Teeth

Poor Seth. While all of his classmates are losing baby teeth and getting to take home the "Tooth Journal", his are hanging on tightly. I'm afraid to say I think he took after me. Mine hung on for dear life. My grown up teeth had nowhere to come in so they formed a second layer of teeth BEHIND my baby teeth! That's right...for a while there, I had 2 rows of teeth on the bottom! I ended up having to get the dentist to pull the baby ones out ~shiver~.
Anyway, today we were having lunch and as I was talking to Seth, I noticed this:



That's right...2 rows...guess we better start saving for braces!!

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Hot Shot Pilot

Old Post: I wrote this blog post a long time ago and it's just been sitting in "Drafts"! It's too good not to post, so here it is...better late than never!

My best friend from high school, Teresa is a hot shot pilot. (Her words...) She pilots a KC-135 aerial refueler. She and her partner do mid-air refueling. She called way back before the Germfest 2009 (when we all had a virus FOREVER) and asked if the boys would be interested and coming out to Ellington Field and seeing the jet...is it called a jet or a plane? Anyway, I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the boys so we jumped!! Here are some pics of our adventure:




Zane said, "Mama! That's what Syndrome's cape got sucked into!" (In the movie The Incredibles)

Standing on the wings with Teresa and her dad:
Looking at the refueling station with Teresa's partner. He is officially called a boom operator.

She let them actually PUSH BUTTONS!!
The boys with Teresa:
The boys being silly with the Emergency exit doors:
Joe Cool:

I think Quinn was more impressed with being put down to crawl than she was with the whole "we're on a hot shot jet/plane thing". ha!

Big Girl Car Seat

First ride in her "big girl" car seat!



First nap in her "big girl" car seat! :)



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My Girl...

My girl is almost a whole year old. She almost only belly-laughs for her brother, Seth. My girl can cruise along the furniture and stand up from sitting (but only for a moment). My girl LOVES her brothers. My girl gets sooo excited when Daddy comes in from work. (She wants to be picked up FIRST...before her brothers.) My girl is NOT sleeping through the night. She LOVES a bath. My girl is a VERY picky eater. She only wants to eat breads and crackers! She will almost always eat a grilled cheese sandwich or cheese toast. Her favorite snack is Nilla Wafers. (If she sees me grab them at the grocery store, she SQUAWKS until she gets one!) My girl prefers to drink water over apple juice. My girl has found a "blankie" that she loves to hold and drag around the house. (She likes the soft part on her cheek and the satin part in her fingers to sleep.) My girl is learning to hear the word "No!". (She heard it a lot today at a restaurant when she continually SQUAWKED loudly to get her way!) My girl is...well, she's MY GIRL!!

See my "Teefies"?

I only have two...both on the bottom and right next to each other!! (You can only see one in this pic though.)

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I love this picture...

I love this picture...as a former first grade reading teacher, as an avid reader myself and as their mom!



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Another "first" this week...

Zane is getting to exchange Valentines for the first time in a class! Today, we picked them out and he had to write his name on all 10 of them.


Seth was so sweetly helping.


Miss Bossypants was managing the whole thing squawking orders and sucking on a wrapped sucker! Ha!




Disclaimer: These pictures were taken just moments before things went sour FAST! Seth started getting too helpful, Quinn got too loud, Zane got too frustrated and may or may not have thrown a pencil across the room and been sent to his room. Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Today was a FIRST...

I had Quinn out with me running errands when lunchtime came around. Today was the FIRST time I had to actually pay for her to eat out! :)





(We're at Chick-fil-A, but she's eating a Sonic grilled cheese sandwich!)

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Brrrrr!

"They" say it's going to get really cold today and through Sunday. Living in Houston, we do NOT own clothes for this weather. In fact, we own very few long sleeved shirts! The boys groan in agony when I make them wear sleeves. Seth came home from school yesterday and said, "Mrs. Perry told us to wear our COATS tomorrow, but I don't have a coat!". (Does this make me a bad mom? :) So today, the poor boys went to school wearing two hoodies...


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Decorating Christmas cookies

I love this tradition! I remember going to my Aunt Margaret's house and her letting us decorate cookies. She always seemed so calm and patient during the process. I hope I come off the same to my kids, but with all the little hands, icing, and sprinkles...Eek! In spite of all the mess, it's just so fun!!


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Happy Birthday to Zane!!

Zane is turning 5 today!
Five years ago, while we were still in the hospital, I said to Bobby, "This one is going to be a dream as a baby, but when he gets older he's going to give us a run for our money!". So far, I was right! Zane is full of mischief (he's the kid in school that breaks the rules but with a wink and a smile gets out of trouble). He argues so well and long, surely he will grow up to be a lawyer! On the other hand, he's never met someone who isn't his "best friend"...he is a friend to all. He will make you laugh with a dry humor that goes right past most 5 year olds. That is our Zane!!

We celebrated today after church by going to Casa Ole for lunch. At Casa Ole, they will sing to you and you get free ice cream. These are pictures of him while being sung to...he was so embarrassed (which I thought was funny because he usually LIKES attention!).






(These were taken about 5 minutes before I had to RUN to the bathroom with Seth...a-hem...let's just say that I hope Germfest 2009 is not making a comeback...)

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Houston, we have a problem...

Boy, aren't we in trouble? She's learned to pull up. Doesn't she look so pleased with herself? :)



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Thankful

I love to see these "I am thankful for..." papers come home from school with the boys. It gives me a little window to see inside their heads.




Seth is thankful for family, Spike the dog (really?!?) and God.





