Growing pains

"Hayden, I was noticing how tall you've gotten. I can't believe it," stated Dad.

"I know. I was just thinking how small everything was looking," replied Hayden.

Ha ha ha.... OMG! He's a laugh a minute without even trying to be. Gotta love him!

All by myself

This is a common saying when it comes to Zoe.

"My do it!"

"Don't help, mom!"

"No, me."

Just last night Zoe went into fits of rage because Jonathan tried to wash her hair. The nerve! Apparently he didn't know that it's not his job anymore.

It's also this way when it comes to getting dressed. I try to point things out that are fashionably correct for an almost 3 year old, but many times I fail according to Zoe. Frankly, I'm surprised I can still do her hair.

We were getting ready to see the movie Igor with my parents, which BTW I highly do NOT reccommend for kids. It's terrible. Good thing Zoe really had no idea what was happening. She told me she'd rather watch Barbie. I agreed. Anyway, Zoe came out and triumphantly stated that she put her socks on with her new shoes. Awesome! Please note, I have not done her hair yet. :)


Look carefully at her feet. First of all, the socks are on upside down. Thus the scrunching around the ankle... it's really the heal. Then, the shoes are on the wrong feet. To top it off, she has socks on with flip flops. Wow... it can't get worse than that. Should I mention those are $3 knock-offs from Wal-mart?

Happy Fall...

... and a happy new background. My blog undergoes many face lifts and wardrobe changes each month... It's so much fun to find new ones. Since it's the first day of Fall, I had to have this one. But keep an eye out for many more to come.

Happy Birthday

to my amazing, talented, loving, intriguing, inventive, adventurous, and young-hearted husband. We love you Jonathan!

Happy Birthday on September 18th!

If Only....

I could write an intelligent piece, or sentence for that matter. I blame my inability to write anything filled with substance and literary genius on my lack of coherent conversations I encounter daily with a 2 year old, 2 9 year olds (I'm counting Jonathan), and 50 something 7 year olds . I think I used to be an above average writer. I think. Now I write like the students I teach and my mind has slowly become mush. Everything I want to say comes out like I don't want it to sound.

Props to my high school friend, Deanna. Her posts are truly a work of art, composed with eloquence and full of voice. She scores a 6 on the six traits rubric. She is thoughtful, opinionated, poetic, interesting, politically informed, and hilarious. Check out her blog and enjoy....

On our way...

Well, we've been successful in aquiring bikes ... borrowed Jonathan's parents who think they are "storing" them here. And I've even obtained a bike trailer to haul Zoe in. I sent my parents on a mission to buy a used one. We thought we were ready. Alas, we found out the trailer is missing the part that attaches it to the bike. And I was so ready for a workout today.... LOL

Dear God...

We always pray with the kiddos before bed time.

Hayden quietly nods and says Amen at the end, always hoping that we won't ask him to do the honors. He is required to at least think of one thing to be thankful for... you'd think we were asking him to give up his x-box 360. Apparently it's a difficult task to think of something. We mght suggest be thankful for your x-box 360. hmmmm.....

Zoe, however, jumps at the chance to pray. She now leads us, hands clasped tight...
"Dear Jesus, hank (thank) you for moomie (movie), Yay-Yay (Hayden), popcorn, and shopping. (Right on). Keep Yoe (Zoe) safe, Yay-Yay safe, seep (sleep) nice. Hank you for Daddy, Mommy, Yoe, Yay-Yay, Gama (Grandma), Papa, udder (other) Gama 'n Papa, Gay Mama (Great Grandma), and Duke (Gma/pa Schmadeke's dog). Amen."

Amen!

The Way I see It....

If you have something to say, then just say it. Seriously... I don't have time for you to hint or beat around the bush because you are worried about hurting my feelings. I'm a strong person... I can handle it, as I can handle most things. Except possibly "R" from my class these days. Likewise, don't expect me to think you will guess what I have to say or wonder why I might be upset. I will tell you... trust me.

I enjoy people who can speak their mind and not worry what others will think. I'm ok with it, but would like to get better. Hmmm....

From a Starbucks cup... The Way I See It #287
"There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and Ambassador to the U.N.

Shop till you...

get ran over by a shopping cart! My mom and I braved the opening of TJ Max and Home Goods. There's a Home Goods by her house at Arrowhead so we already knew we liked the store. I thought innocently, let's go check it out... with Zoe in a stroller. Right! Mom and I got there and quickly realized this was not a casual shopping trip. This was a fight and we were not going down.

After "meandering" through the first few aisles, we woke up and realized this was not a place for Zoe. She was already asking to get out. Wow... we'd hardly started. I called Jonathan and begged him to come pick her up. As he approached the store, he called me and said he was blocking traffic and the crowd didn't look happy... so hurry!

With her gone, mom and I looked a little more... over heads and under legs, through arms and peek holes. We found some great deals though on the Home Goods side. Then we saw the check-out line. We were in the back, very back, of the store. And so was the line, from end to end and side to side ran the line. Wowsers! So, mom got in line and I shopped, then we switched. Mind you, we still had the stroller because carts were scarce.

Eventually we both ended up in line and while passing different sections, we started throwing things in the cart and decided to buy them anyway because once we made up our mind later they'd be gone anyway.

Happy to say, after about an hour... yes, an HOUR... in line, we made it out alive. I got pants, a sweater, metal scroll thingy, and two pictures. Super cool... then off to lunch at Rubios across the street. While eating, I got a call from Jonathan that said I getter get over to McDonald's because Zoe was refusing to come out of the helicopter. Ha ha... Good Luck Jonathan! I'm having a nice quiet lunch. How's yours?? Love you....

Quack

The other day while swimming, Zoe put on Hayden's flippers, looked at me slyly and said, "I'm a duck. Quack, quack."

Hilarious!