The Zoo

I've been getting a bit nostalgic lately. The girls start kindergarten next year, and I'm so proud of them, so excited for them. But also sad, because I feel like I'm losing them in a way. I love our time together, and now it's going to be so limited. It seems like every day has become more important, and I want to remember it all...

We went to the Birmingham Zoo yesterday. It's a great little zoo, really. There are parts of it that I really don't like, mostly the older exhibits with the concrete enclosures, bars, windows, etc. But they're working hard to make it better. We loved the new kangaroo exhibit, the girls rode a camel (very cool), we saw the sea lion show, we thoroughly enjoyed the butterfly garden (one of them landed on Abby's back!), and then they cooled off with a romp in the fountain. An ideal morning - a memory.

Snow, and New Friends

It snowed!!! We woke up this morning to snow on the ground. It wasn't much, but it was Sarah and Abby's first time to see snow, and they were so excited! I think they were surprised that it was cold and wet - they ran out and wanted to build a snowman, but then they touched it and didn't like their cold hands! Abby really enjoyed being outside in it, though. She played on the trampoline for a long time and caught some snowflakes on her tongue.

After we warmed up a bit, we got ready for our new friends. We were supposed to go to an Easter egg hunt with a group of pre-kindergarteners at DVES. It was at 10:00 in a local park, and all I could think about was how cold it was going to be, and how miserable we would all feel, and how quickly we'd try to leave! So, I decided to invite everyone to our house to mingle indoors, heading out only for the egg hunt. It was an ambitious plan, because I don't know many people in the group, plus we were expecting about 25 kids. But, I figured it would all work out, and it did! We had a blast, and made lots of new friends. What a great group of kids and mommies!

Walk for UAB Transplant Games

Today we went downtown and walked to raise money to support the UAB Transplant Olympic Team. It was fun - they had music, and the girls got face tattoos, and there were lots of doggies to pet. Plus we saw our new friends Stephanie and Kevin from Trinity UMC. The walk was a mile, and we didn't take a stroller, so I was a little worried about S&A being able to do it. But they made it! There was a bit of whining about it being too long, and feet hurting, and being tired, etc., but they made it and they were very proud of themselves. They got medals and t-shirts so all was good. I'd like to think that this will be the first of many races/walks for us, but we'll see.
Tonight we went to the Wallace's house for dinner. P & I love Carrie and Stephen, and S&A love their kids Lauren, Clayton, and Catherine. So it was fun.

I Smell a Rat

Yesterday the girls dressed as kittens for Nursery Rhyme day at school. They were 2 of the 3 Little Kittens (although actually I think 4 of them decided to do it together, so it wasn't really the 3 little kittens!). Anyway, I had to look up this nursery rhyme because I knew a little of it, but it's really long and I didn't know it all. According to Wikipedia, it's possible that the colloquialism "I smell a rat" came from this rhyme, because in the last verse the mother cat smells a rat. It's debatable whether she really smelled a rat, or if she was using it figuratively, in effect saying that maybe they only washed their mittens to get more pie. I thought it was interesting (I know, I'm weird!)

Smart kids

It's been a very long time since I blogged, but the last few days have been very "bloggable". Tonight at dinner, Abby asked "What does 'communicated' mean?" I answered "talked, or talked to", and she said "Oh, like we're communicating now?" Yes, that's exactly right! Then, not to be outdone, Sarah asked, "Is 'oink' an onomatopaeia?" "Yes, it is!" They're 4 1/2 - sooooo smart! Like little sponges - it really is amazing.
The other great moment came yesterday. We went to gymnastics - it was a make-up day from last Thursday which was cancelled due to tornado warnings. Sarah wanted to go, but Abby didn't, so Abby and I sat in the gym and watched Sarah. She smiled and waved after each thing she did - it was really cute. Then, in the middle of class, she ran over and gave me a kiss, then ran right back. Last night she said, "I'm embarrassed to tell you this, but I love you so much that I had to run over and give you a kiss during gymnastics today." Wow. Now that is a moment to remember! This mommy gig is pretty awesome.

