Not Me! Monday

I couldn't come up with much for not me! Monday this week. I'm sure there were probably plenty but I just can't remember all of them.

I did not come home from the dentist totally jealous of my kids because they ALL had no cavities and I had 2. I mean really, who is jealous of their kids because of that? I am only proud of them and their teeth brushing abilities, which are NOT horrible and scattered at best.

I didn't let my sister-in-law sleep on the couch this weekend when she came to visit while I slept in my bed. Absolutely not. That would be rude. Even if she didn't mind sleeping on said couch, I did NOT let her and totally gave her my room. (I say my bed and my room because hubby sleeps in a recliner due to some shoulder problems)

I did not keep my fingers crossed that Friday's football game at the high school would be rained out because it was inconvenient to go to the halftime show and watch Teresa perform with the color guard. (it was cancelled due to a flooded field)

Here is the link to MckMama's blog. The genius behind Not Me! Monday.
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

School Pictures

Taylor and Teresa got their school pictures back today. I feel that they came out really well this year. That has not necessarily been the case every year. It gets harder and harder each year to get them to take pictures that I actually like what they are wearing. Luckily it comes down to "I pay for them, I get to choose the shirt".

Holly Hobbie Dress

We didn't do much to post about this weekend so I had to come up with something different. I noticed a dress in Rebecca's closet that she hadn't tried on yet. This dress was made for me by my grandmother when I was about 2. We've always called the dress my "Holly Hobbie" dress. Over the years, each of my girls have worn the dress with pictures taken. I went on a hunt a few days ago and found pictures of Taylor and Teresa but couldn't find Jaquelyn. Then I remembered that I used to used Searsphotos.com to develop all my film. Lo and behold I found her picture on their website. I took pictures of Rebecca wearing the dress and now I can post pictures of each of us wearing the dress. Cool, huh? Unfortunately, the bonnet disappeared along the way.

Here I am wearing it with the bonnet at 2 or 3



















Here is Taylor at 3 or 4 with my grandparents. This is my grandmother that made the dress for me.



















Here is Teresa wearing the dress. Again at my grandparents house a few years later.




















Jaquelyn wore it for Easter when she was 3.




















And finally it was Rebecca's turn.

A Day At The Park

Today Rebecca and I went to the park. She had a lot of fun running around. It was kind of chilly after all the great weather we've been having. I miss the falls when we had more 70's days before it went to 60's days. At least we left before the rain started.

She REALLY loves to swing. She could spend the whole time doing this.

Not Me! Monday

As you have probably noticed, I have a button on my sidebar that directs you to "MckMama's" website http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. We have been praying for her and her unborn baby MckMuffin. She is a friend of my cousin Jennisa. She has a new thing on her blog called "Not Me! Monday" so we can all unload our guilt and tell everyone what we are definitely NOT doing. So here goes....

I did not cut Rebecca's hair myself this morning on the deck so I wouldn't have to pay for a haircut at Super Cuts.

I did not download a bunch of Veggie Tales songs onto my iTunes because I liked them. I would only do that so my kids could listen to them, not me. I also did not search the internet for the words to one of the songs so I could sing along with it.

I definitely did not sit at my laptop and read a whole bunch of Not Me! Monday posts while my kids were cleaning the kitchen and I was supposed to be working on said laptop. Nope, not me.

I did not let the girls stay up past their bedtime so we could watch an episode of Smallville because we are not still trying to catch up on last season. That would be irresponsible parenting and ridiculous that we had all summer to watch said episodes and still hadn't caught up. (Though our DirectTV DVR mysteriously deleted half of our smallville episodes and we had to wait until they were played as repeats)

My Little Barbie Girl

Rebecca put on a show for me the other day. She enjoys dressing up quite a bit and does it any chance she gets. She also knows way too many songs that a 3 year old should probably not know, the price of having 3 older sisters. I am slightly worried about the one glove thing. I hope she's not headed into a "Michael Jackson" phase.

New Shoes

Yesterday we received a package from UPS. It was some new shoes from my mom. Her husband works for a shoe company called Ecco. We had gone on their web site last week and picked out shoes for Dan and Jaquelyn and my mom ordered them as gifts. They are Really, REALLY nice shoes. They are both very thankful. Especially Jaquelyn who had grown out of her gym shoes from last year and didn't like the ones she was supposed to grow into.

Dan wore his today and said they feel great.














Jaquelyn was so excited and they came at exactly the right time. She had gym today at school.

Swim Lessons

Rebecca and Jaquelyn are taking swim lessons again. This time at the YMCA. We just got a membership at the beginning of the month and are trying to use as many of the facilities that we can. I am hoping by next summer that they will both be very good swimmers.

