Manamana!

KK and I were waxing nostalgic this morning of our times with our great friends, The "A" Team, that we left back in California.

We have watched this video over and over and over and... It's sure to put a smile on your face.



Have a great day!

Hiiiiyahhhh!!

e has found a new love in her life.... Tae Kwon Do. Ever since Guam, she has been asking to take Karate. Had we've known how much she would enjoy it, we would have done it sooner. It is so much fun to watch her.

A couple of weeks ago, she earned her white belt... she was so excited. She worked really hard to learn her kicks, punches, blocks and terminology.

Here, the chief instructor is putting her white belt on her.


Bowing to the class and some great photography.

Congratulatory hand shakes from the other instructors. Look at the smile on her face.


Congratulations little e!! Good job!!

A Great Day

The nice thing about where we are living now is that we have a wide range of temperatures. One day it can be snowing and the next day will be sunny and in the 60s... we get to experience it all.

This past Sunday was beautiful and we all went for a long walk through the woods and down to the water.
There is a great path just a couple of streets away from our house where you get to see this...
or this... I love scenery.
When you get to the end of the path, you climb down this sturdy ladder to get to the water.
and if you're a little nervous about it, don't worry... someone will be there to help you down.
'It's OK... follow me, girl.'
Everyone had fun playing and running on the beach. Isis played fetch and even took a dip in the water. e collected rocks, as usual... our geologist in the making.
Mom and e even braved the cold water...
to retrieve this beauty.
'Can we come back again?'

Unheard Of

We met with some friends at a park today for lunch and play... which meant that KK didn't get to take her nap at the usual time. The girls played for a couple of hours and then we went to E's work for a tour and then to the NEX and Commissary for some last minute weekend necessities. KK was pretty whiny when we got home and said that she wanted to go 'night-night'. I said 'fine, go ahead,' not really thinking anything of it. About 15 minutes later, I went upstairs to find her in her pack-n-play fast asleep. It's now 5 pm and I am thinking I should probably wake her up, but...

5 Signs...

your extremely active toddler does not feel well:

1. She lays on the floor in the same position when you take a shower.

2. You get her dressed and she does this:

3. You drop your husband off at work 2 miles away from home and she falls asleep in the car.

4. While waiting for breakfast, she does this:
and

5. She asks to take a nap at 10am.

Feel better soon Bean!

Homeschool Lesson

Home Economics 101

Laundry...

Bed making...
complete with hospital corners.
Sewing,
stuffing...
and the finished product.
Vacuuming...
Yep... Home Ec... at least that's what I'm calling it.

Update and a New Dilemma

Thank you all for your advice and comments regarding KK's new affinity for all things not sleep. Fortunately, we had such great advice, we decided to try everything... and so far, it has worked.

L&L, thank you for the reminder of the music... that seems to be key. She listens to the bottom tune for naps and the top one for nighttime.

We also incorporated the crib/pack-n-play advice from ya'll. She takes a nap in her pack-n-play and sleeps in her big girl bed at night.

We also tried placing a gate at her door so she couldn't get out of her room... not a winner.

Bribery has played a key roll in this latest adventure. I made a 'Staying in Bed' chart, where the girls (e had to be involved too, of course) receive a special sticker every morning after they have stayed in their beds. After 5 stickers, they get to choose a special place to go or thing to do. So far, so good. We are on week two. e's task has been changed to 'No screaming or crying for Mom,' since that has been a frequent occurrence over the past couple of weeks. We will get past this... I swear.

Since you all have such great advice... let's throw a new dilemma your way.

As most of you know, e started Kindergarten when we were in California. She was young, but California has a late cut-off date, so we figured, 'what the heck?'. MD, on the other hand, does not have a late cut-off, so that makes her really, really young. We have been given these options:

1. Put her in Kindergarten now and she proceeds as normal.

2. Put her in Kindergarten now and re-start her in Kindergarten next fall.

3. Possibly put her in the public school pre-K program (if she gets in since it is tiered... those with most need get the spots).

4. Put her in a private preschool or Kindergarten program.

5. Don't put her in anything and do home schooling when KK sleeps.

And, to make matters worse... the school that is in our backyard is a Title 1 school which means that over 50% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. It was named as a 'Distinguished School,' which means that they have dramatically increased their test scores. She will definitely learn about diversity and learn to appreciate what she has... but I am worried that she might get lost since she is really smart. There is a public charter school here that we have applied for (for Kindergarten in the fall) that works on a lottery system. So, we won't know if she got in for awhile, but I am not sure if that's the right place either.

Quite a dilemma, wouldn't you say? What do ya'll think?

Uhmmm...

So, e picked up a coloring book that KK had been scribbling all over and asked me this:

'What's her name Mommy?' and I say (without looking), 'I don't know', and she says, 'But it says her name's right here.'


'Uhmmm, oh, yeah, that's not her name.'

'The Best Day Ever!'...

according to e.

We experienced our first MD snowfall today. And, as you may remember, e LOVES snow. We grabbed our coats and the dog and headed outside.

The snow was flying everywhere and came down really quickly. Our snowstorm lasted all of 30 minutes. But it left us this.

And we were able to make this.



And Isis discovered that she loves snow just as much.

Serenity Now!

I am almost positive that I have stolen this post title from my great friend, Amy, but I just can't seem to get it out of my head this morning.

