September 11th

It's hard to believe that it was a year ago that I typed this. I have no flag to put out this year; it's faded and I won't put out one that I'm not proud of.

I have other things to blog about, but will save them for another day. Today deserves its own post.God Bless America!

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

Last Friday we went to the zoo for a "field trip." Daddy was able to take the day off work and come with us. We had such a nice time! We were able to see everything we wanted to; we weren't rushed; we got to see the dolphin show and an elephant show; we saw a lot of animals; we all got to touch a shark; we saw a purple tongued lizard; it wasn't too hot; we had a picnic lunch; and even had ice cream! It was a good time!

And here are some pictures to prove that we had a good day! Enjoy!

These pictures are in backward chronological order. For some reason, blogger won't let me move them---again!
As part of the zoo admission, we were able to get into the gardens and butterfly house that are next door. The gardens are beautiful! Daddy has actually taped 2 weddings there. The butterfly house was really cool. There were many kinds and colors of butterflies in there. Daddy tried to get a picture but its wings were too fast.

C actually took this picture. Not bad.

Isn't this cute? Wish they were always this love-y.

We took Flat Stanley with us. And we currently have company--meet Flat Grover. He belongs to the sister of a friend. We have traded "Flats." Kinda cool.

This is how tall K is in "hands." We actually measured her the other day and she is 37 inches.

Here is C's measurement in hands. He is actually 47 1/2 inches tall. He will be tall enough for most of the rides at Disney. Whew!

The kids got to touch a cockroach. Now, why in the world they had them to "pet" I'll never know. Where I used to lived, we killed them!! Now granted this was a hissing cockroach (that makes it better?!?!), but I would have no part in it. They can pet away. I stayed far away.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go before Labor Day was the special exhibit going on. They had 2 komodo dragons on loan from the Denver zoo. (A friend's 6 year old was convinced they would be gigantic and fire-breathing). C said later that he thought they would be bigger-like on TV. Reality vs TV. Hmmmm. Thought we had talked about that. For being lizards, I thought they were huge. And they looked really scaly. According to the information, they are very mean to anything, even one of their own--adult or their own off spring.

I thought they were really cool. The 2 that they have are kept separate. It they are together, they will fight to the death.

The kids got to fee the giraffe. $1 for one slice of sweet potato. Oh well. They thought it was cool.

Their tongues are really long and kinda purple in color.

C was pretending the huge snake was attacking him. Crazy boy! I think every time we go to the zoo, we take the kids picture on this snake.

This was meerkat manor. These are funny and interesting animals to watch.

K girl before the dolphin show started.

The zoo has a lot of "statues" of animals all over to take pictures with. Here are 2 cute kiddies and a walrus.

And there you have it. Our fun trip to the zoo.

Seriously?!?!

This might be a long story, but at the end I think most of you will roll your eyes and say "Seriously?"

I have a little boy (J--same age as C) that comes every day after school for one hour until one of his older sisters comes to pick him up. One day this past week, about 20 minutes after he had been here, another boy that I didn't recognize, showed up at my front door.

I went to the door and said Hi and Can I help you? "That little boy has the cap to my mechanical pencil and I need it or my eraser will fall off." I asked J if he had it. "Yes I found (important word) it on the bus and put it in my book bag." "So get it out and give it to him." He looked and looked and couldn't find it. The boy at the door said (as he was reaching for my door handle) "I'll come in and look for it" Me: "Oh no you won't." (seriously?) So I told him that if he had an issue with it that he could go to J's house later and talk with J's mom. I was not getting in the middle of this. "When does she get home? And where is his home?" I didn't tell him either. If he doesn't know where he lives, I'm not going to be responsible for giving out that information!

He finally left. After he was gone, J found the cap and put it where he could find it the next day to give to this boy.

About 20 minutes later, here comes this boy to my door again---WITH.HIS. MOTHER! Seriously? She had driven him over to my house--TO GET HIS PENCIL CAP! Again, seriously? So J gave it to the boy. And here was the mom's explanation. "I'm so glad he got it back. He has been bugging me all afternoon about this. He's never had anything stolen from him before and he felt violated." Seriously? It was a PENCIL CAP! If that would have been my kid, I would have said GET OVER IT!

As she was leaving, she said "so what's his name?" I very quickly said "He's not my little guy. I'm just the babysitter." In other words, LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS. Her answer "Oh."

One more time, SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

Elianna is here!

She was born today at 6:44 pm. Everyone is great! Details will follow later (when I get them all). Congrats Sissy and Uncle C!
UPDATE: She was 7 pounds 14 ounces. That's the only update I have right now.

But I'm not a big girl...........

Saturday night we decided to take the side off of K's crib. This then turns it into a "big girl bed." Kinda. It's still just her crib, minus one side (remember that). She's been talking about a big girl bed, so we thought she was ready. Apparently not.

Daddy and I went upstairs to take it off while the kids were downstairs playing. We called her up to see it and she was excited for about 2 minutes. Then the tears started. "But I'm not a big girl." as she held her hands out. It took me a minute to figure it out, but I think she was afraid she would fall out. "That bed is too big for me." Remember, still basically her crib. So we put a storage tub next to her bed with a blanket on it so if she did roll, she wouldn't roll onto the floor. (Later she did fall out, but only because she was goofing around on the bed. HINT: don't goof around!)

It was an evening of trying to convince her and then I gave up. "Too bad. You are sleeping in it." I did give in to her please of "stay with me" and stayed in the room with her for a few minutes after the lights were out. I don't think she likes change.

Next morning she was so proud of that bed. Now her attitude is totally different. I am to stand at the door while she gets in bed-by herself- and say goodnight there (good try girlie). She keeps saying she's the "mom" and doesn't need any help. She doesn't even want me to sing to her at night. (again, good try girlie) She now sings to me first and then I sing to her. I also am not allowed to go into her room to get her up. I am to stand at the door and tell her "you can get up now." and out she comes by herself (again, good try girlie).

She's done pretty good about staying in bed when it's nap/bedtime. Only once since then has she gotten out (she's played in bed, but she was doing that before we took the side off). The one time she got out, I caught her standing on her bed with her dress up shoes on, bracelets on each arm and her crown on. I DON'T THINK SO!

So here is my "big girl" We are planning on looking for a "real" bed once we get back from Disney. I'd like a trundle bed, but we'll see.

For some reason, blogger won't let me move my pictures to the bottom where I want them. Frustrating, but oh well.