Tuesday

In the car on the way home today, we were quizzing Dylan on the days of the week.  He was doing really well, except, no matter how many times we told him, he couldn't remember what day came after Monday.  After about five minutes, Shianne started correcting him in this funny voice that had Dylan and I cracking up (Shianne doesn't see what's so funny about it).  So I got her to do it again at home and took a video.  You'll have to turn the sound up to really hear her.  (You'll have to scroll all the way to the bottom to turn of the music so you can hear the video)

open house

Last night, the kids had open house at school.  Before it's always just been going to their classrooms and looking at all of their work.  But this year they changed the format to performances.  Both are kids time slots overlapped but they weren't in the same place, so things were a little crazy.  Thankfully, Shianne's performance was one she repeated multiple times for thirty minutes so we were able to see both.



The fifth graders did a "Night At The Museum" theme.  Each child had to pick a famous person several weeks ago, research them, and write a script describing themselves.  Then, last night, they dressed as their character.  They were all scattered throughout the school around ten feet apart.  By each child was a desk where they had a picture and namecard of their famous person and a money jar.  Every time someone put money in the jar, they came to life and repeated their script from memory.  All the money went to a charity.  Shianne chose to be Anna Pavlova, a famous Russian ballerina.  She did an awesome job.  It's a little hard to hear her in the video with all the other people around.

please vote for my advent calendar

Michaels is having a contest for handmade crafts.  I entered my advent calendar and would love it if you would go vote for me.  Actually, you rate it rather than vote.  The rating symbols (they're not stars, I can't remember what they are) are under the picture.  Here's the link:  http://www.michaelscontest.com/uploads/2025

advent calendar

I have been wanting to get one of those nice advent calendars that you can put little things in.  When I was little and we lived in Germany, we always had the ones that had a piece of chocolate every day.  Until recently, I couldn't ever find any of those here.  The last two years we did have the chocolate ones, but this year I wanted to do something more meaningful. I wasn't having much luck finding one I liked.  I did  find two, but one had doors that would have fallen open too easily and the other was almost $40, way more than I wanted to spend.  But, about a week ago, I saw an idea on someone's blog for using 2 inch mint tins from Wilton (I got them at Michaels in the wedding section).  They had used velcro to mount them on canvas, but I used magnets and put them on a cookie sheet (which I spray painted).  I think it turned out really cute.  Inside are little ornaments, including a nativity set, to go on one of those miniature trees.

Here's the whole thing.

And here's a close up.

Halloween

The day before Halloween we went to "Haunt the Zoo".  We had never been before, but we had a great time (other thant the super long line in the beginning).  All the treat stops are sponsored by businesses and most give out really good stuff.  The kids got two snack size chip bags and and 8 oz Dr. Pepper along with the old standbys like m$m's.  At all the treat stops, and several places in between, there were scenes that the kids could pose by.  Dylan was Obe-Wan-Kanobe and Shianne, who was originally going to be a princess, decided to change to match Dylan and be Queen Amadala (which was fine with me because it didn't require a change of costume).

Shianne and Dylan being eaten by a shark.

Shianne in the fairy forest.

Shianne kissing a frog (no prince though).

For Halloween night, we went to my parents neighboorhood, which we always do because hardly anyone in our neighboorhood passes out candy.  William (our puppy) went with us.  I think he was more excited about trick-or-treating than the kids.  He would run up to all the houses.  We usually tried to keep him back a ways so he wouldn't upset other people's dogs and he would whine that he couldn't go all the way to the door with the kids.

Dylan used one of the lightsabers we have for the Wii which really lights up, though it's hard to see in the picture.

William was dressed as a hot dog.  It kept slipping to the side and he wouldn't stay still, so it was hard to get a good picture.

finished projects

Those of you who know me well, know that I am the queen of unfinished projects.  For instance, 14 years ago I started a cross-stitch wedding sampler for Frank and I.  It's still not done (though it's getting really close).  The sad thing, I can think of two unfinished projects I have that are older than that.  I couldn't even tell you how many unfinished projects I have.  But, in the last week, I have completed 5 of them.

