Belated Christmas Updates

I'm so impressed with those who have already gotten some Christmas update pictures on their blogs! I won't try to do Christmas morning pictures yet - just share some family time gatherings before Christmas.

I'll start with a picture of much darlingness - Audrey girl. Or, as Poodle says, "my cousin Baby Audrey". The stars aligned, and all of my siblings were able to be at my mom and dad's house on Christmas Eve Eve. (Dec. 23, for the numerical sort). We're quite a crowd!



Back row standing - Jmk
Next row - David, Jerra, Robert, Leslie, Granny, Poodle, Mom, Dad
Seated row - Jaime, Audrey, me, Tooter

I was "that person". Made everyone gather in a spot, and then kept using the timer feature on the camera to get a group shot. Yep - I kept hopping up and down like crazed person in order to get myself in the shot. So sad! ha!




On Christmas Eve, we all went over to SueSue's house. And by all, I mean ALL!!! I got this picture taken towards the end of the evening, but here's a list of those who were there, but had already left at the time of the photoshoot: Chuck, Stephini (okay, they weren't gone. They were taking the pictures!), Amy, Jay, Ken, GrandCandy, Brennan, Robert, Megan, and Maggie Belle! (MB would be R&M's cute little bulldog puppy).

This picture shows SueSue, Poodle, Toot, me, and Jmk. If we look stuffed, it's because we were. MAN, SueSue had a full-on spread of the yummiest party food!




Grandmother was also there, so I was able to nab a shot of her with Poodle, Jmk, and Tooter. I have to give a BIG thank you to all who came to SueSue's, because they were doing it so as to see the kids, since we weren't going to be going to Grandmother's house the next day. THANK YOU, y'all, for going out of your way to make us feel so special.


Thankfully, we were able to stay home all day on Christmas day. (And I say thankfully, because, unfortunately, both kids were sick by then. Not sick enough to not be able to enjoy the day, but pretty low on energy. Chest cold junk).

SueSue and Amy were able to come by and see the kids bright and early on Christmas morning, and my folks and sister came by later on Christmas Day. It was a wonderful, wonderful day. I'll post pictures as soon as I can!

Merry Merry and Happy Happy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

And all of our best wishes for 2008!!!

Catching up with the times

I have finally attended my first Cookie Swap party! First, I need to say that any party that sends you home with 5 or 6 dozen different kinds of cookies is a good thing. :-) It was last Saturday, at my friend Amy's house, and kids were invited and welcome. In fact, Amy even had cookies ready for the kids to decorate. They had a blast. I got to meet some sweet women, and we had loads of cookies at the end of it. (All with some kind of chocolate involved. Woohoo!)






This is a picture of Toot and my godson, John David, playing in Amy's front yard. John David was pouring leaves on Tooter's head, and the latter thought it was High-larious. The crunch crunch crunch of the leaves made for some inspired jumping around!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

A little Christmas music for those who need some creativity for the last big weekend before Christmas Day! Big hat tip to Jerra for this one. It is a HOOT!!!

Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy!

Oh, y'all, this is so sweet. This young man is just a sweetheart. It's about 2 1/2 minutes, when you get a chance.

Wet Jingle Bells

Last Wednesday, at swimming, (which also happened to be the last class for a few weeks), the kids donned Santa hats, and turned to the mommies in the waiting room and sang Jingle Bells. It was cute. We couldn't actually hear them, but being the brilliant women we are ::ahem::, we figured it out. From left to right: Noah, Poodle, Brooke, William. The Fearsome Four!

Food for Thought

Yesterday, my dad and I were watching Toot play with some other kids in the lobby of the church after lunch was finished. I made a comment about how the blue in his sweater didn't match the blue in his pants. I really wasn't consumed with it or anything; it was more of a "huh - I didn't get that exactly right this morning, did I?" kind of moment.

Then Dad said something that I had to chew on a little bit. He said "Quit thinking about it. Thinking about it is first step to worrying about it".

Mm-hmm. This is one of those phrases that's going to go in the "say it to myself as often as necessary" pile.

Heartburn Free Tree

Hat tip to Rhonda for the idea to share this post. She talked about their family's necessary Christmas tree modifications due to their 4 year old and 1 year old. So, I thought I'd share our modifications this year also!

We went to Hobby Lobby, bought about $30 worth of flowers (everything was 50% off), cut the stems off, and put them everywhere. Red poinsettias, yellow roses, and pink'ish roses (because Poodle was there with me when we bought them). Poodle helped put them on - I just did the tippy top ones. After that, all the decorations have been of her own making! Pictures of princesses, cotton ball snowmen, colored shapes, etc. Yesterday, she decorated with pencils and pens! I figure we'll continue to have decorations added until the tree comes down. And that is just fine with me. I have absolutely no cares where the decorations are hung, nor where they end up. I have no worries about where Toot's little hands are. It has been so easy this year!

The only hiccup was when I looked into the "regular" ornament drawers trying to find the hangers, and laid eyes on the ones of years past. I had a momentary twang, but it was quieted quickly when I came in and saw Poodle's rendition of Snow White. It's a beautiful tree. It will never make it into a Southern Living magazine, but it's a beautiful tree!

I have neither disappeared...

...nor gone on vacation. I promise I will post again one of these days. Right after the to-do list isn't tapping its gnarly little fingers on the table beside me every time I sit down to do something fun. Like writing a post.

Every year I say I'm going to slow down during the Christmas season, because everything else forces me to speed up. And yet, every year, I agree to go to one more event, and take on one more job. And amongst all this, my little ones just want me to play outside and go for a walk and build another lego castle. And too often I have to say "not right now, Mommy's busy". They get frantic, I don't feel like I'm doing anything to my best ability, and my stress level is through the roof.

It's ridiculous. I chose to be a SAHM for very specific reasons, and I can't seem to keep my eyes focused on those reasons. They are so fuzzy, so much of the time.

I need some Peace on Earth in the home right now. Can I get an amen?

She without arm, he without leg - ballet - Hand in Hand

I do hope you will take the time to go see this - it is moving in so many ways. I will not elaborate because the effect is going to be different for each person. It is strikingly beautiful, and you may need a tissue. I did.

And, fwiw, the technique is spot on.

Nutcracker Time!

