Kindergarten ABC's...

Piper's 1st Day of Kindergarten!

K is for Kindergarten---hip, hip, hooray.

I is for imagination we use everyday.

N is for numbers—we know one, two, three.

D is for drawing, the best you can see!

E is for exercise to keep our bodies strong.

R is for reading books all day long.

G is for good friends. We made more each day.

A is for the alphabet we know how to say.

R is for remembering everything we learned.

T is for treats every Friday we earned.

E is for excitement. This year we’ve had some.

N is for next year. First grade here we come!

Piper and her BFF Lauren.

Piper getting off the bus at school.

Ms. Tobias - the best Kindergarten teacher EVER!!!

PGA Chanhassen MN

Lucille and daddy can spend endless hours lounging on the couch watching golf.

Lucy can tell you who's who and if daddy is out of the room she will run around the house shouting out play by plays and stats "Dadda - Tiger made it in the hole!" or "Ah rats - Mickelson missed the putt".

So when the PGA came to Minnesota, Lucy and Trent went on a field trip to Chanhassen.

They parked at the Canterbury Race Track and took the shuttle to Hazeltine Golf Course.

To minimize the noise on the course, cell phones were not allowed. Well Mr. Stern was so giddy that when he left his cell in the truck, he also left his wallet. As Lucy and Trent were walking the loooong walk to Grand stand, Trent was asking Lucy if wanted ice-cream and a bottle of water when he realized that he forgot his wallet! A golf course marshall over heard what happened and saw the sad look on Lucy's face. He walked over and gave her five bucks and said "go get yourself an ice-cream!". So sweet!

She had a fabulous time and told stories of watching Tiger Woods at hole Seven AND Eleven!!!

She proudly displays a PGA Tour 2009 Hazeltine Authentic Grounds Flag on her wall and will tell anyone and everyone about the time daddy took her on field trip to see the golfers!

Summer Vacation

For the last few summers, our dear friends Steve and Aleen, have invited us to their cabin in Crosslake, MN for a family vacation. This year we stayed at the cabin over the Fourth of July holiday for ten days. Ah...complete and total relaxation.

We spent our mornings sipping coffee, listening to the loons, and reading Michael Jackson tabloids on the porch while the girls played on the beach, and spent our endless afternoons on the dock soaking in the sunshine wondering if it was time for another snack or another cocktail or both.

We watched the fireworks from the pontoon on the lake, fished, took several boat rides to sand island, water skied, played Rock Band, shopped, walked, biked and ate and ate and ate.

It was a perfect vacation.

That Kindercare Expense is Paying Off...

Last weekend while sitting in Dairy Queen in Cross Lake, Piper says "I know what that sign says", as she points toward the bathrooms.
I said "oh really, what?".
Piper tells me it that it says 'Rest Room'.
I looked up and sure enough it said Rest Room!
I asked her how she knew that, and she said "I just sounded out the letters".
She then told me that the sign over the door said 'Exit' and the sign over there said 'Food', oh and the one over there says 'Hand'!!!!!!!!!!!
I jumped over table and kissed and hugged her with tears streaming down my cheeks!!!
Piper asked "why are you crying", and I just hugged her and told her that reading is very very exciting and it is just as exciting as when she took her first steps!!!
After DQ, we went grocery shopping. When we got to the store, she said "Stop! I want to read these words". So we stood in the entrance as she sounded out 'Reed's Market'. She slowly sounded it out and and said "what's a market?"!!!!!!!!!!
We had a blast in the store reading labels and signs - I am so proud of her! - I LOVE YOU PIPER SUSANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bedtime Doodles

The girls enjoy doodling on their Doodlepads at bedtime.
Lately, they have been drawing bedtime pictures for me. They leave their masterpieces outside their bedroom doors for me to see when I go to bed. It makes my heart melt every time.
Here are a few of my favorite doodles:

I love you to the Moon and Back, by Piper









Rainbow, by Lucy









Ducks Quacking, by Piper









Licorice Man, by Piper

Pumpkin, by Lucy

Disco, by Piper









Under the Sea, by Piper

Firsts...

It's been a pretty exciting week!!!

Piper is in the School Age Summer Program at Kindercare and the kids going into Kindergarten this fall get to go on weekly field trips!

This week it was a pizza party at a bowling alley!

Piper was soooooo excited and could hardly sleep the night before. The next morning she was up and ready to go in 2.2 seconds!

She said it was SUPER FUN and loved riding on the big school bus!!

This same week, Lucille learned how to swing by herself and blow bubbles with bubble gum!

She now tells me that she's ready to be five because she can do everything Piper can do!

Oh Chewy...

