Fun with a Fuzzy Caterpillar!

Yesterday after church we met Chris's brother and family, plus his parents, at the park for a picnic. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the kids had a great time!

Lovin' our picnic basket, which was my oh-so-awesome Mother's Day gift!


Claire's craziness--she needs a haircut pretty bad.


And one of the highlights was finding a caterpillar!




All the cousins had to hold the caterpillar...





Look at those filthy hands!


Aaron with Mimi

...and Pa


Aunt Christi hands out snacks...


I loved watching Emma ride on the big bike with her mama!

Chore chart success!

Aaron has had a busy week! He's been putting away laundry, helping unload the dishwasher, setting the table and clearing it, and even dusting with socks on his hands. He earned $4 in Mommy Bucks which he got to spend in the chore store tonight.

The chore store was a collection of Dollar Tree items all priced according to how badly I thought he would want them. The foam dinosaur toys were $3, the jars of playdough were $1 each, a spiky ball was $2, etc. I also printed a picture of this Lego recycling truck and priced it at $15 so he would have something bigger to save for. For several minutes I thought he was going to buy one jar of playdough and save the other $3, because he really liked the Lego truck. In the end though, he bought the foam dinosaurs and one playdough. He said he wanted to start with NO dollars and then earn $15. Shopping in the chore store was a great math lesson!

I also added a way for him to earn bonus points. If he does a helpful task not in his chore pocket that day, or if he does something he knows he is supposed to do without me asking him to (like buckling into his car seat or clearing the table on his own), then he gets a sticker. Five stickers will earn him an extra Mommy Buck.

He really seems to like the concept--every morning he is so excited to go see what chores are on his chore chart that day. He even likes to add some that I didn't put in there!! I'm hoping that gradually he will get better about doing his chores without grumbling (yeah right!). Today he didn't earn his dollar because he whined about putting away the silverware and didn't do it, so that was a hard lesson learned. He has many more to learn!!

Our Chore Charts

Today has been just glorious. Well, as glorious as it can get staying home with the kiddos.

I spent most of the morning in my jammies working on crafty stuff! I never do that, and it was great. Except for the frustration when the kids would get all into everything, but I dealt with it. It will still great to have all my crafty stuff out and pretend the floors don't need to be mopped.

I finally came up with a plan for the chore charts. They are so pretty!


Every morning I will put 3-4 cards in the bottom triangle pocket of their charts. As they complete the chores, they will put the cards in the pockets, which are just strips of paper glued on 3 sides.


If they complete all the chores for the day, they get a dollar! If they give me lots of problems (ie excessive whining, refusal to cooperate), they have to give me a dollar back. We're going to start small so Aaron will catch on to the concept and be able to earn alot of dollars this first week. Claire has a chart just so she feels like she gets to participate, but I don't think she'll "get" it.

I did the chore cards using clip-art in Microsoft Word. Aren't they pretty? I printed the play money from this website.


I had so much fun doing the names.



Of course me sitting in the floor with a bunch of markers is what prompted Claire to color with me, and eventually take an open pink marker onto my bed, where she and Aaron wrestled and got pink marker all over my white sheets. (Thank goodness I had not made the bed or it would have been my comforter! See, I know my making-the-bed-laziness would pay off!) The sheets are currently in the wash with bleach but I have doubts the ink will come out. It's permanent for scrapbooking, for heaven's sake!

But I digress...back to the names! I'd really like to do some names like this and somehow make some stationery--I'm thinking little gift cards or notecards. How would I do it though--just scan them? My scanner is pretty hoopty. Any input here would be nice. I think these would make nice gifts and I'm enjoying doing them!

Wish us luck with getting the kids motivated to help around the house!

Any way to cut her out

Aaron loves Claire. He really does. When she's not around, he's constantly asking for her.

BUT, he's also her brother, so he also does mean or deceptive things to her. It's just a given with siblings, right?

Take for example, this morning at the breakfast table. They both had a smoothie, and Aaron had already gulped his completely down. Claire had most of hers left. I was doing dishes and I overheard this conversation:

Aaron: Claire, let's switch.
Claire: No, it's MINE.
Aaron: No, let's switch, and we'll pretend I have some smoothie and you are all out.
Claire: No, it's MINE!!! Mommy!!

Then tonight we were leaving Mammaw's house and I had told them numerous times to get their shoes on, with no reaction. So I lined up their shoes next to each other, and said, "You both better get your shoes on before I count to 10."

