The children have gone cannibalistic

My mother blames it on the spring. The children are acting crazy, refusing to go to bed, running around the house, jumping on each other and me, shrieking and making all sorts of odd noises. This trend has been escalating over the past two weeks, with what I hope was a climax yesterday. Recently, Rebekah was bitten by another child during a playdate. This week she was playing with Annabelle and decided to bite her clothes like a puppy. She accidentally bit Annabelle. We dealt with that and hopefully convinced her not to try it again. The next day Annabelle was bitten TWICE by a child at daycare. It seems that this classmate was determined to get Annabelle, so the teachers had to keep them separated all day. After being used as a chew toy, I suppose Annabelle was pretty annoyed, so last night she bit me on the shoulder. What is wrong with these children???!!! I've never encountered this problem. I just hope it's over.

learning to write

I almost forgot to tell you that two weeks ago Rebekah wrote her name. She is terribly proud and has been practicing it faithfully ever since.

The Enchanted Forest

We have been taking family walks in the evening this week--a habit that I hope we can continue--and a couple of days ago we discovered a sign with the words "Rosewood Nature Trail."
We were suspicious of the title because we live in a residential area and the trail appeared to lead into someone's backyard. We headed down the trail and found ourselves on a bumpy but scenic woodsy path that in some places made us forget the there were, in fact, people's backyards about two feet to our right. Rebekah immediately named it the Enchanted Forest and began telling us stories of all the enchanted snakes and frogs that live there. In one spot we saw a rose bush, and I asked Rebekah what she thought might happen if we picked an enchanted rose. She answered confidently that the police would come and arrest us. We came out of the enchanted woods and found that we had traveled almost a full circle, ending up on an apparently new sidewalk, still surrounded by loose dirt that had been used to level it. "Look!" exclaimed Rebekah, "Enchanted dirt!"

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

Today Annabelle is officially one year old!

Annabelle's birthday party

Annabelle's birthday party Saturday was great! We had planned a garden party, but the yard was too wet, so it was more of a garden-themed party. It was a real baby party--seven of the twelve children were under two years old. I made French vanilla cupcakes with lemon-cream cheese filling and buttercream icing. For the flowers I used pre-colored fondant and flower-shaped cutters. For the butterflies, I piped melted chocolate onto wax paper in the shapes of wings and bodies and filled them in with yellow candy:



Annabelle, of course, had her own little cake to smash up herself:



The favorite snacks of the party were chocolate-covered pretzel sticks molded into the shape of daisies:



The creation I was most proud of was my fruit flower basket:



The kids planted marigolds in flower pots to take home. Here are Lily and James posing with their flowers and Annabelle trying to put her flower back on its stem ofter she pulled it off (she later tried to eat it):




In all, it was great fun, and Annabelle was a happy (almost) one-year-old.

The yuck is finally over

Many of you know that Annabelle had a particularly nasty virus, and I'm happy to report that she is finally well. We were worried for a while that she might end up in the hospital for dehydration, but we managed to avoid that. Now that the yuck is over, she is replenishing her fluids--she woke up three times last night and drank a full bottle of milk each time. When she returned to daycare today, her teachers were saying how thin she looks--that's an adjective that has never been applied to Annabelle!

Spring Break Adventures

We had a great family vacation over Spring Break. We started out on Friday night, March 10, but we got out a little later than planned. Annabelle had to have a bath after she decided to turn herself into Miss Tomato Head at dinner. The girls slept almost the whole way to Arlington, and when we got there Mom and Dad were there to meet us. Annabelle didn't need any time to warm up--she went straight to her Granmommy and Papaw.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Dallas Arboretum for the Dallas Blooms festival. We had to stop Rebekah from climbing right into the flower beds. They had an artisans' show where we bought a glass ladybug necklace for Rebekah, and the gardens gave us some ideas for our own flower beds. We especially liked the Women's Garden, which had beautiful statues and water features. There was a Texas frontier town set up, and Rebekah enjoyed exploring the little houses. They had a display of bonsai trees, and three of us voted for Best in Show. Rebekah chose a tiny one with no leaves for Best in Show--I guess she thought it needed some encouragement.


