Life with kids....

Today was Emily's first soccer game and we took Jason's work camera, so hopefully I will be able to post pictures later. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of the "highlights" of our day.

This afternoon, Emily came up to me and said, "Mommy, I did something terrible, but I don't want to lie to you about it. I was playing with my nightlight and then there were fireworks and smoke and I burned my hand." Her fingers had black on them and I immediately ran to her room. She had stuck a necklace around her nightlight plug and then into the light socket. Jason had gone to an Astros game, so I called him on his cell to ask him what to do. He told me to get our nylon pasta utensil from the kitchen and use it to pop the nightlight and necklace out. There were more fireworks, some smoke, and then the power went out in Emily's room. Jason ended up coming home to assess and fix the situation.

We keep trying to teach Emily that we make "rules" so that we can keep her safe, but it hasn't quite sunk in yet because she is a little bit too curious for her own good. In the past couple of months, she broke a kitchen chair because she was rocking back and forth in it while eating and it fell backward and she broke the chain on our fan because she was standing on our bed and jumping up to pull on it. I'm sure there are other examples that I just can't think of right now. I guess we just have to accept that she's going to be one of those kids who will learn from her mistakes.

In the meantime, Jacob is a curious little guy, too and for some reason holes and slots are a particular area of fascination. So, there is a slot on the computer hard drive that we are constantly trying to keep him away from and in the midst of the chaos with the outlet situation, he stuck his finger in there. I had the hardest time getting it out and started panicking myself. We finally got it out, but his poor finger is a mess now.

What a fun day we've had around here! There is never a dull moment when you have kids!

Just for fun!

1952
1960
1968
1976
1990

1960 photo

1966 photo

1976 photo

1990 photo

I found this fun site where you can upload a photo and it will generate pictures of what your yearbook picture would have looked like in various years. These were my "favorites." I was trying to find a "real" yearbook picture from the year I graduated, but couldn't find one.



Here's the link if you want to try it yourself:
http://www.yearbookyourself.com/

The Invasion of Ratatouille

It all started a few weeks ago. I heard a shuffling sound in the ceiling above my head. I looked up and there was a mouse scurrying across the light above my desk at work. I was a little bit freaked out, but I was even more grateful. For a few weeks, there had been a gaping hole above my desk and they had just installed the light that morning.

I guess even mice need a place to hunker down during a hurricane and it would appear that the mice took up residence in my office at school. The first signs quickly became evident when my secretary handed a teacher some special ed paperwork and she pointed to the droppings along the top of the page. When we went to check out our file cabinets, we realized that they were all over the tops of the file cabinets and that on the window sill near the file cabinets as well.

Signs of the mice continued to show themselves throughout that day and the following day. There were spots on our bookcase, on the wall, in the doorway, and even on my secretary's desk. We were less than thrilled to realize that they had gotten into the candy jar (and of course, this was after we had each had some candy already that day). There's nothing like a mouse eating your chocolate to help you stick to your diet plans.

The highlight, I think, was when my secretary went to print something out and realized that there were spots all over the paper. She opened up her printer and realized that one of them had made himself at home in there, too.

We quickly told our principal. Our office is at the end of a hallway right by a door. Apparently there is an opening in the brick right by our office and the mice are getting in through there. The custodian saw quite a few of them going in and out on Monday. They were supposed to have an exterminator come out yesterday. I'm not sure how long it takes for them to work their magic (since we work in a school there are all sorts of rules about what you can and can't do), but this morning, it was obvious that the mice had been back to play again last night and of course, one of them had left his mark again in my secretary's printer (among other places throughout the room).

Our sole comfort at this point is that the mice seem to wait until we've left for the day to come out and play. We're hoping that they stick to this. In the meantime, we are feeling like we've been invaded by Ratatouille!

FOUND: Halloween costumes!

Halloween is probably one of my least favorite holidays. It's fun and cute for the kids and our annual Trunk or Treat at church is probably one of my favorite events, but I am not a creative person, and I dread trying to figure out Halloween costumes each year.