Zane is thankful for his baby sister, Quinn.

LOVE it!!

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Yuck

Look at this poor sick baby :(

We have been held hostage by a virus this week. Seth had it first, shared it with Zane, passed it to Quinn and now I have it. Zane seems to be having a second run of it...one that requires LOTS of towel washing and lots of Lysol. Yuck.

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Testing

Wow. I have not even looked at my blog in so long! I just can't seem to sit down at the computer. I've been conducting all of my "Internet business" from my iPhone so when Bobby told me there was an "app for that", I was interested. So this is me testing it out. Did it work? ...hello? Any readers still out there? ~crickets chirping~


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Summer

So much to do, so little time to blog. At the beginning of the summer, I was a little nervous about how I was going to keep the boys busy, but we seem to be doing okay!
They have both had swimming lessons...the instructors were AMAZING! They had a money-back guarantee that your kiddos would be swimming at the end of the week. Seth had some experience, but Zane wouldn't even get his face wet before we went. He ended the week jumping off the diving board and SWIMMING to the teachers! That was a lot of fun to watch (but oh, so hot outside!).

We had a "Chandler Family Reunion" at Lake Brownwood. The boys both caught their first fish (or two). This was such a fun trip for them...so many "firsts"... first fish, first "smore", first time to stay in a cabin...

Slip 'n Slide...this is the best $10 I think I've ever spent! This kept them busy for hours (and made them tired at night...heehee!).
Of course...the sprinkler! This is a pic of the Jedi's using their lightsabers in a battle with Count Dooku... (don't laugh...this is serious stuff, folks...ha!)

Trip to the Space Center. The lighting in this picture is terrible, but what FUN we had! They had George Lucas' personal collection on display. Bobby was off of work and we took all three of our kids and Kai with us. I played tour guide for the boys. We got to go to "Padawan Training" where you go into a dark tent and crawl around avoiding laser beams. We climbed an Indiana Jones obstacle course and fought the stormtroopers in a black lit room with air soft guns. Oh yeah, and saw some space stuff.
Bobby took care of Quinn. When she got tired, he found a quiet corner, rocked her to sleep, and sat on the ground for an hour and a half while she slept. ~Parent Award~~We've done other things too, but isn't it more fun to look at pics?!
Quinn got her first "hair trim" today...stay tuned for a post on that!

Zane and Seth-isms

Last week, I made Zane run errands with me while Seth and Quinn stayed home with my parents. Zane wasn't very happy about it so it was a quiet ride. (Ahhhhh!) After a few minutes, I guess he had gotten over it because he sighed, shook his head, looked out the window and said, "Mama, (pause) ... I was BORN to drive a car...."
I can't say that I'm surprised. Zane is our "wild card".

~~~~~~

Recently, Seth asked me to open his can of Sprite for him. While I was opening it, he smiled and said, "It's like you're my butler, Mom, except I don't even have to pay you!!"

(REALLY?! Must be watching too much Batman.)

~~~~~~

When I am REALLY thirsty, I tell Bobby that I want a "big-fat, nasty Coke". I have no idea how this started, but over time, I've shortened it to "fat-nasty". As in, "Get me a 'fat nasty' please." I thought this was our own personal joke until Zane came in from outside recently and said, "Mama, can I have a nasty apple juice?" HAHA. It took me a minute to realize what on earth he wanted.

~~~~~

This morning, Zane said to me, "Mama, I love you but I kinda love Daddy the most."
~sigh~ I suppose that's okay because maybe,... just maybe, I'll be the one by next week.

Kindergarten

Today was Seth's last day of Kindergarten. Here are some pics of the final Kindergarten events:


Seth's Graduation:

Posing for daddy!
Family photo op!


Here comes trouble: Seth and his cousin, Kai.
Last day festivities:
Zane has become so much a part of the group, the little girl in the pink asked him to sign her yearbook..haha! He wasn't supposed to be at the party (strict no-sibling rules) but the teacher personally invited him the day before. He thinks he is big stuff!
Quinn TRIED to sleep through the party in her sling. She was all dressed up in her pink party tutu, but not in the party mood. The audacity of Kindergarten scheduling a party during her naptime! :)

End of School Year

This is the last week of school for Seth. I will be so sad for Seth to leave his teacher. She has been the absolute best. We couldn't have picked anyone better for him!
Since I used to BE a teacher, I know that the end of the year is a good time to show appreciation for putting up with our kiddos for 10 whole months! Seth is fairly well behaved, but I know that kids are a hard job...even when they're your own! This brings us to the end-of-the-year gift. ~sigh~
What to get? Nothing too cliche' like a mug, NOTHING with apples on it (seriously, just because we majored in Elem. Ed. does not mean we love apples and country decor), and nothing too "cheap". I decided on something "fun". We did this for Seth's preschool teachers a few years back and it seemed to be a big hit. We filled a gift bag with summer essentials: chocolate :), a fresh colored nail polish, a "trashy" magazine, a Sonic gift certificate, sunscreen, etc. We'll also include a note from Seth and I telling her how much we loved having her.

Hoop it up!!

So my sister, Erin came into town this weekend. She brought with her a weighted hula hoop. Seems like these weighted hula hoops are all the rage these days in the fitness world. Erin goes to a hoop group on Monday nights and has learned/is learning all kind of tricks with hers. "Hoop fever" can be quite contagious. We had so much fun playing with them in the backyard and as a bonus, they are supposed to work your core and whittle your waist. After such fun, I REALLY want one too!
Here's a video of Erin (showing off :) and Seth (Seth has been hooping in school and is quite good!).