tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25015884352346500892024-03-12T19:35:12.728-04:00Jill's Expedition to EthiopiaWhat was once a blog about adopting a baby girl has morphed into a journal on the perils of single parenthood, the surprises of raising a spunky toddler, and the absolute joys of becoming a family. Forever.Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.comBlogger304125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-65902978438214326292011-10-05T06:37:00.010-04:002011-10-05T07:18:34.123-04:00The day I fell in love.....There are many dates in an adoptive parent's life that stand out. Some fade over time: the date my dossier was finished and went to Ethiopia, the first and second court dates that fell through, the dates I flew over and home again, etc. But there are a handful that will always be remembered and celebrated: referral day, family day, the day I met Mari's birth family, landing in the US and being HOME.<br /><br />Today, October 5th, is referral day. The day I fell in love. The day I received the picture of the baby with the unbelievably gorgeous, and intense, chocolate brown eyes. Those eyes dared you not to be in love, they had stories of untold sadness, they asked questions, they held a lifetime of anticipation, and they were full of curiosity. Those eyes still speak volumes but they've added new depths; laughter, wonder, and a twinkle that tells me I better be on my toes every minute of the day.<br /><br />I fell in love with those big brown eyes 4 years ago and they are still my favorite part of you, Miss Amari.<br /><br /><div align="center">October 5th, 2007<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNL76TfhRaNEN-BGCcnkpZghPBs9bRdCpG8N8yIbLnxSYobbKselD_O819ilLxeUgP7UYjvK3LZmQNDaNqDQ8o7Ee-0084PbiDd5uYGyFdKwWCDMyI-fXo6uXFlktV2Pf7RJzeNzxHyeH/s1600/2007-10.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659956676093948210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNL76TfhRaNEN-BGCcnkpZghPBs9bRdCpG8N8yIbLnxSYobbKselD_O819ilLxeUgP7UYjvK3LZmQNDaNqDQ8o7Ee-0084PbiDd5uYGyFdKwWCDMyI-fXo6uXFlktV2Pf7RJzeNzxHyeH/s400/2007-10.JPG" /></a> October 5th, 2008<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHBYY9awlk_44zyqrnf45jDThl2sZD7jNOK0f-LX1uc78bUjU0L6o83k1PfLD4YNwRG_PMN09kosDYHpah0sBF_0n4EvUT8niuDSOAzZDtSE9KfTO1k2cjNUvsmAtaL0A8qna-LCyhxGY/s1600/ha.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 388px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659956668490786594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVHBYY9awlk_44zyqrnf45jDThl2sZD7jNOK0f-LX1uc78bUjU0L6o83k1PfLD4YNwRG_PMN09kosDYHpah0sBF_0n4EvUT8niuDSOAzZDtSE9KfTO1k2cjNUvsmAtaL0A8qna-LCyhxGY/s400/ha.jpg" /></a> October 5th, 2009<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHRDbLSuS95iYeCSFdWZ0t17WXBW0iRphw1yLG1i0ChGmtTGRIP456HJWPrCK9DOMPzp2LulVoUyUhSYIUfIdFv2nUET-ldTKcX9Lb5xvMeWP_JwX1cbbAr4uXOoQmy1EAdrgZfVngfhW/s1600/016+%25283%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659956667399997826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHRDbLSuS95iYeCSFdWZ0t17WXBW0iRphw1yLG1i0ChGmtTGRIP456HJWPrCK9DOMPzp2LulVoUyUhSYIUfIdFv2nUET-ldTKcX9Lb5xvMeWP_JwX1cbbAr4uXOoQmy1EAdrgZfVngfhW/s400/016+%25283%2529.JPG" /></a> October 5th, 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9sMceLHSMxVAOZWp_eMSOhUxxxoU5ypPfXQNHicbQ2PfP2UuHdaeSPtQ4x-jH6WCbBOUCsvi8ybrcR4_Jzi7zydBk8dJeqNNRdxsjJDMmQW1dsdzRRn50aHgzFT617EwWeu6XwIaTGcp/s1600/039a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 265px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659956662526069890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9sMceLHSMxVAOZWp_eMSOhUxxxoU5ypPfXQNHicbQ2PfP2UuHdaeSPtQ4x-jH6WCbBOUCsvi8ybrcR4_Jzi7zydBk8dJeqNNRdxsjJDMmQW1dsdzRRn50aHgzFT617EwWeu6XwIaTGcp/s400/039a.jpg" /></a> October 5th, 2011<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqo1b7Ym5hLirVxSmIMwHb5zh1neuB9V4pdM1CDI3DrP5_-fOAfmfmLBNLBy7yloEFale7Li0kM5WN52825ADNU4x1BaAHLSka46LOU94hvy4hi__CS8Zbp-wnZqxW2xDlGZmlXyL0UE7M/s1600/054a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659956656898008914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqo1b7Ym5hLirVxSmIMwHb5zh1neuB9V4pdM1CDI3DrP5_-fOAfmfmLBNLBy7yloEFale7Li0kM5WN52825ADNU4x1BaAHLSka46LOU94hvy4hi__CS8Zbp-wnZqxW2xDlGZmlXyL0UE7M/s400/054a.jpg" /></a> 4 years. Wow.</div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-9561352001466402412011-09-20T19:23:00.014-04:002011-09-20T21:14:57.526-04:00Beach Beach Beach!!!!For the third year, we spent our vacation at the beach. I love the beach but I hate heat, sun, and crowds. So we always wait until after Labor Day to go....lower prices, cooler temps, less crowds. Two years ago it was hot, last year it was chilly. This year it was perfect! Our vacation was in immediate danger of not happening - two weeks before we went, Hurricane Irene rampaged right on through our beloved beach and then it was again threatened by Hurricane Maria. Luckily, the damage from Irene was minimal and quickly fixed and Maria decided to take a quick turn back to sea. Other than some clouds for the first day, the days were perfect. Sunny but not scorching, cool breezes but not chilly.<br /><br />We arrived on Thursday, early afternoon. I had been told that we should be able to check in early but our room was not ready. Our hotel allowed us to go ahead and park and use their lobby bathroom. We headed straight to the beach....Mari and I playing while my mom took advantage of the afternoon to scour the coupon books.<br /><br />Mari love love loves the beach. It is pure nirvana for her. From the sand to the salt water, she is completely content on the beach.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGEWg1Te0ro3olwTQvH_QVar4iRA2ka-6VFfp06qjM4wrb5JurwZiWEAmY9Tc2ZtfISFme801OKqlihMGAC09hGLWfPxjJcibD8OB7Rv5fB-k6y0eh8fxGM2e-ZNIsDPlJ80u9BJNPxf2/s1600/041+%25283%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590611100694722" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGEWg1Te0ro3olwTQvH_QVar4iRA2ka-6VFfp06qjM4wrb5JurwZiWEAmY9Tc2ZtfISFme801OKqlihMGAC09hGLWfPxjJcibD8OB7Rv5fB-k6y0eh8fxGM2e-ZNIsDPlJ80u9BJNPxf2/s400/041+%25283%2529.JPG" /></a> Beach, beach, beach. Finally at the beach!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQfBMuZ63gOZNE71kOEPUpv9PpoBcHNlLwZepz8ffZSusBhRIobCq9RNuc7iNQHpgaqnV4GlUyzLdw2JG0HGucV1Ke-7TQtLYSevqgzPWKaSc-eUw0Hmz_7-RuReN79055ahoLnJjVv7-/s1600/017+%25283%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590604638223378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQfBMuZ63gOZNE71kOEPUpv9PpoBcHNlLwZepz8ffZSusBhRIobCq9RNuc7iNQHpgaqnV4GlUyzLdw2JG0HGucV1Ke-7TQtLYSevqgzPWKaSc-eUw0Hmz_7-RuReN79055ahoLnJjVv7-/s400/017+%25283%2529.JPG" /></a> Mari and her grandma hanging out on the balcony. We spent a lot of time on the balcony. So relaxing.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHmw6-7aDT1tAr8ONxv1Qx3SQXOmEJ8-od4siTgkRk-5ylW_BqHokSs4YBR_flYiuJeFvECP_YbdsiQlXhqO1SGUbDtT_Is_x0HLTW2EfarZE28Io29sCIamSgoE66aC0B7LA-q8MbG90/s1600/070+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 268px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590602635033618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHmw6-7aDT1tAr8ONxv1Qx3SQXOmEJ8-od4siTgkRk-5ylW_BqHokSs4YBR_flYiuJeFvECP_YbdsiQlXhqO1SGUbDtT_Is_x0HLTW2EfarZE28Io29sCIamSgoE66aC0B7LA-q8MbG90/s400/070+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> Me and Mari - she just can't help being silly sometimes<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvP5Lqv1VaX0mzJGjjU-7lS7cTs3ghIN7nBxnofaGlMPFepMU3-fTcidQYwyY_AuPrY5_p3VcQbGWDesPosKTTj6KaaV7xKjkl9pmV_24rk_RTHLcs1o3HvmmQrqLNUr4H9lKLL9lPubS/s1600/071+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 361px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590597419787234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvP5Lqv1VaX0mzJGjjU-7lS7cTs3ghIN7nBxnofaGlMPFepMU3-fTcidQYwyY_AuPrY5_p3VcQbGWDesPosKTTj6KaaV7xKjkl9pmV_24rk_RTHLcs1o3HvmmQrqLNUr4H9lKLL9lPubS/s400/071+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> More silliness.....<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvkygUZJO5KLxu0lKqOOIK8tmAi1unyc0wye2sf2B3A_4J7QiX6NFV6JxU850eijNI-dx0rkMo1F8fvxiHoFoPU7ou2Enw3rjPlKtTypuOHHjVFf4vb54UFNZUhn5CnNVjvuPvPiarvqj/s1600/079+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590597044803938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvkygUZJO5KLxu0lKqOOIK8tmAi1unyc0wye2sf2B3A_4J7QiX6NFV6JxU850eijNI-dx0rkMo1F8fvxiHoFoPU7ou2Enw3rjPlKtTypuOHHjVFf4vb54UFNZUhn5CnNVjvuPvPiarvqj/s400/079+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> Packed a backpack full of toys and all she wanted to play with was her baggie full of Squinkies. Guess I could have saved us some packing.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZan4-9Wl3zyhj1wWl3AKzvtXtSGf1ZkMrnX8LNONaNAFo6m83Uk3wIBJWRgZzWJGd9P1uVTPCMJYBLA8tQJa0mwsI0iutxECe3OnbOaFsSakX5-Wp60u1BW6hvNlQVoQNaRQoEQKgd0LP/s1600/080+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 302px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590219950961282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZan4-9Wl3zyhj1wWl3AKzvtXtSGf1ZkMrnX8LNONaNAFo6m83Uk3wIBJWRgZzWJGd9P1uVTPCMJYBLA8tQJa0mwsI0iutxECe3OnbOaFsSakX5-Wp60u1BW6hvNlQVoQNaRQoEQKgd0LP/s400/080+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> Did I mention that Mari is a little silly sometimes?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYuxeuIUJihqTYgXHOR3LYxL4Xx4Dy5WsFTz2f9LQeBU7M9ClHeYP6197GXtHIpXNmDF4eKMdTDEHDcSJbcn-1OMz5iHU9RrgAdn5eeO7881t8PQgQGBhkTc_ByON40OZM5w0w57GsdJ3/s1600/088+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590214012922082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYuxeuIUJihqTYgXHOR3LYxL4Xx4Dy5WsFTz2f9LQeBU7M9ClHeYP6197GXtHIpXNmDF4eKMdTDEHDcSJbcn-1OMz5iHU9RrgAdn5eeO7881t8PQgQGBhkTc_ByON40OZM5w0w57GsdJ3/s400/088+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> The view from our balcony....we stay next to Neptune park. Lots of activity but removed enough that it doesn't bother you. And the playground is nice, although she really wasn't interested in it much this year.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmeL-R0uIGFryoP47i1eYYixEz_NwejwOHtV_5qezozUMVZII2NUI0SNtRM-vTD4lpViVjpjewJpJ1CZYGhTahUDWBt5xsnaslN66_fu-vmRkgL4g1PQNhOVFiRAzyE1YpIIAfZhMMD5X/s1600/077+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590211523083314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmeL-R0uIGFryoP47i1eYYixEz_NwejwOHtV_5qezozUMVZII2NUI0SNtRM-vTD4lpViVjpjewJpJ1CZYGhTahUDWBt5xsnaslN66_fu-vmRkgL4g1PQNhOVFiRAzyE1YpIIAfZhMMD5X/s400/077+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> View in the other direction. We loved sitting on the balcony watching people. Beach-people watching is so much more fun than regular people watching. We saw some engagement pix being done, watched a wedding, watched a near-rescue by the lifeguards.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6S2PmrK5xg9JWnGLeeTGx052kpr94RhbY5mI9K8V9RU9jr6gI_857WjHab7vb85dCEydIoQaDh5KVWQNvgMM3ONTFHSGK6WAWfjC9x_ULzzNzq2nOUX1ZnpIIm7EC1yC_xEenCcmCGye/s1600/078+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590208151728322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6S2PmrK5xg9JWnGLeeTGx052kpr94RhbY5mI9K8V9RU9jr6gI_857WjHab7vb85dCEydIoQaDh5KVWQNvgMM3ONTFHSGK6WAWfjC9x_ULzzNzq2nOUX1ZnpIIm7EC1yC_xEenCcmCGye/s400/078+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> I usually take lots of sunrise pictures (which I did) but on Friday morning the skies were too overcast to see the sunrise. I was fascinated by the pools of light on the water from the little breaks in the clouds.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5nTMEa2MFs4svG-ekHODIAIlmrL_YTGi8f004enA3ZmJASi_8trvsxjbkhowbxBtV0lz4g0edYuyXIz_egp5AgnxQir6aU6vvzknZRaVq1bCwOzfCYdsg5gMwsd5nZI2rL9sjHHC6Fq4/s1600/011+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654590204426970114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5nTMEa2MFs4svG-ekHODIAIlmrL_YTGi8f004enA3ZmJASi_8trvsxjbkhowbxBtV0lz4g0edYuyXIz_egp5AgnxQir6aU6vvzknZRaVq1bCwOzfCYdsg5gMwsd5nZI2rL9sjHHC6Fq4/s400/011+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> We were originally supposed to go on a pirate boat cruise on Friday morning but it got rescheduled (we were the only ones signed up that morning) and since it was cloudy, we headed to the Virginia Aquarium and Science Center.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgphBxBB9cbuei60ioXwTgCzo_mZh5Ny7D1-FTKvyVNDwq7anEAhwsjPao-kuGr7taLA8fVQZzvE2VA1JVVuPadEBBvgUF75DBl-pIm_PF78uPAE_8fUfAz2WQtqBlJiPTIJq7CoJwuzz/s1600/048+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589757285248818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgphBxBB9cbuei60ioXwTgCzo_mZh5Ny7D1-FTKvyVNDwq7anEAhwsjPao-kuGr7taLA8fVQZzvE2VA1JVVuPadEBBvgUF75DBl-pIm_PF78uPAE_8fUfAz2WQtqBlJiPTIJq7CoJwuzz/s400/048+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> Mari took this picture of me and my mom.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37MCB40gO23hBSbPXomF6oqN4IKH9Ao5rjagurMZShJ7UfrSzMPdtoVf-1JR7tlFcthQN9UyGpRRgceMmoIwelGyB0BJX0QXKt0fJRVmqBOcrh_R62Kx9UOlwYa2kvt0nn8qJTcejQBKE/s1600/049+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 299px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589747108087298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37MCB40gO23hBSbPXomF6oqN4IKH9Ao5rjagurMZShJ7UfrSzMPdtoVf-1JR7tlFcthQN9UyGpRRgceMmoIwelGyB0BJX0QXKt0fJRVmqBOcrh_R62Kx9UOlwYa2kvt0nn8qJTcejQBKE/s400/049+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> Hanging out with the turtles.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXRTXpYTER2LKDPozGwiYEijNbjc-XnBhQR9-Nea-FxZyOpOAyRJQBLgVSSvmuhEcPYbU4YvnwF58AU1WB1LgsVX-MrL9U1lUMheRtbTjlB0_tj6vu8VNTStZ0yZpuEx3NMhnymtBAVOA/s1600/046+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 296px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589743031336306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXRTXpYTER2LKDPozGwiYEijNbjc-XnBhQR9-Nea-FxZyOpOAyRJQBLgVSSvmuhEcPYbU4YvnwF58AU1WB1LgsVX-MrL9U1lUMheRtbTjlB0_tj6vu8VNTStZ0yZpuEx3NMhnymtBAVOA/s400/046+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> Shark food!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_aRzhtd4cg40dvGiC6RaKWWedth_vQoFAhARUWKMjt2wujM30xOEjwzdSOc4DEbh_FaVQWse8Ccczw6DinSLGFhCX_6UxHmScSvhpUyCHu9Lc-m0-8r_e3z3nGOCYEzPmOsjC2lIUWmO/s1600/099.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 377px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589738968415794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_aRzhtd4cg40dvGiC6RaKWWedth_vQoFAhARUWKMjt2wujM30xOEjwzdSOc4DEbh_FaVQWse8Ccczw6DinSLGFhCX_6UxHmScSvhpUyCHu9Lc-m0-8r_e3z3nGOCYEzPmOsjC2lIUWmO/s400/099.JPG" /></a> Mari was fascinated by the crocodiles (who would have guessed?). They were pretty spectacular. She was healthily intimidated by them but kept wanting to go back to see them. I think her face says it all. But she really did love them.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdJ12JEpu0aL4Z7WsBM1RoAdRDnc0tH38gPFU0mjcqzteXfDXwhgTKWJaqDTXe_mULa74kG_Sqm92LlisVt7T6txQ1Zq_JDolSG8Zg3AWBqYU3z9N-hXEdOUMiQKp875taVpOVYciiUOS/s1600/103.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589729645064754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdJ12JEpu0aL4Z7WsBM1RoAdRDnc0tH38gPFU0mjcqzteXfDXwhgTKWJaqDTXe_mULa74kG_Sqm92LlisVt7T6txQ1Zq_JDolSG8Zg3AWBqYU3z9N-hXEdOUMiQKp875taVpOVYciiUOS/s400/103.JPG" /></a> Back to the beach for a beautiful afternoon. The water was so rough this year because of the hurricane offshore. There were red flags up all weekend and the lifeguards were hyper-vigilant. I couldn't give Mari as much freedom as she wanted but she was happy just to be playing on the beach and getting into the shallow water with me.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeqkqqz6-bbU2TTNTg2jKOvQ0bkHyi_UHoIeunsh7fxexQSMEy6PUs-lv9-IeTps1ZAmg7gjjnES6e_rkLpm01UCEp0qo7fTvM_4QrY-IBnEEL9o16IQV58e5CFQ4qIw8j8RGSLt-6Iie/s1600/147.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589132336764914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeqkqqz6-bbU2TTNTg2jKOvQ0bkHyi_UHoIeunsh7fxexQSMEy6PUs-lv9-IeTps1ZAmg7gjjnES6e_rkLpm01UCEp0qo7fTvM_4QrY-IBnEEL9o16IQV58e5CFQ4qIw8j8RGSLt-6Iie/s400/147.JPG" /></a>One of the best things about our hotel was the restaurant downstairs. It was affordable and yummy. What's better than eating a big plate of steamed shrimp oceanside?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvXdQudv-DLF7X8WIyNcSGzEQ7L2tR4dbHtdUyaQ570oV7ORFede_nSD606_JAfNebw_fwV8xLviREAbOedQ_7EjPpkwByPemMqAkpTdkYhSQCfaqvb9hm-EpnsPW9llC9xCGpyasclt0/s1600/205.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589128829536290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvXdQudv-DLF7X8WIyNcSGzEQ7L2tR4dbHtdUyaQ570oV7ORFede_nSD606_JAfNebw_fwV8xLviREAbOedQ_7EjPpkwByPemMqAkpTdkYhSQCfaqvb9hm-EpnsPW9llC9xCGpyasclt0/s400/205.JPG" /></a>On Saturday morning we went to the Shriners parade (their convention was in town) and then walked the boardwalk back to our hotel. We found this little "park" between a couple hotels that had a bunch of hermit crab statues. This is as close to a hermit crab that Mari would get....I was all prepared to bring home a hermit crab this year for Mari to take care of. She wouldn't even look at them at the store....they completely freaked her out. Needless to say, no new pet in this house!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78TP-fwjI7YLfgFueFcu4ap1S14bNx_SmpKoxmLcpse8teSVMkDHEmrx7pvD99l6wvsjxKG4IiGXR7FdQojFlBScfufQ1_o1OwougTy_dPco0CcOWLSYfpDeDcSsaf-ZpUC3fG6ObKUxQ/s1600/035+%25284%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 285px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589125579344482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78TP-fwjI7YLfgFueFcu4ap1S14bNx_SmpKoxmLcpse8teSVMkDHEmrx7pvD99l6wvsjxKG4IiGXR7FdQojFlBScfufQ1_o1OwougTy_dPco0CcOWLSYfpDeDcSsaf-ZpUC3fG6ObKUxQ/s400/035+%25284%2529.JPG" /></a>Back to the beach! Did I forget to mention that someone LOVES the beach?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbqZzsaApieYBBwebNn1gDPtX3eXJW0Rxx9gA9z53VQRmlX4QKnqWRyfhIxGK56r4gI_zisbY6upACGSL6lxTF0HJONcnAtw7Ra6JGwwpUrTcsFKe-Sv07cpWRoaLv7xWLAeGQY2qi7_n/s1600/055+%25283%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 375px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589119997739346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbqZzsaApieYBBwebNn1gDPtX3eXJW0Rxx9gA9z53VQRmlX4QKnqWRyfhIxGK56r4gI_zisbY6upACGSL6lxTF0HJONcnAtw7Ra6JGwwpUrTcsFKe-Sv07cpWRoaLv7xWLAeGQY2qi7_n/s400/055+%25283%2529.JPG" /></a>Like really loves?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4a9Inxwrz1gTugkuSFvjF3gZlrzOWwv7Ul-T47hcbKXz29_RvOc7C_cDmKI2DEPUUFHoowD_xZLClYmOb91H7gcr0WFiUJG2W6Zr__5X2oSflWXoCHD4l7xbcDxeRgYyf0WHoOThd2FJR/s1600/069+%25283%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 315px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654589117448486930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4a9Inxwrz1gTugkuSFvjF3gZlrzOWwv7Ul-T47hcbKXz29_RvOc7C_cDmKI2DEPUUFHoowD_xZLClYmOb91H7gcr0WFiUJG2W6Zr__5X2oSflWXoCHD4l7xbcDxeRgYyf0WHoOThd2FJR/s400/069+%25283%2529.JPG" /></a> Found a fun little pizza place around the corner that served a little bit of everything....and gave kids a free frisbee as a plate (yeah, it's the little things that make a 4-yr-old happy!). But they had fantastic murals on the wall.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_EGIVgFl-pDPITjfEuahyphenhyphenW0uz3TKtFh-NjjQ-iYxjIAKBXvkZHEgWsS8VgeWYs_4LjF4nMGf3ThoMLw1ajaz9Brax10L9U4xbYbodIF5qmJ939e6vm16Y9wOAJPFQXf-OsNJcVsQ87GK/s1600/071+%25283%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654588839216180386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_EGIVgFl-pDPITjfEuahyphenhyphenW0uz3TKtFh-NjjQ-iYxjIAKBXvkZHEgWsS8VgeWYs_4LjF4nMGf3ThoMLw1ajaz9Brax10L9U4xbYbodIF5qmJ939e6vm16Y9wOAJPFQXf-OsNJcVsQ87GK/s400/071+%25283%2529.JPG" /></a> Then it was off on a pirate boat tour! We were so excited about this....it was to be the highlight of our vacation. It was fun and Mari had a good time but it wasn't everything I had hoped for. Part of the problem was that our original pick of the Friday 10am tour was cancelled and we had to go on the Saturday 5pm tour. It is a cruise geared for little kids....singing, dancing, games, face painting, etc. So it was disappointing to be on a boat with a bunch of drunk adults. And I was surprised that they were serving alcohol on a kid's cruise (especially since they do offer an adults only tour)....I'm guessing the 10am cruise would not have been so intoxicated. Mom and I both agreed we'd have probably left if we weren't in the middle of the ocean.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGc5RANPzMDWtZQVshBanOa6bptfYf4r-XQ7LJYyYhUHhAMF-aZsA5oLp8iz7tFZ_LD252zFUq9MhuDQ9FCu2xwqavqYT9ADCXwWAdhyphenhyphenbZqYrBRDz0eAhaR42izp2oDUxkl5-8FailaGwN/s1600/133+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654588837464554466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGc5RANPzMDWtZQVshBanOa6bptfYf4r-XQ7LJYyYhUHhAMF-aZsA5oLp8iz7tFZ_LD252zFUq9MhuDQ9FCu2xwqavqYT9ADCXwWAdhyphenhyphenbZqYrBRDz0eAhaR42izp2oDUxkl5-8FailaGwN/s400/133+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a> But Mari had a pretty good time. She was a little overwhelmed/scared by the appearance of Blackbeard (a guy in a motor boat that we got to shoot water cannons at) and she was so tired and hungry by the time that we were back to land that she was ready to get off. But she did get some good pirate gear!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8R5nx7_XnAcKet-Azj3iiEOobB2rKP_1vhEZGd8994WOvt9OXav0I5AOVu_rc0XVGuaWz8KpjSxcZ7gnQvi9QPpuwnGaiQ-tZtnEablRNg8ueGA3rR2jDUYDU6nJIiD221ezhxZ8WW3s/s1600/169+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 307px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654588829055849410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8R5nx7_XnAcKet-Azj3iiEOobB2rKP_1vhEZGd8994WOvt9OXav0I5AOVu_rc0XVGuaWz8KpjSxcZ7gnQvi9QPpuwnGaiQ-tZtnEablRNg8ueGA3rR2jDUYDU6nJIiD221ezhxZ8WW3s/s400/169+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a>Sunday morning was a beautiful morning....sad that we had to leave. I decided spontaneously (very unlike me!) to take Mari down to the beach in her PJs. I wanted to take some fun pictures in the brilliant light....she was just overjoyed about going to the beach in her PJs. She's still talking about going to the beach in her PJs almost 2 weeks later!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyTTN5THgjo4ao0KdazEulkDdwyGS7CaCDkP6Fox928ySrJblzl1motwdPGWMwvWmdFrG2lEnrDXtmC86hdCVSBbx-ytnh862k8R5XVyjz7_ChnCm_kd1V1hCptfF-YNhAAzUvGyz63ci/s1600/016a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654588822912849314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyTTN5THgjo4ao0KdazEulkDdwyGS7CaCDkP6Fox928ySrJblzl1motwdPGWMwvWmdFrG2lEnrDXtmC86hdCVSBbx-ytnh862k8R5XVyjz7_ChnCm_kd1V1hCptfF-YNhAAzUvGyz63ci/s400/016a.jpg" /></a> Although the picture above is one of my all-time favorites, the one below sums up our vacation. This chickadee LOVES the beach!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3OMYflYk45KVklLDhPbYaaCUymSK9cCtfESwEOMDWabvr93TfFN_Lg7K5HcM0WRjTZbDeYGqRdv8ehDIL1eJRuP4dCZItEMzfbMntxuY3xSGpYxp9rm8MMrTX8ObZkxKSPgMAkhu6u2I/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 216px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5654588818102388674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3OMYflYk45KVklLDhPbYaaCUymSK9cCtfESwEOMDWabvr93TfFN_Lg7K5HcM0WRjTZbDeYGqRdv8ehDIL1eJRuP4dCZItEMzfbMntxuY3xSGpYxp9rm8MMrTX8ObZkxKSPgMAkhu6u2I/s400/025.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-85354513306239996172011-08-23T20:54:00.004-04:002011-08-23T21:21:01.729-04:00Earth-shaking start to Kindergarten!The first day of Kindergarten is now tucked away in our memories. It went very well (except that part about the massive earthquake we had in the middle of the first day of school!).
