What Color is Your Parachute?

Here is a conversation I heard from the driver's seat on one of our many, many long drives...

Gabe "When me get big me gonna 'drive' a plane and be a yeacher."

Flynn: "Well, I'm gonna be a tooth fairy."

Rabbit Flynn Gets a Loose Tooth...

There was a little girl named Flynn. She didn't have a single tooth in her head until a few weeks before her first birthday.

It seemed as though her teeth were shy. They didn't like to come & they didn't like to go. When she started Kindergarten & most of her friends had lost several, she hadn't lost any.

She turned six & continued to check for any 'wiggleness' in her teeth. But nothing.

So imagine her Momma's surprise when Flynn came bounding off the bus with her finger on a bottom tooth. "I have a loose tooth!"

And Flynn wiggled that tooth so much that day that her Daddy had to give her a motrin to make the pain dull enough to sleep.

Days have went by & that stubborn tooth has yet to budge. Maybe, just maybe, Flynn will lose a tooth by the time she's seven.

Another Chapter...

Wow, this has been a year (school, not calendar mind you) of firsts...and lasts...and everything in between.

And another chapter that closes is the one entitled, OUR FIRST HOME. On the pages you'll find Jeff's marriage proposal, scrapbook pages full of construction photos, new babies, and the like.

Excitement & busyness now takes the spot of what would be sadness or lumps in our throat.

Things moved rapidly & we have mere weeks to wrap up our lives here & start an unknown voyage of some sort of homelessness.

It's exciting to see what God has in store for us & our abode.

Fur

My boy is a snuggler. He's also a lover not a fighter. And when we've spent the day apart, like we do every single week day, he makes up for it, in affection.

So, after we were reunitied, I held him in my lap. He kissed my hand, told me that he loves me, & we 'nuggled.

He nuzzled into my neck with his sharp little nose & looked up at me,
"Me wish you had fur Momma."

Gabe's New 'Cool

(school)

Gabe started school a couple of days ago. The "preschool", or 'my cool' as he calls it, is actually a little short program provided by the early childhood classes of the high school.

The classroom is fixed up really cute & decked out w/ lots of fun toys. He is using his cute train backpack, donned w/ his name.

The first day, he told me on the way, "I hope I get to be with a girl." And sure 'nough, he was teamed with A GIRL high school buddy. He smile was so big, it looked like a sideways banana.

His teacher comments on how well-behaved & sweet his is. And he is having a blast.

Another Thing to Feel Guilty About!

And that's the fact that I never have time (take time) to blog anymore. So all these cute & funny sayings are going undocumented. The clever stories the kids tell & things they do that are blog-worthy, are lost in my memory....which we all know is as good as gone.

Happy 6th Birthday to My Baby Girl

Dear Baby Girl,

You're six today & wow, what a milestone. You've officially-officially left toddlerhood, preschoolhood, & are well on your way to being a "big kid". This leaves your Momma with mixed feelings.

Six. It's so far away from being a baby. You need me less... let go of my hand sooner... call my name less...

And I know that now you're closer to 13...and 16...

that you're closer to being a graduate, or a wife, or a momma yourself.

But before I make it seem like I'm sad, here are the things that have happened this year that put a smile on all of our faces:

You mastered skipping. It started in dance class & was conquered in every parking lot we crossed.

You saw Disney World for the first time, met the princesses, & joined the many others who call it 'The Happiest Place on Earth'.

You started Kindergarten. It's your new favorite place & your 2nd home has introduced you to many new friends & new ways to learn.

You learned to whistle. And what a whistler you are. You seranade us on every car journey.

And...

you turned SIX. And like every birthday before, this special day makes me remember this special day years ago. The year you taught Daddy & I how to love a different kind of love.

And for that Baby Girl, we are forever grateful.

With a love that you won't understand for lots of years,

Your Momma

Fall Handsomeness

I can't get enough of my cuties. And going back full time to work has made me appreciate them that much more. Altho I certainly do miss those moments together, like the thousands of them we used to spend together, however we wanted.

But new chapters make our books complete. They make our books interesting & unique & a variety.

Look at my boy, he won't look at the camera. He'll smile, he'll lift up his head, but he will not look at the camera. Sweet, but silly.

He's on a roll right now. "I Yuv you Momma", "I Yuv you Daddy", "I yuv You Finn". And hugs follow.

And Flynn, she uses words like RECOGNIZE, & ACTUALLY. On the way to church, she piped up from the back seat, "What's ANTI-FUNGAL mean?" And she can read with best of them.

I'll never stop saying how lucky I am. We are so blessed.

Trunk or Treat

Another fun event of our Halloween season, was a TRICK or TRUNK at BFF Madelyn's school.

Madelyn, Matthew, Flynn & Gabe along with a few Bartosch school pals.

Gabe couldn't keep up again this year... maybe next year he'll be leading the pack!
Our own little after party at Burger King. Love that place, there's never a soul in sight!
Bubby & Daddy with Daddy's matching shirt!

School Party #1

Not only survived.... success!

Flynn & her good pal Carter
Mummy game, Flynn wrapped up by Carter

Now doing the wrapping

Casting a spell, the cute way, no pixie dust necessary

Daddy got to enjoy this party with Flynn...and make sure she stayed safe.

