What Kids Say

Here are some of the things my kids have been saying lately that make me laugh.

James: I ALWAYS have to sit by a crying woman!

Ellen: Hey Christian, do you want to touch my muscle?

James stated, "Girls don't have to do hard stuff." To which Anna replied, "Yes they do, they have to have babies." James just looked incredulous and retorted, "That's NOT hard."

Anna turns 11

We celebrated Anna's birthday with a family party on Friday night. I put her in charge of the decorations and was quite taken with her creative display of birthday decor. I especially loved the smiley face made of crepe paper on the ceiling. I don't quite know how she reached that high (considering I can't reach it without a stool) but it looks awesome. And the hanging bags....genius!

Seeing the cake. You will notice the cake is shaped like a shooting star. When Anna asked for a star cake I tried not to panic, I mean having a star shaped pan is one thing, but shaping a star yourself takes finesse. Luckily for me, I am married to a man with star shaping talent, and the desire to decorate cakes at 10:30 at night.

Making a wish. She was very deliberate about this. I guess that means she still believes in magic. I am glad about that.

The traditional 'blowing out the candles' shot. Why do we always take this? Lucky for Anna, she looks cute doing everything! Overall it was a really great birthday. Anna is such a great kid. It is so fun for me to be around her and to experience her little personality quirks. She is so smart and beautiful. She is turning out to be so responsible, helpful, and good. She is my right hand girl. I love her so much!

1450 West Theater Company Does it Again!

Here are a few pics of our neighborhood summer theater production of Miss Fox (based on the picture book by Simon Puttock). The play had everything...multiple scene changes, sound effects, paper mache costumes, even a dramatic almost death scene. The kids did a super job, and we had a lot of fun putting together.
Miss Fox applying for a teaching job with Mr. Billy the Niceville School's head teacher. Little does he know that this wonderful teacher has an ulterior motive.

Billy Bunny innocently waiting with Caylee Cat for the wonderful Miss Fox to come to class, so she can tell them wonderful stories about kind and generous foxes.

Miss Fox fattening up her unsuspecting class with treats. "Miss Fox never eats treats. I wonder what she does eat?"

Miss Fox has sneakily lured her class under the guise of a "nice long nature walk" to a cliff, far away from school, where she plans to eat every single one of them..."After all, wonderful teachers do not have favorites."

The whole cast: Maddie(Lilly Lamb), Sophie (Polly Pig), Anna (Miss Felicity Fox), James (Billy Bunny), Ashley (Caylee Cat), and Zac (George Giraffe).

The First Day of School 2009

Well the first day of shcool finally arrived. The kids were so excited to begin a regular schedule of learning again. I hope the enthusiasm continues. But the big question is...what in the world am I going to do with three of my children gone ALL day? I know I will figure out how to cope, but seriously, they are such a big part of my life they leave a big hole when they are gone. Ellen is taking it well so far, and only cried once because she wants to go to school with the big kids. It is going to be interesting to have just one child at home. Breathe deeply. It's going to be okay.

The big three on the big day.

Big J our first grader.

Sophia, the third grader with attitude.

Who is this lady like little thing? It's Anna.....the sixth grader! I am not that old really.

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Anna and Sophia put together this little musical number to help celebrate Auntie Ali and Auntie J's birthday. It's the BIG 3-0, and therefore requires a musical number.

Do Your Ears Hang Low...Part II

Okay, so we had the twins do it. After all everyone needs a little birthday humiliation right?

Beautiful Baked Goods

For our last cooking class the girls decided they wanted to make apple dumplings...in honor of The Apple Dumplin Gang which they recently saw. I had never even seen an apple dumpling before, so luckily there my cook book had great pictures. I was amazed at how well they turned out. They really were a work of art, both to the eyes and the palate!