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<br />Mari has been so super excited about Kindergarten. I think it confused her at first when we made the decision to start a year early because I had always told her she had to be 5 to start K. But after a couple "practice" days in her K class, she was more than ready to hop right in and could care less if she was the youngest in the class.
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<br />We keep a calendar on the wall to mark off the days and help us keep track of upcoming events (so when she asks me 100 times when we are going to the beach, I can tell her to go count the days). Here she is posing with her calendar....the schoolhouse sticker doesn't stick as well because school was originally supposed to start after Labor Day but they decided to move it forward 2 weeks (so I had to move the sticker!). This worked out great for us because it shortened the wait time (she was SO excited) and also alleviated the problem of our beach trip interfering with the start of school.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivo-JDQ0huQsLoXeTzMTwVr6_yD0x09LjvrTxCeFcR7fMRR4_UIA8bYagiLfHCPMM7HYxYHolay07dGjAhP1LqKtDjv-wXPMo58jI5_5GuAyUl91be8rNGwx8kSlqAI3sUcGVrKvC-W_ux/s1600/005a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644220181057647442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivo-JDQ0huQsLoXeTzMTwVr6_yD0x09LjvrTxCeFcR7fMRR4_UIA8bYagiLfHCPMM7HYxYHolay07dGjAhP1LqKtDjv-wXPMo58jI5_5GuAyUl91be8rNGwx8kSlqAI3sUcGVrKvC-W_ux/s400/005a.jpg" /></a> I'm guessing this will be the first in a series of pictures....hopefully, I will do this every year!
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<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJQVx5ddWyhVuvx5btP1pHwF0CVirZHVN1YRSmcuweFlSV_5xzKIYDDrDsJHb4vDXyIdr40BX9OJlAQS_6PFz0mNifbYZlwRAyPN-mofz2GDqnfHBiHKEpN9MaZXfqHwmTEMUb4mQZGoC/s1600/010a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 245px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644220082890126418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJQVx5ddWyhVuvx5btP1pHwF0CVirZHVN1YRSmcuweFlSV_5xzKIYDDrDsJHb4vDXyIdr40BX9OJlAQS_6PFz0mNifbYZlwRAyPN-mofz2GDqnfHBiHKEpN9MaZXfqHwmTEMUb4mQZGoC/s400/010a.jpg" /></a> Doesn't she look super grown up?? I almost lost it here. I did okay with taking her this morning. I had a huge meltdown last week so I was better able to handle my emotions today. I had to drop her off in the K classroom on Thursday because we beat her preschool teacher to school. This is not too unusual but when I saw her name on her seat and that the classroom was ready for her, I lost it! She saw her name on the table and was said "Do I start today, Mommy?!?!" And I said "NO!!!!" I wasn't ready. But I'm glad I got those emotions out of the way early.
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<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pb9zFOp8DdY5vbUyL6nC0IGeqGUXhs_5vLqo2XXKbIjzwD0wRR_RTQu263PaSCpZ9LaUJc7vYmofPfp8PEXfiJAg1MH7_WPELmtA4fPDzfYd1nocvesN_J0910TJ8bcH_s5eb5GJhOJz/s1600/012a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644220075290153826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pb9zFOp8DdY5vbUyL6nC0IGeqGUXhs_5vLqo2XXKbIjzwD0wRR_RTQu263PaSCpZ9LaUJc7vYmofPfp8PEXfiJAg1MH7_WPELmtA4fPDzfYd1nocvesN_J0910TJ8bcH_s5eb5GJhOJz/s400/012a.jpg" /></a> Cannot believe that my little fairy-hater, superhero-lover picked out a Princess backpack!</div>
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<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oP-m33HJ0CHCAReMPQ_9QAGN2w7ahn8WXcT-9683f7-T8Hlys9O2B-xgxJzZlmyP1SzMLZhErwdi3ZPPChcQ2D0g4Y49pV9GCovAFY4Nmb7dOOwv6iVjJ02e0aYbVwtz2lQWCzaCVLuu/s1600/021.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 216px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644220072012672626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0oP-m33HJ0CHCAReMPQ_9QAGN2w7ahn8WXcT-9683f7-T8Hlys9O2B-xgxJzZlmyP1SzMLZhErwdi3ZPPChcQ2D0g4Y49pV9GCovAFY4Nmb7dOOwv6iVjJ02e0aYbVwtz2lQWCzaCVLuu/s400/021.JPG" /></a> Puh-lease Mommy, stop taking pictures and take me to school!!
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<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz45M_eLh08DmtkKWlxK0-PVFWmLx900lGMyLCP6ywNB5nwmiAzXgbKDYuoby0Uk0ig4Ys35CLj8Xt3KltuG9wFu_Wh6DPUkgrh8t6EZJWMFric61FvLmSJYW4nPEbIu3L4aYML6Mjd128/s1600/036.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 299px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644220068985939970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz45M_eLh08DmtkKWlxK0-PVFWmLx900lGMyLCP6ywNB5nwmiAzXgbKDYuoby0Uk0ig4Ys35CLj8Xt3KltuG9wFu_Wh6DPUkgrh8t6EZJWMFric61FvLmSJYW4nPEbIu3L4aYML6Mjd128/s400/036.JPG" /></a>I made her take one last picture outside of school. She was being silly by that point and was pretending she was a pirate...."Argh, Matey!"
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<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxNFib6089LdlIfJrcHtR3-s16N_0X27y4Gqe9vjPJQ5Hpvgo1zTKIFKNKxoX9XYf8LeC-5sx1yzBHbHPVG6CzKsOI1WM4MIxlL2A-VHR4RYxmAUha5fxT7qMwpIzchqe-9anWW3002Gf/s1600/043.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644220065900832290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxNFib6089LdlIfJrcHtR3-s16N_0X27y4Gqe9vjPJQ5Hpvgo1zTKIFKNKxoX9XYf8LeC-5sx1yzBHbHPVG6CzKsOI1WM4MIxlL2A-VHR4RYxmAUha5fxT7qMwpIzchqe-9anWW3002Gf/s400/043.JPG" /></a> When we walked into school, she suddenly became shy and attached herself to my leg. But once we got into her class she saw a couple of friends that had taken the summer off and she was thrilled to see them again. And her best friend was dressed almost identically to her (same plaid, but in shorts and exact same polo shirt) and she nearly knocked Mari down hugging her. They kind of did that hugging/jumping thing, ran out of the classroom to give their preschool teacher a hug and then ran back in. I got a "Bye Mom, I love you!" and I was back in the car kind of feeling breathless.
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<br /><div>Luckily, I had a busy morning at work to keep my mind off of the day and I had just slowed down and was starting to feel a little teary when the whole world started shaking. EARTHQUAKE!!! It was surreal. We were just kind of sitting there looking at each other, afraid to ask one another if they had felt anything. It was a 5.8 centered about 70 miles from us. It was scary given that I work on the second floor of a 3 story building. I was worried about being the middle part of a sandwich. It was all I could do to finish working the next 90 minutes before school let out.</div>
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<br /><div>It was all okay in the end. Everyone was safe and no damage. And Mari didn't seem to care about the earthquake.</div>
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<br /><div>She had a great day at school. She said it was "WAY easy" and that she did pretty good with listening but maybe not so good with staying in her seat. Which is exactly how I knew her day would go. </div></div></div></div></div>
<br />Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-74863732166300248152011-08-16T14:59:00.004-04:002011-08-17T10:06:20.363-04:00Ready or not, Here We Go to Kindergarten!<p>Haven’t blogged in awhile. We’ve been busy this summer and working on some decisions about the upcoming school year that I didn’t want to share on here. I purposefully didn’t share what was going on because I know there are strong opinions on both sides of the picture and it was a decision that I needed to make myself without any outside input. Finally reached a decision and I’m feeling really good about it.
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<br />Our big decision is to send Mari to Kindergarten this year. She will one day shy of 4 years and 5 months old. I originally blew off our pediatrician’s suggestion to petition the school system for early entry. I felt comfortable with where we at and what we were doing. Then, in the course of some general playtime, I discovered that Mari knew how to add – actually, when I asked her if she knew what math was, she sat down and wrote herself a worksheet of addition problems complete with + and = signs and then solved them. I was speechless. I showed her how to subtract and she caught on to that like wildfire. Coupled with the fact that she was moving through her reading levels at school at a quick rate, I began to research just what is necessary to be “Kindergarten ready”.
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<br />There is a lot of controversy surrounding K starting age and there are people with all kind of opinions regarding it. What I’ve found through my research (and asking people that I trust) is that it is a very individual thing. Most people will say that being the youngest in your grade is a disadvantage except that everyone that I’ve spoken with that started early (before age deadlines were strict) said it really wasn’t a big deal. There is also a movement over the last decade supporting holding children back until they are six. But new studies are showing that this doesn’t necessarily help children unless there is a specific delay. It’s a pretty mixed bag….what it all boils down to is the individual child and their needs.
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<br />Some of the things that qualify a child to be “Kindergarten ready” really surprised me. I guess from the standpoint that I was surprised that most kids aren’t ready to do them by Kindergarten. But then again, my child has been in daycare/preschool for over 3 years now and the school she is at now is very structured. I’ll explain more about our choice of schools in the next post but I’ll just mention that the current class she is in for preK is more structured than the public K and even 1st grade that I visited.
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<br />Some of the things that deem a child as Kindergarten ready include: able to stand/walk in line of children, able to be a line leader, able to sit for periods of 15 minutes to listen to a story or do seat work, able to change activities with minimal redirection, able to follow 2-3 step instructions, able to feed oneself, able to handle bathroom activities themselves. None of these should be a problem. Mari does tend to be a jumping bean when it comes to sitting for activities but only if she’s bored…if she has something to focus on, she is fine.
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<br />As for the academic readiness, that’s a whole different ball of wax. Things that are considered K-ready include:
<br />*Recognizing and writing first name - she can do her whole name as well as most of her friends and teachers
<br />*Counting objects to 20 – She can count to 138 (the highest I’ve listened to), she can count to 100 by 2s, she can write all her numbers up to 100 if called out randomly, she can add and subtract as long as she has enough fingers and toes for the problem.
<br />*Recognizing basic colors – She’s known her colors since she was 18 months old.
<br />*Recognizing and drawing basic shapes – Not a problem.
<br />*Recognizing some letters and their sounds – She can read most Level 1 books and has short and long vowels down. She’s pretty good at sounding out words phonetically when trying to write them. (Like she wrote Perry the Platypus as "Paree the Platdepos".)
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<br />Sooo…..we went and had her evaluated at the public school (again, more on school choice later) and they assessed her to be at a high level of K/going into 1st grade level. The reading specialist said (and I quote) “She read better than any of the incoming Kindergarteners I’ve assessed this year, she’s way ahead of most of them.” That was 3 months and several reading levels ago.
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<br />I’ve had to question my motivation for placing Mari in K early. It comes down to keeping her happy and motivated. She LOVE LOVE LOVES doing schoolwork and worksheets; she will turn off the TV (her love) to do math problems. We read together all the time and the worst punishment I can give her is to take away evening book time. I come from the background of being one of the smartest kids in my class – never having enough to keep me busy or challenged, always being the outcast for ruining the curve or always getting the best grades. I don’t really want Mari to be in that position. She’s still going to be super smart even if we start her early but I want her to have to work and stay focused. You can already see the difference in her behavior when she’s bored vs. keeping her mind busy.
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<br />Is she ready to climb on a school bus and ride 45 minutes to elementary school, stay focused in a class of 20-25 kids, stay safe in a school of several hundred, ride the bus home 45 minutes? No! But is she mature enough to handle a small Kindergarten class with kids she already knows and a teacher she already loves, using a curriculum that has already proven to be outstanding? Yes!
