Mar 17-23

March 17


These pictures are devoted to fun friends.

In the top picture we have Belle
(the glowing one in the middle)
and her tumbling class taking advantage
of the warm weather to play parachute outside.

And below is a group of friends
celebrating mom's favorite's birthday at Red Robin.

We LOVE fun friends!


March 18


This overexposed picture is the only picture from today.

Its serves to show you what we were doing all day.

We are sure loving this warmer weather!


March 19


After three runs across the backyard,
Rex took to the sidewalk on his bike
WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS!!!

He's had the bike for two years,
but in Brazil we only went riding 3 or 4 times.

All it took was a little encouragement, a wrench
(and a rude neighborhood kid)
for him to gain the confidence to balance on two wheels.

Now if we can just get him to keep his helmet on...


March 20


Mom spent ALL DAY scrapbooking at the community center.
That's 12 hours of mad capped scrappin' fun.

She got a lot done in the midst of this mess.
We're sure this will turn into an almost monthly thing.


March 21


Spring has sprung in our backyard.

These beautiful striped purple flowers are
the first of the season to break through.

We can't wait for more of our bulbs to pop up.


March 22


The rain came back,
but that doesn't keep Belle from having fun outside.

Here she is coming back from getting the mail
during a break in the rain.


March 23


Amber FINALLY got her hair cut today.

She looks so tiny.

And not so homeless.

Mar 12-16

March 12


The family went to an international potluck dinner party tonight.

I'm not sure what country sponsored the
chocolate fountain,
but the kids would sure like to live there.


March 13


Builder day at Lowe's made Belle so happy
she danced a jig.

Isn't she cute?!?



March 14


This little big girl is definitely related to her mother.

She LOVES putting together puzzles and had a blast on this
"Disney Dancers"
with over 750 pieces.

She also found an origami book and some paper
and came up with the cute dog.

ALL ON HER OWN.

Who can't love that?


March 15


While driving home, mom likes to point out
that we can see our house from the main road.

Dad doesn't believe it
so mom took a picture today.
(completely stopped at a red light)

"I told you so!"

Oh, and there's lots of birds that like this field.


March 16


The family finished reading the third book
(The Prisoner of Azkaban)
of the Harry Potter series yesterday.

Today they are all glued to the tv watching the movie.

The 4th book has over 700 pages.

This could take a while...

One more thing...

...before we get back to fun pictures.

I went to RiteAid to take advantage of
rebate, sale and coupon combinations
and came upon a little surprise.

RiteAid (at least mine) is getting rid of
their brand of diapers and pull-ups,
or changing their packaging or something like that
because they were all clearanced for 50% off.

Our diaper of choice is the pull-up
and I got all that I could of the right size for
$5 a pack.

I only buy on sale with a coupon,
but this clearance is better than any of that.

Go out and take a look.

What's in a name?

Overheard this afternoon when someone was messing with something that was not theirs:

Mom: "Rex! Belle! What's your name?!?"

Belle: "I'm Leia!"
(in her defense, she was playing with something that belonged to Leia)

We all get confused from time to time.

Especially with these fake names.

FREE* Bowling ALL Summer!!!

I'm pretty sure that only four people read this and only one of them had kids that could bowl, but I feel the need to share FREE stuff from time to time.

This time it is BOWLING!!!

Kids can bowl 2 free games a day, all summer long.

*And by free, I mean you only have to pay for shoes, and it is only certain times each day, but still it is a great deal and costs you nothing until your little kiddo puts those slippery little shoes on.

Go here to sign up in a bowling alley near you!

You can also find information on their Facebook page.

Mar 6-11

March 6


Builder day at the Depot brought us a rain gauge.
Apparently Leia loves hers.

Oh, and while we were there, we weren't the only ones taking pictures.
Feel free to alert me if you see my kids in a Depot ad.



March 7


We were all ready to go to church:
well dressed
great hair
and TOYS?!??

It was weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth
to get these toys to stay home.



March 8


A box arrived in the mail today.
It was in bad shape:
ripped open and very dented.

I'm pretty sure that the reason for the damage was
the contents of the box.

