Are you kidding me??

Last night as I was watching t.v. a warning came across the screen. Your county is under a severe winter storm warning. O.K. what does that mean? Well I found out today what that means. It means you will have more snow than you know what to do with. It means that there will be 1-2 inches of snow fall per hour for 12 hours straight. It means there will be no school and there will be no going anywhere. It means that we will all be going stir crazy and stuck in the house all day and probably the next 2 or 3 as well.
I woke up this morning and there was not a flake in the sky or on the ground. I went to get hot chocolate and by the time I got back to the house ( a totla of 20 minutes) the ground was covered and it was coming down hard. It was like a massive rain storm where everyones house would be flooded but it is frozen so it is snow and it is just staying on the ground, the cars, the trash cans, the firehydrants, the trees, you get the picture. Or maybe you don't. I will take some and show you.
Tomorrow.

I don't want to seem like all I do is complain but there was an article in the paper about how the pengiuns are the biggest attraction at the local zoo. The author said that they are not indigenous to the arctic but they are the only ones who don't complain about the cold weather here. So every one does it!!

Christmas questions

I recently recieved an e-mail with all these questions in them. I will answer them here for those of you who want to know

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper. I have 2 little kids and they know how to pull stuff out of bags. It seems that they are more intimidated by paper and tape (so far)

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial (pre-lit) one less t
hing to do this time of year

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime after thanksgiving. Whenever I can get Golden to get it out of the box.

4. When do you take the tree down? Whenever we get around to it

5. Do you like eggnog? Never had it

6. Favorite gift received as a child? One time we came home from visiting my Nana and everyone had a huge gift under the tree. (Things my parents couldn't take to grandmas) My brothers had a basketball hoop, my little sister had some huge back yard toy and I got a very small box. I burst into tears when I saw what I got. Why did everyone get these hige cool things and all I got was a small box. I was inconsolable. When I opened my box I found a pair of earrings. (I did not have my ears peirced at the time) I didn't understand but then it hit me. I was going to be able to get my ears peirced, something I had begged my mom and dad for about a year. I think my gift was the coolest that year.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes it used to belong to my grandmother.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad. He has everything he wants and doesn't need anything else.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Golden, He will say things are cool all year long and at Christmas I just pick out a few.


10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? It was a birthday gift that I got for Christmas. I got a sweater that had Santa claus and some Reindeer on it. It is something a third grade teacher would wear and I was in highschool.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Before Thanksgiving All year I will find stuff on sale and get it right then

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Hasn't everyone?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All the sweets

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear usually but we got a new tree this year and Reese picked it out and she wanted colored and I thought it would look dorky but it looks kind of cool.

17. Favorite Christmas song? The Christmas Shoes


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I like to stay home because of all the logistics but I also like to spend as much time with family as possible. Maybe I just need to live closer to my family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning


22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? All the commercials for sales. There is the biggest sale of the year every other day at some stores.

23. What I love most about Christmas? A special time set aside every year where everyone can remember our Savior and reflect on his birth and life.

24. Any special Christmas traditions? We let the kids open 1 gift the night before Christmas and it is some Christmas pajamas so when they are opening presents in the morning they look all festive in the pictures. We also started this year picking out 1 ornament for the tree for each person. I think we will continue this one so when my kids are all grown they will have some memories of Christmas' past.

25. Do you hang stockings? Absolutely.

26. Cider or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate, with peppermint if I have it.

27. Turkey or Ham 4 Christmas dinner? Ham

28. Feelings on fruitcake? No, thank you.

29. Presents for everyone or exchange names? Exchange names.

30. Best Christmas gift? Being together with family

Here are some pictures of the recent snow!! It has been fun!!

Dinner Conversation

A recent dinner conversation went like this.

Me: Reese, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Reese: uuummm........(Long pause) A Big Kid!!!
Me: Really? Well you know like Daddy goes to work, and Mrs. McNally is a teacher, and there is a man who delivers our mail, What do you want to do??
Reese: Uuummm....... (another long pause) I want to be an M&M finder.
Me: What???
Reese: You know, I want to find M&Ms. I want to go to the M&M store and find all the candies to put in those big tubes so everyone can have M&Ms.
Me: That's my girl!! She has her mom's sweet tooth!!




