Waiting for the Tooth Fairy!

Little Man lost his first tooth!!

When he smiles naturally, his top teeth cover his bottom teeth and you can't tell that one is missing. Sorry the picture is so horrible!

The tooth fairy has not come yet because Friday is his turn for show and tell, and he wants to take his tooth. I can't decide if that is creepy or sweet. What do you think?

Late night poems

Long after she should have been asleep last night, Punkin brought me a poem she had been working on:

My mom is so great
I'll bake her a cake
She does all the chores
So I can play outdoors
I love my mom
so I wrote you this song.

Love,
Punkin

Aww.. *smile

Our summer of biking!

One of the joys of living in Colorado!! Mountain biking!

My biggest little fan!

One of the best parts of doing the triathlon was Punkin's support. She was my biggest fan.

She went with me to the event the day before where we picked up our packets and got marked with our numbers for the race. If you look very closely on her leg, you can see the black marker on her leg where the volunteers put my numbers on her leg and arm too.

And she asked me to help her paint her fingernails G-O M-O-M-M-Y G-O-!

2010 Tri For the Cure

So, the craziest thing I did this summer was join almost 3,000 other women at Tri For the Cure.

This is the transition area for Waves 1-5. I was in Wave 12, so there were at least 2 other sections that looked exactly like this.

The swim area was beautiful, especially early in the morning before the race started. The swim portion was 1/2 of a mile. There were 5 of those big triangle buoys and we swam 3 sides of a rectangle around them.The bike portion was 11.2 miles. Here I am crossing the bike finish.

The run portion was a 5K. I struggle with the run portion so I was very glad to finish!!I received a medal for finishing!

I was so proud of my time. My official goal was 3 hours and I was really hoping to finish in 2 1/2. I ended up finishing in 1 hour, 55 minutes. I was very proud of myself, and amazed at the difference adrenaline and not liking being passed made! I finished the swim and bike faster than I ever dreamed, and did the fastest time possible for me on the run.

It was quite a high to finish and finish well. If you have ever thought about doing one, I say go for it! It was worth the effort. Even if I did gain 6 pounds while training - which was totally not fair.

My next fitness goal is to run a 5K without stopping in under 35 minutes before the end of the year. Hold me to it!!

New Soccer Season

or, alternatively titled, Reason Number 1056 that I'm glad I married my husband.

Reason #1056: He remembers to take pictures.

This, on the other hand, is the ONLY picture I thought to take during Little Man's first soccer game of the season. Little Man is on the left in case you didn't recognize him without the green mohawk.

Go, Red Rockets!!!

First Day of School

These pictures kinda says it all.

Punkin all dressed up in her uniform
with a nervous smile of anticipation:

Little Man during afternoon car pool:

New Haircut

OR, How to age 2 years (in a good way) in 1 hour

Before:

After:

The Last Days of Summer

Hi! Remember me? Wondering if I still remember how to blog? Me, too! Let's find out!

We had a great summer filled with days of sunshine, a camping trip, lots of trips to the pool, more weeding than usual in Colorado due to more rain than usual, and getting ready for Punkin's first day at "regular" school.

The week before school started we went to one of those cheesy family fun places and had a great day. We actually planned to go for Little Man's fourth birthday and it was rained out. We've been promising that "someday" we would go, and someday finally arrived. Two and a half years later, but who's counting??

The cheesy family fun place is all about race cars. For some reason this trip required a mohawk. A green mohawk. Seems it was inspired by a monster truck driver. I figured a cheesy family fun place that is all about race cars was a much better place to go sporting a green mohawk than say .... church, so Dad painted up the mohawk

and off we went.
The racecars were as fun as he dreamed they would be:

And girl child had a great time too. Love this face of pure joy.
And cooling off by squirting each other with water was big fun too.

The carefree days of childhood summers. The. best.

Smell Like a Salmon

Punkin's favorite topic is the human body, so we have almost completely abandoned our curriculum and instead are finishing the school year doing some fun activities about the body.

Today's focus was the sense of smell and taste. We played a little game called "Smell like a Salmon". (The idea is from this book lest you think I'm this creative.) We put vanilla and garlic on cottonballs and then the kids closed their eyes and followed the trail of vanilla or garlic cotton balls. It was quite fun!

I wish I had video. Can you imagine the kids crawling around our family room, eyes closed, sniffing?

Next year is sure gonna be different!

14 years!

This time of the morning, 14 years ago, I was hanging out with my best friend from high school, getting a massage and a manicure.

It was a beautiful day!

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY:

Outside my window... it is bright and sunny.

I am thinking... about a client last minute issues, and his return is due March 15.

I am thankful for... older children who can somewhat entertain themselves

From the learning rooms... we are learning the names of the 50 states. Wish I knew about this song when I was young!

From the kitchen... a quick tilipia recipe tonight! With cous cous and frozen veggies, it's a true 15 minute meal. Love it!

I am wearing... grey pants and a white shirt. (I'm still in my pjs at 3:45 in the afternoon - sheesh!)

