Kiddo Parade

I've been wondering why I've had such a headache every evening for the past month or so. Maybe this has something to do with it?

Boy crazy? Seriously?

Lord help me. I picked up Maddie at her sweet little preschool today and as we were walking to the car she waved good-bye to a little boy in her class. I thought nothing of it until the following conversation occurred in the van:

Maddie: See Mommy? 'Dat's the boy I was telling you about. He's my 'paht-nor 'dis week."
Me: Oh! That's James!
Maddie: Yeah. He's my new 'boy-fwend.

Back story: Maddie had a little boyfriend in Oklahoma. His name is Kason. We have sent him letters and pictures, one as recently as yesterday. Apparently he has some competition.

Me: Your boyfriend?
Maddie: Yeah. We 'pwayed together in the kitchen and I cooked eggs and he 'pwe-tended to eat 'dem. And 'den we laughed 'cause 'dat's so 'sih-wee.
Me: I'm glad you've found a new friend.
Maddie: Yeah. I'm going to 'meh-wee him.

So she's ditching Kason and she's going to marry her first rebound guy because they laughed together once? Young love is fickle.

Then Claire piped up from the 3rd row of the van:

Claire (rolling eyes): Maaaddieee. There are lots of boys in the world. You should meet some more of them before you pick one to marry.

A voice of reason! I patted myself on the back for my women's studies minor and the obvious impact it has had on my oldest child. Then Claire continued with a little story about her school bus:

Claire: Victoria only sits next to me for a short while. She gets off the bus right by the school. Then I'm lonely in my seat with nobody to talk to.
Me: Does anyone sit in the seat across the aisle from you that you could talk to?
Claire: No. Just a boy, but I don't like to talk to him.
Me: Oh.
Claire: But I do like to look at the boy who sits in the seat in front of him.
Me: You like to LOOK at him? Why?
Claire (a bit dreamy): Because he's handsome.

Seriously? I have one planning to marry a boy because they played together once and the other staring dreamily at boys on the bus. Awesome. Can't wait until they're older.

Sidewalk Chalk

Poor Colin would really like to play outside like his big sisters do.

From 2010 September

He actually pulled that chair over to the window himself to wistfully watch while they decorated the back patio with sidewalk chalk.

From 2010 September

So I let him have at it yesterday. The kiddos decorated our driveway quite nicely. Colin laid claim to the pink- and peach-colored chalk and refused to share. Later I managed to talk him into a little bit of blue and green. His big sisters were real good sports about their limited color choices (due to Colin's non-sharing nature) and having their artwork defaced.

From 2010 September

From 2010 September

And check out the critter that has been hanging out by our front porch:

From 2010 September

If you'd like to see a few more photos from the month of September, feel free to click on the link above that says "From 2010 September". There are more shots from Maddie's birthday and a few cute random ones too.

Summertime reading

Summer's over now, but I took this shot of the girls back in August. I was shooting from the window so they wouldn't know I had caught them being sweet. Claire began reading real chapter books this summer and Maddie loves nothing more than to hear them out loud. They've spent a good portion of this summer snuggled up together, reading whatever books they can find.

They're such good friends. It makes my mommy-heart proud to see them like that!

Hamilton Sculpture Garden

ASAM 2011 kiddos on a snake sculpture

Awhile back the kids and I got together with a few of the families from Phil's class and checked out the Hamilton Grounds for Sculpture. It is a beautiful, sprawling outdoor display of sculpture, set in some really pretty gardens. A day of art and culture would be great for our young children, right?

Unfortunately, they have published quite a few rules. Seriously, folks. Who puts a sculpture like this into a garden and then tells people NOT to walk through it???

Claire, breaking a rule

We had a fabulous time hanging out with friends, seeing priceless works of art, strolling through lush gardens, and definitely NOT chasing peacocks. :)

Colin, perhaps chasing a peacock

And see that little red-headed boy? Yeah, he definitely DIDN'T take a swim in one of the water features there. Though it was hot outside, so really one couldn't blame him if he did.

About to test the water

Well whatever. Even if we did break a rule or three, we all had a nice time. And I know my kids enjoyed the views.

Maddie, respectfully experiencing the art

My girls, exploring the garden

Exciting Times for Maddie

It sure an exciting time for our little Maddie. She turned 4 years old and her answer to the question, "How old are you?" changed from a blasé, "Still 'free," to an excited, "I'm fo'!"
AND Maddie had her first day at her new preschool today. She took cookies to school for all her new classmates.
We celebrated her birthday a little early with a Princess Tiana-themed party for a few of her girlfriends. I think it's pretty safe to say that Madeline is having a happy birthday!

Off she goes...

Striking a pose

...to kindergarten! I put my little Claire-baby - er, I mean Big Girl Claire - onto the bus for her first day of school. THE BUS! It's only half-day kindergarten, so that makes it a little easier for me to get used to. Not that there weren't a few tears shed. But I was proud of myself for NOT calling the school to make sure that Claire and her bus got there safely. I later learned that some parents follow the school bus and take pictures of the children arriving at the school. I totally would have done that if I had thought of it! Oh well. She got there and she made it home and she seems to have had a nice time in between. Such a big girl...