While at the pet supply store getting our fat cat his special and expensive diet food, I thought getting the girls a little pet of their own was a brilliant idea. We wandered over to the small animals and the teddy bear hamsters caught our eye. We picked out a cute fluffy white one, but the clerk told us she was pregnant and that we should pick out a different one. So the girls picked another white one, but I was little nervous about pregnant white hamsters, so I talked them into bringing home the beige one. We picked out a super fun cage with tunnels and wheels and all the crucial supplies needed to keep the little guy healthy and happy. By the time we reached the check out counter, the hamster had chewed through the travel carton. The clerk transferred him into another carton and by the time we reached the van he had chewed through that one as well. I transferred him into a plastic exercise ball and away we went. On the ride home we asked the girls what we should name him. They both agreed on Chewy!
We made space for little Chewy up on Lucille's dresser and girls had a great time watching him eat, spin on the wheel and travel through the tunnels. They had slumber parties in Lucy's room and giggled while Chewy ran and ran and ran in his wheel. By the third night, Lucy asked if we could move Chewy because he ran too much and the ruckus made it hard to fall asleep.
On the third day I couldn't handle the stink coming from the cage any longer and decided it was time to clean it out. While cleaning it, I realized that the cage itself wasn't all that stinky, but Chewy was unbearable. That night I told Trent that I had buyers remorse and didn't think I tolerate eau de Chewy and cleaning his cage every three days. We tossed around the idea of Trent developing a strange allergic reaction and having to bring Chewy back, or maybe Chewy could look sick and would have to go the doctor...
The next morning I did a little research on the ol' internet and discovered that I could buy some Wet Wipes for small critters to give them a sort of sponge bath and if I kept the cage clean, the odor should be minimal. The internet did mention that IF it was a girl and she was in heat, the female hamster would be quite stinky during this time and it would pass.
After a lot of thought, I decided to keep the little dude and I would just have to buck up and be a responsible parent and make the best of the situation. I mean, IF she was girl in heat, at least we didn't have another male hamster to knock her up.
That evening when we got home we went straight to Lucy's room as usual to say hi to little Chewy. I noticed that he was still in the top tower where he had been the night before. I also noticed that he dragged all of his bedding up there along with every bit of food that was in the bowl. I said "oh you like it up there don't you Chewy?". The girls couldn't quite see all the way in the tower so I brought the cage down off of the dresser for the girls to see him sleeping in the tower. As we peered into the tower we realized he wasn't sleeping and he was...he was...he wasn't a boy hamster at all...he was having BABIES...OMG CHEWY IS HAVING BABIES!!!!!!
LUCY "mommy look at the pink babies"!
PIPER "there are THREE babies"!
TRENT "what the"?
ME "he's not a boy, he's not a boy, he's not boy"!
LUCY & PIPER "is he ok..is she ok...are the babies ok?"!
We explain to the girls that Chewy is now a mommy and yes she and the babies are ok, but we need to call the doctor to make sure.
I step into the other room and call the pet store, aka The Doctor. I tell the girl on the phone that we just purchased a hamster the other day, and that what we thought was a boy is now a girl delivering babies! I tell her that we can not keep and momma and three babies and she tells me it's no problem just bring them in and I can either make a return or even exchange.
I hang up and return to the other room to hear and see Lucy jumping around screaming "THERE'S A BABY IN CHEWY'S BUTT, THERE'S A BABY IN CHEWY'S BUTT"!!!
Apparently there wasn't enough room for mommy and the babies in the tower and the babies kept sliding down the tunnel. Chewy went down the tunnel to retrieve the little one that slid down and when she bent over to go down the tunnel, Lucy got a clear view of baby number four being delivered!!!!! OGM!!!!!!!!
We tell the girls that Chewy needs to go to the doctor to have her babies and maybe some day we can get another hamster that is for sure a boy. They say good-bye and away I went with a cage full of hamsters.
By the time I arrive at the pet store there are six babies. The poor momma keeps going up and down the tunnel to retrieve the ones that fall every time she gets back up to the tower and I am starting to feel queasy.
The girl at the pet store decides to move Chewy and the babies to a safer cage so she doesn't exhaust herself keeping track of the babies and to keep the babies from being gobbled up by their mommy! The girl then tells me that hamsters can have up to fifteen babies at one time and then she also mentions that when they are in labor they can get VERY stinky - oh really?!?!?!?
Then girl smiles and asks "would like to exchange her for a different one"?
I simply say "no thank you we've had our fun with hamsters".
That evening the girls and I snuggle into bed and talk all about Chewy and the fifteen babies and Piper says "see mom we should of got the other white hamster we picked out, but you picked the beige one with all the babies in it's tummy".