I haven't even gotten pictures of Thanksgiving up yet, and here I am posting Nutcracker pictures. KD, you've got my back on this one, right? ::wink::

MooMoo, Poodle and I went last weekend to a Saturday matinee performance with the Ms. Metro school. It was fantastic! I was really impressed with the dancers, the way they were able to make a tiny stage work for a full cast, the bang-up organization of the moms who had several fund-raisers running seamlessly at the same time. Some of the staging wasn't on my favorite list, BUT, I'm partial to Miss Jozia's adaptation of the choreography. Especially now. Anyway - it was still good despite my sentimental preferences. They had Dr. Drosselmeir behave as a bit of a fop and a dandy with a strong preference for adult beverages... which is fine, and can be humorous. But, I'm used to seeing him as a magical sort of fellow - sometimes with a strong preference for the ladies. If you know what I mean!!! Hmm? Hmm? I just don't like the dandy portrayal. It's too..... Oh, I don't know. Not mystical and magical enough. For me. I'm not the end-all-be-all of dance critique.

Overall - I really enjoyed it. The college students they brought home to dance Snow and Sugar Plum were beautiful!!! And it's obvious that this dance school is giving good instruction and proper technique. They're also getting excellent performance experience.

As much as I appreciated last year's "Nutcracker", I was more comfortable with this year's performance. And we had a wonderful time!!! Plus, Jmk got to be in the woods and GaGa watched Toot at the house, so everyone was having a good time. :-)

And, for those who didn't know, according to Poodle, Snow Queen is apparently Snow White's mommy. ::wink::





This is a picture of Poodle as the curtain was coming up. It doesn't do justice to the wonder that was actually in her eyes.














This lovely girl was one of the Flowers from Act 2. Poodle was quite pleased to get to talk to her.

















They had these life-sized Nutcrackers outside the door to the auditorium where the performance was being held. Poodle got a little lovin' in before we left!

Living Near Family

The past couple of days has been a wonderful reminder to me of how precious it is (and what a gift it is) to be able to live near family. Wednesday, SueSue was able to come surprise the kids at Poodle's swimming lesson - and that is always such a treat to be able to see her "for no reason" in the middle of the week. Then last night, my folks came and watched the kids while Jmk and I went to his office Christmas party. I'm always able to have such a great, stress-free time when I know the kids are happy with their "baby-sitter".

It's a blessing. We're lucky.

Anyway - here's a picture that my mom got of us last night before we headed out. The kids were already in their pj's and ready for seepy-time. And Mommy and Daddy were looking forward to an evening out with each other!

Thank you so much to the bunchkins' wonderful grandparents who go the extra mile for them - we love you and we truly appreciate you so much!

Elfin' Around!

Like I didn't have enough to do this morning. :-) Queen of time wastin' - that's me.

Hat tip to a Wren, and to Angela for reminding me about it.

A little fun on a random Tuesday morning, brought to you by OfficeMax and the Zoo!

Continuing the lesson.

Years and years ago (no, I'm not 'fessing up to how many), each Sunday morning, my dad would give each of us a dollar bill right before the handshake at church, so we could put something on the offering table as we shook the preacher's hand. We were little when we started doing it, and somehow he managed to have four $1 bills almost every Sunday morning. Maybe it was a concerted effort between him and Mom... I never knew, and I'm not sure why I never asked. I think I shall make the query.

Anyway, in some way, the repetition of doing that every Sunday morning made it a habit for me - giving to the church. I know that we are instructed to do that by the Scriptures, and I know I've heard about being a responsible church member from the pulpit also. But the habit of it was set in me a long time ago, over a large number of Sundays.

Well, this morning, Jmk handed little Poodle her first dollar bill. And as I watched her put that little piece of paper on the table, my heart was full with a lot of memories and a lot of hope. Thank you, my dear Daddy, for handing out four dollars every Sunday.

Thank you, my precious Jmk, for wanting to do it too.

Got Drama?

I started putting up our Christmas tree this morning, and while it has been a good soldier for the past 8'ish years, it finally met its demise this morning. After getting all the branches situated and fluffed out, the plastic base gave way to a little crack, and the whole thing came tumbling down. (On top of my head - too bad there wasn't a camera watching!)

Poodle, who was a big helper in putting the branches on, was as surprised and upset as only a 4 year old can be. Her over-the-top response?

"Oh no! Now we can't have Christmas!"

lol...... After I quit laughing, it gave me an opportunity to remind her about what the Christmas celebration is about. But, ohhhh, the drama. Oscar material!

Ever have those days?

Where you have a ton of things on the running to-do list, you are busy doing something all day long, but then you get to the end of the day, and you really aren't sure if you actually did ANYthing at all?

I mean, you've done stuff ALL day long, but you can't explain any of it. And you know for sure that you haven't given the kids a fraction of the attention that they wanted from you.

ugh. Had one of those days today. Weird thing is that Jmk had the same kind of day at the office. Here's hoping that tomorrow "feels" better than today did!

Funny Bone

Hat tip to Amy J, a college friend, for this one:

OK, 2 guys walk into a bar..... You'd have thought that after the first guy did it, the second would have ducked.

Ta-da! *smashing cymbals*

Ahem.

The Eyes Have It!

Background info for the post:
As you know, Tooter just turned two. He's a grand two year old, of course, and is a regular little two year old boy in most every sense. His physical abilities have always been right on target. He's a regular kid.

Except for the fact that he's not talking yet.

Now, I've heard all the thoughts on this situation - that he's a boy (they can develop later), he doesn't have to talk because his sister does it all for him (this is true), Einstein didn't talk until he was three (this is actually true - in fact he wasn't fluent in his own language until he was nine), and etc. Thankfully, Toot's grandparents all tell me to quit worrying, and Jmk isn't even a little bit concerned. (Jmk has a stronger faith than me a lot of the time. AND, he's just not a worrier. I respect that about him more than he knows).

And, even though Tooter's pediatrician has called in a referral to an early intervention program for speech therapy, (which we haven't started yet), she only did so because it was necessary to get in before he turns three, in order to access the free services. She feels like he's fine as well - that he's just a "late talker".

But, as you can imagine, when your two year old doesn't even say "ma ma", it can make for not only a long day, but also moments of worry even though you know you're not supposed to be worrying. Toot babbles all the time, and does use my dad's moniker of GaGa without fail. He communicates with us, albeit by pointing, grunting, whining, and using some hand signs. He will say "dah-de" with about 70% accuracy.

