Mommy

Thought I'd share this picture. I know you all know what I look like but I'm rarely the one in the pictures because I'm almost always the one taking them. This is also one of the few pictures of the kids and I. Tom took it last week on my birthday and somehow got all 3 of us looking cute and at the camera at the same time.

Butterflies

Butterflies have always been a favorite insect around here. Especially since Erin's spring obsession with caterpillars. We even had a caterpillar make a chrysalis in our jar, although nothing came of it.

Before being aware of Erin's butterfly fascination her Noni got her a butterfly "house" that came with an order for live caterpillars. So on Erin's birthday we opened up her butterfly house and sent away for the caterpillars. In waiting Erin kept bringing caterpillars from the yard into the house wanting to put them in her butterfly net.

The caterpillars arrived in small plastic specimen-cup. They were about 1/2 inch long. There was some nutrient on the bottom of the cup so we didn't have to do anything but watch them grow. And grow they did. After 3 or 4 days they had doubled in size. They looked the size of your garden variety caterpillars. After about 10 or so days they all climbed to the top of the cups and made their chrysalis. I'd never really watched it happen but over the period of a day they went from mobile caterpillars to hardened chrysalis.

The top of the cups were lined with paper so after making sure they were securely enveloped in the chrysalis we moved them into the butterfly "house". This meant taking the paper top they had clung to and pining it to the inside of the house. We cleaned off a corner of the piano and set the house where we could watch inside without disturbing too much.

Four mornings later we awoke to find 1 lone butterfly sitting at the bottom of the house. By mid afternoon we had 4. By the end of the next day all 10 butterflies had emerged. The kids are fascinated with watching them. They are painted ladies and have a beautiful orange and black pattern to them. Jeffrey loves to bring a chair up to the piano and just stand and watch them. At this point they are fluttering all around the house. We've put some orange slices on the bottom to feed them and they seem to like it.

We've been really lucky that the cats haven't knocked the whole thing over. That was my greatest fear when looking for a place to put it. I've found both cats stalking the butterflies a few times but never being aggressive in trying to get to them.

So here are a few pictures of our little science experiment. The net to the house makes it pretty difficult to get really good pictures but these give you an idea. The red stains you see on the net are the meiconium which is secreted just after the butterflies emerge. It's just been so much fun to watch the change from caterpillar to butterfly happen right in front of our eyes.

Yes..this is June

I just took these pictures today. That's right. June 16. Not the middle of January. June.

We got nailed with one severe thunderstorm that tossed hail around for about 15 minutes. We were driving home from the gym, and I decided to take the 'long' way around to check the mail. When we pulled in the driveway the skies opened up pouring. I decided that since Jeffrey was sound asleep we'd just wait out the storm in the car.

Well not a minute later small hail started falling. Withing another few minutes it was bigger hail. Erin was actually rather excited, while I was getting a bit nervous. Sitting in the car during a thunderstorm - fine. Sitting in the car during a tornado...not so fine. Anyway we managed to get a call through to Tom and he said that severe thunderstorms were in the area with the possibility of hail (I confirmed that possibility for him) but no tornadoes.

It got loud in the car...really really loud. Erin sat in the back seat covering her ears. I tried to keep myself calm while watching things begin to swirl around outside. The winds picked up and broken leaves began swirling around.

When it all slowed down I made a dash for the basement door, ran back to get Erin from the car, and eventually Jeffrey - who was amazingly still asleep. We surveyed the damage. So far I've not found any structural damage (not even dents on the car...which sounded like it was being bombarded with frozen grapefruit). The stoop outside the front door had 6" of hail piled up. The hail was all about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. Unfortunately EVERY plant was destroyed. We were just getting flowers on the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. They are all now totally flattened. Their stems and leaves were literally shattered.

I'm really glad we were at least in the driveway and not stuck out on the road somewhere. And plants are replaceable. But the power of the storm is something that Erin and I are unlikely to forget any time soon.

Our First Camping Adventure

For Father's Day, Tom wanted to go camping for a night. He mentioned it to the kids earlier in the Spring and Erin has been super excited about it for weeks. I'm not sure she understood really what camping was about, but she was definitely ready to give it a try.

