Finally some nice weather!

We finally had some nice days this week! It is so much easier to get where you need to go when you are not loaded down in layers of clothes and coats.

Since I have not blogged much, I should share some of the activities we are doing around here. A couple Mondays a month, Bridget goes to Daisy Girls Scouts. I am the leader of her Troop and that has been fun this year. In a couple weeks we have our first field trip.

Every week, both girls, go to cheerleading and dance. In dance, they are working hard to learn the dances they will perform at the recital in June. They both have cute costumes this year. I did not like Bridget's construction cone orange costume last year. This year she will be in a ballet wearing pink and Becca is doing a tap performance in red. Cute!

At Christmas we were able to finally get a piano. I have wanted one for so long. Bridget loves it and desperately wanted to take lessons. Through one of her classmates, we found a reasonable teacher. This is the 4th activity of the week. Her teacher has a daughter that is in First grade at Bridget's school. Sometimes she stays at her house after the lesson to play for a while. Becca HATES when this happens. Becca does not believe that anything should happen without her. So yesterday, during piano time, Becca and I went to a park and enjoyed the weather.

Rainbow Birthday

The first couple pictures here are from Thursday, the actual birthday. The rest are from the weekend.

When I asked Bridget what sort of party she wanted, it was "rainbow". I had to be a little creative as the party store didn't have the rainbow theme ready for me to purchase.

I did find some rainbow decorations that worked. My proud moment was my rainbow cake. It turned out so pretty. We also had a rainbow of m&m's, fruity pebble and fruit loop crispie treats, rainbow goldfish and twizzlers.

I'm not going to put Saturday's photos on here because I don't know if all the girls parents would approve.

I took pictures of the cake before I baked it because it seemed interesting.

Better blogging

Okay, so I have been a horrible blogger. This is mostly due to the discovery of Facebook. But I'm gonna try harder over here.

First off, Bridget turned seven last Thursday. I can see such change in her. She can understand and reason out things so much more. She is also testing a lot. She says that she seems to know are wrong, but waits for my reaction. She is very kind hearted girl, but is trying out some mean words. It makes me sad and I have made it very clear to her that it is not acceptable here.

Anyways.....last Thursday I was off work so Becca and I went and joined Bridget for lunch and treats with her class at school. We usually go to Rain Forest Cafe for her birthday, but since they closed we didn't know what to do. I thought about going to play mini-golf but then all plans got canceled by Becca. She has this weird fever going on most of last week. So we stayed home and had Chinese delivery. Everyone was happy with that.

Bridget didn't ask for much. The thing she has been asking for is a pogo stick. She wanted one last year, but I said no. Well, I ordered her one and I don't think she is heavy enough to make it bounce. Becca wanted to get something for her too. She chose a bunny Webkinz.

We had 2 parties over the weekend--one for school friends and one for family. I'm going to post those pictures separate.

Below is the wish list she made. It is so sweet. In case you don't read as phonetic as she writes, it says: gift certificate, love, hug, kisses, crayons, pencils, Wii dance, clothes, flowers, blankets.

Warning to Pet Owners

I don't have time right now to investigate this. It was on Craigslist, so it could or could not be true. But if it is, I want everybody I know, to know this.

New WARNING for pet owners

Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a pet, please pass this to those who do.

Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypso decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk . Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.
Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.'

. Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called ' Theobromine'. It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

Valentine's Day Box

Last week Bridget's homework was for us to make her Valentine's Day box. She has been all about rainbows and unicorns recently so we decided on a "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" theme. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Chapstick

"Mommy, if I put chapstick on my chin, will it make lips grow?"

Guess who asked that.


If you guessed Becca, you are wrong.

Misc. things

I have not picked up my camera in quite some time. I have not downloaded any photos from the camera in an even longer time. So that is what I did this morning. There were a few there that I want to share. Since I have yet to figure out how people get captions with their photos I'll just tell you that a lot of these are from Christmas. Some are of the girls are Noah's birthday party at A Flip Zone and the last ones are the girls making (and eating) the candy necklace and bracelet set Becca got for Christmas.