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<br />So we start Kindergarten in less than one week. Help! </p>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-76574450854947122652011-06-07T21:47:00.003-04:002011-06-07T21:49:53.410-04:00When I grow up....Mari: Mommy, I decided I don't wanna be a nurse when I'm bigger. I wanna be a firefighter.<br /><br />Me: That's cool, Mari. You can be whatever you want to be. A firefighter is a very brave thing to be.<br /><br />Mari: Brave? Why is it brave?<br /><br />Me: It takes a very brave person to fight fires.<br /><br />Mari: FIRE? I don't like fire!! I'm not getting near any fires!!!!!<br /><br />Me: (silence)<br /><br /><br />She's rendered me speechless again.Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-29711323517256795422011-04-25T18:42:00.003-04:002011-04-25T18:49:18.109-04:00Say WHAT??**Make sure to read this out loud, really fast, really loud, and very high-pitched.**<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">"Mommy? Remember when B came to my birthday but it wasn't my birthday it was America's birthday and there was a parade and fireworks but they were scary fireworks and I don't like those but if I stand up those fireworks are okay if I have a flashlight and I used my flashlight when it was thundering and we had to go to the closet if it got bad but it didn't get bad so we didn't get in the closet and I was sad because I wanted to use my flashlight that I got at the arcade when we went with Daniel when we went swimming but it was plain old swimming not the waterpark even though the arcade was at the waterpark and Daniel wore his Spiderman swim stuff like the Spiderman puzzle I have that Alyce helped me put together on that day I went to work with you because there was no school because it was Easter even though it wasn't really Easter yet even though we did our Easter Party at school but then we had to wait a long time until it was really Easter to go to church at Lydia's church not Lydia-at-school but Lydia-my-neighbor that I go to ballet with when we get McDonalds and have a picnic and watch softball and then go to ballet and I have to be careful not to get grass stains on my ballet tights cause ballerinas don't have grass on their tights and Lydia got to be the line leader and we had an egg hunt at her church and then we came home and the Easter Bunny hid eggs in my yard while I took a nap and then Madi came over and helped me find the eggs but Aly didn't cause she's just a baby and I sang her a song to keep her happy and then everybody went home and I was really sad?"<br /><br />Breathe.<br /><br />"Do you remember that, Mommy?"<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Ummm.....what was the question??</span>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-77240444359785866222011-04-20T20:24:00.003-04:002011-04-20T21:06:57.270-04:004 is so much better than 3!!I know I'm long overdue for a regular old update. Mari turned 4 a few weeks ago and I just haven't had time or energy to update. We had Influenza during our birthday weeks (we are 10 days apart) and then Mari had a streak of really horrible behavior, complicated by some health issues on my end that were leaving me worried and drained......anywhoo. Moving on.<br /><br />So I'll have to do a separate post on Mari's birthday. I think I still owe you posts on Halloween, Christmas, etc etc etc. Um, yeah.... Sorry!<br /><br />But this update is just a Mari update.<br /><br />Brains:<br />I don't know where to start with this one. Mari can read! I'm talking, really really read. She is only behind one other kid in her class on the reading chart (and most of the kids are going into K this year) and she is miles ahead of most in her class. I knew she was doing great but when I took time to look at the chart in her classroom, I didn't realize that she was doing THAT well. She has finished her set of 10 preschool books and is now in book #4 (of 8) in her K books. She can read most Level 1 I-Can-Read books with only a little assistance on some odd words. It has been amazing to watch this process. She gets SO excited when she reads, I love to see her so proud of herself.<br /><br />She has also come a long way with her writing....she very rarely gets any letters backwards and is even starting to be legible in cursive (I still am not sure how I feel about preschoolers learning cursive but it doesn't seem to hurt her). She can count easily to 100 (and count, not just recite) and recognizes most of those numbers. When she writes her numbers, she does very well until she gets to about 14 and then she starts writing them backwards (15=51, 16=61, etc).<br /><br />She can draw circles, squares, and triangles (her pediatrician acted like triangles were a big deal??) She love love loves doing dot-to-dot puzzles and she has a new book of "spot the differences". She has been waking up early in the morning (like around 5!) and I'll find her sitting on the couch with a pencil in her hand and a workbook open "doing her homework."<br /><br />I love my little nerd.<br /><br />I had thought about asking to place her in Kindergarten this year. She's at a private Christian school that goes up to 6th grade. Her pediatrician also suggested that I petition the public school to let her in this year because she is going to be so bored. I'm still deciding whether to talk to the public schools or not (about where she will fit next year) but I think I'm going to leave her where she is at. She LOVES her teachers now and she has never had the same teacher for more than a few months. I'd love to give her the stability of keeping those teachers for another year. They will continue to progress her at her own pace, so I don't have to worry about her slowing down this year. Also, while I like her being with older kids to challenge her, I think she's at a point where she is self-motivated enough that I want to give her the advantage of not being the youngest in the class anymore. So we will see where this year leads us.....<br /><br />Activities:<br />Mari started ballet class a few weeks ago. I found an 8 week class for a very very good price that is held at a local elementary school. I thought she'd enjoy it but didn't have high expectations because gymnastics was a disaster (which surprised me because of her acute case of "bouncitis"). I have been shocked! She LOVES it. It is the highlight of her week. She asks every morning if it's ballet day. She practices every night what she's learned and checks on her leotard and shoes constantly. She focuses in class and tries so hard. We are already exploring options for a more permanent ballet class!<br /><br />Some of my coworkers got Mari a guitar and a microphone for her birthday. The entertainment level in our house went to a whole new level. Mari stages large-scale concerts in our living room, complete with an audience of stuffed animals. Sometimes it's songs she knows, sometimes she makes them up as she goes, sometimes we hook the MP3 into the mike amp to do karaoke, and sometimes she tells stories with different voices and sound effects. She is a real ham.<br /><br />Behavior:<br />I've been told that 4 is so much better than 3. I was in serious doubt the first couple weeks but now I'm getting a sense of new confidence and a whole new level of cooperation. First, Mari has actually stopped herself in the middle of tantrums a couple of times and told herself to calm down!!!!!! She is able to reason through situations when I ask her what the consequences will be depending on which action she chooses....it took a lot of effort on my part to instill in her the fact that Mommy WILL follow through with the consequences. That involved missing a movie with friends one time and missing a playdate (among other smaller things). She now knows that I stick to my guns and she is testing me so much less these days.<br /><br />Just in the past week we've done the following: planted some plants, made candy sushi, made chocolate chip cookies, stomped in rain puddles, watched movies together, had 2 picnics, watched a softball game, she's had an Easter party at school, she's getting ready to have a taco party at school......it's just been a week of happiness all around.<br /><br />And she learned to snap her fingers this morning. SNAP!Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-14397071912313648452011-04-16T18:35:00.008-04:002011-04-16T19:17:05.168-04:00Storm Chasers we are not....<p>With severe weather in our area, and me being an absolute wreck when there is even a hint of bad weather coming, we prepared to spend our Saturday indoors. I had planned for us to just stay in our PJs all day and laze about listening to the torrential downpours. Unfortunately, a tornado watch was issued during naptime and quickly changed to multiple tornado watches all around us. We tried to stay busy in order to not freak out. In the end, there were possible tornados that touched down way too close to my house for comfort (but thankfully, no one was injured). Strangely, while we had some pretty good storms, they came nowhere close to some of the intense storms we've experienced before, so I'm a little freaked out that it got so bad so close. Yikes!</p><br /><p>Here's how we passed our day....</p>First, Mari decided that she would pack her backpack for Kindergarten and sit at the window, doing some songwriting, while waiting on the bus. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it will be 16 more months before that school bus comes.... <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBijMmKJZXjJ8NCqkyuWjRV-yOxAZaOMBI3i9ZqPlcnxD6m-AllK39fBCVotEYmcx_bfppbNf0nGot3mj9psP1OFudSjjVUS9aQ5UX94BLGmabZOR07fBqoMSWSGJvOAej-UFQpfNnGTj/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 284px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317557598737490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBijMmKJZXjJ8NCqkyuWjRV-yOxAZaOMBI3i9ZqPlcnxD6m-AllK39fBCVotEYmcx_bfppbNf0nGot3mj9psP1OFudSjjVUS9aQ5UX94BLGmabZOR07fBqoMSWSGJvOAej-UFQpfNnGTj/s400/001.JPG" /></a> Mari's been asking to grow something for weeks, so I bought some supplies and we got busy planting a little indoor garden. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4EFEdLtaY94vgbKnpzden8yNaY46InTWX57aymWnIOxI4vSO-FeltUYxlN4AIL9Efkl5DcfPyivcDC4xdOUzfE-OyGbWM7g9GfmLxfnEqnQtiM37qOPUyFt6el7tgy4z4Srapbg-Yb6f/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317554698152114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4EFEdLtaY94vgbKnpzden8yNaY46InTWX57aymWnIOxI4vSO-FeltUYxlN4AIL9Efkl5DcfPyivcDC4xdOUzfE-OyGbWM7g9GfmLxfnEqnQtiM37qOPUyFt6el7tgy4z4Srapbg-Yb6f/s400/005.JPG" /></a> She took her job <em>very</em> seriously. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbU2dnwLx9D214nsuC87r_FTOLKAUxgY-flB_FLSnPVLCM7gm5XwPTquDBfQ-SbkMQwZSasrUyGil-5wrIKrGJWOuQDjuSzi7fwiBM56gNCCMzjE_ZvBLA4yFlYsFx1t_Vhbx9P109AlzJ/s1600/013.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 241px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317360181949266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbU2dnwLx9D214nsuC87r_FTOLKAUxgY-flB_FLSnPVLCM7gm5XwPTquDBfQ-SbkMQwZSasrUyGil-5wrIKrGJWOuQDjuSzi7fwiBM56gNCCMzjE_ZvBLA4yFlYsFx1t_Vhbx9P109AlzJ/s400/013.JPG" /></a> I tried to pick things that could be "started" indoors (not that we'll ever make it to transplanting them) and that wouldn't take too long to sprout. Most of these should start sprouting in 7-14 days....hopefully, she won't lose interest by then. We planted peas, cat grass, impatiens, marigolds, and "mixed-up" flowers. <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBJ6q1Vk8bzw1TlR2tfKUbuDWHiY328s9HA7Ol2DNNv36JcC4L8LEx9IqEu297_mGjiljCVVKD4bu03zu1LDiqleEwue93M-HGSZ4Z3dfqiQwEMcwGi5nRtxyBmhicJbfO8SE6iUNQFJq/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317352504917330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBJ6q1Vk8bzw1TlR2tfKUbuDWHiY328s9HA7Ol2DNNv36JcC4L8LEx9IqEu297_mGjiljCVVKD4bu03zu1LDiqleEwue93M-HGSZ4Z3dfqiQwEMcwGi5nRtxyBmhicJbfO8SE6iUNQFJq/s400/020.JPG" /></a> Our little garden....I put them in bins to make it easy to move them out of the cats' reach when we are not home. <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQyBWjoM9KxOpY4FP6DcrUsL2GXPTsG6tAiXBZaXQz9loXxDVRNFvEanBjz2nMWKodRMJV_NYtltB6lRziX0vJWNpNDfEd87sZGp6W4zNpgVOP3FKeKFj0y8Qg6aOa-0ABp47GEhaLVXF/s1600/024.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317348205853106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQyBWjoM9KxOpY4FP6DcrUsL2GXPTsG6tAiXBZaXQz9loXxDVRNFvEanBjz2nMWKodRMJV_NYtltB6lRziX0vJWNpNDfEd87sZGp6W4zNpgVOP3FKeKFj0y8Qg6aOa-0ABp47GEhaLVXF/s400/024.JPG" /></a> After doing some planting, Mari decided she needed to do some watercolors...which kept her occupied just long enough for me to clean up the planting mess. <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8_i4vlQFz_FpLW8Y_-L8YL6AHQFm1OqJaeUqxERIOXljviThAQlkRaQH_01vmxUXaEsuRmnDzxw3DaGH172_pi6CTgED4UGI6CSVahRx4O7HJwzEiAZ2asa6iNikw1XoBPO6z_h1j_Z1/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317343419449026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8_i4vlQFz_FpLW8Y_-L8YL6AHQFm1OqJaeUqxERIOXljviThAQlkRaQH_01vmxUXaEsuRmnDzxw3DaGH172_pi6CTgED4UGI6CSVahRx4O7HJwzEiAZ2asa6iNikw1XoBPO6z_h1j_Z1/s400/017.JPG" /></a> At snack time, she asked me for a fruit rollup, so I decided to try out a new project that I saw online. <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oaatbIVLXDq_Lb540ewlX1BgHLHa6QDE5UUcnY7IvBqytRwMxFixYvRuYGdvdnwnkvAQkMYAePcveO2ZrI-6w7nXWKxo5sgorsbPDK-FKwXl8B-d9wUxL9a_hatWbJvwdKN1G95oX4mS/s1600/028.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 313px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596317342058510850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oaatbIVLXDq_Lb540ewlX1BgHLHa6QDE5UUcnY7IvBqytRwMxFixYvRuYGdvdnwnkvAQkMYAePcveO2ZrI-6w7nXWKxo5sgorsbPDK-FKwXl8B-d9wUxL9a_hatWbJvwdKN1G95oX4mS/s400/028.JPG" /></a> Amazing what you can do with a fruit rollup, a rice krispy treat, and some gummies.....candy sushi!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgok-c3VlhiZECafVAWmPAbUrxquO_B92J9_GKnpXjDKjFPoLb9XLb23R_xUshO2o8DQx4lUWzuiccGOg6b-w9c5RVm4cflH1giZ5QyOO_ZD2JSdrK4PUlKPR46EgpPnVXQPOBuo2EMgpKo/s1600/031.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596316828322639074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgok-c3VlhiZECafVAWmPAbUrxquO_B92J9_GKnpXjDKjFPoLb9XLb23R_xUshO2o8DQx4lUWzuiccGOg6b-w9c5RVm4cflH1giZ5QyOO_ZD2JSdrK4PUlKPR46EgpPnVXQPOBuo2EMgpKo/s400/031.JPG" /></a> Let's just say, I found them more fun to make than to eat. Mari enjoyed them though! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkKu8Co_X1Ns_7yTR7X-acR8Am8IttK34NSjtLM_YiaAYOxFRfOOSIT-XXFvr271tSWvHZPJOw_ttpEO1PAGGC1SEk1pgm0aztilL8NQ6Oh4ez6xB54KQxf7-iHULbRlU5Th7c4Kyz9x3/s1600/033.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596316824727858818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkKu8Co_X1Ns_7yTR7X-acR8Am8IttK34NSjtLM_YiaAYOxFRfOOSIT-XXFvr271tSWvHZPJOw_ttpEO1PAGGC1SEk1pgm0aztilL8NQ6Oh4ez6xB54KQxf7-iHULbRlU5Th7c4Kyz9x3/s400/033.JPG" /></a> Back out to check on the plants for the 500th time.....nothing growing yet. And it's been almost 2 hours!!! Sigh.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ip1sxi7sSvn0Yk2oLWe92Ap1XNd_ykEF6WY1fnMHqEtom3tJaL994iQgzkAbT4hR6xOPzwvWvpQiVAQcfDo89ZjGyydVIqAwENqni8QnAUXLUMtUaR_i0D-Kvjtw_TCSNJjldQ3UdWJ2/s1600/035.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596316826615129074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ip1sxi7sSvn0Yk2oLWe92Ap1XNd_ykEF6WY1fnMHqEtom3tJaL994iQgzkAbT4hR6xOPzwvWvpQiVAQcfDo89ZjGyydVIqAwENqni8QnAUXLUMtUaR_i0D-Kvjtw_TCSNJjldQ3UdWJ2/s400/035.JPG" /></a> Spent a little time playing with Mommy's Nook....reading Nat Geo for Little Kids. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvP8_ckooaq0Qtglr7M-QZCKz9nPp_T_yzH3Ef3kb02GD8tbkYanJgwCUGBIN0KAjjBK1O8BmNysBSyMOZDXHIANDpiiTW4uzuNCfS33AJge9Cyl4iN8ieEWKJkqRWsHBNr5JeFkTeC4S/s1600/039.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596316820571343698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvP8_ckooaq0Qtglr7M-QZCKz9nPp_T_yzH3Ef3kb02GD8tbkYanJgwCUGBIN0KAjjBK1O8BmNysBSyMOZDXHIANDpiiTW4uzuNCfS33AJge9Cyl4iN8ieEWKJkqRWsHBNr5JeFkTeC4S/s400/039.JPG" /></a> Watched a little TV with the company of a best buddy. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDBQcshxaCYJcDvEkePXNYL6SYb1_wrHEBmwD7-SnYtxfBO3AsfGPdXzm6PeKnf9og5JlbVEE4bhHrJutA4c3mSk20lCFAhMo2OtD9wATmd7ju14XTVIvbGd1yL3jNLGWjBxEuXt-AOcg/s1600/040.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 327px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596316815286365154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDBQcshxaCYJcDvEkePXNYL6SYb1_wrHEBmwD7-SnYtxfBO3AsfGPdXzm6PeKnf9og5JlbVEE4bhHrJutA4c3mSk20lCFAhMo2OtD9wATmd7ju14XTVIvbGd1yL3jNLGWjBxEuXt-AOcg/s400/040.JPG" /></a> And all this before suppertime. Still rumbling outside. This could be a long storm season.</div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-88134010716108285942011-03-10T21:16:00.003-05:002011-03-10T22:53:57.590-05:00We are so lucky......Over and over again, I hear how lucky my daughter is. How fortunate she is to be with me. How much better her life is here as opposed to there. She has been rescued. Saved.<br /><br />Telling the people that voice these platitudes that I am the lucky one, that I’m the one that needed saving, that I’ve been rescued is usually met by blank, ignorant smiles. They accept this as something nice I’ve said, but they don’t get it. They don’t realize that my child is not the lucky one. That she is not necessarily better off <em>here</em> as opposed to<em> there</em>.<br /><br />She hurts. Aches. Grieves. Suffers. She is confused, I feel guilty.<br /><br />Sadly, I was completely unprepared for my adoption. Even worse, I was completely ignorant of this fact. I knew how to take care of a child, meet their basic needs (okay, my parenting skills of a preschooler could use some serious work!). I had lots of education in transracial and transcultural adoption. I read a little bit on attachment as it related to infants, I read a lot on the integration of an internationally adopted child into a new family. I <em>thought</em> I was prepared.<br /><br />Until the grief hit. I wasn’t prepared for my almost-4 year old to suddenly wake up to her reality.<br /><br />How can a child that was brought home at 9 months remember anything? You have to remember something in order to grieve its loss, right? You can’t miss what you’ve never had, right?<br /><br />But what if you missed learning basic human interactions? Why do they put newborn babies right on the mother’s chest and encourage immediate breast-feeding? If that is so important, then how can you dismiss the longterm effects a child will experience from not attaching to anyone? How can you say that a child was too young (at 9 months of age) to be affected by the turmoil of adoption?<br /><br />Yes, I just said adoption and turmoil in the same sentence.<br /><br />My daughter was born. She had a mother and a sister. At around 3 months old, a time when most infants are starting to connect with the main caretakers in their lives, she was taken to an orphanage. She remained there 3 months….she was in a small room with only a few babies and a sweet grandmother of a nanny. When she reached the impressionable age of 6 months, when most babies are interacting and seeking attention from those they love, she was moved to a transition home. She remained at this transition home for 3 months, in a room full of infants with several nannies running around busily. At 9 months of age, a complete stranger showed up and whisked her away. To a new climate. A new language. New air to breathe (if you’ve ever been to Ethiopia - you know the air there is VERY different). New people. New routines. New tastes. New smells. New sounds. New emotions.<br /><br />4 living situations, 4 “families”, 4 completely different environments in 9 months. 9 months in which she should have been learning who her family was. She should have been learning how to make lasting, trusting relationships. She should have felt unconditional love. She should never have known hunger or cold or fear or loneliness or anxiety.<br /><br />But in those 9 months of life, she learned far more than most. She learned survival. She learned she didn’t need love. She learned to trust only herself. She learned that if she wanted attention, she had to initiate it. She learned that she existed for herself and no one else.<br /><br />Will she remember these times? No. Do they still affect her? Yes, daily. Will they always affect her? They shape who she is and will become.