Scary, Evil Thoughts!!

I love the age that Tessa is at right now. It's a scary age for me. Let me clarify. I am not a huge tiny baby lover. The unpredictability of it all does not do well with my "scheduled" personality!! So, when my babies get about 9-10 months old, the age I adore, I start to get scary, evil thoughts. "How about one more?" For that split second, my brain waves become a tangled mess an they play that dirty little joke on me. I actually admitted these scary thoughts to my girlfriends the other night, and am glad to know that it is not only MY brain that is acting this way. I was giving Tessa a tubby in the sink the other night, and I found myself thinking, "there are not going to be many more times that she will be able to fit in the sink." and --BINGO-- there is was, that scary, evil thought. Good thing it faded just as quickly as it came. And, good thing for modern medicine, so that those scary, evil thoughts can't get the best of me!!
 

Funny Girl

Funny story. All day today, Elli kept coming up to me and telling me these "matter of fact" statements. She was completely serious and thought she was telling me something that she had just discovered all on her own. After awhile I began to chuckle, b/c it struck me that she REALLY thought she was "teaching " me something. Here is a sample of the statements I heard ALL day long:
1. Mom, I know why they call 2-wheelers, 2 wheelers. Because they have 2 wheels.
2. Mom, I know why they call a living room a living room. Because its a room and you live in it.
3. Mom, I know why they call a doll house a doll house. Because its a house for dolls.
4. Mom, I know why they call go carts, go carts. Because they are carts and they go.
5. Mom, I know why they call Go Diego Go, Go Diego Go. Because Diego goes.
6. Mom, I know why they call it the Wiggles. Because they wiggle.

After I told Dean this story, he said that I should have stumped her: Elli, why do they call a kitchen a kitchen? Why do they call it a kitchen? Hmmm--may have to google that one. (I'm sure Jenny already has!!!--Google Queen).

Anyway, this just struck me as funny today. All that hard earned tuition money--see what they learn in pre-school already. And who said that kids don't necessarily need to go to preschool?

I've Been Tagged

I am new to this whole tagging business. I have never heard of it, and saw that it was going around and thought that I had avoided it. But, thanks to Michelle (thanks)-here it goes. I have to list 5 weird things about myself (I don't know if I can shorten it to just 5).

1. I LOVE to change poopie diapers. The messier the better. I think it is the whole satisfaction I get when I am done. I am a visual type of person. I like to see my progress and how clean their little bums look after it is all cleaned up. Or maybe the fact that I have done it probably 50 thousand times by now that I am totally immune to it.

2. Before I go to bed at night (no matter if it is 2am.), I have to have EVERYTHING in the house picked up and put in its place. I think I got this one from my mom. Dean thinks it is O.C.D. (hmmm). From the bathroom to the kitchen to the living room, everything has to be put away and picked up.

3. I am addicted to cutting my kids toe and fingernails. I am a freak about seeing white on them and dirt in them. They all know when it's nail cutting time. They all line up in a row and I just go down the row--first toenails and then fingernails. I have come to believe that they like it (hehe).

4. I have a weird stress reliever. I bake. If I get stressed out, the first thing I feel I have to do is whip up some cookie dough. The problem is, is that once the dough is done and I have had a few bites, I don't want any. Dean doesn't eat cookies, so guess who ends up eating them just b/c she is too dutch to have cookies sitting there going bad?

5. I am repulsed by apple pie, unless it has ice cream with it. I cannot stand plain apple pie, but if it has ice cream with it it is my favorite dessert. I could eat loads of apple pie ala mode--but plain, I could not take one bite.

i haven't figured out the whole putting someone's name in highlights thing yet, so i cannot pass on the tag. Which I'm sure is just fine with everyone!!

Elli's First Day of School!!

As I write this, my little girl is at her first day of preschool. She was so excited this morning, hence the waking up at 6:45 this morning--ouch!! I think I was asked at least 15 times this morning if it was time to go yet. I let her pick out her own outfit this morning, which I was a little nervous about what would actually be the outcome, but I think she did extreemly well. When we got to the school, she immediatly started playing with a little friend from church--Kayla--out of the 14 kids in Elli's class, 11 of them go to our church!! Kinda nice for the kids, since they are all familiar with faces already. Her teacher, Mrs. Pat, is a wonderful lady and very inviting.
I think Thys and Josie are having "Elli Withdrawl" already. They cried the whole way home from school, b/c they thought that I left Elli. They are sort of roaming around the house right now, and feel lost without their "activities director" (A.K.A.--Elli). I am not too emotional, I think seeing the excitment and pure delight in Elli's eyes this morning, makes me realize that she is going to absolutly LOVE school, and how can a mom be sad about that!! 