Can you say BOWLING BALL?!?

Since light balls are hard to find at the local bowling alley,
we bought one on eBay for the kids to share.

Perhaps bowling will be our new golf.

Who knows?



March 9


Belle is pretending to be a puppy in Amber's carrier.
It is surprising how close she came to fitting completely inside.



March 10


The last little remnants of snow in the yard are
right next to our garage.

By tomorrow it will all be gone.

And warmer, sunnier days will follow.

Hopefully soon.



March 11

More sun and shine today
(with a tiny bit of rain)

playing with fun friends out in their yard.

Mar 1-5

March 1


We've been working on a project lately
(*see March 3*)
and just noticed the branding on our fashion crochet thread.

Here's to you, Aunt Lydia!
Thanks for the help.


March 2


The girls were hopping around wearing mommy's shoes.
Each had both feet in one of my shoes.

It was like the My Martian Cutie on Sesame Street.

Except that the girls don't "just stand still."

And are MUCH cuter.


March 3


When Disney's Give a day, Get a day program was announced,
we looked to see if there were charities in our area that we could help.

We were excited to see that,
first of all, Rex qualified for service
and secondly, that Project Linus of a nearby county was participating.

Project Linus is an organization that
collects homemade blankets to give to
children who need comfort, support and security
because of their situation.

These blankets can be made on our own time
and it is something that we know how to do.

Today we delivered our finished blankets to the project director.
She is a volunteer who is collecting HUNDREDS of blankets
in her living room, dining room and entry way.

The house was FULL of blankets.

There were ALL kinds of patterns, fabrics and sizes.
The kids loved looking through at all the fun quilts and blankets.
The director said that most of the blankets were going to be sent to Haiti.
Mommy cried because she was so overwhelmed by the
generosity that was displayed
by those mounds of blankets.




March 4


The kids have been excited about the Olympics.
Rex joined in the festivities by creating a snow boarder
and sliding him down the banister.

No fancy boarding tricks, but he looked good.


March 5

No pictures were taken today (BOO!), but we did see A LOT of birds in the sky.

There are two types:
the scattered flocking of the gulls and blackbirds
and the geese who fly in formation.

We thoroughly enjoy spotting the bazillions! of birds in the sky.
(and in our corn field)

Feb 26-28

Feb 26


This is my desk chair.

I love sitting on it.

It is supposed to build your core muscles.

Unless you wedge your feet under the ball
so it doesn't move.

What I don't love is that
I have to chase the kids off of it.

Maybe I should get smaller ones for them.
But, I'm pretty sure it is the size that the find the most fun.


Feb 27


We had people over for dinner tonight.

This is what one section of the basement
looks like after friends come to play.

Too bad they left so late that the kids
couldn't do their nightly cleanup.


Feb 28


The poor puppy got her yearly shots
(for the first time in three years)
yesterday at our local PetCo.

She got a shot in her hind quarters,
another in her shoulder and
some kind of syrum squirted in her nose.

Yuck!

She is apparently in a great deal of pain
because she is just laying around all day today.

She squeals when she is moved
and doesn't want to eat anything.

Poor stinky puppy.
Did I mention that the need for a haircut brought on the shots?

(*update* Amber still treats her hind leg gingerly,
but she's been seen running up the stairs.)

Feb 21-25

Feb 15

Leia likes to go to sleep while holding the puppy.

We used to have to
chase down and grab the puppy
to put her into bed with Leia who
used a death grip
to keep her there.

Today was a break through.

You will notice in this picture that there is
no deathgrip on, nor contact with the puppy.

The kids go to bed at 7 and this picture was taken
at 10:30 when mommy went to bed.

Sweet, sweet, tired and patient puppy.

And that's Tai Chi that Leia is doing with her arms.


Feb 15

Belle has loved watching
"skate dancing"
on the Olympics.

She puts on her "dressups" and

dances around the living room,

keeping eye contact with mommy
to make sure she is paying attention.


Feb 15


Kids eat free Tuesday at Lonestar.

Leia gets the chicken strips and eats half of one strip.

Belle asks for the cheese burger and nuggets and steak.
She usually ends up with the cheese burger and eats half.