<br /><br />We are learning to let go of a lot of these things. I say <em>we</em> because she, while being very emotionally mature, is also very emotionally immature and needs help and guidance. She’s felt things we adults can never begin to imagine but she did not have anyone to teach her appropriate responses to emotions in the beginning…she is still learning how to deal with her feelings. She is giving up her independence….a tough balancing act for a strong-willed, spunky almost-4 year old. She is learning to trust me, that I will always love her - even when I’m angry, disappointed, or just plain grumpy. She is learning that she does not have to be the center of attention in order to be loved. She is, quite simply, learning what unconditional love is…..and testing it to the very limit to make sure it sticks.<br /><br />We are also learning to grieve. Mari is sad and angry. It is very easy to blame myself for this and feel guilty. I question the choices I’ve made and the ways I’ve handled things as being the source of her deep-rooted confusion. But it’s becoming quite obvious that we are going through a grieving process right now. 3 years after the fact may seem like a long time but we’ve just now reached a new level of comprehension. Mari is learning how families start, how families live, how families interact, how families love. She is just now learning that hers is different than most. It’s with this newfound understanding that she is beginning to realize what she has doesn't have.<br /><br />We celebrate her family in Ethiopia. Her mother and sister. We’ve talked about them from Day 1. I call her birthmother Mama H, as if that’s her name. I don’t say <em>your mother</em> or <em>your birthmother</em> or <em>your first mother</em> anymore…..it’s too confusing. We say Mama H, just as we would say Grandma or Auntie, etc. We talk about her birth story in very simplistic terms, leaving emotions out of it and focusing on physical things like lack of food and shelter. We talk about how I came to find her and that Mama H was happy to see me, how we gave a stuffed toy to her sister to remember us. We have pictures up in our house and light candles on special days.<br /><br />It’s only beginning to settle into her little brain. Why is my sister in Ethiopia, Mommy? Is she hungry too? Did you take her food? Does she go to school like me? Do I have to go back to Ethiopia? Can I go back to Ethiopia?<br /><br />We talk, we cry, we hold each other.<br /><br />Recently, the anger and sadness in Mari has escalated drastically. I had a feeling that it was adoption related as her behavior was very rejecting and hurtful towards me (this is her defense mechanism…she puts up a wall to protect herself….she can’t lose what she doesn’t love, right?). Finally it all hit a boiling point and one night she asked me “Why didn’t God give me a daddy?” I was starting to make supper and I could tell by the way she was asking (in the middle of quiet sobbing) that this was a turning point. I stopped everything and turned off burners and scooped her up. I explained, again, how I was not married so she did not have a dad. I explained that we did not know anything about a dad in Ethiopia, I was honest and brief.<br /><br />And then she asked, “Why doesn’t <em>any</em>one love me enough to be my daddy?”<br /><br />We sobbed together for a long time (I’m crying as I type this and it’s been over a week). She was so sad and so angry because she didn’t have a daddy. And she thought <em>she</em> was the reason.<br /><br />I’ve known for a long time that she wants a dad. What child of a single mom doesn’t dream about having a dad? But I never would have guessed that she felt it was her fault. We are still learning. And these lessons in life come neither easily nor painlessly.<br /><br />Don‘t try to tell me that an infant is too young to know loss.<br />Don’t try to tell me that my child is lucky.<br /><br />How many 3 year olds cry because they want to see their sister that they don’t remember?<br />How many 3 years olds cry because God didn't give them a daddy?<br />How many 3 years old are that lucky?Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-89614973110925511622011-01-29T09:21:00.008-05:002011-01-29T09:40:32.702-05:00The Magic BedWe've all heard the adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But....when something breaks, fixing it sometimes just doesn't cut the mustard. Sometimes you have to completely scrap everything you know and start all over.<br /><br />One of the easiest things about parenthood for me has always been bedtimes. Mari has always been a rockstar sleeper. Other than occasionally whining because she would rather play than take a nap or that she wanted to stay up longer, she has always gone to nap and bed without a fuss, without getting up, and would sleep all night. Sure, she is a super early riser and there have been episodes throughout the last 3 years (usually when she was making some big developmental leaps) where she would have trouble with sleeping the whole night. But, honestly, we have absolutely coasted by. Until now.<br /><br />Bedtime broke.<br /><br />I'm not even sure when it happened. I really began feeling the stress of it between Thanksgiving and Christmas but I think it was well before that when it started. Probably back around September, maybe? I remember dealing with some behavior issues after our beach trip but between that throwing our schedule all off and the fact that she moved into a new, more advanced class at school, I took this lapse in stride.<br /><br />Back around Thanksgiving, we were really revving it up with fighting going to bed and getting up in the middle of the night (usually multiple times) and really fighting about going back to bed.<br /><br />One thing that Mari really enjoyed was being able to stay up and read for a little while. So I moved her bookcase and lamp next to her bed and she would get 10 minutes of reading time after I read her stories. I also gave her permission to turn her lamp back on and read in the middle of the night if she woke up and couldn't go back to sleep (this was my mom's suggestion). It worked, she stopped getting out of bed in the middle of the night shortly after Thanksgiving and I don't think she ever actually took advantage of the middle-of-the-night reading session. Unfortunately, the novelty of being able to read in bed by herself wore off very quickly too.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSV_EKITNZZIRJwTf3G7FMGjEGTGXS8cymKiij52EHqg-ZqQEmF-fqKMMgqjaO9i-MRmepGHZiao6-eH2iPd6uRDtW17CAD7P_qyhsmFTtEioIB4yfed-Kz8qb4Hig4TQ7rNxbwvfx11ge/s1600/1.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613298277584898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSV_EKITNZZIRJwTf3G7FMGjEGTGXS8cymKiij52EHqg-ZqQEmF-fqKMMgqjaO9i-MRmepGHZiao6-eH2iPd6uRDtW17CAD7P_qyhsmFTtEioIB4yfed-Kz8qb4Hig4TQ7rNxbwvfx11ge/s400/1.JPG" /></a> I started toying with the idea to move Mari up to a bigger bed around Christmastime (as you can see, her bed was a little crowded). The only time the guest bed is used is for company maybe 1-2 times a year....and the guest bed is used by me as I usually give my guests the master bed/bath. So I figured, I could move the full bed into her room and then just bunk with her when we had guests. When I offered her a bigger bed, I was super surprised when she flat out refused, saying she didn't want a new bed cause hers "was a perfect fit."<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnzZKoHKTL6UaXQNtrxr1vY6MsrlSxSGf3NYaG3pIA4-UDS2kDvzNxOtCOEokBcjRKomtwkPnxFJQiZszbu8SHvLeBp_zT8-MUm4SK5WXJfGeVmMVz_X8PidEZ88k6zDHnSz9FDjq8ilV/s1600/2.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613293683137810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnzZKoHKTL6UaXQNtrxr1vY6MsrlSxSGf3NYaG3pIA4-UDS2kDvzNxOtCOEokBcjRKomtwkPnxFJQiZszbu8SHvLeBp_zT8-MUm4SK5WXJfGeVmMVz_X8PidEZ88k6zDHnSz9FDjq8ilV/s400/2.JPG" /></a> Bedtimes started getting harder and harder. We tried rewards, we tried threats, we tried the old "put the kid back to bed but completely ignore her because she just wants attention" method, Santa Claus sent her messages to stay in bed, she got some of her Christmas toys taken away, she had TV taken away. It became a huge battle. Most nights she ended up finally crashing at around 9:30-10:00 when, before, she could never make it past 8:30.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjny4KPH5lAfq5dCHWa_BLQornylZYZTLFMgZvKQW3ebEECUlfPgXMFWGUZWO7oJNXgUoBVF8jWLdDGV-sBHudqz7iiJFlMp5ZxeWA7-Vhf4wB78GY1QDniLQ65ulIY40CHY1sLbqrC7P4y/s1600/3.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613290046232274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjny4KPH5lAfq5dCHWa_BLQornylZYZTLFMgZvKQW3ebEECUlfPgXMFWGUZWO7oJNXgUoBVF8jWLdDGV-sBHudqz7iiJFlMp5ZxeWA7-Vhf4wB78GY1QDniLQ65ulIY40CHY1sLbqrC7P4y/s400/3.JPG" /></a> Several weeks of this really wears on your nerves. When you are a single parent you really need those couple hours after your child's bedtime to regroup and recharge. It was something that I had really taken for granted - 2+ hours of peace to finish cleaning, prepare for the next day, watch TV, relax with a book. I was not getting any of this and coupled with the fact that we were fighting about bedtime, we started fighting about everything.</div><div></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><br />Bedtime Broke!<br /><br /></span></strong></div><div></div><div>Specifically the things that were broke:<br /><br />#1. We were no longer reading before bedtime - Mari has just gotten too big for sitting with me in the rocking chair to read and it was not relaxing to sit on the floor by her bed and read. So we'd pretty much stopped.<br /><br />#2. Our bedtime routine of "I Love You"s and kisses/hugs was nonexistent because she started throwing a fit as soon as we headed to her room.<br /><br />#3. It had become a big game for her to try to "sneak" out of her room as many times as she could.<br /><br />So we needed something new. After some discussion with some of the greatest friends in the world (have I ever mentioned how much I love the people that adoption has brought into my life? WOW!), I came up with a new game plan. I decided not to give Mari a choice about moving up to a big bed. I'm trying to reorganize the house and a huge part of that plan was giving her the guest room bed. It was suggested that, if this was going to be a definite change in the future, then I should go ahead and do it - no point in fixing bedtime and then trying to throw in a new bed. When I re-proposed the idea to Mari, it turns out that she was only worried about keeping her favorite blankets, NO PROBLEM! </div><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Operation Save Bedtime</strong></span> </div><div align="left"><br />We moved out Mari's toddler bed and moved the big bed into her room. She loved "helping" me and was really excited to get to pick a set of "Mommy's sheets" to put on her bed. I explained what a big girl she was and how exciting it was going to be to have a big bed.<br /><br />The first night, I was able to crawl up next to her and read her a bunch of books right there in bed. Then we also worked to fix problem #2 (the hugs/kisses) by taking another mom's suggestion of instituting a snuggle time. I set a timer for 5 minutes and laid with Mari and we talked & talked & talked & talked. (Turns out 5 minutes is not long enough for her to wind down and relax, so we upped it to 10 minutes after that!)<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ro7inhHoSBq_fMR3jTsSfwIVH8QJ0mA9L7aYuUBUTHsQM2dju5sXp0biI9P-wopy1TUVP9SH2ypiafySzgRfoZCaZ3QtgRWkjamPMmUVcBrmwOa2BTWN-d2MLKl9vkjD-8QfSQO8AnTP/s1600/4.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613285777037586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Ro7inhHoSBq_fMR3jTsSfwIVH8QJ0mA9L7aYuUBUTHsQM2dju5sXp0biI9P-wopy1TUVP9SH2ypiafySzgRfoZCaZ3QtgRWkjamPMmUVcBrmwOa2BTWN-d2MLKl9vkjD-8QfSQO8AnTP/s400/4.JPG" /></a> The first night, she snuck out of bed almost immediately but as soon as she made eye contact with me, she hightailed it back to bed. I said nothing and I didn't see her again! Around 4am, she came running into my room with a big grin on her face "I did it, Mommy! I stayed in bed all night!!" Um....not quite. But since she let me put her back to bed without a fuss and went back to sleep, I gave her a freebie on that!<br /><br />Since it is still dark out when we get up (6am), she really can't tell whether it is morning or not when she wakes up. So I found her "OK to Wake" alarm clock that we had bought awhile ago and set it for her. It glows a soft green when it's okay for her to be up. It never worked before but I guess now she's old enough to "get it" - she has not gotten up once before the green glow appeared since we started this. She will often come in my room at 6:00 to tell me that her light "finally" turned green! <div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-tYBlom__eQRposcxIQkbJusuoNMp3JTGJ_QUOhL6Jyre27JHvPRi1Jn_4pUcd49quoHWAY0kzh3HsxwKQoLi7rVqqbnwVfU3AQbaglydtnFMzNLm1ANJgNi-kpzq6zZNpIBdStn1ZKX9/s1600/5.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613037797198562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-tYBlom__eQRposcxIQkbJusuoNMp3JTGJ_QUOhL6Jyre27JHvPRi1Jn_4pUcd49quoHWAY0kzh3HsxwKQoLi7rVqqbnwVfU3AQbaglydtnFMzNLm1ANJgNi-kpzq6zZNpIBdStn1ZKX9/s400/5.JPG" /></a> <div>After a couple nights of good bedtimes, we went to Target and picked out new bed linens. My only stipulation was that she picked something that already matched the walls and curtains because I really wasn't ready to redo her whole room. I was very happy with what she picked out and with a Christmas gift card I'd gotten, we did her complete room makeover for $17!!<br /><br />She was pretty happy with the results! So was I! </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZ0FpTOrrcLmr8N5D-zqZy8UevVB6uQxunEOG3ATgFptU6dlvS03W5HmIOV2bfFH9SSicRbA4bD4p2KbGZjhyo15EFrGe9ch4dLXsdFTOatpSji3ARCoaNM4jjOM2WbIpS_TIwsRdL9ur/s1600/6.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613034128372482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZ0FpTOrrcLmr8N5D-zqZy8UevVB6uQxunEOG3ATgFptU6dlvS03W5HmIOV2bfFH9SSicRbA4bD4p2KbGZjhyo15EFrGe9ch4dLXsdFTOatpSji3ARCoaNM4jjOM2WbIpS_TIwsRdL9ur/s400/6.JPG" /></a> And even with all the changes, she continued to do a great job. Just moving the bed to a new location in her room would have been enough to put her knickers in a twist before but she really is growing up.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxJm0tzT3wyvOXYXC1_040Vj92Vilvs1QNXBG_oZCqTO4nB2dzuJwNan99v6ApWl0yNzi1D9K6vDrjIUYbwfrI98w6AYkfzOmxaPmrA4Tml6zcqLLjUVyCQt40hiXbXiZIoQOO1fbC1tU/s1600/7.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613026446784578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxJm0tzT3wyvOXYXC1_040Vj92Vilvs1QNXBG_oZCqTO4nB2dzuJwNan99v6ApWl0yNzi1D9K6vDrjIUYbwfrI98w6AYkfzOmxaPmrA4Tml6zcqLLjUVyCQt40hiXbXiZIoQOO1fbC1tU/s400/7.JPG" /></a> I promised Mari that if she stayed in bed for 10 nights, she could have a sleepover with her cousin Madi. As soon as she heard that, she started saving a space for Madi in her bed. She did 10 out of 11 nights!!!!!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEa6AGOEMpssdzknOMr7n0WW64pzb7RynGpBninqREv1r7dlmUGFA_aFN4Le7rJct7IC5ItWW00SuE0wEUpb_6ogXRcHgpC2nX_yHE0IcNmtCsDOa2lnjsWi6q2HGJmDrT66IDRb1AHW4/s1600/8.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 310px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613024333955538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEa6AGOEMpssdzknOMr7n0WW64pzb7RynGpBninqREv1r7dlmUGFA_aFN4Le7rJct7IC5ItWW00SuE0wEUpb_6ogXRcHgpC2nX_yHE0IcNmtCsDOa2lnjsWi6q2HGJmDrT66IDRb1AHW4/s400/8.JPG" /></a><strong> The grand reward: SLEEPOVER!!</strong><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567613020380390050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbdPwqhP1qCdLjARfTofkC_X6hOoWzdXNmErp8mdRrcPKwtkW8BWQ9zanO55DS4vWto7HjT59Z8mMLH2r_kQhyVWw2JcbwZAChJkljxFDh8B8RO8iAiAzIfNaw4nKqyPBIq56Il48PQ7s/s400/9.JPG" /> </div><div align="left"></div></div></div></div></div></div>So, bedtime is fixed. I was worried that, after the sleepover, there would be no motivation for her continue trying but she is doing well. She is back to earning coins (plastic gold coins she keeps in a treasure chest) for good behavior and doing chores. She gets a coin every night she stays in bed and, added to her chores/good behavior coins, she was able to save up and buy a movie for herself last night. After almost 3 weeks, there have only been 2 nights that she did not earn a coin - for a 3-yr-old with a broken bedtime, I'd call that FANTASTIC!<br /><br />The best part of it...instead of dreading bedtime, I now look forward to it. I've always loved reading to her and now I can do it comfortably. And the snuggle time is the best. It's our favorite part of the day and after Mari talks my ear off for a couple minutes, she settles down and it's usually a struggle for her to stay awake until Mommy leaves the room.<br /><br />Ahhhhh........Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-5962412707082867812011-01-27T20:18:00.009-05:002011-01-27T21:57:59.043-05:00Snow Day, NOT!Yesterday afternoon and evening, we got 9 inches of snow dumped on us. Luckily we were able to leave work early enough to avoid the horrible mess that was caused by a predicted, yet rather ferocious, thunder-snowstorm. Work opened at 10 o'clock this morning, daycare was opening at 9, snowblower man (my awesome neighbor) came around 8 - other than having to drive on some pretty dangerous roads, things were working out okay.<br /><br />So, I checked the news station that best keeps up with school closings around 8:45 just to double check before final preparations to leave the house. Mari and I bundled up and set out around 9 for our typical white-knuckle drive out of our neighborhood. I can usually breathe a sigh of relief once we get to the main roads, but not today. It was an unpleasant ride the whole way.<br /><br />Now, let me stop here and say that I only live a couple miles from my job and can get there in about 2-3 minutes in normal conditions but daycare is a few miles out of the way (still only takes about 10 minutes each way).<br /><br />Anyway, back to my story....we arrived at daycare around 9:30 and the parking lot was clean and the sidewalks nicely shovelled. I thought it was a little strange that no cars were in the parking lot but I figured that no one was currently dropping off kids. We went to the "big building" (Mari's class is in the building with the grade school - which was out because they follow the same cancellation as the county schools) and it was locked and dark. I wasn't really surprised because when the "big" school is closed, often Mari's class goes down to the daycare building for part or all of the day. So I drove down there. It wasn't until I got out and tried the dark, locked door that I realized that the parking lot would not be empty if there were any teachers there. Duh!<br /><br />So I called my mom to check the closings again on the computer, thinking maybe they had pushed back to open at 10. Nope. Closed. Boo. (And very unusual)<br /><br />At that point, I was left with 3 options:<br />1. Go home and miss work. I really didn't want to miss work (or use up my time off) plus the drive back to my house was going to be bad (the return trip is mostly uphill).<br />2. Go home and call my neighbor to see if they could keep Mari. Again, I'd have to drive home in the nastiness and then drive back to work...a trip that would normally take less than 20 minutes but would be at least an hour today.<br />3. Or just take Mari to work. I wasn't feeling really good about that option but since work is basically on the way home (a little out of the way but on decent roads).....<br /><br />So I picked option #3. While taking Mari to work was the lesser of the three evils, it was not without its risks (I work in a doctor's office). On the way there, we discussed leaving the patients alone, being quiet, listening well, staying at Mommy's desk, etc. Luckily, I had a couple preschool activity books in the car, Mari had Raffey, and I had packed her lunchbox well. I was still pretty apprehensive because I knew it was going to be a long day of "staying on top" of her.<br /><br />So, she totally showed me up. She was awesome. She sat at my desk most of the day; did her activity sheets, drew pictures, played with my tape and highlighters and post-its, she watched Nick JR on my computer, she "helped" me with some paperwork.<br /><br />She started getting wiggly around lunchtime but thought the walk to the cafeteria was awesome. She even did a quick rendition of "Stayin Alive" in the middle of the cafeteria. And she thought curly fries were a great addition to her lunch. On the way back from the cafeteria, we saw an old "friend" - one of the OR techs that had helped with her ear tubes. He's the "keeper of the teddy bears" and he talked to her for a few minutes and then disappeared for a moment, reappearing with a new teddy bear for her!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAU_uq7gMB_fSNETjxpyBG8ht3x9bsxL-EPFPv9Jt2O1qP1H0mMp0Xajx_aEoYtINBCZOYsDMbUf20bZe531MX-ZdZ4oS-xceLtxyh-DGNk5t0P8aZA86HOBp2k6MmuljKUGd7ykWIPq8Z/s1600/015.