first day

Today was the first day of school. I have a couple of pictures that maybe I can post tomorrow. Right now, I am about to shower and maybe be in bed before 11!

Eli is in Ms. Laura's room. 8 boys and 2 girls!!!!!!!!!! We have been praying for her every night and I say constant prayers all day long! Bless her heart. I did get an email today that said Eli was having a great day and was the life of the party. Oh boy!

Claire walked up to Ms. Merry's like she was there yesterday! Pushed Keith out the door and that was that! She was so upset this morning when I left with Eli and not her. It was sad - I hope she figures out the routine soon. I did NOT like that!

I spent my day doing paperwork and going through Due Process folders. Wow - my caseload is full full full! Gonna be a busy year, but I think a great one!

Keith has been having band for almost a month now, so same old same old. He did see some beginners today. Praying for an exciting and wonderful year for the Pioneer Band!

Good Night!

Oh yeah....

He so wanted to be brave enough to jump off the diving board. Even with the promise of a Target toy, he just couldn't muster up the courage. Soon enough!

So, we modified and adjusted!

Practicing for Halloween

This summer, we ran across a Memphis Tigers cheerleading uniform in 2T at Cracker Barrel (In Memphis, of course). Perfect for Halloween - if it still fits! We tried it on and the top is a little big - but the skirt is perfect for now. She's not growing tons, but you never know when a growth spurt will hit. It would be nice not to have to find a costume. We'd love to find Eli a football uniform for the Tigers, but I've looked everywhere and can't seem to find one. We may have to be a house divided.

Of course, Claire HAD to try on what Eli was wearing. Funny....he didn't feel the need to put the cheerleading skirt on :P


Go team!!!!

This is the favorite spot for both of them to play. If you don't pay attention, it's the first place they both go - whether they have play clothes or not. And that dirt? It totally stains. Tried everything! But, we have yucky clothes and they have a blast!!!

Catch up posts - maybe not even in the right order

Several weeks ago, we were able to finally go swimming at Lisa's! Eli and Claire were so excited to go see Lisa (Sisa - as Claire calls her) and get to swim. Well, Claire's idea of swimming is sitting on the edge and splash her feet and Eli's is to stand in the shallow for a few hours until he warms up to the water - you know, right before we get ready to leave! But, they both have a blast.

"I can't smile mom, the sun is too bright!"

Vacation Bible School 2009 - I signed up to help with Registration and Records keeping. Someone has to count all the kids, right? There was a class for Eli and Claire could go since I was working. She was in the 2 year old class and did fabulously! She even made a few little VBS projects. Love the foam boomerang!

Eli was sick the last day - so I never saw his crafts. Oh well. I just thought about that - weeks later! He woke up in the middle of the night on Thursday night - burning up. He ran 102ish all day Friday, so I'm glad that we did decide to stay home. By Friday night, though, he was back to normal. All he did Friday was sit on the couch and watch Backyardigans. I stopped counting at 17 episodes. I think there was a Word World thrown in there maybe. At one point, he looked at me and said, "I feel so bad I can't even run". Wow - that's pretty crummy for my sweet boy!

I hated that we missed the last day - parents day and the hot dog cookout, but I think they had fun the rest of the week.

So, this weekend was the White River Water Carnival. Summer is over. Keith always has one week of band before the parade, so we missed ABA this year. I was sad b/c for the last few years, it's sort of been a little break where we can hang out with some friends and go out to eat etc.. I always get a little shopping in.

I have pictures from the Carnival and probably some other things, but the camera is in the car so maybe tomorrow. Eli and Claire are going camping with Memaw, Papaw, and their church. They always go at the end of the summer. I'm sure they'll have a great time. Not sure how long either one of them will stay, but we'll see. Hopefully I'll get a couple of days to work in my room and get stuff ready at home for a yard sale this weekend. Keith and I are going to Branson weekend after next - right before school starts to shop and have a mini vacation, so some spending money will be good. Plus, we need to get rid of some junk and it's always nice to get rid of junk and get a little money.

Keith had band practice last week. This year's show is music from The Who. The kids seems excited about it and Keith really likes the music, so I'm looking forward to this year being a great year. Busy as always, but great!

Fair 2009

Eli looks forward to the Independence Co. Fair every year. He talks about it quite a bit, for something we go to one time a year - so make that 3 times in his entire life! When we were telling him about Disney World this spring, he asked, "Is Disney World as big as the fair?" So, it's safe to say that the fair may make his year!

