Christmas

I felt like I had to get our Christmas pictures up before the end of the year. I don't have much to say about Christmas. The kids had a lot of fun. Emmy is finally to the age where she really enjoys opening the gifts. So, for the first time all three of the kids were really hip to Christmas and it made it exponentially more exciting for Jon and me.
Isobel seems to be getting wise to the Santa game and I am convinced this will be her last year of being a true believer. She really is way more observant than we gave her credit. She did, however, try very hard to explain away the inconsistencies.

For instance, Jon wraps the stocking stuffers (this is not something that occurred when I was a child, but this is his tradition, so more power to him). One night he said to me "You know I used the same wrapping papers for the stocking stuffers as I did for the gifts. Do you think they will notice?" We decided that Isobel may notice, but she would probably be too excited to really notice. First thing Christmas morning, okay second thing Christmas morning... Isobel is opening her stocking stuffers and turns to me and says

"Wow, mom I can't believe that Santa has enough time to wrap these at our house."

"What are you talking about? Santa didn't wrap these at our house."

"Well, that's strange... I guess Santa has the same wrapping paper."

Oops.... I probably should have covered that one a little better. I guess this is the beginning of the daughter being smarter than the mom.

A few minutes later Emmy was opening one of her stocking stuffers which happened to be a three pack of those Crayola Tadoodles crayons (which she loves). As she is ripping open the gift Isobel's eyebrow cocks and she looks at me, then at Jon, then back at me...

"Um, Dad... I thought you got those for Emmy?" She asked timidly.

"What?" We ask, hoping to change the subject promptly.

"Well, I was with you at Target when you bought those, so I don't think they are really from Santa." She looks between us for a few more seconds and finally shrugs and says "maybe it got mixed in with Santa's gifts on accident."

"That must be it..." I jumped at the chance to end that conversation.

I think she probably still has a few good years of pretending for Eli and Emmy, but I think that her rational side will win this fight and she will not be a believer come next Christmas.

Just another reminder that she is growing up way to fast...

Isobel and Eli got new bikes from Santa... they were psyched!

This was by far Eli's favorite gift of the Holiday... he slept with it almost every night for a week.

We are absolute horrible parents... we totally wrapped all of Emmy's gifts without leaving one out from Santa. It was a complete oversight, but it meant she didn't have a big gift under the tree. We took one that she opened at the very end of the night and put it under the tree hoping that Eli and Bel wouldn't notice. We are very lucky they were so excited about their bikes, or we would have been in trouble... It probably would have been the straw that broke Isobel's Santa believing back. No need to fret friends, Emmy was not totally neglected... she received a lot of wonderful gifts that she thoroughly enjoyed... although not as much as she enjoyed the actual process of unwrapping them.

boy, he is nice...

I have often praised the kindness of Eli on this blog. He has a huge heart and almost always puts others before himself (almost always... come on, he's 3).

Isobel is easily his favorite person in the world. I am convinced if you asked him the three items on a deserted island question, his answer would be Isobel, blankie and whichever backyardigan stuffed animal is in favor that day. Although they have the typical sibling squabbles and I occasionally hear an "I hate you" escape his lips, he is happiest when he has Isobel's undivided attention.

He also has an extreme sense of fairness. He is convinced that if he has something, so should Isobel. When he gets a sticker at the doctor’s office, he asks for one for Isobel. When he gets his lollypop after speech therapy, he asks for one for Isobel. If he has something, he is convinced Isobel should have one as well.

Saturday, we decided to fight the crowd and take a much needed trip to IKEA. As we exit the elevators we see some kids walk by with balloon animals. While we have seen the people making balloon animals before, we have never gotten one. We always missed the workers. That day, we were not going to miss our chance.

Isobel, Emmy and I stood in line while Jon and Eli went to the bathroom. There were two kids in front of Isobel and she anxiously awaited her turn. As the woman was making her pink flower Eli and Jon joined us. Eli then got a blue monkey (super neat) and Emmy a red butterfly (Isobel chose the color).

This morning, as Emmy, Isobel and Eli watched cartoons in the playroom, something tragic happened. There was a loud pop and the flower was instantly gone. Isobel was sad, as can be expected. Eli, forever the fairness expert, looked at Isobel and popped his monkey. He just didn't think it was fair that Isobel's balloon had popped and his hadn't. So he remedied the situation the only way he knew how.

a rebel yell...

The Thursday before Halloween Isobel came home more than a little upset. She was furious because I had told her she could wear her costume to school and her teacher told her she could not. It never even occurred to me that this was a possibility. Jon, who is ever the hero dad, ran out to Target to try and find a holloweeny shirt. He came home with this awesome skull shirt, but it was way too big. This meant that he had to go back to Target and get a smaller size, which he did willingly. Isobel loves this shirt and wears it on a regular basis, even though "it is a boy’s shirt".

