10.28.2011
A Girl and her Dog
Teah LOVES Vegas. Now, that doesn't mean that she's always nice to him, but she loves to pet him and tell him how cute he is and have him try to give her kisses and follow her commands, and on, and on. Mostly I don't let Vegas in her room at bedtime because he just distracts her from sleeping, but every now and again as a special treat he snuggles with her for a bit before bedtime. He sleeps on his dog bed outside of our room every night, but he loves to lay on Teah's bed when I let him. Also, he doesn't at all mind when we cover him up. I took a few quick pictures with my phone because they both looked so darn cute the other night.
Vegas' Haircut
We took our crazy mutt in to get a professional cut for the first time last week. Because of his major muttness, his hair is pretty crazy. The hair on his back is more like a shedding dog, but the hair on his face, belly , and legs is more like a dog that you groom. I have cut the hair on his face myself a few times, but otherwise he goes au natural. He was looking pretty scraggly and had a few little mats in his fur, so I took him on down to The Posh Puppy. This event would not necessarily be blog worthy, but he looked so funny after his haircut that I had to post a before and after pic. I didn't anticipate how much whiter his face would be and I barely recognized him when I picked him up! Also, because they cut his face a lot more than his chest, his head looked way too small for his body! It was rather hilarious :)
BEFORE
AFTER
Michigan's Adventure
When Marj was visiting over the summer we also went to Michigan's Adventure for the day. Michigan's Adventure is a small amusement park about an hour and a half north of us. They have an amusement park with lots of kiddie rides and a few roller coasters along with a pretty great water park. The day started off pretty chilly, but thankfully the sun came out and it warmed up enough to enjoy the water park for a few hours. I decided not to lug around my camera and took a few phone pictures in the amusement park. My phone went into the locker at the water park, so I took the liberty of borrowing some photos from their website of a few water attractions. http://www.michigansadventure.com.
The kids had a blast! They rode on lots of the slow spin in circle rides - cars, elephants, etc. Teah wanted to go on the Frog Hopper, but Carter refused in the morning. Watching Teah on the Frog Hopper was absolutely hilarious. She wanted to go and hopped right on, but I don't think she knew exactly what to expect. The first time it went up she started screaming and crying and I think everyone was concerned that they would have to stop the ride. She screamed for two cycles of going up and down - then all of the sudden she just put her head down on her hands and looked like she was sleeping! At this point we were all pretty confused. She stayed that way for another two cycles and then all of the sudden started laughing and having a great time for the last part of the ride. It was hilarious to watch! After we hit the waterpark in the afternoon, we convinced Carter to ride the frog hopper in the evening. Robert, Carter, and I rode the log ride (Teah stayed with Aunt Marj since she doesn't like how fast it goes down the hill at the end) and Robert and I rode their newest roller coaster as well.
The waterpark was really the highlight of the trip. They have a new water slide called The Funnel of Fear and it really is a huge funnel that your raft goes through! Here's a picture from their website:
The adults took turns with 2 people going on the ride and the other watching the kids. The waterpark was awesome for the kids as well because they had just opened a new area called "beach party". It is basically a huge kid-sized water area with 4 levels and 9 different water slides just the right size for the little ones. As soon as we left the park the kids were asking when we were going back again!
The kids had a blast! They rode on lots of the slow spin in circle rides - cars, elephants, etc. Teah wanted to go on the Frog Hopper, but Carter refused in the morning. Watching Teah on the Frog Hopper was absolutely hilarious. She wanted to go and hopped right on, but I don't think she knew exactly what to expect. The first time it went up she started screaming and crying and I think everyone was concerned that they would have to stop the ride. She screamed for two cycles of going up and down - then all of the sudden she just put her head down on her hands and looked like she was sleeping! At this point we were all pretty confused. She stayed that way for another two cycles and then all of the sudden started laughing and having a great time for the last part of the ride. It was hilarious to watch! After we hit the waterpark in the afternoon, we convinced Carter to ride the frog hopper in the evening. Robert, Carter, and I rode the log ride (Teah stayed with Aunt Marj since she doesn't like how fast it goes down the hill at the end) and Robert and I rode their newest roller coaster as well.
The waterpark was really the highlight of the trip. They have a new water slide called The Funnel of Fear and it really is a huge funnel that your raft goes through! Here's a picture from their website:
Sidewalk Painting
More summer activities that I never blogged about. I made these sidewalk paints with water, cornstarch, and food coloring. I grabbed a few paintbrushes we had lying around and the kids put on some old clothes and went to town!
