February 28, 2010

Day 59, 306 to go

We had another busy but great day today! Noa came over to play while J & M went to see Circ de Soleil. We had a circus of our own with the three girls. :-)In a good way, of course. All of the girls were tired but they played nice. Scout and Noa took turns a lot and were very vocal about whose turn it was.

"Now it's Noa's turn!"


"Scout's turn!"


"Puppy's turn!"


They took turns rocking





So sweet! We went to Target with all three girls and that was a trip! We all survived and got everything that we needed. When J & M got back to our house, we all went to an Italian place for dinner. That's right... we went out to eat twice in one week! Dylan loved the spaghetti - though a lot of it ended up on the floor. Scout ate some pizza and some spaghetti, too. When we got home, Dylan went straight to bed. Scout stayed up a little longer to call SuSu (grandma) and tell her happy birthday. Then she went to bed with no problems at all. I got all of the girls' stuff ready for school tomorrow, hung up all of the laundry from the day, and got myself ready for tomorrow. Now it's a few minutes of computer time, and I'm off to bed! G'nite all!

February 26/27, 2010

Friday:
Day 57, 308 to go

Well, today was payday for Micheal - and we got our tax return, so we decided to buy ourselves a new mattress! I've been okay with the one we have, but Micheal's back has been bothering him when he wakes up... our mattress is 8 years old or so and it's memory foam. I would not recommend it to anyone. It was great for the first couple of years, but it got soft quickly and there were craters where we usually sleep because the foam didn't pop back the way it's supposed to. Anyway, we were looking for a cheap one - but firm. We met after work at Sams and they had one king size mattress to choose from. Hmph. We went to a mattress place across the street from Sams and their cheapest was out of our price range. So, we went home because by this time, it was time to pick up the girls. We got them from daycare and went to a catfish place in the town just north of us. It was so yummy! The girls behaved themselves (for the most part) and we had some good family time. Scout kept the whole place entertained with her constant play-by-play of what she was doing. "I'm eating a fry. Sister has a fry. Mommy eating fish. Dip dip dip my fry in the ketchup..." It was great. The other diners were mostly senior citizens, and several stopped at our table on their way out to talk to Scout. She loved the attention!

Anyway, when we got home, I put Caillou on for Scout and got Dylan ready for bed. Caillou is a recent discovery in our house. We record Barney on the dvr and the Caillou intro song is usually at the end. Scout has been excited about it, so I finally set the dvr to record an episode. She sat mesmerized through the entire thing. I think we have a new favorite show!




Saturday:
Day 58, 307 to go

Today was a busy day for us! Micheal had a lot of errands to run for school - he had to find furniture and props and stuff for his show. He left early and was going to be out all day. So, after the girls took their naps and had their lunch, we went out. I took them to the grocery store and let Scout push her own buggy. We didn't get a lot, but it was fun.







Then we went to the dollar store and met Aunt Sarah. She is going to Honduras next weekend on a mission trip and we wanted to see her for a while first. She went with us to IKEA where we met Micheal and got a mattress! Yay! After the girls went to bed, the real fun began. We had to figure out how to get the mattress up to our room. The old one barely fit up our narrow stairs and we had to squeeze and squish it to do so. We didn't want to do that to our new mattress so... we took it up the balcony! M had borrowed Jacob's truck to get the mattress home, so we backed it up to the side of our house, strapped some tie-downs around it, and hauled it up. I wish I could have taken pictures of that, but it was dark and there was only the two of us, so that would have been difficult.

February 24/25, 2010

Wednesday:
Day 55, 310 to go

I don't have much time to post today... this was Scout today trying on mommy's gloves.



Thursday:
Day 56, 309 to go
The girls took a bubble bath tonight and Scout was very concerned when her toesies disappeared. Then she found them and all was well again. :-) As you can tell, Dylan was thrilled with the whole thing.

February 23, 2010

Day 54, 311 to go

First, I have to yell and scream from the top of my lungs for a minute... SCOUT WENT POO POO ON THE POTTY!!! Yes, I took a picture. No, I'm not posting it. :-)

This morning began a little later than yesterday - 4:40. Dylan woke up and I got up around 5. By the time I got ready and went back upstairs to get her, she was asleep again. So, I got Scout ready and took her in a few minutes earlier than usual. The work day went fairly smoothly. I am ready to strangle some 6th graders because they can't seem to sit down and be quiet. I mean, is that too much to ask? I don't even ask it for the whole class period - just for time to give instructions.

When I went to pick the girls up at daycare, both were crying. Scout was upset because Jay Jay (Miss Jamie) was leaving. I found out she now calls her "Mommy Jay Jay". On one hand, I am slightly hurt that she has another mommy, but on the other hand, I'm glad she loves her teacher so much.

