Who, me? Bath?

Really, I didn't forget how to blog...

I've just been sick as a dog. I have a sinus infection with nasty nasty cough. So, my apologies.

Giuliana has finally had her first visit from the tooth fairy. Apparently the TF should be leaving candy too? She got a $1. As we're talking about it, she says "Mom, can you please leave some candy too next time." I said "huh?" "Well Mom, you know the TF is just a game we play." Yes, she told me a long time ago that she didn't think it was real. I wasn't going to lie. So, I told her it was a fun game to play and to please not tell her friends, because they might not know yet. So, apparently she has kept it to herself.

We had her fall parent/teacher conference yesterday. I know this will shock many of you...apparently she's social and has a bit of a visiting problem. So much so that there will be a seating change. Is it ok to admit I'm still lol? She is also the star of the week. There's a bulleton board with pics of her and things that are special to her. She is also the special helper during her reign. She gets 2 weeks because this one was a short week...she's thrilled.

I owe another picture. Ali has had her curls cut off (well part of them). We bobbed her hair this last week. She dreads at night and I got a little tired of chasing her with the detangler and comb every morning. There's still some chasing, just not as much dreading to comb out.

Ok, so this is way out there, but she may be interested in potty training. She's been overjoyed since she found the flusher...yeah, loads of fun. Well now, she's not so sure about the whole diaper thing. This morning while I was in MAPS, she took her diaper off in the nursery. The gal said as soon as they put it back on her, she filled it. So ofcourse Daddy, the smart parent, says, "maybe she wanted them to put her on the potty." Who knows. I will admit and film the happy dance should she potty train before 2. ;)

Angelo, the child formerly known as Tre is doing well. I have no idea how long the name change will stick, but he likes to be called Angelo now. He had his teacher write that name on his craft today. He was really irritated with Giuliana at school. He has his routine and knows where his hook is- she had the nerve to show him where his backpack hook is. Can you believe it? Then she tried to guide him into his room. I gently reminded her that he does this by himself twice a week. She's still tickled that she got to "go to daycare" while I was in MAPS...yes, a room where other school children hang out with babysitters while the mommies are downstairs...uhm, ok.

Oh, and the current favorite outfit is his camo Levi's and fishing shirt. I swear to you, he'd wear it daily if I let him. He has issues with my need to wash them in between.

G's off school again tomorrow. We'll try and get some tooth pictures and pics of Al's new do. :)

More scrapbook pages...

I'm finally out of the pics I had printed for Mom's book. Time to have more printed. I didn't get the greatest of scans, but I'm too tired to work on that. Major insomnia last night.

The die cuts and lettering are all from my Cricut. Fun fun toy. :)

I may or may not add to these. Just thought it would be fun to share (just in case, I have removed faces of any non-family members in pics). They're all from 06...for Grandma's album. This first 2 pages is for March 06.

April 06May 06

Slaying the dragon!

MomF's company picnic was at the Renessaince Fair this year and being the cool Grandma that she is, she invited us (and totally spoiled the grand children).

This ride operator was so sweet. This ride is designed to operate like a rip line. The handle is released up stop and the horse glides down. Well, the young man operating it would ask all the kids if they wanted to go fast or slow. Not surprinsingly, most wanted fast...then came G. He held the horse all the way down.At first, Tre wasn't interested. He and Grandma sat and watched. Can you believe how much he looks like her? Look at the eyes & nose!
It wasn't long before he too wanted to go. I think it had something to do with how he did it for G (slow & CONTROLLED).

He missed the ring the first pass by. It was adorable and quite commical to watch the horse back up so he could slay the dragon. :)

"Look, Ma! No hands!" "All giggles and smiles!"
Watching the swing ride with Daddy and being the usual cute self.
We think this individual spent a little too much time at Ye Olde Pub. Ali kept laughing as he said the same thing over and over again.

How Monty Pythonesque...the Black Knight. The Frog Prince. I just love his smile in this picture.

Later that day...(Friday con't)

Ali found the laundry pile. Some was folded, some was waiting. Normally, when she finds the pile, it's like finding a leaf pile in the fall. They're everywhere. Now, suddenly, she has an affection for her brother's underwear.
Later, he came out. They mugged, then they wrestled. Here, as she was laying her head on his chest, she was saying "Hi Tre! Hi Tre!"

Our house isn't the only zoo we spend time at.

Tre, Ali and I met up with some friends at the zoo on Friday. It was pretty close to a perfect day for it. It was nice and cool with a bit of a breeze. Some might call it cold, I call it comfortable. The best part of it was that all the animals were out (ok, a great deal of them were). Ali wasn't quite sure how to handle things as I put her in the stroller instead of the backpack. Tre really enjoyed the penguins. There weren't many people in the exibit and a couple were in the water. He followed them across the glass. Pretty cool. :)

Then, we sat and watched the elephant training for a while. It was pretty amazing. That is one talented elephant.

Later, Tre asked to turn left...right into the lions' area. Ok, cool. We like that. Even cooler than that...seriously. The lion was really worked up at something in front of the glass as we approached. I don't think I've ever actually heard a lion roar until then. It was amazing.