We got to our tent site a little after noon. We decided not to go too far for our first trip so we just picked a campground up in the Shenandoah about 30 minutes away. Tom and I had practiced setting up the tent last weekend so we knew what we were doing when we got there. On the drive, Jeffrey had fallen asleep in his car seat so Erin and I cleared an area of the site for the tent while Tom unpacked everything from the car. After Tom and I got the tent up, with a little help from the kids (Jeffrey had woken up about 15 minutes after we got there) we encountered our first camping "issue."

Bugs. Yep little gnats around faces. Both kids, Jeffrey especially, would just stand there and scream about "All The Bugs", "Make Them Go Away". I brought some OFF which I sprayed into my hands and rubbed around their necks and faces. That helped somewhat. At least enough to create a placebo effect.

I Do NOT Like Bugs

After setting up Erin's little dome tent and having lesson 2 - PLEASE DO NOT just get in and out and in and out and in and out of the tents. If you leave them open the bugs will get in there too. So if you want to get in, that's fine but you need to stay in there for a while - we set out lunch. We'd packed sandwiches, chips, grapes and some gorp (lesson 3 - ju ju fish are NOT good in gorp). We had a nice lunch at the picnic table, although we still had to bribe Erin to finish her sandwich.

Fun in the Tent

We decided to take a walk and go exploring after lunch. We made sure to toss all the clothes and sleeping supplies in the big tent and the food back in the car (have to beware of bears). We headed out on our hike. We followed a long paved path down to the nearby visitor's center (about 1 mile). We talked about the ferns on the ground, picked up sticks, fell down and scraped knees (well at least Jeffrey - lesson 4 keep Cars band-aids on my person at all times), climbed on rocks, and spotted a deer in the woods across the road. We got to the Visitor's Center just in time as the storm that had been rumbling around us for 30 minutes opened up right on top of us.


We stayed out the storm for about an hour. Near the end, while Tom and Erin were checking out part of a Jr. Ranger program, Jeffrey and I sat by a huge windowed wall that looked over the nearby meadow (a meadow on top of a mountain is pretty cool). We spotted several deer who'd emerged after the rain. Then Jeffrey pointed out a Mommy, daddy and baby deer. He was right, there was a fawn with one of the other deer. We watched them wander around the meadow for a while. One of the rangers even lent us her binoculars so we could get a closer look at the fawn.


When Tom and Erin finished with the program, the sun was coming back out. We crossed the main road and started walking an access road through the meadow. We spotted probably close to 15 different deer across the meadow. They are very comfortable around humans. A few crossed the road right in front of us no more than 15 feet away. The kids thought that the deer were just fascinating. Tom was also able to show them deer tracks in the gravel road and Erin spent the next 15 minutes staring at the road, tripping over her feet, looking for more tracks.

One of the Many Deer We Saw

Checking Out Deer Tracks

After walking about 3/4 of a mile we decided to turn back. We got on the main path back to the campsite. Both kids were a little cranky, and Erin insisted on carrying this stick almost as tall as she was. About 1/2 a mile from the campsite we noticed a fog rolling down the road...literally. It's something neither Tom nor I had experienced before, but we were quickly engulfed in a thick fog (OK we're in the mountains..it was a cloud). Everything changed. The sounds deadened. The kids quieted. The smells changed. And then......

...It POURED (lesson 5 - when walking into a cloud in the mountains it means walk faster it's going to pour). Erin and I sprinted for the ranger station which was only a few hundred yards away. Tom tried to get Jeffrey to run, but he wouldn't. He just walked along, SCREAMING and SOBBING getting more and more soaked with every second. We stopped outside the campground ranger station to wait out this second deluge. I'd guess we were standing for 15 to 20 minutes. One of the rangers nicely let us borrow her poncho to use as a tarp to keep the rain from blowing on us.

