Frido the Caterpillar

We have a temporary new addition to the family....Frido the caterpillar. We found Frido (Erin's name for him, I thought Fuzzy was a cute name) on Erin's shirt in the middle of soccer last Saturday. Not sure how he got there. So I pulled it off and held it in my hands so the kids who were sitting nearby on the sideline could see it. I ended up holding onto Frido for the rest of the game (about 30 minutes). Every time kids on the team would switch off they'd run over to take turns holding him. Apparently I'm hired for sideline entertainment for next week too.

Anyway we managed to get Frido home in an empty cup from the car. Tom put some holes in the lid of a Bell jar. Erin and Tom went outside to find a few sticks to put inside with him and Erin picked him some grass. So now Frido is living on the kitchen counter. Both kids love to look at him. He doesn't really do a lot, but it's been fun watching him/her climb around the sticks in the jar. Equally fun watching Erin and Jeffrey get up in the morning and have to come check on Frido. I doubt Frido's going to be spending an eternity with us but it been fun having him around in the meantime.

It's Official

I'm now a Soccer Mom. That's right. Erin had her first day of soccer today. She's been talking about playing soccer for years now. I'm not sure where she got so interested in it or excited by it, but she's been wanting to play soccer for a very long time. Last fall she just missed the age cut-off so this is her first official soccer season. When I told her that she was going to get to play soccer this spring she went screaming and jumping around the house. We got all her gear last week (last Saturday was supposed to be the first day, but it got rained out). She's got the whole set-up. Cleats, shin guards, a water bottle, and a very cool pink soccer ball. They're the orange team so orange shirts and socks finish out the uniform.

All week she's been asking me "When's soccer?" "How many more sleeps?" This morning she was up bright and early super excited about it. She got her soccer shirt first thing when we got there. Clearly I'm going to have to buy longer black shorts. She was the one on the field who looked like she had no shorts on at all. Her number is 11.

They did some practice skills to start. She wasn't sure about these, because she really just wanted to kick her pink soccer ball into the net. Eventually she figured out what the others were doing and decided to take a go at it. Her favorite part was still when she got to kick the ball into the net.

After the skills, they held a scrimmage against the Yellow team. 4 on 4 with all the kids getting a chance to play. Erin ran after the ball as much as she could. She even got a few kicks in on it. Coach let her do a corner kick, and a throw-in too (which she really enjoyed and decided to do underhand instead of overhand). People describe under 6 soccer as herding cats.....and yeah that's pretty much what it is. The kids run and kick the ball whichever way they can. If they do score a goal (no goalies) it's an all out party. These two teams were actually pretty good at the scoring....not so great at the defense. But the best part was that everyone had lots of fun.

Next week they get professional team pictures done. I'll try to scan and upload them once I get them back. She was pretty tired after everything was done, and a little sad that she didn't get to kick the ball into the goal, but is already asking me when she gets to go to soccer again.

Pretty Pretty Growing Flowers

I try every year to take some pictures of the kids with my daffodils. I planted them the fall Jeffrey was born and have taken some pictures of the kids with them every year that they have bloomed. Last fall I added another section of daffodils and tulips. They're coming up beautifully and the kids get so excited every time we go outside to point out the flowers that are blooming or even about to bloom. I love that they get so excited by it. Here are some pictures from the past few years so you can see how everyone has grown and a couple from this year - yes Jeffrey has a boo-boo strip on his chin - he was messing around on the back of the couch a few days ago. One of these days he'll learn.

Spring 2006

Spring 2007

Today

Walking in Memphis (and Tennessee in general)

Noni had a meeting in Memphis last week. She thought it would be super fun if mommy and the kids went along for the road trip. Having only driven through Memphis myself I figured it would be a great chance for the kids to see some stuff - like the Mississippi River or the Smokey Mountains.

We decided to break the drive into 2 days over and 3 days back. In general we made sure we stopped at hotels with indoor swimming pools so the kiddos could get some energy out after being cooped up in the car. We also left time for fun spontaneous things like lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The first night we stayed outside Knoxville and ate dinner right along the Tennessee River followed by a fun river walk (until the rain started).

Once we arrived in Memphis we had an awesome time. Our hotel was right on Beale street (think "walking with my feet 10 feet off of Beale"). The first night we were there we were taking in the atmosphere. There was blues/rock music coming from every restaurant (as well as beer everywhere but not so bad we felt uncomfortable with the kiddos). We were passing by one restaurant where one of the musicians was taking a smoke break. He was standing outside with a trumpet in his hands. My music buffs got excited about seeing a man with a trumpet and pointed at him. He gave them a smile, put the horn to his lips, and gave them their very own serenade. If I had only had my camera out to take a video. That is something they probably will never again experience.

