A Diva Too Soon

My little four-and-a-half-year-old is a diva already.  She loves to pick out her clothes, wear lots of jewelry, have her toes and nails painted and we won't even begin to talk about the shoes. 

Most of all she loves to have her hair done.  She has the most gorgeous hair to play with and pin up and braid and just about anything else.  She is one blessed little girl.  But lately she has decided that the curls were getting a little mundane. 

Since I straighten my hair quite frequently (I do not have pretty curls, rather sporatic ones) she has been begging me to straighten her hair as well.  I put it off for quite some time, reminding her that her hair is beautiful and God made her to have pretty curls.  Well, I couldn't come up with an excuse to tell her no the other day when she asked.  I was straightening my hair and we didn't have anywhere to be for a while so we had the time. 

Here she is.  I am not a big fan.  For one, it makes her look way too grown up and two her hair is definitely textured for curls - not straight - it wouldn't lay quite right.  Nonetheless, she is still my beautiful, freckle-faced, redhead.



She, however, thought her straight hair was the best thing ever.  :)

Is it Zoo Late?

OK.  Sorry for the corny title.  I couldn't resist. 

Labor Day weekend (see what I mean by late!?!?!) was an exciting one for our family.  Not only did cousin's come down to visit that we didn't get to see all summer, but we had an entire three days to spend with them for the holiday.  Even better yet, we didn't have anything planned so we were able to just hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's all weekend. 

The kids had a ton of fun and did a lot of romping around and creating and digging.  Sadly, mommy failed and took absolutely no pictures.  (Seriously, what is wrong with me?)  They love to play out in the horse pasture where there is a little circle of trees where they have created a little 'clubhouse'.  Evidently, this weekend they discovered few exciting things around their clubhouse and spent almost the entire time digging up dinosaur bones (aka horse bones from one that grandpa buried back there).  They thought it was the coolest thing ever, I was quite grossed out.

The dinosaur discovery could only be beat by one thing.  A Husker win.  OK, I kid.  While the adults were glad for the win, the kids were uninterested.  The most exciting part of the whole weekend came when Aunt J brought a big wrapped (black with white polka dots and a big red bow) box into the room at half time of the game.  She handed each family a little gift bag and grandma and grandpa the box.  Grandma and grandpa opened the box to reveal a Mickey Mouse balloon that floated up to the ceiling.  Inside our bags where Mickey Mouse Dry Erase boards that said "102 Days 'til Disney" on them.  There was a little description card in every one's gift as well with a picture of Mickey wearing a Santa hat.  The card explained that their fabulous Aunt J had bought us all a trip to Disney World for Christmas this year!

I think I was more excited than the kids at first only because none of our kids really had any idea what Disney World really was.  After we broke out the informational video of what it really was and what was all there, all chaos broke loose!  It was so exciting it brought tears to my eyes.  To see them so thrilled and looking forward to something was so heart warming.  I can't begin to tell Aunt J thank you enough.  This is something we hoped to do for our kids in the future, but would have had to save for a long time to be able to afford it.  This gift will fulfil that dream without zapping our pocket books.  It is so generous, it also brought tears to my eyes. 

We have made a paper chain to count down the days until we leave.  Currently we are at  .  Miss Thumb Sucker seems to be the most excited (which surprises me because I figured she wouldn't quite get it fully).  But she says "thank you that we get to go to Disney World" every time we pray and tells everyone we see that we get to go.  I have been doing a lot of research online to figure out all the ins and outs and can't wait!!!!

Now onto the zoo pun.  After the fun of the weekend and cousins and Disney, we got to cap it off with a 4 day break (teacher in-service at school and my daycare parent's were nice enough to give me the day off)!  We made a trek to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo.  It was a tad hot (understatement), but there was hardly anyone there and we were able to see whatever we wanted.  We just mostly hopped from one air conditioned building to the next.  Daddy would argue that the ACs weren't even keeping up very well as most of the buildings weren't all that cool either.