Once it slowed down again we made for the campsite. What we found met our biggest fears. Everything was soaked. The tent was simply unable to withstand 2 torrential downpours in 2 hours and had about 6 inches of water on the "lower" side. Erin's little tent made out somewhat better but still was wet. Unfortunately, we'd decided to store all our things "IN" the tent so they were also soaked. That means sleeping bags, clothes, books (including a library book and several of the kids books) etc... Needless to say we had no choice but to pack everything up and head back down the mountain. Lesson 6 - Until you're certain the tent is waterproof if it looks like it's gonna rain...store stuff in the car.

Wet, Going Home and NOT Happy About It

Erin stood in the middle of the campsite sobbing that she really wanted to camp. Jeffrey ran around and jumped in every mud puddle he could find (as long as the rain was not coming down he had no issues with being wet). It took Tom and I about 20 minutes to get everything taken down and packed back up into the car.


We got back home a little after 6 PM. The kids got into some dry clothes while I took a hairdryer to the library book (all 490 pages of it). Tom got out the dinner we were going to make at the campsite and cooked it up. Needless to say everyone was pretty beat. After a hot shower and some down time in front of the Food Network everyone was ready for bed.

The First Night "Camping" (I count 7 aminals and 4 blankets in bed with him)

So this morning we're going to look into either resealing the seams in the tent or getting a new tent so we can try camping again in a few months. Maybe after thunderstorm season has passed.

Who Needs a Pool?

Summer is here...without even a sign of Spring it feels like. We've been up in the 90s the past few days and I've had to resign myself to shutting the windows and turning on the AC.


We haven't tested the lake yet. I can't imagine it's that warm yet, but maybe it is. Since we don't have a pool, flat space for a little pool or even a sprinkler I "punted" yesterday. I got out the garden hose, a large 5 gallon bucket, a couple of water squirters and filled the water table. Toss in a couple of kids in swimming suits and you've got an afternoon of fun.

They had an awesome time. We'd run in the hose for a few minutes - we meaning I was holding the hose - I'd make sure the bucket was filled with water for the squirters too. Then they'd play for a while with the squirters and rotate back up to the water table. Once they got a little warm we'd recycle the whole process. I did my bestest to stay dry...Erin did her best to make sure I didn't. I certainly met the wet end of the water squirter a few times.


Jeffrey did get himself in a bit of trouble by deciding to turn the water table into a wading pool. I'm actually amazed it didn't collapse under him. I tried really really hard not to laugh, but I just couldn't. As soon as he saw that he knew he might be in some trouble...but nothing major. And since I had the camera nearby I just had to get a shot and video of it.

It was so great to see them having so much fun with simple stuff. No fancy inflatable water slides. No in-ground pool (but let me tell you the next house we get....). Not even a sprinkler. That's the way an afternoon of fun should go.

Early Birds

Don't they realize there's no worm to be had? Here in good ole S'ville there's no prize for getting up early. But Erin and Jeff seem to have decided that they are going to become Early Birds. For the past several weeks they've been waking up at the crack of dawn (at least it feels that way to me). They've been getting up between 6 and 6:30. Going down to daddy, who's desperately trying to get out of the house for work, and demanding breakfast at 6:30. If he has a few seconds he'll open a couple of cereal bars or nuke 2 bowls of oatmeal, but he doesn't always have the time.

I'm not sure which one of the two started this trend. I think it's Jeffrey. Generally I hear him moving around first. He'll go into Erin's room to play and inevitable wake her up. This spring we'd been having issues with Jeffrey waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. So I started explaining to him that he can't get out of bed until the sun is up. Well, the sun is getting up earlier and earlier. Before I know it, Jeffrey's going to be waking up at 5.

I - not being a morning person try to milk as much time from them as possible. If I can hear them playing in their rooms I'll doze for another hour or so. Sometimes I'll just listen to them playing. It seems that these morning play-dates are something special though. There's rarely any arguing. I hear a lot about taking turns, sharing, and playing together. Sometimes Erin will "read" Jeffrey stories. And this morning I even heard her ask him to read to her on the potty...which he did with great pleasure. Generally by the time I'm up and moving, their rooms are disasters - toys, dolls, blocks, books, dress-up clothes are everywhere. One toy box is generally empty because it's a great place to hide for hide & seek. But their imaginations are running wild and the special sibling bond is strengthening.

