Think Pink

Because Blogger isn't recognizing my pics of the kids in their costumes, (and because I have a lot of catching up to do anyway) I will start with this...

Recently, I found pink flamingos at Target. They gave me an idea.

Once Ethan heard my idea he was very anxious to participate. (Adelaide's heart was willing, but she cannot seem to make herself stay awake no matter how hard she tries.)

We waited until it was late, we snuck over to our friends the Dukes, and we littered their lawn with the birds. Taped to their door, we left this official-looking note:

Dear Residents,

Under the Federal Species Act of 1973 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has determined your front yard to be a natural habitat of the pink, artificial flamingo; an endangered species. Therefore, your front lawn is now a fully protected, plastic flamingo sanctuary.

This fine bird once graced every trailer park lawn across America until the late 1980s. Now it is nearly extinct due to a number of rather unfortunate fashion trends. Environmental agencies have worked tirelessly, using your tax dollars, to see that this beautiful plastic bird grace the front yards of Americans once again.

Removing flamingos from their new habitat will result in a felony under penalty of law. However, if you are able to find another suitable front yard for the birds you may relocate them, thus transferring liability for their protection to another homeowner. It is advisable to move them only at night as the birds are heavy sleepers and will not suffer any undue stress from such a transfer.

Thank you for your cooperation. And God bless America!

He he he he he.

The biggest laugh was seeing them in the Sedlak's front yard on our way to church the following morning.

He he he he he.

It's not confidential

We love the Killers. It's nearly the only band Randal and I both have an interest in.

This is awesome.

Do you think he is in the ward choir?

Now that would be even more awesome.

Welcome Back

Hello. We're still here.

Fall has come to the northeast and it is beautiful.

Ethan has been doing a whole lot of this lately.

Adelaide is a whole lot of this Kindergarten cuteness.

I've been taking a photography class where I'm learning how to takes pictures like this.

And Randal has been here much of the time. We miss him a whole lot.

More to come.

PreK

This week Adelaide graduated from preschool. There are a number of things I love about living here. Finding this preschool is at the top of my list.

Adelaide experienced so many things. To name a few, she hatched hundreds of praying mantises, "rode" in a hot air balloon, helped plant the garden you see behind her in the pictures, and learned to pump herself on the swing.

The ladies who run the preschool, Gail and Sue, are wonderful. Simply wonderful. Adelaide has flourished this past year. She needed preschool. She is stubborn and shy about trying new things. Her teachers have worked so well with her. At times it seemed like they were teaching Adelaide far more than I was. I am very am grateful. I get emotional even thinking about how much they have influenced her for the better. I love them for it.

Leaving It All Out On the Field

We just finished baseball and t-ball season. First year for Ethan in the miners, and first year for Addie in anything.

We spent nearly every night of the week at the field because one or the other was playing--rain or shine.


Adelaide counted down each day until her next game. I'm not claiming she's any kind of ball player. Quite the contrary. But she has the heart of a ball player. And due to her cuteness she had loads of fans in the stand.


Ethan had his first year of coach-pitch. Believe me, they are serious about it too. None of this nicely lobbing the ball to the kids business. But to Ethan's credit he worked hard, tried his best, and managed a hit or two most games. He loves baseball.
Adelaide hasn't yet let her trophy go since receiving it.

We Still Exist

I keep saying I'm back, and then I leave again. Fickle.

Life has been a bit busy.

But I wanted to take a minute to say how much I love these kids.
Adelaide is staying busy too.

Carefully watering every dandelion in our lawn.

We're never going to get rid of them now. They keep telling their friends there's a sweet, little girl at this house who will take good care of them.

4.75

So I guess this really didn't end up being the promised 'tomorrow'. Did it?

Would the stomach flu count as an excuse?

Good.

I'm feeling better, thanks. I'm also enjoying the temporary 2-3 pound weight loss from dehydration, so that's a bonus.

Anyway...

Adelaide

I know Christmas is way over, but I'm keeping her away from cameras for a while. Adelaide recently got the worst haircut. Ever. I even took her back to get an upgrade to what I would call barely marginal.

Of course, I'm kidding, Mom! She still looks cute...sorta.

Truth be told we haven't been taking too many pictures lately. It's shameful. We need a new camera in the worst way. But there's always something much less fun, and much more demanding, to do with our money. But that's a whole other, less interesting story.

What's more interesting is our littlest angel isn't so little anymore. She can write her name. (And with the name of Adelaide that is no small feat!) She is a CTR 5. Yep, 5. Soon, even. I'm going to cry.

She is a girly-girl. Except for the fact that I can hear her downstairs trying to burp with her brother right now. Normally she likes painted nails and curly hair instead of disgusting things like burping. I really should go put a stop to that. But then it might go back to the pestering and whining it was a few minutes ago. I'm going to stick with the burps.

Adelaide has started planning her nighttime wardrobe. She plans, and sets out her pajamas--days in advance. What's weird about the girl--she cannot wait to go to bed. I'm not kidding. She begs even. Although there might be a good explanation for this:

Adelaide loves to play dolls. Barbies too. It's cute. She often plays by herself in the wee hours of the morning though. She doesn't see the problem with this because she is an early-riser. By early, I mean before the sun. Which I guess during this time of year doesn't mean much because the sun never comes out, so let's just say it's too early. We do see this is a problem. We just don't know what to do about it...because we're too busy sleeping at the time.

That, my friends, is a pillow pet. And this girl loves her pillow pet. I mean, looooooooooves. The thing isn't necessarily heavy, but it still throws off her center of gravity when she hauls it around. I'm afraid she is going to go flying down the stairs one of these days. I'm just hoping she'll use it to make a soft landing, saving us a copay to the MD in the end.

And that is our girl. She is full of hugs and kisses and friendly mornings. I love her sweet, pixie voice that seems to be sticking with her even though she's growing up so fast. Thank goodness for small blessings.



So how's Randal you ask?

Post TBD. I'm not going to commit beyond that. Bad things happen to me when I do.