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567040478576067218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAU_uq7gMB_fSNETjxpyBG8ht3x9bsxL-EPFPv9Jt2O1qP1H0mMp0Xajx_aEoYtINBCZOYsDMbUf20bZe531MX-ZdZ4oS-xceLtxyh-DGNk5t0P8aZA86HOBp2k6MmuljKUGd7ykWIPq8Z/s400/015.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTZaNWCjqpt7FOcQpFkVpuRkwroiPXdEME5fTG1TxptxdslIZhtRoUtoi9kzIPMdkTiKGc_PpCWRDRgBUCXMWdCbNfmCctUfmmmQECXRFuo7CPPdFUiHIlJQPGAQkQRR4maQimCpMTXpo/s1600/017+copy.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 390px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567040387297044754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTZaNWCjqpt7FOcQpFkVpuRkwroiPXdEME5fTG1TxptxdslIZhtRoUtoi9kzIPMdkTiKGc_PpCWRDRgBUCXMWdCbNfmCctUfmmmQECXRFuo7CPPdFUiHIlJQPGAQkQRR4maQimCpMTXpo/s400/017+copy.jpg" /></a><br />She got to help clean the fish bowls and put the beta fish back into their bowls. She got to eat chocolate cake that one of the docs had brought. She sang songs and talked to my coworkers. She made friends with our supply guy. She had an absolute blast.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyfxP6eFUIDaZgkToI973YxOrbNuFRYhGducfhC4cMcShUUyEfgJ9IbP4oR5KQFAiusG8V0aXkc_Nw5CZhdZNThfHPykzEfmMkzlonNtFgbk5E-7p80flX1DJD9ApqkK97qnFqhGLpxDu/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567040384168797202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyfxP6eFUIDaZgkToI973YxOrbNuFRYhGducfhC4cMcShUUyEfgJ9IbP4oR5KQFAiusG8V0aXkc_Nw5CZhdZNThfHPykzEfmMkzlonNtFgbk5E-7p80flX1DJD9ApqkK97qnFqhGLpxDu/s400/018.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpDpBeXXsv3xVqAUWsK5g8phhJiyQRpKFf2AygS36XpKMO4waN3mMfjNFXn1eLWJCGRvLATU9DSRh30z6c3PqoAItFqVni1wGrsw2VbmoVbybTExg-3s7jYTKQ9SSxLoq6xcjDHI1wWYg/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 270px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567040376387918034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpDpBeXXsv3xVqAUWsK5g8phhJiyQRpKFf2AygS36XpKMO4waN3mMfjNFXn1eLWJCGRvLATU9DSRh30z6c3PqoAItFqVni1wGrsw2VbmoVbybTExg-3s7jYTKQ9SSxLoq6xcjDHI1wWYg/s400/019.JPG" /></a> Finally, about an hour before the day was over, she decided she wanted to lay down, but since we were winding down, we were able to leave the office a little early.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSwTc5dJsE6cNc6jqCkaMFLFW1bjNNJYLRKdqOcHC8_eR5mhRiToVvTYe84lnQsjdJEj0R4FohAoR7xwrBqH-OcvAv96520TqU2TDLrE3VsR5lkb1ja_dryPfcYGnfAyy3tFTbLW2FvDW/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567040372251071506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSwTc5dJsE6cNc6jqCkaMFLFW1bjNNJYLRKdqOcHC8_eR5mhRiToVvTYe84lnQsjdJEj0R4FohAoR7xwrBqH-OcvAv96520TqU2TDLrE3VsR5lkb1ja_dryPfcYGnfAyy3tFTbLW2FvDW/s400/020.JPG" /></a> She fell asleep before we left the parking lot! By then the roads were completely clear.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Jgd1kJyS33u8r911LTGNHbQKevpqfFi3hdWNAgtDVqJBCZ12Qbg4mJq6IWQyJt93HZfrOwqZKFvzbyz7C_9ASN0ivvBIUEAVrPP-8dLftdiEDhXm13St6MU1Ly1pYRS7TJqKcSLtIrEr/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 332px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567040374659799762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Jgd1kJyS33u8r911LTGNHbQKevpqfFi3hdWNAgtDVqJBCZ12Qbg4mJq6IWQyJt93HZfrOwqZKFvzbyz7C_9ASN0ivvBIUEAVrPP-8dLftdiEDhXm13St6MU1Ly1pYRS7TJqKcSLtIrEr/s400/022.JPG" /></a> I wouldn't want to do this every day. It was not a relaxing day, by any means. But I was very proud of Little Miss Diva for having a stellar day and really reigning herself in and behaving so well. I hope we're never stuck in another situation like this but I'm so glad that it turned out well. I was hoping for something less than a disaster and it turned out to be a fun day.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Back to normal tomorrow!</div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-15898997807663440922011-01-02T12:17:00.003-05:002011-01-02T16:18:29.688-05:00Happy Family Day!<div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Happy Family Day!!</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">3 Years Together!</span></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFO_BZS4-01qCK-WYZNMfzT3fciDNh2CTzTKIitQiW7If_a6btRMfbGwKWPr6sGcCLHJc6q5gkZq2It0x-oVOHWojywnFuumedrVTkmV7hpF3ggtBX9VIsKsvoxipZJOIKUUliYbSCubM/s1600/100_0682.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557700636545051874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCFO_BZS4-01qCK-WYZNMfzT3fciDNh2CTzTKIitQiW7If_a6btRMfbGwKWPr6sGcCLHJc6q5gkZq2It0x-oVOHWojywnFuumedrVTkmV7hpF3ggtBX9VIsKsvoxipZJOIKUUliYbSCubM/s400/100_0682.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YRLrevvNr0bHM12dTLY48Zy_sRN5yRoBEwLtz5Ze_YfbWiHhZlQ0-6OfUiUFprftf4NONEcIFH4MUY5_DO_FubVBxqMlidg7iiTWCBtA_csEb7Qmz-c0bEONym2rtBBaRgzcQ55k2Jnz/s1600/101_1063.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 324px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557700631305164098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1YRLrevvNr0bHM12dTLY48Zy_sRN5yRoBEwLtz5Ze_YfbWiHhZlQ0-6OfUiUFprftf4NONEcIFH4MUY5_DO_FubVBxqMlidg7iiTWCBtA_csEb7Qmz-c0bEONym2rtBBaRgzcQ55k2Jnz/s400/101_1063.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUGMZgdeF-yny5CCxhTbrlq0AahzJO-YWy3WnfaId1nW_1NK8qFeORi3rfXyM_fWjnO3f36NQ-Qj3-FouTIBwcz5sEr1TxuHo4_Pw1NFMmlbXVjwLMEXqMDZMRHIiu5FKbwMEFGOLkCGD/s1600/020+%25282%2529.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 349px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557700626587822450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUGMZgdeF-yny5CCxhTbrlq0AahzJO-YWy3WnfaId1nW_1NK8qFeORi3rfXyM_fWjnO3f36NQ-Qj3-FouTIBwcz5sEr1TxuHo4_Pw1NFMmlbXVjwLMEXqMDZMRHIiu5FKbwMEFGOLkCGD/s400/020+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-BjdZpZQH-Amf79MTdtENqUTFm01ubkirtLXeKbs_WzobebZt4YKrdrXmQuLSaCO-BkNomXc44QuA5OSwZtBObrq0TS2QoxN8U0ICcZpt0pI_4VDqgmBtk1j6ZtWdK80t0SnMUrwqFtw/s1600/052.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 299px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557700622706653442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-BjdZpZQH-Amf79MTdtENqUTFm01ubkirtLXeKbs_WzobebZt4YKrdrXmQuLSaCO-BkNomXc44QuA5OSwZtBObrq0TS2QoxN8U0ICcZpt0pI_4VDqgmBtk1j6ZtWdK80t0SnMUrwqFtw/s400/052.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> I love you, Amari Roza!!<br /></span><div> </div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-33672937657113817782010-12-31T22:24:00.003-05:002011-01-01T12:19:49.038-05:00Week 52 of 52 !!!!!!!!!!!Final week of the year!! I finished!!!! Woohoo!!!!<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 52 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/24</span></div><div align="center">Putting out gingerbread cookies for Santa. Mari was very much into the whole "Santa" thing this year. It was very magical.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9FMBUpIbb8N3oS7xPjuqCtsI0T3uOTh_33At3ZT41kFWvrq81YaYOYg9F3IbDvri6YEhAK13GCoYMslZ8iAnaIszBwcXf5PB5PacjMV6MXgy9kZq9F3KwMdJrU2aBC1xYRFVXB25xlM7/s1600/12-24.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053622334971346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9FMBUpIbb8N3oS7xPjuqCtsI0T3uOTh_33At3ZT41kFWvrq81YaYOYg9F3IbDvri6YEhAK13GCoYMslZ8iAnaIszBwcXf5PB5PacjMV6MXgy9kZq9F3KwMdJrU2aBC1xYRFVXB25xlM7/s400/12-24.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/25</span></div><div align="center">Merry Christmas!</div><div align="center">Mari asked Santa for an Iron Man mask. </div><div align="center">She believes....</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxm3Y6G8Ue-XbfGjC-dhKc85jkZmVArannD7rTgghM285XUBJRdyY64MSMbYPmEn5w9_cIBbIMgJEFTS9iAzLmc7bgREvMvJjvJDfZKATB9nOYoiR3aJulv4pSkB2CX5cqQWerM_pQYb-4/s1600/12-25.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 309px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053618314670434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxm3Y6G8Ue-XbfGjC-dhKc85jkZmVArannD7rTgghM285XUBJRdyY64MSMbYPmEn5w9_cIBbIMgJEFTS9iAzLmc7bgREvMvJjvJDfZKATB9nOYoiR3aJulv4pSkB2CX5cqQWerM_pQYb-4/s400/12-25.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/26</span></div><div align="center">ZhuZhu pets are really popular with all members of the household!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTyUuUk1VZ9d__dEr71TSbfqCT5EB8YgjBweKQn2R2w94jGcQ8lnkSb_4TFEW0uA_3HT2FKR4BZdzF3glKCqASKZoDp46mCZBwihearheyZFbHBhkV3GQXW0CEWi6v_-xmZMdDMGuM0CB/s1600/12-26.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053611259956338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTyUuUk1VZ9d__dEr71TSbfqCT5EB8YgjBweKQn2R2w94jGcQ8lnkSb_4TFEW0uA_3HT2FKR4BZdzF3glKCqASKZoDp46mCZBwihearheyZFbHBhkV3GQXW0CEWi6v_-xmZMdDMGuM0CB/s400/12-26.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/27</span> <div align="center">This is pretty much what Mari wants to do every waking hour...she loves her Leapster Explorer. Unfortunately, she has had it taken away until her behavior improves.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJLNQzPLFZYAeYKkQWn2XavIWB7f5RLJZMUuWw9_u48yesg9APgu33aFu3AfBqv4wV37PO6oUwItfng6ihPFiP4ZqhI61N_LKu9ohUu9mGEJEYcxo5vRuFa8iPP21MF6JUFzFVHplBQX1Q/s1600/12-27.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053443091744370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJLNQzPLFZYAeYKkQWn2XavIWB7f5RLJZMUuWw9_u48yesg9APgu33aFu3AfBqv4wV37PO6oUwItfng6ihPFiP4ZqhI61N_LKu9ohUu9mGEJEYcxo5vRuFa8iPP21MF6JUFzFVHplBQX1Q/s400/12-27.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/28</span></div><div align="center">In case you were wondering if that brownie pan advertised on TV works (the one that makes perfectly cut brownies straight out of the pan)....it works AWESOMELY!!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPYUDKqLIClS3asreQSXfCVxkd56dcCwGduBdv1PXZnz45TKY9pQjc281o3Z0Ewb8d8OkGj9pskrya_4E9qJdCcs62x5J6zLffQlWBLQO93p_xjeg1kMulh5mk8e5Gy-Ki6L3ehsIPM5G/s1600/12-28.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053434637270194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPYUDKqLIClS3asreQSXfCVxkd56dcCwGduBdv1PXZnz45TKY9pQjc281o3Z0Ewb8d8OkGj9pskrya_4E9qJdCcs62x5J6zLffQlWBLQO93p_xjeg1kMulh5mk8e5Gy-Ki6L3ehsIPM5G/s400/12-28.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/29</span></div><div align="center">Hoping next year Mari will get a few more stuffed animals for Christmas, we don't seem to have enough!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cGYjjzlAxYvqiYIH1FZyyCch5UoUrUtVa0PHuLUHPeIgpuCoNYe_pbB1xU43O0Yh1UjP0-C3-lyOcFPOEl7aIbUf3cDy3Sy6dgMgzu4pTs-VlGIaOqLsEJvCaf5fCRBo0fp0sALFMSO3/s1600/12-29.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053433298595010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cGYjjzlAxYvqiYIH1FZyyCch5UoUrUtVa0PHuLUHPeIgpuCoNYe_pbB1xU43O0Yh1UjP0-C3-lyOcFPOEl7aIbUf3cDy3Sy6dgMgzu4pTs-VlGIaOqLsEJvCaf5fCRBo0fp0sALFMSO3/s400/12-29.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/30</span></div><div align="center">Mickey has taken over the brownies.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ2MyLGivDCCNJHMJcP9mLYXDjz-NzqiJjo7w0K4r0VbDYAKY2Xo-sljLYkaiyuXha_LPpCEWzwfHrxvQBf74NR5GFrnos3j3Z62k3Sw21oxchllIUr7mCC0G4UNAe00ztTvL0yaiMFn7/s1600/12-30.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053433552431554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ2MyLGivDCCNJHMJcP9mLYXDjz-NzqiJjo7w0K4r0VbDYAKY2Xo-sljLYkaiyuXha_LPpCEWzwfHrxvQBf74NR5GFrnos3j3Z62k3Sw21oxchllIUr7mCC0G4UNAe00ztTvL0yaiMFn7/s400/12-30.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/31</span></div><div align="center">The last day of the year. Turned out to be a nice one, weather-wise for us. We had a very pleasant time playing outside and getting some fresh air.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoIR03KvwdcOIO4mjcNyKCW5VgCZ5CoAKx9jlbus2_iI5TzLHMtPKOyu8X1CZw1pEeGTrBgPsQ0yq0ED0vsiA58zF8fhM-a4HdkSwPgzsNJYrXxEz3Wd3A9ua9NFocC0PLyjR3vM_qw6H/s1600/12-31.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 279px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557053423716049842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoIR03KvwdcOIO4mjcNyKCW5VgCZ5CoAKx9jlbus2_iI5TzLHMtPKOyu8X1CZw1pEeGTrBgPsQ0yq0ED0vsiA58zF8fhM-a4HdkSwPgzsNJYrXxEz3Wd3A9ua9NFocC0PLyjR3vM_qw6H/s400/12-31.JPG" /></a> Done. Done. Done. Had fun but I miss regular blogging. Back to normal now.<br /><div align="center">Happy New Year!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-89027260141605692862010-12-28T21:27:00.010-05:002010-12-28T22:16:40.220-05:00Weeks 48, 49, 50, & 51 (*GASP*)Yes, I'm cramming 4 weeks into 1 post. Get over it! Trying to finish up the year - just one more week to go. I'll be glad when this project is over. While it's been fun, it has definitely hampered my motivation for writing real blog posts. I still owe you several real ones. Soon, I promise. I promise!<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 48 of 52</span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/26</span></div><div align="center">Well, duh! The day after Thanksgiving - of course we put up the tree.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzvBQmMi0sgJLNSAPdSCGy674GIDMUBYF0Jg95MP-I6SHJtLVQ4YMUQUFsm1GXYc_FEeRY_vWu7ENMO2OQFwmXGkKFO_6CU5k_n87Bj_MIaWzABa0F8bF2jjFgeohTGqhERDZib99xehG/s1600/11-26.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 299px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555928193422671570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzvBQmMi0sgJLNSAPdSCGy674GIDMUBYF0Jg95MP-I6SHJtLVQ4YMUQUFsm1GXYc_FEeRY_vWu7ENMO2OQFwmXGkKFO_6CU5k_n87Bj_MIaWzABa0F8bF2jjFgeohTGqhERDZib99xehG/s400/11-26.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/27</span></div><div align="center">This was a hard decision between two pix. </div><div align="center">Today Mari went to see her first movie in a theater (Tangled - LOVED it!) as part of a birthday party. I have a cute picture of her and her buddy wearing their 3D glasses. But I decided on this picture. Mari almost wouldn't go into the theater when she realized Santa was set up in the lobby. The birthday party was in a glassed-in room off the lobby, so she got to watch Santa interact with other kids and even got the courage to go up to him several times to talk at a distance. He was really patient and played it cool. By the time the movie was over, she was brave enough to go sit on his lap and ask him for an Iron Man mask. I love that she overcame her own fear and that the party/movie presented us with an opportunity to do this on her own terms.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3yitsDPlAUJGPBGWqddgd9gQ_sUUUnC7Odr6tbjXJAx-0uyGqX8LqEaqqjlsikcHHxwbjrCi2BYbwThglmQhaNIQXEJfCI5OgWkHBehTs6z0HGioZduk3wWTbMuhLlW7GSNwosUkSzDDg/s1600/11-27.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555928189727120338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3yitsDPlAUJGPBGWqddgd9gQ_sUUUnC7Odr6tbjXJAx-0uyGqX8LqEaqqjlsikcHHxwbjrCi2BYbwThglmQhaNIQXEJfCI5OgWkHBehTs6z0HGioZduk3wWTbMuhLlW7GSNwosUkSzDDg/s400/11-27.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/28</span></div><div align="center">Been having trouble with Mari waking up wide awake in the middle of the night. So I moved her bookcase and lamp close to her bed. She's now allowed to turn on the light and read in the middle of the night if she can't sleep. (It worked, she's not woken up to read yet!)<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMY5L9PREWqZ1Iz5Esmt-Qu5a3TAVD6wLnRYEg-SkfsIVCp08H8PX55os_GwFg_8Pgrxju9fQ7yzJr8sMfJdQ48qd1l7J2rfaxkJuwgNvcxdvg0UL-ooROuace4HSlD3uzaK8nVn38b0PT/s1600/11-28.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555928190399738098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMY5L9PREWqZ1Iz5Esmt-Qu5a3TAVD6wLnRYEg-SkfsIVCp08H8PX55os_GwFg_8Pgrxju9fQ7yzJr8sMfJdQ48qd1l7J2rfaxkJuwgNvcxdvg0UL-ooROuace4HSlD3uzaK8nVn38b0PT/s400/11-28.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/29</span></div><div align="center">Think I've mentioned that I've had mouse problems. Mickey actually caught one. EEEK! This is him "coming down" off his adrenaline high!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisW90DSZ4expHz9NgsXAR0a31DPAwmqDJM1rRrbDADEAEs_Ov1XELwDL3uX_RJDGZZG2saPa2fPQXPfZc4XXXMGEmYP5p7fEzJ4JO5EKvLpqHgO_ml9ReT8aR1D4QKe8ZxxlPtvacNT2h9/s1600/11-29.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555928181715027218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisW90DSZ4expHz9NgsXAR0a31DPAwmqDJM1rRrbDADEAEs_Ov1XELwDL3uX_RJDGZZG2saPa2fPQXPfZc4XXXMGEmYP5p7fEzJ4JO5EKvLpqHgO_ml9ReT8aR1D4QKe8ZxxlPtvacNT2h9/s400/11-29.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/30</span></div><div align="center">Sammy cat loves being under the tree...unfortunately, he needs his nails trimmed.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09UXEQm7NN4oPIuX14qyYe_xco6w6dv1LiN65x5PkG6rpyAdqqKM41Kz1qXIl79onnz_WNipPPekaYAk_vDHEEqBetyXBVu2yrnM-UXsJpNf_tz3QbUJLckMjsyHg4CJeZBcHgv7J41Ng/s1600/11-30.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927802225599794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09UXEQm7NN4oPIuX14qyYe_xco6w6dv1LiN65x5PkG6rpyAdqqKM41Kz1qXIl79onnz_WNipPPekaYAk_vDHEEqBetyXBVu2yrnM-UXsJpNf_tz3QbUJLckMjsyHg4CJeZBcHgv7J41Ng/s400/11-30.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/01</span></div><div align="center">When I put on my ribbon for World AIDS day, Mari insisted she needed one too. I told her if she was going to wear the ribbon, she had to know why. Her version = "my ribbon is to remember there are lots of sick kids and we don't want them to be sick anymore."<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1g9STU81RR4PKP8yBJZzpJE0S0FqLUWfp3D6lbbbn63qktqS_wXzyYROAKLO5zheGsi_AhIzDfcVuL8hMyIwTaBnFIPniMcccIywb8d3bFvG9C6tVLFdwrxcz8tyRYNhmiIPbSpggvjB/s1600/12-1.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927797439992034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1g9STU81RR4PKP8yBJZzpJE0S0FqLUWfp3D6lbbbn63qktqS_wXzyYROAKLO5zheGsi_AhIzDfcVuL8hMyIwTaBnFIPniMcccIywb8d3bFvG9C6tVLFdwrxcz8tyRYNhmiIPbSpggvjB/s400/12-1.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/02</span></div><div align="center">Mari's homework is getting harder. She is a rock star and amazes me every single day.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygZRFk88HvR-oM19ZiuBPGTAeGh8FNfipf26Cb7zv0CLWtsBfyLaB5tuYpJRz7TGRWQK9SwwrdzYb3_mpqqtxy4LkOrEk-rFuRemTj_dxav9Q-CMS3dN8ltdOGZ75pts46i5kk5Qp-lLe/s1600/12-2.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927800952345506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygZRFk88HvR-oM19ZiuBPGTAeGh8FNfipf26Cb7zv0CLWtsBfyLaB5tuYpJRz7TGRWQK9SwwrdzYb3_mpqqtxy4LkOrEk-rFuRemTj_dxav9Q-CMS3dN8ltdOGZ75pts46i5kk5Qp-lLe/s400/12-2.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 49 of 52</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/03</span></div><div align="center">Mari loves her Advent calendar!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyGuwBe-0XiwXC-p1vLLYoRSFjOT-chh6_t4ASK1lGvuwIwYqcT5pKTKe4JNS5Zp3asGtuoKCYDbUQbVnejcT37kHltjtx56MJPeBy7i0sPAX0iUeYWvXBlDXvHlJpGv2q6t8X0q2MGT0/s1600/12-3.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927793214291970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyGuwBe-0XiwXC-p1vLLYoRSFjOT-chh6_t4ASK1lGvuwIwYqcT5pKTKe4JNS5Zp3asGtuoKCYDbUQbVnejcT37kHltjtx56MJPeBy7i0sPAX0iUeYWvXBlDXvHlJpGv2q6t8X0q2MGT0/s400/12-3.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/04</span></div><div align="center">Mari outgrew her baby blanket that she's taken to school for almost 3 years. When I told her we needed to replace it, she had an all-out meltdown. Her mood changed quickly when I told her she could pick the fabric for both the blanket and a new pillowcase. I'm very proud of my pillowcase - I did it totally just on a whim and even made a ruffle.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmXidLWdu8yVJxqWsnbK4b2LhlR6NN9Ekoj_QcxCsNMhlKFg220zG39yZ4v76WctRgIPyE-_Cz0DrphvIUc8t394iFYFXtjBvFlJmzUaxSnGkx87DvbX-J8xfs4ASWKrv3944Jpc0Nyu8/s1600/12-4.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927790762631202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJmXidLWdu8yVJxqWsnbK4b2LhlR6NN9Ekoj_QcxCsNMhlKFg220zG39yZ4v76WctRgIPyE-_Cz0DrphvIUc8t394iFYFXtjBvFlJmzUaxSnGkx87DvbX-J8xfs4ASWKrv3944Jpc0Nyu8/s400/12-4.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/05</span> <div align="center">First snow of the season! I was down with strep throat but I got Mari dressed so she could play outside for a few minutes (I stayed inside and took pix from the door). You would have thought it snowed 2 feet from the way she acted.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgku7mLAsu6KPOpC5LpyxVmk2SXylL0EuDqq8D-Nyr6Tje3mC3422iWPvYeCWPI7uVK8IXGc-oCGrAFIfs7aGzDer8oYs4wA7Kxsm4a9nnRNEy4vGNvP4muwq1dRTfeBWjiq9OJ_oCs0pVy/s1600/12-5.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 284px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927323460563970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgku7mLAsu6KPOpC5LpyxVmk2SXylL0EuDqq8D-Nyr6Tje3mC3422iWPvYeCWPI7uVK8IXGc-oCGrAFIfs7aGzDer8oYs4wA7Kxsm4a9nnRNEy4vGNvP4muwq1dRTfeBWjiq9OJ_oCs0pVy/s400/12-5.