So while I'm not at all a fan of this new trend in waking hours. The time they are spending playing together makes it worthwhile. So while the schedule is morphing to include earlier nap for a while, I think we can manage it. I guess that's what brothers and sisters are for. Maybe there is a worm after all.

A little about doctors

Jeffrey has a boo-boo on his foot. Nothing major really. He just scraped the top of his toe. He came downstairs to show me his boo-boo. I offered to give it a kiss and even a boo-boo strip (Band-aid). I was clearly informed that wasn't necessary.

"Dr. Seuss will take care of it mom."

"Really, Dr. Seuss?"

"Yep"

"So...Dr. Seuss is going to fix you toe. You don't want a boo-boo strip?"

"Yeah he's gonna fix it ...... like Bob. Bob can fix anything."

"Bob?"

"You know mom....can he fix it..yes he can. Builder Bob" (Bob the Builder, a character the kids really don't watch or know very well, but clearly know enough that Bob fixes things. Generally he fixes buildings, or machines or plumbing. Not usually toes.)

So Dr. Seuss and Bob the Builder are all that's required to take care of a boo-boo. No mommy necessary apparently.

More Graduating

Erin's pre-school had a graduation last Friday. The kids all wore tie-dyed shirts they had helped make. They also had little graduation hats. The teacher played Pomp and Circumstance while they all walked in. The presentation was a month-by-month review of the school year through song. Erin was in December and sang the "Christmas All Around" song from their Christmas program.

They asked each of the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up before the program. As they were dismissed to their parents the teacher shared each child's aspirations. There were several firefighters and policemen, a couple of animal helpers, one who wanted to be a mommy, an astronaut, a princess....and Erin's response...... A butterfly. That's right, my daughter wants to grow up to be a butterfly. I'm hoping she changes her mind before she tries to spin her own chrysalis from the bedroom ceiling.

Afterwards Erin took one last swing on the swings with her friend Abbey. We're hoping Erin and Abbey end up going to the same school, but Abbey lives right on the line between 2 school districts and mom still wasn't sure which one she'll go to. When it was time to go, we went into town and celebrated her "graduation" with lunch at the Chinese buffet....mmmmm

Erin really loved being at pre-school. She made some really good friends and learned so much. I took her in for kindergarten registration today and the screener said Erin's certainly ready for school. Erin quite agrees. I get the "how many more sleeps" until Kindergarten question daily. I try to tell her it's more than she can count, but that doesn't work anymore. Maybe in July I'll make a little paper chain so she can tear links off to see exactly how many sleeps left.

Until then we're going to keep busy here. Both kids are going to a week-long mornings camp at the pre-school. Then there's swimming lessons and tumbling camp. Don't forget a week at the beach, some trips to DC, camping in the mountains and a long weekend away with mommy and daddy. I'm afraid August 20th (first day of school) will be here much to soon.

Saying one last goodbye to a super teacher

A Weekend of Celebrations

We visited New York this past weekend to see Uncle Jonathan graduate from college, and to celebrate the birthdays with Grandma and Grandpa W. and Aunt Katie, Uncle Bill and baby Will. It was a great weekend - even if the weather didn't really cooperate.

Erin was very excited to be at Uncle Jon's graduation. It was a long long affair (as most graduations are). She did a great job sitting and listening (and playing, coloring, singing quietly lol). Jeffrey didn't do so well with the cramped quarters so he and daddy took off and sneaked back in every once in a while. The did manage to get the best view of Uncle Jonathan walking across the stage to get his diploma though. Sadly they didn't have a camera on them. It meant so much to Uncle Jon to know that we were there supporting him. We did get a great chance to see him walking by, getting ready to receive his diploma. After graduation we took a few pictures, something we don't always take time to do in mommy's family.

The next day (after spending the rest of the afternoon moving Jon out of his room) daddy's family came down to visit and celebrate birthdays. Originally we had hoped to meet at a park outside, but it was rainy and cold....so we took over the indoor pool (fall-back plan so everyone was prepared) and had a blast. The kids swam with everyone for close to 2 hours and had an absolute blast. Then we celebrated with some cupcakes and nibbles and of course presents.

