July 21st, 2009
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
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
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
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
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 5th, 2009
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 »
June 29th, 2009
While William was still in Kindergarten, Katie would walk him to school with me in the mornings. She loved helping him put away his folders… saying “Hi,” to his teacher… then sneaking behind her desk and putting a “Good Work” stamp on her hand. This particular day (I believe it was the Thursday before Mother’s Day), she put one smack dab in the middle of her forehead… and made sure Kitty got one too. Poor Kitty had just been taken out of the wash that morning, too. hehehe
I think someday I’ll make a scrapbook of everything Kitty has been through. I may have her bronzed, too.
Posted in 2009, Katie | No Comments »
June 25th, 2009
We have always sung lullabies to our kids before we shut their lights off and say, “night night.” William’s lullabye of choice is “Rock-a-Bye William.” Katie’s has long been “Twinkle Twinkle,” except for that short stint with the Barney song. You know… “I Love You, You Love Me.” (Ha! You’re totally gonna have that stuck in your head now.)
When Katie graduated from Montessori school last month (more on that later), she decided to change her nighttime song to “Oh Beautiful”. You may know this as “America the Beautiful.” Although not a lullabye or typical bedtime song, I found that so cute & have been singing it to her.
Enter scene last night….
Mommy: Katie, would you like a song?
Katie: Yes.
Mommy: Which song would you like?
Katie: Pickface.
Mommy: Huh?
Katie: Picker face.
(Mommy looking totally confused.)
Katie: You know. From your car.
Mommy: Poker face?
Katie: Yes! Sing that!
Needless to say, Mommy did NOT sing “Poker Face” by Lady GaGa. We came to the agreement that “Oh Beautiful” would be much more soothing. LOL.
If you listen to top 40 kinds of songs, you can now thank me. If not, have fun with Barney the rest of the day.
Posted in 2009, Katie, Seriously, Shannon | 2 Comments »
May 21st, 2009
The kids are watching Mommy’s favorite show with me tonight, “So You Think You Can Dance.” Before I know it, Katie has gone into my closet & retrieved my old tap shoes. I remembered I had a flat pair too. I let William use those. Here they are tapping away in our bathroom. Hehehe
Posted in 2009, Katie, William | 1 Comment »
May 2nd, 2009
The Saturday before Easter my mom and I took the kids to the UT Golf Club for an Easter Eggstravaganza. The kids had a great time. They met the “Easter Bunny”, jumped a lot in the bouncy house, got their faces painted, ate lunch, hunted for eggs and fed animals in the petting zoo.
I’m back to thinking Katie is heading towards being a vet. She had absolutely no fear of these animals. She loved on them so sweetly, talked to them genuinely and fed them. They had 5 day old baby goats. Omg. They were so precious. One of the animals the kids loved the most was the monkey. It was on a leash with a trainer. The kids thought it was hysterical he was wearing a diaper. (and he picked his nose & licked his finger once. Absolutely hysterical in their book)
We had a great time with only one minor hiccup. The kids were in two separate age groups for the egg hunt. Katie in the under 5. And William in the 6 & up. Katie’s started first and William was sooooo patient. Apparently the other 6 & up kids don’t have ears though… Or their parents don’t, I’m not sure which. Maybe both. They started their hunt when the little ones did instead of waiting. And many of them didn’t follow the “only 6 eggs per kid” rule. By the time I ran William over to his hunt, all the eggs were gone. Parents were taking pictures of their older kids with baskets overflowing with eggs. I saw the tears welling in William’s eyes. Luckily one sweet girl saw & asked me if it was true they were only supposed to have six. I said “yes,” and she shared with William.
Sorry this is so late, but here are some pics…
Posted in 2009, Holidays, Katie, Shannon, William | 3 Comments »