Emily helped me out early on this year and picked out "her" costume several weeks ago. She is going to be a fairy princess.

I have been struggling with Jacob, though. A lot of the infant/toddler costumes are bulky and heavy, which is not practical at all for Texas. I finally found one that I liked. It's a pirate costume. Jason is how on a mission to teach him to say "HAR" before Halloween rolls around. They were working on it last night and it was cracking me up! I've included pictures of both kids costumes (no "real" pictures yet, though...we'll save that for the big day)

Do you know what's in YOUR "chocolate"?

I readily admit that I am a chocoholic, but reading this article today on some substitutions that Hershey's has made in some of their products may lead me to change my ways! They are now substituting VEGETABLE OIL for cocoa butter in the following products: Whatchamacallit, Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbar, Krackel, and Hershey's Kissables. Yuck! These products no longer meet the FDA guidelines for "milk chocolate." At least they haven't messed with the regular Hershey's bar, Hershey's kisses, and peanut butter cups!

Here's a link to the full article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26788143/

100% Boy....

After a week of being cooped up in the house, I decided that we needed to get out. We actually went out and ran some errands yesterday, but the kids have a lot of pent up energy. Some of my friends from work called to see if I wanted to meet up with them for lunch, and I eagerly agreed. We met at a place called Willie's Ice House, which has a great sandbox that the kids can play in while the adults eat and chat. As an added bonus, the weather was actually really nice today, too.

At one point, I looked over, and Jacob had a bucket of sand which he dumped over his head. He was covered in sand and I couldn't help but laugh! Then, he proceeded to wipe the dirt all over his face. I thought I had wiped him down pretty good, but when we got home and I went to change his diaper, I realized that he had literally gotten sand in every little nook and cranny. He loves getting into things and getting messy and is truly 100% boy (except for the times when he likes to walk around carrying his sister's purses, of course!)

I'm still without a camera, and I have yet to figure out how to use the camera on my cell phone consistently, so I don't have any fun pictures to share, but I thought I'd at least share the story.

I found out today that I will return to work on Monday. At this point, they are projecting that the kids will return to school on Tuesday. I have no idea when (or if) we will have to make up all of these days that we have missed, but I've really enjoyed having this week off to spend time with the kids.

Things we're thankful for

Facing Hurricane Ike really put a lot of things into perspective and helped us to focus on the many things that we have to be thankful for.


*We're thankful that we didn't really have any damages. As we watch the photos of the devastation surrounding us and talk to friends and family in the area who have been faced damages, our hearts go out to them.


*We're thankful for electricity! I never realized how much of a luxury electricity is until we went without it for 24 hours (and even at that, we weren't completely without out it because we had a generator to power our refrigerators, a fan, and a radio). We were fortunate because our area was one of the first where power was restored. There are still close to 3 million people in the greater Houston area without electricity right now.


*We're thankful for running water. Some people I know have been without it for a few days. Even though we have running water, they have been advising everyone to conserve what we have and in some areas, people are being told that they need to boil water before using it.


*We're grateful for the preparations we had made in advance. Emergency preparedness is something that we have been focusing a lot on over the past year and so we were grateful for all of the things that we had done beforehand like buying a generator and stocking up on water and canned goods and having a stash of cash which made this experience more bearable.

*I'm especially grateful for Jason who had to carry all of the load these past few days. On Thursday, I was hit with the worst stomach bug I have ever had and have basically been useless. I am just now starting to feel better today. Jason took care of getting the house ready for the hurricane (inside and out), buying last minute items, and has kept the kids fed and entertained.

*I'm thankful for my kids. Last night I was laying on the couch feeling pretty miserable and Emily came over to sit by me and I told her that I was sorry that I wasn't feeling well and hadn't been able to spend time with her and she said, "That's OK mommy. I understand. You're sick. Everyone gets sick sometimes. Sometimes I get sick, sometimes daddy gets sick. Even princesses get sick." It made me smile. I'm thankful that Jacob who is all boy and a busy one at that still likes to sit and cuddle with his mom every now and then.... and even though our bed sometimes seems too small as it is, I'm thankful that my kids will come and crawl in bed with us in the middle of the night when they're scared because they feel that we can keep them safe.

