Photos at Sears

We went to Sears so that Jenny could get photos with the kids before she heads home in mid-September. They turned out pretty good, I think.

Walking shoes

We went to the Stride Rite store over the weekend and bought the boys their first walking shoes. And they are a full size different. Nicolas a 5w and Dylan a 6w. They are still getting used to moving in them. Dylan seems to walk better with them but Nicolas just gets frustrated.

Every Little Step

5 going on 13!

Ellen has decided that she LOVES Hannah Montana. Of course she knows nothing about the girl, has never seen her TV show or heard her music before yesterday. She is, however, very familiar with Miss Cyrus's image thanks to the wonderful marketing world of disney. While we were at the mall yesterday I stopped at the Hallmark store to get some cards for the many August and Sept b-days coming up. Ellen loves the new music cards and immediately found a Hannah Montana card that she had to have. I told her she was too young but as she threw a fit and proclaimed that it was HER birthday and SHE gets to decide everything, I relented and let her have the card but made the mistake of telling her how I really felt about this poor overly exposed (literally) child pop star. Course this made Ellen "love her" even more. Nothing is better then something that is off limits. Anyway, last night Ellen spent most of the evening listening to her card over and over singing along with the "tune". I was able to get this on tape and thought I'd share. A teenager in training! Although I guess if she was actually 13 she would have rolled her eyes and shut the door in my face when I asked her if I could tape her performance!

Birthday girl

Today was Ellen's birthday so I took the day off work and the 2 of us had a special girls day out. Before we could go anywhere, however, Ellen got a call from her favorite Disney princess, Ariel - wishing her a happy birthday. We then went to a local salon to get our nails done - orange with yellow hearts for Ellen. Then we went to Toys 'R Us so Ellen could pick out her present - a Little Mermaid doll in her wedding gown. The kind folks at Toys 'R Us gave Ellen a balloon and birthday crown. We then went to lunch at her favorite restaurant, Applebees - the only one that she knows by name - besides McDonalds which I told her wasn't an option. She brought in the balloon and crown and got many "Happy Birthdays!" and the waitstaff did their b-day schtick complete with song and ice cream. After lunch we went to the mall to buy some school clothes. At the mall, Ellen wore her birthday crown but was very confused that everyone knew it was her birthday. We decided Sebastion told everyone since it was on his calendar so Ariel would know to call :-) After some shopping time, both Ellen and I were pretty beat and ready to head home. Of course as we were getting into the van, her prized Toys 'R Us balloon went out the window. Ellen immediately melting down so off we drove, chasing down the balloon throughout the parking lot. Luckily there was a weight tied to the end of the string and it got caught on a car about 1/2 way around the mall. Ellen was very pleased to have her balloon back! After we got home, I ordered pizza - on her request. After dinner Ellen opened up her gifts from the kids and Jenny and then we all got in the car and headed to the creamery for her b-day treat - choc chip cookie dough ice cream with extra rainbow sprinkles! Happy Birthday, Ellen! It was quite a day!

Dentist

Anais had her first dentist appointment and has 3 (!) cavities. We made the mistake of letting her take a sippy cup with 1/2 juice + 1/2 water to bed with her each night. On top of that she has an overbite thanks to her long-term pacifier use - yet another thing she takes to bed with her! Oh the guilt I feel as her parent!!! Fortunately, she had the 1st side done and came through as a very good and non-traumatized patiant. She has her 2nd appointment on Monday. Wish us luck!

Sybil has a party!

Ellen had her 5th birthday party today. When starting to prepare for the party a couple weeks ago, she was very particular about an "Under the Sea" theme. So we sent out the thematic invites, I ordered the requisite favors and crafts from Oriental Trading and Jenny helped Ellen decorate the basement, painting large Ariel and Prince Eric pictures and plastering them all over the walls. We even had "Ariel's Secret Grotto" behind a curtain with the ball pool and her Ariel slip 'n slide set up outside. And I bought her a rather expensive Ariel costume from the Disney Store to wear. Needless to say a 5 year old has an ever changing mind, much to the frustration of her 39 year old mother with "control issues". By the afternoon of the party, she had a fairy t-shirt on, Tinkerbell tattoos in the goody-bags, and a Wall-E cake (???!!!). My dear friend Al would have had a heart attack but I think everyone had a good time despite the inconsistent theme :-)

Nicolas in the hospital

Nicolas spent 2 long days in the hospital with low oxygen levels in his blood thanks to his asthma. He was admitted primarily for observation and has now started pulmicort via a nebulizer for long-term control of his symptoms. Hopefully this will keep him healthy for a while. This last weekend was the 3rd trip to the ER in less then a month! We are very happy he is now home and breathing easier.

Gail visits

My good friend, Gail, from the Blue Devils was able to spend a night with us between drum corps shows. It was the first time she'd met 3 out of the 4 kids and was able to "enjoy" our family. Luckily she has granddaughters Ellen and Anais's age so could sympathize :-) Anais warmed to her quickly and is still asking about her. Thanks for your help and I'm sorry we weren't able to spend as much time together as I would have liked.

Aunt Jodi

Jodi, my best friend since forever, came for about a week to visit. It was nice to have her here. She was going to join me to do an adventure race that I've been training for but it was canceled due to a thunderstorm. We did get a chance to go on a long run - by my standards - and enjoy some time together. Thanks for all your help, Jodi!!! We miss you!

Behind the wheel

The boys have discovered the "auto" cart at the grocery store. They love the ride and get lots of oohs and ahhs from passing shoppers.

At the beach

With Jodi in town and Jenny here to help, I took a much needed day off work and we went to the beach. Nicolas was a bit fussy and sat in my lap most of the day. Anais wasn't much interested in the water and decided to take a nap in the tent. Ellen spent most of the day in the water with Jenny and Barbie practicing for her role as Little Mermaid this Halloween. Dylan managed to injest many sand coated snacks and enjoyed playing in the sand with Anais. With a stop at DQ on the way home, it was a very nice summer day spent with family and best friend.