I am creating... a plan for my garden.

I am going... to gymnastics (always a safe bet) and a children's ministry meeting tonight.

I am reading... Just finished Sense & Sensibility. Really enjoyed it! I was struck by a change in admirable character traits represented in the book. Hope to write a blog post about that soon - it's been thought-provoking for me.

I am hoping... Punkin does well on her testing the end of this month.

I am hearing... the 50 states song. The kids heard it while I was finding the link for the above item, and are now listening to it on the laptop.

Around the house... is not too bad!

One of my favorite things... is homeschooling. I'm going to miss it.

A few plans for the rest of the week: beginning planning the kid's birthday parties, last minute client emergencies for the S-corps that have returns due on March 15th, work, school, 2 birthday parties to attend on Saturday!

For more daybooks, check out the Simple Woman's Daybook site.

Olympic Lapbook

We really enjoyed the Winter Olympics this year. Our favorite events were on too late for the kids to stay up, but we watched a lot online. Punkin's favorite was the figure skating, and she also really cheered for Lindsay Vonn who is from Colorado.

She made a lapbook using this ebook from A Journey Through Learning.

The cover:

The inside:

Folder 1 is about the history of the Greeks and the Olympics:
Folder 2 is about the traditions & symbols of the Olympics.
(There is a map under the Torch Relay of tracing the route.)

Folder 3 is where we tracked all the events and who won the gold medals.I'm glad we did this project. Punkin learned a lot and we had fun!

Family Picture

I've written before about my favorite community event. It's in November, but I'm behind! Here is a family shot of us in our town square. (Little Man has glow in the dark teeth in his mouth.)

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
(written Sunday afternoon)

Outside my window... it is bright and sunny.
I am thinking... about my daughter's friendships.
I am thankful for... Sundays.
From the learning rooms... we are finishing our Olympic lapbook and starting a new unit about space this week.
From the kitchen... I have a great Williams Sonoma cookbook from the library! Can't wait to try out a few more recipes!
I am wearing... jeans, a black and white top, long black sweater, no shoes.
I am creating... I finished (finally!) making an Alpaca fleece purse for Punkin.
I am going... to Awana with the kids.
I am reading... gardening books. Also "Lost, Late & Unprepared."
I am hoping... a nap is in the schedule today.
I am hearing... children playing.
Around the house... is still messy, but cleaner than yesterday morning!
One of my favorite things... is being caught up on the laundry!
A few plans for the rest of the week: work & school

For more daybooks, check out The Simple Woman's Daybook site.

Punkin's French Toast

Punkin has been very interested in learning to cook recently. I have a Betty Crocker cookbook that I cooked from when I was young (best snickerdoodle recipe ever!). An updated version of the cookbook is still published, so we got that from the library for her.

She loves it!

Here is the yummy french toast she made completely by herself. All I did was supervise the stove top use a little bit.


Yum!

Do you have a favorite kids cookbook or recipe?

Getting Big

Almost ready to leave for Friday school. Little Man counts down the days!

Tiny Talk

Little Man bought a Hot Wheels forklift yesterday. He was SO excited when he opened it in the car and the forklift part actually moved up and down. He yelled, he showed his sister, he showed me.

We ran a couple of other errands, and on the way back to our house I hear him in the back seat:

"I'm so glad this moves up and down. I thought it did, but I wasn't sure. If it wouldn't have moved, my heart would have just been broken.

pause

Luckily, *little laugh, my heart is still fixed."

For more funny things kids say, check out Mary's site at Not Before 7.

Simple Woman's Daybook

I saw this on Penless Writer's site and thought it would be a fun post today.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... I see patches of snow and the early morning sun just coming over the rooftops.

I am thinking... that I overslept, I'm not ready for school today, and I probably should not be writing a blog post.

I am thankful for... my Little Man who still loves to snuggle in the mornings.

From the learning rooms... we are studying Ancient Greece and the Olympics.

From the kitchen... I need to go shopping!

I am wearing... my pjs!

I am creating... a blog post. That's the extent of it today!

I am going... on lots of errands today.

I am reading... "The Time Traveler's Wife. " I actually just finished it, but it is worth mentioning. I don't read a ton, but easily my favorite book I've read in the last year. Next is a book I saw recommended on a blog called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society."

I am hoping... that I get everything on my list done today.

I am hearing... the TV.

Around the house... is messy. Maybe tomorrow....

One of my favorite things... is the peaceful and quiet feeling of the house in the mornings when only one or two of us are awake.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I have no big plans. School & work!

Check out The Simple Woman's blog if you would like to read more day posts or join in!

Tiny Tales

Punkin did something yesterday (I've already forgotten what) that scared Little Man and made him jump.

Punkin: I scared you half to death!
Little Man: Nuh-uh. A third.

******************

WeaverDad: How old is mommy now?
Little Man: 23
WeaverDad: Nope, 37.
Little Man: Oh. Not even close.

For more funny things kids say, check out Mary's site at Not Before 7.