Getting it done

I have been working hard at getting my house to look how I want it to.SLOWLY--but it is happening. Our dining room does not serve that purpose. It is set up as the girls playroom and it is always the pit of the house. It really bothers me because it is the room that you see first when entering the house. Well, that is all cleaned up and looks presentable now. We got a piano at Christmas and it needed a place to live. So Bridget was more than willing to help me clean stuff out to make room in there. The only think I don't like so much is that the walls are still white, but that will have to be for now.

About painting--I'm not really good at this. I discovered that when we moved in and painted bedrooms. At Thanksgiving I took on the hall bathroom. I let the girls choose the color ( and yep it is BRIGHT) but it is still not done in there. Sad. Maybe, now that I have confessed that, I'll feel pressured to finish soon.

I really want my living room and kitchen painted, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Depending if I work this summer or not, maybe then. I have the colors all picked out though.

Right now, I have over 350 boxes of Girls Scout cookies in the house. I am hoping that most of them get picked up today. We will have to deliver next week. I am wishing that we didn't have to do this is such cold.

I am so happy to see the sun out this morning. It is still miserable cold, it is just a little better with the sun though. The cold and clouds get old very quick.

Both Bridget and Becca were invited to birthday parties yesterday. Bridget has been to a couple this year while Becca has not. She was excited about it and it sounds like she had a great time.
Speaking of parties, our season of parties is about to begin. Sawyer turns 2 this week and his party is over the weekend. Then we have Bridget's at the end of February. Kristin gave me a fun idea that I think we are going to use for her's this year. We have only had family parties, but she wants a kid party too.

At work, "they" added 3 more kids to our room. That maxed us out at 24 kids. I didn't think that 3 more would be a big deal but when 24 kids are trying to eat lunch, well, it is just exhausting and so messy. I have to be a lot more careful now. Every time I move one of them is right next to me and I am tripping over them. I am glad all the new children have been girls. The group is even an even split now. If you remember we started the year with 14 boys and 5 girls and it was not a good balance. There is such a big difference between the kids too. Some kids are just not Montessori material and they just seem to exist through the days. Other kids love it and are excited to practice their lessons and get new ones.

Bridget just got a report card on Friday. She got a good report again. I continue to be disappointed with what they are working on, or what they are not working on actually. It is getting better, more challenging things I see coming home. I have really stepped back and stopped asking so many questions and tried to let Bridget "coast" through this last quarter. We work on spelling words each week and any homework that sent home (which is thankfully rare and easy). Her teacher made a special note that we have done a fabulous job learning her sight words and that she is trying to build Bridget's confidence in math. The sight words thing is funny because we never go over those. Bridget does have a confidence problem when you ask her direct questions about school work. She can know the answer and still sit there and be shy and tell you she doesn't know. It is so frustrating.

That is about it for my ramblings.

Happy New Year!

I know my family is wondering about pictures. I always do pictures at Christmas time. This year I did not want to go to the same place, so I waited. The weather has been so uncooperative that my other plan just is not going to work out. So yesterday I took the girls over to Portrait Innovations again. They do a good job. I am just a little tired of the poses and backgrounds. We didn't do the whole family portrait, just the girls. Maybe we will do a family one in the Spring. Usually Bridget is my professional at having her photo taken, but not yesterday. Becca out did her, but that is okay since I need more pictures of Becca to catch up with all the ones of Bridget.

Tonight we are doing our traditional New Year's Eve celebration--stay home and eat snacks all night. We told the girls they could camp out on the sofa all night if they wanted (Bridget is super excited about this).

I wish everyone a Happy New Year in 2009!

Winter Break

I have to say that a perk of working at a school is getting the school break like the kids. Friday was our last day. It was such a fun day! It was pajama day--I don't think I have ever gone to my job in my Pj's, but it was so comfy. The kids and their family's were so generous. I was surprised with the gifts I received--gift cards, lotions, ornaments, and lots of yummy baked goods. One of the teachers told me that the administrators get loaded with gifts, but they didn't say anything about the rest of the staff. We have a lot of thoughtful families.

I have not been very productive the last few weeks. I am still finishing up my shopping. I only have 5 people left and all but one I know what I want to get them. Not too bad. Now things need to start wrapping themselves and take their place under the tree. That would be sweet.

