Christmas Friend Survey

Several friend emailed this to me, so I decided to follow another blogger's lead and just post my responses. If anyone else wants to participte, jump on in!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? A little of both. The kids have to wrapped, since that only kind of stops them from opening them early.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial, always. Too messy otherwise. Plus don't you have to remember to water them. Yeah, like I would really remember to do that!

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime during Thanksgiving weekend, definitely by the next weekend.

4. When do you take the tree down? Right after New Year's

5. Do you like eggnog? nope

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A cabbage patch kid, or maybe my Barbie swimming pool

7. Do you have a nativity scene? I got my first one this year. It's a Little People's one. It's really cute, but the one I really want is the Willow Tree one.

8. Hardest person to buy for? my sister Angie

9. Easiest person to buy for? everyone else

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can remember taking back some clothes my dad picked out for me. Oh wait, I just remember the year my grandma gave me a college care package full of deodorant, shampoo, lotion, etc. None of the right brands of course. She also included a roll of quarters which was very helpful for laundry, so I guess it wasn't all that horrible.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail 1

2. Favorite Christmas Movie? I really like all of them, but some new favorites are Elf, and The Polar Express.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Many times. In fact, I have a box in my basement of things that I can "regift".

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Magic Squares (Hey, mom! Where are they? Weren't you suppose to make those and give them out to us?)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? My upstairs tree is just white lights, by downstairs tree is multi-colored

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Come, O Come Emmanuel

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We usually drive to FL at some point, but Erin's mom is coming up here this year.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? absolutely

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star on the downstairs tree, big red bow on the upstairs.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Lingua family on Christmas Eve, Roades family on Christmas Day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Being so busy every night of the week, I lose track of what the whole season is suppose to be about.

23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme? Our downstairs tree is full of all the ornaments we have collected over the years. My mom still gives each of us a new one every year, so it's really full! The upstairs tree has little red bows and snowflakes that Erin's grandma crocheted.

Learning Place Christmas Programs

This past Monday and Tuesday were program nights at preschool for the kids. They were really long, tiring days, but for the most part went well. Kalista did great singing all her songs and doing the motions.

Isaac, on the other hand was crazy. He started out okay, shaking his Jingle Bell, doing some of the motions (leaving his place on stage to find his sister and give her a hug. . .) This was him singing O'Christmas Tree on Tuesday night.

Their last song was called Christmas Lullabye. I guess he took them seriously Monday night.

By the end Tuesday night, he was done. He didn't want to get back up on stage to sing their last song, so this is what happened. . .

Such is program life with a two year old. . . Stay tuned for pictures from Kalista's last performance of the season. Sunday night (if it's not snowed out) will be our annual Cookie Social at church. Kalista will be singing along with the rest of "His Singers", a group of 8 girls 4 to 10 years old.

Learning Place Christmas Programs

This past Monday and Tuesday were program nights at preschool for the kids. They were really long, tiring days, but for the most part went well. Kalista did great singing all her songs and doing the motions. Isaac, on the other hand was crazy. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. . .

Visiting Santa

Each year when we go to visit Santa, I never quite know how the kids will respond. This year they both did great, even after a 15 minute wait while Santa when to "feed his reindeer"! Isaac kept telling me he wanted to go feed them too!

Cookie Baking

It's that time of year again. Time to go off of diets, attend countless parties, and bake cookies. This week has not been the best, but it certainly ended on a sweet note. . .

It started coming apart on Wednesday morning about 4:00 a.m. when Kalista came in my room saying her head hurt. I snuggled her and sent her back to bed. At 7:00 when she woke up for good she said her head still hurt and she was cold. I took her temp and it was 99.4. Now Kalista's normal temp is around 96, so this was high for her. However, we have been really short staffed at work, so I asked her if she could make it to preschool and she said yes. I guess we were both too optimistic. Half-way there she threw up. Over the next 24 hours she threw up 4 or 5 more times, looked as pale as a ghost, and laid comatose on the couch.