She's one lucky girl.

Church Fall Fun

This year, like every other, we enjoyed our church's FALL FRENZY.
Windy & warm, nothing a good hayride can't fix.

Weeeeeeeeee....

A spider web on Spidey's face, only makes sense.

...and some pixie dust for Tink.

Some tossing games

and posing with friends...

really good friends....
Shootin' 'em up!

Check out this Lion - you should've seen the rest of the Oz group!

Finger-lickin' fun!

safe goodies!

What more could a fairy & super hero want?!!

Hauntingly Good Night

Our Halloween night of trick-or-treating included a trip around Grammy's subdivision after enjoying White Castles (a treat of PePaw's).

We got more candy than we needed, way more than we should have, & just enough according to the kids.

My Tinkerbell was magical & Spidey, although tired at the end of our 'route', was still energetic enough to climb walls.

Holidays through a kid's eyes, priceless.

Fall, Y'all

Flynn & Gabe at EP's Fall Frenzy, 2009

Spidey & Tink want to wish you the funnest, chilliest, most colorful fall...

Daisies

Hopefully many many pictures will follow...

Because I have something wrong with me, where I feel the need to be IN CHARGE OF every single thing we do, I volunteered to start another Daisy troop at Flynn's school. I wasn't thrilled with the troop (& leader) she was assigned to, so I (w/ another Daisy mom I teach with) decided to start a new one.

So, the thrill began. FLYNN COULDN'T BE MORE EXCITED. Actually, I have never seen her more excited about anything she's been involved with. And really... what could be more up her alley?: CRAFTS and SINGING.
Last night, I told her that I already signed us up for the Mother-Daughter camping trip for March.
I THOUGHT SHE WAS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO FALL ASLEEP ON ACCOUNT OF HER EXCITED STATE.

This is already more than I bargained for. Consumes even more of the small amount of free time I have.
But my girl is happy... and that's all that counts.

Things I Love about Fall

• Leaves...the color
• the smell... like if "crispness" had an odor
• not hot, not cold (unless you live in MO)
• orange
• pumpkins
• hay
• fires
• camping
• Peanut's Great Pumpkin
• getting out the big yard blow up thing
• the kids' excitment when we pull out the "Fall Tub"
• orange & brown
• orange & black
• the house being cold when you wake up
• long sleeves
• memories of when Jeff & I were falling in love

(we started "officially" dating in Aug., so in those fall months, he was courting me, big time)

• apples & candied apples
• scarves

Who Knew She'd be the Particular One...

Our easy-going girl, has become quite set in her ways.

Like how she told me (on about the 4th day of school), that she didn't want me meeting her at the bus anymore. "Wait in your classroom, and I'll walk there."

"Kiss me, then I'll kiss you, then kiss my hand, & I'll kiss yours."

"Let ME carry the umbrella."

"Don't go in the bathroom with me."

She even acted ugly Friday when Daddy surprised her (w/ G in tow). She whispered to me (because everything is in a whisper), "I don't like that. I don't want you to be there when I get off the bus."

This may have bothered me before...but now I'm too busy for things to bother me. And I just chalk it up to my "baby girl" mastering her independence.

Hysterest-o-scopy (or something like that)

That's what I'm having done tomorrow. It's a pre-req to "ablasion" (sp?). At least for my dr. Who wants to rule out cancer, before the chance of "masking" it.
Eesh.

If I'm cleared, I will be going back for ablasion. Last year, I may have balked at this, as it pretty much permanently assures no more babies (as if the vesectomy didn't?!!). But now, I say, let other people have those babies. I'll just hold them, ooh & ahh over them, then go home & have an uninterrupted night of sleep.

Sickety Sick Sick

After 8 days with a fever, Gabe's parents FINALLY took him to the dr. How ridiculous, right? (don't ever let it be said that we 'run' our kids into the dr for every little thing).

Turns out, he has an ear infection. The drainage started on Wed. & by Sat. it was infection. Ear Infections: Flynn, 0; Gabe, 5. Sheesh.

Now he's just plain old crabby. And who could blame the boy. He went from fevers to nasty tasting medicine.

Sick Ward

Stock in Tylenol & Motrin.......................................................................$50
Using a sick day........................................................................................$55
Loss of sleep..........................................................................................sanity
Flynn & Gabe letting me snuggle & hold them all day?.......PRICELESS

The Sick Ward

So we've gotten hit. Started with Flynn. I noticed her feeling feverish & acting particularly crabby on our way to school. I had our school nurse check her temp & she said it was normal; yet, 10 minutes later, HER school called that she had 101-something.
Papa promptly picked her up. And so the challenging process began ("Will you pick her up?" "Can you get a sub for tomorrow?" "I'll go today if you can keep her tomorrow.") Which made me thankful, again, that this wasn't something we were challenged with during their baby years.

So, Flynn tested negative for the rapid flu test. This would include SWINE flu which her buddy, Carter, is currently plagued with. I'm not sure I believe the diagnosis. She continues to feel bad, sleep lots, & run an occasional fever.

This meant our weekend plans being canceled. Can I say that I'm not sure I minded? I managed to get to go to zumba & switch over both kids' closets.
Now that's progress.

Meanwhile, we're supporting the families of the creators of Motrin & Tylenol.