We left the gardens to meet Mom and Dad back in Arlington for lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse, but we had a little trouble getting there. We had just bought a Tom-Tom GPS to help us get around, and we used the restaurant location that was already programmed in. Well, instead of Spaghetti Warehouse, Tom-Tom took us to an ACTUAL WAREHOUSE. So much for Tom-Tom.
After lunch, we went swimming in the indoor pool, which was our main reason for choosing that hotel. We walked to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner that night, and Rebekah got up and danced with all the waiters.

On Sunday, on the suggestion of Dad and Shannon, we went shopping at Cosco--only they would think of Cosco as a vacation destination--and then Mom and Dad went home. The four of us then went to the Dallas Zoo. Rebekah's favorite part of the zoo was the parrots, the carousel, and the giant tortoises. Annabelle was more interested in the french fries from the snack bar. That evening we went to Dealy Plaza so Shannon could see where Kennedy was assassinated. Shannon was awed by the historical significance of the place while the girls were happy to frolic on the grassy knoll.

On Monday we went to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. They had a dinosaur exhibit that included a simulated fossil dig for the kids. It was actually the first time that Shannon had ever seen real dinosaur bones, too. Rebekah was impressed with the giant prehistoric sea turtle that was suspended from the ceiling. Comparing it to the tortoises she had seen at the zoo, she said, "Mommy! That biggest turtle can fly!" After the museum, we spent the night at Derek's house and visited his church. We drove home on Tuesday.

Wednesday, to extend our vacation even further, we went to the Aggie baseball game. Before the game, we went shopping to outfit ourselves in Aggie shirts, and Rebekah picked out hats for the two of us. We all had a good time watching the game and cheering for the Ags.

By Thursday, Annabelle had another ear infection, so we didn't make it to the art museum as planned. On Saturday, Rebekah and I went to Michael's for a kids' craft day where she made a collection of ladybugs and a magic wand. Speaking of making stuff, here are the invitations to Annabelle's birthday party (with our address covered for the sake of the internet).

first sleepover and first theater experience

Rebekah had her first sleepover last weekend. Her sleepover friend Hannah, who is nine years old, brought along her baby sister Eliza for a few hours while their parents went out to eat, and all four of the girls played dress-up together for a long time. The favorite game of the big girls, though, was getting inside the collapsible cooler and rolling each other around the room. The next morning Tom and Courtney came to pick up Hannah, and we all had breakfast together. My culinary skills impressed all, and I was officially named Waffle Queen.

Later on Saturday night, Rebekah and I joined my friend Rochelle and her children Nicolas and Sophia, also favorite playmates of Rebekah, to see a production of "The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley." The kids liked the play, but the two girls were concerned about how flat poor Stanley was, and they very much wanted him to round back out again. They were also strangely concerned about a puppet show that came on before the play--it caused more worry than entertainment, I think. You never can predict how a child will react to new things.

On Sunday, Shannon and Tom went to see Arkansas play Ohio State at the Aggie baseball field as part of a tournament that A&M hosts every year. We plan on taking the kids to an Aggie game next week, another first for both of them.
When Shannon got back, he took Rebekah shopping and got her some rain boots. To say she is excited about those is a real understatement. She jumped around outside begging the sky to rain, and sure enough, the next day she got her rain. She was a happy little puddle jumper.

Next week is Spring Break, and we have many more adventures planned. Annabelle's first trip to the zoo (Rebekah's third), and for both of them, their first science museum and first art museum.

pictures to go with the last post

Here are the pictures that I promised in my last post.


Rebekah in her fancy dress setting out the break-and-bake cookies.

Rebekah making valentines for the home-bound church members.

A card I made for my grandmother out of candy boxes.

Rebekah and Shannon working in the yard.

Rebekah's poison oak on her chin and her cheek (you might have to click on the picture to see it).

Shannon's poison oak on his arm.

And because it would be criminal to let this post go up with no picture of Annabelle, here is her first ice cream experience. She stole my cone and smushed her little face right into it. She thought it was especially funny when I took a bite while she was holding it.

ear infections and poison oak--oh, and Valentine's Day

I'm blogging at work because I've been too busy and tired to do this at home. That also means I don't have all my pictures with me. I'll have to add them later to illustrate this post.

Illnesses
We all seem to have recovered from our various ailments. Annabelle had it worst because she had an ear infection that lasted almost a month. It took three rounds of antibiotics to finally get it better. Now she is well and back to her joyful little self.