By Thursday morning I could tell she was feeling better and as the day wore on she was able to eat more and more and it all stayed down! The opposite was true for me. I woke up Thursday morning with a sinus infection. I blew my nose every 5 to 10 seconds and felt miserable. I was glad we still had to stay home from preschool for Kalista's sake, I don't think I would have made it through the whole day myself. The worse part was that Erin, who never gets to do anything, was going out of town Friday to a track coaching conference and staying overnight. That meant I had two more days of just me and the kids and feeling like I'd been run over by a truck!

Things did get better. My medicine started working and I was able to get some sleep. Isaac was remarkably well behaved through both Kalista's and my illness! God was with us for sure! Saturday morning I disinfected the kitchen and got ready for my sister and niece to come over for cooking baking with me and Kalista. This is a annual tradition in my family, but it is always different who can come. Mom got iced in and couldn't come and Angie claimed that she was on a diet and didn't need cookies at her house, so she stayed home as well (check out her recent post). So the four of us got to work (Isaac didn't help much, just kept asking where the cookies were and trying to take the unbaked dough off the cookie sheets). We baked all afternoon and into the evening. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring. The worst part is that I couldn't taste anything since my nose is still so stopped up!

Conversations with Kids

On the way to school this morning the kids and I were having a typical day. They were listening to the Wiggles (it was Isaac's turn to pick), and I was listening to Christmas music on my Ipod. When out of the blue Isaac says to me . . .

"Mom, I whike Whacie" (I like Gracie)

"You do? That's good." I reply.

A few moments pass.

"Mom, I whike Whacie and Sissy whikes Whexie" (I like Gracie and sissy likes Lexi)

I repeat to make sure I heard him right and then ask, "Well, who do I like?"

"You like MawMaw." He replies.

"You're right I do." I say

At this point Kalista chimes in and says, "Yep, you like your mom. And both of us likes Gramme."

Isaac says, "I like Gramme too."

And we continue on down the road. What sweet kids. . .

Life with Isaac (or why I haven't posted in more than two weeks!)

For any of you mothers of two year old boys out there, you know what I mean by the title of this post. My son is a great big ball of energy. He never stops. Ever. In fact I hear him running from room to room upstairs right now, and he's only been up 10 minutes. In fact, I need to see what he's doing. Be right back. . . Okay now everyone is safely downstairs eating poptarts and watching Handy Manny. I might have 15 minutes to finish writing this. Maybe.

Now don't get me wrong. I love my son. He is hilarious. He is just also exhausting. I have compiled some pics to show you what typically happens during the course of a few days at our house.

Isaac locked himself in Kalista's room and was too quiet. When I found him, this is what he looked like!

Isaac loves getting out daddy's cold running gear and putting them on. "My govs, my hat!" is all we hear. . .

Before giving him anything to draw with, I always ask him "Where do we draw?" "On paper," is always his answer. I guess he thought his face was made out of paper. . . Thank goodness for washable markers!

Even at bedtime, it can take him an hour or more to settle down and go to sleep. Last night, for example he was singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of his lungs. When I went in to tell him to go to sleep I asked whose birthday it was. "My giraffe!" He replied. Next we got a very loud rendition of "Jingle Bells". This pic was during his take his diaper off phase, which reappears every couple weeks or so. . .

Enough about funny little boys! The rest of us are doing great. Erin and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on Sunday. We both agreed that we don't feel like we've been married that long, but we feel like we've been parents forever!

Kalista had a great week at school. We had our Thanksgiving Feasts both days and she got to make Native American headbands, and necklaces. And then of course enjoy her feast of Go-Gurt and Applesauce! Isaac loved all the real feast food and pigged out on everything!