I have been holding off finishing the Twilight series until after Christmas. Those books were consuming me. I was staying up all hours of the night reading and I was exhausted all day. The third book left me in happy place with the characters and I felt I could stop there. I am getting weak though. I have the last book sitting on my shelf that I walk by 539 times a day. I actually picked it up last night and opened it to the first chapter, thinking I could just read a little. Then I closed the book, hit myself in the head with it. I will not be able to stop reading once I start. I must wait until after Christmas. I might have to give the book to my neighbor or Schaun to hide. I'm pathetic. Stupid vampire love story. Why do I like this? I do not like vampire stories!

Natural selection

Today ALL five chicks came out of the nest and I actually got a good shot of them all perched. The second from the right is a parent. You can sort of tell the color differences in this picture. The second from the left was the first hatched (this is Schaun's favorite one). I guess even in a cage, being watched by us, natural selection still goes on. I'm so bummed--one of the chicks, I think the youngest, (the dark one on the left) fell into the water dish and drowned. Poor thing. I have remedied the water situation so that should not happen again.

Baby birds

I went back and checked and I noticed the first chick hatched around November 17 and the other 4 hatched about 1 a day following. So all the babies look a little different each day. These pictures are how they look as they grow, which happens SO fast.

You can see in one picture, which was December 2, that I have 2 babies in my hand. One is feathery and one is not. Today, when I took the most recent pics, three of the babies are out of the nest and trying to fly. Two have not tried to come out yet. It is hard to tell because of the cage, but they all look different too. One is almost all white, one is a blonde color, and the third has a darker stripe down its back. The two in thenest appear to be darker all over, but it is hard to tell for sure.

December already

I cannot believe that Christmas is so close! Wow! Catch up time.

First, I started reading the Twilight series. I was not going to read these. I do not like vampire stories. It was getting to the point where everywhere I went these books seemed to be the topic of discussion. I was feeling left out. I decided to just read the first one, to have a little input and to assure myself that I do not like vampire stories. I am a sucker for great love stories though--and that is what this turned into. I read the first two books this weekend.

It seems like a blur of time since Thanksgiving. I feel like I am busy a lot, but not much has happened. I thought Bridget had pick eye, but turns out she has a sinus infection that I didn't notice any signs to. Becca has developed a hearing problem. It only seems to be related to hearing her parents, but it is getting to be a problem.

We have some Christmas decorations up and things are looking pretty. We put the tree up Saturday. I felt sad when it was done. After getting out the ornaments and realizing how many my Gramma had given us.

Yesterday I had a cookie exchange with some good friends. It was a good time. We do not see each other near enough. Now I have way too many cookies in the house. Yum!

I have some pictures that I have been taking of my baby birds. I'll post them later.

Being Thankful

Today is the day to give thanks. I am most thankful for my husband. This man supports our family, makes us laugh, can maintain a balance (that I often loose), cooks for us, and (besides my clothing choices) rarely utters a word about my quirks and general craziness.

I am thankful for Bridget. She always reminds me of the beauty in things.

I am thankful for Becca. She always makes me laugh.

I am thankful for my mom. She always tells me the truth.

I am thankful for my sister. She always reminds me of the other side of things.

I am thankful for my brother. We may not chat a lot, but I know he is just a phone call away.

I am thankful for my job. It is not glamorous. It is frustrating. It is perfect for our family right now though.

I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law. They always help out with babysitting, repairs, and lawn mowing.

I am thankful for our home. We were able to buy a house this year and I just love it.

I am thankful for my friends. I am lucky to have and know them all. I am especially blessed to have a life-long friend in Norma.

I am thankful for wonderful neighbors. This is a blessing I never thought about having.

I could do this all day. I am also sad today. Thanksgiving Day's of past, always meant a family gathering with Gramma. A big lunch with my family and a big dinner with Schaun's. It was hectic and way too much food with two big meals--but I will always miss that feeling. Now Gramma is gone, I will always miss her the most on this day.

With the loss of one tradition, we are going to try and start a new one. We are going to have a big Thanksgiving Breakfast. It was Bridget's idea and I think it is a great one.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends!

1 bird, 2 bird,and 8 birds more!

Let me tell you something about my husband and myself. We both like pets. It is a great thing we both feel this way--there would be problems otherwise. We both grew up with animals around us. Since we have been married we have had more pets than some people will EVER own. Here is the long story of how it happened.

