blogable

Sunday morning I made pancakes. Then we were getting ready to go to church so instead of covering my plate of extra pancakes with saran wrap, I quickly set them on a cake stand and then put the glass dome over the plate. I even quickly pulled the dome off real quick to make sure it would come off.

All church I sat that there thinking about eating them when I got home. Of course, that was between all of my prayers. To my complete disappointment, I arrived home to find the dome stuck. Mounds of warm pancakes were sitting in there staring at me. Maybe the trapped heat caused some swelling? Maybe I am just that ditzy?

That was also the girls' breakfast this week. Not so much. Anyways, I tried to hide my little issue from Brad, who would give me complete hell for this, which he later did. So I decided to sacrifice the plate for the glass dome. I tried to hammer the plate, but was getting a little scared of the glass mess that would surely follow, plus it was just jamming it even worse.

Brad came upstairs ready to eat I assume. I was in the bathroom and I heard him say "What did she do?" Tee hee. He just shook his head at me. So, we tried several different approaches, nothing working. We let it sit there for a couple days until tonight. Brad got out the hammer and started hammering the plate. Jillian announced loudly "Those pancakes are doomed!" Who knows where she came up with that expression.

As Brad was picking up the shattered plate he asked "Did you take a picture of this?" I responded no, and then he said "Well, if this was something I did you would have wrote about it." So, this story was for Brad, who is always a good sport about me telling his stories. The dome lid still had condensation inside it and the pancakes smelled horrible.

4 year pre-school

Jillian started 4 year pre-school last week. She is at the same school, in the same classroom, same teachers and kiddos, they loop. This is a good thing for anyone who takes awhile to get adjusted, like Jillian. She now goes 3 full days, while I work on 2 1/2 of those days. I now have an afternoon all by my little ole' self. So what did I do on my first "free" afternoon? I went and picked her up early.

 

 

 

Brad overheard the girls talking about resting time at school. To sum it up, apparently they "talk to themselves" instead of resting. When Brad asked if they talked aloud, they told him "Um, no Dad! In our heads!" Jillian takes a new doll/animal daily, often dressed in clothes. I think she plays with it during her nap. Mia doesn't have nap at school, but was giving advice to Jillian on how to make it 2 more years of forced napping. Obviously, they are anti-nappers.

So far so good! Let's cross our fingers that she doesn't go on pre-school strike come October/November like she did last year.
We love you Jilli-Bug!

Only one more year until you get to come to school with Mom & Mia!

Which by the way, hopefully goes really, really slow!

1st Grade

Mia Kate started first grade today! She had a wonderful, peaceful day with her itty bitty class. Her class has 11 kids, and they are so efficient and calm.

She came home with a smile on her face and plenty to share. The most important thing she needed to share was "When I go to my classroom I don't take off my backpack right away. I go to the Smart Board and get the remote and drag my name into my lunch category. Then, I go to the white board and put my lunch card in my lunch card pocket. That way when it is lunch I will know where my card is. Then I hang up my backpack. When I get to my seat I see if my pencil needs sharpened. If it does I go to the front table and put it in the "dull" box and get a new one out of the "sharp" box."

She cracks me up. If her teacher EVER forgets any procedures, Mia has them memorized. She is quite practical and reminds me of her father.

They both thought it was hilarious when I told them to hold up one finger for 1st grade.

Jillian really wants to go to school with Mia. Notice the headband she is wearing. It was as close as she could get to actually wearing a uniform.

Her class has a "camp out" theme. The tent behind her is where they can read during Silent Reading. "Only if you are the helper, and there are only 3 helpers per week."

Mrs. Parker and Mia Kate

The good ole "Single Rider." Nothing like a carpool line.

We are excited to see what 1st grade brings!

We love you Mia Kate!

Big Enough....

Mia's favorite event this summer was hands down, being able to do the "big slide" at Splash Cove. She could go over and over! It was a little hard for me to do it with her when it was just the 3 of us, I couldn't really leave Jilli on the side. So she convinced Brad to come and try it out!

Little girls are growing up! Lookin' pretty leggy!

tink

Somehow my nickname for Jillian has evolved into Tink. Absolutely no clue where that has came from. I also call her J or J-Bird, Brad calls her J-Money, and Mia calls her Trouble. Just kidding, she calls her Jilli. Some call her Jill or Jill Bug, we still hear some Buggie. She is just a nickname kind of gal.