Aaron ran over and started sliding his shoes on, and when Claire came up to start putting on hers, he started pushing her away very discreetly so she would not meet the "count to 10" deadline. Sneaky little fella wanted her to get in trouble!!! Chris and I couldn't help but laugh at his sly tactic!

Praising God through the storm

Tonight at church I was so blessed to be able to hear the testimony of Jeff Nowell, a man in our church who about a year ago was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gherig's disease. He is young, probably in his late 30's or early 40's, with two middle-school-age sons and a wonderful Godly wife. He has had a rough year of learning to trust God no matter what. His speech is now slurred and his body doesn't always cooperate when he tries to move, but he got in front of our church's congregation tonight and shared a Word from God anyway. I was captivated.

He said this has been the best year of his life. Imagine! He has grown more spiritually in the last year than he ever has before. He is reading God's Word and soaking it all in. He said he wants total strangers to ask him about his problem, because then he can tell them about how great God is! He talked about faith--how it is simply trusting God. It's not too lofty for you or me to obtain. He has chosen not to live like he is dying, but to LIVE.

As I think about this, I wonder how much I would trust God in such tough circumstances. I think of all the horrible things that I would never want to happen to me or my family--a terminal illness, loss of a child, severe financial ruin. I wonder how I would react under such circumstances. Would I draw closer to the Lord? I don't want any of those tough things to happen in my life, but I do believe I would still praise God, who is in control of all things.

If I desire to be closer to the Lord, why would I not draw near to him now--when I have all the blessings to praise Him for? I have started reading "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver. It is my desire to be like Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus, soaking Him in. I get so busy in my daily life, like Martha, but I need to make time to be like Mary. Lord, help me draw near to You!

Help with chore charts

I need your help!

I'm looking for ways to get Aaron more involved in helping around the house, not for the help (heaven knows it takes longer to do something with a 4 year old!), but to teach him responsiblity. I'd also like to start an allowance system to teach him about money and saving.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to implement it.

I read on The Pioneer Woman blog about a system she uses called "Choreorganizers." It seems like a neat concept and I'm trying to figure out how to implement it without purchasing the product! Basically it has a chore chart with each day having new chore cards you have to complete to earn a Mommy Buck, which you can redeem (or save) at the end of the week at the Chore Store (which I would stock with a variety of items from candy to larger toys he would have to save for).

Here's what I can't figure out.

Are the chores optional? Like if Aaron just decides his chores are too hard one day, he just doesn't want to earn a Mommy buck so he doesn't do anything? How do I handle that? I can totally hear him saying, "Nah, I just don't want a Mommy buck today." Then would come the screaming from me (I'm not proud!), "You better do your chores or ELSE!" And what does that accomplish? I don't want to spend the day negotiating with him.

Oh, and I think the chores will be:
*Help set the table.
*Put away laundry.
*Clean up toys (this one is huge!)
*Help put away groceries.

I'm trying to think of more, to give him more opportunities to take on responsibility. I thought of "make your bed" and "dust" but these are things I rarely do (again, not proud!) so I can't see myself enforcing those.

I also need to figure out ways to get Claire involved, because she doesn't realize she's only two, and she thinks she has to do EVERYTHING her brother does. Except when it involves work, usually. We have trouble getting her to help clean up. Imagine that.

So do you think the Choreorganizer system is a good one? Do you have a better idea? If you're a mom out there, please let me know what has worked for you!

My twin hooligans

Lots of things on my mind today!

• Today we went to Walmart. The kids were holding hands in the parking lot, and Claire was such a cute sight with her Pebbles ponytail, flowery skirt, and pink Dora sunglasses. A couple of ladies were awwwwing at them, and the older one asked, "Are they twins?" No, they're two years apart. Really? Twins??
• Claire is doing AWESOME at her potty training. She loves to wear her underwear and we've started venturing out of the house with it. I went to the Dollar Tree today to stock up on little prizes for pooping in the potty, as that is our next hurtle. She has done it twice in the last 3 days, once for a chance to play a computer game, and again today for a chance at earning a new doll bottle. I think it's just a matter of finding the right reward! Score!
• Last night we invited our neighbor over at the last minute to help us eat some kabobs I had made. I told the kids before he got there that they needed to be good during dinner--don't be too loud or messy, and don't interrupt when the grownups are talking. They did amazingly well!! Toward the end they got a little loud and talkative, but it was okay. Our neighbor even gushed about how well behaved they are. I couldn't help but beam with pride--and wonder why they act like hooligans at other times.
• Speaking of hooligans, today I was on a work-related phone call and the kids got so loud with their screaming and fighting that I had to retreat to my bathroom (behind two closed doors) to finish the call. Needless to say they got a stern talking-to and spankings when I got off the phone. Why oh why do I even try to take those calls when they are awake?
• We still need to sell our car. Anyone interested? It's a 2003 Saturn L200 in great condition. Pass the word if you know of anyone looking for a car!