Camping.... kind of
Well, I've had my new iPhone for four months and have taken 276 pictures! I finally downloaded them to my computer and realized that I had even more things to blog about from this summer. In mid-august, the kids and I decided to go to Nana and Papa's house in the country and camp out one night when Robert was on-call. Robert is not the outdoorsy type, so I think he was happy that we decided to not include him on this family activity. I brought along our 15 year old tent and some borrowed sleeping bags. The weather called for rain, but the kids were so looking forward to it that I was hoping it would work out. Also, one of the benefits of sleeping in Nana's backyard is that you can go inside to nice warm beds if things don't work out! I set up the tent early in the afternoon without any help and it was surprisingly simple. Around dinner time it POURED rain for about 15 minutes while we were all nice and dry in the house. I was worried about how waterproof our tent was - I mentioned it was 15 years old, but did I mention that we hadn't used it for 14 years?? After the downpour I was sure there would be a big puddle inside the tent, but to my surprise everything was dry as could be inside. The rain subsided, but nature still had her deterrents in the form of mosquitos. It was a bad year for them, so as much as I hate to spray on the chemicals, the kids, myself, and the tent were all thoroughly doused with bugspray before bedtime. Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm too much of a baby to sleep on the ground, so I inflated the nice, comfy king-sized air mattress and setup the sleeping bags on it before bed :)
The kids and I made it into the tent and took the next 15 minutes to squash the handful of mosquitos that had snuck in while the flap was unzipped. Once we were sure we were mosquito-free, we read our bedtime stories and snuggled in for bed. The kids only tried talking and fooling around for about ten minutes and then they were asleep! I didn't know how the night would go, but both kids slept soundly until 8am. Mom did not. Every few hours or so I would wake up worrying that mosquitos had found there way in or that rain was coming or that the kids would wake each other up sleeping next to each other. One of the many times that I awoke, I checked on the kids next to me to find that Carter was using Teah as a pillow! She didn't seem to notice and I figured that moving them would wake them up, so I let them be. It was actually pretty cute. Although it was a lot of work and a pretty sleepless night, I am really glad to have helped the kids make such a wonderful family memory. I think that they really had a great time their first time "camping" :) I snapped a few bad pictures with my cell phone after the kids had fallen asleep:
The kids and I made it into the tent and took the next 15 minutes to squash the handful of mosquitos that had snuck in while the flap was unzipped. Once we were sure we were mosquito-free, we read our bedtime stories and snuggled in for bed. The kids only tried talking and fooling around for about ten minutes and then they were asleep! I didn't know how the night would go, but both kids slept soundly until 8am. Mom did not. Every few hours or so I would wake up worrying that mosquitos had found there way in or that rain was coming or that the kids would wake each other up sleeping next to each other. One of the many times that I awoke, I checked on the kids next to me to find that Carter was using Teah as a pillow! She didn't seem to notice and I figured that moving them would wake them up, so I let them be. It was actually pretty cute. Although it was a lot of work and a pretty sleepless night, I am really glad to have helped the kids make such a wonderful family memory. I think that they really had a great time their first time "camping" :) I snapped a few bad pictures with my cell phone after the kids had fallen asleep:
Crazy Hair!
Teah's hair was especially crazy when she woke up the other morning and I had to snap a picture with my camera before trying to tame the beast!
Carving Pumpkins
I LOVE fall! It is absolutely my favorite season of the year and Halloween is my favorite holiday. We've been trying to find time to carve pumpkins for at least a week now and we finally found time yesterday. We invited the Earl family over and we all (minus the husbands, since they don't like to get their hands dirty :) had a great time designing and carving - although us Moms had to carve ours after the kids went to bed, since all of our time in the afternoon was spent helping the little ones. Abigail and Carter did not especially like taking the guts out of their pumpkins and there were lots of exclamations of "ewww" and "yucky" :) Teah decided to carve hers into a face that looks just like the mask she is going to wear for Halloween (a silly skeleton called funny bones). This was the first year that she actually carved the entire pumpkin on her own with very minimal help from Mom. Carter and I used templates from a book for our skeleton-themed pumpkins and I did most of the carving for both of our pumpkins. Carter picked a skull and crossbones that was pretty complicated and I also picked a skeleton themed template - I think they all turned out great! I'll have to see if I can get some pictures of the Earl family pumpkins and post them soon. We had a great time!
This is how Carter felt about the guts :)
Teah looks kind of crazy in this picture, which I guess is appropriate for Halloween!
This is how Carter felt about the guts :)
Teah looks kind of crazy in this picture, which I guess is appropriate for Halloween!
Abigail working on her "guts"
Fiona with her Charlie Brown pumpkin :)
Teah wanted to be in the picture with her pumpkins and I didn't want to flash, so I gave her a flashlight to shine on her face.
ALL DONE!
10.11.2011
The First Days of School
Finally, the first day of school post.
This year Teah started 1st grade, which meant transitioning to a new school. We can literally see our elementary school's playground from our front yard, so we were really looking forward to being so close and being able to walk. Well, I was at least. Teah was a little disappointed that she didn't get to ride the school bus! Thankfully, Carter entered his second year at his Montessori school. The primary program there is three years - two preschool and one kindergarten - all in the same mixed age classroom, so his school routine was familiar, although Teah was in the same classroom with him last year, so I was a little worried about that transition.