Calling her Tink has evolved into me telling her what a Tink is.....

tink: noun. A little girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and the cutest little leggies. Tinks walk on their toes, are witty, bossy, sweet, and precociously sassy.

Tinks wag their finger to show how much they don't want something. As in "I don't want vegetables on my plate." This is AWFUL! Where did she learn this? Brad says that he has never seen me wave my finger.

Tinks give the BEST super squeezy hugs to their dads.

Tinks love to eat frozen blueberries, watermelon, mandarin oranges, kiwi, apples, grapes, and strawberries. But they DO.NOT.EAT.VEGETABLES!

Tinks get plenty of attention in public because they sing and dance to themselves while their mothers shop.

Tinks talk REALLY LOUD in public, again earning lots of attention and getting smiles from strangers.

Tinks make up the best stories while they are "reading" aloud to themselves.

Tinks let their big sisters teach them phonics and handwriting, but refuse to let their mothers.

Tinks are hilarious.

Tinks are stubborn.

Tinks make you laugh until you cry. Then when they are naughty, they make you want to cry, but are so hilarious in their erratic demands that you need to turn around and laugh.

Tinks are independent.

Tinks are a piece of work.

Tinks are a TRUE JOY!

Every family needs a Tink, along with a stiff drink to handle them.

I kid, I kid. Maybe just a little wine?

We love you Tinko! You came into this world letting us know how it was, and at age 4 your ear piercing scream has been replaced with a wagging finger. God has BIG plans for that attitude!

Disclaimer: Brad and I DO NOT approve of finger wagging.

write that down

Last week Jillian said something hilarious to me in the car and I texted it to Brad. He texted me "You need to write that down." This blog is kind of where I "write that down." Sadly, I can't even remember what I had texted him. So, here is me recording a few things that Brad and I laughed about. You might not find it funny, but I will probably forget about it next week, and later I will re-read this and remember.

Mia:

(Backstory)

Earlier this summer we had to buy a new t.v. Brad went to Best Buy, and the clerk was hassling him about opening a credit card, buying a warranty, etc. He kept telling her he wasn't interested. Finally, he decided to throw in "Well, I am paying cash so can you throw in a Blu-Ray player?" She told him "No sir, but High Fives are free."

Last weekend Mia was playing dolls. She was telling me how much a doll costs, a book costs, the cost for the doll to ride a horse,etc. Then she slipped in "and High Fives are free." She was dead serious, I just busted a gut laughing.

Jillian:

Hanging at the lake is a mounted deer head. My mom has a deerskin rug on the floor at her house. Different states, different grandparents, hundreds of miles apart. At my mom's this weekend she asked "What is that on the floor?" My mom told her what it was and then Jillian said, very serious "Oh, well I think it's head is hanging over the door at our lake house."

tee can dow

Both girls ended up taking Tae Kwon Do lessons this summer. They absolutely loved it! I loved that they were in the same class together. Obviously, I got a 45 minute break to just sit there and read a book. I think they liked being together in class, Jilli is sad that Mia isn't going to take it this fall. They also got a chance in class to share something they did to help out in the world. I usually saw Jilli's hand raised and then she would stand (and bow) to talk to the instructor. While she talked I could see all 3 instructors smile the entire time. Who knows what she was saying? Then class was over and Mia reported to me. :)

Lake Fun

We have been on a lake whirlwind this summer, but we honestly wouldn't have it any other way. The girls are at great ages and thoroughly enjoy the lake, plus travel well. We took a weekend off in early June for a dance recital and a weekend off in early July for a golf tournament, other than that, we were lake bound. Now that school and in-service are upon us, we are winding down for the season. My house needs cleaned, my school lessons need planned, and our gas budget needs a breather.

Aaron & Brad skiing together.

I have a much better video of this, will have to figure out how to post it.

One picture you will NOT see is of my water skiing adventure. I got up the first time, and lasted much longer than I thought I would. However, I could.barely.walk the next day, and had to cancel a run with my running partner 2 days later. All summer we have been trying to show Mia that skiing is fun. Brad did more skiing and wakeboarding than he has in years. Finally, I just decided that I would set an example for her. So, she saw someone on two skis get up nice and easy and never leave the wake. I probably looked like a 6 year old.

Maybe all of her dad's hot doggin' scares her?

Fireworks in the boat, where I sat a bad example by getting really scared when it was lightening!

3rd Annual

4th of July Low Country Boil

Mia learned to do a "flip" off the board.