Jaquelyn does really great but still needs to work on her style quite a bit. She passed the swim test on Tuesday so she can now go anywhere in the pool she wants. She is doing well in the class and enjoys it a lot. She is the fastest swimmer in her class (as shown in the video I took where they were racing) and is very proud of that fact.
















Rebecca is doing well in her class too. There are two other girls in her class who are right around the same level as her. She loves to swim and is getting pretty good. She can swim a short distance by herself with her face in the water (as seen in the video) and swims better with goggles or a face mask.

Dan's Birthday

Today is Dan's birthday. Unfortunately, he is not the best subject for a photo shoot. (read: he doesn't like his picture taken) I did take a few but he was not very cooperative so they are not very good. He had to work today so we were only able to celebrate this evening. We had his favorite dinner- vegetable lasagna, corn and garlic bread and I made him chocolate chip cookies instead of a cake. We had a few presents for him but his big gift arrived last month - a new golf bag. All in all I guess it was a decent day. Birthdays just aren't the big deal they were when you're a kid.

Swing Set

There isn't much going on around here lately. Jaquelyn and Rebecca have been playing outside with our neighbors pretty much everyday after school and homework. Here they are playing on our swing set. It's not the greatest swing set but the price was fantastic - FREE on Craigs List.

Junior Girl Scout

This week was Jaquelyn's first Girl Scout meeting of the school year. She is a Junior this year and very excited about the upcoming year. They have a lot of ground to cover since the Junior program was just reduced to 2 years instead of 3. She has been with the same group of girls since first grade (except for spending a year in Massachusetts) and has made lots of friends. They do lots of stuff throughout the year to include several camping trips. Their first one is a big one with all the local Girl Scouts and is next month. It is based on the movie "Nim's Island" (a kids movie that came out a few months ago). Jaquelyn is really looking forward to it.

Look Mommy, No Cavities Part 2

Today it was Rebecca and Jaquelyn's turn at the dentist. They go to a pediatric dentist who is a bit farther away than I really like but at least it's only 2x a year. They both did great.



Rebecca was first and she was so good. She let them count her teeth and clean them. They even did a fluoride treatment on her teeth. She has no cavities.
















Jaquelyn did very well also. She got her teeth cleaned and fluoride put on them too. They said she needs to brush her bottom teeth a little better because there was a bit of plaque on them. She also didn't have any cavities. She is going back soon to have sealants put on her first molars. They are supposed to really help her from getting cavities especially since she has very deep grooves in her teeth.

Rebecca's First Day Of School Part 2

She had a great day. She was playing on the playground when I came to pick her up and didn't even want to stop. She told me about all the things they did. They played with play-doh, read books, ate snack, played outside and painted.

On the first day, the kids get to make a bag to carry their school papers and such in. It is so cute.

Rebecca's First Day Of School

Well, it went just as I expected. She posed for my pictures, walked into the classroom, sat down and then it was like I didn't exist. She went right into playing with play-doh and didn't pay any attention to me leaving. I suppose I should be happy she wasn't crying and holding on to me but a little bit of separation anxiety would be nice. Just enough that I know she'll at least miss me. I know I am missing her like crazy. The house is SOOOOOOO quiet. Well, except for the landlord working on the siding, but that doesn't count.

Here she is eating breakfast, wondering how many pictures she is going to have to endure today.

Outside the van getting ready to walk into the building

Sitting at her desk, waiting for me to leave her alone.

We're Ready For Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Rebecca's first day of preshool. She is a little excited but really doesn't understand completely what is happening. She is very friendly and outgoing and I am sure she won't have any problems adjusting but I am a bit anxious anyhow. I can't believe my little baby is going to be spending 3 hours apart from me 3 days a week. Sniff, Sniff. She probably will barely notice I am gone too. Oh well, I guess they all have to grow up someday. I will be taking tons of pictures and will make sure I post tomorrow with an update.

Jaquelyn's First Day Of School

Today was Jaquelyn's first day of school and boy was she excited. Yesterday we went to her school for the orientation/meet your teacher day, so she already knew where her desk was located. She also found her locker. (yes she gets a locker in 4th grade. The smaller classrooms don't have enough room to fit all the backpacks and other assorted kidstuffs)

When I picked her up after school, she was still excited and said she had a great day. Her teacher seems very nice and even bought popsicles for the class to enjoy when their parents picked them up. There are 14 kids in her class, we lost 6 from last year and gained 3 new kids. It seems the farther up in private schools you go, the smaller the classes are. In 1st grade there were 21 kids in her class and it has gotten smaller each year.




Here is her desk.










I have to say that I love her uniform. It is a blue plaid and they are allowed to were several different types of shirts underneath it. She also has the option of a pair of shorts of the same material for certain months.