Today was a long day. There was 8 inches of snow and there was no school. I thought these people in New York knew how to deal with a little snow!!!

We went to the mall. I am not sure why they cancelled school but I was going to make the most of it. We got some Christmas shopping done.

It is official. You can all feel sorry for me now. Winter is officially here. It has been bitterly cold here the last few days and today we woke up to 3-5 inches of snow. We got up and got dressed and drove to church and when we got there I got out of the car and stepped in the un-shoveled snow and my entire foot was covered in it. Oh and then we went inside and tried to shake the snow off and there were all of 32 people there. I could sit there and count everyone that was there. How sad is that. (Not that there were only 32 people there but that I actually counted them instead of listening and trying to be uplifted.) After the first hour the branch president stood up and said, "Seeing who all is here, maybe who is not here, we are not going to have the rest of our meetings today, everyone go home."
I am not on my computer tonight but I took pictures and they will be forth comung. Sooo All of you who were jealous can now have the last laugh. We are buried in the stuff.

P.S. It is supposed to snow all night long and I heard talk of no school tomorrow. I thought they didn't know how to close schools here. Isn't everyone used to driving in and putting up with a mere 5 inches of snow??

Tag I'm It

I just got tagged. I guess that I am supposed to blog 6 interesting facts about my life. So here goes....

1. I was born in a hospital that is called RHD Memorial hospital. The name of the man the hospital is named after is Robert H Deadman. It is an interesting name for a HOSPITAL!!! Don't ya think??

2. One of my feet is bigger than the other. The left one. I know I know completely elephant man weird but it is. Not by much but just enough that when I get a new pair of shoes I can always feel it in my left foot.

3. I like to read. SHOCKER!!! I know those who know me really well know this already but I love to get lost in other peoples worlds and I have a hard time putting books down until I am finished. My husband says that he wishes I was illiterate sometimes. I always tell him that he doesn't because then he would have to read me everything but I get so wrapped up that i neglect other things. My favorite kind of books are historical fiction.

4. I am 30 years old and it has been 2. Not 2 decades, not two years or even 2 months but it has been 2 hours since I ate a Lick-m-aid Lick stick candy and all the sugar that goes with it. Maybe that is why I am still up and on the computer.

5. I have been married to my husband for 9 years and we have moved 12 times. Now some of those were only across town and some of them were only partially moving. If that can happen. We kept our house and lived in an apartment during the week for my husbands work. We have lived in Utah, Texas, Arizona, back to Texas, Las Vegas, Back to Texas, Alabama, Back to Texas and now New York. Is all of that moving even legal?

6. My husband is a weirdo-- He is going to Las Vegas this next week to see a boxing match and he said he was going to speak with a British accent the entire time. I know this is more about him than me but this is what I am married to. (I love you Golden) :)

I don't think these things are that interesting but everyone else in my life thinks these things are. I hope that this lets you get to know me better.

Dreams

I have no idea what he was dreaming about but last night went something like this. Golden had been asleep for about 30 minutes and I was just getting ready to roll over and join him in dream land when he woke up suddenly and started frantically looking under the pillows, the sheets , my arm, well just about anything he could lift up. I started giggling and asked him what he was looking for. He said, "My credit card!! I can't find it!!" I just looked at him trying to understand what he was doing at the same time I am trying not to just bust up laughing. Then I thought I would try to see where he was coming from so I asked him, "Did you lose it?" and he just looked at me like I was crazy. Then he asked me if he was looking for 3 things and I wanted to drag it out more so I asked him, "What things?" He answered, "A ring, my ice cream bowl and spoon and my credit card!" At this point I think he was getting really ticked at me because I couldn't stop laughing and he really wanted answers to where these things were. He then "HHMPH"ed and went back to sleep. I finally calmed down and went to sleep myself.
When I woke up in the morning the first thing I asked him is if he found his credit card and again, he looked at me like I was crazy. He had no idea what I was talking about of course so I had to relate the whole incident to him. He laughed hard for a long time. The funniest thing about this whole story is that we haven't had a credit card for over a year now!!! Aren't dreams funny:)
Here are some pictures to enjoy. Ryan before church last week and a family picture that we tried to take in the snow but Reese wasn't cooperating.
I have to take the sippy cup that has been sitting on my desk all weekend now and try to clean the chunks of milk out of it!!