Two weeks ago, I started this sweater for Shianne and finished it a week ago.  It is crochet and it was a super easy pattern.  I thought it turned out so cute that I'm working on altering the pattern to make myself one.

This summer, I saw this fabric and just loved it, so I decided to make Shianne a new bag for her scriptures.  I just finished it yesterday, but she came down with the flu and didn't get to go to church today.

I bought this jacket about a year ago, but the sleeves are just a little too short.  So the other day, I found a pattern I liked for crochet lace and made some cuffs for the sleeves.

We have lived in our house for ten years and the only room that has ever had curtains in all that time, has been Shianne's room (and those were only up for a year or two).  I've wanted to put curtains in the living room, but cost and not knowing what I wanted have kept me from doing it.  About six months ago, I found some really cute curtain rods on clearance really cheap and bought them.  Then, this summer, I found this fabric really cheap and bought enough to do curtains, but didn't sit down to make them until this week.  I really like how they turned out.

Last year during Fall Break, mom and I had a sewing day where we both made one of these quilts to hang on the wall.  We got the tops completely finished, but I have just now done the quilting and put the binding on.  It will have to wait to be hung up till tomorrow though, since the kids are in bed and I don't want to wake them up by hammering nails into the wall.

cheer

This week, Shianne did the little girl cheer clinic at school.  They practice for several hours three times during the week, and then do a cheer and a pom routine at halftime during the game on Friday.  It was a very hectic week, especially since she had cheer on the day of her play and they overlapped a little.  Friday was so cold, and we about froze at the game.  As soon as her performance was over, we went home and made hot chocolate.  Shianne is a little hard to see in the video.  She's all the way at the back in bright blue pants, but she is often behind on of the older girls.

We were getting Shianne all dressed up for the game, and Dylan insisted on having his cheeks painted too.  He is quite the little fan.  We've gone to two games this year and he wants to know what all the numbers on the scoreboard mean, and the things they use to show how far they have to go to get a first down.  He got irritated last time because he saw all the high school boys with their chests painted and I wouldn't let him do it.

music man

This past Tuesday, the 5th grade at Shianne's school put on a super shortened version of "The Music Man" (seriously short, only ten minutes).  Shianne got to be in one of the main groups for one of the songs, and she had two lines as a salesman (the video only shows one).  The video's not great, especially since the man in front of me kept moving, but she did a really great job.

We got here dress at Goodwill for $5.  They didn't have anything that fit the part in little girl sizes and almost none of the adult dresses we looked at had size tags on them (or they were so worn you couldn't read them), but I only had to do a little altering to make it fit her pretty well.  She decorated the hat herself, but then forgot to wear it during the play.

vowels

Dylan has been very tight-lipped about what he learns at school.  He will tell me about lunch, recess, music, and PE.  When I ask him about what he did in class, he will usually only tell me about centers (which his teacher says are only about 40 minutes of the day).  So, it's been a little hard to know just what he's learning since kindergartner's don't bring a lot of work home.  But the other day, I was watching wheel of fortune.  One of the contestants bought an o, and Dylan said "That's a vowel, and if you put a vowel between two consonents it makes a short sound, and if you put it between two cosonents with a vowel on the other end it makes a long sound."  I was amazed.

strange bedfellows

As you might expect, our cats do not really like our dogs, but the puppy is always trying to play with the cats.  However, two of our cats seem to have decided that William (the puppy) may not be as bad as they first thought.  A couple of times over the last two weeks, Natasha (our Siamese) has actually tried to play with William.  Usually by sitting in a chair, safely out of his reach, and playfully swatting at him as he walks by.  William thinks it's fun, but keeps trying to get her to come down on the floor and play.  Arthur (our big black cat), rarely runs from William anymore and has even kissed his nose a couple of times.  Then, the other day, Arthur was napping on a towel in the bathroom.  William came in and laid down really close to Arthur didn't do anything.  In fact, Arthur got up to get a drink about ten minutes later and then laid right back down in the same spot next to William.

shianne's poem

Shianne wrote this poem for school about a week ago. She did such a good job, I wanted to share it. She had to complete starter sentences about herself to create the poem.