This is Isobel's attempt to look dark and rebellious.

I think she fails, but I imagine she will figure it out before she hits the teen years.

Seriously...

Emmy is such a ham!!!

While I have always known this, today it was insanely apparent. She is sick, I mean 101.9 temp sick. She has been whiney and sleepy and extremely mellow all day. However, the second the camera is pointed at her she perks right up. Here are the pictures of my sick child...

Does she look sick to you?!?

Disappointment...

I have been at such a loss for the words to express my disappointment in California. I should have known that Keith Olbermann would have those words.

Thanks to my friend Kara for sharing this video. If you haven't visited her corner of the web, you should. She is wicked smart and always has something interesting to say.

Smile...

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it is worth mentioning again... My husband is fantastic. He is a fantastic husband and an even better dad. Whenever I see one of these pictures that he takes of himself and the kids, I smile. Here is my smile for this moment...

Seriously, how lucky am I?

Election Day!

There is something about election day that I just love. It makes me feel hopeful, almost giddy. Jon calls it my Superbowl. 6:00 will be here before we know it. I hope everyone has voted!

End of the Season...

Last night Isobel had her end of season party for cheerleading. All of the squads in the program were there and they all did a routine followed by the presentation of the trophies. Isobel has always wanted a trophy and was thrilled to get one.

In case I haven't mentioned this before, her coach was fantastic! She gave all of the girls’ gift bags full of amazing gifts. As many of you may have noticed, Isobel's name is not spelled in the traditional American way (it is actually the Scottish version, which we fell in love with), so it is difficult for her to get things with her name. It tends to make her sad. Last night, in her gift bag there was a bracelet with her name made out of beads. It has a little megaphone charm and it was the Knights colors (What's your favorite color Knights? Red, Blue, White). She was thrilled!!! Isobel is so excited about next season.

Although the program seemed a little disorganized at times, it was well worth it. Isobel had a great time. I am really impressed with the way that they integrate the younger girls with the high school activities. Isobel cheered at a high school game, walked in the Homecoming Parade and attended some camps put on by the high school cheerleaders. She is already a true Knight fan and she is only in Kindergarten. They absolutely know how to build school spirit in this district. Another check in the pros column!

Trick or Treat...

Another Halloween has come and gone. It is always amazing to me how much energy goes into planning for Halloween vs. the amount of time spent actually enjoying Halloween. Jon took all three kids out trick-or-treating this year. Emmy seemed to really enjoy herself. Of course, after the first few houses she came back home to help me hand out candy. We had a few more visitors this year, but not enough to make me happy. One would think that since we live in a neighborhood full of young families, we would see a lot of kids, but we do not. Jon has told me that the middle of the neighborhood is much more active, but I am not sure I believe him. I guess I should give him the benefit of the doubt.

I have to say, this is the first year I have been jealous of Jon being out with the kids. Normally I love to stay at home and hand out candy, but this year I found myself longing to be out with the rest of the family. Maybe next year I will just turn out the lights and enjoy the festivities (of course I won't because I would feel guilty the entire night and not enjoy myself at all).

Without further ado, the reason you all visit this blog, our beautiful children.

Isobel was a Mod Girl. It was much more difficult to get the eye liner on then I expected. She really didn't like having it applied, of course she didn't like the way it looked after it was on either. Jon had to bribe her to take off her sunglasses after it got dark with a glow stick. I think she looked fantastic.

It was difficult to find a costume for Eli this year. He really wanted to be a Super Spy (just like Pablo), but it is not easy to find a white tux jacket for a 3 year old. So, Jon took him to the Halloween store and he came back as a Storm Trooper. He was happy, so we were happy. Emmy was one of the cutest butterflies I have ever seen (Isobel being the other)...

Cincinnati Children's Museum

About a month before we moved to Cincinnati Jon gave Isobel a picture book of the city. She spent a lot of time looking at the pictures, excited about the idea of moving. She even took the book to pre-school with her on her last day and showed all of her friends where she would be living. One of the pictures that has always captured her attention is that of Union Terminal. The building itself is beautiful. It was built in 1933 and is still considered an Art Deco Masterpiece. The intricate detail on the outside of the building is rivaled only by the murals and marble found on the inside of the building.

