Morgan is reading

About a week ago, Morgan realized that she could put all of those letter sounds to work for her to read some words. We have a pre-school boggle game that has pictures with words under it. I covered the pictures and she read the words. Once she realized she could do that, she decided she wanted books to read.

Here is the first book she read completely on her own: Mat

She is up to book 5 in this series, which is titled Mag and Mit, and is not nearly as repetitive as the first couple of books.

I'm impressed!

Quick Review

Here's what we've been up to lately:

The kids Enjoying the day with their Abbey (aka sitter). This is why I love her. She doesn't mind letting them paint.




Kenna's Birthday Party

Lots of wild kids jumping all over the house - an this was before the pizza, cake or ice cream.




Kenna has blowing out candles figured out.



Halloween

Mine are the two penguins in the middle of the KISS flashback.



Fall Break

Over fall break, we went camping at Otter Creek Park near Louisville, KY. It was a treat. It had a very nice campground, even if it seemed to be the weekend home to most of the people there over that weekend. There were Projection TVs and all of the other comforts of home right in the campground! Next time we'll camp in the "no hook-ups" area, but it was a clean and pretty good place to stay.

There were plenty of trails for mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding. We went on one of the trails to see Morgan's Cave - unfortunately we couldn't go into the cave because of an endangered species of bats, but it was cool nonetheless.



Another great thing about the campground is that it is only about 30 minutes from the Louisville Zoo. It was a perfect day at the zoo. The weather was perfect, it was a Monday; so, hardly anyone there (except one school group that walked faster than us; so, no big deal).

Our favorite memory was of the lions. Morgan decided before we even arrived, heck what am I saying, she decided several days before we left that she really wanted to see the lions at the zoo. So, first stop Giraffes (cuz they're on the way to the lions). Then on to the lions. The Louisville Zoo has two females and one male on display frequently. The display that day was even more exciting than the usually watching them snoozing in the sun.




To which Morgan said: Momma he is making a baby. They are mating like you and daddy!

Ahh, from the mouths of babes. I'll tell you the school kids were quick to say "yuck!" and their teachers were quick to say "come on let's go see the elephant" or "Do you want to get your lunch now?" It was about 10:15 AM!

Happy Birthday Kenna!

Today is Kenna's second birthday celebration (well in addition to the one when she was actually born). I'll post pictures of her party at some point (or you can check out this blog to see some early).

I would post pictures of her today, but this is where I am right now:

Spelling it out doesn't keep secrets

Conversation at our house today:

Kimberly: Should we go get some i-c-e- c-r-e-a-m?

Mike: Yep

Morgan: That spells ice cream!

Enough is enough!

I'm sure you're wondering if we staged this shot. Ummm...the really sad thing is no, this is what her hair looks like frequently after getting out of bed. We manage to tame it somewhat before letting her out the front door on most days.

And the following picture, highlights the half-mullet that Morgan gave Kenna recently, with the scraggly rat-tail (if only we'd braid it) in back.





Here is a great shot of the happy girls when they were told they were headed to the barber shop.











The girls were brave. They had just seen the fun of haircuts a few days prior in the same shop when I was sitting in the chair; so, they did great. Kenna got first treatment.






That's one cute girl!

And then Morgan got her turn. You can tell she really hated it. She'd actually been asking for a haircut for since she saw the new little shop open.




I'd say that is much better, wouldn't you?

Back to work

Can you tell that since Michael's birthday (Aug. 17) the semester started? No? You mean you didn't notice that I haven't posted anything in almost a full month?

A few things that've happened since the last update (in random order as they come to me):

1. Kenna got her first real haircut. Unfortunately it was her sister who decided to cut one side of her hair to look like a mullet.

2. Muscle memory for a sticking out belly is pretty fantastic. I'm just over 11 weeks and the only "regular" clothes I can wear are skirts and pants I bought upon returning to work after Kenna was born. Shirts are just not quite long enough and my other clothes just won't even pretend to fit around this belly. Why can't that same muscle memory remember what my belly was like at some way distant past point when it was flat?

3. Morgan went back to Burrier preschool this year. She's going 2 afternoons a week instead of 4 mornings and she's thrilled to be back at school.

4. Our new garage construction is finally finished - except the paint and the hard part of moving stuff into it.

5. Our child care provider - sounds too simple to say "sitter" considering what she does for us and with our kids -- is great! Kenna regularly asks for her to sing songs at bed time and nap time - this is really only a problem on the 5 days a week that she asks and Abbey is not here. Morgan had absolutely no problems adjusting to her being here. From the first moment acted like she'd be coming to our house for dinner daily or something.