Valentine's Day
Rebekah loved Valentine's Day. We went to the church party again, where she passed out valentines to the other children and also made cards for the people who can't get out of their homes to go to church. On Valentine's Day, she came home from preschool and put on her fanciest dress to celebrate the occasion. She wasn't quite ready when Shannon got home, and she actually started crying because she wanted to look just right for her daddy. He had to wait outside until she was dressed and then we let him in with the flowers he brought for all of us. I cooked shrimp scampi, at which Rebekah initially turned up her nose. When I told her it was a special Valentine's dinner, she changed her mind and dug in, exclaiming "This is the best Valentine's dinner I ever had!" After dinner we made some "Break and Bake" cookies.

Yard Work
Shannon and Rebekah spent some time working in the yard over the weekend. She swept the porch, and they both raked and bagged leaves. The result was a nice, clean yard and two cases of poison oak. It's always something, right? Not to worry--they are healing and not too itchy anymore. I had no problems because, as much as I love raking and sweeping and bagging dirty scratchy leaves, I had to stay in the house with the baby.

Walking?
Annabelle has taken seven steps in a row, but we have not yet convinced her to repeat the performance. She doesn't fall down when she tries to walk; she simply refuses to walk. She takes a few steps, then changes her mind and crawls. But no hurry. She's only ten months old, so we're impressed with her mobility as it is. And finally, after months of only two teeth, she has a third, with a fourth soon to follow.

That wraps up our adventures over the past few weeks. Except I should add that I absolutely love the class I'm teaching right now. My students are fantastic. Hopefully we'll have more reports of good health and no rashes over the coming weeks.

the plague

We've had it rough the past few weeks. Annabelle had an ear infection, followed by another cold, followed by another ear infection, and just when we thought we were out of the woods, she caught a stomach virus. Yesterday Annabelle was doing well, so I was expecting to get back to work, but at 3:00 a.m. Rebekah came into my room to tell me that she was sick. She spent the wee hours of the morning sick and is home now with the stomach virus. Shannon got the flu, which caused him to get bronchitis, and he is just now feeling better. Since he had to take several sick days for himself, he hasn't been able to stay home with the kids, so I've missed two full weeks of work. I've had a bad cold, but I'm starting to feel better. I just hope I don't get the stomach bug, too. So that's what's going on in our lives--sick, sick, sick.

sick day sewing projects

Annabelle is sick today, so I'm staying home with her. I can't get too much school work done while also watching her, but I did throw together a couple of quick sewing projects. I took a pair of pants Shannon was getting rid of and made stuff out of the legs. I made a laptop sleeve to protect my laptop while it's in my school bag and a tote bag out of the other leg. I like piecing things together out of already existing items because part of the structure is already there. It's not quite as hard or tedious as cutting something from a pattern. I also like making bags because they are very forgiving--they don't have to fit, and if the stitches are sloppy, it's less important than if it were on your clothes. Even with stopping several times for Annabelle, these pieces only took me an hour to make. Here's another view:

366

This year I'm doing a 366 project. That means that I'm taking one picture every day for a year (this year has 366 days). I take pictures almost every day anyway, so this is an easy project for me. I'm posting them as a set on Flickr. You can see them at this address:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slynne78/sets/72157603687437391/

You can also see it any time by clicking on the picture collage in the sidebar.

First step!

Annabelle took one step yesterday! Rebekah said we can't call Annabelle a baby anymore because she can stand up by herself. We don't have a picture of her walking, but yesterday I caught a cute one of her emptying the DVDs out of our cabinet. Notice the snazzy new leg warmers.

Weird Things Meme

LeLe tagged me for the weird things meme. I'm not going to tag anyone else because I can't keep track of who has already done one like this. But since she requested, here are some weird things about me.

1. One of my comfort foods is a concoction someone showed me when I was in elementary school, and I have made it for myself since I was a little girl. You take white bread, spread ketchup on it, top that with pickle relish and then a slice of cheese, and then microwave it until the cheese melts. It sort of reminds me of a McDonald's cheeseburger without the meat. I only eat that when I'm alone because it's weird, but it still tastes as good to me now as it did when I was 8.

2. I don't think my mother has ever called me Sarah. She calls me Sarah Lynne or Sister, but never just Sarah. (I'm not complaining--I like it)

3. I use a hundred different pet names for my kids. My most common ones are Snookie-boo, Lovey Bovey, Honey Baby, Bookie-choo, Hunny Bunny Wunny, and Baby Jaby. I try to only do it at home because I'm sure some people would find it annoying.

