Questions for Beth

If someone gave you $100, what would you buy?
A dress

If you could be any animal, what would you want to be? Why?
A cat- Because cats are quiet


What is your favorite thing to play with Jacob?
Blocks- no, not that, because he always knocks down my tower. In my room. We play on my bed. We pretend we're sleeping then Jacob says "ring, ring" (the alarm going off).

If you could pick any place to live, where would you live?
In Webster (where we used to live) because it doesn't take as long to get to Popi and Yaya's house.

What do you hope Santa will bring you this year?
A real puppy, a soft Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) doll, book about snakes, an American Girl doll that looks like me
Have you been good?
(Nodding her head yes)
Do you think you'll get everything on your list?
No ma'am. He probably won't bring my puppy.

When I grow up

Beth has said more than once that she wants to be a dentist when she grows up. This unprompted drawing has it all- Crest toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a dentist's chair.

National Night Out

The true National Night Out falls in the summer. Summer in Texas is not HOT, so Texas has moved theirs to October. Then, our town had some big meeting thing that night and moved ours to the next week. Then, that nasty, drizzly, cold weather postponed it for a couple more days. Geez!

What is National Night Out? It's the chance to get out and meet the neighbors. If you know who your neighbors are, you aren't left wondering about people you see at the park or walking around, if they belong or not. We all want to live in safe places, and National Night Out promotes neighborhood watch.

We have a great neighborhood! There is an email loop for the ladies, and we got to chatting about this great opportunity. Next thing you know, we'd thrown together a small shindig. One of the ladies got in touch with our HOA, who agreed to sponsor the party- a bounce house and refreshments. Awesome! Other ladies made cookies to share. A few of the local policemen came out to chat with us and brought goodies for the kids.

It wasn't as great a turnout as we'd hoped. With all the changes though, I'm not surprised. It was still fun. Next year, with more time to plan, I think it'll be even better.

Wordless Wednesday- You can't help but smile

It's dry!

After a couple weeks of rain and drizzle, it was fantastic to actually play outside! We've been playing in the garage just for a change of pace from the house- the wagon, the cozy coupe, tricycle, scooter, bubbles. The kids have been wanting to play with the sand table, but all the drizzle would have turned it to mud. This has been such a great gift (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!)

Studying the sand or pouting?

Copying or destroying what sister did?

What to do when you have the flu

Well, the school's sanitation didn't quite work. Beth caught the flu. In fact, 6 out of the 13 kids in her class were out sick on the Monday Beth was out. Poor girl was sad to miss school, again. She ran fever, was coughy and tired. But, thanks to tylenol, you'd never know she was sick. A trip to the doctors office Monday meant a flu shot for Jacob, not Beth (she was so proud of that fact), though she did have some medicine to take. That of course, means a trip to Target. I love Target, as do my kids, and I really love the Super Target by the ped's office. They have so much more to see! Ok, back to the story. While waiting for the pharmacist to fill her medicine, we wandered around, and they both picked out a new book for a treat (better than candy for us!). Beth chose a Fancy Nancy Halloween story, complete with stickers for giving Nancy a costume. Jacob got a new Thomas the Train book. Back at home like hermits until the fever was gone, we found things to do.

I made a tent with plenty of play space. It lasted about 30 minutes before Jacob found great joy in making Beth scream when he "broke" the tent.

And, being the former teacher/mean mommy that I am, I had Beth spend some time "learning"
She was so happy to be fever-free in time to go to school Wednesday. She's still got a little cough, but 'tis the season, right.

Playgroup at the park

Ah, the joys of fall- cool in the morning, gorgeous around lunch time. We took advantage of it and had our playgroup at the park. We brought bikes/trikes/scooters to play with, though they don't usually play with them for long. The swings and slides are the biggest hits.

Jacob loves getting to play with his friends!

The Great Trampoline Flip

When fall comes, it comes in strong! We got a storm/cold front through here like nothing I've seen before. After it was over, news reports were that the wind was gusting up to 90mph. We certainly had proof of that! I was putting Beth to bed when I heard something on the window. I wanted to see if it was hail or debris. Sure enough, quarter sized hail (the white specs in the pic). About the time I was looking outside the back door, a great gust of wind picked up the trampoline and flipped it across the yard until it landed upside down, about an inch away from the fence. Wow!

Luckily, our house and fence were just fine. The next day, I saw 2 other trampolines in the neighborhood that were flipped and bent. What a storm! Our trampoline had a handful of bent poles. We ordered replacement parts for the bent poles and broken thingamabobs. We had a nice, dry weekend, so Kevin was able to get it put back together. The kids were super excited to bounce again!

You look sharp

Jacob loves to get dressed to "look sharp" or "handsome". Today, he was particularly thrilled to look "like Daddy" and wear a "tight". Couldn't you just eat him up?

School is out?!

Fall is certainly here. The extreme weather changes, allergies, flu season and all that fun. Beth's school recently had over 20% of the student body out sick, so they decided to close down for the remainder of that week (which was really only 3 days, but still). As a typical kindergartener, Beth was sad. She loves school- and I love that. We managed to find some fun around the house! It was strange having her home all day again, but we enjoyed it.

We painted

We played with playdough (or "pluto", according to Jacob)

We found a photo set at a local drugstore. Love that I had my camera!

The school was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized while the kids were out in the hopes that it would cut down on the illness. While it didn't work entirely, I don't think the absentee rate has been that high again.

Confession time

Okay, so do you really want to know why I haven't been blogging lately. I'm trying to limit my computer time. Here's where it goes: email then facebook then blogs. So, while I'm on FB, I read all the status updates, check my messages and tend to my farms. Yes, that's where my computer time is going. I am a farmer.
On Farmville

and Farm Town



I plow fields, tend to my animals, plant seeds, harvest and sell crops. Then, I can buy things to make my farm cute and fun. Sad, I know. Thing is, the kids love it too. Jacob likes to look at the elephants (I know, elephants aren't on farms, move on) and when I "pet" them to make them jump. Beth likes to help me pick what crops to plant and critiques my avatar.

Sorry to the family members being deprived of cute photos and stories of the kids, all because of my farming habit. While I won't be giving up farming, I'll try to ramp up my blogging. Starting today. Really.

I know, I know

We are alive, just busy. I'll get to posting soon. Really. Then, you'll be amazed at all we've been doing. One thing I've been waiting on is for my sister to read the last group of posts. Since she never commented, I'm not sure she has.