But, at a time when the milestone for beginning to speak is 18 months, and at two, a child is putting together crude 2-word sentences.... well, you can imagine that it's difficult for me to always remember that Toot will be fine. That I just need to be patient and wait for the explosion of words to happen.

That is why, when we have little steps forward, it is even more thrilling for me than the normal excitement that a mom feels watching her little one develop new skills.

So - what about the eyes, you ask? Well!!! Tooter has begun pointing to pictures of eyes - on Elmo, on pictures of animals, on pictures of people, etc - and saying..... drum roll please..... "eyes"!!! It is a very slow and deliberate "eyeths", but it is music to my ears. And, I think this is God's gentle way of reminding worry-wort me that I'm not the one-who-runs-things, and that I need to be more patient with the way our Father intends for Toot to develop. Toot isn't saying "mommy", but he says "eyes". Sort of like saying "SEE, Mom? I am going to talk. Eventually. Not right now, but eventually. Wait for me. Don't rush me - it won't help, and we'll all get frustrated in the process".

It's hard to be patient. But I'll sure take my "eyes" right now.

A new cookie recipe

Disclaimer:
I'm not promoting the overuse of adult beverages in any way. This is just so blasted funny, that if you don't laugh while reading it, then you probably need some serious laugh therapy with old Bill Cosby tapes!


Tequila Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup of nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle of Tequila

Sample the Tequila in a large glass to check quality

Take a large bowl, and check the Tequila again, to be sure it is of
the Highest quality. Pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer, Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy
bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.

At this point, it's best to make sure the tequila is still ok, so try
another cup.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit and *&%$ cup off the floor.

Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers,
just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Check the Tequila.

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don't forget to beat off the turn er.
Put the bowl through the window, finish off the booze and make sure to
put the dirty stove in the dishwasher.

CHERRY MISTMAS TO ALL!

A Couple Of Pictures...

...that won't be making the Christmas Card this year.













You'd think she was telling him that his dog ran away instead of merely encouraging him to smile and be happy so that Mommy will quit with the camera already.

Those Kids. A little after Thanksgiving chuckle for everyone.

You know - "Those Kids". The ones that enter conversations like this. "Did you see those kids at the party?" "No, which kids?" "Oh, YOU know, - those kids." "Oooohhhh - yeah. Can you believe those kids?"

Last Friday, my children were "those kids". Grandparent warning: I'm about to talk bad about "Those Who Do No Wrong", so look away! ::wink::

We had a Fall Festival party with the CHEC group on Friday. Let me tell you what, the mom who put this shindig on really goes above and beyond. Umpteen stations/games - crafts, balloon darts, bingo, candy walk, go fish, bobbing for apples, and on and on. Pizza, fruit, munchies, cookies, cupcakes, drinks - it was all fantastic. The other moms all pitched in a little bit, but this was primarily organized and executed by the mom whose house we went to. KUDOS Amy!!!
(Rabbit chasing moment - it reminded me of a birthday party my mom did for me MANY years ago, where she organized a treasure hunt all over the yard and woods behind the house. The preparation involved in the Fall Festival reminded me of that party).

So, anyway, we get there Friday morning. Go into the back yard where everyone was playing. Tooter makes a beeline for the slide, and Poodle is quickly behind him. He slides, she slides, they repeat several times, every one is having a blast. I put my stuff down inside the house, and come back outside. Say hello to a few moms and then Tooter walks in front of a swing-in-use. WHAM! He gets clocked on his head and nose. SPLAT. Down he goes.

I go get him, and a couple of minutes later, blood starts coming from his nose. He's hurting, and I keep trying to wipe the blood, because he's starting to get it everywhere, including his eyelashes. Of course, the wiping doesn't make him feel fabulous, and forGET about putting ice on his nose. Not having that. He then proceeds to cry loudly and with authority for the next 20 minutes. (yeah..... I know he has a bloody nose. But the last 10 minutes of the crying was pretty forced on his part. Drama. Both kids).

Then, Poodle gets a bit confused during the group pictures (not sure what was going on, and Mommy was dealing with Toot), and gets a little pouty. Then, gets pouty again just before lunch. Because I didn't know she wanted me to help her get out of the tire swing. (ugh). We get through the rest of the party (which, may I say again was very well planned), and at this point the kids are both tired, Tooter is way past his nap, and Poodle is wired for sound from all the playing.

Folks are starting to leave, so I grab the 3 coats (it was cold when we left the house, warm when we left the party), my huge "mommy bag" (i.e. a large bag that does double duty as a purse and diaper bag), two of the gift bags and Toot's goody bag. Poodle is carrying her goody bag. Tooter, who has decided he is WAY too old to be carried around is wriggling to get out of my arms that are otherwise overloaded with stuff.

But first! Poodle must go say "bye" to two of the girls still there. Twice. Then she gets distracted by toys in one of the bedrooms, because I got distracted saying goodbye to one mommy. Tooter then proceeds to head into the bathroom to "play".

I get Poodle extracted from the bedroom, and open the door to the bathroom to get Toot, and he's stuffing toilet paper into the toilet. Horrors.
So, I throw down the things that I'm carrying at the moment, drop my keys on the bathroom counter, and rescue the poor toilet from the clogged fate that Tooter intends it to suffer. (Amy, if you read this blog - I apologize for the softball sized soggy mess that I left in your wastebasket!)

I grab Tooter, tell Poodle to follow me NOW, and we start trudging towards the car with my arms full of wiggly Toot and the aformentioned stuff, and an unhappy Poodle whining behind me because I'm making her leave. Mm-hmm. Their behavior was just SO exemplary that day.

We struggle all the way to the van, and I put Toot down to get my keys. Off he runs. A friend is putting her two boys into her car at the same, and I notice the striking difference in the sets of kids. It's hard not to. They are quietly and politely saying good bye to my children and quietly and politely getting into their car without their mother having to even raise an eyebrow. My little ones closely resemble the lemurs from Madascagar. Caffeinated lemurs. (Oy Vey everybody!)