Let me just start with my apartment in Lawrence. My (at the time) soon-to-be husband and I adopted a couple dwarf hamsters, a rabbit, and a lovebird. Well, wait....maybe the lovebird came later. Oh I'm not sure. Anyways.....then we moved into out apartment and we got married. Joining us in this marriage was my cat Ice (that had been living with my mom while I was in Lawrence), the dwarf hamsters, a beta fish, and aquarium of fish, and the lovebird. Around this time we adopted our first dog, Belle and a kitten, Arthur. The rabbit did not join us--he was a miserable pet. Did you know that rabbits can growl? Well, they can my friend.

After a while the fish and hamsters died, then we gave the lovebird away (she wasn't very nice either, but I think that was our fault). A lady that I worked with was going to take her pet Yorkie to the pound because it wet on her new carpet. She owned the dog from puppyhood. It was 5 and she was just going to dump it. I felt bad for it. It was a Yorkie and I knew Schaun thought they were cool. So of course, she came to live with us too. Her name was Belle (just like the first dog) but because of her oily Yorkie hair that didn't get bathed enough, she eventually got re-named Stinky.

Now unless I'm forgetting--Oh! Mice. Let me mention quickly. Quickly because mice should not be pets. They are yucky rodents. There is a VERY funny story associated with the stupid mice and Ice. (Remember Joanne?) We also adopted a leopard gecko. That was sort of cool, but getting the crickets for it was a pain. It did not live a very long time either. Around this time is when Daisy found us. She was the cutest little Dachshund puppy that wondered into our yard. We just let her in and there she stayed.

For a long time we had the 3 dogs and 2 cats. Then something happened to our cat Arthur. Somehow this indoor cat got hepititis and died from it. That was while I was pregnant with Becca. Around that same time, just a few weeks, Stinky's heart gave out and she died too.

When Bridget was two we set up an aquarium. We never took great care of the fish tank. Most of the time you could see in it, but the water was never totally clear. When we moved this past March, the water looked like a pond--a dirty pond. You couldn't even see in it. You know what though? There were still a ton of fish still alive in it. A nice teacher came and saved them from us.

We moved into our new house this year with a very old cat and dog, Ice and Belle and Daisy. Ice didn't make it long after our move--she was 18 years old though (and I still miss her a lot). So we were down to just 2 dogs. The girls had been after me to have their own pets. I told them that as long as we had Ice, we couldn't have little critters that she might eat. So after Ice we brought home Freddy and Barney, guinea pigs, along with Lucky and Jinx, gerbils. Shortly after we adopted the girls rodents, we brought Ruby the Golden Retriever home. If ever there was a dog that should be with us--it is Ruby! Then we sadly lost Belle. I think that was in August.

Growing up, I had zebra finches. I loved them and have wanted birds ever since. Ice was a sweet cat. Totally declawed, but she was a hunter. I didn't dare have things she could kill (the pet mice were sitting ducks for her). So a few weeks ago I got some Society finches. I wanted the Zebra finches, but Schaun talked me into the Society's. I brought home 2 from the pet store. Then last week a lady on Craig's list needed to get rid of some Zebra finches. I brought home those 3 birds. The pet store said they couldn't tell what sex the Society finches were. Guess what? They are male and female. Within days of setting them up here, there were eggs in the nest. I thought that I could have 2 females. They will lay unfertilized eggs. Nope--not here. Those eggs started to hatch this week. So far there are 5 baby chicks in there (with 1 eggs not hatched yet). It is pretty cool watching them though. The first one that hatched looks double its size from Monday.

This is not the end of my very long pet story. The lady that I got the 3 Zebra finches from emailed me. The 3 she gave me were 3 out of 4 babies that her original 2 Zebra's had. She kept the 4th one because it was a mutation which is all white. Well, it seems that the parent birds were not being nice to the lonely, left behind sibling. All the sibling birds are happily reunited now in my living room.

The end. For today.

You didn't miss much

Things were pleasantly boring this week. Well, almost. Schaun had some turmoil at his job that almost made me hysterical. Things are (hopefully) fine now though. Cheerleading is over, so running around for that is done. The only event this week was dance for the girls. Dance is much improved this year. Bridget's class is learning more techniques and Becca's teacher really has the little ones excited about starting to learn for the recital.

Oh! I did have a Daisy Scout meeting on Monday. I was not prepared for it. I should have been doing that (preparing) the week before. Which brings me back to thoughts of Gramma.

