Olivia's First Nutcracker

I did it; I waited five years to do it and it was..... almost a success. I took my little princess to see The Nutcracker this holiday. Many people take their children when they are tiny, wee ones, but I thought it best to wait and let her really enjoy it. Being the "I don't ever want to take ballet, mommy"!! type, Olivia was game for this outing. Poor girl had to be dressed by Daddy since I had been rushing from birthday party to party with one kid here, one kid there (you know the Saturday birthday story). I have to admit, he did a decent job :-) Dress on, tights on, and her hair pulled back. As Zach would say, "dress - check, tights - check, bow - check, NOW can we go to Barnes and Noble?". He runs through the list like I do (yes, sometimes I may say these these out loud and he doesn't miss a beat)! Check! Back to The Nutcracker....Olivia and I were both engrossed in the ballet, but when the Russian man in white tights appeared, I have to say we were a bit 'grossed out'. Man, it was a bit much for me to handle and I love ballets. Olivia was great through the First Act seeing that the children were on stage. By the Second Act, she was asking to go, bouncing in her chair, in my lap, etc.. The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the sound of familar music (aka Publix holiday commercial music) made her take notice. She was a trooper for hanging in there and I'm so happy with my decision to go to the Georgia Ballet instead of the Fox this year. We have time to work our way up...

Meanwhile, as you can see, Zach enjoyed his pizza and cupcake at the Young Chef's Academy birthday party. Eat up, skinny boy :-)

My Birthday, Creepy Santa & Sumo

I celebrated my 36th birthday on Dec. 5th with great friends and family. It turned out to be
'fun Friday' for us (as we all like to refer to it). We love Fun Friday, so real school, you'll have to wait. My girlfriend, Kaci, lives in Jacksonville, AL, so she sent me a beautiful boutquet for my birthday. Flowers are rare in my household, so these really brightened the day. They'll brighten all week long! My neighbor, Jill, also gave me roses for my birthday. She was sick all week, but still managed to drop off a vase of roses and a handmade card. Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart! Liz was gracious enough to invite us over. On our way, Amy, who gave me a great new bracelet, stopped by Starbucks. Turns out, Santa was there. Creepy Santa, that is.... The Starbucks drive-thru guy talked us into coming inside to see the big guy in red. Oh, it was a bad mistake. This Santa was of dark haired descent and looked like he had a rough night out with the elves and the coffee wasn't helping! The kids smiled for the camera, grabbed their cookie and ran for it. Oh, making memories daily around here. On to Liz's where I promptly had another gift to open (seriously, what would I do without my girlfriends)? It may sound corny, but I have been wanting a popcorn maker for some time, and she knew it (maybe because I spend WAY too much time with her - talking her ears off). The kids loved playing together for most of the day - they were angels. They were able to torment Quincy, the cat, and we ate, talked and ate some more. Thank you, Liz, for not kicking us out of your house, as we stayed all day.

Then on to dinner with Karen, Mike and Gavin at the Japanese Steakhouse. Our kids (including Gavin) thought this was the greatest thing ever. Food and entertainment all wrapped into one. Watch your knives when you get home, Karen. Gavin had that twinkle in his eye. He he he. At the end of dinner, you can see that I was the proud birthday Sumo girl. Hey, whatever it takes to get a gluten-free dessert!

Fly on the Wall - word meanings

Words, as discussed by Zach, Olivia and Gavin sitting at my kitchen table....

"Oh my gosh" - 'that's not a bad word'

"Darnit" - southern slang, 'not a bad word', Gavin added this one - no comment from my peanut gallery.

"Damn it" - 'that's what you say when the boat is dirty' - this one came from Zach. Hmm, wonder where he heard this one?

Then, "you die when you turn 100 years old....not when you turn 1,000"! -Gavin

"When are you going to get married?"- Olivia. Gavin replies, "never.....well, maybe when I'm 12".

And so it goes.....

Gavin is skipping school today, thanks to Aunt Jenny.

Playtime

With the kids out of preschool the entire week, we have lots of opportunities to enjoy ourselves. We headed to the Children's Museum Monday with neighbors and friends. Bob the Builder exhibit is currently there and I couldn't resist taking a photo of Zach with Bob. Zach stayed at the train station for approximately 2 hours while Olivia played with the stuffed animals in the treehouse. Hmm, imagine that! Even though it was a rainy day, we still enjoyed ourselves. Karate was a blast today too. I wish I had taken a few pictures with the kids and their (fake) sticks/weapons. I think Karate is really helping with their confidence.... or maybe they are just growing up a bit. Whatever the case is, I like it.

Vacation...and SHE SWIMS!