Meanwhile, I'm tearing thru my mommy bag and sweating buckets from the stress with the frantic look of a crazy woman in my eyes. Oh - yeah - back to my escapees. They're all over the yards adjacent to the cars and I can NOT find my keys. My internal language has now reached new lows, and I dump everything on the ground next to the van, kneel down and tell Poodle that if she doesn't follow me quietly and without arguing that..... well - I'm sure I promised some terrible and ominous punishment. Then I go racing to rescue Tooter from his exploring, and we go BACK into the house while I try to find my keys.

Ahhhh. Right. Bathroom. Okay. Wait for little one currently in said bathroom to finish. Go in, get keys, trudge back to the car with a squirmy, whining Tooter still in my arms, and an unhappy (actually just very tired - but she LOOKED unhappy) Poodle following me obediently for the first time that day.

We get into the van, and Tooter is asleep literally 3 1/2 minutes after we leave the house. We only have 8 minutes of a drive home. I think I intermittently fussed at them and fumed the whole way home.

Yep - my kids were THOSE KIDS that day.

But, then, we had an absolutely lovely visit with a couple on Sunday afternoon who brought their brood of four (ages 6,5,3,1.... I think) - and even though mine were sans nap, they played so nicely and were well behaved with children that they had never met before that afternoon.
So, the monkeys redeemed themselves, but I still had to get Friday on record. Commiseration is a good thing. Sort of like chocolate at the end of a long day!

Quick......

Define the word "area" so that a four year old can understand you - without using the word "area".

MAN, was I tongue-tied on that one. My brain needs some exercise!

Why We Love Thanksgiving

Excerpted from a page in Good Housekeeping, November 2007:

"Unlike other holidays, Thanksgiving has no costumes or fireworks, no cards or presents. There's nothing to distract from simple gratitude. We pause to thank God for things we don't often consider: food on the table, a roof over our heads, family. I look at each person seated around our table and feel more grateful than ever."

Mm-hmm. Well said.

I hope you all have a Thanksgiving full of gratitude, full of love, and abounding in God's peace.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOTER!!!

I can not believe you're a two year old wee man today. But here we are..... two years since that precious day you were born.

My heart overflows to be able to look at you and say Happy Birthday to you. Your daddy and I are more blessed then we ever deserved!

Life, Blogs, and Birthdays

I have been trying since Friday to finish a post about the Fall Festival that the kids went to, and I can NOT find time to finish it.

Part of the reason is my wonderful, fabulous dad came and picked up both kids on Saturday, and they played with my wonderful, fabulous parents at their house for most of the day on Saturday.

I honestly can not remember the last time I was away from both kids for that long. (6 hours) Well - probably for the last Junior Miss program. Funny, because I spent most of the time Saturday that the kids were gone working on the choreography for the Fitness routine for the upcoming Junior Miss program, and got it FINISHED. Huge weight off my shoulders. I still need to really learn it, fine-tune it, video it, and get it ready to distribute to the contestants...... BUT, the major choreography is done. I had to tell two friends from Birmingham who were in town that they couldn't come by to visit, but I got it finished! (I still feel bad R&M!)

Sweet Tooter was really quite distressed when GaGa dropped them off and tried to actually leave Toot at home ::gasp:: with his mother. He ran back to the door and grabbed hold of GaGa's neck and held on for dear life. Saying "eeeeee", his non-speaking way of saying "don't go GaGa! You're way more fun than Mommy!" I've never seen either of the kids react that way to someone trying to leave.

Mom, Dad - THANK YOU for that much needed and MUCH appreciated break. I know the kids loved being with you as much as I loved the time to get some things accomplished. It was a sacrifice of time for you, and I appreciate it so much.

Mr. Tooter has a birthday tomorrow - poor thing still hasn't had a proper birthday party because his birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, and he still isn't going to get one this year. But, he's turning two, so he doesn't really know what's going on. Next year, though, we'll have some big fun for him!

Almost there!

Gun season opens this weekend. My DH, although he's doing a good job to hide it, has some serious ants in his pants to get out in the woods early-early on Saturday morning. I thought I'd share some "4-EE Wheel" pictures (as Poodle says) just to keep the excitement brewing.
:-)








For those who are wondering - yes, there is a slightly noticeable "smooshed grass" track in the backyard. But, hey, the kids love the riding.

Small price to pay for excited eyes and giggles.

Deer Season has arrived!

I don't get it.

Facebook, that is.

Okay - I have a facebook page. I got one months ago, when I was fiddling with different ways to share pictures. It turned out to be not-so-convenient because it required sign-in's and all that.

But, in the process, I ended up with a Facebook page.

Then, people found me. Just a few, mind you - and they are all sweet, dear people! So, now I have "friends" on my Facebook page, network, whatever you call it. Each time someone adds me as a friend, I have to okay it or agree to it or whatever it is. In the process, I end up going to see my own page.

And let me tell you - Facebook is a busy place! People are starting to substitute Facebook for email and webpages, etc. It is probably even taking over some blogging time.

I had a local college recruiter tell me that she hardly ever emails her prospective students any more - they almost always communicate by "face'ing" each other.

sigh......

I don't know - maybe it takes less time than email? I know I spent a solid hour last night trying to catch up on old emails and current ones that needed immediate attention. An hour. Think about it - we only get 24 of them in a day, and I spent an entire one last night just on email. Not to mention the time I spent during the day.

Are we any closer than we were before all this techno-communication? I'm sure we are to those who are far away, but with family and close friends?

I don't know..... maybe. I realize I'm being a bit of a silicon valley scrooge - I'm stubborn as can be about cell phone texting! But I still love to see updates of my friends and their kids on their blogs. It's a conundrum for me. My dad has no desire to get a personal email (he gets enough email at work), and I don't blame him a BIT. He has no need to spend an extra hour (or four) of his day answering mail or coming home at night and spending another hour in front of the computer merely talking to people.


Oh, pickles. I'm sure I'll be a lot more laid back about all things virtual when being in front of the computer doesn't drive my kids to distraction. As it is doing at this very moment, I might add. I think it's time to go "Face" with some really short, blond people who haven't been kissed and snuggled NEARLY enough this morning.

And, oh yeah - I'm still on Facebook. But my page gets very dusty in between visits!

Check Ups - Check!