A giveaway...how do they do this?

Since I am new to the blogging community, I continue to be amazed at the awesome giveaways some blogs have! How do they do it??

Check out this one from Vanilla Joy - she's giving away a huge mini-box (is that an oxymoron?) for scrapbooking! Boy, this would be an awesome prize to win! There is no way I could afford that on my own, but how awesome it would be to have it! My scrapbook nook in the bedroom would not be such a sore sight, for sure!

Scrapbooking buddies, go check it out! Maybe you could win it and I could come drool on it. ;-) Vanilla Joy also has lots of family fun activities so it's a blog worth checking out.

Lights, Camera, Action!

I just found several cute videos that I forgot to put on the blog. So I'm going to do it all in one big post. Sit back with a mug of hot tea (my favorite!), an Oreo cookie (what I just ate!), and enjoy this window into my world.

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For this first performance, it was close to nap time. I had been in the back of the house and noticed the kids had been playing well together for quite some time. So I snuck up on them with the video camera. Claire was all hyped up, doing her "Swiper no swiping" Dora imitation. Aaron was pretending to swipe things from her--her belly, her underpants. ??? Claire's energy is what really makes this video. That and the underwear cuteness, especially Aaron's that are on backwards. One other noted feature is the TV is on PBS, and Reading Rainbow was coming on. Hearing that theme song takes me back to my childhood, specifically my babysitter in 2nd grade.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Aaron got a soldier costume at church a couple of weeks ago. When he got home and put it on I took a quick video hoping he would explain it to me. His answers are pretty funny! Claire makes an appearance and jabbers in my ear the whole time.

We set up a "festival" in the living room, with a bean bag toss just like Aaron saw on a Blue's Clues episode. What I really wanted to capture here was Claire's great underhanded toss. She really winds up and it was cracking me up! She only did it once in the video, then got sidetracked pretending one of the boxes was a grocery cart for her baby.

And finally, Aaron dug out an old wooden toy he had, which is supposed to make a helicopter. Last night he was making all kinds of "machines" with it, explaining to me their elaborate functions. I got a little on video today, but it wasn't quite like the conversations last night. It never is when the video camera is rolling!

Works for Me! Homemade Lunchables

For the first week of school I had snagged some Lunchables for $1! That was cheap, and I grabbed a few. I should have filled my buggy, apparently, because the kids love them. And they're so easy to just throw in the lunchbox. Now that they're back to $6.49 or whatever extremely high regular price they normally are, I'm improvising.

Several months ago I picked up some sandwich boxes at the Target Dollar Spot. (Love love love the Dollar Spot!) I got one Lightning McQueen box and one Disney Princess box. They are the perfect size for a sandwich, and great for keeping the sandwich from smushing and for conserving all those plastic baggies so they don't end up in a landfill!

So I'm using these sandwich boxes for my homemade lunchables. I can make them the night before, so they can be just as easy to throw in the lunch box before school.

I start with some ham or bologna or whatever I have on hand. The kids like "ham rolls", which is just ham rolled up, so that works for me.

Then I add cheese. Claire likes string cheese. Aaron is a cheese snob and now only likes swiss. So I take a slice of swiss and fold it twice so I end up with four squares.

Next is the crackers. When we were cleaning out my Grandma's pantry I found an unopened box of multi-grain club crackers. They are good, y'all!! The kids like them too, so in they go!

Finally, since every good lunchable has a cookie, I put a couple of those small Famous Amos cookies in there.

Voila! Homemade Lunchable! For pennies instead of breaking the bank!!

More funny-ness

I cannot resist posting some of these hilarious things my kids have said the last couple of days.