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/06</span></div><div align="center">Do you know how long it takes to wrap a present using little safety scissors and a 3-yr-old's help?<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbazWg-lF16NbpuCYYobFRAUAm3tCb8KfEj_8PjYrfJzViMJ19eHBdA5-M2pPrsOFrcjYwU38MPaHhl7eizrWvFh8BtjwiBv7h4yuUFaHi5N-bJ536zzINC8lNArOt4kdnqM8zAkeWR2kx/s1600/12-6.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927318763710242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbazWg-lF16NbpuCYYobFRAUAm3tCb8KfEj_8PjYrfJzViMJ19eHBdA5-M2pPrsOFrcjYwU38MPaHhl7eizrWvFh8BtjwiBv7h4yuUFaHi5N-bJ536zzINC8lNArOt4kdnqM8zAkeWR2kx/s400/12-6.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/07</span></div><div align="center">Mari wanted her hair done like Minnie Mouse.</div><div align="center">I think we succeeded!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBv9l-FM5hRhustRwikjLGtWruXG5hwG53rZx1SE1D6hbAwF3_27pX6LxmLvyfAzPJMOSWBm-rAUQU7Q6tS5-UmSm04Xhb1IQIS8ALlRsVqH8Bfvb7L-2cLbvmiCVmO962M3iE-PphnhHs/s1600/12-7.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 381px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927312645137394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBv9l-FM5hRhustRwikjLGtWruXG5hwG53rZx1SE1D6hbAwF3_27pX6LxmLvyfAzPJMOSWBm-rAUQU7Q6tS5-UmSm04Xhb1IQIS8ALlRsVqH8Bfvb7L-2cLbvmiCVmO962M3iE-PphnhHs/s400/12-7.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/08</span></div><div align="center">Mickey has taken to sleeping in Mari's room. She won't let him in her bed but she loves having him in there with her.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwPEVGqTlmkg9VG4eQF1UM0GkQjKkQFXONjnlrEtqh7i2AiMycH4OSALc99vfxyNGtAvy0flt_AZHlYc2NbiF5tvYVOj_l0hI_rHy1iQuOMN3BuWUTwlUrmJxaCi-1RHRNKgiYUH5A4Kr/s1600/12-8.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555927308910556370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwPEVGqTlmkg9VG4eQF1UM0GkQjKkQFXONjnlrEtqh7i2AiMycH4OSALc99vfxyNGtAvy0flt_AZHlYc2NbiF5tvYVOj_l0hI_rHy1iQuOMN3BuWUTwlUrmJxaCi-1RHRNKgiYUH5A4Kr/s400/12-8.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/09</span></div><div align="center">Mari has apparently taken note of me using a cold cloth on my head for headaches. She declared this morning that she had a headache and grabbed a wad of toilet paper for her aching head.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6iIwbLXJbJWBluLditE8CJJHpyUiO4Siqm4E8xqq1iEuEUWx1K40ZzT-RVR_ZeRmfxNWUoZ0-MKnOVipL8BhkUKPlw0ekSlmEnkCnZKYKfrYZObWLphGmaRlhKgy3kGS6AtsKUkLkZLE/s1600/12-9.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 290px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926430862520786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6iIwbLXJbJWBluLditE8CJJHpyUiO4Siqm4E8xqq1iEuEUWx1K40ZzT-RVR_ZeRmfxNWUoZ0-MKnOVipL8BhkUKPlw0ekSlmEnkCnZKYKfrYZObWLphGmaRlhKgy3kGS6AtsKUkLkZLE/s400/12-9.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">Week 50 of 51</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/10</span></div><div align="center">Inside joke - got a pair of purple glasses in my stocking at work.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjYEKqV3dTCfNwZKENkMOs-SIt-rdhQVxWllpmtnqrK3a21KFE6arVFdYAI5KgYfKP2vb418GYWu69CF9_WoOiSMuJySHe8VFMjLtLPvpMw89eeBFf1mkB2Q-9V7UA3YUVqkEyJWM5yYv/s1600/12-10.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926424579058290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjYEKqV3dTCfNwZKENkMOs-SIt-rdhQVxWllpmtnqrK3a21KFE6arVFdYAI5KgYfKP2vb418GYWu69CF9_WoOiSMuJySHe8VFMjLtLPvpMw89eeBFf1mkB2Q-9V7UA3YUVqkEyJWM5yYv/s400/12-10.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/11</span></div><div align="center">My Christmas gifts to Mari and my nieces...made the vests with personalized patches from Etsy, added patches to the hats, made bandanas, stick horses, and I landed a Christmas miracle by finding boots on clearance in all their sizes!<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-YSc0wLQbodLsJdLE9ooW_WDqrXyn1fcBvbfy5CNw6KjN5vfKoCSox0gkzcrmHtGmtZQGqxOv8aIGalT_z2gVpCEtA1WL6ipU9aNd_ZlQDFLFSRAhc6juJTU6fjPt6SoqLlI39QxbOQJ/s1600/12-11.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 380px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926421900339282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-YSc0wLQbodLsJdLE9ooW_WDqrXyn1fcBvbfy5CNw6KjN5vfKoCSox0gkzcrmHtGmtZQGqxOv8aIGalT_z2gVpCEtA1WL6ipU9aNd_ZlQDFLFSRAhc6juJTU6fjPt6SoqLlI39QxbOQJ/s400/12-11.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/12</span></div><div align="center">Making gingerbread cookies<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-_pIBCzJTj3ro31oNBg3wtHjJyKtjbrNw56gaf0ztJGrwUYhSSY77BRf0nOtlgMdo68JbeoSXPeoj-KxcxuAz21Se8gsZ0CTSOZNyBkqHctLbCJmJOkdlRR-0_BmDrGkFYxpQScR0PgD/s1600/12-12.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926417837812258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-_pIBCzJTj3ro31oNBg3wtHjJyKtjbrNw56gaf0ztJGrwUYhSSY77BRf0nOtlgMdo68JbeoSXPeoj-KxcxuAz21Se8gsZ0CTSOZNyBkqHctLbCJmJOkdlRR-0_BmDrGkFYxpQScR0PgD/s400/12-12.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/13</span></div><div align="center">Our annual Christmas card pose (except I never got around to doing cards!)</div><div align="center">Wearing the red dress, sparkly shoes, and headband she was supposed to wear in her school play.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJI2Ze3HPt7GwyDjmra-lVI3ClxSokmiOAybCoXKH6WVG1cG-JjlXA3pl0_YFmkHlIRdyjKTjr_3m1GR9lE3Hj2Se0VGM6RtdgYR0LrXRsiE12eIU_7Ksa_nsgvyhI0TFZj9DlO7wCJ1OO/s1600/12-13.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 310px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926410569530770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJI2Ze3HPt7GwyDjmra-lVI3ClxSokmiOAybCoXKH6WVG1cG-JjlXA3pl0_YFmkHlIRdyjKTjr_3m1GR9lE3Hj2Se0VGM6RtdgYR0LrXRsiE12eIU_7Ksa_nsgvyhI0TFZj9DlO7wCJ1OO/s400/12-13.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/14</span></div><div align="center">We had a lot of fun with our stockings at work this year. Unfortunately, I was naughty.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL2H5sIEyBTbsDvoGu0Ung1vltVCmusO0qtPQblA2EPpDMOurTNV30EfpacMbwUeapsofOBA6e6156sqeEjxfo0WZF12FEDCVAWmrCLM55f_nPysCo8HtTbDilnD9BDGkDBr-nKK4zRz_h/s1600/12-14.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 382px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926024982463714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL2H5sIEyBTbsDvoGu0Ung1vltVCmusO0qtPQblA2EPpDMOurTNV30EfpacMbwUeapsofOBA6e6156sqeEjxfo0WZF12FEDCVAWmrCLM55f_nPysCo8HtTbDilnD9BDGkDBr-nKK4zRz_h/s400/12-14.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/15</span></div><div align="center">Mari's ornament for this year<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDjQbu9MsdlL_ruzSsxrYmVJRkRP-jGyHn429I-9Ok4FfKxipXxfh76ugQv9AiNIloVjr22RV1OI_e5nb2zVNdkL8qAvdot1c78I7H8qTj_aiixbQO-SmiVMpAppn97eHerCj-1ZLF6cj/s1600/12-15.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926020908270466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIDjQbu9MsdlL_ruzSsxrYmVJRkRP-jGyHn429I-9Ok4FfKxipXxfh76ugQv9AiNIloVjr22RV1OI_e5nb2zVNdkL8qAvdot1c78I7H8qTj_aiixbQO-SmiVMpAppn97eHerCj-1ZLF6cj/s400/12-15.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/16</span></div><div align="center">Had an unexpected snow day, so we visited our neighbors. I love this pic with the snowball mid-flight!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6giYOV_w6Jc-R2aAG0Q7dw1vDeRh2bz7NOWFO8VniHxqiQmBOwWTaKA1i2Bd1d8W_FBgKpSwsJ-JZp67oXkolCB7YlABgdNQbHSghOSOXqNzPPiRlQD_2HwFVq9TESGSH_tbXbUfZAboe/s1600/12-16.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 301px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926021387400242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6giYOV_w6Jc-R2aAG0Q7dw1vDeRh2bz7NOWFO8VniHxqiQmBOwWTaKA1i2Bd1d8W_FBgKpSwsJ-JZp67oXkolCB7YlABgdNQbHSghOSOXqNzPPiRlQD_2HwFVq9TESGSH_tbXbUfZAboe/s400/12-16.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">Week 51 of 52<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/17</span></div><div align="center">"Helping" me with the laundry<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwHLbpvjqjRM4l6L0Yu_vEL_i6eiX4GI8hehXvm_7r7hyphenhyphen5qhsOb7WWn2gZfEJgy12a6pHqYI-VijK2kbk2HIA0Gnaag0tOCg9AldVWObdHuYVWTXlSIcBPlKj26vrRPYQxtvxs4gP02T1/s1600/12-17.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926014810202834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwHLbpvjqjRM4l6L0Yu_vEL_i6eiX4GI8hehXvm_7r7hyphenhyphen5qhsOb7WWn2gZfEJgy12a6pHqYI-VijK2kbk2HIA0Gnaag0tOCg9AldVWObdHuYVWTXlSIcBPlKj26vrRPYQxtvxs4gP02T1/s400/12-17.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/18</span></div><div align="center">Mari and Madi - these two crack me up!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjof5eXJ8E9AzqYfgk9cVNYhxVr0X0WLYmnCur1jXyEYg3BMwRSp_W5O39MtJ2M7yxdGCto_HgTgztXytL08t-8MJThRxHjEDV4KICDiG0bW3dJavLLVz2KpDqwoa_qqqG7Cn51VCbTRFHn/s1600/12-18.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 243px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555926005719310418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjof5eXJ8E9AzqYfgk9cVNYhxVr0X0WLYmnCur1jXyEYg3BMwRSp_W5O39MtJ2M7yxdGCto_HgTgztXytL08t-8MJThRxHjEDV4KICDiG0bW3dJavLLVz2KpDqwoa_qqqG7Cn51VCbTRFHn/s400/12-18.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/19</span></div><div align="center">"Do not be afraid" - I don't think the angel counted on a 3-year-old playing "parade" with the nativity characters.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaEZSq1zkQL4qjOwA2pmvL_QaPeyD_MWCriemhjHydYB4_eQTyZVbz26YlmuZBlxHuY_KyXxJIdV10sSO2v5EqYAr2XMdc1OSa1bHHh2tvkXwAEk9bDMRimzGNGRzBtiFpCINw_jjkNe-/s1600/12-19.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555925768287864786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaEZSq1zkQL4qjOwA2pmvL_QaPeyD_MWCriemhjHydYB4_eQTyZVbz26YlmuZBlxHuY_KyXxJIdV10sSO2v5EqYAr2XMdc1OSa1bHHh2tvkXwAEk9bDMRimzGNGRzBtiFpCINw_jjkNe-/s400/12-19.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/20</span></div><div align="center">Mari wanted me to take a picture with her and Mickey (the world's most tolerant cat ever!)<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aooEiYtRFuSgj3Ni1stO2aXVTo8g1771WFgzI0EUR-zButYPXtcjLJFnF1XIEhcq_FUZOhfL44Ww-Mo8hUL_hCz9YtezWBS4-zVcOdoNnDwUyQA6R-eXRHPltrnAeGyKRMJsFIyT8uo_/s1600/12-20.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555925761658678818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aooEiYtRFuSgj3Ni1stO2aXVTo8g1771WFgzI0EUR-zButYPXtcjLJFnF1XIEhcq_FUZOhfL44Ww-Mo8hUL_hCz9YtezWBS4-zVcOdoNnDwUyQA6R-eXRHPltrnAeGyKRMJsFIyT8uo_/s400/12-20.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/21</span></div><div align="center">Mari wearing her headband from her school play (which got cancelled cause so many kids were out sick)<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPpR5g-FjdouqnM-C4YmU-Z6qwtvM8L-f_t8UEh_qZYeI8rpA-n6kuUrthkAxfLkwrX-Oqdg_bEkaPUxODOeLbt2EFQFdNCthEmnrQl58359S6Ocpt38r6xnlKSeZiNzp5enO8PTWi4Us/s1600/12-21.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555925760006622354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPpR5g-FjdouqnM-C4YmU-Z6qwtvM8L-f_t8UEh_qZYeI8rpA-n6kuUrthkAxfLkwrX-Oqdg_bEkaPUxODOeLbt2EFQFdNCthEmnrQl58359S6Ocpt38r6xnlKSeZiNzp5enO8PTWi4Us/s400/12-21.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;"><strike>2010</strike> 2008: 12/22</span></div><div align="center">No picture from this day, so I'll give you a flashback from 2 years ago.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_b0QFZU3Bqu08rRRhLn3v6T7FFpRL82Ta-i8bM6hOTXeTiTpM6snRbu5UWFWgmwP_uuJl_LJ-Jvkx-_4o9qV1nl5FrymkLmospXB0srwNNDo3DeC7gFE7jjFdGv5i9WI87lJrBGXZ5tC/s1600/12-22.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555925752912179106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_b0QFZU3Bqu08rRRhLn3v6T7FFpRL82Ta-i8bM6hOTXeTiTpM6snRbu5UWFWgmwP_uuJl_LJ-Jvkx-_4o9qV1nl5FrymkLmospXB0srwNNDo3DeC7gFE7jjFdGv5i9WI87lJrBGXZ5tC/s400/12-22.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 12/23</span></div><div align="center">Daycare was closed but I had to work, so Mari got to spend the morning with friends and the afternoon with Grandma. No nap, lots of play, Mommy late picking her up.....fell asleep with a marshmallow in her hand.........<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRUxCp8BoL9dUeUuk5RCWTbedt7Qij2LOzhHslYa4HM9uWcc_-DFtbHE3bvoTK3LerDB_n-W41J_QANioShuUCFqBMXZLG3VEGpeOiUop3nKJb95coW7OFyMvVTJfUAUKxqotyAMB9BgR/s1600/12-23.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 261px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555925749744488690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRUxCp8BoL9dUeUuk5RCWTbedt7Qij2LOzhHslYa4HM9uWcc_-DFtbHE3bvoTK3LerDB_n-W41J_QANioShuUCFqBMXZLG3VEGpeOiUop3nKJb95coW7OFyMvVTJfUAUKxqotyAMB9BgR/s400/12-23.JPG" /></a> Coming soon.....final week with Christmas pix, end of the year video. Following soon after....Christmas post, Family Day, and catchup! </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-65327575811506359802010-11-26T16:00:00.005-05:002010-11-26T16:23:32.003-05:00Weeks 46 & 47 of 52<div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 46 of 52</span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/12</span></div><div align="center">I bumped Mari up to the 2nd level on the LeapFrog ClickStart. She had so much more fun on it...I honestly think it's easier for her because it involves more keyboard and less mouse - the mouse on this computer is the pits. She does much better with using actual keys.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eQQDCBJ8NKICGGG01eTmj8VdvPTsW6Sx38oO7-Of7VwPjaXhMfKQOO0dQZyrLLYVKngNeiMSMBL7r8ycPcPwWfISSYbT_QbRjbZHRGNhzxOQZCQdb_oSNR_fPiQL1YgIzCXUAROYab_n/s1600/11-12.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543967019665967810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eQQDCBJ8NKICGGG01eTmj8VdvPTsW6Sx38oO7-Of7VwPjaXhMfKQOO0dQZyrLLYVKngNeiMSMBL7r8ycPcPwWfISSYbT_QbRjbZHRGNhzxOQZCQdb_oSNR_fPiQL1YgIzCXUAROYab_n/s400/11-12.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 11/14</span></div><div align="center">Mari was invited to a birthday party where they all got dressed up in fancy clothes and got makeup and nail polish, etc. This is her diva 'tude that she was doing so well when it was time to leave.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcncABFxJhdwNWyn1RbuhLBwPRTxhb5QNzzrNomi3KciMvWGMicfERLC92jDw4CUy_ub9Ie0aO2Z93YaZXtxhyBc9RdagcJI9zPaPuoMlCWcvQl9C-z_k-veP7IK9LKZVEw55j4h6sfzOn/s1600/11-13.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543967016723945698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcncABFxJhdwNWyn1RbuhLBwPRTxhb5QNzzrNomi3KciMvWGMicfERLC92jDw4CUy_ub9Ie0aO2Z93YaZXtxhyBc9RdagcJI9zPaPuoMlCWcvQl9C-z_k-veP7IK9LKZVEw55j4h6sfzOn/s400/11-13.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/14</span></div><div align="center">Someone can write their name. All by herself!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDsul7WuslxB2Ju8D2lwZonVWG8Ig0am40BARA43SZXBcVOYKZ7pzXHjm4aqd1Ud_QndernTwAlglicIsa1ttTk9qilGL-qw9BxcUm0MPjYoCjXa2fSZy7CrFQtLtKAErm3iJJWRK387yj/s1600/11-14.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 340px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543967007109204898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDsul7WuslxB2Ju8D2lwZonVWG8Ig0am40BARA43SZXBcVOYKZ7pzXHjm4aqd1Ud_QndernTwAlglicIsa1ttTk9qilGL-qw9BxcUm0MPjYoCjXa2fSZy7CrFQtLtKAErm3iJJWRK387yj/s400/11-14.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/15</span></div><div align="center"><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcrdJaJdD-rOZhsJ7aNml8c3yigUxDOuWutgPTvbJBu_Cz0Z4nuj4hYUgkWcElWKwU18FpD35AxWLGrBW_0nbBNGTd3TCvLSKTxBG-kJKKwrD3CB2-i7S_9aqv4ne2KWX4-Ta4WQFo9dz/s1600/11-15.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 388px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543967003251492626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcrdJaJdD-rOZhsJ7aNml8c3yigUxDOuWutgPTvbJBu_Cz0Z4nuj4hYUgkWcElWKwU18FpD35AxWLGrBW_0nbBNGTd3TCvLSKTxBG-kJKKwrD3CB2-i7S_9aqv4ne2KWX4-Ta4WQFo9dz/s400/11-15.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/16</span></div><div align="center">Have no clue what she was upset about but she was definitely not in a good mood!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCzpjtc75F_VbY2_0fBUl3ybg-2JyALoFd72la_dK2wgwdONKUyLVCTpEYf-X6d8Q_w_Wyb0l3SGMegIhyphenhyphen_u3N5e_kr0_Px243-VMEx8NdgjOmet4O_UerPDAnESSwCJX9epnBEZra98J/s1600/11-16.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966811533930994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPCzpjtc75F_VbY2_0fBUl3ybg-2JyALoFd72la_dK2wgwdONKUyLVCTpEYf-X6d8Q_w_Wyb0l3SGMegIhyphenhyphen_u3N5e_kr0_Px243-VMEx8NdgjOmet4O_UerPDAnESSwCJX9epnBEZra98J/s400/11-16.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/17</span></div><div align="center">Mini pumpkin pies for Mari's Thanksgiving party<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokKGDlTwzT8x5oBroGsBh_RUZhox9Ox7rKpzj_w-StrMFNxNppKuS9HP7Y1JYGZQSpb5pd4J_whwAsxHu1Q-4wd0uAo3RRhNZAE5Fyc51PedV1gziLzEwMJGVPJJ4x-WuUISBj37rzB3K/s1600/11-17.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966809789342210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokKGDlTwzT8x5oBroGsBh_RUZhox9Ox7rKpzj_w-StrMFNxNppKuS9HP7Y1JYGZQSpb5pd4J_whwAsxHu1Q-4wd0uAo3RRhNZAE5Fyc51PedV1gziLzEwMJGVPJJ4x-WuUISBj37rzB3K/s400/11-17.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/18</span></div><div align="center">It's no secret that Mari's very "spirited." One of the hardest things for her is to sit still even long enough to eat. Sitting still for anything is the only complaint I ever hear from her teachers. I've heard of using exercise balls for chairs before but it wasn't until I read an article in the newspaper about Mari's future elementary school being a pilot program for this that I decided to give it a try at home. Happy to say that Mari did not get up once during a 45 minute dinner. We're gonna keep this experiment going for as long as it works!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHrVhpcSOoo71Bw8ampFaRyCEbCaZ5ogSAo5FHr7EyEm4KwH5EIOKloJSFZlHTIpt1cILBrSkYFdatIAK85KAnZOZeFQr9NlVB2tIwr962UecpRHktQN0d6DmMu4Fy71eK1-FfSdWjfMq/s1600/11-18.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966806611114322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHrVhpcSOoo71Bw8ampFaRyCEbCaZ5ogSAo5FHr7EyEm4KwH5EIOKloJSFZlHTIpt1cILBrSkYFdatIAK85KAnZOZeFQr9NlVB2tIwr962UecpRHktQN0d6DmMu4Fy71eK1-FfSdWjfMq/s400/11-18.JPG" /></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 47 of 52</span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/19</span><br />Best $1 I ever spent - 8 pack of Christmas suncatchers at the dollar store. Kept her busy for over an hour - she was very serious about her work!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTC5xunh7ubsziVuIPKATVOaGGzzCT8cnpA1zgcdnJT3GdNL0u6UdpGPQlXytYN3MH-QJiVkurLbZdYU9pX1SYtc-wJKXqMmwrh78pACu4HxfzHCXW6K8SoyBbHPr2wGmzWoIb9A-27sXw/s1600/11-19.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966796224930178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTC5xunh7ubsziVuIPKATVOaGGzzCT8cnpA1zgcdnJT3GdNL0u6UdpGPQlXytYN3MH-QJiVkurLbZdYU9pX1SYtc-wJKXqMmwrh78pACu4HxfzHCXW6K8SoyBbHPr2wGmzWoIb9A-27sXw/s400/11-19.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/20</span></div><div align="center">Any guesses what that look on her face means?</div><div align="center">One piece of advice - always follow her to see what she's up to when she's got this look!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Cx2F28N9QYwf74fifX0KQyhRoVGEtep8jx3vmGsuhPi6C8AkfLjuYPHVTnVdAoShWhHvPfZBnKXl8WYFQwrajX5xH3kl7EzGhEdte4229xu6SJ7TtV3pkGUX2FVCfCf88Naw6-cKANqc/s1600/11-20.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 314px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966789666430034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Cx2F28N9QYwf74fifX0KQyhRoVGEtep8jx3vmGsuhPi6C8AkfLjuYPHVTnVdAoShWhHvPfZBnKXl8WYFQwrajX5xH3kl7EzGhEdte4229xu6SJ7TtV3pkGUX2FVCfCf88Naw6-cKANqc/s400/11-20.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/21</span></div><div align="center">Cousin Madi came over to play and both girls immediately demanded to be fed macaroni & cheese. Whatever it takes to keep the 3-yr-olds happy!<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJhYOoze0WNYzXf-6iup1lhR6CWT2HY6bxoMWXWZ2w_xZEIV3SpdyKwZBGf_H0s0_ilaRyKepKrFc7L9uVIY8i-hcVYI7hrzl_U9ob0pZG14Juxe-z3r5oIOH45WALNl-xV527PcDHIhB/s1600/11-21.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966495526234946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJhYOoze0WNYzXf-6iup1lhR6CWT2HY6bxoMWXWZ2w_xZEIV3SpdyKwZBGf_H0s0_ilaRyKepKrFc7L9uVIY8i-hcVYI7hrzl_U9ob0pZG14Juxe-z3r5oIOH45WALNl-xV527PcDHIhB/s400/11-21.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/22</span></div><div align="center">Gave Mari's hair a wash - no good way to keep the yarn braids dry so I wrapped her head in a dishtowel and added a sleep cap for bed.