She's home!

Last day at Disney

We split our last day in the parks between EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, mostly riding the kiddos' favorite rides, with a stop at naptime at the Hall of Presidents (it's boring. And it's air-conditioned. Perfect for a rest...). What a wonderful trip! We returned home with two fewer teeth, but lots of fun memories. When can we go back? Oh yeah, we don't know where we'll be living next year. Kind-of hard to plan a trip when you don't know where in the world you'll be. Oh well, I'm so glad we were able to squeeze this trip in!

Tuckered out kiddos

Day 3: Animal Kingdom

Next we headed out to the Animal Kingdom. It was... hot! Honestly, it was fun too, but boy was it HOT! We all got so hot, in fact, that the girls agreed to ride a water ride (that would normally have been deemed "too scary") to cool down. They and their daddy got completely soaked -- and they loved it! Awesome! We found time to watch a performance of Finding Nemo (Phil's and my favorite show in the parks) and took in a few more rides and then headed back for some relief from the heat at the hotel pool. Who knew we'd be spending so much time in the pools?

But the excitement wasn't over for the day. Our Claire-bear announced once again that a tooth was ready to come out. What??? Was that one even loose before? Apparently it was, because it came out. Looks like the tooth fairy would have to pony up some more Disney Dollars!

After dinner in Downtown Disney we were ready for bed. Only one more day to go in the parks. It goes so quickly!

One hot Maddie-kins

On the ferry to Downtown Disney (Claire is now missing TWO teeth!)

Note: click on any of the photos for more from the trip!

Next up: EPCOT (minus one tooth)

Day two: we got up and moving and headed out to breakfast at our hotel's cafeteria. We were all happily munching our food when Claire suddenly said, "Uh-oh! Daddy, my tooth is ready to come out!"

Sure enough, she had bitten into a Mickey Mouse waffle and knocked her already-very-loose tooth almost completely out! Daddy stepped up to the plate while I ducked behind my hands (loose teeth give me the heebie-jeebies!) and our little girl had officially lost her first tooth. Luckily, we had thought to bring her tooth fairy pillow (since that tooth was so loose) so she was all set.

On to EPCOT! First we had to ride the girls' favorite ride: Spaceship Earth! What can I say? They're kind-of wimpy. As the day went on, though, they gathered up some courage and rode a few more adventurous rides. Maddie rode a roller coaster (Test Track) with her daddy, then both girls rode Soarin' with me. They both LOVED the Maelstrom ride in Norway, in spite of the creepy gnomes/trolls. And at the end of the day Claire decided she couldn't be outdone by her little sister so she rode Test Track with her daddy too. My big girls are riding roller coasters!

When we got back to our room Claire put out her tooth fairy pillow. The next morning she was excited to find two Disney Dollars in her pillow! She and Maddie decided that the tooth fairy probably lives at Disney World (you know, with Tinker Bell and all of her friends) so that's why she was able to find Claire.

With the fife and drum corps

Note: click on any of the photos for more from the trip!

Princesses

For little girls, Disney World is all about princesses and fairies. And princes and magic. The Magic Kingdom doesn't disappoint on any of those things. We took advantage of the relatively small crowd in the park to ride several rides, and then we were lucky enough to eat lunch in Cinderella's castle -- with a bunch of princesses! (Note: when I say 'lucky enough' I mean that I set an alarm and woke up at 5:45am at exactly 180 days from the start of our trip so I could be among the first to make our lunch reservation!) The girls were very happy to receive their very own magic wands, all three children got a wishing star, and Colin got his very own sword, which he immediately put to use by whacking his sisters. It was so much fun!

After lunch we rode a few more rides and then got in line to see Tiana. Both girls are a bit Tiana-crazy, since she's the newest princess.

We called it a day fairly early since it was so bloomin' hot! When we got back to our hotel we rode the water ferry to the next hotel and swam in their pool for a change of scenery.

Note: click on any of the photos for more from the trip!

Happiest Place on Earth

Last Wednesday was our 9th wedding anniversary, and what better way is there to spend an anniversary than a trip to Walt Disney World with the kids??? OK, so we might look for something a little more - ummm... - kidless than Disney for next year, but this year it was wonderful!

We had such a good time the last time we were there and we were excited to get back for several reasons:
1) Phil is HOME! With a real schedule! We can plan stuff!
2) The girls are still totally and completely into princess stuff and all the magical things involved with that.
3) Disney was offering another awesome deal for military people.

So really, we couldn't pass up the opportunity.

It was hotter than Hades, but I think it still may be the happiest place on Earth! As we were leaving this morning the girls kept asking if we could live there. And Maddie wants to be a Disney princess when she grows up. So I suppose that means that she may actually get to live in the area one day!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first day, all we did was fly in, eat some dinner, then swim in our hotel's fun pool. We finished the evening off with a quick ride on our hotel's water ferry.

Swimming

The kids all received a balloon at dinner. Colin was especially fond of his and refused to let the thing go!

Our anniversary photo (note the cutie pie heading our way)

The next day we headed out for some Magic Kingdom fun.