May 30, 2009

Today was the Dam to Dam. Conor and Ellie participated in the Fun Run. Both were excited about it when we left the house, but when they saw how many people were there, Ellie was ready to back out. Both of them went through with it, along with a whole lot of other kids. No pictures of the actual race, because I couldn't find them and get a picture fast enough. They received a participatory cowbell, which may or may not last the week.

We attempted to leave after that, but the parking ramp traffic wasn't moving at all. We went for popsicles and to look around. After 20 minutes of that, we tried the parking ramp again, but no one had moved. We wandered down to Court Avenue and had some lunch. It was a little "fly by the seat of your pants" for us - that's normally not our style. (Big shocker, I know). In spite of that, we had a fun time.

May 29, 2009

Happy last day of school!


Rowan kept trying to get in on the action.

May 28, 2009

We have seedlings!

May 27, 2009

I found this while getting ready for the garage sale. At the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable to get it out and give it to Rowan. I've since remembered why Conor and Ellie didn't have them for very long.

May 26, 2009

Tuesday was my last day of volunteering in Conor and Ellie's classroom. I had no pictures of them with their teacher, so we made sure to correct that. (We really like her).

May 25, 2009

A few pointers on Mario Kart.

May 24, 2009

Have I mentioned how nice it is to have a park within walking distance?

May 23, 2009

On Saturday, both Conor and Ellie had birthday parties to go to. Both were gone from before dinner until quite late, which meant that it was Jon, Rowan and me. That evening, we learned several things.

1. While the unknown (such as a party at an I Cubs game) will still turn Conor into a jerk, having a friend come over here before and then ride with us to the party will really, really alleviate the jerkiness.

2. With the exception of two of my friends, we are the only parents in the whole world who have a "no sleep overs until you're eight" rule. Ellie's best friend had a slumber party at a hotel, and Ellie got picked up at 9. There were still 5 girls there, but both E and her friend cried. (Heartless, heartless parents).

3. People who have just one child need to shut up about how hard it is. Yeah, it's probably hard sometimes, but just one? Come on.

May 22, 2009

Rowan is so helpful, especially while I'm getting ready for a garage sale.

May 21, 2009

Rowan doing his morning exercises.

May 20, 2009

Conor (the stain magnet) has taken to wearing bibs at dinner. Wednesday (ravioli with meat sauce) required the use of Grandma McCarty's apron.

May 19, 2009

Watching the garbage truck take away Rowie's stinky diapers.

May 18, 2009

Playing cars in their matching jammies.

May 17, 2009

Conor and Ellie's 7 year picture in the green chair. He's so photogenic, isn't he? I'm hoping that's just how 1st grade boys are, and that it will improve soon.


Sometimes things are a little slow around our house.

May 16, 2009

Eating strawberries, and trying to act just like his big brother.

May 15, 2009

On Friday we had a bridal shower for Conor and Ellie's teacher. They enjoyed the cookies and punch most of all.

May 14, 2009

Our house is getting a bit full lately, so we've started "Throw it out Thursday". Each Thursday Conor and Ellie pick 10 things from their rooms to get rid of: garage sale, give away or throw away. For all of you who are thinking how mean that is, and that what they keep is important to them, I offer you my proof. Here is Conor's 10 things from Thursday. It includes: a kid's menu from Applebees, the packaging from his birthday blowers, and birthday card from when he was 6, a Superman valentine, 2 tags from a package of socks (not his newest socks), the tag from a Power Ranger toy, and a Kohl's tag from a stuffed animal he got from school in kindergarten. You'll notice that the red Kohl's tag has been torn in 3 pieces, thereby taking the total from 8 to 10. (This is a very painful new activity for Conor).

May 13, 2009

Cement mixer beeps.

May 12, 2009

Since the middle of winter, Conor has been wanting to plant sunflowers. He got some seeds at school (they each brought home a couple of random packets - I'm not sure why). We had to wait awhile to plant them, which almost killed him. They're in the ground now, and he checks them daily. Nothing to report yet.

May 11, 2009

Rowan and Ellie sharing an after school snack.

