More School Pictures

Here are those pictures of the two girls on their first day. Hannah is crying in one photo, and in the other photo she is very uncertain about us leaving. As a side note, yesterday was her second day and she did much, much better. She got through the worst of it. Carolyn looks as happy as can be. Almost as if she is saying, "Finally! I get to be without mom and dad for a bit."

School Started Today

Today was the first day of school for Carolyn and Hannah. We wondered if they would have a difficult time falling asleep last night. They've been terrible about sleeping all summer long. We tell them to get to bed and instead they go into their room and play, and laugh, and tease each other until mom and dad threaten them with their lives . . .er, just teasing, we don't actually threaten them. But, last night, to our amazement they went right to sleep.

Dad woke up early and made bacon, pancakes, eggs, and potatoes so that his girls could have a big, hot breakfast before school. Hannah didn't eat a bite. She was too nervous.

We got the girls to school at 8:15. Hannah's teacher saw us on the sidewalk and walked over to meet her. Hannah's teacher's name is Ms. Holly. She asked Hannah what her name was, but Hannah was too shy to even look at Ms. Holly. Next, we met Carolyn's teaher, Ms. Laurie. She was very nice, and Carolyn was very excited, although a bit shy too.

When it was time to leave, Carolyn put a boot in our butts. She was ready to get down to business. However, sweet Hannah started to cry. She wasn't so sure about the whole idea of going to school. Mom, Dad, and Katie went with Hannah to her classroom and helped her unpack her bag. But the time came for us to leave. Hannah cried a little more, but dad told her how proud he was of her and that she was his bravest little girl. And, even then she still cried. But, dad got a bright idea and promised her there would be a little surprise when she got home if she was brave. And, that time, the tears dried up.

After school, the girls came home and told mom and dad all about their first day. Hannah got to color, and play outside on the playground. She reports that Ms. Holly made her and the rest of the class take a nap without reading a story first. She says she did NOT fall asleep and did NOT like that napping business one bit. At lunch, she had a bit of trouble getting her straw into her capri sun drink and then the wind blew hard and the straw went flying away like a kite. She did not know what to do, and she didn't get to have a drink for a long time. Poor gal had a rough first day, but she says she is ready to go back tomorrow.

Carolyn says that she had a great deal of fun. She got to play a game called zoom, that even after telling mom and dad about, we aren't sure what it is or how it is played. She also got to meet everyone in her class and learned their names. She likes her teacher and is excited to get some homework.

Katie was very jealous of her big sisters going to school. She hung out with mom all day and was overjoyed to go pick up the sisters when it was time.

Overall, it was a decent first day. One that I'm sure we'll remember for a while to come. Tomorrow, I'll post some other pictures of the girls from their first day of school. I just need to wait to use the hi-speed interent at school.

Potty Training

Well, Katie no longer wears diapers. Unfortunately, she only wears princess panties so mom has been on a mad rush to find princess panties in size 2T and to get the few pairs we have washed. She looks like such a baby to be wearing underwear. She looks younger than she is because of her head of baby hair but talks like a much older girl. She is such a fire ball.

School Starting Soon!!!!

Today I went to a meeting at the girl's school to find out about the new school year. It was so exciting to hear about all the school stuff. We thought Hannah was going to have a fairly intense teacher but they just hired a second Kindergarten teacher and she is just smashing (I hope)!!! She has been teaching for 25 years and seems to have a fairly motherly way about her. I think she is a much better fit for Hannah. I hope that this school works out well for the girls. Carolyn's teacher seems really bright and wonderful too. I think that she will do a good job with Carolyn. Carolyn is a bit less stubborn than Hannah so I don't worry as much about her. Meanwhile, Katie is just going to hang out with Mama so hopefully she won't be bored sick.

It's A Tickle Party

Dad came home at 5pm today for a change. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't even live here. The girls were excited to see him. They ate some home-made pizza that mom cooked. Afterwards, the kids and dad played "tickle party" on the bean bag. During "tickly party" (a name the kids gave the activity) the kids run and jump on dad who then tickles them until they beg him to stop. This gets repeated over and over until dad is tired.

Mom took the girls grocery shopping and to the library. Grandma Evy sent some books on CD and the girls spent time listening to them. Books on tape are a nice way of entertaining the kids. They use their imaginations a lot more than with the TV.

Carolyn's head wound from Monday is healing up nicely. She has been a little concerned about bonking it (mostly becasue dad said she had to be super-duper careful not to bonk the booboo). In fact she bonked it during tickle-party, and we had to stop everything and call out the triage unit to take a look at it before she would let dad tickle her again. Honestly, we never intended to raise a hypochondriac.

Giddyup!

The girls are doing well. We had a busy weekend. Saturday's and Sunday's are about the only days that dad gets to play with his kids. Here (although Hannah looks sad) they finally got their dad just where they want him.

Today, Carolyn bonked her noggin' on a window ledge. She's been a little scared that it was a serious injury, but it's nothing more than a cut. So, Carolyn has been taking it easy by lying on the bed watching movies.

The girls are getting excited to start school next week. Only 10 more days! Mom is looking forward to having some one-on-one time with Kate. They will really be a dangerous duo.

Hey, for anyone that is interested, we will have a picture of the girls up tomorrow.

They are doing well. The kids and Annie came down to watch me play soccer after school. It was a cold and windy evening in San Francisco. The girls lasted about an hour before they were ready to get in the car.

We went to Costco afterwards. What a fantastic store. We get in a trance when we see all the good deals on food. You'd be surprised how expensive some items are here in Marin. On a similar note, I put gasoline in my motorcycle the other day. Do you know how much it cost? If you guessed $3.05 a gallon, you were right. U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-e-a-b-l-e!

Painting!!

We had a HUGE box left over from Katie's birthday and the girls decided they wanted to make it into a house, so we did!! We cut windows and a door and then the girls got out the paint and the real fun began!!! They had such a great time painting the walls and decorating the house. Hannah told me, "I painted Carolyn's leg, so she painted my foot. Then we were having a paint fight." It was so much fun. The girls all had paint in their hair, on their bodies, and all over their painting clothes. After the house was done (and mom's paints were gone), the girls hopped in the bath for another round of fun...pretend swimming lessons in the tub!

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

Kate graduated from infancy today. She is a now a holy terror . . . errr, I mean, a happy toddler. Mom spent the day making cakes for the party and getting the house all cleaned up. The girls helped decorate. Daddy finally came home at 4:30 and Katie got to open her gifts. She got a wagon, a set of wooden food (that she can cut and reassemble), some cute clothes, and a fun puzzle. More gifts will arrive soon. We went out to eat dinner at In-n-Out Burger. After dinner, we had the neighbors over for cake and ice cream. Kate blew out all three (one to grow on) of her candles, although it took her about 16 attempts. Everyone had fun.

We'll post pictures tonight. Our slower-than-a-three-toed sloth internet takes a bit of time to upload the pictures.

It's now 9pm. Here you go . . .

So Sad . . .

Hello, this is Annie's first blog post. Here is a picture:

Here they are . . .

These photos are a couple of weeks old, but they are what I have loaded on to my computer right now. I'll go through the more recent photos tomorrow and see if I can find some cute ones.

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! It'll mostly be stuff about our 3 adorable girls, but we'll also include some stuff about the two rodeo clowns that chase them around all day. Check back soon for more!