She kills me...

Today I was sitting at my computer and Reese came up to me and said, "Mom, I have to whisper something to you." So I lean over so she can whisper in my ear. She said, "Mom, you are a church" and then ran away. I have no idea where she gets this stuff. She kills me....

To Do List

Here is my to do list for the next week, month, year, lifetime

1. Gather things for Reese's school
2. Get things ready for enrichment meeting this weekend
3. Pack for our trip to Rochester
3.5 Prepare a lesson for Sunday
4. Finish Christmas shopping/decorating
5. Read The 3 books sitting on my dresser
6. Figure a better budget
7. Find a plumber
8. Be a more patient mother
9. Think about getting better organized
10. Read back issues of magazines in "The Pile"
11. Save for retirement
12. Figure out how to be a better cook (at least come up with better meals than chicken nuggets and canned green beans)
13. Visit more interesting places
14. Have a current passport
15. Visit more with friends and family
16. Learn the scriptures better
17. Think about better topics for my blog:)

Baseball Anyone?

We went to Cooperstown!! How exciting!! (O.K. it was more exciting for one of us than the rest of us) But it was fun. We were just a little cold but we got to walk around the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Does anyone know who Cooperstown is named after? I do. We went to a couple of quaint little shops that sell baseball memorabilia and then I saw a very Awesome shirt in a cafe. It said, "Cooperstown: A drinking town with a baseball problem." There are more baseball feilds in this one tiny town with a population of 2,000 people than there are in the city of Frisco. Golden could have spent 8 days just walking around this little town. Why is the National Baseball Hall of Fame in a town in upstate New York that has a population of 2000? Because it is where baseball was invented!!

Halloween

Here are our Halloween costumes. And the crescent Jack-o-lantern. Reese was Belle and Golden was a nun and I was a priest and Ryan was a skunk like Reese says, "Because he is a little stinker!!"

You all can start feeling sorry for me now. The high today was 42 and there are supposed to be snow flurries tonight. Of course nothing that sticks but SNOW!!!!! Can you all believe it? I can't.

A Crescent???

How many four year olds use the word crescent and know what it means??

So we decided that today would be a great day to carve our pumpkin for Halloween. While I was elbow deep in pumpkin goo (Because you know Golden won't touch it) I asked Reese what our Jack-o-lantern should look like. She said, "Two triangles for eyes and a big circle nose." And then Golden asked her what kind of mouth it should have, Scary or silly or sad and Reese said, "No Daddy, Just Happy like this." And she smiled. Golden then said, "Well that is almost like a straight line," And Reese replied, "It should be a crescent but only this way." Drawing a smile on her mouth.

A crescent??? What are they teaching her at that school? What 4 year old uses the word crescent and knows what it is?? I almost fell on the floor. Needless to say our Jack-o-lantern has two triangle eyes, a big round nose and a crescent for a mouth.

Fall in New York

Ok so I finally remembered to bring my camera down stairs and download my pictures. I hope you are all jealous of what I have been experiencing the last few weeks. Just to let you know, the high today was 47 and it is supposed to get down into the low 30s tonight. Yes that means freezing. I think my brain doesn't understand this. In Texas it won't freeze until closer to Christmas. What is this? It is not even Halloween yet. I think I am in for it.

It is all his fault.

I think that I should have the cleanest floors in the country. I have 2 children who like to play with the vaccuum cleaners. ODD I know we can just blame Golden for this one.

More Pictures

Ryan pulled out a drawer at the hotel and climbed in. So long Pack-and-Play. He can just sleep in a drawer from now on.

Ryan is trying to drive a car. Uncle T will like this one. Reese on a motorcycle. Another one for Uncle T

Reese doing hair on a doll that she just made.