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Overheard from the bathtub--

Aaron: Claire, before you play, you have to pay. (Not sure WHAT he was talking about!)
Claire: Dear God, thank you for 'de food. Amen.

I guess she thought he said "pray"!

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Claire is learning a new song at school called "Little Red Box". One part says, "How do you do?" and when Claire sings it, she says, "How do you do that?"

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Aaron rode in the truck with Daddy on Sunday. Out of nowhere he says, "I think I know why God sent all those hurricanes."

"Why?" asks Daddy.

"Because of all the old buildings. They need to be torn down!" was the reply. Hmmmm....???

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Yesterday afternoon I was on a phone call for work, trying to stay in a separate room from the kids. Of course they always follow me into whatever room I choose, so while I was talking Aaron comes in and announces, "Mommy, my wee-wee hurts!" I almost died. The guy on the phone pretended like he didn't hear anything, but there is no way he missed that!

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Today Aaron and I were playing a sight-words game with different cards with words that make sentences. Claire did NOT want us to play that, so she got the bag they go in and started picking them up. In her best villian voice she said, "You'll never play your game now! Whaaa haa haa!" She got that villian voice from Swiper the Fox (Dora) and the Backyardigans.

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Hope you got some belly laughs!

Success!

Aaron's surgery was a success! Thank you for all your prayers.

We got to the surgery center and Aaron got to put on the hospital gown. Kids are so cute in those little gowns! He really enjoyed playing in the playroom while we waited. They had a garbage truck (IMAGINE!) that he immediately gravitated toward.

The highlight for him was picking a toy from the bunny tunnel, which took several minutes. He walked around with his index finger tapping his cheek, saying "Hmmmm....Hmmmmm..." as he examined all the toys. I knew as soon as I saw construction trucks that he would pick one of those, but of course he had to be dramatic about his choice. We finally forced him to choose something and he chose a new digger. (IMAGINE!)

I forgot a book to read so I absently flipped through a Better Homes & Gardens while we waited. Finally the doctor came in and told us he did great. I was so anxious to get back to see him. They said he woke up talking, which was pretty unusual. The nurse said, "He's saying something about Mammaw?" I said, "Yes, his sister is with Mammaw." That boy MISSED his sister last night and this morning.

He was a model patient. He didn't cry at all coming out of the anesthesia, and he sat up and gave me a big hug when I came in. Then he sat there and was talking like he was drunk for several minutes, which was the source of much laughter!! He got a blue popsicle and a cup of apple juice, so he was very happy!

We got home and he started cleaning out the pantry--I guess no breakfast meant he was STARVING! We started a movie and tried to rest. Then Claire got home and they were romping and running all around the living room like nothing ever happened. Gotta love how resilient kids are!

Surgery tomorrow

You may remember my post in May about Aaron's problem. The doctor recommended surgery, and quite frankly, I didn't like that answer. I prayed and researched, and decided to wait and see what the pediatrician said at his 4-year checkup in July. I was trying to convince myself there wasn't really a problem and he was just fine.

We saw the pediatrician in July, and of course the pediatrician recommended the surgery. A couple of weeks ago I got the surgery scheduled, and I've tried not to give it too much thought.

But here I sit the night before and I'm nervous. What if they mess up, or what if it traumatizes him? I'm praying he is too young to really remember this. Sometimes his mind is like a steel trap though!

Claire is staying with Chris's grandmother tonight, so we can both take him to the surgery center in the morning. I've told him a little bit about what's going to happen, and he met the anesthesiologist last week. His big question was, "Am I going to get a shot?" And the answer is no--not that he'll be aware of. The anesthesia is done with gas, and he'll get an IV after he's asleep. I cannot imagine trying to put an IV in a 4-year old while he is awake!!

Aaron is pretty excited about going through the toy tunnel and getting to pick out a toy before his surgery. Hopefully that will be the memory he keeps about tomorrow!

In the Lord's Army!

Aaron has the BEST 4 year old Sunday school teachers we could ask for! He absolutely adores Ms. Sissy and can't wait to go to her class each week. She sends a letter in the mail mid-week to tell them about the upcoming lesson and what they will have for snack. (She ALWAYS serves Sprite, which he thinks is such a treat because he doesn't get to drink it any other time!)

A couple of weeks ago they learned about being soldiers, in the Lord's Army! They made a soldier costume that was the armor of God. He showed it off for me when we got home!

Because you know you wanted to see...

