2004

2005

Today, 2007

Tyler's First A+

Allow me a minute to brag.

Tyler brought home his first real test paper today. He scored 10/10, and received an A+! He was SOOOO proud. Grandma C was here when he got home, so he was able to show his paper off to her, too. It was neat to watch him swell with pride each time he was praised for his hard work!

Hopefully this A is the first of many.

My New Phone

About a month & a half ago, my cell phone bit the dust. After some stalling, Ron finally bought me a new phone. Not just new, but improved! I know there are a lot of really nice, modern phones out there, but I really only need one to make an occasional phone call. (The stay-at-home-mom profession doesn't require the latest in iphone technology.) It was a nice perk, though, to get a phone with a camera.

Today I finally figured out how to download the pictures to my computer. I love my digital camera and would only trust our "important" pictures to it, but I've found it very convenient to have a camera with me at all times.

Like for those unplanned, candid moments you don't want to forget:

Our son "Wendy"

Dress tucked in undies


















Or those times when we're spontaneous and happen to come across a moment worth capturing:





The kids and I decided to walk home from McDonalds one evening & enjoyed the sites

Or those times when it would be inappropriate to pull out a "real" camera:

I thought the way she was holding her hands was funny. She wasn't in any pain.









Or when I'm in a hurry to get everyone out the door and forget my camera on the counter:




Bobbing for apples & painting pumpkins at a Halloween party

More of the Mundane

Sorry my posts have been few and far between lately. There really hasn't been too much excitement around here lately, though. Ultimately I guess that's a good thing.

Danielle's ankle is much better. Her bruised ankle is a pale yellow now, and we have to keep reminding her not to run too much, so she's definitely healing.

Tyler had a wonderful weekend by himself with Grandma & Grandpa R. I can tell it was super because his "grandma hangover" was super long. :)

This is National Fire Prevention Week. Tyler's school had some special programs for the kids on Tuesday. He was so excited when he came home. I enjoyed hearing all about the magician and the puppet and all the other things he's going to find so lame in only a few more years. At one point he was telling me about the puppet and was laughing so hard he could barely talk. After detailing his day and teaching Danielle how to "stop, drop, and roll", he pulled out his Legos to demonstrate how to check your bedroom door and crawl out if the smoke detector goes off. He also showed us how a fire fighter would extinguish a tree fire (as pictured). We have discussed our "fire safety plan" with the kids several times, but I was impressed to hear Tyler add very wise additions to our plan (such as being sure every bedroom has a flashlight & whistle for alerting a fireman if you can't escape). Next Tuesday all the kindergarteners are taking a field trip to the local firehouse. My mom is going to watch Danielle so I can go with Tyler's class. I'm looking forward to it.

Danielle seems to be enjoying school, too. I was attempting to clean the playroom up a little this afternoon and overheard her singing a song she sang at school today (He's Got the Whole World in His Hands). I didn't get real close because I didn't want her to know I was taping her, so you may need to turn the volume up before playing the video.

Painting Pumpkins & Getting Xrays

This afternoon the kids painted faces on the pumpkins they got on Danielle's field trip yesterday. They also decorated their gourds.

We weren't able to decorate the pumpkins yesterday afternoon because we were at the doctor's office. After Danielle's field trip, we had a picnic lunch at the park with Tyler's friend from preschool. On the way to the picnic table, Danielle tripped and twisted her ankle. It swelled up, and she couldn't put any weight on it, so we visited the doctor. Her pediatrician thought it was just a severe sprain but suggested we have xrays taken if it wasn't better by this morning. It wasn't better, so she and I spent our morning at the xray place. (Tyler was in school.) Actually, we had a nice time waiting. We read books, played Uno, and watched the movie in the waiting room. It was almost fun. It doesn't appear as though she has a fracture, but she still can't put any weight on it. Tyler teased her yesterday about needing a wheelchair, but he wasn't far off. Our neighbors loaned us their umbrella stroller, and we've been moving her around in that. (They don't give kids this young crutches...which is probably a good thing considering how graceful she is anyway.) Tyler feels bad for her and has been super attentive to her. He has been fetching her pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals, and pushing her from one room to the other, so now the princess has a servant. As you might imagine, she is enjoying all the attention. Hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow.

Danielle's Field Trip

Danielle got to go on her first preschool field trip today. Her class went to a pumpkin farm where they got to pet some animals, play on the playground, and pick gourds and a pumpkin. Tyler got to go, too. We were on vacation last year when his class went, so this was a nice treat for him.

Here are some pictures from our trip. Check out the look on Danielle's face when Tyler is rolling her in the black tube.

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

Actually, I was a little embarrassed by mine (I do NOT look like Owen Wilson, maybe a little like Roseanne Barr - it's the chins), so I'm posting Ron's. I ran across this website and thought it was too funny. If you look closely, maybe the bridge across Ron's nose looks like Brad's. Can't figure out what else resembles him, but I thought his computer matched look-alikes were much more flattering than mine. Have a chuckle (and try it yourself!).