Claire was tiny last year and spent most of the time asleep in her stroller. This year, I pushed around an empty stroller with all our junk in it.

She wouldn't sit in the seat.

She was very proud of this balloon but we had to get creative with where to tie it on to her. I knew she would hate it, but I couldn't stand the idea of her letting go and having to watch it float away. She was upset enough when she saw one that another child lost. I tied it to her shoe, to the back of her shirt on the snap, to the stroller, to the backpack. It did make it through the entire fair - until the ride home. She was holding onto it for dear life in the truck and POP!!!! She didn't quite understand what had happened and kept asking Papaw to get her balloon. It was a little sad. But, she got to help Nonna eat her candy apple when we got home (and 10:30PM!) so all was forgotten.


I love this picture. It totally looks like Eli is imparting some big brother wisdom while cruising town in his bug! Cute!

Maybe we should've put her in the pageant!

Eli had to immediately get back on the train b/c he didn't get to sit in the front and ring the bell the first time!

OK. So these 2 pictures are out of order. It took her forever to chose a frog, but the prize was a no-brainer. And the ball even has a bell in it! Score 1 for Claire! Surprisingly, Eli chose a ball too. And the other choice was an inflatable sword. What's that all about?

Super excited to be on a jet-ski! But, another one that needed a do-over. The bell was broken on this one. He waited in line one go-round and picked out the exact one that had the best buzzer.

I wasn't so keen on the idea of her riding this one at all, but then she had to ride with these bigger girls. I just knew it would turn out bad. I was wrong. She kept doing this weird thing with her head - kind of spinning it around as she went around. We knew she was going to throw up. We were wrong. She did have to look at the older girls laughing and squealing to remind herself that she was having fun - but then she would crack up. Too cute!

She was dying to get on the tilt-a-whirl! She played with her ball instead.

I quit taking pictures b/c she was riding everything. We almost left her at home with Nonna b/c I knew she'd be upset to see Eli get on the rides, but she would scream the first time one moved and that would be that. The other day, she was sitting in the Bob the Builder truck at Walmart, so I stuck a quarter in. Bad idea. But, the fair, she loved!!! It was so much fun. The fair is not really my thing, but definitely worth it for my kids. Just fun to watch them! Counting the days until next year!

Randomness

Sharing a banana split with Eli and Papaw.

Claire sporting her very first pony tail EVER! And, it stayed for almost 20 minutes! Oh so cute!

Eli came home from Memaw and Papaw's house Saturday with a new friend. He was so excited to show me. He also warned me that the frog was pretty smelly and I shouldn't stick my nose too close to the holes on the jar top.

There's a frog in here - Froggy. Very creative!

His new friend. He did a good job letting him go later that day. He was sad, but he did it anyway. Right before bed he told us that he really missed his friend, Froggy. We let Froggy go in the ditch beside our house, hoping he'd jump to the creek out back.

When left alone to her own devices, this is how Claire would leave the house. She heard someone mention the word "go". She thought she was ready.

She insisted on putting all this on and, of course, Nonna obliged. Have they ever met me? There's no bow! LOL

Daddy Time!

Last week, I had a 2 day conference in Little Rock to go to. So, we all went! I had a nice suite at the Embassy and we drove over there on Tuesday afternoon. We ate dinner at Roadhouse Grill - which Claire loved! Hot dogs have become her favorite thing and I saw on tv where they're trying to get them outlawed or something b/c some anti-meat group says they cause cancer. Well, they're still her favorite (for now) and nothing has been proven, so that's what she ate. No bun. "Dog - more dog" she says! She especially loved that there were 3 people who were sung to for their birthdays, b/c at the end of their bday song - you get to shout "yee haw!" Another one of her favorite things to say. They also line dance - and she so wanted to participate in that, too! After dinner, we headed to Babies R Us, Target and of course, Krispy Kreme. YUM!

Wednesday, I went to my conference and Keith and the kids ate breakfast at the hotel. He said he got lots of sympathetic looks from a group of ladies for wrangling 2 kids at a breakfast buffet line! Too funny! Then, they went swimming, but really spent most of the time in the hot tub. Eli has become a hot tub fan this summer. They picked me up for lunch - Mexico Chiquito (I love their salsa) and then headed back to the room for a nap.