You know you wanted to see my scrapbook titles I referred to Saturday night. Or maybe I just want to show you! I'm pretty excited about finding new ways to do titles.

This one was fun to do. I just took crayons and made the letters in blocks. So easy! I like the effect.


This one took me a few minutes--I was copying the "Neptune" lettering from one of the books I have. It was fun to embellish it once I was done. I did chalk around the edge for a faded look. Clear beads are scattered around the page and look like water droplets.


This puppets page is one of my favorite. I absolutely love the title! I followed the "Button" lettering in the LMNOP book, then embellished it.

Here's the whole page--I used pieces of yarn that I had actually used as the puppets' hair.

Finally, the journaling box needed a little something, so embellished it with more buttons! They're so easy to draw!


This was the first time I've worked on my scrapbooking in a while, and now I'm very motivated to do more.

Calling all scrapbooking friends--I sense a crop in the works!

Fun festival!

Saturday we went to a really fun arts and crafts festival. The kids had a long night Friday--they spent the night with Chris's grandmother--so they were tired and we didn't stay long at the festival. But I was excited to go as a family and have a little bit of fun!

The kids loved the rides!

Sit down Claire!

These swings were a big hit...


Aaron always said something to me as he passed...

On these cars, he waved and said, "Bye!" everytime he went past.



Then we took our cranky children home.

Some random Aaron funny-ness

Aaron's been cracking me up lately...

• Monday night we were at dinner when a girl came in with a University of Memphis shirt. It had a blue paw print on the sleeve, and Aaron shouted, "A clue! A clue!"
• Last night I overheard Aaron telling Chris: "The only thing that makes your muscles bigger is eating green beans and broccoli. I've been eating green beans and broccoli for YEARS and YEARS. I'm getting big muscles, Daddy!"
• A few weeks ago I kept Aaron home from church on Sunday morning because he couldn't stay awake--he kept falling asleep while we were trying to get ready, so I thought he must be getting sick. I told him there was something sick inside him making him sleepy. Yesterday morning before school Aaron announced, with much dramatic effect, "I have something sick inside me that's making me sleepy. I don't need to go to school." And he proceeded to lay on the couch for half an hour to convince me he was sleepy. Needless to say he went to school and had a great time!

Lucky 7

Seven years ago today, almost to the minute, I married my best friend. And we are still best friends, and I love him with every fiber of my being! I could go on and on about the things I love about him, but I'll try to list seven things here:

1. We can talk without saying a word. You know that song "When You Say Nothing At All" by Allison Krauss? We love that song, and it really speaks to my relationship with Chris. He is well known as a quiet guy--but the thing I love is that he can make a look with his eyes or a hand gesture, and I know that he wants a glass of milk or a bowl of ice cream. Or whatever else he wants to say!

2. He is truly a man of God. He speaks to me with such wisdom sometimes, and he has the most giving heart. He is always thinking about helping other people even when we don't have all the nice things of the world. I love that about him!

3. He supports my interests. He doesn't think the things I enjoy are foolish, like scrapbooking or photography. He encourages me when I get all excited about something. Which I tend to do (see yesterday's post about scrapbook titles!).

4. We are on the same page about parenting. We both want our children to grow up to be Godly, and we are both pursuing that end. He supports me so I can stay home, which is the greatest gift ever!

5. We enjoy the same things, and even if we don't we are able to be interested enough in each other's pursuits to talk about it. We both like the same music, which is fun. We like to play Rook and enjoy having friends over for meals. He likes hunting, and I like hearing about it. I don't even mind watching sports with him!

6. He doesn't fault me when things aren't perfect. Such as, when he comes home and the house is a disaster--he just rolls with it. Now, from time to time the piles of stuff everywhere get under his skin, but then he starts helping me clean it up. It's good to have that accountability!

7. He loves me. Every day I can find things he does that speak volumes to me--he loves me! What more could I ask for?

Scrapbooking!

This was the weekend of a scrapbook retreat in Arkansas that I had really wanted to attend. I decided not to reserve my spot because of everything going on with my Grandma. So I had some down time today and decided to drag it all out in my bedroom and do some pages!

I had to share, because I had so much fun making titles using these books:



I made some super cute titles! My favorite was one called "Puppets" which is done in a lettering that has buttons and threads going all over it. I colored the buttons with some bright fine tip markers and drew spools of thread and extra buttons all around. I have definitely found a new little hobby-within-my-hobby!