The first train pulled into the station on March 31, 1933 and the last departed on October 28, 1972. At the height of use the station saw up to 34,000 passengers daily. However by 1962, only 24 trains were passing through the terminal on a daily basis. In August of 1975 the City of Cincinnati purchased Union Terminal for $2.00 (the 15 Acre grounds were purchased for an additional $1,000,000.00). A mall operated in the terminal from 1980 - 1985, at its peak there were 54 tenants and 7,800 - 8,000 customers daily. On November 10, 1990 the Cincinnati Historical Society Library, Cincinnati History Museum, Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and the Robert D. Linder Family OMNIMAX Theater opened. A year later, on November 2, 1991, the two museums opened their first exhibits. On July 29, 1991 the Amtrak Cardinal pulled into the station marking the return of Passenger train service to the terminal. Today the train runs from Chicago to Cincinnati to DC.

In 1995 the Cincinnati Historical Society and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History merged to become Cincinnati Museum Center. Three years later, in October of 1998, the Cinergy Children’s Museum opened.



On Saturday, September 27th, we pulled up to the breathtaking building for the first time. Isobel was awed to see the building from her book. She had no idea that the most exciting part of the building was inside. The Cinergy Children's Museum is amazing. All of the kids had a fantastic time. When the day was over and the kids were exhausted we made our way back up to the information desk and became members of the museum. Sunday we made our way back to Museum Center and explored the Natural History Museum. Even after spending two days there, we can't wait to return.

Gangsta Pre-School

Eli has a new hat... he loves hats.

I swear I did not pose Eli for this picture... it is all him.

Tooth Number Two

Last night Isobel lost her second tooth. We had just finished watching the Kit Kittredge movie on pay per view and bed time had already come and gone. She was fast approaching the point of exhausted self pity and more than ready to visit Lily White's party. She turned to look at me and I noticed that her tooth was sitting sideways across the gaping hole in her gums. This tooth was a fighter; it was hanging on to that last sliver of gum with a golden grip. As ready for sleep as this child was, I just couldn't put her to bed with that tooth. I knew there was no way it would make it through the night and I did not want to deal with the messy tooth fairy situation if the tooth disappeared in the middle of the night.

We spent the next 15 - 20 minutes taking turns wiggling her tooth (which was super gross). Finally, 28 minutes after bed time Isobel pulled the tooth from her mouth. She had won!

We rushed to bed and made sure to leave the tooth under her bed for the magical gift exchange. As it turns out, the Tooth Fairy was successful yet again. Isobel was very excited this morning when she awoke to her very own copy of Meet Kit. She cannot wait to start reading about the life of Kit Kittredge and her best friend "Goofy" Ruthie.

Missing Children Monday

I can not in good conscious continue the Missing Children Monday posts. I had no idea the number of hits that my blog would get with just a few posts. One post has actually caused almost 300 unique hits in only one month. Each day more and more people visit my blog to read about the few missing children I have written about.

I absolutely hope they will continue to look up information on these children and continue to look for them. However, I have a lot of pictures on my blog of my beautiful children and enough personal information to figure out where we live. I just can not risk the safety of my children, as small a risk as it may be.

I have removed most of the posts pertaining to Missing Children Monday. However, I have left the post concerning missing minorities and the media. I want to make sure the links available in that post remains available.

Please visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children often. You never know, one day you may have the information necessary to save a child.

So sad...

Isobel has a super cute jean skirt with pleats all the way around which requires me to actually use an iron. I hate to iron! In fact, the skirt has been sitting, paperclips in place, for about 3 weeks just waiting for me to take out the iron. With the weather getting cooler, I have decided that tomorrow is a perfect day for a jean skirt, which means I had to get out the iron.

So, I take the ironing board out and Eli comes running in...

"We are playing iron beads?" he asks.

"No." I answer a bit confused by the question.

"Why is the iron bead board out?"

OMG!!! My children have only seen the ironing board when we play with the melting beads...

That is so very sad.

Emmy

Isobel is obedient, Eli is defiant and Emmy is fearless. I think the latter is the worse of the three. She is not afraid of anything... which terrifies me.

She sings constantly, without using words (as she doesn't talk yet). She dances, climbs, laughs and imitates everyone for a laugh. She loves her brother and sister in the most amazing, pure way. It is prodigious to watch and I am so thankful for my little suprise. Sometimes the best things in life are the unplanned ones.

Here are some great pictures of her from this weekend that I wanted to share. I hope they make you smile...

Have you seen my kids...

They are so crazy cute!

All grown up...

Today, while at school, Isobel lost her first tooth. Although this is a very happy occasion, it makes me very sad. The final hold of babydom has been released and she is now, officially, growing up. It is funny how the dread and sadness in my world is excitment and happiness in hers. She got off the bus with a huge smile pointing at her mouth.

"Mommy, I lost my tooth." she exclaimed.