That night, we met Keith's parents at Olive Garden for dinner. Keith's mom had flown in from Chicago to Little Rock and the kids hadn't seen her in over a week. They were very excited to see Memaw and Papaw and eat plain spaghetti from the Olive Garden! (but, at least they ate!) They ended up taking Claire home with them, which was fine b/c we all slept a little better. She sleeps like a log at home, but not when we're away. She was still trying to settle down at 12:30 Tuesday night! :O Yeah, fun! Eli chose to stay with us b/c he wanted to swim some more. So, on Thursday, Eli and Daddy got to have time together. They went swimming, to Chuck E Cheese - just to play and didn't even have to stop to eat, picked me up for lunch and then spent the afternoon at the Army Surplus store. Eli was so excited that there were boat motors there, among other things. I'm glad they got to hang out together and especially b/c we got to see that he really hadn't forgotten how to be sweet. Apparently, his sister is the cause of all his issues!!! J/k - but he wasn't as argumentative or sassy when he wasn't competing for attention. Note to self to remember that more often!

Even though I had to go to class for 2 days solid, we had a nice time just getting out for a bit.

Friday, I got to get into my room at my new school. Didn't get tons of work done, but it was nice just to see what I was up against! Lots of cleaning and organizing, as they moved the speech room across the hall. Let the work begin!! School's coming fast. :(

PICTURES!!!!! from the St. Louis Zoo

So, we decided Monday night that we would go to St. Louis on Wednesday. Nothing like a little planning! :P I was checking the weather and noticed that, for July, it was going to be so nice in St. Louis towards the end of the week. It had been SO hot and I knew that heat, our kids, and the zoo probably wouldn't mix. So, we decided to go NOW! And I'm so glad we did. It was perfect. You could not ask for better summer weather.

We drove to St. Louis on Wednesday. I was very proud of ourselves b/c we left much earlier than I ever dreamed we would. We can all be ready to go somewhere and it still takes over an hour - just to get out of the house.

We stopped several times along the way to use the restroom and just to get out of the car. There's a very nice visitor center/rest stop just outside of Corning. The nice lady who worked there gave Eli and Claire their very own books about Arkansas. Claire was so excited to have her own book. We had a snack and juice boxes. Since vacation, Claire only wants to drink a juice box. She loved them!

Here's Eli and Claire right before we got in the car. All smiles! How long will that last, I wonder?

We stayed at a Drury Inn about 3 minutes from the zoo. It was new and really nice. We ate at a Cracker Barrell a ways before St. Louis b/c biscuits sounded good! We all went swimming on Wednesday night and then, where else? To Target! The GPS wasn't working right, but we found it (sort of) and the mall that was right down the road. Of course, there was going to be a plan to head back there!

Eli and Claire when we first got to the zoo. I can't ever get Claire to look at the camera, but Eli always obliges with a big smile!

Sharing this little bitty spot was Daddy's idea. Can you tell Eli's pouting? He was not happy having to share his seat!

Eli in front of the snakes. I've lost my other pictures (accidentally deleted them :( ) but there was this HUGE python. Shudder. It was awful. Claire just kept pointing at it saying "wow" "wow"! Yuck!!

I don't think I've ever seen a real camel. They're so strange looking.

Little baby camel. Eli was sad b/c it only seemed to have one hump. But, when he turned, there were 2 - one was just really little.

The Penguins. It is SO cold in the penguin house. We couldn't get through it fast enough. Maybe if it had been 100 degress outside, but you didn't really need a cold break from the 80s!

My sweeties! Aren't they cute?

Spider Monkey! I wonder if it's the same one from high school?

She was exhausted b/c she NEVER sleeps in her stroller. This lasted for quite a while! I'm not sure how many people told me that we were missing a shoe. It was in the basket. Putting on a shoe is NOT worth waking a sleeping toddler.

Awwwww!!!! This is rare right now.

Taking a break. She had to sit on every bench/chair we passed. She loves to sit!

Looking for the monkeys.

Here we are riding the train.

Cuties!!!!

Eli's counting all the fish he and papaw could catch.

Hippos!! I think this is my very favorite part of this zoo! So cool!!

Somehow, I thought I had saved the pictures on the computer, but then I realized that I hadn't. After I had erased them. So sad. I could just kick myself. There were tons more, but I'm glad I at least have the ones I have.

After the zoo, we found a Macaroni Grill, where the waitress immediately asked us where we lived, just b/c I ordered sweet tea. Crazy people, ordering sweet tea! The kids weren't all that excited to walk around the mall after dinner, but it was nice to goof off. I even found OPI nailpolish at Target! Yay! Keith took Eli swimming when we left the mall, while I got Claire a bath.