Watching the ice skaters in Rockefeller Plaza

Stinky Laundry

So I went to gather the laundry from Reese's room this morning and I thought to my self, "Why does this laundry smell so bad?" And then it happened. I found the stinky diaper that I lost the other day. It was in Reese's Laundry basket in her room. O.K. I know what you are thinking. How in the world do you loose a stinky diaper? Easy. Let me explain. I was in the middle of taking out the trash, getting Reese ready for school, trying to keep Ryan off the window sill and Changing stinky diapers all at the same time. I changed Ryans diaper and I guess I thought I threw it away and it went out in the trash but what I am guessing really happened was Ryan picked it up and thought it would be fun to carry it around the house like he does with any trash he can get his hands on. Some people have a problem with their kids throwing things away when they are not trash but not me. My kids have the opposite problem. They like to pull things out of the trash. I can't let the trash can get too full or Ryan will pull out what ever he can reach. The other day I found a banana peel and some old ads from the paper on the kitchen floor. But I severely Digress.

I had dumped all the laundry on the floor and started to sort it and I thought why is this laundry sooooo stinky. I know dirty laundry has a pungent aroma any way but it is usually not that bad from a 4 year old girl. Ryan probably walked down the hall and into Reese's room like he loves to do and dropped it on the floor. I am not sure if the culprit who thought the hamper was a trash can was 4 or 1 but I really don't think it matters. What matters now is that all of the poopie diapers are now in the correct receptacles.

Here are some pictures from our trip to NYC. At F.A.O. Schwartz

At Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos

In TImes Square

What Happened?

So I typed the whole thing up and then the computer kept giving me an error when I went to attach the pictures. I promise that I will get them to you somehow. I will keep trying until it works.

Start Spreadin' the News

So Here are the real pictures from New York.
We went to a resort in the Pocono Mountains on Thursday night. They have an 80,000 square foot water park inside the hotel. It was a blast. Then Friday we swam and then drove on to the city.
We Stayed in Wayne, New Jersey and took a train over. Reese had fun. We went to ride the Ferris Wheel inside Toys R us. We went to m&m world where she picked out some pink and purple m&ms. All of this was in times square. Then we walked over to 5th Ave. and saw F.A.O. Schwartz and she got to dance on the big piano. Just like in the movie BIG. Then we had an ice cream sundae at the ice cream counter there and then we took a cab up 5th to the Build a bear store. She got to make her own doll. Its name is Custard. Don't ask me I have no clue. After we did all of that it was starting to get late so we took a subway back to the train station, took a train back to New Jersey and took our car back to the hotel. It was a really good weekend and every one had a great time. Enjoy the pix.

I Know

I know, I know, I havn't written in a long time but my mom was here this past week so I wasn't just bored all the time. Thanks Mom!!! And I feel like I have officially become a ditz. Let me just give you a sample of what my morning looked like.

It started ourt that I woke up late. I heard Ryan in his bed just babbling away and I rolled over to look at the clock and it was already 20 minutes later than I wanted it to be. I quickly got up and got in the shower. I had to take Reese to school this morning so she could have a physical so she can keep going to school. When I got out of the shower both kids were running around screamming but no one had gotten dressed or eaten breakfast and we were supposed to be walking out the door in 20 minutes. O.K. no big deal, do-able but I still have to get dressed and dry my hair. Maybe not. I got myself dressed and ran my fingers through my hair and put it up in a clip. Then I ran into Reese's room and yelled at her to get dressed. After 3 different outfits and not liking some part of each one (or something being dirty) I yanked some jeans out of the drawer and threw them at her. PUT THEM ON NOW!!!

I grabbed a granola bar on the way out the door just to be on time to the school. (We were late by 5 min). When we got to the school we sat in the hallway for 45 min just to go in to see the doctor and Reese screamed so he couldn't look in her ears and he said that he wouldn't do it because she didn't want to. Great!! So we come home. Let me explain to you. You can have your own family doctor do a physical for $200 or you can have it done at the school for free. Free medical care? Need you even ask which one we did?

We got homa and Daddy got mad at Reese and told her that she had to let him look at her and so he convinced her the He would keep her safe and they went back to the school.

Success!!! She finally had a physical (of course she didn't open her mouth to let him make sure she had all the teeth she was supposed to have but everything else was fine) Oh, by the way, she has an ear infection in her right ear. Nice!!