I will end with a very sweet Kalista story that reminds me how thankful I am. Last week Kalista was saying her prayers and I was helping her out. Towards the end, I said "Thank you for letting us learn about God and Jesus today at church." After we said "amen" Kalista looked at me and said, "You know mom, next time you should just say thank you for letting us learn about YOU and Jesus, cause we were talking to God!" I was taken aback. I had consciously used God so she wouldn't loose context, but apparently she understands perfectly that when we pray we are talking to God! It amazes me that we can learn so much from little ones who are so close to God. How they can understand that Dora and Diego are pretend, but God who they can't see is real just shows how He can reveal Himself to us if only we let Him!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Halloween Season

It all started the Saturday before Halloween when Erin and I hosted a party. Really there were just four couples sitting around in costumes playing board games and laughing like crazy. No kids were allowed and we had a lot of fun. Erin and I liked to dress-up in some sort of a couple theme. He has a great Forrest Gump outfit, so I got to be his Jenny.

Then we had Fall Harvest Fest at church on Sunday night. No pics, since I forgot my camera at home, but the kids had lots of fun playing the games, making pillows, and decorating treat bags (not to mention all the cookies they ate!)

Next on the agenda was Pre-school Party day! (or days, since my kids go to both sessions) Kalista kept it easy for me and dressed up as the same thing both days (Bride Ariel). I thought this was a good compromise since we had to talk her into Dorothy and not a Disney princess for the actual Halloween night. Check out the wig. It was so heavy it kept falling off, but she loved it! Isaac being his usual happy go lucky self, didn't care and just wore his lion costume all week long. He really got into roaring when he had it on.

That finally takes us to the actual event of Halloween night. Kalista was really excited, especially when Maw-Maw showed up (my mom) to go trick-or-treating with us. And surprise, surprise she dressed up with our theme too! This all came about from a phone call Kalista had with my dad about 2 months ago where she told him what we were being for Halloween. Now Wizard of Oz is my dad's favorite movie of all time and Kalista knows this, so she told him that he could dress up too and that he could be a flying monkey and Maw-Maw could be the witch. "The good witch, Glenda?" he innocently asked. "No, the mean, ugly one with a green face," Kalista answered. Well, my dad just thought that was hilarious, so he told mom, who being a very good sport obliged!

This last picture was just a really good one of the kids with some of our pumpkins. Erin always does a nice job of carving them.

One last story to share. . . As we were walking around Nancy's neighborhood (after stopping by the Henley's fabulous Open House) with some other friends of ours from church, the kids (they have a 3 1/2 year old girl) were having a hard time remembering all the things they had to say at each house (trick-or-treat, thank-you, etc.), so one of the adults would try to remind them as they were waiting for the door to open. Isaac, being much shorter, would always arrive a bit late, but was still trying to keep up. At one particular house he got there just in time to put his bucket out as I was saying "What do you say?" Emma and Kalista immediately responded with "Trick-or-treat" as the lady was filling their buckets. Isaac, being third in line, piped in with "I want some too!"

We're off to see the Wizard!

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween yesterday. We all had a lot of fun. I'll post more pics later, but here's one of the family!

Trauma over costume?

If any of you are a regular reader of my sister's blog, you would have seen her recent posting about her tramatic Halloween as a fried egg. . . Well take a look at this month's cover of Family Fun Magazine. Does this kid looked traumatized to you? I guess our mom was just 20 years before her time. Love you Ang!

Better than 20/20

Surgery success! My LASIK yesterday went great, and at my post-op appointment this morning I am seeing better than 20/20. Yeah! For those of you who wear glasses, you know what a huge change this is! It is really hard to describe. I keep trying to push my glasses up on my nose, but of course they are not there! Thanks for all the prayers!

My kids are being pretty funny about the whole thing. Kalista keeps crying everytime we talk about me not wearing glasses any more. She wants to know when the dr. is going to give them back to me. Isaac didn't quite get the eye shields that I had to wear all last evening. He kept telling me to "take off, mommy!"

Halloween Tag

How much do you enjoy Halloween?
I love it! Besides Christmas it is my favorite!

Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days? Do you miss the traditional costumes?
Too traditonal how? Dressing up is dressing up. I love it all!

Do you give out candy? If yes, what kind?
Yes, we give out candy. Usually little chocolate candy bars. Since having kids we just put a big caldron bucket on our porch and then take our little ones around. I realize this may mean that our neighbor kids take it all, since it is always empty when we get home, but who cares?