The Zoo Babies had their annual check-ups yesterday. All is well! We got to meet our new pediatrician who took over our retiring pediatrician's patients back in June. And she is lovely! An added bonus is that her eldest daughter who is five has struggled with severe eczema all her life also (and still has problems), so Dr. P understands the struggle that we're having with Tooter.

It's nice to have someone with a true sympathy for the daily frustration and battle.

All their lab work came back "perfect", and they are growing like the little flowers that they are. ::awwwww:: ;-)

In all seriousness, though, everything is on track - and we give all the glory to God for their good health!

To Our Veterans Everywhere

Thank you for your service and your loyalty. For your bravery and your sacrifice.

We always want them home, but we always need them there. THANK YOU!

You're looking for what?

So, last night, we went over to Patty and Rodney's house for an impromptu burger grilling. Patty and I have ideas of getting all the kids familiar with each other so that there could be some possible date night trading some time in the future.

The kids have "eaten" (Grace was the only one to actually finish anything at all), and the grown-ups are sitting in the kitchen enjoying some great burgers et al, and Poodle comes buzzing through the kitchen with an I'm-on-a-mission look in her eyes. And she let's us all know:
"I'm looking for my diarrhea".

Excuse me?

The four of us are laughing, she has NO idea what is so terribly funny, and I get the impression from her that she thinks we're all a bit looney.

I tell her to let me know when she finds it, because let's face it, I'm really curious to see what poor object has been renamed diarrhea.

She scoots around a corner, bends over and picks up the missing object, and declares with pride "I found it!"

Poor Grace's flower-adorned DIARY is the recipient of this unfortunate nickname, and I dare say Poodle may never live it down.

Happy Birthday MooMoo!!!

We love you!!! And hope that you have a wonderful day today!

Since our schedule cleared...

I thought I'd post this picture from Robert's birthday dinner last week! We went to a local Indian restaurant, and we all got to try some fantastic food that we had never had before. It's one of Robert's favorite places, and I can understand why. Super nice. They were really accommodating of the kids, too.

This was supposed to be a picture just of Robert, Jaime, and Baby Audrey - but as you can see, Poodle didn't want them to feel lonely. ::ahem::

Now, as to why our schedule cleared today. Poodle had a bit of an upset tummy last night. Threw up about 30 minutes after she went to bed - but, didn't run any fever at all, and hasn't thrown up since. I feel like she just ate something that disagreed with her (maybe too many cashews yesterday afternoon!), but just in case, I decided to keep them home from our community service project this morning with the CHEC group. I think there is a bit of a tummy bug going around, and in the slim chance that she did have it, I didn't want to pass it on to anyone else. We were supposed to help them stuff goody bags for their big fundraiser this weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to go back soon!

Treat or Trick - 2007

The Zoo Babies getting ready to Trick or Treat this year!

Poodle was a ballerina. (I swear - totally her idea. Absolutely no help, hints, or nudges from me at all. She even put together her own costume!)

Tooter..... okay. Long story. lol.... See, he WAS just going to ride in the stroller. Let's face it - trick or treating at not quite 2 years old is more for the parents than the kids. But, this was Poodle's first year to go ToT'ing, and she was so excited, and she just felt like Toot HAD to be dressed up as something. And then I found this old (and too small) costume in the back of his closet that MooMoo had bought last year just for a dress up thing for funsies..... and, well, one thing led to another - and by the time Jmk got home from work on Halloween day, Toot was officially declared a Manny Bug! (No, he was NOT a Lady Bug. He was a Manny Bug).

So, anyway, the kids went ToT'ing for the first time ever, and were home before dark, and managed to be in bed only about 30 minutes past their regular bed time. It was a lot of fun, and Poodle was SO proud of herself. When she finished her first house, her exact words were "I did it!!!" And she was laughing and skipping and having the best time. It was so fun! And she keeps talking about all her "nice neighbors". I think Jmk and I had a pretty good time too.

Poodle was really excited about getting to go this year! I think she was a little nervous, but was SO proud of herself after she got thru with the first house! I'll hopefully get October pictures up sometime this week so you can see more of her escapades.

This would be arabesque a' la babyballerina for those playing at home.

The trick or treaters at work.

Actually, this is the only house where we let Toot go to the door. We know Mr. Sammy well enough that if Toot had beebopped into his house, we wouldn't have been completely embarrassed.

For MooMoo & GaGa

All the little ballerina pictures must have you reminiscing. I thought you'd enjoy seeing this. (Click on the picture to see a bigger image, if you need to).

:-)

Website Update

Good afternoon!

I've got pictures up from September and from Poodle's birthday. Website address is described above. Happy Friday!!!

I'm jealous.

Okay, see, some 7'ish years ago, my mom gave each of her munchkins the complete set of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. For whatever reason, I never got around to reading them.

Well, I just did.

First, let me say that these books are so wonderful!!! I am really looking forward to my kids reading them. Almost as much as I'm looking forward to Poodle reading the Anne of Green Gables series. No.... I think just as much! Anyway, they are just great, and being able to read all of them - not just The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - has been SO much fun. Even if I am "30'something".

Now, the whole jealousy thing. I am jealous. Of little Lucy. Queen Lucy. Specifically, the relationship that she has with Aslan. Obviously, she is an example of the type of relationship - the type of overwhelming, all encompassing relationship - that we can have with our Lord, Christ. One where the mere mention of His name brings swelling love into our hearts, and we become fully distracted trying to seek Him.

Oh, I became so aware of the utter lukewarm'ness of my faith and my feelings. I told Jmk about how I was feeling somewhere around Prince Caspian, and he totally knew what I was talking about.

I need to be walking closer in my daily life and I need to be less adult and more childlike in my faith in order to love Him more. The love that brings joy and true happiness. Lucy-love!

Happy Birthday Amy!!!

We love you!!!

(And Happy Halloween to the rest of you boring normal people who don't get to have your birthday today. ::wink:: )

AND - Happy Birthday Robert!!!

We love you!

God designs the children.

For the past week or so, I went through a mommy-burnout slump. It's something I'm sure all parents go through every once in a while, but the stay-at-home variety (for those who deal with burnout), tend to have a more dramatic time coming out of it. Mostly because, as you can imagine, there is no break from what is "causing" the burnout. One can't take a vacation day.