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQ2ofufGxwLNKCJ60H5I2EGCSeFjpX2Cn5xNtkrsx0Jc2lJBrjGUCeB9pNwCPxOzDwNDIOBmoVuQIRyH7i_BAlsNUcHnN_1sAhld3xxvq5l9wPR-E8Ij4tWGGjXJ6LFnIPHRKOdgkAo3t/s1600/11-22.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 391px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966489745374114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQ2ofufGxwLNKCJ60H5I2EGCSeFjpX2Cn5xNtkrsx0Jc2lJBrjGUCeB9pNwCPxOzDwNDIOBmoVuQIRyH7i_BAlsNUcHnN_1sAhld3xxvq5l9wPR-E8Ij4tWGGjXJ6LFnIPHRKOdgkAo3t/s400/11-22.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/23</span></div><div align="center">Mari decided to pile her toys up on the ever-tolerant Mickey. Found it comical that Lulu the Furreal cat looked like she was tackling Mickey.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWcoAPIqbyDrK6g7HhVeOkaTKTNNVOhgZmyqsAX1rvZyStj5tcvQYiEmUyktcLHElJTI-Nbn3LKpPR8mF2DJY11eyHvCD9UXLm7SFMbm6-Jy0dim4WJmT5HK55cog5q41ZmdhaF8er3lb/s1600/11-23.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 286px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966476538318066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWcoAPIqbyDrK6g7HhVeOkaTKTNNVOhgZmyqsAX1rvZyStj5tcvQYiEmUyktcLHElJTI-Nbn3LKpPR8mF2DJY11eyHvCD9UXLm7SFMbm6-Jy0dim4WJmT5HK55cog5q41ZmdhaF8er3lb/s400/11-23.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/24</span></div><div align="center">First time Mari's ever had a piping bag in her hand. She did pretty well with it, no major messes. We made handprint turkey cookies.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqLOb2gg94BvFMZqa9SXxT0p6btFZ8qfzWilV3gGNsHDCUMQf8ztm4Le0J60CbNGGgv0fBr7IJArIjAw8DOsmtD9QyKoo4RHYIJ-Bykh3RRt_ItoBcBh01Plwu0pQuZYa4t3dfPQDHqSO/s1600/11-24.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966469279102770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqLOb2gg94BvFMZqa9SXxT0p6btFZ8qfzWilV3gGNsHDCUMQf8ztm4Le0J60CbNGGgv0fBr7IJArIjAw8DOsmtD9QyKoo4RHYIJ-Bykh3RRt_ItoBcBh01Plwu0pQuZYa4t3dfPQDHqSO/s400/11-24.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/25</span></div><div align="center">Happy Thanksgiving!</div><div align="center">Mari is getting very adept at helping in the kitchen. She loves making pumpkin pies...too bad she won't eat them!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWxyP7kjN1312qg_j02nc1xH80FjV3HoXgwUoNJnDVJUxBACGPN1FNq1eITqrwdDByq82yFF4YeAK2VcyVRgkDzjfBOPut9HF0r3phgPesoodu4YPmjifQ7HOl54WrptBwzato0uBSHfh/s1600/11-25.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543966466926101154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWxyP7kjN1312qg_j02nc1xH80FjV3HoXgwUoNJnDVJUxBACGPN1FNq1eITqrwdDByq82yFF4YeAK2VcyVRgkDzjfBOPut9HF0r3phgPesoodu4YPmjifQ7HOl54WrptBwzato0uBSHfh/s400/11-25.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-13420088214221576922010-11-17T17:53:00.005-05:002010-11-17T18:28:43.521-05:00Weeks 44 & 45 of 52<div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 44 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/29</span></div><div align="center">Almost done with the yarn braids....I promise a full post on them soon.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0ed5w_64fJA4_F9Ke3hNkcvNK7KEkx5BUOkRPixsnhsEocM7PPgorwSpHBkgQLGHsUw3uTgYEGbR0t21vSzLPRFsyyP_v6Jd3aj5G3MI9bwytLrwdUcBrQEiY3-Llkri3tK17gRKn-lJ/s1600/10-29.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540657079008974930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0ed5w_64fJA4_F9Ke3hNkcvNK7KEkx5BUOkRPixsnhsEocM7PPgorwSpHBkgQLGHsUw3uTgYEGbR0t21vSzLPRFsyyP_v6Jd3aj5G3MI9bwytLrwdUcBrQEiY3-Llkri3tK17gRKn-lJ/s400/10-29.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 10/30</span><br />Trunk-or-Treat with Cousin Madi the Butterfly<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpLOOJI40ylVYTxiRB6dcEulhbTS02Ibh_0M34lXw3iRD3lYoZqIWx4QJVDPCMy_j7QQ1iRXErEFNWPqpghZhQUBE2Z9affSEwNsFS68v1LLSVAN2vDT2SC3qhVtyWWQoKY0AdZTljeF2/s1600/10-30.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 366px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540657062999631810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpLOOJI40ylVYTxiRB6dcEulhbTS02Ibh_0M34lXw3iRD3lYoZqIWx4QJVDPCMy_j7QQ1iRXErEFNWPqpghZhQUBE2Z9affSEwNsFS68v1LLSVAN2vDT2SC3qhVtyWWQoKY0AdZTljeF2/s400/10-30.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/31</span></div><div align="center">Happy Halloween</div><div align="center">Super Amari and her Super Amari-Mobile</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jsEpHB77q1QIeq469BHWcjpVqYx1Umlonz_IVfv8AXjWqBIeE7Zp4WdR8hShV61ZzxXyojgEnGye4Vu3RaZTrpuBdSnn-g2PQA0kV0ijhNpX-thJKAqq0H1E1Af4u_N9uS3ZzpjPI4uT/s1600/10-31.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540657000929722290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1jsEpHB77q1QIeq469BHWcjpVqYx1Umlonz_IVfv8AXjWqBIeE7Zp4WdR8hShV61ZzxXyojgEnGye4Vu3RaZTrpuBdSnn-g2PQA0kV0ijhNpX-thJKAqq0H1E1Af4u_N9uS3ZzpjPI4uT/s400/10-31.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/01<br /></span>Such a sweet, innocent face.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcMWR2DcVV2DnvDp_jd5DViVezKCPQR1ikc52b111TmmeQZgq3wHVFHvDJjfHGJIWTLUGgWLwtaPJp41FXFbxAvl-Mi39MzF1bp6NRaAPv4a8tPYOlEDeo13msCrAcQXmWjqwug1_eAL2/s1600/11-1.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 358px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656990660621506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcMWR2DcVV2DnvDp_jd5DViVezKCPQR1ikc52b111TmmeQZgq3wHVFHvDJjfHGJIWTLUGgWLwtaPJp41FXFbxAvl-Mi39MzF1bp6NRaAPv4a8tPYOlEDeo13msCrAcQXmWjqwug1_eAL2/s400/11-1.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 11/02<br /></span>Mari was helping me organize the hair bands by colors. She did a great job sorting them and then we put them on a shower curtain ring to keep them contained.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvehBHoXxALGI1D5AlRTyMrwiKxownGjVAXxrSqA0RxZKkHI-gHWsn1dj9O_JFLgl3q2SySWq90tZ5izSZ7oSIPu0zBbFa0gZ6nxOx3KXXsILVYr1JyWpTOMRDMA7tJyufrj2B5IVk7ntv/s1600/11-2.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 351px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656774651118290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvehBHoXxALGI1D5AlRTyMrwiKxownGjVAXxrSqA0RxZKkHI-gHWsn1dj9O_JFLgl3q2SySWq90tZ5izSZ7oSIPu0zBbFa0gZ6nxOx3KXXsILVYr1JyWpTOMRDMA7tJyufrj2B5IVk7ntv/s400/11-2.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/03</span><br />Mari thought the cat looked cold.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCzWmdxuXxqz1omqKTDCZY3FLXQX-QoiegURcmWsNIcr2hhikLowhyqaBwt59uNik6FvgAiBATgIld6ePZe5600WkANQAz-l4_aZu3YKmKTR2uRowX0UPMLMsLQ0wuWsvEOZKdE819LqR/s1600/11-3.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656729108696146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCzWmdxuXxqz1omqKTDCZY3FLXQX-QoiegURcmWsNIcr2hhikLowhyqaBwt59uNik6FvgAiBATgIld6ePZe5600WkANQAz-l4_aZu3YKmKTR2uRowX0UPMLMsLQ0wuWsvEOZKdE819LqR/s400/11-3.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 11/04<br /></span>Mari's yarn braids parted in the middle and then did a flat twist half-way back.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMlFPDoW82gPo4MpsfdByVU0euhlq_FYUjXv7eiK3qG22AQ1phk5xDv0nNXVL8TMX5UWBiJa2iL9XjZ1i9WSOAz3985EBrC_qWDZT24Mjl5grAw9EtccTqFJOCOjalmTjkNi0gpIHo4gT/s1600/11-4.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656713432656258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMlFPDoW82gPo4MpsfdByVU0euhlq_FYUjXv7eiK3qG22AQ1phk5xDv0nNXVL8TMX5UWBiJa2iL9XjZ1i9WSOAz3985EBrC_qWDZT24Mjl5grAw9EtccTqFJOCOjalmTjkNi0gpIHo4gT/s400/11-4.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 45 of 52<br /><br />2010: 11/05</span><br />Just another hair pic...holding up well and loving the yarn extensions.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMHi2GIvKLv5Sun3YFF5ulBvtKVOPilloiblk4RZoX0BbeDuo-JSpt4JU1_hYkdmSw3u3sQqVldDQ1adAtZdH3LcsTQ6Bq1QrH5WEqPjYX-jii2QP24FGS7EJYLI6-X_McmIq_6BB7fjF/s1600/11-5.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656701148548738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMHi2GIvKLv5Sun3YFF5ulBvtKVOPilloiblk4RZoX0BbeDuo-JSpt4JU1_hYkdmSw3u3sQqVldDQ1adAtZdH3LcsTQ6Bq1QrH5WEqPjYX-jii2QP24FGS7EJYLI6-X_McmIq_6BB7fjF/s400/11-5.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/06<br /></span>I would like to thank Grandma for the box of 1000 craft sticks.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyuBPf6f37OoJ96Rysq6PQpZAkQh1YAe4fUW8jNI_Lu8az0BiEhxc7eO7VZ8PmeTkzRoRpD_FSYJogSm547DQKs-9gBjETVJeQGJr4-aqzw0br9gX1UX3E5tyi-qMexc7IhyU_hnN3Gfv/s1600/11-6.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656694068303490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyuBPf6f37OoJ96Rysq6PQpZAkQh1YAe4fUW8jNI_Lu8az0BiEhxc7eO7VZ8PmeTkzRoRpD_FSYJogSm547DQKs-9gBjETVJeQGJr4-aqzw0br9gX1UX3E5tyi-qMexc7IhyU_hnN3Gfv/s400/11-6.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/07</span><br />Mari paints "My Mommy"<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_UbLLNB2jJGnQ06cj8LhCiJhRgn20gqFqMtVD7B-yqA83GMG5yfe7YD0Hgh2LC7Qgk9y5AFvGNfP8-bAGDnokp1wIUBRcDfgNxsDjsCtmiOUMipNk2TGhyphenhyphen2D60beaTEkoTGkYGVJFTQoN/s1600/11-7.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656104666555906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_UbLLNB2jJGnQ06cj8LhCiJhRgn20gqFqMtVD7B-yqA83GMG5yfe7YD0Hgh2LC7Qgk9y5AFvGNfP8-bAGDnokp1wIUBRcDfgNxsDjsCtmiOUMipNk2TGhyphenhyphen2D60beaTEkoTGkYGVJFTQoN/s400/11-7.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/08<br /></span>"Untitled"<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ybhk-I1TRV2qemTjdowNsv7v90TBTBx7y2T481tcug9K-2hXDLgCtN8Lamy0lTGLng_5srpdkVmrg5Ao8LFyAW9DycJRP_hajo4AK-Mhiut2viF4e8LtpjFRujETzMuQnF_aiL3_V0z6/s1600/11-8.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656095087859330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ybhk-I1TRV2qemTjdowNsv7v90TBTBx7y2T481tcug9K-2hXDLgCtN8Lamy0lTGLng_5srpdkVmrg5Ao8LFyAW9DycJRP_hajo4AK-Mhiut2viF4e8LtpjFRujETzMuQnF_aiL3_V0z6/s400/11-8.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/09<br /></span>Proudly displaying her lion cutting project. She was upset when some of the kids in her class teased her that she couldn't cut yet. So we've been practicing with the help of a great book called "I Can Cut."<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemHPCnGjKQpuRys07rJXSBrUZfFPv5sYXQKEWKuHjk8bbrcxXpP9h4sC3Y2KCcu3j4iRvHf1QmthSqGctAV3L6GObQMUI_RDXkHt1BngrE6vZJJRcB5D974ytdyFpo06zj7C2ak0qcx9c/s1600/11-9.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656069089968770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemHPCnGjKQpuRys07rJXSBrUZfFPv5sYXQKEWKuHjk8bbrcxXpP9h4sC3Y2KCcu3j4iRvHf1QmthSqGctAV3L6GObQMUI_RDXkHt1BngrE6vZJJRcB5D974ytdyFpo06zj7C2ak0qcx9c/s400/11-9.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/10<br /></span>Falling asleep while reading. That's my girl!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrrpOzxS7emLgFNNxffJL1zX3WubQpQ6KFifmA1WSJqwZCS4Ap9qAtli0CA86n6Pd_ypXbhjFb4Ftf-p1yC6ot9YtXdHmGfjPiURzNCFLoesDQVkY4rQ6gjsi2uuZuPsSpCiMIsNEb2yX/s1600/11-10.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656049843343154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrrpOzxS7emLgFNNxffJL1zX3WubQpQ6KFifmA1WSJqwZCS4Ap9qAtli0CA86n6Pd_ypXbhjFb4Ftf-p1yC6ot9YtXdHmGfjPiURzNCFLoesDQVkY4rQ6gjsi2uuZuPsSpCiMIsNEb2yX/s400/11-10.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 11/11</span></div><div align="center">Putting on a stage show with Kai-Lan<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA06HiV19Ze96_l-Zu7ytw5L64zWPFJs5XRscI3aSQ1wTwFppvSQgWEHDTqarazJpRAr4OOlr7HSqk4B4BGzZMqY044v-ZQkbX62nS8HQ_HhjLN7CAtbQXGKck7wW_qKAF45yjSGNVYFn6/s1600/11-11.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540656038642034146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA06HiV19Ze96_l-Zu7ytw5L64zWPFJs5XRscI3aSQ1wTwFppvSQgWEHDTqarazJpRAr4OOlr7HSqk4B4BGzZMqY044v-ZQkbX62nS8HQ_HhjLN7CAtbQXGKck7wW_qKAF45yjSGNVYFn6/s400/11-11.JPG" /></a><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-21657494505802849812010-11-07T20:40:00.003-05:002010-11-07T20:49:24.941-05:00When the cashier can't move fast enough....Just trying to document some of the more <strike>embarrassing</strike> delightful conversations my child has.<br /><br />Yesterday in Food Lion, in checkout line. Our items already on conveyor belt, young gentleman in line behind us buying a flat of sports drinks.<br /><br /><strong>Amari</strong>: Is that a boy or a girl, Mommy? (this question comes up alot and I feel sick every time, luckily, this one was easy to answer - not always the case)<br /><strong>Me</strong>: He's a boy.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: What's he doing?<br /><strong>M</strong>: Well, he's buying stuff just like we are.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: What's he buying?<br /><strong>M</strong>: Well, it looks like he's buying some drinks.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: Is he thirsty? (at this point, the man starts chuckling)<br /><strong>M</strong>: I guess so.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: But he's not hungry?<br /><strong>M</strong>: I don't know, he probably has food at home, he just needed some drink.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: Oh. Doesn't he like Coke?<br /><strong>M</strong>: Not everyone drinks Coke like Mommy, some people drink other stuff.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: Why is he standing there?<br /><strong>M</strong>: He's waiting his turn, Mari.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: Why is he looking at me, Mommy? (at this point, the man about loses his battle with controlling his laughter)<br /><strong>M</strong>: He's looking at you because you are talking about him. It's not polite to talk about people so he has every right to look at you.<br /><br /><strong>A</strong>: Well, it's not polite to stare at people, either.Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-59784983565618212372010-11-07T19:48:00.010-05:002010-11-07T20:06:30.695-05:00Just Think Happy ThoughtsMari insisted tonight that she wasn't sleepy enough for bedtime, so I told her to lay in bed and think happy thoughts. She asked me what happy thoughts were so <strike>I started singing Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens </strike>we started a question and answer session.<br /><br /><strong>Me</strong>: Well, what do you like to do?<br /><strong>Amari</strong>: Play with Mommy.<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: I like to play with you, too. What else do you like to do?<br /><strong>A</strong>: Play basketball with my friends. (She's never played basketball in her life!)<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: Who's your favorite friend to play with?<br /><strong>A</strong>: Lydia.<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: Who is your favorite friend outside of school to play with?<br /><strong>A</strong>: I'm not telling, you have to guess....She starts with an A and she has black hair and her best friend is Mommy.<br /><strong>M</strong>: That sounds like YOU!<br /><strong>A</strong>: (giggle, giggle) It is ME!<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: You're a nut. What is your favorite food?<br /><strong>A</strong>: Pancakes, of course.<br /><strong>M</strong>: Oh, yeah.<br /><strong>A</strong>: With butter and lots of syrup.<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: What is your favorite treat?<br /><strong>A</strong>: Blue candy bars. (blue wrappers - specifically Crunch)<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: What's your favorite thing to watch on TV?<br /><strong>A</strong>: I'm not telling....It's a secret, maybe tomorrow.<br /><strong>M</strong>: I think it's Imagination Movers.<br /><strong>A</strong>: MOMMMY! It's supposed to be a secret and it's NOT Imagination Movers. It's Cookie Monster. (Yeah, she refuses to watch Sesame Street)<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: So what's your favorite book to read?<br /><strong>A</strong>: I'm not talking about that right now. It makes me sad. (She got her book-reading privileges taken away tonight for disobeying at bathtime)<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: What was your favorite Halloween costume?<br /><strong>A</strong>: Batman. He's my favorite.<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: Well, what's your favorite color?<br /><strong>A</strong>: Red and blue and green.<br /><strong>M</strong>: Those are good colors.<br /><strong>A</strong>: And yellow and purple and pink.<br /><strong>M</strong>: Well, that about covers it.<br /><strong>A</strong>: And brown and black and white.<br /><strong>M</strong>: I think you've hit them all.<br /><strong>A</strong>: Actually, it's orange. My favorite color is orange. Can I wear my pumpkin shirt to school tomorrow?<br /><br /><strong>M</strong>: Good night, Mari. I think you have plenty of happy thoughts to help you get to sleep.<br /><strong>A</strong>: Mommy, what's a happy thought?Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-80298838534237819912010-10-30T08:14:00.004-04:002010-10-30T08:38:03.647-04:00Weeks 42 & 43 of 52Another couple weeks done...been busy weeks getting ready for Halloween and just enjoying this time of year. I love living in the mountains during autumn...it is without a doubt a beautiful gift.<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 42 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/15</span></div><div align="center">Mickey has found a new favorite napping spot, he loves to jump up there after I've finished...nice and warm.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjun3GVX52s5dew6PTOrVj4F_ry68SoLduzJFhLUDG2vlD9OVvDTAG9V0oGIIIA43egW70xaQfguCDNGe6Ejq1oy6iSb-MtdMnZtkBgDM7-wVfeZMlbMbWIjOhyE5E6QZL4h8RvKlz9EO/s1600/10-15.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812389665909970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjun3GVX52s5dew6PTOrVj4F_ry68SoLduzJFhLUDG2vlD9OVvDTAG9V0oGIIIA43egW70xaQfguCDNGe6Ejq1oy6iSb-MtdMnZtkBgDM7-wVfeZMlbMbWIjOhyE5E6QZL4h8RvKlz9EO/s400/10-15.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 10/16</span></div><div align="center">Annual trip to the pumpkin patch...I have more pix, I'll do them in a Halloween post. Mari actually rode the orange barrell train this year instead of freaking out...she has matured so much this year, come a long way in conquering her fears.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TzBa5mlDQjhi6HM72QmLHA8HCub2qz5WBf_pmDUu8ByAfp7T3tFLGWusNmU903C6lp2vnJ_Wb1GSeyBfe_bUWO9jwREfkQhNZFOBAyJMG4CE_LEPN_ydgtPs1rgHRrUrogtmE3bSuxaL/s1600/10-16.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812390268553090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TzBa5mlDQjhi6HM72QmLHA8HCub2qz5WBf_pmDUu8ByAfp7T3tFLGWusNmU903C6lp2vnJ_Wb1GSeyBfe_bUWO9jwREfkQhNZFOBAyJMG4CE_LEPN_ydgtPs1rgHRrUrogtmE3bSuxaL/s400/10-16.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/17</span></div><div align="center">Mari has commandeered my Eeyore slippers.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitqvaGeDMew3TLFK1acvLXcc3thFBMAe2P8CbRC4xATKhU3nswRBND_mxwWD9KYbSoq4W21jRcZYxpTY29R5_3h72dWVDS4W8QgwKDLFvRE8C5HIGIHkuOEC_8a0MU8e5KPRO49_ACIx_o/s1600/10-17.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 215px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812384832475106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitqvaGeDMew3TLFK1acvLXcc3thFBMAe2P8CbRC4xATKhU3nswRBND_mxwWD9KYbSoq4W21jRcZYxpTY29R5_3h72dWVDS4W8QgwKDLFvRE8C5HIGIHkuOEC_8a0MU8e5KPRO49_ACIx_o/s400/10-17.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/18</span></div><div align="center">I love this kid.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhkhbSWLIpb7tEian0DtIGgyBxVzoE0SjuXqYjCPfvr-jqCbMiX3MRMqgqVN1Zq_HyORjaiJGt-oBys4itCW-YixJgJW55UD8aIEQ3Uh3W6zZtkOOIShx4cmtobxgmyo2pAJJkR4aiopDR/s1600/10-18.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812380902441650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhkhbSWLIpb7tEian0DtIGgyBxVzoE0SjuXqYjCPfvr-jqCbMiX3MRMqgqVN1Zq_HyORjaiJGt-oBys4itCW-YixJgJW55UD8aIEQ3Uh3W6zZtkOOIShx4cmtobxgmyo2pAJJkR4aiopDR/s400/10-18.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 10/19</span></div><div align="center">Mari wanted to practice cutting - something the kids in her new class can do and it really upset her that she was behind in this area, so we've been practicing.</div><div align="center">Don't you love her hair here?</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGsvRFwXiUVBoLERCvjs_RcgfqvAzGOheErIGduU7Is-i6ODfflEosfnXw3qwEbUhAfee49btK3FhpSH0-AEY2UHc2SzVmKT2BZEYNZEhK1nSKidf6JHHnQiPxs6gdrLbHX18NlFS0XtE/s1600/10-19.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 275px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812260815516178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGsvRFwXiUVBoLERCvjs_RcgfqvAzGOheErIGduU7Is-i6ODfflEosfnXw3qwEbUhAfee49btK3FhpSH0-AEY2UHc2SzVmKT2BZEYNZEhK1nSKidf6JHHnQiPxs6gdrLbHX18NlFS0XtE/s400/10-19.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/10</span></div><div align="center">Sam and Mickey - rough life.