The Corn is as High as an Elephant's Eye....

Our only vacation this summer was to KC to visit Grammy and Granpa. Of course, that is just as wonderful as anything to my girls. Aunt Andie and Uncle Tom came too, and all those people rank higher than Mommy for a week. It's kind of nice! We had a great week, but the highlight was a trip to Worlds of Fun on Friday, our last day there. All three girls absolutely loved it, but I had no idea how much Lauren would love the rides. She wanted to ride everything, and course being only two, she couldn't. But if she could, she was on it. And she didn't want to ride with big sisters necessarily. She was more than happy to do it by herself. She loved the "wings"...the Flying Dutchman boats. Had to ride it more than once. Then Grammy took the little ones home so the big kids could keep playing. Caroline rode her first roller coaster, and then her first upside-down roller coaster.

On the way to KC, we saw corn growing everywhere, in almost every field. Emma was fascinated with it. I said maybe we could take a picture of her standing in front of it. She repeatedly said,"yum, I loooove corn on the cob!"

Now while we were there, we saw people on the side of the road selling fresh corn on the cob. Grammy mentioned that she had some, called "Peaches and Cream," so sweet that it tasted like candy. Emma commented that she loves corn on the cob and would like some. Fast forward to later in the day, dinner time, and Grammy says, "Oh I forgot about the corn!" Oh, but Emma wanted it, so Grammy defrosted and cooked it. Serves up Emma's plate with it, all hot and yummy. And guess who says, "I don't want corn!" Had to force the girl to take two bites. Didn't hear another word about how much she loves corn on the cob. But she did still want to take a picture with corn, so here it is.....

Deet! (That's Dirt in BittyBee speak!)

This is what was brought to me today while we were out enjoying the beautiful weather.

This is where it came from....

This is how proud she was!

Aaahhhhh.....Spring!

Spring has sprung my friends.

You can tell by the happy little stick that the E has planted in some dirt.

She placed it in the center of the table.

I love it

My Big Girl

I just have to say how proud I am of my girl.

She scored three goals today in her soccer game!

Spring Break Smile Box

Make a Smilebox slideshow We headed to Kansas City for spring break. Someplace we've been a lot, but we still love going. This year, we left little bitty with Grammy and took the big girls to Great Wolf Lodge for a night of fun. And what fun it was. We only stayed one night, but could have easily spent several days there. We layed mini golf (in the wind and cold), made a stuffed critter (much like Build-a-Bear), ate dinner (yuck! - I recommend eating out, or eating the Pizza Hut in the hotel), made a t-shirt at Club Cub, went swimming in the huge, fabulous, indoor water park, went to the arcade, played MagiQuest, had some ice cream and finally went to bed around 10:30. Shoo.... It's okay to wipe the sweat from your brow. The next morning, we ate muffins in our room, then headed out for more MagiQuest, which all happens in the halls of the lodge. I wish I had more pictures, but my battery died shortly after we arrived. :( Poor planning on my part, I know. We didn't get to swim again and the girls were bummed, but they had a great time. We all did. We loved our stay there, minus the food. Tuesday, we and Grammy went to the KC Zoo. Lots of fun, and lots of tired people. Kansas City is a great family trip place. We love it because Grammy and Grandpa are there, but also because there is so much to do with the girls.

"Night-Night"

Bitty Bee and I were able to spend a day home together this week...me recovering from being sick and her sitter was sick...so we just enjoyed the day.

I was quickly showering and she was alternating between banging on the shower door and screaming at me because we were on opposite sides. But then I heard her saying, "night-night."

When I stepped out, she had spread her little baby washcloth on the bathroom floor and was laying her head on it. I then covered her with the scooby doo towel hanging nearby.

She lay there for quite some time, sitting up every so often to rearrange her washcloth, and then lay back down on it. Then she would grab the scooby towel and hold it up so I could recover her, all the time saying "night-night." She tucked those little arms under her, stuck the little rear in the air and just laid there.