6. Speaking of Abbey. She is a woman after our own hearts and rides her bike places. She got hit by a car while riding her bike near campus. She has recovered, but just a reminder of why this darn town needs some serious education about how traffic should act around bikes.

7. I'm tired - always tired. I've even taken a Thermarest camping mat to my office to nap. Ahhh, the joys of having my own private office. Even if it is barely big enough for me to lay down.

Happy 40th Birthday Michael!

The birthday boy could, of course, plan his day as he saw fit. So, we - read that only Michael and Kimberly- headed to the river.

Ahh, the bliss of a day on the river without children climbing all over us while we're trying to paddle. Without children reaching over the side with their hands in the water creating a crazy amount of drag.

I feel pretty honored that he didn't just leave me home too!

Morgan's first bike race

Morgan competed in her very first bicycle race today. She pedaled all the way around the course (with Momma and Daddy holding on to her arms - hopefully someone has a good picture of that).

She was pretty excited when she was all done.

"I'm the winner Momma!"

Of course she was.

Everyone knows the purpose of a garage.

We'll get to the garage-bit in a minute. We borrowed Mike's parents' car so we could drive to the aquarium today. It's the size of a pea, but gets about twice - literally- the gas mileage that my van gets.

Mike's dad brought the car over yesterday. This is the conversation we had while waiting for him to arrive.

Me: Hey Patrick. How are you?

Patrick (Mike's brother): Fine.

Me: You can just pull the van up there so your dad can park in the driveway. Or, hey he can park it in the new garage!

Morgan: Oh Momma, that's so silly. Cars don't go in garages. Garages are not for cars! Bicycles go in garages!

How can I argue with that when even with our old garage we never put any motorized vehicle in there. We don't plan on putting our van or truck in the new garage either; it's for bikes, gear (biking, camping, boating, etc.) and tools. Err...that should be it's for tools, bikes, and storage. Right!

Knock, Knock joke

Morgan made this joke up all on her own. It was several months ago, but she was able to share it with her doctor the other day, which pleased them both.

Morgan: Knock, Knock

Dr. Palley: Who's there?

Morgan: Pumpkin

Dr. Palley: Pumpkin who?

Morgan: Pumpkin Dr. Palley! (giggling like crazy)

Dr. Palley: Well that is a very good joke Morgan.

Sheetah

Morgan: Mom, when the baby comes out I will call her Sheetah - like cheetah, but with a "sh."

Me: What if it is a boy, Morgan?

Morgan: Baby.

This name doesn't fit into our naming scheme we've got in the family; so, I don't think it is a keeper for the official birth certificate, but Morgan may not give it up easily.

I really don't understand...

why boobs have to be sore during the early stages of pregnancy. let's face it you won't actually need the milk until..., well, for sure not this early. And, why the heck would it need to be sore, when you're still making milk for the toddler? It's not like they have to prepare and figure out the milk making process again - it's still doing it - which is probably why the sore is so darn annoying.

April 1, 2009 - no fooling!

PS: Deborah, I wasn't exactly honest last MNO.

"A Christmas Story" moment

You know the classic scene in the movie...the one where the kids dare each other to lick the flag pole, then one poor sole does it and finds out just how bad it can be?

Here's our family's version.

We were at the grocery store, trying to get just a few things before biking back home. Michael, was looking over the ice cream selections trying to make a decision, while I went across the aisle to find frozen orange juice.

I was holding Kenna while searching for juice. We found it and she asked to hold it. I knew if I didn't give it to her she'd just keep asking. What harm could come from her holding the orange juice? Sure she may drop it, but that isn't so bad, it's frozen. So, I of course obliged her; I handed it over, and headed back to Michael.

About 3 seconds later, Kenna let out a yowl. When I looked at her, I couldn't figure out whether to be alarmed or only amused. She had licked the metal lid of the frozen orange juice. She was pulling it away from her mouth with all of her might! I can tell you that human tongues are very elastic. Hers stretched much beyond what I could have imagined.

Trying to convince her that putting it closer to her mouth would make it better, was not the easiest thing to do. We did eventually pry her tongue off of the lid.

Lesson learned: Maybe handing over the orange juice is not the safest idea.

In response

to my friend Gretchen, whose garden is better than mine in many ways - just not this one.

River rats

Contentment

I hear giggles of two girls in running through the house playing with their daddy. I love that sound.

A fish story

When Morgan wanted to go fishing recently, I took her to the expert.

Has anyone else noticed how big my kids are?

