Gonna make you itch

Last week was a doozey.  We were wrapping up a busy weekend with Lucy going to swim practice.  After swim she heads to the showers.  She changes and since she had been quick I put her under the dryer to dry her hair.  I am combing through her hair when I see it.  A bug.  Not just any bug. Lice.
Never in my life have I gotten out of a place faster.  Within minutes we are in the car and I am calling home to tell Ian to keep up the little ones before bedtime and I have notified her friend whom I am picturing over and over again with her head against Lucy's as they tell secrets.
I get home and the worst case possible lies before me: all 3 kids have lice.
I begin treating them and Ian goes to the store for more meds, sprays, etc.  I then spend the next 4 hours picking nits out of the kids hair.  Gross.  I mean really gross.
12:30am I finally put the last one to bed and Ian heads off to bed (he had already done several loads of laundry, treated all the mattresses, vaccuumed, etc.)  I then continue to de-lice the house until 3:30am.  Thankfully we were out of school for a few days due to teacher work days and the kids didn't have to miss school.
Several days of nit-picking and 21 loads of laundry in 3 days, vacuuming every soft surface every day for a week...
I don't wish it upon anyone and dread getting it again.
Sorry.  I know, it makes you itch just thinking about it.  Feel free to scratch now.

Is today Monday?

We were riding down the street the other day listening to the radio and the song, "Moves like Jagger" came on.  Harper declared, "I like this song, but I choose not to sing it today.  I usually sing this song but only on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays". 
Total nonsense, but that about sums up many of Harper's grand statements these days. 

Teenage Dream

Harper is very eager to become a teenager.  She asks me everyday "how many days until I am a teenager?"  She also wants to know what a teenager is.  She also wants to make sure that teenagers are not adults, but does not like the explanation that they are "big kids".  Whatever, she thinks they are awesome. 
Another favorite topic?  When her hair is going to change color.  After looking at baby books and seeing that her hair used to be darker brown and seeing pictures of me when I was little and seeing that my hair used to look like hers does now, she is obsessed about her changing color.  She says things like, 'I wish my hair would change color!  It's just not fair.  I want to be a teenager with brown hair."
If only she could see into the future and add up all the money she will one day spend to have hair the color she has now, she would cherish it!

Thumbelina or Ballerina

She's tiny enough to fit into the palm of most adult's hands, but our little Thumbelina has become a bonafied Ballerina!  Here she is waiting for class to start.  And yes, those are legwarmers on her arms.  She has decided that she would rather not get a long sleeved leotard, she likes the versatility of having legwarmers that can not only be worn on her legs but also her arms.  That girl is all about fashion.  No tutu either.  She noticed that the 'teenagers' that help out at the ballet school don't wear tutus and since she is all about wanting to be a teenager that means tutus are out, unless you are just going to the grocery store, then they are totally appropriate.

Better late than never

Ok, so I've been slacking in the blogging department, but here are some photos from the Fall, more to come...

 Lucy with her friend Ashleigh, as pilgrims, for their Thanksgiving feast at school.

 A little bathtime with the cousins.

 Harper in her Cindy Lu Who candycane ears at her school holiday party. 

 Graham chillin' with Chloe, on her bed.

 Lucy with her Build-A-Bear dog, Sean, which she created for her birthday present from Pops and Grandma. He now has a mini friend who looks just like him that she named, "Ice". 

 Graham and best bud, Charlie, in the leaves.

 Harper and Graham at bottom of slide after chuting into a giant pile of leaves.

Lucy at her school's Boosterthon.  She did 36 laps!

Good Kid

This is the third of such letters or emails I have gotten since the beginning of the school year about Lucy.  I thought it was about time to share them with family and friends.  We couldn't be more proud and are happy that Lucy takes my mantra to heart, which I repeat to both she and Harper everyday before school: "Do your best and be a good friend".  Read below a letter from a mom of one of Lucy's classmates:

Hi Sara,
I wanted to share with you something Antonio told me yesterday...very sweet! Antonio wore his cub scout uniform to school (all scouts were instructed to do so for cub scout anniversary). "Brian" started laughing at Antonio's uniform and said how stupid he looked and had everyone laughing. Antonio was in tears and Lucy spoke up and said how much she liked antonio's uniform. Antonio said what a good friend Lucy is!!!  She is the best!

