Ken the Frog: AKA New "Little Friend"

Beholding the wonder of a new treasured pet;

Squishy and slimy and stretchy and wet.

Her cautious approach and affectionate fascination.

Exploring with curiosity her new revelation.

The chase and capture renewing her joy

She wonders what to call her new froggie-boy?

From the soft, firm cradle of her small gentle hand

Emerges the regret of release back into the sand.

Always in search of a new "little friend"

Leaving no rock unturned til the day end.

Searching piles of leaves, all soggy and wet,

Beholding the wonder of a new treasured pet.

Doesn't Everyone Love the Dentist?

Dentist Sydni and another happy customer.

The satisfied patient and her pearly whites.

Sydni was demonstrating her expert dental skills in this picture so she could use it for a school project. Yes, her monthly kindergarten school project. Seriously, when did kindergardeners start having projects? Whatever happened to cookies, stories, centers and nap mats?! They must have disappeared along with the half-day programs. Now the kids have daily homework, signing of agendas, reading logs, and monthly themed take-home projects. This month it was "Community Helpers" and for one week Sydni had to dress as her ideal profession and snap a picture to show the class. She also had to label required uniform, vehicles and instruments utilized for her desired profession. Ironically, she picked the most frightening grown-up profession to her (at least for this stage in her life): the dentist! Somehow I think she'd be great at it! She really has an eye for detail and loves to follow exact sequential instructions.

No teeth yet for our little kitten.

Meow!

Thank you to Grandmom and Grandad for the cute kitty suit! Olivia is so sweet in it!

5 Months is Fun!

Livi is really starting to enjoy time on the floor with her toys. She's just starting to crawl and actually play with the toys she stared at for so long! She's also gaining a sense of humor, from watching her silly sisters no doubt. I can't wait until she starts crawling and talking for real.

Candid Camera?

Kayli and Tori were so excited a few weeks ago when they took a trip to Target and bought new "Ipods" (which is everything mp3-player-ish to my 11 and 8 year olds) with their own money!

This one was WAY cooler than a real Ipod because it is actually in the shape of a Barbie girl! In this clip they are using their new toys to further their vocal abilities, little do they know that Daddy was secretly watching!

Softball Shenanigans and More

We had so much fun this Saturday with the girls. We finally made it out to the park with the softball field with real bleachers and bases and everything. We packed a picnic lunch and despite the multitude of flies again, it was still enjoyable and somewhat humorous. (Especially watching Tori go crazy swatting and waving her arms when even one little fly came close to her plate! She even decided to switch tables.) After lunch, Bryan pitched a soft, foam-like ball to the girls one at a time. The others would take turns being "catcher" and I sat with Livi and Naomi on the bleachers cheering. Bryan would say, "Aaand now, up to bat is Number..." and Kayli would say "16!".... "16....Kaaayli Hamilton!!" Tori was 14 and Sydni was 30....4! Tori was great at throwing the ball back and Kayli was great at hitting the ball far.

At one point, Sydni was on second and Kayli was reluctantly learning some tips from us about hitting the ball correctly. Sydni was doing great, waiting so patiently, for the first few of Kayli's tries and then she realized how long it was taking and careful not to remove her toe from second base, she leaned sideways to peer around Bryan (the pitcher), and as soon as Kayli and I were in her view and she hollered, "For crying out loud, aren't you finished yet?!" We all couldn't stop laughing which made her even more upset because she wanted to run!!

And what was Miss Naomi doing amidst the softball shenanigans? Well as usual, she wanted nothing to do with what is supposed to be done at the softball field. After running around like a maniac from random base to random base, she decided it was much more fun to climb the chain-link fence surrounding the field, or the trash cans (also chain-link type material), pick up trash to play with off the ground and when she got scolded for that too, she began piling handfuls of crushed rocks onto the bleachers to make "homes" and then tried to find "friends" to live in them.

Naomi looking for her "little friends"

Reminding her that this is not a good "little friend..."

Her favorite pastime, as of late, is playing with her "little friends" as she lovingly refers to any bugs (or worms or frogs) that dare cross paths with Naomi! She loves her little friends to death...literally! Just the other day she found a little frog who had the misfortune of hiding in her sandbox. He instantly became her playmate for the rest of the afternoon until I heard her say "my little friend is not feeling very good." The froggy had stopping writhing and wiggling to escape the firm but gentle grasp of the two-and-a-half year old budding entomologist. I suggested that he might miss his family and want to go home now. It took a long bit of persuasion but he finally was released under the porch and now she's just been sticking to collecting bugs, worms and such.

It took us almost 10 minutes just to walk into the school today for Naomi's first day of preschool at Ready to Learn. We just had to stop and check every leaf incase it really wasn't a leaf but a butterfly instead or if the grass clippings might really be spiders. Once we finally made it in, she had a great time learning with the other 2 year olds about colors today. I never really thought about how quickly this day came, that is the day Naomi actually started preschool for herself. We'd been going to this program for almost 2 years now with Sydni being the one in the program while Naomi played with the toys. So I guess it never really hit me that it was all about Naomi going to preschool now, until I started to write her name on the craft project of a rainbow she made in class today. Seeing that pink crayon label of "Naomi" on her page made me so sad to think how quickly the time has past and that she too is now in school. I know I'll blink and she will be starting Kindergarten and we will be there all over again with Olivia.

Naomi and "Kayla" from the Smithsonian Zoo

Naomi has gained some creative independence over the past few weeks that I've had her at home away from her sisters. They sure have taught her well! During a playdate with a neighbor last week Naomi was trying to make a sport out of jumping off the couch. When I told her, "Naomi, if I see you do that again you'll be in time out!" She responded with, "Okay Mommy, can you go upstairs to do a job, real quick?" I couldn't help but laugh at her cleverness but then I promptly informed her of the special powers that all mommies have and that even if I did go upstairs, I would still know that she had jumped off the couch! She was skeptical, to say the least.

Later that day we sat on the couch reading books and afterward she told me that she was going to give me a snack. Thinking that she was pretending, I went along with it when she told me, "Close your eyes and I'll give you something to eat." Luckily I saw her hand jammed into the couch cushions in time before she preceded to pull out crumbs and "snacks" from in between the cushions to feed her dear mother! At least I can say she has a great imagination!

What did you do at MPact tonight?