Fashionista...

We are having a big challenge around here. Our darling littlest girl is changing clothes multiple times a day - unassisted, too! We have had some really interesting outfits. I thought I would share a few...



PJ bottoms with an Elmo top...interesting!



At 2 o'clock in the afternoon we chose a nightgown and out butterfly tennis shoes...comfy!



And today for Thanksgiving we ONLY wanted to wear our Ohio State cheerleader dress...classic! We sure are raising her well!

Right now out outfit of choice is any dress or a nightgown. Period. If you see us wearing one of these and are legs are bare please realize that I may have been struggling with a certain someone to get them out the door!

My Big Cheese...

Cameron's kindergarten class does a fun thing where they get to be the "Cheese of the Week." It's a week where you get to be the star and share of things about yourself. Every child gets to be the cheese of the week once throughout the year. Cameron did his 2 weeks ago and we thought we would share a little about it.

On Monday you get to take in your favorite story to have read by the teacher. Cameron selected "We're going on a bear hunt." Great story with lots of action!

On Tuesday you take in a favorite item that you hide in a box and the class asks 20 questions to guess what it is. Cameron took his soccer trophy.

On Wednesday you add items to an estimation jar. Here's a picture of what we took...

Lego's of course!! We had fun counting all of them out so we could tell his teacher how many were in the jar. Cameron was very specific that only one size Lego go in the jar.

On Thursday you get to sit at the teacher's desk for the whole day (all 2 1/2 hours!). I guess this is a big deal. I was thinking this wasn't much of a reward once you get to maybe junior high but it's a hit in Kindergarten.

On Friday you share pictures about yourself with the class. Cameron took a baby picture, a few of fun things he has done lately and some pictures of his family. He has enjoyed hearing about his classmates families. He reports back to me how many brothers and sisters they each have. How lucky is Cameron that he has 2 sisters??!!

You also get to take in a snack to share on Friday. Two new friends here in town have started up a baking business called Baked Blessings. They made the absolute coolest Big Cheese treat so far! Thanks Lisa and Donna! We received lots of compliments even if Abbey didn't make them - ha ha!





Of course Molly had show and tell on the same Friday and you are allowed to bring food for it so we shared these...




All in all, we had a very good "Cheese of the Week!"

Halloween recap...

Ugh! I can't believe that I went so long without a blog post. I never would have been successful doing it every day! That would be really, really hard. I also realized that I never had posted any of our Halloween pictures. We had a great time trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood. It was a little cool so the girls only lasted about 12 houses but my boy was going strong so I continued to go to houses with Cameron while Mike brought Molly and Amanda home. Molly LOVED answering the door and handing out candy. When the door would ring she would yell, "We have customers!" So cute! Here is Batman, a little bumblebee and our precious ladybug...

Thank goodness for direction...

The other day I had to go and renew Mike's tags for his Illinois license plates. First of all we were late. They expired last Friday but silly us forgot to do it on the 1 1/2 days he took off last week. And before you say it, I know. You can do this online. I would if I remembered to do that!! Before I even got to the Secretary of State (DMV - Ohio friends) this is what the renewal paperwork looked like:



And this...



I would blame it on the youngest here but I can distinctly read two words on the paper that might have just been done by a Kindergartner. Sigh.

I realized last Sunday that we had forgotten to renew the tags. I got all ready to do it on Monday, got the kids ready and then checked the website for the address. Thank goodness I looked carefully. Closed on Monday's. What?? It became a Tuesday job and got to the Pekin Secretary of State with this:



Aren't these just the greatest creation EVER???!!!
I really have no idea where in Pekin I was. I know how to get to Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart. That is about my knowledge of Pekin.

By the way I was thrown for a loop. For 15 months I have told everyone that I live in Central Illinois. According to the Secretary of State I live in Western Illinois:



Now I don't know where I live...maybe the GPS will help me with that, too!

By the way, I have already failed on noting posting everyday. I meant to last night but fell asleep getting the little one to sleep. I guess real life gets in the way sometimes. Good intentions!

To get a 2nd dose or not...

I'm pretty sure that the kids aren't going to be able to get their 2nd dose of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus. The health department has cancelled all clinics in our county due to a lack of vaccines. I can't imagine that by the first week in December there will be a whole bunch more for round 2 children. I read an article in yesterday's Peoria Journal-Star that says 1 flu vaccine dose is working in pregnant women. It says 21 days after receiving a single 15-microgram dose of the vaccine 92% of the pregnant women showed a robust immune response. A larger, 20-microgram dose produced a strong response in 96% of pregnant women. The same test says that just 1 in 4 children ages 6 months to 35 months had a strong immune response after 21 days. There was a sharp improvement after receiving a second dose. I guess that is why a second dose is recommended in kids. It will be good luck trying to find it though. I guess one dose is better than none. I hope to not to have to find out.

NaBloPoMo

Did you know that November is National Blog Posting Month? I didn't until I saw it on a blog that I follow. I'm beginning to think this is the motivation I need to get back into the swing of things. I am going to try and blog every day. I have some random thoughts swirling around in the mind of mine and maybe it's time to put some of them down for everyone to read. Scary.


Today Cam's K class celebrated 50 days of school. They were to dress like a 50's person. Not the easiest thing for a boy to do. We wore a white t-shirt, jeans, white socks, rolled the jeans up a few cuffs and gelled his hair. Here is a pic of Cam with Ms. Shields his teacher...



Everyone had to bring in 50 of something to share with the class. They counted, sorted, divided and then graphed about the different objects. I wanted Cameron to take something original. Here is what we contributed...


Army Men Rock!

It was a fun day in the kindergarten world!

Holes...

I am not one to jump into somethings very quickly. I can make a quick decision about what to have for dinner, don't spend a lot of agonizing time shopping for any new clothes, shoot - when you drive a mini-van the only real choice is the color so we don't even spend a lot of time on that. What I struggle with is furniture choices and decorating ideas. The couch in our living room probably took several drives to the store, hours of looking at prints and fabrics, and many looks at the choice of legs and skirt vs. no skirt before we decided on it. We spent more time on that couch than any of the houses we have lived in. It was our first decision on something of that magnitude as a "couple" and I guess we really wanted to make a good one. This past week Mike's sister, Jill, and her husband, Greg, were visiting us. We gave them permission to get out the nails, hammers and laser level and they started putting holes in our walls. At first I was very excited. Very. I want this house to be our home. Mike and I hung exactly 2 things on the walls in our Michigan house and it always seemed kind of sterile to me there. I truly think I am a minimalist. We made a pilgrimage to Hobby Lobby in Pekin and Jill (with my permission) went wild. She had never been to a Hobby Lobby and loved it!!! We reframed pictures, found cute things for my kitchen plate rack, found 2 beautiful prints for the walls, mixed woods and metals for a cool look. Basically we went crazy. Then the holes in the walls started and I began to get a little overwhelmed. What we put up looks great but I was doubting my choices. I have now slept on it for 2 nights and feel better. Mike and I have a few more things to hang and it will probably take us the next year to do it but we do have a start. I realize that holes can be filled and patched but it feels kind of permanent to me. I think that maybe I'm a less is more when it comes to decorating. Or maybe I'm starting to break a HOLE through my shell. Here are some pics of what we did...





And two more...




And my 2 favorite things so far...


I don't think my photos really do it justice. Things are really starting to look good around here!