Busy little bees

Harper starts ballet this Saturday.  I will be sure to post pictures.  She has been asking for this day for months and is terribly excited.  She keeps trying on her ballet shoes, just to "see", as she says.  We are also starting a swap with one of her friends so that they can get in a playdate every Wed and the other mom and I can take turns working in Lucy's class.  She also has other playdates lined up- finally, we have 3 year old girls to play with!  In the meantime she is obsessed with tights and dresses, wearing makeup, dressing up in her new princess dresses.  See a theme?

Lucy is busy with school, playdates, Daisies, selling Girl Scout cookies, participating in her own book group, swimming and starts Cheer club next week.  She loves all her new Lego sets she received for Christmas and has been mastering her new tetherball game.  She also still rides her bike and climbs trees every chance she gets.  In addition, she is now too cool for school since she was given an ipod filled with "her music" for Christmas.  She likes to walk around the house, singing at the top of her lungs.  She thinks she is so cool and always wants to make sure somebody sees her with her iPod when she is listening.  Her favorite songs are "tonight, tonight" and "Dynomite".

And Graham.  Graham is obsessed with his new train tracks and plays with them for hours everyday.  Who knew that having dozens of trains still wouldn't be enough?  The kids all still fight over who has more trains.  He loves his new scooter and wagon.  See a theme here?   Wheels, wheels, wheels.  In addition, Graham is growing.  He has outgrown his shoes, his pants and his belly is starting to stick out of his shirts.  He can now climb up onto our bed and he has a big boy bed of his own now.  His gang of friends will start getting together again next week and in the meantime, he is squeezing in some time with his best bud, Charlie.    Graham is much loved up at school where half the teachers know him by name and are looking for him every morning as we wait for the preschool to start.  And the kids flock to him as well.  And he knows he is magnetic, funny and cute. 

I Love You!

When you have nothing else to say, why not say, "I love you"?  This is Graham's strategy.  He tells me a thousand times a day that he loves me.  He says it when he sees me as I walk into the room, he tells me when he says thank you, he tells me as I change his diaper, when I give him snacks, read him a book and especially when he is in trouble.  And I don't mean he does this during one of these times each day, I mean every day, at each of these times.  And then some.  And I think he actually means it.  He knows that love to him means hugs and kisses, smiles and being nice.  And when he is in trouble he can even be desperate to tell me that he loves me. 

For now, it works on me.  And Ian.  And his sisters.  Who all eagerly tell him we love him right back. 

Graham and Charlie

I've been hosting a boys' playgroup all fall once a week, we call it 'Graham's Gang'.  All of the boys, 5 in all, are 2 years old.  And they are all becoming good little friends.  But two stand out: Charlie and Graham.  These two are hilarious. They love each other I think partly because they are so much darn alike.  They both have older sisters, they both are thick little dudes who crash into everything in sight, they both love a snack, trains, cars and being silly.  They have little conversations about "cardinals" and "tractors" and "garbage trucks" which usually just involve them telling the other how much they love one of the afore mentioned. 
They make up songs, look at books together, dance to any beat around and love playing outside together. Graham will even wear a coat (which he is not always inclined to do) if I explain that "Charlie has one just like this".   So while Graham loves his other buddies, and looks forward to them coming over, Charlie is #1 for now. 

These photos were taken on a rainy day which involved us hunting for worms, splashing in puddles and catching rain drops in our mouths.  These two were soaked within minutes and took turns running into each other to see who could make a bigger splash. 

A lovely party

Harper was invited to her very first, no siblings invited, birthday party last week, and she couldn't have been any happier!  It is tough around here for Harper at times.  She has a sister who is in all sorts of clubs and sports and has sleepovers, playdates and friends around all the time.  Her little brother has made a little group of friends this fall that meet weekly and he loves to tell her that they are "Graham's friends".  In other words, no girls allowed!  And Harper, with not many 3 year old girls around, is always invited, but along with Lucy or Graham. 
So when an invite came with only her name and it was a bonafied birthday party with tons of kids and at a very fun place that only Lucy had been to before, she was over the moon.  She talked about the present she was going to get her friend.  She wanted to know all about the place that the party was going to be at. And she kept asking, just to make sure, if Lucy and Graham were going.
After a very fun party and a special lunch out with me, Harper came home happy to show off her goody bag and to tell everyone about her fun.  That night as I put her in bed she asked, "tell me again why Lucy and Graham weren't invited to the party today?"  I happily told her, "Because she is YOUR friend, not theirs and your friend only wanted you there, not them."  She smiled, inserted thumb in mouth, and was off to dream of her first birthday party.