Click here to see how big they are. (Photo by our good friend Deborah)

Kenna has grown 4 inches since November - that's 6 months folks! I was just looking at her the other day and realized that she's not really a baby anymore. She's a little girl that does what she wants, says what she wants, and goes where she wants.

She has recently learned the art of turn taking. When reminded, she will wait patiently behind whoever is currently having a turn at something. As soon as they finish she says "my turn." Or if they're not going fast enough in making it her turn, she'll just shove them and say "my turn." But heck she's not 2 yet...wait that's the catch isn't it? She's learned this skill and will soon give it up for the attitude of "no turn. it's mine!"

She's also recently perfected the art of climbing. The Kenna-sized-chair she was using to help wash dishes wasn't quite tall enough to give access to the dishes; so, she did what any heights-loving climber would do. She used the chair as a ladder to climb onto the kitchen counter. This is a skill that Morgan still has not mastered - heck I don't think Morgan has even ever tried to climb onto the kitchen counters.

Speaking of Morgan she's quite grown up as well. Tonight after reading her bed-time books, she went to her room to read her penguin book, primarily to show me the picture of the spines on the rock-hopper penguin's tongue (which all penguins have, in case you didn't know).

As she flipped through the pages, she found a picture of a penguin that had been attacked by a seal (or sea lion). She made the connection that the seal would eat the penguin. Then said that it was not good for the penguins - but it was good for the seal. Then she said that the polar bears eat seals so that they can't eat all of the penguins. When asked if the polar bears eat penguins she promptly reminded me that we already talked about the polar bears don't live in the same place as penguins. Penguins live at Antarctica and polar bears don't. I don't think that necessarily means that polar bears don't eat the seals that eat the penguins; I've never researched it, maybe they do travel that far. I'm guessing Morgan will figure it out and let me know.

Morgan has also taken an interest in dinosaur books. This is not so great for the non-dinosaur-name-knowing-momma, and the non-phonics-reading-momma. Luckily Michael can figure out the names for me. It's hard to find books that I like to read about dinosaurs. We did find a good one recently at the library - I Met a Dinosaur. It's a book about a little girl who meets dinosaurs in everyday places. Excellent illustrations and an enjoyable read. I haven't been looking too hard, since this interest just started recently, but I'm having a hard time finding well written, interesting non-fiction books for young readers/pre-readers about dinosaurs. We did find one about which ones are vegetarians/herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, but I'd like to find more. So, if the few folks who read have any good suggestions let me know.

Trust Your Gut!

I try to live by this motto. I try to teach my children the same thing. I hope that it pays off for them and that I learn to listen to mine a bit more.

This evening after getting the kids to bed, I went out to clean out my van. Mike was out getting videos from the video store.

I came into the house with an armload of things to put away. I headed straight through the house toward my bedroom depositing things in their rightful places as I went. While walking through the kitchen, I thought to myself "now that Kenna can climb out of her bed we've really got to make sure to lock that door every night." As I entered my room, the breeze was blowing in from outside. After putting things away, I decided to sit on the window seat and view the backyard (we've done lots in the last few months to make it a nice view). As I got closer to the window, I thought I heard the sounds of birds...or was that children.

Upon looking down, I saw my two beautiful night-gowned beauties walking in the backyard. As I type this I wish I had waited and watched them to see exactly what they would do. Morgan was headed toward the "beach" and "ocean" we installed today; Kenna was just getting down from the patio steps.

In that moment of course, I admired their beauty, and promptly called them into the house. Morgan told me that they had been looking for me everywhere . "You should have been in bed momma because we wanted to come sleep with you." Sweet, but uh, what the heck are you doing outside in the middle of the night? Really it was only about 9:45, but still - no going into the back yard alone after dark.

So, as soon as my gut reminded me to lock the back door at bedtime, I should have immediately headed toward the backyard to find the gypsies. Or at least realized immediately that it was the sound of my children in the yard, and headed for the camera.

Ironic

If some people eat dandelion leaves, why the heck am I planting lettuce and pulling weeds?

New Richmond Pool,

AKA "the water park" as Morgan says, is a great place to have some fun. I took my kids there on opening day. It seems like an insane idea, but I waited until the price drops after 5 PM (kids 5 and under are always free). Most people were there all day; so, by the time we got there the parking lot was only about half-full, and we didn't feel crowded at all.

Actually, the pictures and images on the website don't do it justice. There are two pools, a lap pool that you have to really search to find, and a much larger play-land. The play pool has zero entry, a very small toddler slide, a wide family slide, a whirl pool, a large platform for climbing and shooting water at people from various hoses and knobs. There is also a huge bucket on top that dumps a ton of water at some unknown to me interval. The water comes down pretty hard; so, I don't recommend small kids hanging out under the water fall area.