Mia Hamm?--Umm, not quite yet!!

Elli had her first (ever) soccer game this morning. Imagine 8 four year old prissy girls all trying to run after a ball, without any sort of soccer training. Actually, most didn't even know what a soccer ball was!! We parents, thinking our kids just love to do the things that we were interested in as kids right?---Wrong!! Yeah, Dean has been trying to practice with Elli the last few days, and we thought that she really had a "talent". We thought we were ahead of the game on this whole soccer thing. I think Dean had this vision of our daughter being the "star" player out there this morning. (I should have just reminded him of her mothers athletic ability-or lack there of!) But...I think you know what is coming next.....Just a little rundown of how things REALLY went. Seven out of the eight girls broke down in tears (yes, Elli was one of those 7). I overheard at least 5 of the girls tell their parents they didn't ever want to play soccer again (yes, Elli was one of those 5). Six girls wanted their parents to come onto the field and play FOR them (yes, Elli was one of those 6). Four girls sat down on the grass while the game was going and started looking at the lines painted on the field (yes, Elli was one of the 4). All 8 girls sprinted their butts over to the snack table after the game was done (yes, Elli was one of the 8). And I think all the dads walked away shaking their heads and realizing that their little "angles" were not ruff and tuff Mia Hamm's. ( at least not yet---). They looked so darn cute though. And that is why a girl plays sports right?--for the cute uniforms---hehe

Game On

There is a new game around our house!! Can you guess what it is? Tessa came up with the rules, and actually the whole objective of the game for that matter. These are the rules: (according to Tessa)

1. Have mom set you in the dining room (room furthest from the stairs) with toys all around you. Before mom can realize that you are missing, haul butt to the stairs. (which I have found to be quite easy when she is distracted by like 3 other little indians screaming in her face).

2. Once you are at the stairs b-line it for the top as quick as you can. (If mom catches you before you reach the top, game over). Try to have it down to--lets say--30 seconds max.

3. Once you reach the top (assuming you were successful with not getting caught, or not plumeting 10 stairs at a time), do a little "happy dance". This consists of stiffening your whole body while on you
your stomach and letting out a triumphant battle cry!! It must be triumphant, b/c you have not only outsmarted your 30 year old mother, but have also gotten past the other midgets in the house without them tattling on you.

4. After you feel your battle cry is perfected, then peak your head around the corner of the wall (at the top of the stairs), and say "mamamamam". If it is still early in the morning, mom is usually quick to respond--later in the afternoon--you may have to wait a few minutes or more.....

5. Once you see mom at the bottom of the stairs, turn right around and haul to the end of the hallway--battle cry here is recommended again.(mom NEEDS to know what you have accomplished)

6. Mom usually catches you pretty quickly--again the whole am/pm thing to think about here too--you then are brought downstairs again, and to the corner of the dining room. Surrounded by toys, and midgets to distract you.

7. Game on!! Repeat steps in order.

Tessa's Stats: on Thurs. 9/7/06
-attempted a win 22 times (no lie--mom counted)
- 20 sucessful trips
- 1 plummet
-1 failure to make it all the way up (mom caught me on stair 3--it was 9:00 am---note time).

( I had to include a pic of Tessa's wonderful "thunder thighs" in this blog. I think she is subconsciously trying to get rid of these by obcessively exercising. I blame them on the DNA she got from her dad, b/c what mom wants to pass on that genetic trait----).

A few more pics:


 

Vink Annual Camping Trip

We have arrived safetly home from "The Vink Annual Labor Day Camping Weekend". We go camping only one time a year (and at the end of the weekend, we know why). We left Tessa with grandma and grandpa, which made camping a little more enjoyable. We went to Holiday Park campground in Traverse City this year. A very awesome park, and highly recommended. We got to swim in the lake, play on the beach, play on the playground, go into Traverse City and walk around the marina, eat lots of smores, get nice and dirty, throw a few tantrums, and ride bikes till our legs were about to fall off. They kids loved it and Dean and I can admit that the years are getting easier and easier (thank heavens). Although the kids had this notion that for some reason the trailor was our "new home", and we were going to live in it from now on--can you imagine?