What has been your favorite costume? As a kid or adult?

I've had lots of favorites, like the year I was a washing machine and my friend was the dryer, but I have really enjoyed the last few years with my kids. We try to do a theme and last year was Star Wars. Here's a pic. Kalista picked her own character (she has been obsessed with Darth Maul since she was 18 months old, found a figurine and declared that "Darth Maul's trouble".)








When you were growing up what was the weather like during trick or treating? Did you ever have to wear a heavy coat over your costume?
I'm like Angie don't really remember coats too much, but I do remember rain. Yuck!

What was your favorite candy as a kid to get?
Mini chocolate bars and tootie rolls

Do you think Halloween costumes today are too provocative for kids and teens?
There are definitely some provocative ones out there to buy, I haven't see any kids wearing anything too bad.

What are your Halloween plans this year since it falls on a Wednesday?
Same as every year, walk around our cul'du'sac, then go to the Henley's Open House and walk some more around their street!

Now I tag Nancy, since she is the queen of Halloween!

Just catching up

It has been a busy time in the Roades house. . .

It all started last Wednesday with our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch with preschool. Both kids had a great time. Kalista loved the straw mazes and Isaac really loved the train ride.

Then that evening Erin's mom flew in for a much anticipated visit. The kids were ecstatic! They love their Gramme because it means games, stories, playtime, and more games! Normal bedtimes were forgotten, good visit time was had by all!

The second reason for Karen's visit was for Grandpa's memorial service at Jefferson Barracks. It was very, very nice. The kids did great even during the rifle salute (Isaac thought about crying, but it was over too quick) and bugle playing (Isaac did ask "where the tumpet go?" really loud once Taps was over and the bugler left.)

On Saturday morning, Karen left and the kids were to my parents' farm for the evening, so Erin and I could attend a dinner for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. No we are not wrestlers, but Erin's dad, uncle, and several great-uncles were -- big time. In fact the Grubbs family (Erin's grandma's family) is largely responsible for bringing amateur wrestling to the St. Louis area and they were all inducted into the National Hall of Fame on Saturday night. Lots of Erin's relatives that we don't get to see very often were at dinner and it was nice to catch up with them. This is a pic of Erin, his uncle Jay, and one of his dad's old coaches.

That brings me to today where I got to skip school for a 3 hour eye exam. Why 3 hours you may ask? Well, next Friday I am having LASIK surgery on my horribly nearsighted eyes and today was the mapping appointment. I'm nervous, but really excited about life without glasses.

Is this the face of a bully?

Yes it is. Poor Isaac has had a rough week.

It all started this past Friday night when we started breathing treatments again. It was bad enough that Erin took him to the Dr. on Saturday. You guessed, it we were back on oral steroids and breathing treatments for the next five days. We were also given a perscription for Singulair, so hopefully these episodes will subside.

So for the better part of 5 days now, Isaac has been hyped up on lots of drugs. Needless to say we all (Erin, myself, and Isaac) are all suffering from lack of sleep. While that is not a good situation the other side-effect of steroids -- agression -- has reared its ugly head at pre-school this week. Isaac hit one of his favorite friends on Monday and then hit 3 more kids today (one of them 3 times) all before 10:30. Ms. Jeanne did a great job of putting him in time-out, but after the third victim mom stepped in and laid down the law. After 2 hard swats on the booty and another 2-minute time out (with him hyperventilating the whole time - he is quite the drama king when he wants to be) I think he got the message and had no more incidents the rest of the day.

It was hard to discipline him while he is sick especially since I know this behavior is not typical for him. Those 2 minutes I sat with him were very hard, but drying his tears, snuggling him afterwards, and having him say "I no hit my friends" told me that all was well and he learned what he was suppose to. . . until the next time! :)

ps Thanks for the great glasses, Aunt Nancy! As you can see, he loves them!

Dieting, I-Pods, and Reality TV

This will be a misc. post as there is really nothing new going on at the Roades' house.