Shianne Wolfe
Funny,
Friendly,
Cool,

Wishes to be able to swim underwater for a long time,
Dreams of becoming a vet someday,
Wants to do ballet on Pointe,
Who wonders how lollipops are made,
Who fears roller coasters and heights,
Who is afraid of creepy-crawlies,
Who likes swimming,
Who believes if you dance you live longer,
Who loves my brother,
Who loves my family,
Who loves chocolate,
Who loves dancing,
Who loves animals,
Who plans to be a good mother,
Who plans to live for a long time,
Who plans to do good next year,
Who will be remembered for my humor.

crazy morning

So, last night I had to work for back to school night. I guess it really got me out of my routine since I apparently forgot to turn my alarm on last night. Frank woke up, looked at the clock, and woke me up 5 minutes before I was supposed to leave. Aghhh!! Somehow, Shianne, Dylan, and I all managed to leave (looking presentable) 15 minutes later and they didn't even miss the bus, which they catch at my school.

rules

Today, when we were teaching Dylan's primary class, we were talking about loving everyone. We read a scripture in John that talks about it being a commandment to love everyone. When I got to the word commandment, I asked them if they knew what that meant. They all said no, even though we've talked about it many times, and I reminded them that it was a rule and added that it was kind of like they have rules at school since they all just started school this week. In response to that, Dylan says "Yeh, like you can't bring weapons..." I was just thinking, how much did they really dwell on that rule with kindergartners.

first day of school

So today was Dylan's first day of school ever (he is in all day kindergarten) and Shianne's first day of 5th grade. Dylan was super excited and hasn't quite talking about all the things that he got to do. Shianne really enjoyed her day too and really likes her teacher so far. A little after lunch, I got an email from the school nurse about Dylan. They found a tick behind his ear. YUCK. When I went to pick him up and saw it, it was huge. He had to have gotten it at school because you could easily see it from the side or the back so I don't know how he could have had it before and us not see it. When we got home, I tried to get it out, but wasn't having any luck. So we went to see mom at the hospital to get her to help. He was stuck so good and we had to try a bunch of different things. It ended up taking us about 30 minutes to get it out. Dylan was really good about it and didn't make a fuss.
Even with the tick, we got the better end of the deal. Frank took the kids this morning so they didn't ride the bus (which they catch at the high school). The two other kids who ride the bus (one of them is in Dylan's class and was a little scared), got put on the wrong bus by the head of the transportation department and ended up at the wrong elementary school and nobody could figure out where they were for awhile.

piano

Our "new" piano finally arrived today. My grandma gave it to us, but the piano movers picked it up from her house in Austin 3 weeks ago, and we only live about 8 hours away. They pick up and drop off others all over the country to keep costs down, but it seemed a little silly since just about anywhere they were going to go from her house, they'd have to come this far north anyway. But, I can't complain. They actually came about 45 minutes early and they were super efficient, they were only here about 30 minutes and completely set it up for us (they even listened to all of Dylan's long, drawn out stories). It totally needs tuning, but even with that, it sounds so much better than the keyboard Shianne and I have been playing on (we're both trying to learn to play). William (the puppy) has decided that under the piano bench is a great place to sleep and Riley (one of the cats) has decided that the top of the bench makes a nice bed.

I need your votes again

Okay, so I'm still in scrapping survivor. Last week I had immunity and didn't need any votes, but this week I missed immunity by a minute or two. So, here is the place you need to go to vote for me http://www.gingerscraps.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4380. You do have to register to be able to vote, but they won't bug you with emails. Here's my layout for this week. We had to write a letter to someone we love.

alien cat

Last night, our black cat Arthur sat in this big round pink chair of Shianne's. It looked so cute the way he was in the chair, I just had to get a picture. Well, I forgot to set the red eye and anyone who's taken a picture of a cat knows that's a big mistake. However, the effect is certainly not red in this picture. I did fix the setting and got a normal picture later, but the alien one is just too funny.

in case you didn't know...

