Twirling

Nov. 13, 2010

This morning we cleaned the house (Hannah and Caleb help in the bathrooms and wipe down their bedroom). After the house was done Caleb picked up Hannah and twirled her around. They both got dizzy and fell to the ground but laughed. It doesn't always happen, the laughter, so when it does I stop what I'm doing and watch them and try to memorize everything about the moment: their sweet faces, where they are and what's making them laugh. I even try to memorize the way it sounds. Every Mom that I talk to says, "They grow up so fast. Treasure them when they're young." It's hard to do that. Life is busy and there is always something to do. But every body's busy. Every Mom that I know is working hard to be the best they can be. I admire so many of them because they all have something that they are really good at.
So... Stephanie. Treasure them, they are growing up fast.

I'm still reading about the Universe. I've learned a few things and the more I learn the more I want to know, my brain doesn't feel as much like oatmeal anymore. Plus!

Music and "Man" talk

Nov. 12, 2010

Caleb had preschool at Amanda's house again. Cory had the corolla today (and I don't know how to drive the Nissan because it's a stick shift) Connie took Caleb to school and Hannah and I walked to her house. Grandma picked him up too and took him for ice cream. He chose the blue ice cream, the flavor is not as important as the color, with chocolate chips.
We spent another fun day at Grandma's playing and helping out around her house.
Later on Alison brought her kids over to Connie's to play.
Once a month we have a Dinner Club date at some one's house. Tonight it was at the Pitt's. She made Fettuccine Alfredo, we brought a salad and the Kilmer's brought french bread. After dinner the men and women separated and Caleb got his first experience in "man" talk meaning sports of course..."all you can handle, Brah!" And the girls talked about the really interesting stuff...decorating, new babies and the dating years. Yea, it was fun!

Veteran's Day

Nov. 11, 2010

Cory had the day off today so we thought we'd check out the Veteran's Day Parade. The best float was one of the first. It was simple in design but the message was powerful. It was an elegantly decorated table with 4 empty white chairs. The chairs represented 100's maybe even 1000's of POW's that would never sit down at a table such as this with their families but perhaps a setting would always be waiting for their return. Hot tears rolled down my face as it paused and then passed by. I feel more gratitude for the men and women that have served in the armed forces (in what ever capacity) today than I did yesterday. God bless America!






Caleb salutes and Hannah smiles.



















Caleb gets a better look.














Hannah takes a break from eating trail mix to pose for a picture.














After the parade we went to Grandma Connie's. Cory found a few boxes of his treasured childhood toys in the guest bedroom closet. He and Caleb put together most of the Lego battle ship this afternoon. The final touches will have to wait for another day.














Before dinner the kids laughed and played together on the floor.
I didn't want to make dinner tonight so I asked Caleb, "How do Pancakes sound?" He said, "duhh-licious!" So we had breakfast for dinner tonight. Growing up my Mom did this a few times and I thought it was the best most exciting thing that had happened to me all that day. Now that I'm a Mom, she probably did it for the same reason I did...it's easy.

"That's real touching Toaster"

Nov. 9, 2010

Caleb had preschool today. It was at Sis. Amanda Pitts house, (she is really neat...by the way). Afterward we went to Connie's so we could be there when she and Jerry walked through the door after a trip to Washington D.C. I talked to her yesterday and she told me that she and Jerry spent all day at the Mall. I said, "Jerry went to the 'mall' ?" She didn't mean the mall like the Vally Plaza she meant where the Abraham Lincoln memorial is and the Washington monument are. Ha Ha Ha. I felt silly. Oh well. I won't make that mistake again.

I love to read the stories and poems from the Chicken soup for the soul books. I read one today called, "The Cookie Thief." If you have the time, read it below. If not, "Go get 'er done"

The Cookie Thief
"A woman was waiting at an airport one night
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shop,
Bought a bad of cookies and found a place to drop."

"She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,
That the man beside her, as bold as could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene."

"She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,
As the gusty "cookie thief" diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye."

"With each cookie she took, he took one too.
When only one was left, she wondered what he'd do.
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half."

"He offered her half, as he ate the other.
She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother,
This guy has some nerve, and he's so rude,
Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"

"She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight wad called.
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,
Refusing to look back at the 'thieving ingrate'. "

"She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Then sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise.
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!"

" 'If mine are here,' she moaned with despair,
'Then the others were his and he tried to share!'
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!"

-Valarie Cox

p.s. I read about the Universe last night... Just in case you were wondering

A shave and a haircut...2 bits

November 8, 2010

Caleb was in need of a haircut so we left this morning and took a trip to the barber shop next to the Country Club liquor store. He did great. Boy does this kid have a lot of hair! The Barber went over his head again and again and kept cutting more and more hair. The end result is this cute boy!


















We have been blessed with a job. We are so excited! Cory started Monday of this week. Cory leaves at 6am and gets home just before 7pm because it's in Porterville, well passed Porterville actually. When Cory gets home the kids are ready for bed so they can maximize the last 30 minutes of the night playing and reading books with Dad. The kids have so much fun with him that 30 minutes usually turns into 45. Oh well! There are worse things.
The kids zonk out pretty fast. Tonight I came in for one last look to find the two of them asleep in the same position, even their heads are turned to the left....picture time!

"Mommy school"

Nov. 8, 2010

Even though Caleb goes to preschool on Wednesday and Friday, we have our own school at home with Hannah. This week at Preschool the letter is "L" so at home we will reinforce the letter"L' with "L" activities at home. Our school is as follows:
Everyday we
* say the pledge of allegiance
* have an opening prayer
* go over our scripture for the week(it always begins with the letter of the week)
*Singing time
* Article of Faith (we're working on #2 with Caleb and #1 with Hannah)
* Poem (this week it's about a Lady bug)
*Writing and Music (I printout a few tracing pages and while they work on one of them I play the composer for the week - this week is Franz Liszt, and talk about him and ask questions about what they hear: instruments, mood, etc.)
On Mondays we have Science (so we learn about a bird, mammal or ocean creature)
On Tuesdays we have Social Studies (Abe Lincoln)
On Thursday we have a Craft (this week we are going to use the Autumn leaves from outside and preserve them in wax paper - or if that is too crazy to undertake they can glue the leaves to paper and we'll hang it up on the back of our front door).
After Caleb and Hannah do these things together I give them 10 minutes individual time to work on the specific things they need. Caleb is learning how to read so while Hannah plays he and I make sentences with the word and picture flashcards I made. It is amazing to watch him sound out the letters and put the sounds together to make words and then sentences. I also go over practical stuff like phone number, identifying money, birth date, full name etc. With Hannah she has the basics to learn, ABC's, colors, and shapes.
The websites that I go to are here and here [(thanks Alison ;-) ]

Icky Sicky

Nov. 7, 2010

Cory stayed home from Church today because he was sick. He stayed in bed most of the day and was fast asleep by 8:30pm.
I had sharing time today and gave the Primary a Service challenge for the week. I hope they remember to that, as well as the other 10 million things their probably doing. I emailed the parents about the challenge and also sent home a booklet. It could happen... there's always hope!