We started preparing for the start of school a few weeks beforehand by purchasing our school supplies, new fall clothes, backpacks, and starting to wake the kids up earlier in the morning. Teah also developed a very loose tooth. We made a trip to the elementary school to confirm Teah's teacher for the year and see her classroom and were lucky enough that Ms. Lum was there to meet Teah and show her around! I think that this really helped Teah to feel much more comfortable and less nervous on her first day - the girl really does not like the unknown. To get her to watch a new kids movie I have to tell her the entire plot first :)
The schedule for both of the kids schools worked out really well this year because Teah starts 30 minutes earlier than Carter, giving us just enough time to walk Teah to school and get back to our house to drive Carter. The first day was an exception though, since I wanted to stay for the PTO social after dropping off Teah and her half day schedule meant that her and Carter were getting out of school at the same time! This is where Carter's familiarity with his classroom and our Montessori school's childcare hours came in very handy. I decided to drop Carter off at school an hour early to be able to attend the PTO social at the elementary school and let him stay an hour late and have lunch at school. This also gave Teah and I the opportunity to have a special lunch together after her first day!
As luck would have it, Teah lost that loose tooth the day before school started! I was relieved, because she is generally not a happy camper when she loses a tooth and she gets crabby for a few days when it's really loose and annoying her, so it was nice to have that out of the way. On the first day of school we woke up extra early and I drove Carter to school first. It was probably helpful for him to get there early on the first day because it meant that he was the only kid in the coat room and he wasn't overwhelmed by all of the new little kids. He seemed a little unsure about starting back to school without Teah, but went in to start on his work without any problems.
I drove Teah to school and was able to walk with her into the classroom for the first day. Ms. Lum had sent a note home the week before announcing that it was Teddy Bear week and the kids should bring in their favorite stuffed animal. Teah brought in her pacibear - a pink bear that she made at Build-a-Bear when she was 3 years old. Her name is Pacibear because she put her pacifier inside before they sewed him up - that was how we got her to give up her pacifiers! The night before the first day of school Teah was sure to dress Pacibear up in her fanciest dress and shoes for the occasion :) The stuffed animals stayed at school for a few days and were involved in activities and then the kids brought them back the second week for a "Teddy Bear Picnic". After staying for a few minutes in the classroom, I joined the PTO in the cafeteria for refreshments and signing up for committees.
With all of the school preparation occupying my thoughts, I didn't have time to think about the fact that back to school for the kids meant the return of my mornings of freedom! It hit me when I left school and headed home - I was alone in the house again! I loved having the kids home in the summer and we had a great time, but boy did I miss having my own time. I did nothing but relax for the hour before I picked up Teah and we headed to Fazoli's (her choice) for our special first day of school lunch together.
The second day of school started our normal schedule and our routine was surprisingly smooth. I woke the kids up at 7am and told them to get dressed before coming down for breakfast. Last year they would eat in their jammies and then I would have to try to corral them back upstairs to get dressed. The change in routine this year really helped our mornings to go much more smoothly, although it does allow for yogurt and milk to be spilt on the school clothes. After breakfast we headed out the door to WALK Teah to school. It is about a half a mile to the school if we walk on the road, but there is a cut-through to the back of the school through our neighbor's backyard. So, after getting the OK to walk through their yard, we had our new and improved route to school! It takes approximately 5 minutes with two slow kids. The first two weeks of school we walked everyday - two of them with our rain gear on. We have been known to drive on rainy days recently, but have walked most everyday. I have really enjoyed having that fresh air and few minutes to spend together walking in the mornings.
This year Teah started 1st grade, which meant transitioning to a new school. We can literally see our elementary school's playground from our front yard, so we were really looking forward to being so close and being able to walk. Well, I was at least. Teah was a little disappointed that she didn't get to ride the school bus! Thankfully, Carter entered his second year at his Montessori school. The primary program there is three years - two preschool and one kindergarten - all in the same mixed age classroom, so his school routine was familiar, although Teah was in the same classroom with him last year, so I was a little worried about that transition.
We started preparing for the start of school a few weeks beforehand by purchasing our school supplies, new fall clothes, backpacks, and starting to wake the kids up earlier in the morning. Teah also developed a very loose tooth. We made a trip to the elementary school to confirm Teah's teacher for the year and see her classroom and were lucky enough that Ms. Lum was there to meet Teah and show her around! I think that this really helped Teah to feel much more comfortable and less nervous on her first day - the girl really does not like the unknown. To get her to watch a new kids movie I have to tell her the entire plot first :)
The schedule for both of the kids schools worked out really well this year because Teah starts 30 minutes earlier than Carter, giving us just enough time to walk Teah to school and get back to our house to drive Carter. The first day was an exception though, since I wanted to stay for the PTO social after dropping off Teah and her half day schedule meant that her and Carter were getting out of school at the same time! This is where Carter's familiarity with his classroom and our Montessori school's childcare hours came in very handy. I decided to drop Carter off at school an hour early to be able to attend the PTO social at the elementary school and let him stay an hour late and have lunch at school. This also gave Teah and I the opportunity to have a special lunch together after her first day!