Dieting, yes I am at it again. I am going through a 6 week diet class at Curves. I have had a lot of success with this in the past. In fact pre-babies I lost 30 lbs in about 5 months. Then I had kids. After finishing nursing Isaac last Aug. it was time to lose all those baby lbs for good. One year later (and after taking the summer off from dieting and gaing almost 10 lbs back) I am really close to my goal. I think I need to lose about 15-20 more lbs. That's not a really specific number because I am more concerned with getting my body fat percentage into a healthy range (25%) Right now it is closer to 30% . Those of you from pre-school that read this blog know this already and are probably sick of hearing me talk about it . Don't worry only 4 1/2 more weeks of class to hear me complain! Hopefully I will be very close to my goal when this diet class is over. This week hasn't been very promising though. . .

Me and my Ipod. Erin got me a Ipod Nano for my birthday. I love it! For those of you that know me, I love music and sing a lot. With two kids though it is hard to get to listen to the music that I want to. There is constant fighting over whose turn it is, and some days it is just easier to let them listen to the Wiggles or Mickey's ClubHouse than argue. Enter my new Ipod. I can now plug in one ear bud, listening to my music and tuning out theirs. Only one ear of course, so if I am needed I can still hear them!

I am so glad that the new season of TV is starting soon. I am a TV junkie. Seems weird, since I am also a very avid reader. While I am not a big reality TV person, Erin and I do really enjoy The Biggest Loser and Survivor. It is so amazing to watch the people on the BG so completely change their lives and get healthy. Survivor is just fun.

I'll try to make my next post more exciting. . .

Sweet Kalista

Just a cute story from Kalista this week. . . She loves church. In fact every other or day or so she asks me if it is a church day. Well this Wednesday she was still feeling puny from her HFM episode (see previous post) that we decided not to go to Wed. night class. I decided not to tell her, since I knew it would be a huge issue. All was going according to plan, until about 6:00 when out of the blue she asked me if it was a church day. Now Erin and I have a policy of not lyng to our kids, so I told her that yes, it was a church night, but she was still sick and we were going to stay home so we didn't get any of the other kids sick. Her response? "But mommy, I promise I won't kiss anybody, so they won't get sick!"

School's in session -- bring on the germs!

I have always had very good immune system, so has Erin and Kalista. Isaac on the other hand is my sickie. Since birth we have dealt with reflux, RSV, countless colds, eczema, allergies, and cold-induced asthma. He had a great summer, but of course school started three weeks ago, fall allergens started flying and I gave him his 1st breathing treatment of the season. Of course when I got the nebulizer out I was missing a vital piece of the machine (I think it got thrown away), so I had to resort to his inhaler. This is of course on top of his bout with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease this weekend. (Thanks, Kennedy!) Poor boy hasn't eaten in days because his mouth hurt (it got so bad he even spit out his binki!), his sleeping has been poor, and now he is having breathing issues. Oh well, like I told his dr. at his 2 year appointment two weeks ago. . . "see you soon!"

Oh, by the way. Kalista just came and told me that her feet hurt. I looked and she has spots all over her feet, hands, mouth. . . Nice way to start the week. Sorry Ang, I guess your kids were exposed. . .

Good-bye Grandpa

Sunday Erin's grandpa, John Hicks passed away from complications due to pulmonary fibrosis. He had been sick for some time and last Monday started going downhill very fast. Erin and I flew down to FL on Saturday to say good-bye. It was very difficult, to say the least. When we got to Erin's mom's house Saturday evening, grandpa was up out of bed for what would be the last time. He knew we were there and we were able to talk with him for a few minutes. The next 8 hours or so were the last he seemed aware of what was going on around him. All 4 of his children made the trip down from MO to see him one last time.

Probably the most heart-breaking thing of the whole ordeal was watching grandma with him. A little background first -- grandpa and grandma have been together for some 71 years. In the last few years, grandma's memory has begun to deteriorate and as grandpa's health worsened, she couldn't seem to understand, or remember why he wasn't acting the way that he used to. However many times over the last few hours of grandpa's life, grandma would climb up in bed with him and they would snuggle together. She seemed to finally grasp, as least to some extent what was going on.