It took me quite a while to get back up to speed after our vacation, but now I can blog about it. We had such a great time! Kim, the lucky recepient of all her relatives, kindly let us stay at her house in Delray Beach, FL for part of our vacation. BIG NEWS: Olivia learned to swim on her own! Well, she could swim before, but she would never try it on her own. I always had to hang on to her swimsuit ruffles. She finally made up her mind to do it and wow - she jumps in (head underwater and all) and swims to the edge, steps or where ever. She even swims across the pool. She has turned a huge corner in her youngster life. Zach, on the other hand, has been swimming since last year. He's the opposite, he needs a bit more strenght, but he put his mind to it and practiced over and over this past summer until he did it. Very tenacious little guy. He even swims underwater. Of course, we'll have to refresh once summer comes around again, or maybe we'll just take a trip to visit Aunt Kim again and work on our skills during the long winter months :-) Yes, that is a picture of Zach asleep at the table while holding food to his mouth. They played hard at the beach!

We drove from Delray Beach to Duck Key, FL, which is halfway between Key Largo and Key West. It was a very cool resort with lots of kids friendly pools (and adult only pools). They had a saltwater lagoon, a kid pool with a pirate ship, with working water cannons and probably 4 more pools in the resort. Olivia made a shark tooth necklace and swam her heart out. Zach and Dave enjoyed the game room. Zach learned to play chess and checkers - somewhat! It was an interesting time teaching Olivia and Zach to play as opponents in a game of checkers. I eventually had to walk away - he he he. Dolphin girl (aka Olivia) took part in a dolphin experince where she was able to touch a dolphin, tell him to turn in circles, etc. Dave and Olivia went to this one on their own while Zach was 'supposed' to be napping.

But my favorite part.... was on the drive home we saw the space shuttle, Endeavor, launch on Friday evening. It was amazing - huge full moon with the glow of the space shuttle flying out of our atmosphere. That was memorable.

Things he wants to know...

While making lunches and getting everyone ready Tuesday morning, Zach walks up to me and says "Mommy, what is a keeping room?" This came from a 3 1/2 year old and we do not have a keeping room, mind you. I explained the part of a house where a keeping room typically is located and what it is used for. He listened to me, thought about it and said "Oh, ok" and walked on his merry way. Oh, the way his little/big mind works. I love it that he is inquisitive!

So, today, while busy at work/play in the playroom, he looks up at me and asks "Who won Pennsylvania?" OK, I have to draw the line at that one! I am almost certain he did not see any of the election coverage....or did he? I stumbled for a minute and said, "Obama did". Again, he thought about it and said "Oh, ok". Seriously! Where did this kid come from? I told Dave about his question at the dinner table and then asked Zach to tell me who won - wondering if he was really listening.... at first he grins and says "Omar" (a friend of his in his class), then he says "Barack Obama" - granted, I did not tell him the first name today. So, yes, he gets it.

Olivia had her 5 year check up today. Everything went great (no shots! Yay!), but I wanted our pediatrician to help me bring the "read more books" idea home to Olivia. Dr. Ellerine boasts about how books make you smarter, etc. So, guess who reads me two stories tonight?! This girl has been holding back on me!! Oh, the angst they give their moms. Of course, the stories were about puppies. It's all about the animals for that girl!

Everyone is excited about going on vacation tomorrow and spending time with Daddy. We are heading to Delray Beach, FL (Kim's), the Keys and then to the lake. Sunshine, here we come.

Difference a Year Makes...

Comparing Halloween last year and Halloween this year, we saw a big change. Instead of helping our kids along the neighborhood from door-to-door, carrying their candy bags, helping with costumes and flat out carrying the KIDS, we were trying our best to keep up! They were typically 2-3 house ahead of us each way. Our neighborhood is a great place to trick-or-treat with only 50 houses and very little traffic to worry about. Being 5 and 3 1/2 years old, these kids know how to work the door(s).

Olivia woke up on Friday in a not so nice mood (she growled at me!, in a tiger/Olivia sort of way) because I was sharing a piece of her turkey bacon for breakfast. She soon realized that HALLOWEEN was actually here. Attitudes changed! I saw more smiles on Friday that I have seen in a long time. Candy day was here! She is much more of a candy freak than Zach is, but don't get me started on him. He sneaks my last piece of Dove chocolate and then taunts me (with chocolate rings around his mouth, licking his lips as he taunts me). :-)

It's all good; there is plenty of candy to go around - too much candy.

My parents handed out candy at our house while we walked (chased after) the kids. Olivia and Zach ended up going home with Mom and Dad after Halloween. Dave and I had the pleasure of sending their candy baskets with them to my parents! Enjoy Mimi & Papa! You buy them candy and gum all the time, so now let's see how they act at your house while they are hyped up on candy. He he he, the small pleasures.... Of course, my parents said the kids acted fine (do you think they are telling the truth or are they just shell-shocked?) Happy Halloween!