May 10, 2009

I took this picture as proof that they actually do get along sometimes. Every once in awhile they play together, and don't talk meanly.
It should be noted that 90 seconds after this was taken, Ellie was crying because of a card Conor had drawn. This is how our days go lately.

And I really am looking forward to summer.

May 9, 2009

On Saturday we had C and E's friend birthday party. It was at a local indoor playground, and almost their whole class was there. Conor invited the boys, and Ellie the girls. That could have meant some uneven present receiving, which made both Jon and I nervous. Conor was already anxious about the party. Fewer presents than Ellie could have sent him over the edge. Fortunately, several of the girls also brought gifts for him. (We haven't started teasing him about that quite yet).

He was acting like a jerk the whole morning before the party (which isn't at all uncommon, especially if something's bothering him). I finally got it out of him that he was not looking forward to the party. He just doesn't like things that are unfamiliar. We talked about it, and he kept saying he wasn't going. I finally said he was going, but he could sit by me the entire time if he wanted to. Yeah, that happened.

This is the girl who could barely contain herself while looking forward to her party. She's in one of the slides "being by myself for a minute".

This is they guy who was sure he would hate having a friend birthday party. He just wanted to sit by his mama and not play.

Doesn't this look like how you'd want to spend your 7th birthday?

May 8, 2009

In addition to being the kids' actual birthday, it was also the first graders' Mother's Day Tea at school. They sang some songs and did a reader's theater. I also got some presents - books that they had written and illustrated, and some flowers. The books are real hard cover books, and are fabulous. They contain information such as "Her hobbies are taking naps, playing with Rowan, me and Conor, working on her laptop, and going shopping." or "My mom's favorite TV show is Barefoot Contessa." Really, they are amazing reference guides.

You can't see it, but Conor's shirt says "It's my birthday!" and Ellie's says "Birthday Girl". This may be the last year they fit, which makes me want to cry.

May 7, 2009

Conor "helped" me put up the tent on the swingset. And by help, I mean he told me where there was some sun coming in.

I have a friend who makes decisions based on whether or not she could live with herself. For example, if she's leaving her three year old outside while she runs in to get the phone and something happens to him, could she live with herself? I make decisions based on whether I could explain it to Jon. Like this, for example. I could totally explain why I chose to get the camera instead of stopping him.

May 6, 2009

In addition to saying "Cheese" whenever he sees a camera, Rowan now makes a camera sort of noise. If you don't have a picture to show him right after that, he gets a little irritated. "Mommy, I said cheese and made the noise. Come on!"

May 5, 2009

The church behind us just built a new playground for the daycare and neighborhood to use. It's at the far end of their property, so it's not right beside us, but it's awesome. We have a different park we can walk to, but it's about a mile away, so we usually take bikes or scooters. This one we can go to whenever we have a few minutes.

It's blurry, but it pretty much sums up how we feel about the park.

May 4, 2009

Every school day, as soon as she's done getting ready, Ellie combs Rowan's hair. He always finds the comb for her, and stays calmer than I've ever seen him. It's the only time his mouth doesn't move, I've found.


Conor and Ellie never watched much tv when they were toddlers. They still don't watch much, compared to other first graders. Rowan? Well, Rowan gets a bit more viewing time in.

May 3, 2009

The day after the party:

Technically, he is playing outside.

The neighborhood dolls had a picnic. You can't quite see that Ellie also has her new MP3 player in the picnic basket.

Not a bad birthday party!

May 2, 2009

Saturday was Conor and Ellie's family birthday party. They had so much fun.

When this was first released, Ellie told me how much she wanted it. I said "Maybe for your birthday." She said quite confidently, "I'll ask Sarah. She'll get it for me." She was right.

This is right after he decorated his cake, so it looks pretty good. It got picked at, but not like last year.

This was the "Annoying Table", I believe.

Here's how you launch the rockets from Grandma and Grandpa Wilson:

Here's how you attempt to get one out of the tree after I launch it. (It takes 2 Grandpas, an aunt's boyfriend, a Dad and a neighbor. And lots of tries. Because yes, you do hear Jon say "Now that one's stuck" at the end.)

May 1, 2009

Happy May Day! Conor is happy about it - excited even. It just really doesn't look it in this picture.

Stealthy we are not.