I never imagined…

that my youngest would be wearing glasses at the age of 5. She seems to be doing pretty great with them so far. Today after school, she told me that they were all dirty. Today was the first day she wore them to school. Totally girl I guess. Yesterday when we picked them up from the optometrist, she was really thrilled with them and told everyone she was “so gorgeous!” That’s my girl! Here’s a picture of her with her glasses so you can see how “gorgeous” she really looks…

What a gorgeous smile too!

What a gorgeous smile too!


First Day Back to School

The first picture is Eric. He told me he wouldn’t smile but it was okay for mom to take his picture. I asked him why he needed a hoodie today and he said it was because he needed the pockets. Leave it to the teenagers to come up with answer like that one. The next picture is of Charlie and Sydney, ready for mom to take them to school. They were more excited than Eric by a long shot. Eric was glad to see his friends again I think but not so excited about the classes. The third picture was on the playground before school. Sydney and her friend Sophie were playing on the slide. Dillon (a neighbor that plays at our house often) was standing behind Sophie too. Dillon, Sophie and Sydney were all starting Kindergarten this year. Charlie is in the second grade this year. The last picture was taken just as the kids were starting to line up to go inside the building to begin their day. Sydney seemed either scared or nervous or something. There was absolutely no smile or look of excitement on her face in that picture. I felt sorry for the kids today too. The high temperature today was around 98 degrees here and there is no AC in the schools but they were allowed to bring water bottles so that helped some. Some of the teachers had cold snacks like popsicles for them today too from what the kids were telling me.

Eric - Sophmore

Eric - Sophmore

Charlie (2nd grade) and Sydney (Kindergarten)

Charlie (2nd grade) and Sydney (Kindergarten)

Sydney and Sophie (and Dillon) on the playground

Sydney and Sophie (and Dillon) on the playground

No Smile - Not sure what she was thinking or feeling at this moment. (Notice the kid in the orange shirt... ewww!!!)

No Smile - Not sure what she was thinking or feeling at this moment. (Notice the kid in the orange shirt... ewww!!!)

Banana Bread and a Sense of Accomplishment

I love that sense of accomplishment you feel after a long and busy day and you sleep good after a day like that too. It’s good for the heart and soul both. Our day was very busy today too. We started the day out with fresh baked banana bread. My family loves my banana bread.

Yummy Banana Bread

Yummy Banana Bread

Then we took Sydney to see the eye dr. It turns out she is far-sighted in her right eye and has astigmatism too. So she had fun trying on glasses and picked out a really fun pink pair. I will post pictures when she gets them. She was so great with the dr. They also did a quick check for Charlie and his eyes are good, which was nice to know.

After lunch we cleaned out the garage and hauled away a pickup load of clothes and stuff to The Attic which is our second hand store in Glendive. I found a cricket in our garage every time I moved a box too, it seemed.

I spent a little time working in my office, returning calls and emails and whatever needed my immediate attention.

Then after dinner, we redid Charlie’s bed, changing it from a loft bed to a day bed. Here are the before and after pictures…

Charlie's Loft Bed (and Sydney)

Charlie's Loft Bed (the before picture)

Charlie's Day Bed (the after picture)

Charlie's Day Bed (the after picture)

Those Born 1930-1979

I received this in an email today and most of the time, I just delete emails like this one and lots of times, I don’t even take the time to read this kind of stuff however I found this one quite interesting. I hope you will too. It kinda takes ya back, if ya know what I mean…

Those Born

1930-1979

READ TO THE BOTTOM

FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH

BY JAY LENO.

IF YOU DON’T READ ANYTHING
ELSE—VERY WELL STATED

TO ALL THE
KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked

and/or drank while they were pregnant.


They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,

tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.


Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.


We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets

and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets,

not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with

no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm

day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden

hose and NOT from a bottle

We shared one soft drink with four friends,

from one bottle and NO ONE actually died
from this.


We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter

and drank Kool-aid made with sugar,

but we weren’t overweight because,
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE
PLAYING!


We would leave home in the morning and play all day,

as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.


No one was able to reach us all day.