As luck would have it, Teah lost that loose tooth the day before school started! I was relieved, because she is generally not a happy camper when she loses a tooth and she gets crabby for a few days when it's really loose and annoying her, so it was nice to have that out of the way. On the first day of school we woke up extra early and I drove Carter to school first. It was probably helpful for him to get there early on the first day because it meant that he was the only kid in the coat room and he wasn't overwhelmed by all of the new little kids. He seemed a little unsure about starting back to school without Teah, but went in to start on his work without any problems.
I drove Teah to school and was able to walk with her into the classroom for the first day. Ms. Lum had sent a note home the week before announcing that it was Teddy Bear week and the kids should bring in their favorite stuffed animal. Teah brought in her pacibear - a pink bear that she made at Build-a-Bear when she was 3 years old. Her name is Pacibear because she put her pacifier inside before they sewed him up - that was how we got her to give up her pacifiers! The night before the first day of school Teah was sure to dress Pacibear up in her fanciest dress and shoes for the occasion :) The stuffed animals stayed at school for a few days and were involved in activities and then the kids brought them back the second week for a "Teddy Bear Picnic". After staying for a few minutes in the classroom, I joined the PTO in the cafeteria for refreshments and signing up for committees.
With all of the school preparation occupying my thoughts, I didn't have time to think about the fact that back to school for the kids meant the return of my mornings of freedom! It hit me when I left school and headed home - I was alone in the house again! I loved having the kids home in the summer and we had a great time, but boy did I miss having my own time. I did nothing but relax for the hour before I picked up Teah and we headed to Fazoli's (her choice) for our special first day of school lunch together.
The second day of school started our normal schedule and our routine was surprisingly smooth. I woke the kids up at 7am and told them to get dressed before coming down for breakfast. Last year they would eat in their jammies and then I would have to try to corral them back upstairs to get dressed. The change in routine this year really helped our mornings to go much more smoothly, although it does allow for yogurt and milk to be spilt on the school clothes. After breakfast we headed out the door to WALK Teah to school. It is about a half a mile to the school if we walk on the road, but there is a cut-through to the back of the school through our neighbor's backyard. So, after getting the OK to walk through their yard, we had our new and improved route to school! It takes approximately 5 minutes with two slow kids. The first two weeks of school we walked everyday - two of them with our rain gear on. We have been known to drive on rainy days recently, but have walked most everyday. I have really enjoyed having that fresh air and few minutes to spend together walking in the mornings.
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| Teah lost her eighth tooth the day before starting first grade! |
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| Carter ready for his first day! |
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| He has the coat room to himself |
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| We had to snap a picture outside the front doors |
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| Teah sitting down at her desk for the first time |
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| She has her own locker |
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| Pacibear in her best first day of school attire :) |
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| I had to take a picture of my cutie on the second day - she just looked like such a big girl :) |
The Zoo!
Two weeks before the kids started school, Robert's sister, Marj, was in town for a few days and stayed with us. It was sooooo great to see her and spend time with her for us and the kids! She lives in Florida and we definitely don't get to see her as much as we'd like. The days she was here consisted of yummy food, fun games (think Quelf!), shopping, and catching up. Robert's parents drove over for a day and we all decided to head to the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. It's a small zoo, but very kid friendly with a few great exhibits - like feeding the giraffe and an outdoor colony of prairie dogs (my favorite!). Here are a few pictures of our outing.
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| Feeding the giraffes! Their tongues are awesome. |
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| The bird sanctuary |
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| Grandma and Teah |
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| Carter and Aunt Marj |
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| A picture of Teah and I in the mirror on the carousel |
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| Robert and Carter riding the carousel |
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| A prairie dog!! |
10.10.2011
One Cool Track
I thought this was a pretty cool train track that Carter and I built, so I had to snap a picture.
Family Reunion
We made it up to the family reunion for my Mom's side of the family only a few days after we got back from vacation. This is an annual event that has been happening every year since before I can remember. The activities have changed over the years, for instance the white elephant sale has been added to raise money for the next reunion, but many things have stayed the same over 30 years. Someone still hosts the reunion and everyone brings a dish to pass. The kids still hunt for pennies, except in birdseed now rather than sand. I distinctly remember hunting for pennies when I was little, so it's extra special that Teah and Carter can now do the same thing :) We all had a good time catching up. Here are some pics:
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