Agnihotra

Last Thursday, 10/18
The girls and I drove to Citronelle to visit Grandmother and Grandfather (Perry's mom and step-dad) at Middle Earth (their permaculture farm). The drive was tough - driving rain much of the way. But we made it and the girls were excited. They helped Grandfather collect the eggs from the chickens, and played puzzles. They weren't very excited by the vegi-burgers for dinner, but they survived on french fries and salad. After dinner, we all went for a walk in the dark with flashlights. That was big fun - we stopped to listen to all the noises: frogs, crickets, wind, owls. After a little ice cream, the girls went to bed.
The next morning they were up at 5:30, but that was OK because I'd been awake most of the night. There were terrible storms all night, and I was thinking about tornados. Plus I was on the couch so I wasn't very comfortable.
Grandmother and Grandfather (G&G) are a bit "eccentric", but I love that about them. Some of what they do is so very cool, such as their solar panels, their electric car, their rainwater collection, their gardens, the labyrinth, the fairies, etc. And then, some of it is just too "out there" for my conservative disposition. The humanure (the bucket of sawdust that replaced one of their toilets) and their morning Agnihotra ritual are just two examples. In case you're lost now, you might want to google it, but I'll try to briefly explain the Agnihotra. It's an Indian ritual performed either at sunrise or sunset; G&G choose sunrise. You burn ghee and cow dung in an inverted pyramid and say a chant. That's the what. The why? Well, it has something to do with energy, and purification of the atmosphere, and healing. I don't get it. The girls didn't pay much attention to it and didn't ask any questions, much to my surprise.
After a little breakfast, S&A helped Grandfather collect sticks for firewood, then we got dressed and loaded up to head to Mobile.
So, Friday Oct 19th we headed to Mobile and went straight to Dodge Elementary School to have "lunch" with Emily. Actually she eats at 10:40 so we just had a little snack. Then we checked her out and went to Blu Rabbit to play with Leah and Jenna. I was able to spend quite a bit of time with my friend Dara. It was a great hour and a half. After a little pizza, we left. We drove through our old neighborhood which made me a little sad - I really loved that house. Then we went to Mimi's house for a nap.
After naps, Emily opened her presents. It was a Hannah Montana / High School Musical birthday. We gave her an iPod Shuffle with 47 songs; she also got 4 HSM dolls, a new My Generation doll, a HM CD, and HM sweats. We had dinner and a Hannah Montana birthday cake. The girls spent the night at Leslie's house (yea!) so I was able to visit with M&D and Debbie (who was in town to help George's parents move).
Saturday, Oct. 20
Today is all Emily, all day. We drove to Spanish Fort to start our day at Build-a-Bear. Sarah and Emily built bears, and Abby built a bunny. Clothes, shoes, purse...over $100. Then they put on bathing suits and played in the fountain. Lunch was McD's outside by the fountains. Then we went to Toys r Us so they could play on the indoor playground. And then, finally...naptime. For all of us. After long naps, we went to the park down the street. Then we had pizza for supper. A VERY full day. The girls stayed at Leslie's house again (double yea!).
Sunday, Oct 21
We all hung out at Mimi & Pop's this morning and then S&A and I headed back to Birmingham. It was a pretty easy drive, with a stop at Priesters, but Sarah got a headache about 30 minutes from home. I hate that she gets these - it makes me sad to think that she's going to be plagued by them for the rest of her life. We made it home around 4:45 and played outside until dinnertime.

Busy weekend

We had a great weekend. Saturday the girls had a soccer game, and it was the best one so far. Typically, S&A stand around during the game, avoiding the ball and the group of kids surrounding it. Since we were missing our 3 best and most aggressive players this week, all the smaller and meeker players actually had a chance to kick the ball and play as a team. It was great to see the girls actually having fun on the field for a change.
P & I spent the afternoon hanging some pics and cleaning up. It doesn't sound very exciting, I know, but we've been here over 3 months and these are the first nails we've put in the freshly-painted walls. It just seemed significant; like we both finally acknowledge that this is really home.
Saturday night we had dinner with my sister Debbie and 3 of her kids, Justin, Logan, and James; my cousin Meg and her family; my aunt Sue and uncle Bill; and my cousin Scott and his wife Gail and son Price from Atlanta. SG&P spent the night; the girls LOVED Price and had a great time with him.
Sunday night we had a pumpkin-carving party. With kids running around and pumpkin guts all over the back deck, it really made this feel like home. We do have some great neighbors. And now all the neighbors have cool jack-o-lanterns.
Today the girls had a substitute teacher at school. Abby said "Miss Brenda (the sub) makes school even more funner." I'm glad that she likes her sub, but it makes me worry even more about her regular teacher. Despite her fun ideas and creative projects, I think she's too strict and regimented for a preschool class. I haven't figured out what to do about this, if anything.

Mondays

Oct 8, 2007

Well, I think I can do this - it seems simple enough! So I'm going to jump right in. Today Sarah and Abby had ballet class at Children's Dance Foundation in Homewood. Their teacher, Charla, is absolutely fabulous. The piano player is also great - her name is Sana. It's fun to watch them dance - Abby lights up and they both just seem so happy, so free. They aren't the most graceful girls in the class, but you can tell that they enjoy it. The class is very creative - they get feathers and fly like birds; pretend to make soup, mixing it up and eating it; leap over dots on the floor; play with shaker eggs; all kinds of wonderful things. I'll try to think of the girls in their class - there's Elle (who is a twin to Jack and their mom is Jackie), Eliska, Ella, Tressa, Helen (who sits in the corner and hasn't joined in yet, but she will), Olivia...I'll have to think of more later.

After ballet, we always go to Chick-fil-a for lunch. After lunch they play on the playground, eat ice cream, and then we go home. Lucky me, they still nap, so I took one too! We made an afternoon run to WalMart for a few groceries and checked out the Hannah Montana and HSM dolls. Sarah is 4 going on 14. Fortunately Abby still loves the princesses!