Archive for July, 2009

July 29th, 2009

Excalibur on a Much Smaller Scale

It began with a grocery list. A battle to cross off all items and pay the least amount possible. All items were retrieved from the store with the intention of putting them safely away in our pantry, refrigerator and garage freezer.

But wait! Did the bagging clerk not give me one of my bags? Items are missing! Rage beginning to boil up inside of me at the potential recklessness of the grocery bagger, I go over the list once more… comparing it to the receipt.

Just as I am ambushed by the natives yelling “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”, I drop the mechanical pencil. It thrusts itself into a large wooden kitchen table. I am witness and exclaim that “she who draws this pencil from the table, she shall be queen!”

Ok, maybe not exactly… but isn’t it funny how the pencil I dropped just happened to lodge right into the table and stay that way?

Posted in 2009, Shannon | 2 Comments »

July 21st, 2009

She Works Hard For The Money

As a parent, you sometimes get requests from your kids that mean so much to them, but make no sense to you. Katie came to me one morning adamant that Kitty reeeeeeeally wanted to go to work with me.

Ok really? Me taking a stuffed animal to work?

….

…..

Ok! Sure! I’ll take Kitty to work today. But you better tell her to be a good girl.

After Katie’s stern conversation with Kitty, she skipped off to school with a smile on her face. I can only imagine her daydreams of what Kitty might be experiencing that day. (Either that or she completely forgot once she got in the playground.) Nonetheless… It occurred to me during the day that if I took a picture of Kitty at my desk, Katie would know that not only did Mommy do as she asked, she also made it fun for Kitty.

Here is Kitty, hard at work. I think she’s writing some Oracle Database PLSQL code… ;-)

Posted in 2009, Katie, Seriously, Shannon | No Comments »

July 14th, 2009

Life Saving Fun

In years past we always seemed to miss the deadlines for signing the kids up for swim lessons. Not this year! It was forefront on our minds to make this happen. Katie is such a little dare devil & so independent & self-confident, it really has become a must.

She did very well in her first 2-week session. They advanced her to “Dolphin 2″ for the next session. When I told her this, she squeeled squealed (thanks, Annie… if it weren’t for you, my blog posts would be filled with spelling and grammar errors) with glee and exclaimed, “Mommy! I’m so excited for you!” Ha!

William started off the summer in Santa Fe with Shannon’s parents. They made sure he got a few private lessons too. Looks to me like he really enjoyed his female teacher’s one-on-one attention. ;-)

Posted in 2009, Katie, William | No Comments »

July 13th, 2009

That Extra Mile

I asked her to give the dog some food… Little did I know she’d go all out. A hamburger, french fries, an onion ring, a donut & a cup of tea. At least he did get dog food too. Boy, she really loves that dog!

Posted in 2009, Katie, PD | 1 Comment »

July 12th, 2009

Girls Will Be Girls

We went to the mall to run a couple errands. This was the first time Katie thought she should bring one of her many purses with her. I wondered when that would start happening.

We stopped in a popular sunglasses store to see if they could repair Chris’s sunglasses. My job was to try to keep the kids from putting their oh-so-clean hands all over the perfectly shined glass cases. I had no idea how easy that would be with Katie since she brought her purse.

She hopped right up to the try-on station & proceeded to set up her vanity. Clearly this is why they put it there right? This is when I was allowed to see what a 4-year-old thinks belongs in a purse. Hello Kitty lipgloss, a pink comb & handheld mirror, My Little Pony brush and pink bead necklace. Sounds appropriate to me. :-)

Posted in 2009, Katie | 2 Comments »

July 10th, 2009

For Our Next Trick…

You may recall the Kids’ Busy Boxes that William & Katie got from their Aunt, Uncle & Cousins for Christmas. We did another project from them one weekend. We made faux stained glass “windows.” They came out really cute & were super fun to make. I seriously need to order a bunch of these boxes as birthday presents for the early elementary school aged kid birthday parties we go to.

Here are the pics of our crafting time. Katie was very methodical about the placement of her colored tissue paper. William wanted his more random though. Katie thought hers looked like a seatbelt. Mommy loved them both! :-)

Posted in 2009, Katie, William | 1 Comment »

July 8th, 2009

If You Had $500,000

William was sitting on Grandma’s lap, watching TV. I believe a game show was on & they had a chance to win half a million dollars. William thought that was amazing & then proceeded to do something we all have done at some point in our lives.