I also worked on organizing which pages I have done and which I have yet to do. I spent an hour and a half last night going through pictures on my computer and creating pages in my head, and getting it all down on paper. I felt less confused about where I needed to start once I started working today. Why didn't I think of that earlier??? (Probably because it took so long!)

Sweetness!

I am surrounded each day by sweetness. I just wanted to share some of it with you!

Claire's new favorite thing--wearing a ponytail!

How cute is she in her pink crocs that don't match her outfit, carrying around a rag that she calls her blankie? (Trivia about that rag--I bought it in China in 2000!! I needed a few washcloths and one of my Chinese friends showed me to a store that had some and helped me buy them.)



Aaron chose acorns for show-and-tell on Thursday, instead of his first idea of ambulance. These are acorns he got from my Grandma's house to put out for Pooray, the squirrel who lives in our tree. (Aaron named him a long time ago, I'm guessing "Pooray" is how you spell it. It's pronounced "poo-ray". His full name is Pooray Rap Tapp.) For some reason Pooray had not taken the acorns yet, so Aaron decided to take them to school.


Aaron and Claire play so well together! They sat for over half an hour on my bed last night playing with this tow truck and drill. They fought a few times, but they resolve their differences pretty well (especially when Mommy threatens to take away the offending toy!).




This picture reminds me of one my mom has of me when I was little, wearing a fireman's hat! Claire kept saying, "I'm a fire engine!"

And finally, some baby booty!!


Now go brush your teeth so you don't get a cavity. Love these kiddos!

Commercial-ism

Today we went to Target after school. Gotta love Target!

I was out of allergy medicine, so we were on that aisle and I was trying to find the right thing (generic loratadine tablets, if you're wondering). Aaron starts jumping up and pointing to some Zyrtec.

He says, "Hey Mommy, this works FASTER than Claritin."

"Who told you that?" I asked.

"The TV!" he announced!

And then I remembered the Zyrtec commercials I've been seeing, which tout "Zyrtec starts working 2 hours faster than Claritin." Yep, folks, my boy has been commercialized. (I noticed the commercials because I recently switched Aaron from Claritin to Zyrtec and it seems to be working better for him...)

And this is one of my many beefs with Nick Jr. I much prefer PBS Kids and Playhouse Disney, which don't do commercials during the children's programming. I don't know why Nick Jr folks think that parents are actually sitting and watching Dora with their kids. I wish Dora could somehow switch to Playhouse Disney! Then all would be right with the world.

First day of preschool!

Yesterday the kids started back to Mother's Day Out, aka "preschool"!


A hug before school...

Aaron is now in the 4 year old class, which this year is expanding into the upstairs of the building. He is so excited to be in the big kid class! We got a note sent home telling us that this Thursday is show and tell, and we are so excited! I told Aaron he had to bring something small that starts with the letter A, and he thought about it for a minute and told me he wants to bring his toy ambulance. What a smart kid!

He will also do computer and spanish classes, which is going to be so much fun for him. Their goal this year is to get the kids ready for Kingergarden, and I feel confident they will do just that. But I'm not sure I want him to go to Kindergarden. Two days a week is definitely plenty for me, at least for now!

Claire is in the 2-year-old class. This year will be very different for her as it's more structured ("school-like") than the baby room where she was last year. They're actually going to work on letters, colors, and numbers! Her teacher, Mrs. Stacy, is the same one Aaron had two years ago, and Stacy told me yesterday that Claire is so much like Aaron in that she always had the answer to the questions--"It's an A!", "It's RED!", "It's an apple!"--while the other kids gave her blank stares. Chris told me he knows where they get that from (who? me?).

I'm sure this won't be the first year of Claire's life that she is compared to her brother. I hadn't really thought about it before, but as they grow up they will eventually have some of the same teachers, who will say, "I wish you were more like your older brother!" or "I wonder why your older brother wasn't as good as you!" Ahhhh...siblings!

Claire really enjoyed her day, and told me in the van after school, "I had fun Mommy! I played with Mary Lampton and Alezandra! I sleeped on a mat!" (Stacy told me she slept about 20 minutes before Mary Lampton woke her up, and she was a CRAB the rest of the day until she went to bed early at 7:30!!)

Here's to a great year at preschool! And to some short afternoons after preschool since they don't get very long naps!