Rex gets to eat the left-overs for dinner so he is not left out.

Daddy vacillates between steak and various burgers,
but usually asks for the Sidewinder BBQ sauce on the side.

Mommy ALWAYS gets the garlic medallions with red mashed potatoes.
This has recently started being served on a bed of yummy rice.

Yay for Tuesdays!


Feb 15


At our dentist's office there is a
strawberry shaped toy box
full of mostly "vintage" toys.

Belle has a fun time playing with all the toys.

These toys are from when his kids were little,
around the time that I was little.

AND

They have a Tumble Tower!

This was my FAVORITE thing to play with at friends' houses
(no, I didn't have one).

I can't remember where I played with it,
but I remember its tumbling fun very well.


Feb 15


We had dinner at a normal time
and everyone got dessert
and their jammies on quickly
so we needed something
quiet and fun
to pass the time until beddies.

Puzzles it is!

I put away the puzzles and games
so they don't get ruined or mixed up,
so they hadn't seen these puzzles since Brazil.

The kids had a quiet and peaceful BLAST!

We should have non-stressful bed times more often.

Feb 15-20

Feb 15




Finally done with his awful sickness that slowed him down for
THREE WHOLE DAYS,

Rex put together his
super-duper Power Miner LEGO set.

He is very excited.

The best part is that when you turn the
big green wheel,
the cart is pulled up to the top and then
dumps the crystals into the truck.

And it came with carrots.

Because you need carrots to find those shiny crystals.


Feb 16



My favorite thing about snowing
is when it coats one side of a
completely bare tree.

The pictures never do it justice, but
this tree is just gorgeous.

On the left side
(with the other tree behind)
you can see the awesome contrast.


Feb 17




Apparently there was a
purple shirt memo
that went out before our evening get-together.

I just happened to fit in.

Interesting side note:
The lady on the right has the
same last name as us and
coincidentally has a son and daughter
with the same names as me and my sweetie.

Strange.


Feb 18



This one is hard to see,
but just beyond the road is a line of
grey and brown spots.

They are geese in the field.

A LOT OF GEESE.






This is a UPS truck
stopped at the

post office,

making deliveries.

I even saw the
man in brown
walking in the door.

Hmmm?


Feb 20




Leia is doing the hoola hoop.

SO HAPPILY!

And don't you just LOVE her shirt?

Feb 9-14

Feb 9





Belle walked up to me and says with a totally straight face:

Guess which hand has the straws!
(in the tradition of "where is the coin?")

We played this game for a few rounds with me
feigning stupidity and laughing hysterically.

Then she went behind me for a minute and came back
(obviously empty-handed)
and asked again.

She had tricked me by placing them on the counter behind me.

Silly little girl!


Feb 10




This is the day of the
BIG STORM.

The poor puppy DID NOT want to go out,
but eventually had no choice.

She returned (quickly) with
balls of snow
stuck in her long fur.

I'm torn between letting her keep her long winter coat and helping her look more respectable
(and smelling better)
by getting her hair cut.


Feb 11




Happy 8th Birthday, Rex!

Rex and his buddy were sitting at the counter
drawing
and
narrating

each of their stories to eachother with sound effects and all.


Feb 12




Belle has a look of complete happiness and fun on her face!

She loves her fun friend!

This picture was preceeded less than ten minutes earlier with

weeping and wailing

because Belle didn't want to give anyone else a turn on the
Sit N Spin.

The ABC song cured that and then
they came up with their own solution by
spinning together.


Feb 13




My sweetie got home from his trip to Chile today.

I got to leave the house after a
week of sicknesses and snowstorms.

This is our gourmet celebratory dinner of
Chinese noodles and sushi.

We even broke out the chopsticks
and fun little dishes.

Mmm.


Feb 14




After our time in Minnesota, we learned that grilling can be done in any weather.

We love using the grill,
even in the snow.

Here is my sweetie digging out a path in the 18+ inches of snow on the deck.

If you look closely, you can see that Amber is trying to catch the snow being thrown off the shovel.

This gets her in trouble sometimes when she is too close,
but she LOVES catching snow.