door) and now my baby doesn't look so much like a baby anymore!!! 

JDRF walk

Yesterday was the annual JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) walk.  We walk for our dear friend Caity who is 9 and has had diabetes for over half of her life.  :(  This has been a really impactful thing in the girls lives.  (especially for Ashley)  She has a great awareness that this is something that Caity will deal with the rest of her life.  (UNLESS they find a cure, which is why we do the walk).  Ashley remembers visiting Caity in the hospital when she was diagnosed and then praying that Caity will get better, pretty much every night since.  Conversations always ramp up this time of year as we are talking more about the walk and trying to find a cure.  Ashley and Abby get so excited for the walk because it takes place at Oaks Park so they get to go on the rides afterwards and eat cotton candy they love showing support for a good cause.  Anyway, the night before the walk, Ashley prayed, again, that we would be able to find a cure for Caity this year.  After she finished praying, she looked at me in sheer frustration and said, "It just doesn't make sense.  No one seems to be trying very hard at all.  I don't ever see anyone stopping to look around or anything.  They are all just walking.  How can we find the cure if no one is even looking?!?"  All I could do was smile and squeeze her in her genuine frustration at the "lack of effort" of the walkers to "find" the cure.  This led to a conversation of why we go on the walk if we're not actually looking for anything and why they say we are "walking to find a cure." She is very clear on this now and is quick to offer a disclaimer whenever she hears someone say that we are walking to find a cure.  Here are some pictures from the day that just make me smile.  Apart from the fact that we were there because Caity has diabetes, it was just about a perfect day!

My sister is smart

So, I have to dedicate another post to the awesomeness of my sister.  You all know she's smart, right?  Well, she was just first author (ok, technically second author contributing equally, but I am correcting that for them) on a paper that was recently published basically saying that she is the smartest scientist ever and that she is going to find the cure for breast cancer.  You heard it here first.  The paper is titled, "RANK ligand mediates progestin-induced mammary epithelial proliferation and carcinogenesis."  She's smart like that.  Here is a link for your reading pleasure: 

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature09495.html

This all makes sense to me since I took Anatomy so many times, but for those of you looking for a "top level" summary, here is a link to a commentary that was written about the paper by normal 8-5ers.  This is awesome stuff.

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100929/full/news.2010.504.html

GO ALLI!!!  YOU ROCK!!!

Face lift

One of Andy's projects this summer was to make some minor adjustments to the front of the house.  He had many different ideas that were all revised many times throughout the process, but the end result is awesome.  Here is a picture of the front of our house when we bought it. 

The biggest difference he made was to the bunch of rose bushes that were below the front window.  These were supposed to line the walkway to the front door, but instead acted as a cut-through to get to the front door.  We had a front porch bench, but no patio to do anything else. 

Here is the after shot:

You can kind of see the sad little bench (what is left of it) by the door.  Here it is up close.

Andy used the bench along with some hardwood flooring he found in the garage to build us a swing. 

Here is a picture of the kids pretending the swing is some sort of theme ride.

And notice Ashley's welcome "mat".  It's the least expensive one we've ever had.

Here are 2 more shots of the patio and the wall he built.  It's a great area for the kids to play and stay dry when the ground is wet, which is roughly 355 days out of the year.

Yes, the bench will eventually be removed (I hope).  I can't complain though.  This project was done with an amazingly low budget due to all of the things Andy had "on-hand" from past projects or saved "treasures" or whatever.  This is the guy who saved his broken coffee grinder even after my dad bought him a replacement one "just in case the new one broke" he'd have parts to fix it.  Yikes.  The purger and the non-purger.  This time the non-purger won.  :)

Abby's first day

I must be fair and post pictures of Abby's first day of school.  She started a week after Ashley did, so she was very ready by the time her first day arrived. 

Does she look ready to explode or what?

Here is a picture of her outside of her school

...and in her classroom.

And here is what Charlie did with his first chance to be away from his sisters.

Tomorrow is "red day" and Abby is the snack helper, therefore explaining why she is awake in her room right now at 10:30pm, despite going to bed at 8:30.  If she falls asleep, she might not wake up in time and miss the whole day.  At least that's what I'm told. 

Thank you, Alli

My sister tends to remember stuff about my kids more than I do.  Here is a progression of Ashley's soccer career.

The one of Ashley and Abby cracks me up.  Ashley is exactly Abby's current age in that picture and Abby is exactly Charlie's current age.  Amazing.  I could say a lot about both of those facts, but I will leave it at that.  :)

Futbol

No, not all of the post titles will be in Spanish now, I'm just running dry on ideas.   Ashley had her first soccer game this morning.  She had a great time.  Nothing like my childhood soccer experience where I sat down in the middle of the field and cried.  I'm sure I had a good reason for it.  I just can't remember it now.  Anyway, Ashley's good friend from her class last year at William Walker is on the team, so it's like an emotional reunion every time they see each other.  It's fun.  Here is Ash.  She's #2. 

I think she really likes soccer.  Not sure it will be her "thing" but I love that she's trying it.  Apparently she scored a goal, but I think it was around the time that Charlie fell and got a bloody nose so we missed it.  :(  Charlie is fine, by the way, his teeth just got a little messed up.

Primer día de clases

Well, Ashley is off to her new Spanish Immersion school today, Arco Iris.  She had a great morning, waking up EARLY!  We set her alarm for 6:50am, but she was up before that excited to get a jump start on the morning.  It was a little strange getting all 3 kids up and out of the house before Andy leaves, but I'm sure we'll get used to it.  Getting dressed was a breeze with the uniform.  Here she is all ready for her first day!

We saw a girl walking in from the parking lot that ended up being in her class, so she has already met one new friend.  She knows one boy in her class from church and Caity will be in the same portable, next class over, so they will be close.  Here are Caity and Ash before school:

That's the principal in the background.  He had to ask the parents to leave after awhile because everyone seemed to be lingering.  I was tempted to just sit in the car in the parking lot until pick-up, but Charlie and Abby may not have been so thrilled about that.  So, home we went, where we received an unexpected souvenir for the morning:

We were rear-ended by a very nice lady on her way to work.  It's minor, but it definitely adds a "special" touch to our first day adventure.  At least I'll have something to deal with today instead of sitting and watching the clock until 3:45.  Tick tock!