All of my grandparents have been dead for several years and I was actually never very close to any of them. But from the moment I joined the Roades/Hicks family I was treated like another grand-daughter. I can to feel much closer to Grandpa "Whitehair" (as Erin always called him) than to any of my own grandparents. He was a very sweet man and he will be greatly missed by many, many people.

Happy Birthday Me and 1st Day of School

My birthday started with Erin kissing me good-bye and whispering "Happy Birthday" as he left for work. I then enjoyed another half hour of sleep before I had to get up for my first day back to work. Then as I'm getting ready, Kalista comes running in with our family's birthday hat and sunglasses and made me put them on. It was a nice surprise that she remembered it was my birthday without being reminded by anyone!

Lovely pic, I know! Kalista took it. Pretty good job for a 4 year old!

After both kids were ready for school we headed outside for some first day pics. They were both really excited. Isaac loves his Diego backpack and has been wearing it around the house for weeks (even though it is as big as he is!) Once at school they both did really well. Isaac only cried for me two times and both times were because he had gotten hurt. The first time he got his fingers shut in a door, the second he fell off the cafeteria table and got a black eye. Nice way to start the year, huh! So much for getting his picture taken on Sunday! After calming him down after the eye incident, he went back to playing and had a great day. Kalista really liked her first day too. Being a "big" kid she eats lunch later, so therefore has her snack in the morning. Boy was she excited! Snack before lunch! That never happens at home! It made her day, and she is ready for more!

Isaac didn't want me taking this picture of his eye, and he was yelling "NOOOOOO!" as I took it. His eye is all puffy and red. I am sure it will turn black in a day or two. He must have hit his cheek also since it is all red and scraped up too. This happened around 11:00 and I took this picture around 7:00 tonight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!

Now it's my baby's turn for a birthday! It is hard to believe he is two already and we haven't even been to the ER with him yet! (He's my climber, daredevil, wild man, etc. . . ) We had pretty uneventful day. Phone calls from Grandparents, presents once daddy came home from work, a visit to the "duck" park, and birthday ice cream at Fritz's. I know at two Isaac really doesn't care what we do, but I still wanted him to enjoy his day. I think Sunday at Chuck E. Cheese will be more his thing. Until then. . .

Tag -- I'm it

Apparently my sister thinks we are still in grade school at recess. Good thing Tag was one of my favorites! Here's my list. Oh yeah, Rachel -- Tag! You're it!



First memory: It was my third birthday party. I thought of it as a pool party, but really I just played in the sprinkler and kiddie pool with my sisters, the Burnett's, and other friends from church. We all talked into a tape recorder and I used to listen to that tape all the time.


First Real Kiss: Sean Berger


First Concert: Michael W. Smith at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis


First Love: I'm with Jim on this one. While Erin is absolutely my one and only love today, I would have to say my first love was Keith McCord.


First Crush: Chad Evins in Kindergarten or 1st grade. We teeter-tottered and sat on the monkey bars together.


First thought in the morning: "Why is Isaac yelling at Goofy? Go back to sleep!"


First book you remember loving: So hard to choose. . . I guess anything by Janette Oake

First Pet: The first all my own? A cat named Willie. He got hit by a car and had to be put to sleep. I haven't really liked pets since then.


First thing you think of when you hear vacation: Branson or Disney World?


First Best Friend: Jennifer Burnett


Last time you dressed up: Closing banquet of Creative Memories Showcase last Tuesday. I even wore make-up and jewelry!


Last CD bought: I think I bought Erin a Bare Naked Ladies CD for Christmas last year. Maybe it was his birthday in Feb. Or maybe it was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse soundtrack for my kids for Easter. Can't remember!


Last book you read: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Last time you cried: Saturday when a good friend told me her and her husband were going to start coming back to our church.

Last movie I saw: Spider-Man III at the Omni Max, St. Louis Science Center


Last time told someone "I Love You": Isaac after he fell down a flight of stairs at a friends house today. He tumbled end over end, has a small bump on his head, but is fine now!