I love this shot I got of the new Jellyfish display

Hmmmm.  Wonder what she is thinking?

I always knew my family belonged here.... ;)

We always end the day with an ice cream cone!  Miss Thumb Sucker and Noisy Man
decided silly faces were necessary for their picture. 

But we still had a great time and hope to make it back one more time this fall.  I did remember to take my camera to the zoo.  :)

Bring On Fall

Saturday morning felt like fall.  Even if it didn't last too long, we thoroughly enjoyed it!  We had a fun family day playing and picking and cheering.

I went for a run (only my 4th since catching bronchitis a month ago as it is still effecting my runs, with rattling in my chest as I breathe and coughing spells.  Hoping I can kick this soon.) wearing a long sleeve shirt and loved it.  It was such a gorgeous morning to bask in the sun along the trail and breathe in the cool air (even if my lungs still screamed at me).

After I was done with my very short run we trekked out to a friend's place with 300+ apple trees, chickens and peacocks!  It was a day on the farm for my kids and they loved every minute of it!  We picked 75 pounds of apples, fed the chickens, gathered eggs and even hand-shelled corn.

A sunny morning + lots of trees = bad lighting for pictures.  

I was shocked that Miss Thumb Sucker would go in the chicken house.
Even after a hen flew right past her and scared her, she still stuck it out to find more eggs.

They all had a blast shelling the corn to feed the chickens

The day ended with what is usually a great fall occasion, but since the Huskers lost it was not quite so enjoyable.  But, a bad day of Husker football is still better than a day with no Huskers at all in my book.  It gave me a good reason to sit and peel/core/slice apples too.  The first batch of apple butter is in the crock pot! 

Ahhhh.  I love fall!

I Really Don't Like to Finish a Good Book

I get pulled in.  Engaged in the plot.  Wrapped up in the characters.  Good books are such a good escape.  So good, in fact, that I always feel a little bit disappointed when I am done with them.

I don't want to be all done with the characters.  I want more.  I want to know what else happens.  As Paul Harvey would say, "I want the rest of the story."

This is the case with yet another blogging for books book from Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishers.  Thanks to them, I have discovered a wonderful author and have received many of her books for free.

Cindy Woodsmall has had me lost in all of her books, staying up way too late and ignoring too many household chores and her latest novel, "A Season for Tending" was not any different than the 7 previous books I have read.

True to her Amish stories, this one burries you deep in the culture and the characters feeling as if you were right there with them.  "A Season for Tending" tells a story of a young Amish woman who has been given special gifts and how they have haunted and blessed her life.

Rhoda Byler has a green thumb to say the least.  She grows berries and herbs and goodness galore and makes canned goods out of her bountiful harvest.  So much so, that she even has her own business, Rhode Side Stands.  Her other gift, one of intuitions, however, doesn't seems to be as profitable as her jams and jellies.  Her intuitions and knowledge of healing herbs and remedies seems to have given her a not-so-pleasant reputation and superstitious eyes through her community have labled her as somewhat of a witch. 

The King's are struggling to keep the orchard that has been a part of their family for generations alive and through series of unpleasant events, find themselves in the middle of Rhoda's berry patch.  Through a well-thought out business plan and a bit of desperation the Kings find Rhoda as their only hope to keep the orchard alive.

You'll have to read for yourself to see if Rhode Side Stands teams up with King Orchards and to tumble through the tragedies, rumors and romances that twist and turn throughout the entire book, but you'll have to wait until September 18th when the book is released.

The only thing I can say negative about this book is the fact that I finished it too soon and will now be stuck waiting for the next book in the Amish Vines and Orchards series to be published, which will be months I am sure. 

The Ickies

I'm not sure "ickies" is even a word, but we have been plagued with them around here lately.  I can't be more thankful that they have all been pretty minor, but for this generally healthy family it has been a rough couple of weeks.  Even mommy got sick, and I never get sick.