*We're thankful for our friends and family who have shown their love and support through phone calls and e-mails.

I know that I won't have to go back to work until Thursday at the earliest (I am grateful for the break right now, but I know I won't be when we're making up days in June). Jason is not sure when he will return to work at this point.

The kids are feeling a little stir crazy, I think. Hopefully we can get out and do something tomorrow.

More updates

We made it through the night and the only damage we had was some minor fence damage. We are still without power but at least we have water (I know some people who don't). We've been using our generator to power our refrigerators and some small things like a fan and a radio. I'm sure glad we invested in one!

Ike update

I just wanted to post a quick update for our friends and family. I am posting from my cell phone because our power is already out. We haven't really seen the rains yet, but we're starting to feel the winds. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night! I'll try to post additional updates later.

Hunkerin' down!

If you're not from Texas, you may not be familiar with the phrase "hunker down." Basically it means we're doing a "shelter in place" or sitting around the house for the next couple of days waiting to see what will happen.

No matter where you live, you're probably familiar with the phrase "the calm before the storm." I have NO idea where that phrase originated, but if you've ever lived in an area that can experience hurricanes, you will know that there is nothing but a frenzy before the storm. The traffic is insane as people try to evacuate. The lines at the gas stations are long and some of them have run out of gas already. The grocery stores are packed as people fight over things that they would never normally eat like Vienna sausage and canned tuna.

Three years ago when Rita was coming, we joined in the frenzy running around to buy batteries and water and diapers. I've learned a lot since we moved to Texas and this year we were prepared and didn't have to join in the craziness. I was grateful.

Three years ago, we "evacuated" to Austin. Since we have an extra kid and a dog now (not to mention the fact that my sister had a baby last night and probably wouldn't appreciate the extra guests), we have decided to stay home and wait it out. We're hoping for the best.

Jason and I both have the day off from work tomorrow and are looking forward to just hanging out with the kids for the weekend.

We'll keep you all posted!

Ego buster...

During the week, my mom usually feeds Emily breakfast in the mornings and then drops her off at preschool, but she is out of town right now because my sister is having a baby today (well, we hope it's today....she was being induced this morning).

I offered to fix Emily something "good" for breakfast? How about eggs? What about pancakes? Each time she kept telling me no because "Grandma makes it much more yummier than you do." Finally, she said, "The only yummy thing you know how to cook is Lucky Charms, so I just want that."

I admit it. I'm not a big breakfast person, and even when I'm home on the weekends, I don't cook a "real" breakfast very often. But....when I do cook it, I thought I did a fairly decent job. Our discussion this morning sure changed my thinking on that!

I guess I won't be getting the Mother of The Year award any time soon!

What a difference a year makes!

This weekend was a busy one! After being on the waiting list for six months, Jacob and I finally got into the "parent and child" swim class, which started on Saturday. Emily has ballet at the same time. Jason was helping my brother and sister in law move. I was hoping to take some pictures of the kids at some point, so I threw the camera in the diaper bag. Last night, I went hunting for it and couldn't find it anywhere. I don't know if one of the kids pulled it out of the diaper bag or if it got taken out of the diaper bag while we were swimming. At any rate, I'm really missing it. Blogging just isn't the same without it! I keep hoping that it will still turn up, and if it doesn't, I'm grateful that I just downloaded all of the pictures off of the video card.


In the meantime, I was looking through pictures from the past year. I never realized how much the kids have changed! This was Emily's "first day of preschool" picture that we took this year:

This was Emily's first day of preschool picture that we took last year. She still had a bit of a baby face then, and she looks so grown up to me now.