She was just as cute as can be.

Funnies

My 21-month-old is a hoot. The kid cracks me up daily.

Here's why:

She ABSOLUTELY LOVES PIZZA!!!! The child can put away 3 normal size pieces, no problem. I no sooner have a slice cut and put in front of her, then it's completely devoured.

Other foods that rank highly are also called "peeppa."

Case in point....

carrot cake from great-grandma's birthday dinner

"peeppa!"

(note orange frosting from "carrot" on nose)

....chocolate from Valentine's party today....

"peeppa!"

She also has her first official booboo and it has left quite an impact. Nearly one week later, she is still talking about the booboo on her knee. Nevermind that you can hardly see it anymore.

Funny funny girl

My Granny

Can you imagine being born 100 years ago? It's hard to fathom how it must feel to have lived that long, and the things a person would see during that life.

My grandmother Betty was born February 11, 1909. She turned 100 years old today! I think what amazes me the most (and there are lots of things), is that she is able to recall events that happened very early in her life, when I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday. The woman is in incredible health for being 100. I can only think of one time in the past four years that she has been sick, and even then it was a cold that knocked her out for awhile. She has macular degeneration and doesn't see well, and hears well out of just one of her ears, but WOW! She is an amazing woman. She moved into an assisted living center just one year ago. Up until then she had been in her house for more than 70 years! When she married my grandfather, it was the Great Depression and he was already living with his parents. They moved into their house, along with grandparents, and all lived there for quite some time. My mom grew up in that house and it was the place we always stayed when we came to Tulsa for trips and holidays. I have great memories of playing with the old dolls, Barbies, games, jewelry, and all the other "what-nots" my sister and I could find.

Another thing that amazes me about my grandmother is how long she has lived without her mate. I never knew my grandfather....he died when my mom was in junior high. She never remarried, never moved out of the house they started their lives together in.

Her faith in God is something I admire greatly about her. She still has her sense of humor. She adores her three great-granddaughters.

So on this day, one hundred years later, my mom, husband, 3 girls, and myself had the honor of helping her celebrate. A simple dinner at home, a small cake, and one amazing lady.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

The Innocence of Childhood

Here's a new one:
I've had a cold for over a week now and am actually beginning to think that it's a sinus infection, but anyhoo... My voice has been scratchy and you know, "coldish" sounding, and my students have been asking, "Are you sick?" Ya, I'm feeling the love.
But yesterday, one of my fourth grade students, a girl, says, "Are you going through puberty?" I think they were all on the edge of their seats waiting for the answer to that one, as puberty is within arms' reach, and wouldn't it be exciting if their very own teacher were going through it!?

To which I respond, "No, I am not going through puberty."

To which she responds, "Oh, because sometimes, when you go through puberty, some people's voices get lower, ya know."

100 rANdOm tHinGs AboUT Me...

So I did a list on Facebook that was "25 Random Things about Me" and it was kind of fun, so I decided to take it a step further and try and come up with 100 things that are random about me. I'm sure I can do it!





So here we go...