There are TONS of museums in Memphis. We visited a Children's Museum which the kids loved. Noni and mom took time out for the Civil Rights Museum which is housed in the motel where MLK was shot. It was pretty powerful standing right there less than a week before the 40th Anniversary of his assassination. The kids didn't get much out of that visit, but they were a little young for it. They hung in as long as they could - long enough for mommy and Noni to see it. We had a couple of other Museums on the list that we didn't have time for and will have to go back again sometime to see.

Weather along the trip was pretty wet. We had rain almost every day. The one day that we were spared the rain we decided to take a riverboat ride along the Mississippi. The boat was a big old replica paddle boat. Jeff wasn't too sure at first but when he realized how big it really was he felt fine. Our tour was about 90 minutes long and we got lots of cool info on Memphis history and the river. The river was really high on its banks (about a mile wide where we were). The ride was windy and a little cool, but the sun came out for us near the end. Erin loved taking pictures of the boat and the barges on the river. Jeffrey got so relaxed he was sound asleep by the end of the trip. I was able to get him off the boat, into the car, and back into the hotel before he woke up completely.

That afternoon was the day we also visited the Peabody Hotel. It was just a block up from where we were staying. Every day at 5 PM, 3 ducks come out of the fountain in the hotel, walk a little red carpet and get into an elevator. I guess they've been doing this for years. We got there for one evening, and close to 100 people were in the hotel lobby. Erin squeaked her way up to the front to watch the ducks....which took about 10 seconds and then it was over. Cool to say we did it, but not a ton to see really.

The biggest hit of the trip was the Memphis Zoo. While Noni had her meeting, mommy took the kids to the zoo. It was a cloudy and cool afternoon and the animals were really active. We got to see pandas, elephants, monkeys, a rhino, ostrich...all the zoo basics. The kids favorite part was the "arctic zone" where the polar bears and the sea lions were. We watched the polar bear swim for about 30 minutes. Then checked out the sea lions for another 1/2 hour before catching the sea lion show. The show was very cool - the kids like how the sea lions jumped, but the best part was before the show when one of the sea lions was "talking". Erin barked back at it and it made the noise again. They had this conversation for about a minute, and Erin and Jeff are still talking about it.

We left Memphis on Wednesday morning. We took a route that brought us through southern TN for the trip home. We stopped at Shiloh (the Civil War battlefield) where both kids though the cannons and monuments were pretty cool. The next day we drove through the Smokey Mountains. What a gorgeous drive. Part of it ran along this mountain river that was one of the most beautiful natural things I've ever seen. We drove up to the top of Clingman's Dome (the highest point in TN) but it was pretty socked in with clouds. Not too much to see. Jeffrey thought the foggy-fog was pretty impressive though.

We had such a wonderful time and got to see and experience so many new things. There were even things that we missed that we're just going to have to go back for some day. We are very glad that Noni had this meeting that gave us the opportunity for such a fun trip. Hope you enjoy the little slideshow....there were just too many cool pictures to share.

Potty Talk

Literally -- potty talk. Jeffrey's made some huge strides in his potty usage lately. He goes on his own when we're at home and when we're out and about he'll tell me he need to go potty. But sometimes things in the potty can get a little funny, especially when we're visiting some of the public restrooms in the area.

On our most recent trip to the grocery store, we stopped off after having lunch at Red Robin. The kids had guzzled their lemonades so I knew we were going to have to stop. Anyway it's not the cleanest of bathrooms so I was trying to help Jeffrey move the process along. While trying to juggle Erin's "Froggy" from school, my jacket and purse and help Jeff at the potty I went to "hold it down". He immediately swatted my hand away. "You No Touch that Mommy. It's FRAGILE. You hear me? You no touch. It's Fragile." I almost peed in my own pants I was laughing so hard at him.

While on our recent vacation with Noni we had several LONG days in the car. On our first day we stopped at a rest stop for some travel info, a leg stretch, a drink and a snack...and of course a potty trip. I took Jeffrey in and set him up. He made a few grunts and looked at me.."I no like poopie mommy." I tried to talk him into to trying for just a few minutes but he only got more upset. My last resort was to sing to him....so there I was, squatting on the floor in front of the potty in a public bathroom singing "This Old Man." Who knows what the lady sitting next to us thought. But you know what? It worked. And it worked again a few days later when we had the same issue (only this time at a Chilis and the requested accompaniment was Wheels on the Bus).

And to go along with those long car trips come the inevitable - "Need go potty mommy." - when there's no bathroom in sight. OK Jeffrey can you hold it, I asked. "No mommy." "OK bud, we'll we're gonna find a place to pull over and you can pee in the grass." "NOOOOOOOOO mommy, NOOOOO pee-pee in the grass. Pee-pee in the potty. Pee-pee in the bafoom. I NO pee-pee in the grass." This repeated over and over until I finally found the boy a potty. His sister on the other hand had no issues peeing in the grass. For the rest of the trip anytime I asked if either needed to go potty he'd get all upset and cry "No pee-pee in the grass."

So as you can see, we're making progress and having loads of laughs along the path to self-sufficient potty usage.