Here was a picture of Jacob that was taken at the end of August last year. This is not the most flattering shot, but this was taken in my pre-blogging days before I was really good about taking pictures. Hopefully he'll forgive me some day for posting this! :)

Here's a picture of Jacob that we took last week. Where did my baby go? He is really Mr. Independent these days. Mealtimes have become especially difficult because he only wants to eat if he can feed himself and he wants to feed himself using a fork and spoon like everyone else. I know that's a good thing, but it also makes mealtimes that much longer (and messier).

Emily's first day of school

Today was Emily's first day of preschool. My mom and dad took her since I couldn't sneak away from work two days in a row at the beginning of the school year. Thanks to everyone who voted and helped me pick an outfit for her. As you can see, Paris won! (by one vote)

When we went to Meet the Teacher yesterday, they gave out the calendar for the month and they will be working on the letter "A" next week and there is a day where they have to take an apple, so I thought it would be cute for her to wear the apple dress then.

She had a great first day. She was excited because their teacher read one of her favorite books - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! and has a coconut tree in the classroom and the kids get to take turns making the letter go up the tree. I remember seeing the tree when we went to the Open House and it was one of the things that stood out to me because I know how much Emily loves that book! She wished that she would have been able to spend more time in the science center.

I love her classroom and her teachers already and I'm looking forward to watching her learn and grow this year! She's excited to go back again tomorrow!

Emily's meet the teacher

Yesterday morning, Emily had Meet the Teacher at her preschool. I was able to sneak away from work for long enough to meet her there and then go to lunch with her afterward. I was expecting her to be a little bit more excited about starting school, but I think when reality started to sink in, she was a little nervous. She started asking me all sorts of questions like, "Will I still be in Ms. Stacey's class?" (Ms. Stacey was her teacher last year) and "Will my friends (insert names here) still be in my class?" I had a hard time getting her out the door this morning because she was so nervous, which is so unlike her! I guess it doesn't help that she has been sick.

Once she got to school, I think she felt a LOT more comfortable. She will have two teachers this year. Ms. Tracie (above) on Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Ms. Lesa on Tuesday-Thursday. Ms. Tracie is new to the school this year, but Ms. Lesa is starting her ninth year and everyone loves her. We are lucky to have her.

Their classroom is fabulous and these teachers are all about getting the kids ready for kindergarten in terms of academics and independence. I love it! They let the kids explore today and Emily jumped right into the science center and had a great time using magnifying glasses to look at fake bugs and to dig up treasures in the sand tray. The classroom has an 'Under the sea' theme this year, and Emily was very excited about that and quick to tell the teacher all about how we went to Sea World a few times this summer and about how it's her favorite place now!

Today is her first "real" day! I still can't believe that in a year, she will be starting kindergarten. It doesn't seem like that much time has passed since we were bringing her home from the hospital! We love you Emily and hope you have a great first day!

Be careful what you click on!

I admit it. I am addicted to the internet. They say that the first step is admitting it! Due to the amount of time I spend online, I consider myself fairly internet savvy, but this morning I met with an unexpected experience.

For the past few days, I have been receiving notices from various people saying that they have added me to their contacts on Reunion.com. I know some of these people fairly well, but I haven't spoken to some of the others in years, and a few are just casual acquaintances. I couldn't help but wonder why they would want to connect with me and especially on a site that I thought was for connecting with old classmates.

I finally gave in and clicked on the link and of course was promptly given the opportunity to "connect" with my friends. On other sites that I belong to such as Facebook and Goodreads, this means that you will be given the option to check a little box next to the friends who are currently in your address book and on the site. BEWARE - THIS IS NOT THE CASE ON REUNION.COM!

I quickly realized that connection notices had been sent out to EVERY person in my address book (it said a total of 165 or something like that....I don't even think I know that many people, so I guess it's time to pare down my address book!). I was mortified. I guess now I know now why I have been receiving so many e-mails and at least I know that I am not alone in this embarrassing experience.

So, the moral of the story is: Be careful what you click on!

And.....if you got an e-mail from me wanting to connect with you (or you get an e-mail from Reunion.com and anyone else wanting to connect with you)...don't click on it! I deleted my account there, anyway.