"Jaaaaaay Jaaaaaaay!!!"





Dylan was just fussy all day. I think she may be getting more teeth. I was trying to get her in a better mood when we got home. She ate and ate and ate. Both girls ate black beans and made quite a mess. When Dylan saw me bring out the camera, she cheesed it up!







Michael is at the Jay-Z concert tonight, so my plans include taking a shower and going to bed early. Yay me!

February 22, 2010

Day 53, 312 to go

This morning began at 4:15. I woke up to hear Dylan fussing and thought, "Surely she'll go back to sleep." Normally, she would. I dozed for a few minutes and then heard Scout talking to Dylan about going back to sleep. (see sidebar for details on this conversation) At this point, I knew it was hopeless. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 4:45. I don't normally wake up until 5:30... if I don't hit the snooze too much.

Both girls were clingy and whined whenever I walked away from them - which made getting ready very difficult. In the middle of all of this, Dylan started crying a little harder. I went over to get her and saw what I thought was dirt on her top lip. I tried to brush it off and not only did it not come off, but she cried harder and louder. I took her into the kitchen where there was better light, and realized that she had an ant hanging from her lip! I got it off and calmed her down and looked around for ants. I found no others. The only thing I can think of is that she found it, tried to put it in her mouth, and got bit. Poor baby! Here is the picture from tonight. You can kind of see the little bump on the top lip.



I thought surely the day would get better, but it did not. I went to Chic Fil A to treat myself to a sweet tea and when I got to work and took a sip, it was diet coke! Blech! I don't think I've mentioned it, but I am applying for a part time job as an online T.A. Basically, grading papers. I say this, because I had planned on using my conference time to write a writing sample for the application process. Unfortunately for me, my principal had some stupid online survey he wanted us to fill out. So I had half of the time I would have, but I pulled something out of my butt and emailed it in. So other than that, my day was okay. lol! Tonight Michael cooked pancakes for dinner. Yum! I put some beans in the crock pot tonight for tomorrow's dinner. I'm looking forward to it, can you tell? Mmmm... beans and cornbread... more later!

February 20/21, 2010

Saturday:
Day 51, 314 to go

Today we drove up to Wichita Falls for Michael's cousin Jason's wedding. It was really laid back and beautiful. Our kids were loud, but not the only loud ones, so that made me feel better! lol! Since we were in the falls, we had to stop by Samurai. They have the best fried rice and fish there I think I have ever eaten. It was a fun drive home with Michael eating his rice in the car! Scout managed to stay awake through one showing of Toy Story, but when I started it again, she smiled and closed her eyes before Andy's birthday party was over. :-)




Sunday:
Day 52, 313 to go

Well, today's pictures are really blurry because they were taken with my phone. It's not so great at moving objects or low light and this had both. But, it was impromptu... Scout and Dylan were both climbing all over me on the floor and Michael got down with us to play. Scout climbed onto his back and said "Giddy-up, horsey!" It was loads of fun! Dylan had a good laugh herself. That's pretty much what we did all day... play and laugh. It rained most of the day, so there was no outside time. The girls were still tired from the trip yesterday, so both of them napped well. Dylan had a 3 hour nap this morning! Scout was super tired tonight, but she fought sleep for nearly an hour after I put her down... singing and talking to her babies and bears in her crib. It's been about an hour and a half now since I put her down and I haven't heard from her in about 20 minutes, so I'm hoping she's out for the night.

February 18/19, 2010

I may start posting 2 days at a time more often. It was nice to spend last night without the laptop. :-)

Thursday:
Day 49, 316 to go

Today was a little chaotic. We had our Black History Month program and it was wonderful. It did make the day a little strange because I didn't get to see all of my classes. But I think programs like that are worth the chaos they can cause if one student is positively impacted, so I didn't mind. In the news today, a small plane hit a 7 story building in Austin. That's a little close to home for me... literally and figuratively. Newscasters and officials were quick to point out that it was a lone man who was upset with the IRS - not a terrorist attack. Still, it brought back some very black memories from 8 years ago. I had two incidents in two separate classes. Both involved boys who nearly fought. It's not a full moon, so I don't know what's going on. It seems there is just general unrest in the air right now. I hope it goes away soon.

Scout wore a dress to school today. Aunt Sarah got it for her for her birthday. The funny thing is, Dylan got the same dress from Chad and Lacey for Christmas so if we wanted to, we could dress them alike! I didn't do it today because Dylan crawls for the most part and dresses are hard to crawl in. :-)



Looking at this picture, I can't help but think about Cindy Lou Who from Horton Hears a Who! Isn't she just adorable?


