Lost a boy and gained a girl

Mom and Dad came up for donuts this evening and took Owen home to stay the night. Chloe had been playing with her little neighbor friend outside. Chloe asked if she could stay the night. It's much easier for me to say yes to a sleepover when Owen isn't here. When he is here, there is usually issues. He wants to play, they don't want him to. He wants to pester the life out of them, they fight. It's now midnight and they are still up but playing nicely. I'm about to tuck them in for the night when they are finished with their popcorn. Reminds me of sleepovers when I was young. We'd listen to Air Supply and Duran and Duran, read the latest news on Kirk Cameron in Tiger Beat, and ate Oreos. I guess that was when I was older though. Chloe and Marly have listened to music but they've played Littlest Pet Shops a lot. There is a whole Pet Shop village set up in her room. Chloe is having a sleepover with 8 girls in about a month for her birthday, I hope I can survive it! Oh the days of sleepovers!

Be careful what you teach them

It was too hot to play outside today, so we played inside. I've been working with Owen more on his letters and numbers, etc. to make sure he's ready for Kindergarten (ack!). So I gave him some shaving cream to write his letters in. (My shaving cream, not the man smelling kind. I made the mistake of using the men kind when I was teaching and it made the whole room stink for hours.) Chloe and Phoebe wanted to do it too. Phoebe thought it was great fun. Then this evening she was eating yogurt for her snack, and I went to put something away. I came back and she had put yogurt on the table and was writing in it with her finger.



(Phoebe is wearing that same hand me down dress in this picture. She picked it out again today. She loves getting her own clothes out. She's writing in the shaving cream here.)

Outside fun

I was sick all day yesterday, and while I'm feeling better today, I still feel tired and a little weak. So, today we stayed home and mostly played outside.

Grocery Store Bliss

I actually went to the grocery store today BY MYSELF! I can't remember the last time that has happened, and I really can't remember the last time I have been alone for two hours. It was so nice!! I was alone in the van which never happens and I didn't even turn on the radio or listen to a cd. The quiet was wonderful. I don't know if I bought less since the kids weren't there asking for goodies, or if I bought more because I had time to actually look. Danny only called me twice. ;) When did going to the grocery store alone on a Saturday become bliss???

Picture Fun and a bargain

I was playing with a picture of Phoebe that I like and did these for fun. Phoebe was freaked out by them. ;)










My friend and I were driving by a yard sale today and stopped because we saw this and the Dora house. Her daughter loves Dora. It was the complete house with all the characters for $5! I got this for Phoebe for $8. Still deciding where I can put it, but she loves it.

Legos and Bubbles

Today the Lego Lady was at the library and there were legos galore to play with. Owen was in heaven. After that we went to the pool only to find it was closed because of trouble with the water being cloudy and not good for swimming. Chloe had a crying meltdown over it. We'll try again tomorrow. On the way to the library Owen asked how old Batman was. (A pressing question in the mind of a five year old boy!) Chloe said he was pretty old, probably as old as Mommy. Then Owen said Joker was older than Batman. Well, at least I'm not as old as the Joker.

Chloe and her friend Camryn:



Owen building with the big Legos:



Phoebe was mostly interested in knocking over Owen's Lego towers and what was in my purse:




It was a beautiful day today, not nearly as hot and humid as it has been. Here is Phoebe blowing bubbles outside this afternoon.

Big Girl Bed

I finished the girls room today. The bunk beds are up and Phoebe is officially sleeping her first night in a big girl bed. She usually sleeps with me so I don't think she'll make it the whole night in her new bed, but we'll work on it. I'm a little nervous about it but I'll get used to it. It is hard to sleep with her at night, but at the same time I know I'll miss her little warm body beside me and looking at her sweet sleeping face. I'm sure she'll be in with me before the night is over though. She picked out new Princess sheets and was excited about her bed today.