Daddy and Reese get home in enough time to get ready for school and get on the bus. We went outside a few minutes early and the little boy at the bus stop was dressed all nice. "You look nice today Caleb," I said. "Well, you know, for pictures." WHAT? Today is school picture day? Oh no. Reese run back inside with me and lets comb your hair. I don't care what you are wearing because we don't have time to go through another 3 outfits just to end up with the one you already have on. Let me get your order form for pictures so that we will have some recollection of the year. Great. Shove it all in your back pack and run back outside to catch the bus. PHEW!!! Caught the bus on time.

Ryan do you want some lunch, By the way, Daddy, today is picture day. And he nonchallantly says, "Tomorrow is Wednesday the 17th."

Are you kidding me. I went through all that and picture day is tomorrow??? Oh well. at least everything is already done (We will be sure to pick out a cute outfit tonight and do her hair really cute tomorrow) Better to be a day early than 2 weeks late I guess.

Here are some of the pictures from our little vacation to New York. They are my favorites and by the way, Reese took these ones.

Cathedrals

This was forwarded to me by my mother in law and I love it.

I'm invisible..... It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Pick me up right around 5:30, please.' I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude---but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going .. she's going ... she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read -- no, devour -- the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals -- we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tinybird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man , 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you,Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of myown self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand-bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. I have had the privelige of knowing 99% of all the women I'm sending this email to and shared the sentiment of "Your gonna love it there." or"I just love going to her home it is so filled with LOVE." "She makes everyone feel so at home." "Her door is always open and so is her ever loving heart and I'm one of the lucky ones who can call her my friend." I hope you all recognize youselves as builders of Great Catherdals!

When ever I have a hard day and think that all I do is unappreciated I just have to remember that God sees everything.

You gotta see this!!

My sister sent me this link and I think it is funny. There are days when I am sure every mom feels this way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXT6Hs113ZA

Smile and enjoy your day!!

Newspaper games

After I was finished reading the paper on Sunday I left it on the floor in a nice neat pile and got up to find out what we coud eat for dinner. When I came back in the living room, it looked like a miniature bomb blew the paper up. Actually, My dear husband was playing, "Let's make angels in the newspaper." They (He and the 2 kids) had thrown every piece of the paper onto the floor and scattered them about. Then they decided to lay in the papers and try and make angels. Good times. The next news paper game they played was wad it all up and have a newspaper ball fight. Yes, very much like a snowball fight only a lot warmer and insde the living room. Then Ryan decided his favorite game would be to eat the newspaper. I don't think I ever thought I would say, "NO!! Don't eat the newspaper." not just once but many times in the space of 10 minutes. When I brought a trash bag in to clean up the mess they pllayed the last game; Newspaper basketball which meant mom was used as a backboard. Again, I say, "Good times!!!"

I shouldn't complain, right?
I never knew my husband to be such a creative man. And he kept both kids occupied and not killing each other for a whole 20 minutes. No one got hurt and the mess was a relatively easy one to clean up.

Such is life.

P.S. We took a friend home from church on Sunday and after he got out of the car Reese said, "That's incredible!!" about nothing in particular.
I don't know where she gets these things.

Things found in my bed

This is a list of things that I had to clean out of my bed last night before I could climb in and fall asleep.
1. Towels. A stack of clean folded towels somehow ended up on my bed. Don't ask me how or why because it was Sunday and we were at church all morning, had lunch there and came home for naps. When I went into my room there they were, 2 full sized green towels, 1 full sized blue towel, 3 hand towels of differing colors and an orange wash cloth. Maybe the towel fairy has been sneaking around.
2. A match box car. Yes it belongs to my daughter and not my son and she picked it out from the box at church. Why is there a toy box that the kids get to pick from at church? I don't know. She comes home everyu week with something that she got to pick out of the box and yesterday it was a matchbox car. Yes it ended up in my bed as well.
3. A grocery list. O.k. this one might be my fault but i certainly do not remember taking it into my bed.
4. The pen that the grocery list was written with. Yes probably my fault as well.
5. A visitors guide for upstate New York. Don't ask me.
6. A 5 inch wooden truck. This one belongs to the boy. He is a total of 27 inches tall and I don't think he can reach the top of my bed, I can't quite figure this one out. (Maybe the fairies again)
7. A pair of purple snowflake pajama bottoms size 4T.
8. 3 remote controls. One for the t.v. one for the cable box and one for the radio.
9. A 3 foot bendable pencil. The last time I had to bribe my 3 year old to get her hair cut she got a toy which happened to be this pencil. I am not sure what she was doing with it in my bed.
10. A pencil sharpener. Now I know what she was doing with it in my bed.
11. No pencil shavings. (WHEW)
12. A hanger from my husbands church clothes that he mysteriously left on the floor when he got home from church. Maybe he couldn't find a hanger to hang them on.
13. A bottle of water. Because everyone needs to stay hydrated, especially when they are sleeping.
14. And last but not least (Possibly most importantly) No food or bugs.