ANYway, (and I wasn't fishing for sympathy there, I promise!) during said burnout, I wasn't the most pleasant thing my children have ever seen. My fuse was short, my ability to remember to pray for patience was apparently on the blink, and my aptitude for understanding fell quite short of acceptable levels.

Oh, for the sake of pete. I was a BEAR. An absolute bear.

So, anyway, yesterday, I got to leave for a couple of hours for a Junior Miss meeting. Tooter (who usually doesn't do this) got a bit distraught that I left, and according to Jmk, never really got happy about the idea of my being gone. And today, he has been quite the velcro baby.

My point, you ask? (What - you can't tell from my disjointed story?) If they were adults, and I had spent the past week being.... well, the way I was being.... I doubt either one of them would have wanted much to do with me. But our Father doesn't create tiny adults. He makes children who are loving and forgiving no matter what. WE're the ones who turn these precious little things into, well, adults. Tooter wasn't happy about my leaving for a couple of hours last night, even though I haven't been a model mom lately. Even though.

God is the author of Even Though. You've probably heard it called Grace and Mercy.

Truly Delightful Movie

Miss Potter starring Rene'e Zellwegger and Ewan McGregor

If you haven't seen this movie, or if you're like me and didn't know the movie existed until you saw it recommended on someone else's blog (hat tip to The Beehive!), then you have missed a wonderful treat. Put it on your list, and get it delivered asap. It's wonderful, it will make you smile and laugh and feel good and cry a little bit too.

AND, since I didn't know anything about Beatrix Potter's life, it was so interesting to me too.

Big double thumbs up from the Zoo!

Dirt dirt dirt.

What's better than being an almost two year old boy and having an entire truck full of DIRT to play with?











Jmk was spreading topsoil in the bare spots in the backyard, so as to spread some rye seed for the winter. Hopefully cut down on the muddy spots - and the kids got to "help". Poodle felt so grown-up.... But Tooter just thought it was the coolest thing in the world that he could play in the dirt with absolutely NO comments from Mommy!

Our Trip to the Fire Station

I hate to bump the pictures of Jmk's mom's fantastic work, but I promised to get these posted.

Since our trip to the Canton Corn Maze was canceled today due to inclement weather, I feel that I just ought to get the pictures posted from our field trip last week!

Some of the kids from the CHEC group met up at a local Fire Station to learn and have fun. It was a little advanced for my munchkins - Toot was mostly irritated that I wouldn't let him out of the stroller, and Poodle got lost in some of the technical talk. BUT, overall it was a good trip AND was fun for all the kids. Some of us stayed and enjoyed a picnic in the park afterwards and the kids got to play and get dirty. The moms mostly sweated. It was H-O-T hot that day!

This first picture shows a really smart thing that the fire fighters did for the kids. One of the men dressed out completely in all his gear, mask included. Their purpose was to let the kids know that if they are ever in trouble (God forbid), they should not be scared of someone dressed like this. Pretty good idea! They also let us hear the automatic siren that is activated when a firefighter is motionless for more that a minute. Eerie sound. They told us that if we were to ever hear footage (not see, hear) from 9-11, we would hear these sirens going off from the rubble of the Towers. It was a clarifying moment for us.

One of the really neat things they did for the kids was raise the ladder on their ladder truck, and then one of the firemen climbed to the very top of it.

You should have seen some of the kids' faces - they were captivated!

Watching the kids watching the fireman climb the ladder. That was the most quiet they were the whole day. Not counting the oooh's and aaah's, of course.

The equally amazed Poodle.

THEN - each child got to climb up in the truck for a brief minute. Of course - this was prime photo op time! Tooter was mostly glad to be out of the stroller for a minute, I'm sure.

lol... Okay. Let me explain. She had already had her turn, and had put on my sunglasses while she waited and watched the other kids. Tooter was one of the last kids, and as I was getting him back into his stroller (I think - or maybe just wrestling with him), she "charmed" the fireman into letting her get back up into the truck. Charmed, pestered. Potato, potahto.

They were really kind to these kids!

Their tour was completed by getting to hold a real fire hose that had been charged - and they got to turn the water on and off! I wasn't able to get Tooter up there to do the hose - he had reached his breaking point after being in the stroller for most of the hour and a half that we were there. We had to get to the swingset and we had to get there on the double.

It was a great trip - I was glad we were able to go!

I have to brag . . . . . .

So, a couple of weeks ago, Mom told me she had decided to rip up the carpet downstairs and stain the concrete. To which I replied, "um....okay?" I asked her who she was going to get to do it and she told me she was. To which I replied, "ummmmmm......ooooooookay??"

Next thing I know I'm getting phone calls about how to get nails out of concrete.........didn't matter my answer, because she figured out her own way to do it.

Next she's telling me about the pry bar she bought at Home Depot, and the acid wash, the this and the that........anyway, long story short, we went over to see her handy work this weekend and it looks outstanding!



View from under the stairs.................(and Poodle holding court)


View from the landing inside the front door........(with Stinker rounding the corner)


View from kitchen into living/dining area........


I can't express enough how good this floor looks. As a weekend warrior myself, I've put together more than my fair share of projects that one could examine and quickly deduce that I did them. But this floor looks professional. Mom not only took the bull by the horns, she wrestled it to the ground, gutted it and grilled her own T-bone. (and yes I threw out the "g" word for her benefit.)

I've got a ton more pictures and I could literally go on and on about how this looks. But I won't. Because I need to save the blog space. Because apparently, she's only getting warmed up . . .

Author of Peace

After a weekend where I didn't feel like I got anything accomplished (I may have, but I don't feel like I did, you know?), and it being Monday when the kids are always a little weird because they are decompressing from the weekend, and with a really messy house, and a to-do list that was long and growing - I was..... out-of-sorts this morning. No, let's call a spade a spade. I have lost my cool with the kids multiple times this morning already. It has taken me all morning to pay bills, I'm only halfway thru with getting "the bed" washed, (I'm doing everything on our bed today - sheets, bedspread, extra blankets, and the mattress pad that takes a minimum of two cycles to dry. This is the type of day that Jmk could probably talk me into one of those washing machines that does "17 pairs of jeans at one time" or whatever it is), and I've got so many things swimming in my mind, that even my to-do list isn't helping me stay focused, like it usually does.

I guess you can tell that I'm in a state right now.