Prior to this move, the girls' were in separate rooms, e with her bunk bed and KK with her crib. We decided that when we moved, the girls' would share a room. KK is now 2 years, 4 months old... so plenty old enough for a 'big girl bed'. She was so excited about it and did really well... she went to sleep the first night with no problem. But, the last week, she has decided that it would be fun to get out of her bed every 2 minutes after being put to bed. She also climbs into e's bed causing her to scream for us. The past few days, we have had huge fights over nap time and this morning, she was up at 4 AM. After about an hour of trying to get her back to sleep, including setting up the pack-n-play again, I gave up.

Since then, we have already had breakfast, I have taken the dog out twice, cleaned up dog throw up and watched The Wiggles Dance Party twice... ugh!

So, here's our dilemma:

1. Do we forget about the nap and completely lose our sanity?

2. Put her back in her crib in the girls' room?

3. Put her back in her crib in the guest room (we don't have guests all that often)?

4. Set up a big girl bed in the guest room?

5. Pack my bags and sneak out in the middle of the night?

This is such a strange experience... e was a completely different child, we never ran into these problems with her.

Introducing...

Hailey 'M' ... named for e's great friends from CA.

We also refer to her as 'Pinkie Pie' (KK has a great love for My Little Ponies and her eyes really are pink).


Why do we have another hamster you ask? Well, after 14 days, 14 states, 3 hotels, 5 relative/friend houses, 4219 miles & 74 hours in the car, our other hamster 'Hamsley/Snow Princess', decided to off herself. Apparently, adventure is the name of her game. Being sedentary just wasn't her thing. E found her the morning after we got to the East Coast, hind end outside of her cage... we have no idea how he did it, but it wasn't pretty.

e was beside herself with the news. We had a full funeral, complete with flowers and remembrances... and a morning full of tears and sorrow.

We headed to the nearest pet shop to find a suitable alternative. What we found was pretty cute... although she is a bit of a nibbler. One crisis averted.


We also lost our cat, again, and spent the last day and a half looking for him. We informed the neighbors, the pet microchip company, and area shelters. This morning he appeared in our bedroom at 2 AM... we couldn't have been happier. There was no way that we were ready to deal with two pet losses in one week.

Snow Much Fun!

We just can't get enough of the snow. On Christmas Day Night (is that right?), my sister and I took the girls out to sled and play in the snow... and we had a blast! It was lightly snowing which made the pictures look so cool. e is going to be so upset when we get to our new house and there won't be several inches of snow to play in. I guess we will always have Minnesota.

e and my niece attacking my sister.

KK and me.

The Snow Princess .

One cute pink bean.

The smiles say it all.

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas, white or not.

Snow Princess

Our sun dress and flip-flop wearing girl has discovered snow and has fallen in love. The first time she saw snow, she was 2 and doesn't really have a clear memory of it. She was so excited when we drove through the mountains and saw the snow... 'It's beautiful! I think God put it there so we could be happy.' She could not wait to touch the snow and was beside herself when she got to throw her first snowball.

Look at the smile on that girls face... she plopped herself down to make her first snow angel. She spent a good 2+ hours playing in the snow the first day we got to Denver.

Her very first snowman, complete with 'snowing' effect.

Bannie bought her a shovel and they shoveled so much that she broke it.

Who cares if you don't have a sled?

Today, we got her on skis for the very first time and she had so much fun and did a great job.

Daddy helping to put on the skis. KK wanted to go too... she was in tears when we left... soon enough Bean.

Mom and e ready to go.

On the chairlift, or as KK calls it, the 'chairelator'.

Daddy and e heading down the hill.

The three of us at the bottom of the hill.


We have had a wonderful time here in Colorado and are looking forward to enjoying more snow time in the next couple of weeks.

I'm Turning Japanese

I really think so.

Have you ever seen young Japanese girls? The really do have a unique sense of style.

KK has started wanting to pick her own clothes and we are letting her. She comes up with some interesting combinations. I love it!

How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Shower

1.  Send husband off to present his thesis at the Pentagon (see post below).

2.  Get two-year old out of bed.

3.  Turn on TV and hope that said two-year old would watch something (even though she never has).

4.  Hop in the shower.

5.  Entertain two-year old by poking head out of shower every now and then to make sure that the Neosporin is not being used as toothpaste.

6.  Just as you are about to finish, have two-year old remove PJ's and diaper on their own, yell 'I naked Mama', and climb into shower with you.

7.  Oh yeah, make sure that the diaper has been soiled so that when two-year old climbs in with you they are sure to smear feces on the edge of the tub and bring a friend with them.

Ahh... it's going to be a long couple of days.

You Didn't!?!

I did! I took two 2 year olds to the grocery store today. Why in the heck would one do that you ask? Here's why:

See, today I was watching one of the members of the'A' Team so that my great friend S could pick her parents up at the airport without having to confine the bug for too long in the car.

And this was the conversation between E and I this morning:

E: 'Are you going to the grocery store this morning?'

Me: 'Umm... probably not until this afternoon, I have L this morning.'

E: 'You don't need to get that much stuff, right?'

Me: 'No, not really. I guess maybe two in a car cart is better than one.'

And then my warped brain started thinking. You see, he threw down the gauntlet. You want to throw any sort of crazy challenge at me, I'll take you up on it because that's the way I roll. I was feeling Wonder Womanish this morning and I figured, I can do that no problem. Others wouldn't do it, but me, I can do it... and just watch, I'll prove it.

And $90 and two cookies later, we were out the door with my last minute Thanksgiving purchases. Whew! One more thing I can cross off my list.

Yep, KK, you're not the only one that feels that way. (By the way, did you notice the filth on the car? No wonder the kids are always sick.  Sorry, S, I should have sprayed her down with Lysol before giving her back.).