And we were OK.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps

and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.

After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all,

no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s,

no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones,
no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms……..
WE HAD FRIENDS
and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth

and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.


We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,

and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,

although we were told it would happen,

we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and

knocked on the door or rang the bell,
or just walked in and talked to them!


Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!


The idea of a parent bailing us out

if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!


These generations have produced some

of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and
inventors ever!


The past 50 years have been an explosion

of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,

and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them. CONGRATULATIONS!


! ! ! ! You might want to share this with others who have

had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers

and the government regulated so much of our lives

for our own good.


While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they

will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run

through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!

The quote of the month

is

by Jay Leno:
‘With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,

mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country
from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take

God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?’

Fun at the County Fair!

Today we went to the Dawson County Fair. Sydney was dancing on the free stage with LaDonna’s School of Dance dancers. She danced at 12:30 pm and again an hour later. The first song was the Penguin song that the girls danced to. The second song was Roses are Red. The girls all did great, considering the heat here today.

Sydney ready to dance the Penguin dance...

Sydney ready to dance the Penguin dance...

Sydney is on the far right...

Sydney is on the far right...

the final bow...

the final bow...

Sydney ready to dance the Roses are Red dance...

Sydney ready to dance the Roses are Red dance...

Roses are Red - Sydney is second from the right...

Roses are Red - Sydney is second from the right...

Roses are Red

Roses are Red

After Sydney was finished with her dancing, we enjoyed the fair for a couple more hours, visiting all the animals and exhibits, games and rides. The kids both decided that they didn’t want to do the rides that were there. The only ride they wanted to go on was closed temporarily. The kids did have fun with the games. They played the duck pond and won blow up dolphins, a blue one for Charlie and a pink one for Sydney. They also played a basketball game and both did great with that one too, coming home with small stuffed dolphins, Charlie a blue and white one and Sydney a pink one again. They loved the petting zoo and some of the animals but they aren’t used to some of the bigger animals, having lived in town much of their life.

Then there is the fair food. The kids had corn dogs, hot dogs, nachos, lemonade, and of course mini donuts too! And lots of water. It was really hot today with not much breeze.

The kids also found school exhibits, one for each of them. Charlie had a snowman picture he received a red ribbon for and Sydney had an egg picture that she won a blue ribbon for. They were both pleased. They found so many neat exhibits too. They loved the lego exhibits and the ones that were entered by kids their age and kids they know.

And with all the walking, warm weather, dancing and yummy food, they are both very tired tonight.

Charlie and Sydney after a day at the county fair...

Charlie and Sydney after a day at the county fair...

Are you a crafty person?

I wish I had the time and ideas to come up with some of the things Nila does. She does scrapbooking and all sorts of things. She has even spent time with the kids on a few projects, and in the process kept them out of my hair when I was busy with client work. Here are some of the projects they have done so far…

Thank you so much Nila!! It’s no wonder my kids love you so much! ;)

A Day for Dinosaurs

For a Friday, today turned out to be a pretty great day, except for the heat. Our high here was 103 this afternoon. Anyway, I woke up earlier than usual, I think because I was so excited to begin work on a website that had had a glitch and I finally got the glitch solved late the night before and couldn’t wait to get it all finished today. This was a client site for Amy’s Web Solutions. The website for Amy’s Web Solutions also has had a glitch which I discovered was finally solved, as of this morning too, so that means I could get both websites finished and published ASAP. What a great feeling that was for me!

This afternoon, I took the kids with me to run a few errands, the bank, post office, pay some bills and the grocery store too. After we went to the bank, we drove past the Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum. After the errands were done, all but the groceries of course, (with 103 degrees out, they would melt too fast) the kids and I decided to check out the museum since we knew it was nice and cool in there. After all, we have only lived here for a year and half and still have NEVER gone there. I have felt like a terrible mom for the longest time but we can now say that we have been there. Here are some pictures from today to prove it.

The Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum will soon be moving to a new location. To learn more about the new location, building and the new exhibits, visit their website at http://www.creationtruth.org/museum.htm. Its really interesting. I know the kids sure had a good time today!