Erin is still obsessed with her baby cousin Will. She kept her eyes on him most of the day. Any time he was fussy she'd run over to him and rub the top of his head. She did get a chance to hold him too....both of them more comfortable with it than in February.

We finished the afternoon going out to dinner all together. We headed to a local brew pub and everyone found something good to eat.

Both kids were very excited to spend some quality time with Noni, Grandpa, Oma and Uncle Jon at the hotel. Noni and Oma graciously offered to let the kids sleep with them and give mommy and daddy a few quiet nights to sleep. Uncle Jonathan added his assistance with taking care of the kiddos too. When it came time to say goodbye and start home 2 overtired kiddos were totally in tears. Erin didn't want her booster seat moved back into the Intrepid and Jeffrey didn't understand why Uncle Jonathan wasn't riding with him any more. And although the kids were completely burned out and totally overtired it was a wonderful weekend.

Greetings

Jeffrey has certainly developed into a social butterfly. He has absolutely no fear of adults or strangers at all (which is actually somewhat disconcerting). He has a regular friend at the grocery store (one of the managers I think) that he runs up to every time we see him. He also greets every person he sees. People at the store, neighbors in their yards, friends at church, pretty much everyone. Maybe my 4 summers greeting people at the Disney store got into my genes somehow and turned Jeffrey into a greeter.

So this morning we are heading out for a day at the gym and errands. As we are working on getting into the car I hear Jeffrey begin his usual pattern.

"Hello, What's your name?" "I'm Jeffrey."

I look around to see if there's a neighbor working in the yard or someone jogging on the road. No one catches my eye.

"Who are you talking to bud?"

"I'm not bud, I'm Jeffrey" (another one of his phases, can't call him anything but his name otherwise he gets slightly offended or upset)

"Ahhh. OK. Sorry Jeffrey. Who are you talking to?"

"The clouds." Said very matter of factly. "They're not talking though. Hi clouds. I'm Jeffrey"

So there he was. Standing in the middle of the driveway looking up at the sky having a quite lovely conversation with the clouds. He wasn't in the least bit concerned or disturbed that they weren't responding. I guess he just took it as part of being a cloud.

Ahhh for the days when life was so simple it was important to make sure we greeted the clouds.

Mother's Day and Happy Birthday

We had a wonderful shared Mother's Day and birthday on Sunday. Erin made a special gift for me at school. She kept it hidden in her room for 5 days before giving it to me on Sunday. It came with a card she made herself and had written on the inside (with spelling help) "Mom I Love You". The gift was 2 terra cotta pots painted and stacked inside each other with a spacer so they make a wind chime. It was the sweetest Mother's Day present. Then the kids also picked me out a new Wii game and some nice wine.


Erin was very excited to tell everyone at Church that it was her birthday...and I mean everyone. Once we got home it was all about opening her presents -- lots of books and games, a cool caterpillar house and a new camera. She also got some little "workbooks" which she has already almost completed on her own. She really loves them. Guess I'll have to look for some more.

The afternoon was spent playing Wii with mommy and daddy. We tried her new Playground game, did some Kart racing. It was really nice just to relax and have some fun time just the 4 of us after the super busy weeks we'd been having.

Since it was also Mother's Day I slyly suggested we go to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner (before Erin could ask for Red Robin). Both kids love the food and Erin really loves the show they put on. Jeff still gets a little iffy about the "fire" but was 10 times better this time than when we last went at Christmas. So all day Erin walked around talking about going to dinner at the "fire place with the rice." It was worth it. The food was great, kids well behaved and Erin even got a birthday cake brought out and all the people at our table helped sing her happy birthday.


So all in all we had quite a special day on Sunday. My little girl sure is growing up.

Happy Brithday Erin Wynne

Happy Birthday Sweet Erin.

May 11, 2003

May 11, 2008
Oh what a year we've had. So many firsts. First day at school (preschool). First time as a flower girl. First time swimming on her own (with floaties). First time staying with Noni & Grandpa while Mommy & Daddy went on vacation. First big girl Birthday Party.