Tre was roaring back at it here:

PS- Sorry about the format...I've edited a few times. Blogger doesn't seem to like what I was doing...One of these days, maybe I'll go back and refresh my html. :)

Proud Mommy Moment

We had AWANAs last night. I left so proud of both Tre and Giuliana.

Tre was able to recite his verse, 1 John 4:10 and the Cubbies' motto. That was his first "Bear Hug." This is kind of the initiation phase. After he passes the next one, he gets his book for the year and his vest.

Giuliana was about bouncing off the walls when she got to tell me that she passed her GATE! That's the Sparks initiation-ish phase. Basically, it makes sure the kids are interested before mom and dad buy all the stuff (vest, bag and book).

We'll have a pic of her in her new uni after next week's club. :)

Oh Lord, help us...

She's figured out how to open doors. Yeah, that's right, Ali can barely reach the door knob, but she can and can turn it. Life as we know it is clearly over. I'm sure it'll really shock you to know that when she opens a door that was closed, she giggles. The gals that do nursery told me she cracks up over anything. Some days, it surprises me just how happy this child is. :)

First Soccer Game

G's first soccer game was this past Saturday, 9/8/07. There trully was more actual "playing" than we expected.

Here, she's playing goalie. I swear, that was not a posed pic, it's just who she is...girlie to the core.

Later in the game, she took a tumble- more like face plant. She shocked us all when she immediately got up, stole the ball and ran. The whistle blew, her coach said "Giuliana are you..." and there she is running. Totally unexpected.

The smile you see here was on her face just about the entire game. Shockingly, she didn't even ask how the other team got pale pink as their color. I'm still waiting though. There was a purple team too. She's supposed to go to a soccer clinic tonight, but it's looking pretty narly outside. We shall see.

Then there's the littles. Who could ask for more than a dirty softball diamond? Uh, yeah, they all got baths on Saturday night. ;)

Tre's FDOS!

Ok, so it pretty much went off without a hitch...or a small one at best. He wanted to pose for a ton of pictures before hand. These were some of my favorites.

He did decide the first time I tried to leave that it wasn't ok. Then, he saw the play doh. :)

The playground is one of his favorite places there. I couldn't get "the bikes" he talks about so much- they're on the opposite side.

We'll just call this last pic "a little lipstick would go a long way." :)

"What Letter Is It?"

Our favorite is the giraffe. :) Yes, FTR, she can spell her lastname. Being the internet and all, I figured I'd photoshop it out to be on the safe side.

Would have been a great "Wordless Wednesday"

If only, someone knew and had a camera on me when I figured out that the cop working security at AWANAs was the same cop that had pulled me over a couple months ago. I'm sure it was priceless. ;)

Hurricane Ali was back in force today. She must be starting to feel better. In case I didn't mention it before- she has an ear infection in her right ear.

Tre...well, he was Tre. First night of Cubbies. He decided he wasn't going in at drop off. I decided he was. Thankfully, his teachers totally get the whole attitude thing. Then, when I went to pick up, he refused to leave. He likes that room. Thankfully, it's the same room he'll be in for preschool. Uhm, yeah...be praying...tomorrow's the first day.

G cracks me up. She came home from school today with a new book. She chose a chapter book this time. She was explaining to me that it's an "old fashioned book." "Really, look, there aren't a lot of pictures and the ones that are here aren't colored." lol

Go ahead, get your best Dr. Phil on...

and ask me "what were you thinking?!?!?"

I mowed the lawn today. It was hot. It was humid. And, in the front yard, I had the baby on my back. The neighbors who were thinking to themselves "she must be crazy!" were right. In my defense, at the time, we still had soccer practice tonight. Waiting for G to get home and help entertain Ali wasn't an option. That, and there's no swing set in the front yard.

Lesson learned.

More birthday pics...

I don't think I tend towards posting 2 sets of birthday pics in one day...Being the middle child, he gets an extra perk. ;)

First one is talking to Grandpa at lunch. He was set on pizza for birthday lunch.

Ali at lunch. Let's pretend the mistiness on the photo is on purpose and not because there was a fingerprint on the lense. (I was using the Powershot, not the Rebel.) Oh and she's so not tired there...really we all believed her as she tried to convince.

Tre chose Target as the best place for a cake (our normal bakery was ofcourse closed for the holiday). Marble cake and strawberry icecream. He went in thinking chocolate was the only acceptable, but changed his tune based on color of cake offerings.

Giuliana, being her typically photogenic self. :) Pretty soon, she'll have a new smile. That tooth is getting so close to coming out.

The day of Tre. Our boy is 4!

Boy child has officially made it to 4! :)

The festivities started yesterday when Grandma arrived.

Grandma and Grandpa thought a new bike was in order. They couldn't have been more right. He'd hit a growth spurt and was just plain too big for his old bike. So, off we went.

We settled on Walmart. Perfect. Giuliana and I hit the girls' section for her and then back to electronics. Tre now has his very own MP3 player. He can listen to "I'm not alright" as many times as he'd like. Yes, that's right, Sanctus Real is his most favorite ever.

We also "scored" (I'm so not thinking that's the right word) with his gift from G. It's the Dinoco Blue Lightening McQueen. It makes noise and shoots things...how handy. He ofcourse loves it.