Up a tree

#1 on Lucy's Christmas List this year?  A climbing tree.  Ahhhh, I don't think that can really happen, being that a tree takes some time to grow, but I do believe that it is what the little peanut wants more than anything in the world.  At any given time, Lucy is running outside to climb in one of our two possible climbing trees, and boy are they are poor sight!  First up is the puny dogwood with thin branches that break and no height to really get a girl anywhere.  But she climbs it, every day.
Second up, is the taller Crepe Myrtle that is maybe the worst climbing tree on record.  Its branches all grow straight up, are thin and provide no stability, strength or even a good place to sit.  But she climbs it, every day. 
Both of these trees are very possible candidates for leading my child to the ER with a broken arm or cracked head, but she simply can't resist.  All the other trees are hollies (she tries, but they simply are too prickly), ornamental shrubs (which she is taller than) or giant beasts of trees in our backyard, which if she were a giant would be a great, but since the lowest branches start at our roof, probably not her best bet.
So, no climbing tree for Christmas, but I have promised a tree house in the spring.  As for her Christmas list, A Wii was #2, she's not getting that either, I'd rather she go climb a tree!

Heard on the court....

• Graham taking off Barbie's mate, Ken's clothes until he is completely naked and then putting him on the Barbie toilet and saying, "You gotta be buns out to go potty."
• Harper saying, "My favorite part of Christmas is Christmas trees because they are so sparkly!"
• Graham saying, "Mom, I'm your son.  You are my mom.  Today you are my son and I am the mom."
• Graham telling me that he wants to "be a boy and be called Harper".
• Harper, upon hearing that I was hosting a jewelry party, "Oh!  I can't wait to try on all the jewels!"
• Lucy, to Harper while playing, "Well, Harper, that's just life."

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Fancy shoes

Harper is a girl who likes her shoes.  Purple mary-janes, animal print, ruby red glitter shoes, pink chuck taylors, etc.  And Graham has noticed.  Being that his choices range from tennis shoes to brown suede to rain boots, he has decided lately to spice things up on his own.  Hence, the pink ballet slippers he has been spotted recently wearing or the plastic princess shoes he wears clanking down the hall. Pretty little toes!

Out of this world!

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to meet the four astronauts that were on the final space shuttle mission at a reception at Ian's work.  Needless to say, the kids were very excited (well, Graham said he was excited, and he was, but more about the grapes they were serving than the actual astronauts, but there was excitement!)
Lucy wore her blue flight suit, of course, because what else does one wear when meeting astronauts?  She was giddy the entire night and was even called out by the administrator for NASA for her outfit.  She watched the video presentation, front row and center and was amazed that the same astronauts that were standing in front of her were the same ones being shown in the shuttle, on the space station, etc.  She especially liked meeting Sandy, the female astronaut and thought it was pretty cool that she was the only one of the four that had lived on the space station.  She also met "Rex" who became her new alter ego's namesake and the pilot and Captain, who presented her with a patch.
Harper was a bit more reserved, but was adament at the end of the night that she go and "meet Sandy!"
Lucy will definitely not forget this one and is now not sure if dolphin trainer is still what she wants to be when she grows up, she might be tempted to go to Mars!

Dreaming as only Al Bundy could

Should I be a little embarrassed that I haven't blogged in over a month and the last time I did was about my son's "aah nuts!" and now that I am back on the blog my new entry is also related to his "ahhh nuts?"  Maybe.  But let's just let the picture speak for itself:

My nuts!

For months now whenever Ian changes Graham's diaper, he claims that Graham says, "Ahh, my nuts!" He doesn't say anything remotely close to that when I change his diaper so I was skeptical and certain he was saying something else sweet and cute since my sweet 2 year old boy certainly doesn't know what his nuts are.
To prove my point when Ian supposedly repeated the ol' line "Ahh, my nuts! I came in and said. " Graham, where are your nuts?" and he showed me.
Unfortunately now not only does my 2 year old know what "his nuts" are, but since I asked and the girls weren't far away, they are all talking about nuts. Should have left it between the boys.