1. I love being a mom.
2. I wouldn't mind having another one. (Gasp...did I just say that?)
3. Sometimes I want my children to go away.
4. I'm getting ready to color my hair.
5. I love to scrapbook.
6. I stay fairly caught up on my scrapbooks and it disgusts my friends.
7. I went to an alternative school in the 4th and 5th grades.
8. I would love to start a school similar to it today.
9. I wanted to be an archeologist when I was in elementary school. I used to sit in the gravel
parking lot and look for fossils. I had a shoe box full.
10. In the 3rd grade, I decided I wanted to be a teacher.
11. Then I decided I wanted to be a reading teacher.
12. My favorite grade to teach is 3rd grade.
13. I have trouble sitting through movies. I get bored.
14. My friends call me a "shoe whore."
15. I should pray more than I do.
16. I hate cleaning my house.
17. About the only thing I'm good at in the clean house department is vacuuming.
18. I would love to go on What Not to Wear. Although I don't think I look quite as bad as some
of those people.
19. I would dress badly if someone would nominate me.
20. I wrote a couple of children's stories in college. I still have them. Sometimes I wonder if I
should try and have them published.
21. I love to plan parties. Children's are my favorite. Give me a theme and I can run with it.
22. I've done some great parties for my kids. Sometimes I wonder if I should try party planning.
23. I handmade the invitations for many parties. Not just birthdays, but baby showers,
Halloween parties, and more. I love doing that.
24. I wish someone would clean my house before I entertain. That's the only part I don't like.
25. I like to try new things with my hair.
26. The first broken bone I ever had was when Bitty bee was two months old - my foot.
27. I love to read.
28. One of my favorite authors is Jodi Picoult. I have read all of her books to date.
29. I also like Jefferson Bass 'Body Farm' books.
30. Other than that, I mostly read chick-lit.
31. Oh, and People magazine. Love my People magazine.
32. I have two dogs. Love them....but they really get on my nerves.
33. I would not repeat high school for anything.
34. Not sure I would repeat college either. Except I did meet hubby there.
35. I love pizza.
36. My new favorite pizza place is this hole-in-the-wall called NYC Pizza. I've never actually
had their pizza, but they make these fabulous garlic knots. Evil good.
37. I have very fond memories of watching 'Little House on the Prairie' and "Dukes of Hazzard'.
38. I also love the 'Anne of Green Gables' series. My hubby got me the whole series for
Christmas.
39. Christmas is my favorite holiday.
40. I also love Halloween and Thanksgiving.
41. I take back #2.
42. I like to give gifts. Supposedly it's my "love language."
43. I love chilren's books. I have an extensive collection...over 1,000. Most are in boxes.
44. I'm afraid of getting old. And of dying.
45. I love Dr. Pepper. I drink it several times a day. I could probably lose a few pounds if I
quit.
46. I love dark chocolate, but really don't care for milk chocolate.
47. My grandma turns 100 next week!
48. I don't like cold weather. At all. I would be happy with only Spring, Summer, and Fall.
49. I make friends pretty easily.
50. I'm very good at telling whether people are sincere or not within a short time of meeting
them. If they're not, I tend to stay away.
51. Although I would love to have the money to dress fabulous every single day, I am not into
appearances and what others think of me.
52. My favorite football team is the Kansas City Chiefs. Nowadays though, I couldn't tell you
any of the players on the team. I miss the old team.
53. I have wonderful memories of vacations with my family. I can still sit down and look at
"slide shows" of our trips and laugh about certain specific events.
54. I miss my family.
55. I wish I could take my own children on trips as much as I traveled as a child.
56. The states I have visited (or lived in) are: Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, Nebraska,
Missouri, Florida, North Dakota, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado. I've
driven through others, but I don't think that counts.
57. I was baptized and married in the same church, by the same minister.
58. I have been Presbyterian my whole life.
59. I love to be outdoors. But not when it's cold.
60. Did I really say I'd do 100 Random things?
61. I still take back #2.
62. I wish my sister would get married. But mostly I just want her to be happy.
63. I like to hang out with my friends.
64. I like to laugh. A lot.
65. I took my stuffed bear to college.
66. I didn't get a car until my third year in college.
67. I suck at volleyball.
68. Oh, I forgot, I broke my finger once. Two broken bones.
69. I once had two newts. Their names were Isaac and Newton.
70. I also had a parakeet, hamster, gerbil, and fish. Those were just my own personal pets, not
counting all the family pets.
71. I have a special place in my heart for my students who need just a little more.
72. I wish I was scrapping today.
73. I tried to put a purple stripe in my hair, but my hair is so dark it didn't show up. I'm really
bummed about it.
74. My school secretary and I raced down the hall on scooters yesterday after school. It was a
blast. One of the 1st Grade teachers joined us. Secretary won on stomach. I won on butt.
Other teachers looked at us like we were off our rockers. They don't know how to have fun.
75. I'm a little sore today.
76. I used to only want boys for children, but now that I have only girls, I wouldn't have it any
other way.
77. God has shown himself in my life in many subtle ways.
78. I am easily amused.
79. I get excited about nap time.
80. I fall asleep on car trips. It's been said that I snore.
81. I used to hate being the shortest.
82. I don't mind it so much anymore, except that petite pants are still too long for me.
83. I'm thankful for many many things in my life.
84. I can sing just about all Dora songs.
85. I start listening to Christmas music in mid-November.
86. I'm sad when Christmas is over.
87. My 4-year-old makes me laugh everyday. The things that kid says.
88. I'm pretty creative.
89. I wish my house was one-story. I'm horrible about cleaning the upstairs. Thank goodness
it's just the kids' rooms that are up there.
90. I'm really glad I have just 10 more things to tell you.
91. I don't know how I'm going to pay for three weddings.
92. My 4-year-old is already planning her wedding. I'm making the cake.
93. I went over my text limit on my phone by 500 messages. I think I need to get unlimited
texting.
94. My dogs eat crayons like they're dog food. Drives me absolutely batty when they do that!
95. Someday my house will be really really quiet and I'm not sure how I'll feel about that.
96. I want my children to make their own choices in life. I'm not a helicopter parent.
97. I feel like my last few items should be WOW!
98. My favorite color is pink.
99. I need to not stress about toys all over the floor because someday there won't be any there.
100. My life is pretty good and I can't complain.