Erin has really blossomed this year. She's made some special friends at school and at the plays. She LOVES being at school still. I've watched her get more and more interested in learning her letters, shapes, writing so many words, even beginning to read. She talks all the time about her friends and what they all shared or played at school. She also LOVES being outside, getting in the dirt, making up stories and games with a stick and a rock. I am amazed every day by the things she does or says, or the simple "I Love You Mom".

Movie: Annie (on the Incredibles)
Song: Hard Knock Life (detect a theme?)
Book: Pinkalicious
Toy: Been playing a lot with her Little Pets and having tea parties.
Game: Wii bowling, boxing, baseball. And now Mario Kart Racing.
TV Show: Good Eats (on the Food Network)
Food: Olives and cheese or soup.
Drink: Lemonade
Dinner: Tacos at home (I think she says she doesn't know) or "Rice at the Fire Place" (Japanese steakhouse restaurants).

OK...here's the Montage. Grandma, Noni....get your tissues out (this is also a little long, about 8 minutes).

The Birthday Party

This is the first year I've done a real "kids" birthday party for Erin. Since she has been in school she's been invited to several parties and had a blast at each of them. So when April came around Erin was determined to have "all her school friends" at her Birthday Party.



I rented out the shelter at our local park and we invited all her school friends and then some friends from Annie as well as a few family friends. We went all out and planned some games (a Pinata and Pin the Tail on the Donkey), put together goodie bags, had bubbles and cake and fruit. I planned the time for being right after soccer. That worked and it didn't. We held it in the same park as the soccer fields, but it rained for 2 days before and everything on the fields was really muddy. So Tom had to take Erin and Jeff home to get her cleaned up and changed and fed between the end of soccer and the party. They gave him a bit of a hard time and Erin was slightly late to her own Birthday Party.



The first thing all the kiddos wanted to do was play on the playground. This was a great way for some of the kids and parents to get to know each other. They all had a blast on the playground -- climbing, swinging, sliding. They played there for almost an hour and then Tom got the games set up. Erin has been super excited about her Pinata (or Fiesta as she calls it). We got one shaped like a soccer ball and she helped fill it with candy. This was some powerful pinata. It took each kiddo two rounds of whacking to get it open - some of them throwing some powerful blows. Even Jeffrey got his turn to hit it -something he rarely gets encouraged to do.



After that we played a rousing game of pin the tail on the donkey followed by cake. Erin picked out a chocolate cake with red roses from the grocery store. I asked the lady at the bakery to write "Happy Birthday Erin" on it and when she gave it to me it looked like a 5th grader had done it. So I vamped and added some of Erin's Little Pets to the mix and ended up with a darned cute cake. And the best thing of all...the whole thing got eaten and none had to come back home!!!!!



We finished the party by opening presents and thanking every one with big hugs. Then daddy put on a juggling show much to the delight of the party goers. We all know daddy can certainly be a ham and the kids thought he was just the funniest thing. We've certainly got a special daddy hanging around here.



After that, the party broke out. Erin handed out her party bottles filled with a bouncy ball, some bubbles, a popping toy, candy, stickers and a pencil. She was so very very proud of them, and all the kids thought they were super cool.



So here's the picture overload. I can't believe my baby girl is almost 5. She looked like such a big girl today running and playing with all her friends. I'm getting just a little teary thinking how proud of her I am at becoming such a beautiful young girl.

After Putting Together all Her Goodie Bottles

Playing With Her Friend Abbey At the Playground

Climbing the Wrong Way Up the Big Slide - Only Gets Away With That When Mommy's Taking Pictures

Telling Daddy How Old She Is and How Many Swings At the Pinata She Should Get

Swinging Away

Birthday Girl With Her Doctored Cake

Digging Into Those Presents With A Little Help From Her Friends

Annie

So this past weekend was the production of Annie. Boy was Erin excited about it. She absolutely LOVED being in the show. It was extra cool because in one scene I got to play Erin's mommy so was on stage right with her. It took a little practice for her to behave well with mommy on stage, but we got it down. She was a little girl that Annie meets on the street after running away from the orphanage. Then she got to be in a radio show scene. She had 3 songs that they got to sing....Dumb Dog (her personal favorite), Tomorrow, and Fully Dressed. She was sad at first that she wouldn't get to sing Hard Knock Life, but maybe next time we do Annie.