As soon as everything was properly taken care (read: thrown on the floor) I climbed into bed to rest my weary head or watch Iron Chef.

My first shower

Last night when mommy asked me if I was ready for a bath I said, "No, I think I'll take a shower." She said that it was o.k. so I got naked and waited. When it was my turn (I had to wait for little brother to finish his bath) I got in. It was the funnest experience of my short little life. I just started running around in the shower getting wet and "staying warm." When it was time to wash my hair daddy helped me with the shampoo and I started to rub it in my hair. When I got some of it in my mouth I tried to get it out by licking the shower curtain. When that didn't work Daddy told me to just let the water rinse it out. I put my moutn under the water and for some reason it decided to go up my nose. The water that is. Daddy couldn't stop laughing. I still can't figure out what he thought was so funny. After we got the whole shampoo thing taken care of Daddy said that I could play some. Mom and Dad went out in the hall and I ran around some more. Mom and Dad came running in all of a sudden when I fell and almost ripped the shower curtain down but I was o.k. Finally Daaddy said it was time to get out so we could read books. Over all a really good experience. Got to go now and finish threading my beads onto the string. Reese

The second day of school

Reese woke up yesterday and was really excited to go to school. She had to take some family pictures to her teacher. When we went to visit the school last week Mrs. McNally said we could bring carrots for Henry the guinea pig. Reese was so excited to take some carrots to Henry. Today, the 2nd day of school, Reese woke up and wanted to know what she was going to take to school today and I said, "I don't think that you have to take anything today" and she said, "Well, I don't think I want to go."

WOW!! It is only the second day and she already doesn't want to go. I thought that wouldn't kick in until spring. When I told her that she could still go and she has lots of things to learn and do she said, "Well at least can I have chicken nuggets for breakfast then?"

I don't know where she gets these things.

We will see what happens on the second day of school.

AHH... The smell of Burning Plastic

There is nothing like the smell of burning plastic. There is nothing like being woken up in the middle of the night by your husband frantically saying, "WAKE-UP!!! Something's burning." Then groggily goping through the entire house just trying to find what is burning and finding out it was a lid to a sippy cup that fell on top of the heating element in the dishwasher and is being melted into a puddle of blue and black who knows what. What a great smell. And it doesn't go away after you carefullly reach over all the other dishes to remove the hot drippy plastic from the heating element, no!! Every load of dishes that you do for the next 2 weeks will come out smelling like burnt plastic. Trust me I know. I have done the same thing twice now. Once a couple of weeks ago and again last night. That just really irks me. Not to mention that now I have 2 perfectly good sippy cups with out lids. No i'm not talking about the flimsy throw away cups. I'm talking about the sturdy ones that come with the expensive insulated cups. What is a gal to do??? I got to go, I think I smell something burning!!

The first Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Reese. It was not a real day. We just got to go and look at the class room and meet the teacher again. On the way to the school Reese asked me 3 times what we were going to do and I kept assuring her that it would all be o.k. She said, "But are we just going to look?" About 5 times. I am not sure what she was afraid of. Maybe just being in a new situation and not quite sure what to expect. By the time it was time to go she started crying because she didn't want to go. When I tried to tell her that we would come back tomorrow she yelled, "NO!!!" I told that we wouldn't come back tomorrow and she yelled, "YES!!!" I can't figure the child out. All in all it was a good day and I think she is excited to go back tomorrow. Now if I can just convince her that she really doesn't want to be a pineapple for Halloween.....