Well, in the middle of all this, when I was close to absolutely breaking down, I get an email from dear Sister Patty, a sweet church friend. I was waiting on an email from the mortgage company to get a blasted access code so I could log onto our account, and instead, the Lord blessed me with something that I needed to see and read.
I don't need to be on here blogging right now, but one of you out there may need this as much as I did. There's a reason that my messy house is breaking me down - because there is no peace in cluttered countertops and junk-filled floors.

I hope you get the comfort from this that I did:

O Lord, You are not the author of confusion

And that is what I feel today.

This home that You have blessed me with

Overwhelms me with its abundance.

As I skirt around misplaced objects and clothes

I find myself sinking into despair.

Though my cup runneth over I feel no peace

For there is no order here.

O Lord, You are not the author of confusion

For You are orderly and perfect and just.

Grant me the strength to find my way back to peace

To find enjoyment in Your provision and my orderliness .

I have not been careful with my time and I now reap

The rewards of idleness and lack of planning.

Help me redeem my time and reclaim my home,

That I may serve You and my family better.

O Lord, You are not the author of confusion,

Help me to discern those possessions that are truly needful

And dispense of that which is robbing me of my joy.

For having too much is as much a curse as having too little-

This anguish of soul and spirit still causes me grief the same.

Teach me Lord to be content with sufficient for each day,

For by freeing my heart of this burden of over abundance,

I will make more room in it for You.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks 2005

'For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.'
1 Corinthians 14:33

Well, this explains a lot!

I've always loved the look of pearls, and an article in the recent Southern Living just clued me in to what MUST be the reason.

I can't find a link to the direct article in SL, but this article explains it pretty well too.

The basic gist of the article, for me:
Although only one-tenth of one percent of the world's cultured pearls come from their waters, approximately 90% of all cultured pearls begin with a mother-of-pearl nucleus taken from the shell of a Tennessee mussel.


There's a little Southern charm in most all of those pearls, girls! A little bit of Dixie inside each lovely jewel. That's why we ALL need a few strands. ::vbg::

For Jmk.....

...to remember in those later years when Poodle dares to bring a boy to meet her Daddy.....

I just lit a candle, and was letting her blow out the match. She pretended it was a birthday candle and here was her wish:

"I wish, I wish - to love my fahther fo-ever and ever!"

Honey, you'll always be her first love. :-)

Overhead in the Park.....

Woman #1 (with more fashion than sense): What in the world are those women doing wearing flip-flops? Don't they know it's October?

Woman #2 (with more patience than me): But it's October in (insert our state of residence here). It's too hot for anything else!

Kudos my dear!!! Comfort and common sense a part of our fashion decisions - that's what I like to see! I know that I'm still a slave to the no-white-shoes-after-Labor-Day rule, and all that..... but I say if it's 78 degrees in December (which isn't uncommon in the Deep South), then wear those flip flops. Hose? Bah - who needs 'em? (And I don't care how white your legs are. Un-hose those white legs!) They're helpful in the little bit of cold weather we get. Other than that, they are good for nothing but upping your core body temperature.

You get my point. I think we should have an award for people who spread common sense and logic in the face of questionable opinions that really don't make sense. The Zoo's FlipFlop award?

FlipFlops to you, Woman Number Two!!!

Website Update

Okay. I feel the need to explain something. I haven't updated the website in forever, because:
#1 - it takes time that I don't usually have. I depend on the blog, mostly.
#2 - our desktop crashed awhile back, taking with it 2 months of pictures that I didn't have stored elsewhere. My brother is working with it to see what can be salvaged, so we'll see what can be done.
#3 - Sony's Imagestation website is closing, and it has taken me awhile to decide where to start posting pictures.

I wanted a place that could do a few things: give me lots of storage for free, not make people sign into the site in order to see the pictures, allow me to password the site so I could post a direct link from the blog, and be easy for me to create the only album.

Couldn't find that animal.

Finally decided to just go with Google's Picasa for now, and will see what else is out there. But, I can't password protect the album. And, because I tend to include personal info on the pictures (like names!), I don't want to post a direct link to the pictures.
Crazy people use the internet, unfortunately.

So, I have gotten August's pictures up to view, and will wait and see what kind of problems may unfold before I put up any more. The website address is described at the top of the blog - but if you want to see the pictures, and aren't sure about the website address, just leave me a comment, and I'll email the link to you!

Practice

The Zookeepers have picked up a new camera which is quite a bit smaller than our old one (and, no - there's no velcro holding this one together), so I'm having to get used to the new one. And what better way than to snap the kids!

I loved this one of Poodle, because she has her baby face in it. ::sniff sniff:: sigh......





And - Mr. Tooter. He pretty much has his stinker face!!!
:-)

Thank Goodness for Audrey

Preface note - Audrey is Poodle and Tooter's dear baby cousin, who is a mere almost-7-months old.

So, we're walking yesterday afternoon, and we pass by another family walking with their two kids - one I would guess about 2 years old, and the other one was just a wee lass (or maybe lad). Poodle promptly told us that SHE wanted a baby. Jmk and I raise eyebrows at each other and tell her that she has Tooter. Just to see what happened. (And, I was thinking about what I had read on a friend's blog about what her 4 year old had said about his baby sister. Which was very sweet. I wasn't expecting quite the same response from Poodle). So, anyway, we mention Tooter, and she turns around and looks at him... just studies him intently. Then turns back around to face forward and says "No, I don't think so. I want a girl baby".

More raised eyebrows between me and Jmk.

I tell her that Mommy doesn't have any babies in her tummy, and that we can't promise her a girl baby anyway.

Well, this isn't going to do, of course. So, she says "oh, what am I going to do about a girl baby? Oh! That's right!!! I have baby Audrey!!!"

lol.... I guess we can keep those infant clothes up in the attic a little while longer. ;-)

Playing with the camera

This was in front of Poodle's swimming class yesterday - they are all decked out for Halloween! This is one of those blow-up dealies, with the extra added fun of a speaker that lets out one of those yowling cat cries. Right after Poodle's little I-Just-Won-The-Title-Of-Miss -America pose (which she managed all on her own), the cat started yowling, and she turned around a few times and ran back to me. It was pretty funny.