"You did? Where is it?"

"In my backpack in a red treasure chess."

That's right, kids. The school nurse put my daughters tooth in a little red treasure chess with the words TOOTH SAVER across the top. Seriously, if you are five, how cool is that?!?!?

Here she is... sans tooth.

Here is the super cool treasure chess...

Here is the treasure...

A School Bus ride to nowhere...

Every morning Jon takes Isobel to the school bus. He loves to take her and she loves the time with Daddy. The Wednesday after the blackout school was delayed for 2 hours, so taking Isobel to the school bus became my responsibility. Two hours after her normal scheduled pick up time I walk out to the bus stop with all the kids in tow. About 10 minutes after the bus should have been there I start to worry. Do buses run when there's a delay? Can I successfully add 2 and 8? With all of these thoughts filling my mind and panic setting in, the bus comes around the corner... the wrong corner.

Although it was coming from the wrong way and there were no other children on the bus, I dutifully have Isobel cross the street and board the bus. As she climbs the stairs the driver waves at me and I realize that it is not her normal driver. The bus pulls away and I realize it is not her normal bus number. I rationalize all of these oddities with the fact that there is much upheaval due to the blackout. Downed power lines make it difficult to maneuver the area, so a different route is not unbelievable. The gas shortage (due to the power outage) may cause a shuffle of busses depending on gas levels. It is likely that some of the drivers are still without power, leading to sub drivers. All of these things make perfect sense to me... until I walk in the house.

All of a sudden my paranoid, panicky mind starts to go into overdrive. Maybe I should just call and confirm all of my thoughts with the transportation department. I would feel much better knowing that Isobel got on the right bus and I would be able to enjoy the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, they did not have power at the district office, so after two attempts I realize I will not be getting through to the transportation folks.

I wait a bit and decide to call Jon. He will set my panicky mind at ease. Not so, in fact after relaying my story, Jon's reply is "So, you followed the bus to make sure she got to school?” OMG!!! Now, my panic is in full motion. I mean if even-tempered, rational Jon thinks it is suspicious, it must be.

I immediately call the school. Afraid I will sound a little like a psycho parent I rationally tell the school secretary the story. She says she will forward me to the transportation people. I kindly say that I have already tried, but there is no answer. I then suggest that I am really only afraid that she got on the wrong bus and will end up at the wrong school. The secretary replies that she will check with Isobel's teacher and make sure she is at school...

"I'm sorry, but she is not in class."

PANIC!!!

Some psycho child killer must have bought a school bus from the district and picked up my daughter. She is being tortured right now as I sit here talking to the school secretary. Who do I call and say that my daughter is being tortured by a psycho with a school bus.

The calm secretary is talking to me, but I have no clue what she is saying... I start to babble about how I am sure she is fine and perhaps the bus is just taking longer. She asks for my number and says she will call the Transportation cell and emergency line and call me right back. Wait... did she say EMERGENCY! I am really starting to freak out, my peripheral vision has blurred and my cheeks are starting to burn.

"Oh wait, just a second." She says politely... just a second is she crazy. My baby is in the clutches of some school bus psycho. After a three hour wait (okay three second), she comes back on the line.

"She just walked into class, so she is here now. Can I help you with anything else?"

"No thank you." I manage to squeak out before hanging up the phone and collapsing into tears.

Easily the worst 4 minutes of my entire life!

After drying my eyes and teaching myself to breathe again I call Jon to tell him the story. He gasped in all the right places and played the daddy role very well. He was insanely mad that I put Isobel on the bus with no regard for her safety.

All ended well, but now I have a new picture in my mind. It never, ever occurred to me that school districts selling old busses could be used for mayhem.

I will never look at a school bus the same way again.

Blackout 2008...

Who knew that Ike would hit the Ohio River Valley with such ferocity? Sunday we sat in the family room and watched the wind rip through our back yard. Although, it didn't seem particularly destructive (I have seen much worse in both Kansas and Nebraska), it wreaked an immense amount of havoc on the area. Reports indicate that wind gusts reached 85 miles per hour. Knocking down power lines, trees, and ripping sections of roofs off houses.

In some ways we were lucky, there was no damage to the house and we did not lose any enormous branches. Most of the clean up was fairly easy (of course I did very little, so it may have only seemed easy to me).

However, around 3:00 we lost power. This seemed to only be a slight inconvenience. I had chicken in the crock pot which was only half way done, sheets in the washing machine which were mid cycle and we had not run the dishwasher.

Oh well, I mean how long could the power possibly be out?!?

Apparently three days.