It feels like a much larger play area and a small area at the same time. It is not a typical square shape (as you can see on the site). This makes it easy to keep to one area, or explore whole new areas. There are life guards at about the 2.5 foot water level to tell the smaller kids to keep to the shallower areas of the pool. The play pool is only 3 foot at the deepest; so, if you've got a little one and a bigger one you can easily follow the bigger one around while holding the littler one without getting the little one too wet.

I highly recommend going for some fun in the sun (or shade, they do have some shaded areas in the play-pool). Unlike another pool in the area, there are no play structures outside of the pool; however, there is a large amount of grass within the fenced in area around the pool. So, there is a place to play off the hot pavement while out of the water.

Ahhh, date night

The most welcome event, date night when it is not our turn to host. Tonight we headed to a local restaurant (Hall's on the River) and then took off into the woods . There is a nature preserve right behind the restaurant; so, we took a very pleasant hike. What hike wouldn't be pleasant when you can finally hike at your adult pace

This type of escapade is highly recommended in a funny book I've been reading, Babyproofing Your Marriage. If you don't have time to read, which you probably don't if you have young kids, click the link, it'll give you the highlights of the book.

When all else fails...

and mom feels a bit overwhelmed with the prospect of taking both of you searching for puddles for jumping, make your own puddles.

Warding Off Aliens?

You be the judge.

More Happy Camping

We've vowed to get outside together more as a family. Last weekend we headed out to the Red River Gorge for camping and hiking. After stopping to fill up with gas (read that as spent our life savings to put gas in the van), and a visit to a nearby Civil War Fort, we decided to forgo the long drive and just camp out at Boonesborough State Park. It was a Sunday afternoon; so, we had the camping area pretty much to ourselves.

While Morgan was off exploring and Michael was setting up camp and cooking dinner, I spent some quality time with Kenna.


Many people would consider rainy conditions as a sure nightmare for camping, but we had an enjoyable time. Morgan and Kenna didn't mind the wet weather at all since they were soaked from the nearby creek anyway. Morgan ended up wearing every bit of clothing we brought for her. Good thing we were only staying one night anyway. Each change of clothing coincides with a significant water event - falling in the creek, getting soaked by the rain, or sliding down the slide - think water shoot at the pool.

First outfit of the outing. Time worn while camping: about 3 hours (hiking, setting up tent, playing in creek). Reason for change: Falling in the creek. This is what she wanted to wear earlier in the day before we decided to pack up and go camping. It was spur of the moment, and we didn't want to fight changing. Note to anyone who buys clothes for my kids, they'll wear anything anywhere; so, don't expect it to last or keep clean.
Here's the happy camper in her post creek clothing. These clothes lasted about 1 hour. The slip-in-slide on the playground did the shorts in. We don't have a picture of the pants that she changed into after playing on the playground. I think those lasted the evening until PJ time.



In the morning, she's sporting a whole new outfit while playing in the creek. Total time worn: 30 minutes. Reason for change: Falling in creek - I'm starting to see a pattern here.

The final change. She only had the one warm jacket - that fell in the creek. She's got my thermal undershirt on, and stockings. At this point we decided that everyone had enjoyed the wet weather too much. We packed up and headed home around mid morning on Monday.

As we were driving home we realized that we still don't have our weekends straight yet. Morgan missed school because we completely forgot that we were supposed to take her that day! I occasionally hear her reenacting that with her animals! Good thing this is an easy going pre-school/play-school environment and not one of those public school, your kids better be here or we're coming after you places.

Happy Camper!

This is what happens when a very cute 3-year old asks if she can have a tent and a sleeping bag in the front yard!

Kenna and I decided to stay inside - mostly because I wanted sleep without two children on top of me, and Mike set up his small tent. Of course this means that while Morgan is snuggling with her daddy, I won't be snuggling with my husband.

*Disclaimer: I know the picture of Morgan is really fuzzy. My camera could not see in the dark and was not able to focus on her. You have to admit the other picture turned out pretty well since I couldn't see anything on the screen while taking it.

Dirt, what dirt? I'm sure my children are acceptably clean.

Yes, I am one of "those mothers" who let their children run wild, play in the mud, and get really dirty.

Morgan's new Pooh and Piglet dress was broken-in by sliding head first onto the muddy ground. And true to her "mini-me" style, her feet were twice as dirty as her dress.

What you can't quite see here is the mud all over Kenna's face from doing just as her sister did. When she went down the slide head-first, she landed on her face. I enjoyed cleaning the mud out of her nose as she came and blew it on my jacket! Kenna is a shoe girl, like her dad, so the one place I didn't need to wash on her was her feet.