Friday:
Day 50, 315 to go

Wow! Is it really day 50? That's just crazy. Tonight we went to Burger King with the girls again. Scout was very excited about getting fries. We let her hold her own bag for a while - until she started flinging fries everywhere. lol!


I finished my page for week 7 of my Project 365 tonight. Here's a link to weeks 6 and 7 in my other blog if you're interested. Goodnight!

February 16/17, 2010

No use making two posts at this point...

Tuesday:
Day 47, 318 to go

*sigh* Why can't my family all be healthy at the same time? Poor Dylan had another fever today and it just got higher while I was driving to get there. The positive side is, she didn't get the fever until I was leaving work, so I didn't have to leave to go get her. The down side was, there was no way I could get her to the doctor before they closed. So, onto the after hours pediatric clinic we went. Last time I took her to the clinic, I waited until Michael got home so I could just take her and he could stay home with Scout. This time, I came home, packed a bag, and took them both. Dylan slept on the way there, but Scout talked to me the whole time. When I said we were going to the doctor, she got very worried. I told her that we were taking Dylan to the doctor and she was okay with that. When the doctor came in to look at Dylan, she fussed and cried. Scout started poking the doctor and saying "Hey! Hey! Hey!" It was so cute. She was sticking up for her sister.

Dylan was in a great mood through most of the evening (except with the doctor was actually looking at her). He determined it was a double ear infection. So that's the second in about a month. For those who don't know, Scout had tubes put in her ears the week before she turned one. I have a feeling we may be heading down that path again. I put Scout to bed when we got home and Dylan stayed up with me until Michael got home with her prescription. While we waited, she played with her Valentines cards from the party the day before.





Wednesday:
Day 48, 317 to go

Today Dylan went to daycare and seemed to be just fine. I think the antibiotics are starting to work. Thank goodness! I had some people from the school district come and observe my class today. They always tell you not to worry... not to plan anything special. But it's always slightly nerve-wracking wondering what other people think about what you are doing in your classroom. I think it went alright, but who knows.

This afternoon, I picked the girls up and Scout's hair was looking mighty cute! I asked her who had fixed it for her. "Joani didit!" she said, proudly. Miss Joani is one of the teachers there and she laughed and said that she had played with Scout's hair while they were watching Barney. Isn't it cute?

February 15, 2010

Day 46, 319 to go

It's still cold here but the snow is melting. This is all that's left of our snowman from Friday


Scout was on a sugar high tonight. Since their Valentines Day party was supposed to be on Friday and we had a snow day, they moved it to today. I'm sure she was snacking all day, but it doesn't happen often. :-) She was singing and dancing around tonight. It was really sweet. I thought about taking a picture, but it just wouldn't do her justice. You'd have to see the dance in a video, but I wasn't quick enough to get the video camera out. This afternoon I finally got our Christmas decorations out into the barn. That's right. February 15th. I took them down and put them away a long time ago, but they've been in their plastic containers on the porch for a long time. Every weekend it's been cold and/ or rainy (or snowing!) and it's close to dark by the time we get home from work. Enough excuses. I've been lazy. But now it's done and I feel better.

February 14. 2010

Day 45, 320 to go

Today was another bum around the house day. It's still cold here. We actually had more snow flurries. Nothing stuck to the ground, but still... we had a white Christmas and now a white Valentines Day. We are still in Texas, right?

I took pictures of the girls all day.









None of them were what I was looking for in a daily photo, so I tried to pose them on their couch in their heart pajamas for Valentines Day. This is what we got












Silly girls!

February 13, 2010

Day 44, 321 to go

Again, I'm posting a day late. Oh well. We stayed in for the most part yesterday. Played around the house... colored... played some more. Then mommy went out last night! Our band director is in a local production of "Driving Miss Daisy" and he invited me to come see his show a while back. Well, last night I went with another teacher and we saw the play. It was great! It was a really intimate space and an intimate show, so it was just right. Here's a picture I snapped on my iphone of the show:


It was nice to get out of the house by myself (and not to go to work). It was only a few hours, but it did me a lot of good. :-)

February 12, 2010

Day 43, 322 to go

Snow day today! Hurray! No school or work today for any of us because of the snow. We managed to bundle the girls up and take them out for a little while. Dylan wasn't impressed - just cold. Scout had fun, but got tired easily. The snow started to melt this afternoon so we went to the grocery store. Scout missed her afternoon nap (cried for 45 minutes in her crib instead) and was a real pain during the trip. I packed lots of snacks and she ate every bite of every last one of them and still cried for more snacks and juice. She's a growing girl! Here are some pictures from the day:

Just us girls

Scout's first taste of snow

Daddy and his girls


While the girls took their naps, mommy and daddy went back out and made a snowman!