We had a memorial service for her last Friday (not yesterday). It was a very nice service. Since she didn't want a service at all, we probably made her mad. It helped though, especially Bridget. I was feeling like I reached a stable place in dealing with her being gone--until last night. Now I'm feeling very sad about it again. Maybe it was my mom telling me how she is getting paperwork finalized. I don't know. Maybe it is because we tried to go visit on Saturdays and since school started and things were happening on Saturdays, we didn't go often enough. Now my Saturdays are free again, and she is gone. Regrets.

On the other hand, the Holiday season seems to be here. We are doing a Secret Santa exchange at work. I got my person's name yesterday, and that will be fun. I have pulled out stockings to make for Schaun and me. I don't know if I will have time to finish them, but I will try. I bought a couple presents for the girls last night. Now I need to figure out where I am going to hide things until I wrap them on Christmas Eve. Ha! Maybe I will try to wrap presents earlier this year too!

Velma Barbara Rider

Velma Rider, 90 years young, of Overland Park, passed away on November 3, 2008 at Shawnee Gardens Nursing Home. Velma was born May 18, 1918 in Morristown, NJ to Rose and Herbert Copeman. She married her long-time friend, William E. Rider, settling in KC. Preceding Velma in death was her husband, her parents; her brothers Herb and Russ Copeman. She is survived by daughters Kathleen Tuttle, Overland Park, Barbara (Sam) Sangetta, Olathe; five grandchildren Kerry O'Brien, Kristin Greenwood, Kenton Tuttle, Nick Sangetta and Robin Hedstrom; six great-grandchildren; niece Christine Copeman and nephew, Herb Copeman. A Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, November 7, 2008 at Valley View United Methodist Church, 8412 W. 95th St., Overland Park. Memorial contributions to Wayside Waifs. Velma was a strong, supportive and loving matriarch to our family and will be sorely missed. She always reminded us that "nothing's so bad that it couldn't be worse from the moment you're born 'til you ride in the hearse". So long, we love you. Your family. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.kccremation.com. (Arr: Cremation Society of KS & MO, 913-383- 9888)

They just amaze and amuse me

First, the breaking news..........

In a VERY serious voice--running in the house from the backyard where she was playing--Bridget says "Mommy, I'm serious. I'm tired of my name. I don't want to be called Bridget any more. I want to be called Rosetta....no wait......I want to be Silver Mist."

Ummmmmm, okay. Can you spell that?

There is a book fair going on at Blue River. After we took Bridget to school, Becca and I stopped in to shop. She picked up a book about the Solar System and was looking thru it. It was a cool but technical book with interactive pages. The front of the book had the Sun and the Planets on it--or so I thought. Becca looked at it, then turned it to me and said "Mommy this is wrong. They forgot Pluto."

I looked at what she was showing me, my mouth gaped open in astonishment. First she was right, but HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT? I looked at her (closed my mouth) and told her that she was right, it wasn't there. I then told her that some people think Pluto is a star and not a planet. I don't know where I got that information from. I don't have any idea if that is really true or not, but that is what I said.

She listened to me and then said "No, they forgot it. It IS a planet."

I believer her. If she can tell me that Pluto is missing when she is 4 , she must be right.

Sad, sad times

Yesterday my Gramma passed away. She was such an important part of my life. I will miss her so much. She lived a long life. She turned 90 years old in May. Here is a picture of us from her birthday.

Wishes and ruby slippers

This year for Halloween Bridget was a Dreamy Jeanie and Becca was Dorothy. We had a lot of activities to go to. First was the Daisy Scout party, then Becca's school party, next Bridget's school party, and finally trick or treating! Since I am working at Becca's school there was some pressure for the teachers to be in costume. So I went an easy route and was a scarecrow. This was the first year in our neighborhood and it was nice to stay home and walk where we live. Schaun had a good time too. He stayed home to pass out candy and hot dogs. Yep....hot dogs. He set up a table and his grill and people loved it!

Louisburg Cider Mill

Also last weekend we joined Scott, Tonya, and kids at the Louisburg Cider Mill. We saw more pumpkins there. We ate some cider doughnuts, caramel apples and watched this kids play. The girls were impressed with all the apples going into the Mill to be processed. It was windy, but another fun day.