I hope the newness of the bunk beds wears off soon. The kids have driven me nuts today with them. Chloe loves them and has her top bunk all decked out with a clip on light, clip on fan, her stuffed animals, and a new pillow. Owen kept climbing on the top bunk and then getting down and repeating that 600 times. Phoebe kept trying to climb up the ladder too and fell a couple times. Hopefully no one breaks an arm.

I like the way the paint turned out, you can see in the pic one wall is pink and one green. We did two walls pink and two walls green. For Christmas we'll get the girls new matching quilts (if I can wait that long). I just wonder how it will go with the two of them sharing a room with 8 years between them. We'll see how it goes!

Here's Chloe happy and excited to be in the new bed:





I hope I don't spend half the night worrying that someone will fall out of those darn beds. I'm sure I'll be listening for any peep from Phoebe, though she's just across the hall.

Painting and Cleaning

It's been a busy couple days. I painted Chloe's room that is now going to be shared with Phoebe too. We are putting up bunk beds, new curtains, cleaning, and organizing. Today we had to run into town to get Owen's hair cut and get a couple things at the store. Then I was back home to finish touch up painting and putting the furniture back in. Tomorrow the beds will go up and we'll be finished. I'm tired and will be glad when it's done.

I just uploaded some pictures from Sunday when we had a family get together at my uncle's house. He has a pretty creek in front of his house that the kids all enjoyed.




Phoebe with our cousin Leslie:



Chloe and Owen with cousins Marley and Mariah:



Danny, Dad, and Owen:





Now for baths where hopefully we can get all the paint off of us.

Friends and a Funny

Today we went to my friend Tammy's place for a get together of some of our college friends. Some I hadn't seen in ten years! It was great to see everyone. It was hilarious looking at our old pictures and yearbooks. College was so fun, and where Danny and I met. It's nice to think back about those times. The kids had fun playing together, especially in the sprinkler and the water. The group pictures are funny of Owen and Phoebe. Owen is mad in one because he doesn't want to stand still for pictures on everyone's cameras. The other one he is watching me, and Phoebe is only interested in her cup of milk. The girls in front are cute with their arms around each other.






For the funny, on the way home Chloe said, "You want to know something funny about me?". Danny and I took the bait and said sure. She said "I have no control over my pinky toes. I have to move them with my fingers."

Back from vacation!

We just got back from Hershey, PA. We had a great time. Here are a bunch of pics.

Chocolate World was one of my favorite parts:



We rode a little car thing through a tour of how they make chocolate. It played neat music and even smelled like chocolate. Owen was a little afraid and Phoebe slept through it.




The town of Hershey had brown streets, the streetlights were hershey kisses, and the streets had names like Cocoa Ave and Chocolate Ave.







This is in front of the Milton Hershey School and says Welcome to Hershey. I took this picture from the parking lot of Hershey Park.



At Hershey Park riding the carousel:





And other rides:









At the Water Park:













Phoebe loved this ball that squirted water. She's still talking about it.











Owen was terrified of this bucket that dumped water:



At the zoo:






Getting ready to go, this is at the entrance to the park (where you exit too) with a fountain and a statue of Milton Hershey.





These pictures are as we were leaving Hershey Park, but as we came in the workers would measure the kids against these and give them a piece of candy according to how tall they were and what rides they could ride. It was cute, at the rides it would list the candy of those would could ride each ride.



Owen was holding a light saber he bought. Danny won't tell me how much it cost. ;)



I love this pic of Phoebe:



At Bass Pro Shops, Danny's favorite part of the trip. ;) The kids enjoyed the aquarium and animals too. They liked this bear chair.
















At the Harrisburg Mall playing on their cool playground:










And finally, leaving the hotel. You can tell Chloe's been crying, as she does when we leave every vacation. Owen being his normal crazy self with a mouthful of water.





As Owen said when we were leaving, "Bye Bye Chocolate World! Bye Bye Hershey Pennsylvania!"