Graham's 2nd birthday!

Graham and I headed to Louisville to visit Nanny and Pa for a couple days while Graham could still fly for free as my lap "baby".  This might have been the best part of his birthday- he loved the airplanes, trucks, trains and everything else that goes with a big trip.  While in Louisville he was showered with attention from Max and Molly, Aunt Lauren, Pops and Grandma and Grandpa. He entertained Nanny and Pa and I have to say he did make them smile quite a bit!
Loads of treats and presents and we were headed back to Virginia for the big 2!  Graham's birthday was Friday and he celebrated with presents, going out to dinner, spending time with Gramzie, ice cream and cupcakes.  
Saturday we had a very small little get together at River Farm.  We invited the Fjeld kiddos and his little buddy Charlie, and of course, his sisters.  Graham has a new love for pirates, ever since being convinced that the ghost crab hunters at the beach were pirates with their flashlights and running down the beach at night, so we had a pirate themed cupcakes, a treasure hunt, and pirate booty snacks.  The kids ran around the garden and Graham was so happy to get muddy, climb all over the boat and the cave and to hike down to the river.

He's 2 now and that means lots of "I do it!  and "I do it by myself!"  and lots of tantrums and opinions on everything from clothes, to snacks to which way I drive in the car.  He has dove into 2 headfirst and has been pretty cute (and loud) doing it!

September!!!

Here is our month in a nutshell:
Lots of parties over Memorial Day weekend
Start to school
Zanne arrives
Lucy's birthday party
Lucy's birthday
Leave for Kentucky with Graham for 3 days
Come back for Graham's birthday
Graham's birthday party
Lucy goes to slumber party
Zanne leaves
Our 9th wedding anniversary
Ian's work retreat in West Virginia
Booth at the local art festival (for which I must build an entire inventory!)

Yep, it's going to be a busy one.  Talk to ya in October.

Back to school

Tuesday was the start of the rainy season in our area, oh, and the start of the school year.  Lucy hasn't really skipped a beat.  She was excited and eager to get to school.  Harper was up early, ready early, and really ready to get to her first day of preschool. 
During the first week of school the school allows you to walk your child to their classroom and make sure they are happy and settled.  We battled the rain and ended up in the lobby.  As I am parking the stroller, Lucy says, "Mom, I want to go to my classroom by myself.  I don't need you to go with me. I know where it is, who my teacher is and where my seat is.  I'll just go ahead and go".  Double checking with her (I know, I didn't really need to) and agree to let her go by herself.  Harper doesn't start school until 20 minutes later so we were hanging in the lobby watching other kids skip to their room, or cling to their moms or greet their friends when parents of one of Lucy's friends come over to say hello.  They said their daughter was crying and carrying on in the classroom and Lucy was the one to help out.  They said Lucy came over and said, "It's going to be alright." And I hesitated to let her go by herself!
Next up with the little big sis.  She sat on a bench with her little ladybug backpack on her back, elephant lunchbox on her lap and a big smile on her face.  Every once in a while she would suck her thumb, but she really was pretty relaxed.  Then a boy named Maddux came over and began holding her hand.  He was a bit aggressive in hand holding, but Harper let him.  Then her teacher came over and lined all the preschoolers up.  Since there are special needs kids in her class, they don't let you walk them to the room, they want the good byes to be away from the room.  Harper began walking away and stopped, turned to me and gave me a double thumbs up sign and a big smile.  She was going to be just fine.
And fine she was, or even better, she has been great all week.  She takes pride in her role as "helper" and even goes above and beyond with a couple of the little girls- one with down syndrome and the other wears two hearing aids and is very young.  She plays baby dolls with them, holds hands with them as they walk down the hall and always says hello and good bye to them.  Her teachers say that she is very chatty and energetic and every day she says, "Can I go back to preschool?"  Oh yes, you can go back 4 days a week! And it is STILL raining.  And is forecasted to rain tomorrow as well. Rain outside and bright futures inside.