Let's just say the bath water was a nice shade of taupe this evening.

Oh for the love of penquins!

The results are in

And it seems that I won't have to figure out how to cram driving to grad school at UK (and all of that studying) into my schedule for the fall.

An entire day without the mole!

Morgan just asked her dad to go lay down with her for bed time. She often switches between the two of us for this honor. Usually she will only pick her dad if she's just finished touching the mole while we read the good-night books.

Tonight, she didn't even ask to touch the mole during book reading and she asked for dad to lay down. I don't expect that she's "done," but I'll take what I can get.

Era update and other things

Nope, it wasn't the end. But we're making slow and steady progrress. 2 steps forward 3 steps backwards.

On other notes, I am not very good at patience. I'm a bit frustrated that 1 month ago today I submitted the final parts of my application for grad school. I still have not heard anything. This makes me crazy!

Here's to hoping that I may find something out next week.

The end of an era?

Some of you may know my eldest child's facination, fixation, and attachment to a certain part of my anatomy (aka the mole).

For several months now, I have occassionally told Morgan that when she gets bigger she will no longer touch the mole. I've also occassionally asked her when she will stop touching the mole. Until about a week ago the answer was usually "When I am 5" or some other answer that made me want to cringe because it was not in the immediate future.

All of that changed about a week ago. One evening, while Morgan and I were snuggled down in bed for bed-time-routine, I asked her when she would stop touching the mole.

Momma: When will you be all done touching the mole, Morgan?

Morgan: When I am big, Momma.

Momma: When will you be big, Morgan?

Morgan: 5 days!

Momma: In 5 days you will be big and will not touch the mole anymore?

Morgan: Yes.

Momma: Should I write that on the calendar?

Morgan: Yes! Write it on the calendar.

Momma: Ok, we will write it on the calendar.

After this, I forgot to write it on the calendar; however, I did not forget the sentiment. So, everynight, I asked her how many more days she had to touch the mole. She counted down from 5. The night that left us with 3 more days, I figured I better make sure she knew what she was saying. So, I told her that we would have two more days, then one more day, then we would be done with the mole. She said that one more day made her sad. At that point I figured all bets were off for this whole weaning from the mole process.

But she kept right on counting down! At last we reached the day with no more mole. It was a Friday - I was home with the girls all day. I didn't figure this would bode well for weaning day. As it turns out, Morgan did pretty well starting the day. There was an obvious lack of touching as soon as she got out of bed.

However, as she was having a bit of a meltdown at the gym, she wanted the mole for comfort and said "Momma, I'm not big yet. I'm still little." "Drat!" is the only thing I could think at that moment. I told her that she was big in some ways and little in others, and that she could still touch the mole after we got our things together.

Friday total mole time: about 5 minutes (couple of touchings)
Saturday total mole time: about 2 mintues (over two times)
Sunday total mole time: about 45 seconds (one touch)

We may be in the home stretch friends! When she finally gives it up for an entire day, I will put it on the calendar!

It is funny. I've been waiting, wishing, dreaming of this end to mole-fixation for about a year and a half now. It is a bit sad to see it go, but I'm not going to stop this one.

The reduction in mole time, is coinsiding with an increase of "I want my Daddy!" Which is going over well from both parents in this house.

A relaxing day with the animals

You thought I was talking about the kids didn't you?

We headed to the Louisville Zoo today with friends of ours. The weather was great, the super bowl was on (so the zoo was deserted), the animals were active, the kids played nicely with one another - what could be better?

I know what could be better, a camera with batteries. :) Just know that we had a great day.

The Highlights

I've tried to include enough pitures to hit the highlights of events since I have not posted in a long while.


What were we thinking when we decided to buy a tool set with more than 4 pieces? Not sure, but Kenna loves it!



Kenna as a "workin' woman"

Morgan enjoying her new sleeping bag.



Michael or Uncle Jim? Hard to tell.


Morgan assists Kenna with gifts after her stack is depleted.















The best part of Christmas day....


Playing in puddles in new clothes.




Don't you agree?













Toasting in the New Year in Washington, DC.


Morgan is a pilot at the air and space Museum. She's flying us to Florida so we can go to Sea World - humm maybe instead of the cold Washington, DC we should have gone to Orlando.


Here's how we got to the Metro station ... once. After that it was just too much to expect the kids to endure after being out all day.









Abe Lincoln, look out! They're on their way up!











Kenna hanging out with the Giant pandas.












A dino ate Michael while we were at the Zoo!











Closing with a cute shot of Kenna.