We had 4 shows over the weekend and by Saturday evening everyone was getting pooped. The two sweeties playing my kids on stage, actually sat down and refused to get up. I eventually prodded them up and they sang loud enough to be heard but not with their usual gusto. As you'll see in the video, Erin's a screamer. She screams all the songs. No one can complain that they can't hear her. It actually makes me snicker to hear it.

I'm so glad that Erin really enjoys the plays. She's starting to make a few friends and certainly LOVES being on stage once the curtain goes up (not a big fan of the rehearsals). So here are a few pictures. It's really hard to get pictures while she's on stage so this is the best I've got. And one from backstage with mommy. She got to wear her pretty green Christmas dress too and was very excited about that.

A Few Pictures From Yesterday

Jeffrey had a great day yesterday. This was the first year he was really aware that it was his birthday... although to him that meant presents and cake. Not sure he really gets the point behind everything.

We went to the gym in the morning where he told all the "teachers" it was his birthday and that he was 3 years old. He picked out his own cake at the grocery store - blue icing with balloons and wanted some fried chicken for lunch. After lunch we had quiet time until daddy got home (that's when I wrapped all his presents).

Tom got home about 3:00. I'd told Jeffrey that he couldn't open his presents until daddy got home. The second Tom walked in the door, he started ripping the paper off. It was hilarious. He had everything opened in less than 5 minutes. Right now the big hit seems to be the Mac Truck (from Cars) that his Noni and Grandpa got him. But everything's gotten some attention.

We went for a walk after opening presents since it was a gorgeous day out. Jeffrey insisted on wearing his Crocs and wiped out on the dirt road. He skinned his knee and scraped his elbow - poor kiddo. Still he had fun. Dinner consisted of Mac & Cheese from a box, hot dogs and broccoli - all at Jeffrey's request. Then he got to dig into his cake. He even got a special phone call from Grandma right when we were singing him Happy Birthday so she got to sing along.

Mommy had rehearsal last night so the kids and daddy went to hang out at a friends house with a bunch of friends. We expected to celebrate Jeffrey's birthday with them. On the way into town Jeffrey fell asleep in the car. I moved him inside where he proceeded to sleep until 11 PM, much to the chagrin of his sister who wanted more cake. She even tried poking and tickling him but he refused to get up. I guess the busy day (and previous weekend) just tuckered him out.

So here are a few pictures of the Birthday Boy from yesterday.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey Anderson

From this......

. . . to this.

I can't believe it's been 3 years. And some days I can't believe it's been ONLY 3 years. How time flies, and how much my little man has grown this past year. He went from a little toddler who babbled and tried to sing songs, couldn't stand story time and tripped over his own toes more often than not to a little man who loves to sing and dance, lives for story time and going to mommy's gym and well...still trips over his own toes a lot, but he can do a darned good somersault.

We don't go to the Dr's until next week so I don't have "stats" for everyone but lets just say tall and tough. I understand now why people think he and Erin are twins because when standing together they really do look it.

He's grown and changed so much. He LOVES reading and story time right now, is a total water baby and is even starting to make some friends at gymnastics and at mommy's gym. He can still be quite a handful especially when he doesn't get his way. But the ability to talk about things has helped with that a ton. So rather than just throw himself down on the ground and scream every time, now it's only 7 our of 10 times he doesn't get what he wants.

Here's a list of his favorite things right now:

Movie: The Incredibles

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Book: This changes from week to week depending on what we bring back from the library. Generally there's a truck involved.

Toy: Anything with wheels. Even better if it's Lightning McQueen.

Game: Mouse Trap (thanks Noni)

TV Show: Either Little Einsteins or Dora.....or the Food Network.

Food: Bread...can he put away some bread.

Drink: Lemonade

Dinner: Pasta, although he asked for Mac & Cheese and hot dogs and broccoli for dinner tonight.

And here's what some of you have been waiting for....Jeffrey's 3rd Birthday Montage.

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.