Fun with Joshua and Marian

I decided that I needed to do fun stuff with Joshua and Marian, since Dan is having so much fun with Callie and Delaney. Callie told me on the phone that she was having the BEST time! Maybe just because she got to play in the snow. Well, Joshua had the best day yesterday. He told me so! I took the kids with me to the chirporactor and they did homework while I was adjusted. Then we went to Toys R Us, where Joshua blew all his months of saved allowance, and Christmas money on a Legos thing, and we wandered around the store and had a good time. Then we went to dinner at Chevy's (that was their choice). The floutas there are marvelous! And their salsa is phenomenal. And apparently that all makes for the best day ever.

At the toy store, I did find a kiddie camera on clearance, and I figured since Dan had our camera, I might need pictures too, so I sprung for this Tinkerbell camera. It is pretty crummy. I guess when you buy cheap, you get what you pay for! Still, Marian is thrilled that I let her play with it.

Today I went to the school and had lunch with the kids. Joshua has lunch right before Marian, so I bought lunch with him and then shared Marian's lunch with her. There is a huge difference between 2nd graders and kindergardeners! Joshua's group was loud and spent all of lunch messing with each other. Marian's table was delighted to have me there and loved talking to me. I was informed that she kicks and pushes kids and says bathroom words. Hmmmm.... that does sound like my girl!

I went to recess with her class after lunch and everyone wanted me to watch them. I felt like a celebrity! I used our crummy new camera and took some pictures of Marian doing what she likes best- the monkey bars.


Here is a very blurry shot of Marian and some girls from her class. They are lined up waiting to go out for recess.

Marian wanted a picture of her up on this bar. The other 2 kids wanted in on the shot as well.

Here she is, doing her thing! She is really good on all 4 different kinds of monkey bars that they have on their playground.

I know, the quality of picture is quite poor. But here's Marian again!

Highs and Lows

Today Dan left. He took Callie and Delaney and got on a plane and flew to Utah. He should have arrived about an hour ago, bu he hasn't called yet. I, of course, wonder how they were, did the girls have a hard time, how was the flight, are my babies happy.... Dan, of ocurse, will tell me it was fine and give me no details. that's probably what I need to hear!

I have been looking forward to this day for weeks. 10 days with no little ones. Just me and the big kids, who will go off to school and leave me with ZERO children to tend to. Now that this moment is here, I'm actually really sad. Every time I walk by Delaney's room, I want to cry. I miss my girls! This is much too depressing. I am suppose to be partying.

Well, I did take Joshua and Marian to the Zoo. It was really cold, but we had a good time. A lot of walking though. I liked the elephants the best. Marian was enthralled by the reptile house, which was pretty darn cool. She also liked the lions, cheetas, and tigers. Joshua seemed happy with everything, except my lack of snacks. So we hit McDonalds for a late lunch; there is one right by the Metro station.

And that's how I am. I must mention my computer though. It is on its way to a slow and agonizing death. I have backed up everything, which is good. I can no longer access hotmail, which is very bad. I can't check my email. I cannot send email. I am cut off from life! I figure I'll lose more internet access soon. I need to call Robert and get some help. I think I may have to format the hard drive, and I want a new computer. I want it now. Since Dan is gone......!

Happiness

There are a lot of things that make me happy. However, right now, Happiness is a dishwasher! I have a fabulous, beautiful new dishwasher! I am so filled with joy at this, that my mind cannot even grasp the idea that no longer must I stack everything in the sink and wait till I am out of silverware before I finally break down and wash it all. Now I can load up a machine and viola! It is done!


Yesterday, some very nice men from Lowe's came and removed the old one. This is the old dishwasher and the empty space it left under the sink. That was nice because it gave me the opportunity to rescue a spatula and 2 rolls of paper towels that had fallen down behind the fridge.

This is the new little beauty that the nice men brought up. I swooned.



Then they installed it for me, which was good, since I don't know that I would have been able to do it properly. Yay! Isn't it fabulous?! It looks so clean and nice. I love it!


And today we had Play Group at the church. Happiness for me because I get to chat; happiness for the kids because they got to play. And at the end of the Play Group, the kids were still running around like maniacs, and herding them out was tough. So I told my girls to go outside and splash in the puddles. They were delighted, and all the other kids ran out as well.

Here is Callie and her friends, having a ball! It has been raining for 2 days straight, and it actually wasn't really raining this second. (But it is again now.)

Check out Delaney! That's a high hop!

Callie and her friends in the big puddle. Look how wet their pants are! Shoes, socks, pants... all came off before we got in the car. I'll feel bad if any of them get sick from this!

Today, happiness is fun in the puddles and a mug of hot cocoa afterwards!

Bowling and Funny Faces

So, I have been reading, and doing little else that's not on the must-do list. Now I must make up for that. I took pictures, therefore, I am required to share. Fine, I don't HAVE to, but what's the point of having cute kids if you can't show everyone how adorable they are?

We went bowling on New Years day. The kids had fun for 10 minutes, then ditched the bowling for the arcade. Delaney and Callie hung around to bowl and it was successful enough. Delaney even bowled a strike (spare? Sorry, I bowl a 60 and think that's good, so of course I don't know the difference between a strike and a spare!). Here are shots of the fun.

Here is Joshua in one of the 3 frames he actually rolled the ball. He did enjoy it, but it was hard to compete with the arcade.

There's my big girl! That was one of the heavier balls too... Wait, maybe it was only the 9 pounder. This was right before she knocked out all the pins and won a free game!

Marian did pretty well. She liked bowling, but when Joshua called, she went running away to the video games.


Callie was a trooper! She bowled for Joshua and Marian and still asked if it was her turn! She had a good time.



And, I realized I had not taken a group shot in a while. Since church is now at 11am, we had plenty of time Sunday morning, and I made them sit for a picture. It took 8 shots and this is the best one.


I know. For the best one, its not too great. But it is better than the next one!

Yeah, I tell them they can make silly faces and this was what I get.

Leave of Absence

I keep meaning to blog, but I made a critical mistake. I began to read The Children of the Promise books and I can't stop. I'm taking a little break now, but in 5 minutes, my nose will be glued to the pages again and I will ignore everything until I am done. Which is why I have stayed up well past any sane semblance of bedtime the last few nights. I am in the middle of book #4. And there are 6. So I may return to real life soon. I may post the cute pix of us bowling then. Plus, I got a great shot of the kids this morning. However, if I go upstairs to get the camera to download the pictures, I'll never make it back down here. I already hear the book calling me....