In case you didn't know, it's very hard to quilt with a puppy in your lap. I sat down to work on my hand quilting today, and William immediately came over and sat in my lap. No matter how many times I moved him, he just came right back. On the plus side, I have finally figured out how to quilt without constantly turning my hoop around and around.

homemade space bags

I don't know about you guys, but I love the usefulness of space bags, but they are so expensive. A while back, I heard this tip on a tv show but kept forgetting to try it. Today, I finally did and it worked just as well as the store bought ones. You take a regular trash bag, the show said the heavy duty black ones but I only had basic white kitchen bags and they worked fine, put your stuff in it, vacuum out the air, and seal it with a rubber band. I found it worked easiest if I put the rubber band around the bag first, and then looped it around until it was tight after vacuuming. I had my bags standing up like they would be in a trash can and they made misshapen cubes. Next time I think I'll try laying them down and see if they come out a little more flat.

two new nieces

Just a couple of pics so you all can see my two new nieces. I now have a total of 6 nieces and no nephews, so Dylan continues to be the only grandson on my side of the family.

April's little girl, Jewel, was born late Saturday night.



Katie's little girl, Summer, was born early Tuesday morning.

what are the odds

About five or six years ago, we had a real tree for Christmas. One day I asked Frank to check the water in the tree stand to see if it needed to be refilled. After sticking his hand in it, he said "It's full all the way to the bottom". I gave him quite a bit of grief about it. Well today, Dylan was getting syrup out of the fridge to put on his waffles. Shianne started whining that he was going to take to much and there wouldn't be any left for her. Dylan said "It's almost full to the bottom". Frank and I both started laughing so hard. Dylan had never even heard Frank say that and he quoted it almost exactly.

silly puppy

This is a video of William trying to get George to play with him. As you can see, George is ignoring him. So far, William has been unsuccesful in getting any other animals to play with him. The cats run from him, and mom and dad's dachsund pretty much ignores him too.

please vote for me

So, I am participating in digital scrapbooking survivor at gingerscraps. Today is the voting day to see who gets to stay. I would love it if you would go and vote for me. You might have to create a login account to do it, I'm not sure. The link is http://www.gingerscraps.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4053
Just look for "curlysue_73601" in the list and click on it, then scroll to the bottom of the list and click on "vote now". Here's my layout for this week, which is what the voting is based on.

slip-n-slide

Yesterday, we got out Dylan's new slip-n-slide. He had a lot of fun with it, but Shianne got pretty frustrated. She could only get under the sprayer if she was on her tummy with her head down. In fact, at one point she insisted it couldn't be done. Frank said of course it could, and that he could do it. So, after Frank proved it could be done, Shianne tried a few more times, though she still was not totally happy because she couldn't make it all the way to the end.







William thought the slip-n-slide was a huge water bowl for dogs and kept getting in the way. The kids were really good about waiting for him to get off and he never stayed on for very long.

our new baby

Okay, I can already hear some of you saying we're crazy. But, I've been wanting one of these for a long time. So when a friend offered him to us, we just had to say yes.



















We now have a long-haired mini dachsund. His name is William Maxwell and he is just the sweetest thing. One of his eyes is brown and the other is brown on top and blue on the bottom.

dylan's birthday party

We had Dylan's birthday party Saturday. From my side of the family, Katie, Brooke, April, Dan, Grace, Annie, Lucy, and Rachel came. From Frank's side of the family, Gene, Joan, Craig, Robyn, and Meaghan came. None of the nonfamily friends that we invited were able to come, but Dylan didn't seem to notice.

His cake was a train cake that I decorated to look like Thomas.

Dylan loved all of his presents, though he's generally easy to please.

His water gun from Craig, Robyn, and Meaghan. It shoots colored water. They also got him a Thomas book.

His Clifford games for the computer that Katie, Bill, and Brooke bought him. He already has a different one in the series and loves it, so he's pretty excited about these.

Gene and Joan got him a new slip-n-slide and Rachel gave him some legos, but I wasn't able to get pictures of those. We'll definitely have to get the slip-n-slide out this week, it is soooo hot.