I was actually even the first one to get sick.  I started feeling crummy right before school started.  It was a good thing I wasn't starting school or I would have probably had to skip the first day.  I was so run down that I had to even ask Daddy to stay home and help me get the whole crew ready for the day.  Once everyone was dressed and fed he headed to work and I headed out the door to take Noisy Man to school, then to a meeting and then back to pick him up and then I crashed for 2 hours.  After a week of suffering and coughing I finally gave in and went to the doctor.  Diagnosis:  Bronchitis.  Ugh.   I got some powerful antibiotics, steroids and a cough syrup with codeine that would knock me out for hours.  (I wasn't able to take that very often during the day while the kids were depending on me.)   I am just now starting to feel back to normal and even considering running. That wasn't even a dream while I was sick.

On the Wednesday before she started school, Miss Firecracker started running a fever so we headed her into the pediatrician's office to find a lovely little ear infection.  She was fighting off a pretty good cold too, which probably caused the drainage in her ear as well.  Thankful for amoxicillian and she is all better!

Then my healthy boy couldn't kick a little cough he picked up at school.  It just kept getting worse and then he started running a fever off and on so we got him in to see the pediatrician as well.  Sinus infection for him.  Poor thing even stayed home from two days of school.  He would be miserable in the morning and once the cough medicine and Tylenol kicked in he would be back to normal, but with a low grade fever and uncertainty of when the Tylenol would wear off, I kept him home.  He finally headed back today fever and sinus headache free.  He spent all of last night doing homework so that he wouldn't have to miss recess today.  Quite the studious little guy.

Lastly, Miss Thumb Sucker has been battling her allergies.  I feel like a terrible mother to a kid with allergies though.  I do not have the slightest hint of allergies so I have no idea when it is a bad allergy day or not.  Hopefully, I can get into a habit of checking the allergy alert things on the news so that I know when she is going to need her medicine or not (I don't want to be doping her up if she doesn't need it).  So, if you have allergies and want to help me out on this, I'd be open to any advice. 

So, that is our icky report.  Exciting, huh?

Another First Day

Does it mean you love them less if you tear up for leaving one and not another?  Oh, this thought has bothered me all day!  I feel like a terrible mother.  But I can't remember if I cried at all for Noisy Man's 2nd year of preschool either.

All dolled up and ready to go!

Miss Firecracker started her 2nd year of preschool today and I didn't get emotional at all.  She is only gone in the afternoon, which is nap time and quiet time here, so I am not missing out on too much play time with her, and she was so stinkin' excited to go back she has asked when she started every day for the last two weeks. 

She totally thrives in the school environment and absolutely loves it, so I think it is easier for me to send her.  Where, Noisy Man is my more shy and reserved one that I often wonder how he is doing.  Maybe that is it.  Their personalities make it different.

We need to work on her silly faces.  :)

Either way, she was thrilled to head back to school with her awesome teachers and bestest friends!  I wanted to get a pic of her and her bestie, but Miss S's bus was running late and daddy had to get back to work.  Hopefully another day!

Summer's Done

Oh how the beginning of the school year is so bittersweet.  I am so excited for the brand new adventures for my little boy and all the things he will learn, but I have such a hard time giving up all that time with him. 

That, and having an issue with knowing exactly what he is doing all the time.  I hate not knowing what he does all day, and he isn't really one for a descriptive tale once he gets home, so I have to stalk him at school by volunteering there every once in a while to find out!

So, here is my big boy on his first day of first grade.

Gotta do a silly face one!

Big Smile

They are doing a fun movie star theme in their room

His Teacher Mrs. Weichel

He gets his very own desk this year

I did SO much better this year.  Just a few hidden tears and no sobbing.  But, still, how did he get so big?  He is still supposed to be my adorable little toddler.  Now he is a big first grader with two loose teeth that he nearly did cartwheels last night after finding their first wiggle!