This is Poodle and Brooke - one of her swim class buddies. They were waiting on the other boys in the class to get there, and were having a very intense discussion about a toy that Brooke has. It's a Barbie fishing pole. Mmm-hmmmm. Sounds like Santa Claus is going to be taking a trip to Bass Pro Shop before coming to the house this year!

This is why we have a dog.

This dog is finally coming in handy.
;-)

Late yesterday afternoon, as Jmk was on his way home from work, I was trying to get supper started while the kids were wanting to play outside. This quickly turned into wanting to throw the ball to Custard, so I just left the back door open, watched them through the windows, and kept on chopping potatoes and veggies. (After taking a moment to grab a picture or four out the back door).

He kept them happily amused for a good 15 minutes! It was fabulous!!!



This was a shot of Cus in mid catch. Poodle was cracking up in the chair, and Toot was in the process of getting the other ball to keep the dog hoppin'. It was fantastic. I was seeing future visions of being able to tell the kids "go outside and play" while I stayed inside to turn on "mommy music" and listen to peace and quiet! Woohooo!

Now, wait a minute.

So, we're walking after supper tonight, and we get in a conversation with Poodle about why the sun goes down earlier this time of year. That leads into asking her about the seasons, and Jmk starts helping her with the order of said seasons.

In case you weren't aware of the proper order of the seasons of the year, they are as follows:

Spring.
Summer.
Fall.
Deer.

And, there you go.

Yahhhh!!!!!

It's Friday!!!!!!!!!

Daddy's Birthday

Daddies always need lots of hugs and kisses on their birthday. It's an absolute necessity. This came shortly after we sang the Happy Birthday song to, as Poodle puts it, "my fahtha"

And even MORE smooches and hugs from Tooter Pooter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JMK!!!

I am so glad that they built the DeSoto County Civic Center.

::smile::

I love you so much, and I hope you have a wonderful day today! We'll see you soon!!!

Pachelbel Bedtime

For Mommies and Daddies everywhere... hat tip to Rebecca Thomas for this fabulous youtube moment!

Another use for Coke

Unfortunately, it's another one of those things that makes you wonder why we put that stuff in our bodies. Why does it have to taste soooooo good?

Anyway, this household tip is along the lines of coke-helps-you-keep-your-car-battery-terminals-clean,. You've been warned.

It also helps take chlorine out of your hair!

We get back from Poodle's swim lessons right at lunch time - and it's always a rush for me to get them fed fast enough and to nap fast enough without losing Tooter in the process. Sometimes I'm able to get her hair rinsed out properly, and sometimes, well...... you know what chlorine does to blond hair.

So, I read this tip online - pouring a can of coke over hair will help to strip the chlorine out of it!
::gulp::
And it does. Yay for that!!! I used both a can of diet coke which took about half of it out, and then used a can of "real" coke that night to get the rest of it. Both worked about as well as the other. I think there's maybe still a little bit of the greenies left - but I don't know that you'd notice it unless you had the perfect lighting and were trying to find shades of green.

But, for me, it's just one more thing to think about when I pop the top on my occasional treat of coke. This stuff is capable of cleaning my car battery terminals and stripping chlorine out of blond hair.
Ugh.
Maybe this will make it even easier to save the 110 calories.

I'll just substitute with chocolate. Ha!!!

The first sign that....

a person needs to relax.....

I just caught myself trying to remove a stain from one of Tooter's t-shirts. The slogan on the t-shirt says "Dirt is my favorite color".

Mmmhmmmm. Me thinks I need to chill out a wee bit!

Journey of the cake and "ganache" recipe

So, a couple of months ago, I asked Poodle what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday. At that time, she told me she wanted a "tower cake with Snow White Princess on top". Mmmhmmm. Jmk was figuring out how to configure this architectural marvel.

Then, the tower cake became a pink cake with pink icing. And Snow White Princess on top.

She then decided she wanted a pink cake with purple icing. (And maybe some pink flowers).

Then she wanted an ice cream cake.

Then, it was back to pink cake and purple icing, BUT, with ice cream on top.

Then, all of a sudden, she wanted chocolate cake with chocolate icing with blue flowers. And she didn't change her mind except for saying a couple of times that she didn't want any blue flowers. But then decided that some blue roses were "very pretty".

Well. As you may know, I enjoy making her cakes. I'm not all that great at it - never taken a class or anything. But I enjoy doing it. However, due to my unschooled skills, figuring out what I'm going to do takes some thinking. And with Miss Priss changing her mind so many times, the culinary section of my brain was in a tizzy!

But when she made the momentous decision to go all chocolate, I knew that I wanted the icing to be a smooth and shiny concoction.

Hmmmm.... ganache! Hours of watching FoodTV paid off!

Ganache is a simple mixture of heavy cream and chopped chocolate. BUT, I don't usually have heavy cream at the house. HowEVER, I do have COOL WHIP! Plus, the extra corn syrup junk in the cool whip helps to keep the "ganache" shiny. Another plus, ganache is a pourable type of icing that is really very yummy.

So, the only right thing to do in this situation, of course, is to share the chocolate joy!

It's a hard recipe, just so you know. ::cough cough::

Ingredients:
Equal parts cool whip and chocolate chips. (A bag of chocolate chips is around 2 cups - just fyi).

Put the cool whip into a microwable container and bring just to a boil.
Pour chocolate chips into hot, liquid cool whip.
Stir really well until everything is combined, dark, and shiny.

Pour over cake.

Told you it was hard. :-)

The more cool whip you add, the thinner the "ganache" becomes. Somewhere around 4 parts cool whip to 2 parts chocolate chips makes for a fantastic sauce for ice cream!

AND, the extra keep nicely in the refrigerator. Just scoop out what you want to use, heat it up in the microwave to loosen it up, and you're done.

Go have some chocolate fun today!!!

Bowling Babies

The day before Poodle's birthday, the CHEC group (the homeschool group) went bowling! This was her first time to bowl, and she had a blast. They also celebrated the kids who had birthdays in either Aug & Sept or Sept & Oct, so that was extra special for Poodle, too!

I was a bit crazy trying to keep up with Tooter, since he didn't exactly bowl, but we all had fun! Until the very end when Poodle's lack of a nap kicked in - but, she was too excited about the idea of doing something new and knowing she had a party coming up the next day, and she just couldn't sleep. Whadayagonnado?

This is a great group of kids - fun time for all!