As of right now, his favorite present is the squishy lizards and frogs that April, Dan, Grace, Annie and Lucy got him.

The kids discovered that if you throw them hard enough, they stick to the ceiling.

After presents, we went out back and had a pinata. Dylan had never had one before and had begged for one. It worked out really well. On one of Shianne's turns, she broke open the bottom just enough that if you hit it a few pieces of candy fell out. So all the kids got to have a turn where they hit a few pieces out and got to keep them. Then, on Shianne's next turn, it busted all the way open and they all crowded in to get the candy.

dylan's birthday

Today Dylan turned five. He's not my little boy anymore -- sniff, sniff. Today he got his presents from us, though I had only planned on giving him one today and the other one on Saturday at his party. But I left them in the back of the van and forgot about them. When we got in the van he saw them right away and said "Mommy, are these for me?" So he didn't get to unwrap them. We got him another ramp for his hotwheels tracks and a Mickey Mouse yahtzee game (he's already played with both). We also went to visit Pat, his former babysitter today. We didn't really go because it was his birthday, it just was a good time. I had realized that while I had lots of pictures of him with the other kids, I had none of him with Pat. After dinner, we went to Braums and got ice cream sundaes. Then we let the kids go outside and play with their new bubbles and ride bikes. Dylan had a lot of fun, but he's convinced that his real birthday isn't until Saturday when we have the party.

legos

Saturday, Dylan got his birthday present from Grammy and Papa. He's party's not till this coming Saturday, but they will be out of town. They got him a lego kit (his first legos). He was super excited. We put it together today and he did it almost all by himself. He did all but a few pieces on his own. I interpreted most of the instructions for him, but he was even able to read quite a few of those on his own. It's a semi, helicopter, and motorcycle. He really loves that the semi's hood opens and there are removable tools he can use to work on the semi.

It's a little hard to tell from the camera angle, but Dylan's mouth is wide open in excitement.



Dylan always sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating.

4th of july

Well, this fourth of July was not quite as much fun as previous years. We always go to Yukon where my parents live because they have such a great fireworks show, plus all sorts of other activities. In the morning, they have a parade of bikes, crafts, moon bounce, etc. We didn't make it to that part this year because of Frank's work schedule and the kids were a little dissapointed. April brought over a big bucket of poppers and let all the kids take turns pulling them. They had a lot of fun with that, though Shianne was really the only one that had enough strength to pull the string. Grace and Dylan did finally figure out a way to pull the strings, but Dylan could still only do it sometimes






After dinner, we usually head over to the park and listen to the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and then watch the fireworks, which are set to music which makes them that much cooler. But, about 6:15 it started pouring rain and continued until almost 7:00. Dad has a rain gauge and it says we got over an inch and a half of rain. So, the park was out, and instead we walked over to the church behind mom and dad's house and set up camp in the parking lot. The fireworks usually start about ten, but this year they didn't start until 10:15. We had about decided they weren't going to shoot them because of all the rain and several other people that had gone to the church had left already. It wasn't quite the same effect without the music, but it was still a lot of fun. They even shot a few kinds we hadn't ever seen before.

dylan and papa scrapbook page

Last week I posted a picture of Dylan that looked a lot like my dad. Today, I made a digital scrapbook page of the two of them. I thought you guys might like to see it, especially those of you who don't know what my dad looked like as a kid.

spray park, white water, and some sad news

Yesterday, we went to the spray park with Katie, Brooke and her cousin Hannah. Well, actually we went to three. Right about the time we got to the first one, three daycare vans full of kids came to play and it was very crowded and noisy. So we left to try a different one we had been to before, and it was broken. As you can see, we did finally find one to play at. We brought water balloons and so did Katie. The kids ended up spending most of the time filling and popping the water balloons. Shianne finally learned how to tie a balloon.