Again, we were pretty lucky. There are still 250,000 people in the Cincinnati area without power. They expect to have every customer up by tomorrow. That means there are a hundreds of thousands of people who have been without power for a week... a week!

As Jon and I listened to the radio and played Sudoku by flashlight Monday night, we listened to people call in and complain. Not about the lack of power, but about all the people without power who are complaining. These stoic callers were telling all the folks without power to "suck it up" and "get over it".

One of my favorite calls was from a man who remembered being in a hurricane as a child. He and his family spent the aftermath at his grandmothers who was able to cook on a wood stove in her kitchen. He remembered spending the days outside with his cousins riding bikes and playing. He made the suggestion that perhaps this power outage will get kids outside playing and perhaps cure the childhood obesity problem. What a fantastic idea... I know I plan to let my kids run around outside with tree branches hanging dangerously off the trees just waiting for a nice strong wind to knock it to the ground, oh and let's not forget the downed power lines.

Another call I really enjoyed was from a gentleman who was without power but didn't mind one bit. According to him it gave him more time to be with his five kids and he was thankful for this time. I remember thinking that it seemed sad that this man needed a power outage to spend time with his kids. Do we really need the remnants of a hurricane to force us to play a board game with our kids? Granted Jon and I did spend more time playing with the kids, but it never once made me think "finally, some time with the kids."

I was thankful when the power came back on Tuesday night. I was happy to get some groceries in my fridge and some normalcy back into my (and the kids) life.

However, I will forever remember Ike and all his glory.

Eli's first day of Preschool (pictures)...

Now it is Eli's turn...

Eli started pre-school last week. It has not been an easy transition for him. He is excited at the idea of going to school, but the reality kicks his separation anxiety into high gear. It is heart breaking to see him cry and kick and scream... which is amplified by my own separation anxiety issues.

Last Thursday was his first full (half) day and he was so excited to go. He actually ran over to the preschool and was ready to go into class. I dropped him off easily, he just said "bye, mom" and ran to play. However, when I came to pick him up his teacher told me that he had a little difficulty when he realized I was gone. They ended up taking him to see Isobel's old teacher and he perked up. Kudos to Eli's teachers for such a great idea... I am not sure anyone else would have thought to incorporate something familiar in that manner. Just the fact that they realized Isobel was there last year and Eli would know her teachers solidified the caliber of this establishment in my mind.

Unfortunately, the blackout caused school closures last week, so he didn't go on Tuesday... I think that break had a greater impact than I could have imagined.

Thursday, he ran out the door super excited about his preschool adventure, upset that it had been so long since he had been at school.

He kept yelling "Come on, Mom. We are going to be late!"

When we arrived at the school he was ready. Then he turned to me and said...

"Okay, mom. You wait right here. I will be back in a little bit."

"Eli, I can't wait here. I have to go home. I will be back to pick you up when school is over."

"No. You wait right here."

"No, bug... you are a big boy now, and big boys go to school without their mom's."

"I don't want to go to school. I want to go home with you. I hate school."

I somehow managed to get him to go into class by asking him to give something to his teachers. He caught on to my trick and gave it to one of the other mom's and ran out of the room. I chased him out of the room trying to console him, but it didn't work... he was in a full blown separation anxiety attack. A few minutes later one of the teachers came out and asked him to help her pick out the snack, he said no, he wanted to go home! She picked him up and I said "Bye, bug... I love you." and ran out the door.

When I picked him up he was fine, but as we walked out the door he said...

"I hate school and I am never going back!"

I can't wait until Tuesday!

Any advice as to how to get through it is welcomed...

Isobel's second game - chants

Let's get fired up

Super fired up

Another weekend, another game...

Isobel had another game this weekend. It was so crazy hot. They cheered with the 6th graders during the first quarter, which was pretty neat. The whole squad did a great job and really held their own with the bigger girls. I was very proud of all of them... especially since it was so very, very, very hot. Here are some pictures (of course)...

Did I mention that it was hot...

Tomorrow, Eli has his hearing test with the audiologist and Emmy will have her stitches removed. Her head seems to have healed nicely. We will know for sure tomorrow. I have been slightly concerned that she will have a scar in the middle of her forehead, but I have heard that it is not likely. Apparently, as a child grows, the forehead grows into the hairline.

Water fun...

Jon took Isobel and Eli to the water park at the YMCA on Saturday. Emmy and I stayed home to keep her stitches dry. However, Jon took some great pictures. It looks like they had a great time. The YMCA never lets us down. If you live in the area and are not a member, you should absolutely consider it. Hopefully Emmy will be able to enjoy the pools before they close for the summer...

first day of school picture...

Notice Emmy's poor little head... :(

Can she be any cuter?