Santa!!!

For weeks we practiced.  She was going to say hi, give him a hug, and tell him that she wanted a guitar for Christmas.

Yeah.  That's exactly how it went.

I think there is something about the tender age of 2 that requires children to be terrified of Santa.  

She was perfectly fine waiting in line and she was perfectly fine as soon as we left.  She just really didn't want to sit on Santa's lap.  Afterwards, she told me she was sorry she cried and that she was scared of Santa.  But she waved and blew a kiss on our way out, so I'm sure Santa will forgive her. 

Then we spent the afternoon watching Christmas classics.  After it got dark, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights.  It was FREEZING because I hadn't planned on getting out of the car, but the babies loved walking around and seeing all the lights.  Harper had to comment on every display and she talked about how she saw Santa in the window and how he must be really busy since he was at the mall all day.  She is so hilarious sometimes. 

The day was absolutely perfect.  Jason has missed so much lately because of his schedule, and it was really nice to have him around for some holiday festiveness.

On a side note, if you're waiting in line to see Santa maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't loudly tell your kids that Santa is fake and that last year's mall Santa died because he got too old.  I mean, tell your kids whatever in the privacy of your own home, but do you really need to say that Santa died with dozens of kids around? 

It's Spooky In Here

We were very excited for Halloween this year since Harper finally gets it.  We're also a little bit worried because when we practiced Trick-or-Treating with her, the most common phrase was "Give me more candy."  I had originally planned on the babies being Link and Zelda for Halloween, and had even made Noah's costume, but Harper was adamant about being Minnie Mouse.  Noah, obviously, would have to be Mickey. 

I wasn't thrilled with any of the store-bought Mickey and Minnie costumes so I made a tutu for Harper and hemmed some red pants for Noah.  All together, I spent around $35 between the tulle and the ears.  I was pretty impressed with how they turned out, if I do say so myself. 

 

Kaelin picked out a butterfly costume from Walmart back in September.  Unfortunately, she had a growth spurt and her costume was a little bit, um, on the short side.  She wound up wearing her Renaissance Faire dress, but wasn't too happy about it. 

Jason took the kids out while I stayed home and handed out candy to the few kids who came by.  It was kind of disappointing after all the kids we had at our old house, especially after all the time we put into decorating.  Oh well, at least the house looked awesome! 

First Day of School

Homeschooling officially begins today!

4th Grade

Happy Birthday, Kaelin!

Today's Kaelin's birthday, and since I've never posted her birth story...  Well, here it is!  

August 2, 2001

I woke up this morning with really bad cramps.  It was 2:00 AM and everyone else was still asleep.  I didn't want to wake anyone up if I wasn't in labor, but after I got up and started walking around, the pain got worse.  I woke Grandma up, and she said that she thought I was having a baby!  The cramps hurt so bad that I laid in bed with Poopie and cried.  At 4:00, we called the hospital and Dr. Duda said to go ahead and come in even though she doubted that I was really in labor.

On the way to the hospital, Dad and I were stopped by a train.  Then, the main hospital doors were locked!  We walked around the building for half an hour looking for an entrance. 

After I was admitted, things went slow at first.  The nurses kept asking me questions while I was having contractions and got annoyed with me when I couldn't answer.  All I wanted to do was to curl up in a ball, but they wouldn't let me because of all of the straps.  They finally gave me a shot of Demerol and I went back to sleep until I was able to get an epidural. 

Once the epidural was in place, I went from 4 to 10 cm in 45 minutes!  After an hour of pushing, you were born -- a baby girl!  Grandma and Dad were so surprised that you weren't a boy.  You were our daughter, our little Kaelin Blaire.

Summer Vacation

Jason couldn't get any leave so for vacation this year, we drove up to my parents' house in Virginia.  We spent a day at Hershey Park and the rest of the time in the pool.

First time in the pool.

CANNONBALL!

Mmmm... chocolate.

Kaelin rode the Pirate Ship all by herself.