Today, we went to White Water again. Dylan was just as brave as last time. Today, I asked him if he wanted to ride the Pirate's Plunge, a slide that is pitch black inside, though not very high or frightening aside from the dark. I didn't tell him it was dark and he agreed to go. When we were most of the way up, he asked if it was dark inside and I said a little bit. He just said ok and still wanted to go. I was worried he was going to panic, but he came out smiling and wanted to go again. The funny thing is, Shianne was at least seven before she would go on any rides.

Okay, the sad news. Today we happened to drive past Shianne's dance studio and she asked me what the sign at Ms. Betty's was. I hadn't seen it, but on our way back home I pulled into the parking lot. The studio is for lease and there is a sign from Ms. Betty saying she has retired. Though she totally deserves it (she is turning 90 this month), we are sad, especially since she didn't really give anyone any warning. Shianne has been going there for seven years now and not only loves Ms. Betty, but has made a lot of friends there.

spray park and mini golf

Yesterday we all went to one of the spray parks together. Frank actually took the kids a few weeks ago, but this is the first time this summer I have gone. Frank and I did not intend to get wet. However, Frank got hot and decided to go under the misters. Well, Shianne seized the opportunity and pulled him under the dumping buckets and he got completely drenched. After that, he decided he may as well keep playing. Dylan really enjoyed the water guns and spent most of the time trying to spray people.

Last night, we downloaded a new game to the wii called family mini golf. Just like in real life, each hole has obstacles and as you play more you can unlock new courses. We played it for family home evening and really had a good time. Shianne won by quite a bit. The kids and I played again this morning and Dylan won the first time and Shianne won the second time. I think the rest of us are going to have to practice secretly when she's not around to be able to beat her.

white water

Well, apparently Dylan's bravery at Frontier City has now carried over to White Water as well. We went yesterday with mom. Up until now, he would only go on the slides in the kid area, in the lazy river, and in the very shallow parts of the two other pools. Yesterday, I took a big float and put him on it and we paddled out to the deep end of the wave pool. He kept yelling at me to go back, but as soon as the waves started, he quit being upset and was really having a good time. The next time the waves came on, he walked in chest deep and was letting the waves knock him over. Then he purposely put his whole face in the water twice. After that we went over to the bermuda trianle and sat at the bottom to wait for Shianne to come down. While we were there, he said he wanted to ride it next time. I suggested to him that his first slide should be the body flumes. He said "Ok, let's do that next". So when Shianne got off the bermuda triangle, we went over there and got tubes. Several times before we have gotten him to go up the stairs for this slide, but he always chickens out before he even makes it all the way to the start. This time, he actually let me put the tube in and got in. However, when I got him to put his feet up and his rear in the hole of the tube, he started getting scared and would have gotten out but I said "Are you ready?" and without waiting for an anwer, pushed him off. He had a blast and even went down again.

staycation day 4

Today we went to Great Salt Plains state park and went crystal digging. The trip started out pretty funny. I was reading the disclaimer at the bottom of the map I printed from the internet and it says "it's a good idea to do a reality check and make sure the road still exists". We had a good laugh over that. Unfortunately, Dylan got sick about 30 minutes into the trip (we're not sure if he was carsick or if his breakfast made him sick). He puked on his grammy quilt, once on the side of the road, and three or four times at the salt plains. We ended up only staying about 40 minutes because of him being sick and because of the blazing heat. Right before we left, I dumped a bunch of water on him and then we took his shirt off and made him lay down in the backseat. He finally started feeling better about ten minutes after that and felt fine the rest of the way home.

This is the view of the salt plains. In the distance, you can see the trees on the other side of the lake (which you can't see in the picture). It was a pretty weird site since Oklahoma is full of red dirt. In fact, once you dug down past the top layer, it was red dirt there too.



Dylan helped dig for a little bit before the tummy ache came back.


Shianne and I "digging" for crystals. Really, you dig a hole and then you repeatedly pour water over the edges to erode away the dirt and uncover the crystals.



Here are the biggest ones we found. They're about an inch long. They all have dirt encased in them, some more than others.


We had fun, but we'd like to do it again someday when the weather is cooler. We think if we go again, we'll probably rent a cabin so that we can go to the digging site a couple of times in short increments. Plus, we'd like to explore the lake area too.