4. I look up my students on Facebook.

5. I get really involved with the novels I read, to the point of having a physical response--shaking, racing pulse, nausea--and sometimes I have to put the book away for a while to recover. I never read thrillers because I don't think I could handle them. Once I had a full-on panic attack because of a book. I often talk out loud to my books while I'm reading. Sometimes I hide them because they upset me so much (like that episode of Friends when Joey put The Shining--and later Little Women--in the freezer).

6. On the subject of books, I won't buy a book that has a movie picture on it or the words "Now a Major Motion Picture." A movie and a book are two different things, even if one was based on the other, so I don't like the conflation of the two. But also I'm sort of a book snob, and I don't want to appear as if I buy books just because there are movies based on them. I also don't buy books with Oprah's Book Club on the cover because I don't want to appear as if I buy books just because Oprah told me to.

7. I never ever sleep through the night. I wake up at least once, usually twice every night.

8. I miss my kids when they go to bed.

For good measure, here are some weird things about the other members of my household:

Shannon always has to be making some kind of noise, like clapping, tapping, flicking a pop top on a Coke can. He also has an amazing talent for tuning out everything around him. I can be sitting right next to him talking and he doesn't even know I'm there. He absolutely LOVES break-and-bake cookie dough and frequently makes a special trip to the grocery store just to buy it--we call it "Cookie Night." He bakes the whole package as soon as he gets home and eats them hot out of the oven, but he never eats them the next day. Only the night they are baked.

Rebekah does something I called "rebooting." If she is having a bad morning, sometimes she will lie back down in her bed and get up and start over again. One time when we came home from preschool, she got upset between the car and the house and got back in the car, buckled up, and then got out again. After that she was fine.

Annabelle loves the bathroom. We have to keep the door closed all the time because as soon as she sees it open, she crawls as fast as she can (and she's really fast!) to the bathtub and tries to get in. Once she stuck her hands in the toilet and played in the water. She almost knocked over her high chair once when Shannon started running her bath water while she was still in her chair.

Standing up!

Yesterday Annabelle stood up without help and without pulling up on anything. She just stood herself up and looked at us. Rebekah said, "Mommy, why isn't she falling down?" She only did that once, but several times she pulled up on something and then let go. She'll be ready to walk any time now. The picture above is not too good because the lights were off when I took it. Annabelle got up about an hour after she went to bed to practice her new skill. We had to keep the lights dim so we wouldn't wake up Rebekah.

Earlier that day Rebekah wanted to play basketball, and since it was cold and wet I suggested that we stay in and use Shannon's new collapsible cooler for a goal. Later I went into the other room to feed Annabelle, and when I came back I found this:
She had a bit of a struggle getting out. She got herself tipped over, but every time she tried to get out, she rolled. I confess, I watched her roll around the living room a few times before I stepped in and rescued her. :)
BTW, this picture features one of the amusing features of our living room. There's not a good place to put an entertainment center, and we wouldn't use the fireplace with a baby around, anyway, so we put the TV on the hearth in front of the fireplace. It goes great with our low-budget child-proofing--we just pile pillows up in front of the bricks.

bundled up

The girls are ready for the Texas-style wintry day. Cold and wet, no snow in sight. This is what we call good chili weather.

wrinkly nose

Not quite the "nosy smile" that I wrote about a couple of days ago, here is one of Annabelle's many wrinkly-nosed expressions.

She's got the joy joy joy joy . . .

After dinner, Rebekah got out some modeling clay.

Rebekah: Can I play with this?
Sarah: Not right now. It's too messy.
Rebekah: But Jesus said yes.
Sarah: What?
Rebekah: Jesus is in my heart and I hear him saying yes.

Annabelle update

Annabelle is now nine months old, and she is a speedy little crawler. For the past few days she has been standing up on her own--I think the record is twelve seconds. She seems like she is ready to walk any minute now. She weighs 22 pounds now, about the same that Rebekah weighed at her age. Last week she didn't feel so well, and it turned out she had two ear infections. This is just the second time she's had one, so we're doing pretty well on that front. She is feeling much better now and is back to her perky self. She expresses herself loudly, whether she is happy or sad, and she has a great big laugh. I wish I could show what we call her "nosy smile"--when she's really happy, she wrinkles her nose and smiles with her whole face. We haven't managed to catch it on camera yet, but that is my mission next week.