So there they are...100 random things about me. It's taken me a couple of days to do this. Mostly because I don't have huge chunks of time to sit here and do it. It was kind of fun and it made me think of some things that I don't think of very often, if at all.

GRRRRRRrrrrrrrr......

This is my motto....for now.

In this life, I'm a woman. In my NEXT life I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with THAT!!

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too. When you're a girl bear, you birth your kids (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that!

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

YUP....gonna be a bear!!!!

I Know Why Some Mothers Eat Their Young!

A house full of girls....what a loud, cacophonous joy. Did I spell that right?

Who knew that a 7 1/2 year old and a 4 1/2 year old could bicker so much? I certainly don't remember fighting with my sister at that age! Of course we never fought, mind you. I have to remind myself that it is normal for siblings to bicker and I don't have to solve their problems. So usually I just send them upstairs, and they go on their merry ways and end up playing school or something else happily for an hour. But why does it take me getting close to strangling them to get to that point? Because they are sisters I guess. I can only hope that they will have as good as a relationship as they get older as my sister and I do.

Then there's the baby. What a joy that child is! Just goes about life doing her own thing and only gets mad when, yep, you guessed it, one of her sisters gets in her personal space. Maybe it's because she's our third, maybe it's just her personality, but bitty bee is so easy to enjoy. She's easy to read...you know what she wants. Speaking of reading, the child LOVES books. She can sit and read for hours. By herself, with you....it doesn't matter. Just give her a pile of books.

So, there are animals out in the world who eat their young, and I'm sorry to admit, some moments I understand that, and wish we weren't so evolved. But then, the rest of the moments happen. And life is good.

My Try at This

I love my friends' blogs. They are so creatively laid out, and full of day to day stories of their lives. I love to read them. So here's my go at it. Maybe it will get me off of Facebook some! :)

First and foremost on my mind at this moment is my eight and a half-year-old Great Dane. He's getting up there as it goes in big dog years. He's been sick to his stomach lately, and it just makes me wonder how much longer he'll be with us. Buddy is a BC dog (Before Children). The sweetest dog...a big lummox really. He is terrified of adults and loves children. We have kept a couch that is falling apart simply because it is Buddy's couch. Here you are thinking I would be telling a funny story about one of my children, and I'm talking about a dog. Those of you with dogs understand I suppose.