Our house covered in snow... can you believe how much we got? This is Texas, y'all! I'm not worried. It'll melt tomorrow.

February 11, 2010

Day 42, 323 to go

Today started at 4:30 when Scout woke us up screaming, "Mommy! Moooommy!" I tried to get her to calm down and lay down with us, but she wasn't having any of it, so by 5 we were up and at 'em! I turned on the tv and crossed my fingers for school closings. No such luck. So, off to work for me. It wasn't snowing when I left, but a few miles away it started snowing. Hard. It snowed all day long. This was the view from the office this morning when I got there.



Here it was after school



I made it home safe and in once piece. We picked up the girls and came home. The good news is, school has been cancelled for tomorrow for me, so it's a long weekend, baby! Daycare said that Scout only napped for about 30 minutes today, so I'm hoping she sleeps all night. I hate to think that she might be getting sick, but that's usually the only time that she doesn't sleep with no apparent reason. Tonight she decided that her camel's feet were cold and he needed socks. So she asked me to help her put some on him. :-)

February 10, 2010

Day 41, 324 to go

I am constantly amazed at how fast Scout is learning things. Tonight she peeled her own banana. I started it for her, but she took the peel off herself the rest of the way. She was watching cartoons and told me it was raining and then there was a "rainboo". She proceeded to tell me about the dolphin, king, and monkey that were on the screen. Then she told me about the allidador that goes "snap snap" (this was accompanied by adorable arm movements). When did she get so big???

Dylan was a smiley little rugrat tonight, too. She was full of grins, giggles, and squeals. I swear she said "mama" twice. This is a typical Dylan face



My throat still hurts tonight so I may try to go to bed early. G'nite all!

February 9, 2010

Day 40, 325 to go

Today I've been in a funk. I just don't feel quite right and I am afraid I am getting a cold. My throat hurts and I'm so tired. I plan on going to bed early and taking some Nyquil. Hopefully we can knock this out before it gets too bad. My students really irritated me today and, looking back, I wonder if I was in a grumpy mood or if they were just super annoying. I sent 2 6th graders to two separate classrooms to copy vocabulary because I couldn't even get through my instructions without them feeling the need to interject and try to crack jokes. I gave them several warnings. They didn't listen. I sent one to the choir room and the other to the band hall. Gosh, I love having teacher buddies that can help me when things like that happen. It doesn't happen often, but there are times when you just need the kid out of your sight for a while - not bad enough to go to the office, but you know it's going to escalate to the point where they will need to go if you don't remove them. So, those two got to sit and copy vocabulary terms. Later, a particularly annoying 7th grader pushed me over the limit. He smacked another kid on the head. Twice. Right in front of me. When I called him out, he said, "But miss, he deserved it." It was 5 minutes before the end of the day, so I wrote the office referral and took it to the office after school. They said they would take care of it first thing tomorrow. *sigh* We'll see.

Tonight the girls were super cute. Dylan was all smiles - her regular self plus a little lingering cough. Scout was funny. Miss Kara helped her get into the car and when we got home and I was putting her into her booster seat to eat, she told me that "Kara put me in car seat." I told her that was right and I asked her if she knew what Miss Kara had in her tummy (she's 31/32 weeks pregnant). She said no and I told her there is a baby in there! She looked doubtful and I told her again. She said, "Oh no! I sorry." Silly girl! About an hour after Dylan went to sleep and 15 minutes after I put Scout down, Dylan started screaming. I went up there and she was flopping around in her crib. I think she was having a nightmare. Poor baby. I stood and rocked back and forth with her and she was back out in half a second. Scout is a different story. It's been half an hour since then and she is still calling for mommy.

Well, here she is putting a puzzle together tonight right after her bath (hence the wet hair)



She loves puzzles!

February 8, 2010

Day 39, 326 to go

So, today was the first day in a while that I had to get both girls in bed by myself. I sat them side by side to eat dinner. They thought it was a game and had fun laughing at each other.


Scout psyched Dylan out and pretended to share her banana. The conversation is on the left side bar.


Next, we tried on our new hats from Auntie Joan. She made them herself. Aren't they cute???




I put Dylan down to bed and came downstairs to find Scout wearing a different hat. She looked like a little hood rat! lol! I told her she looked thug-a-licious and she looked at me, smiled, and said, "Thanks!"


About this time, Michael came home and made dinner. Yay, daddy! Other than that, the day has been pretty tame! It's been raining cats and dogs here all day and all last night... we're supposed to have a "wintery mix" on Thursday so I'll let you know how that goes.