Bigger than last year.

Vacation with Grandma and Papa

Weekend Recap

We had a perfect 4th of July weekend.  Great food, great friends, great weather.  (Seriously, it was 85 with low humidity!)  Jason had the weekend off, we spent lots of time outdoors, watched movies on the couch, and saw lots of fireworks.  Harper even managed to sleep through the booms; Scout not so much. 

And Harper started crawling this weekend!

Good times.

A Day at the Battery

Last week, we took the kids downtown to do a little sightseeing and buy Jason a new pair of shoes.  (Good Lord, he needed new shoes.)  The day started with Harper's 4 month check-up and shots, followed by a lot of errands, then we finally made it into Charleston.  I have to say I was pretty impressed with Harper.  Even though shots usually make her grumpy, she only cried once and we were gone for a long time.  Kaelin even kept the complaining to a minimum.  It seemed like everything was working out in our favor. 

Except the weather.

Weather guy said it was supposed to be sunny.

I checked the forecast before we left.  I checked it again on our way.  Sunny, hot, and humid (completely the norm for South Carolina).  Of course, as soon as we get downtown the clouds rolled in and the thunder started.  We had lunch, Jason got his shoes (the guy at the running store was an ass, btw) and decided to walk down King St to the water.  It's only about a mile each way, but it starting misting a few block into our walk.  Not knowing if it was going to stop or start all-out raining, we turned back.  I have to say, I was really disappointed.

The view from the car.

Since we couldn't walk to the water, we decided to drive by and at least look at it.  But there was a parking spot!  Right there on the battery!  Yay!  We parked, got the stroller back out and walked along the river.  It was way too hot.  It was way too humid.  There was so much static electricity that our hair was standing up!

My little lightning rod.

We were completely wiped by the time we got home, but it was definitely worth it!  I can't wait until our next outing.  Maybe the aquarium?  The beach?  A museum? 

Kaelin enjoyed it.

Harper wasn't nearly as impressed.

Family Time!

Bye-Bye, School

I know I'm a few weeks late here, but Kaelin's last day of school was June 2.  I can't believe I have a 4th grader.  It wasn't all that long ago when she started kindergarten.  Over these last few weeks I've really enjoyed having her home -- almost as much as I've enjoyed not having to take her to school in the morning or interrupt my afternoon to pick her up!

I'm definitely nervous though, since it means our homeschooling adventure is just around the corner.  I have no doubts in my ability as a chemistry teacher on the college level, but am I going to be able to teach my own kid Greek history?  What about Latin?  There are books on her 4th grade reading list that I've never even opened.  How am I going to teach her Shakespeare?  What about when she starts giving me attitude? 

Am I even going to have a free minute to myself?

Anyways, I was originally going to write my own curriculum, but after HOURS of research I realized that I have no clue what 4th graders should learn.  Plus, I might have the tendency to pack a little too much into a school day.  I found what I think will be an amazing Catholic homeschool program so we're going to try that, for at least her first year.  If we like it, we'll stick with it, otherwise we'll try something new for 5th grade.  I also found most of the books she'll need cheap so the whole thing will probably only cost us $200 for the year.  (Between fundraisers and school events, I probably spent over a thousand bucks at her old school -- free education, my ass.)

For the summer, she's working through a summer bridge book and a pretty hefty reading list in addition to the activities we have planned like the aquarium and some Civil War battle sites.  As much as I dislike living in South Carolina, I love that Charleston is full of history. 

Storm of the Century

Well, not quite, but Charleston, South Carolina actually has snow.  Not just flurries, but actual accumulation.  It's not much and I'm sure it will be gone by the afternoon.  Get this though -- the roads are COMPLETELY clear, yet everywhere is closed.  I guess after living in Kansas for so long and growing up in West Virginia, this is just weird to me.

The snow only lasted for a few hours before it melted, but it sure was pretty. 

Thankfully, she still had her winter outerwear from Kansas.

Scout didn't have nearly as much fun as Kaelin.