If you had $500,000 what would you do with it?

Our thoughtful child declared he would buy Mommy & Daddy a new house.

Then he thought harder.

“Or a new phone just for me!”

Wow. I think iPhones are expensive, but geesh! He really loves playing on an iPhone. And he really hates sharing it with his sister.

Posted in 2009, Seriously, William | 1 Comment »

July 5th, 2009

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

So, many of you know that William has been in Santa Fe with my parents since school let out.  Katie and I drove out here a week ago to vacation with them.  We are all heading back home tomorrow.  My mother just showed me something William wrote to her one day when he was apparently quite frustrated with her.

Letter to Grandma

Translation:  “I am going back to TEXAS!  Sorry Grandma!” 

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!  Oh my… I can’t quit laughing.  I love how he put Texas in all caps.  LOL!

Posted in 2009, Seriously, Vacation, William | 3 Comments »

July 5th, 2009

Her First Graduation

We have come to realize that graduation is no longer just for high school and college.  On Friday, May 29th, Katie graduated Montessori School.  She will be starting Kindergarten in the fall.  For her graduation, we rented a cap & gown.  Yes, we really did that.  She got to keep her tassel, graduation certificate and “class ring”… hehehe.  In practicing for the ceremony, she learned the song “America the Beautiful” or as she calls it “Oh Beautiful.”  It has become one of her favorite songs.

She wasn’t very “into” having her picture taken, but Mommy required it:

Not Looking Thrilled

Next I asked if she could please smile for me.  The picture I got cracks me up.  Doesn’t she look like she’s doing a Jack Nicholson impersonation? 

What's With the Look?

Posted in 2009, Firsts, Katie, Seriously | 1 Comment »

July 4th, 2009

Our Square Foot Garden

This is the first year we have tried our hand at gardening.  Chris mentioned he really wanted to give it a shot, so he asked around.  Our friend Scott put us in touch with his mom for gardening tips.  Rita turned us on to Square Food Gardening.  It has gone so well!  Thanks, Rita!

We started Easter weekend.  Chris, our resident woodworker, put our boxes together.  I love how he added the posts on the ends.  :-)   He made three 4×4 boxes and two 1×4 boxes.

PD Shows Off Our New Garden Boxes

Katie and Elle Painting Boxes

 

Our dear friend Elle wanted some of these boxes as well, so she came over and helped us assemble them all and in turn Katie and I helped her paint hers.

Katie is SUCH a great little helper.  I think part of the thing that works so well for the Square Foot Garden is the mixture they recommend for the soil.  We laid a tarp out and mixed tons of bags of the 3 ingredients together. 

Big Helper Katie

Filled Boxes

Shannon Plants Peppers

The Square Foot Gardening recommends gridding the garden in square feet.  (duh)  We used pink string to define our spaces.  It has worked out really well so far!

Box Grid

We planted 2 kinds of tomatoes, several peppers (jalapeno, poblano, green bell, yellow bell, banana peppers), cucumbers, okra, squash, zucchini and several herbs including cilantro, basil, thyme, oregano… I’m sure I’m forgetting something.  What I don’t have a picture of here is the vine posts Chris ended up putting at the edge of the back two boxes for the tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Complete Boxes

It is UNREAL the squash and zucchini that have come out of this garden.  They show up on the vine and then 3 days later, they’re as big as my forearm!  Unfortunately at the end of June we ended up losing these two plants to some disguisting squash bug.  Hey, we’re learning. 

Huge Squash and Zucchini

Zucchini, Poblano and Jalapenos

Twice the Size of a Coke Can

Green Bell Peppers, Poblanos and Jalapenos

Green Bell Pepper, Jalapenos and Banana Peppers

Our next task is to cover the tomatoes with “bird block”.  Everytime we’ve had a ripe tomato, those pesky birds have eaten it before Chris has had the chance to enjoy it.  Watch out, birds!  You’re messing with the wrong man!!!

Posted in 2009, Family, Firsts | 2 Comments »