Last really funny thing you did: I'm just not very funny. I can't think of a thing! I can tell you the last funny thing Isaac did. . . Last night I was cooking dinner and he came up behind me and zerberted the back of my knee. Just like that, out of the blue. Of course his dad thought that was hilarious, so encouraged him to keep doing it!


Last thing watched on TV: I am currently listening to Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (Kalista, like her mom, has a thing for Christmas movies) The last show I picked was the 10:00 news last night.


Last Halloween Costume: Princess Leia last year. We always do a theme with our kids and last year was a Star Wars theme. Erin was Han, Isaac was a baby Yoda, and Kalista was Darth Maul (red face and all, and it was her pick -- she LOVES Darth Maul!)


Last Concert: I think it was the Dave Matthews Band at Riverport four or five years ago. Or possibly a Billy Joel/Elton John concert in Chicago when I was pregnant with Kalista (So again more than four years ago!) That's pretty sad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALISTA!

We now have a 4 year old! Where has the time gone! It has been a good day so far, even if it started way too early (A 5:30 phone call telling Erin that school had been cancelled, followed by two more phone calls all before 6:15, and then Isaac waking up at 7:00 -- a little early for him.) Kalista got to have her morning pop tart and then it was present time! Since she was going to have to wait until daddy got home from his first day of school, it was an added bonus! (By the way school was cancelled due to power outages from storms last night. Many places are without air conditioning.) Anyway back to the birthday girl. So far she loves her new Kid-Tough Digital Camera from her Gramme Karen and her Ariel Card games that daddy picked out. I think the big Cinderella Castle from Disney World will gain popularity when she gets a chance to play with it. Isaac was really taken by the castle too and tried to take over. He kept asking for his presents. Just four more days, buddy! I think the hardest part of the birthday so far was trying to convince Kalista last night that the next day would be her birthday. She knew her party was not the next day, so therefore it couldn't be her birthday, either! I think I finally got her to understand that your birthday is always the same day, but your party could be on any day. (Her and Isaac's shared party at Chuck E. Cheese will be this Sunday after church with all her cousins!) Anyway I think we are in store for lots of picture taking at our house, so until next time. . . everybody say "CHEESE!"

Where to begin. . .

Whew! I knew it would be a crazy two weeks, but did it have to be so HOT for crying out loud! I feel like I have a lot to say, but I can't think of anything because I am suffering from heat exhaustion oweing to the fact we were at the Cardinal's game today in the 100+ degrees! We never made it to our seats (which were in the direct sun), we left after 4 innings (but did see two homeruns by the good guys), and my kids each got a cute Cardinal Build-a-Bear (which was today's promotion and one of the main motivators for attending!) What else can I say? Oh yeah, IT WAS CRAZY HOT! (Even with Isaac constantly spraying me with water from his fan bottle!)

To catch you all up the kids and I have had great end of summer. They got to go to the MO Botanical Gardens, Zoo, spend 4 days at the farm with MawMaw, PawPaw, and Andy, and go school shopping (okay that last one wasn't too much fun for them, but they did get to ride the train at the mall!) I, on the other hand, got to see four of my best friends from college and get caught up on their lives, got to have a great trip to MN which helped me refocus my business and recharge my mommy/wife battery, and then come home to sweet babies that couldn't stop hugging and kissing me. (I swear Isaac called my name every five minutes for the first 6 hours just to make sure I was still there!)

Here are some zoo pics from last week. . .

As you can see Isaac really liked the bubblers at the zoo! I guess his Mickey Hat needed cooling off too! Now to tackle our next big adventure. . . School! Erin's first day with students is tomorrow! He is well prepared and ready to start -- oh yeah, except for the fact that they (meaning the teachers) have no class lists yet since they (meaning the students) don't have their schedules yet! Should make for an interesting first couple of days! The kids and I still have a week until pre-school starts, but we do need to spend a couple of days in my room this week getting ready. I'm sure this week will go by too fast. Oh yeah, did I mention it is REALLY HOT?