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVNLHooNZqGVXqigXmZP594YE40n-BixzqIkIIVqqxDVuX4Q4NT0hnTsLa4b9NmIj7EBMipIx_XbWAIgpSbs3u2Xu6Kgovd51EdOtaP12YKLK-tt7zYS22cRKqBeyQ2tF_bBhLArH6wbi/s1600/10-20.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812257261207058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVNLHooNZqGVXqigXmZP594YE40n-BixzqIkIIVqqxDVuX4Q4NT0hnTsLa4b9NmIj7EBMipIx_XbWAIgpSbs3u2Xu6Kgovd51EdOtaP12YKLK-tt7zYS22cRKqBeyQ2tF_bBhLArH6wbi/s400/10-20.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/21</span></div><div align="center">My nutso kiddo.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOxJIoJihZvT1U_NoorsK8RO967mTK5EOgm6eGL5rtkOySL4foSttlt0gNilAFXtbdvgGiMV6pTt8KljI7xbwbvUaPhnTbN7Xro5qPydP2m-OIGgcn6eV4hHtriibZWkDz_yeu-IrNL6U/s1600/10-21.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812250894697714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOxJIoJihZvT1U_NoorsK8RO967mTK5EOgm6eGL5rtkOySL4foSttlt0gNilAFXtbdvgGiMV6pTt8KljI7xbwbvUaPhnTbN7Xro5qPydP2m-OIGgcn6eV4hHtriibZWkDz_yeu-IrNL6U/s400/10-21.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 43 of 52</span></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/22</span></div><div align="center">Mari got to sleep in my bed for a few nights until we could investigate the attic over her room for scurrying critters (turns out it was just a heating tube expanding and contracting and scraping the floor - phew!).</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz51KPRMYNDmj01Au5ol9e8JF7dxHW0x4GLACpcEyzlovljTo9uhHacMhgEqlj3dsNLskdbZTa21El_DiDN3Wz55JXQeKS6V72Wh6rCKYpf2JNDwaBetqTD8vTYHLKkdzsh7crMWu8JWGK/s1600/10-22.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812246879670034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz51KPRMYNDmj01Au5ol9e8JF7dxHW0x4GLACpcEyzlovljTo9uhHacMhgEqlj3dsNLskdbZTa21El_DiDN3Wz55JXQeKS6V72Wh6rCKYpf2JNDwaBetqTD8vTYHLKkdzsh7crMWu8JWGK/s400/10-22.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/23</span></div><div align="center">The whole family went up on the mountains for an evening picnic and short hike to one of the mountain overlooks. It was a total coincidence that all 3 cousins had on half-zip fleeces....these 3 are so. much. fun. to see together. This picture totally makes me tear up (I have it as my desktop at work) - we posed them on the log but the facial expressions and interactions were just a continuation of the fun they were having playing in the leaves. </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">Next year there will be another cousin in this picture....shhhh.....</span></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrNGxTqsXY4h1u0Ip0OKF-CErkBl2yOrkxYBhTV76Z2THfoOgw8a40LdpqpRHFVvPjz10nBgjphHt5QtMnWaXz7JfzNj_RUf6_u4iFoP3ZWfmaXalSBpKsTS0Ye1WTe3ikpQjLanp9Yju/s1600/10-23.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812245058531074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrNGxTqsXY4h1u0Ip0OKF-CErkBl2yOrkxYBhTV76Z2THfoOgw8a40LdpqpRHFVvPjz10nBgjphHt5QtMnWaXz7JfzNj_RUf6_u4iFoP3ZWfmaXalSBpKsTS0Ye1WTe3ikpQjLanp9Yju/s400/10-23.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 10/24</span></div><div align="center">"Jack-O-Ween"<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII5uWML0LXbhGHJbwqp4s4GIsoflE1l7uGWv6HAxD7XWsv78nPRBRnXdIkLmRFUeYR8UlEdLtZ6mKiperIKRnc4Vs3-8Voa8yKUn0QLEYtq6bXaz5bfrO_z_nREOGNquR06YTLxPQ8PAo/s1600/10-24.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812055834991634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII5uWML0LXbhGHJbwqp4s4GIsoflE1l7uGWv6HAxD7XWsv78nPRBRnXdIkLmRFUeYR8UlEdLtZ6mKiperIKRnc4Vs3-8Voa8yKUn0QLEYtq6bXaz5bfrO_z_nREOGNquR06YTLxPQ8PAo/s400/10-24.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/25</span></div><div align="center">Loving this hairstyle, the diagonal parts really helped with some of the short pieces that we've damaged from overstyling.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgtjJT2rZHWeEQF_9rOZBexdzTr0x3yRk9VqhVEeV7pPgedNtH1dvQwSHZz9B537nRXfOy33YvFCfTj0jfmxaPRIOSOHGMQ5rsVPFppSh7AY2TQ7VptSvJZbkMxBs15n1tBlWYpLNgLcn/s1600/10-25.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812051219611650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgtjJT2rZHWeEQF_9rOZBexdzTr0x3yRk9VqhVEeV7pPgedNtH1dvQwSHZz9B537nRXfOy33YvFCfTj0jfmxaPRIOSOHGMQ5rsVPFppSh7AY2TQ7VptSvJZbkMxBs15n1tBlWYpLNgLcn/s400/10-25.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/26</span></div><div align="center">Decided to try some yarn braids - if lucky, we will be able to get 4-6 weeks out of them. I'm a little worried about damaging the hair but they are supposed to do the opposite and actually protect the hair. Mari's hair needs a break from styling, so hopefully this will afford us some break time.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDSXbXoYeRS6LqwKvtHuaOo4_E61jSYn2yL7IuW2J1IP0_nrIZ4bTfCQO0LsUbDEBYCzoUHGdJabGqnmJry_MT9F2F-18W82FoPd2YaBj2D_EhEhKfu69ZIu88auNX8x1xyZnDOrhLp0l/s1600/10-26.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812046034502146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDSXbXoYeRS6LqwKvtHuaOo4_E61jSYn2yL7IuW2J1IP0_nrIZ4bTfCQO0LsUbDEBYCzoUHGdJabGqnmJry_MT9F2F-18W82FoPd2YaBj2D_EhEhKfu69ZIu88auNX8x1xyZnDOrhLp0l/s400/10-26.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/27</span></div><div align="center">Still working on the braids. Mari is so AWESOME with getting her hair done, she doesn't mind a bit. <a href="http://www.keepmecurly.com/2010/08/all-about-yarn-braids.html">Using this website for direction and tips</a>.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i0U1w_UNCZHqZLnMajP41wnln828NwEvpM0crdobvr0ZcIoKbTw7FM64JRcBHPTOTQRPktwtyfIxYWvl1C3Fb8oBJYO3lyj4cwWoIRrFvFSrfNueZwc668I5upnTeYUYgndx1mdmQ4zV/s1600/10-27.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 260px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812039120115490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i0U1w_UNCZHqZLnMajP41wnln828NwEvpM0crdobvr0ZcIoKbTw7FM64JRcBHPTOTQRPktwtyfIxYWvl1C3Fb8oBJYO3lyj4cwWoIRrFvFSrfNueZwc668I5upnTeYUYgndx1mdmQ4zV/s400/10-27.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/28</span></div><div align="center">Symbiotic relationship.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTMV3wpBEwTQRw4NOuh1rul3l1ej1AR7Cb8Ni2d5Z072bE2Idbg7LWXm4MgjNfYHGk1CLN4FLfRM1BLzJDj30kQSKfwISNK5c34N2ssC36vSDq_4tAHPTpDbSiII_4i0HCA3trea6YMXq/s1600/10-28.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 299px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533812028535538978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTMV3wpBEwTQRw4NOuh1rul3l1ej1AR7Cb8Ni2d5Z072bE2Idbg7LWXm4MgjNfYHGk1CLN4FLfRM1BLzJDj30kQSKfwISNK5c34N2ssC36vSDq_4tAHPTpDbSiII_4i0HCA3trea6YMXq/s400/10-28.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Stayed tuned....Halloween/Autumn post coming up soon. School post. Wedding post. Mari post. Hair post. Maybe I should do NaBloPoMo?Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-51711517383762344772010-10-19T19:56:00.005-04:002010-10-19T20:04:08.119-04:00The child that I adopted is not my adopted childAdopted is a verb (past-tense in this case). Adopted is not an adjective. My daughter was adopted. But she is not my adopted daughter. Are you following me here? Or are you sitting there going “huh, say what”?<br /><br />My daughter <em>was</em> adopted. She was born to another woman who made the unselfish decision to allow her own flesh and blood to be raised and loved by another. I <em>adopted</em> Mari. We will always celebrate this act. The start of our family is amazing and while there is truly grief associated with what Mari has lost, we will always celebrate that our family started through the <em>action</em> of adoption.<br /><br />My daughter is not an adjective. She <em>is not</em> my adopted daughter. She <em>is</em> my daughter.<br /><br />What’s the difference?<br /><br />My daughter will be always shaped by the start of her life. She has suffered some incredible losses, many which she will not comprehend until much later in life and may never come to terms with. Emotions, attachments, friendships, familial relationships - all will be influenced by the fact that she was transplanted into a family and culture that were not originally hers. There is no changing the fact that she was adopted and that this <em>action</em> will contribute to the person she becomes.<br /><br />But she is not an adopted person. She is a person. She is not solely defined by the fact that she was adopted. The action of adoption did not make her a <em>better</em> person than she would have been and it did not make her <em>less</em> of a person than she would have been. She is very special because she is my daughter, <em>not</em> because she’s my <em>adopted</em> daughter.<br /><br />I absolutely celebrate adoption and think it is the most wonderful event that has happened in my life. But I refuse to let it define my child and how she is viewed. I’m tired of her being introduced as “Jill’s adopted daughter” (not to mention that it’s a little bit obvious). <strong><span style="font-size:130%;">I’m worried that one day she will grow up and think that the <em>only</em> reason she is special is because she was adopted.<br /></span></strong><br />Mari is special because she is super-intelligent, hilarious, engaging, charming, determined, passionate, and just plain awesome. Adoption did not make her special; it does not define who she is. It is one small chapter of her story and one that she may look back on with a sense of loss of her identity or that she may chose to celebrate as a rebirth. But she is so much more than just an adopted child. She is a normal, amazing child who just happened to be adopted.Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-63204499470030771812010-10-17T19:10:00.013-04:002010-10-17T20:13:06.768-04:00Weeks 38, 39, 40, 41 of 52Wow....don't think I've ever been a whole month behind. I've been saving pix, just haven't been taking the time to blog. There are so many posts I want to do....one about just us, one about the beautiful wedding we were in, one about our awesome vacation at the beach..... So, I'm going to try to keep up with the pix better so I can get back to regular blogging. This has been an interesting experiment doing this pic of the day.....I feel like there are a lot of little day-to-day stuff that I'd probably never have taken the time to write about. On the other hand, just the effort to keep up with the project has impacted my regular blogging for the worse. True, there have been more posts than normal but a lot less posts with any substance. Anywho.....<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 38 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/17</span></div><div align="center">Mari has discovered my old CD player. She is totally enthralled by it.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupSmVCUqdGVs9GawnXhefGVQ-nBIgNcJRxshA43V9jTEEHRMFC6hSfxENFgUxJKqZ_wtR_Aj_mhjagGSHoXG9qBgvA7xzwAQXH2ILI2LQCNOGwGyCQA7kP2ruvCFcZpgA07v8x-zlotR7/s1600/9-17.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159615465739250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiupSmVCUqdGVs9GawnXhefGVQ-nBIgNcJRxshA43V9jTEEHRMFC6hSfxENFgUxJKqZ_wtR_Aj_mhjagGSHoXG9qBgvA7xzwAQXH2ILI2LQCNOGwGyCQA7kP2ruvCFcZpgA07v8x-zlotR7/s400/9-17.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/18</span></div><div align="center">Mari has been asking for awhile to go on a boat ride with Uncle Todd - we were finally able to make this happen on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Mari LOVED it!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizE0R0FYqL4ZqPSaPnWQec_e8poqyra3iuauIfzOqn6kpeuwQAUPAuuHL69k9ne4IXUvhdtXfq2_nc8_86rKPNrk6J755SiZrNVSm8f_dTp4t8f6mhlyjblPk3p00aULnpj43pX2cTcRHI/s1600/9-18.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 310px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159612051982594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizE0R0FYqL4ZqPSaPnWQec_e8poqyra3iuauIfzOqn6kpeuwQAUPAuuHL69k9ne4IXUvhdtXfq2_nc8_86rKPNrk6J755SiZrNVSm8f_dTp4t8f6mhlyjblPk3p00aULnpj43pX2cTcRHI/s400/9-18.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/19</span></div><div align="center">Mastered the 5-strand braid! Love the way it looks and it's actually easier than a 4-strand braid. I think I'm at my dexterity-limit, though. And I've seen tutorials all the way up to 7 strands. I'm happy mastering up to 5!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI09uhQY0gEL2N6b0KbjaXS5oU28jXGeKWHCa93XrYsWFZaJLm-jWGN-DHRN88Grye3-tgr5OTviTIcFPeah4Zm5in2jNoAoFbCwTVZLZKKc72Ln3pnnEfLLgfTeTrJxqJubZwiQfEgPiF/s1600/9-19.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159607939267106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI09uhQY0gEL2N6b0KbjaXS5oU28jXGeKWHCa93XrYsWFZaJLm-jWGN-DHRN88Grye3-tgr5OTviTIcFPeah4Zm5in2jNoAoFbCwTVZLZKKc72Ln3pnnEfLLgfTeTrJxqJubZwiQfEgPiF/s400/9-19.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/20</span></div><div align="center">I made a sweet little dress for Mari. I took home ec in eighth grade and I think I've made one thing since then. My mom used to make all my dresses (and all my doll's dresses) when I was a kid and I wanted to give it a try. I was very proud of myself!!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitd3HyrAVn97a4evRU8ZpZ8TUppVa1YLKsZgVW5Pz4egiUYSlyShZSLLZbRTUwIWC4JUOdzkUnjnlmL80qrr9JbYOt9NbF9m7QjpjavyqiMHZkTcX8xWd2eWPYVZZ7WHUl-0tg2sETEeug/s1600/9-20.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159161321151362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitd3HyrAVn97a4evRU8ZpZ8TUppVa1YLKsZgVW5Pz4egiUYSlyShZSLLZbRTUwIWC4JUOdzkUnjnlmL80qrr9JbYOt9NbF9m7QjpjavyqiMHZkTcX8xWd2eWPYVZZ7WHUl-0tg2sETEeug/s400/9-20.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/21</span></div><div align="center">Sweet dreamer.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTtDAtJngH6vJL8-kA9wPyy4eQrr4q14u9WO4vWoKtQjGOzXDbalzeLvbx7pCd24r2sx18RV8fDWjglFNwDPZpqbaaonGxYS06A8nGCDC3t4pPfQXua6NAeerTWX1RQd4hESrFNofJYma/s1600/9-21.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159153222333938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTtDAtJngH6vJL8-kA9wPyy4eQrr4q14u9WO4vWoKtQjGOzXDbalzeLvbx7pCd24r2sx18RV8fDWjglFNwDPZpqbaaonGxYS06A8nGCDC3t4pPfQXua6NAeerTWX1RQd4hESrFNofJYma/s400/9-21.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/22</span></div><div align="center">I find it amazing that Mari couldn't draw a smiley face just 2 months ago....she has come a long way. (And those are knee caps, BTW, just in case anyone needed to know)</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGoWVTEW6NdrQG2MxGYpPP1pYUAXQiY5qeAIizoK_gz6wsSCTrJPQcl6VYCHpWmIWQJJlg428jpRIBr_NdqTIh-1Rchz6xPkqCKLWw_Pe0q6jqfH0A3NcnkFj88d2-jrmbJ9Pv0FtbvxeP/s1600/9-22.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159151900017618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGoWVTEW6NdrQG2MxGYpPP1pYUAXQiY5qeAIizoK_gz6wsSCTrJPQcl6VYCHpWmIWQJJlg428jpRIBr_NdqTIh-1Rchz6xPkqCKLWw_Pe0q6jqfH0A3NcnkFj88d2-jrmbJ9Pv0FtbvxeP/s400/9-22.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/23</span></div><div align="center">This one is "Mari on a boat with Mr. Sun"</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4OA7P9IFLrAs3mz898poYitVFjjXCVAUIWR6KxoqatRXl-KPWr1TS_lxRZ8RMuDItumj27Rc6qquVKG3kd07-NW5fRr5CLwPxvD94T_TAvaPojOvieM2zjUgNQZWVJinaGjx_sBLE6hlC/s1600/9-23.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159147708864146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4OA7P9IFLrAs3mz898poYitVFjjXCVAUIWR6KxoqatRXl-KPWr1TS_lxRZ8RMuDItumj27Rc6qquVKG3kd07-NW5fRr5CLwPxvD94T_TAvaPojOvieM2zjUgNQZWVJinaGjx_sBLE6hlC/s400/9-23.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 39 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/24</span></div><div align="center">Mari is "officially" 3.5 years old. She marked the milestone by being promoted to the Advanced Class at school....this is the class she'll be in until K (which is still 2 years away). She is so super smart, she blows me away - sometimes I forget she is only 3 and expect too much from her (but she reminds me quickly in her very much 3-year-old way!). I promised her SpiderMan stickers as her prize for moving up and she earned a tattoo from the machine at Wal-Mart for being a good shopper. Glad to finally find <strike>a bribe</strike> an incentive that only costs 25-50 cents.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Yn_eXvt6gqzuY410Xqu9VbNZecJ257tTfgvcqVFS-8FYLLLtmyaakplmNuHo32UcOt6FmDB2vgZUPlVJMs_gh85rWEKTBvVT31WkCw0NxdfUNAReo_-jccFc3wiK9RfNrdxVHMsVINYs/s1600/9-24.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529159144000932610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Yn_eXvt6gqzuY410Xqu9VbNZecJ257tTfgvcqVFS-8FYLLLtmyaakplmNuHo32UcOt6FmDB2vgZUPlVJMs_gh85rWEKTBvVT31WkCw0NxdfUNAReo_-jccFc3wiK9RfNrdxVHMsVINYs/s400/9-24.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/25</span></div><div align="center">"Mari and Mommy the Pirates" (hence the patches on our eyes)<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWSzjxCsJ6WfxUieoyL1S6zhi8m1q6cFFbsuJOsdeDFOuXrgOqgpGsOBOR7zZeyYHfdKutQmQVN-BacUVtOXlEYyulV77kd3-ksjopiRzEccosGWpZI1MFHiD6jG_wmRfbc6SuhyxZIe0/s1600/9-25.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158877084020290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWSzjxCsJ6WfxUieoyL1S6zhi8m1q6cFFbsuJOsdeDFOuXrgOqgpGsOBOR7zZeyYHfdKutQmQVN-BacUVtOXlEYyulV77kd3-ksjopiRzEccosGWpZI1MFHiD6jG_wmRfbc6SuhyxZIe0/s400/9-25.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/26</span></div><div align="center">Mari was putting on a puppet show with her animals. In this story (which I have on video), Mr. Moo eats Macaroni Penguin and then is reunited with his long-lost father, Goat.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhNUiiB5k5RLA830Zp2oxwfdhhoJGSgboDwYAeK1eI3vpImFmrzitHKfmkwyeQ4GYG3UUXlf4LaCyG14SyejZkRvHzwkU0eo9lRekZaEj1o7OPaaO0SQv2C_ypxPaneQ-7x4EvyYdAm4v/s1600/9-26.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 328px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158868557108178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhNUiiB5k5RLA830Zp2oxwfdhhoJGSgboDwYAeK1eI3vpImFmrzitHKfmkwyeQ4GYG3UUXlf4LaCyG14SyejZkRvHzwkU0eo9lRekZaEj1o7OPaaO0SQv2C_ypxPaneQ-7x4EvyYdAm4v/s400/9-26.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/27</span></div><div align="center">Mari's first day in her new class. She was super excited....it was a huge adjustment. Major structure, major focus on education - but she did great.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie80q950jhyphenhyphenAtKs5fzpTDrPN7WsVxaOXqO8BQbfq-ylfmPb4YzkcRwrwaOXPzbCpYtWhuDdzTVmVYVcyWpWz8tCTAqz1cglEKhh02HHdLASigm4acBCfKwpLmGQgFpKyP7yT_MpqM78WH9/s1600/9-27.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 204px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158853397954450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie80q950jhyphenhyphenAtKs5fzpTDrPN7WsVxaOXqO8BQbfq-ylfmPb4YzkcRwrwaOXPzbCpYtWhuDdzTVmVYVcyWpWz8tCTAqz1cglEKhh02HHdLASigm4acBCfKwpLmGQgFpKyP7yT_MpqM78WH9/s400/9-27.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 09/28</span></div><div align="center">I'm finding sewing to be very therapeutic and rewarding. I struggle with it because I'm not very visually adept, so piecing things together tends to lead to a lot of frustrations. I have to rip lots of seams out, restitch lots of things....but I still find it extremely enjoyable.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROueoHMqqGwC0hzV0fI4CXxXw6dpzkLVpRHR-WlXFq2ihIv-ZmWiCkUD29S2y1cmkgdy3NA8F1PjihpZUvhNnBr1uxiUQL689wc4nRF-g4toCy53_qglszh-H9qbjFNJOExtGuvlVZZmW/s1600/9-28.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158849251688674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROueoHMqqGwC0hzV0fI4CXxXw6dpzkLVpRHR-WlXFq2ihIv-ZmWiCkUD29S2y1cmkgdy3NA8F1PjihpZUvhNnBr1uxiUQL689wc4nRF-g4toCy53_qglszh-H9qbjFNJOExtGuvlVZZmW/s400/9-28.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/29<br /></span>The castle that Mari built and wanted me to take a picture of....she was so proud of it, I let her leave it up all night instead of putting it away. It fell in the middle of the night and scared the holy smokes out of me!<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3asdtAR6MdlDlL5O6KTS0SUT78Leo9kSohRVc-zvZNk5KpBGMUl8lM5WeugibRAr6xX5j5oFHMiOm4egUgA5nKcfwdl38zShmCKHRNbQQqsoFvrpBFheRq1loiCkEbTUSpu2F2thkvDiZ/s1600/9-29.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158837932559490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3asdtAR6MdlDlL5O6KTS0SUT78Leo9kSohRVc-zvZNk5KpBGMUl8lM5WeugibRAr6xX5j5oFHMiOm4egUgA5nKcfwdl38zShmCKHRNbQQqsoFvrpBFheRq1loiCkEbTUSpu2F2thkvDiZ/s400/9-29.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/30</span></div><div align="center">Never good when your cats stand at full-alert for over 24 hours. Yes, we have mice. Yes, I'm completely grossily freaked out.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWf4LdkkMMcEhTAqNJaQW0fpO1V0ovLtzTYxS_VBlh6w3WFSkVgVDMJoWw0PJRfScRWh9ltlIKfAR404ag2xmx5uJZHrEO6stp4rgNS6p4KXKz_diQUDGkU17qYVvRUj_Y3SO-KZGU8kR/s1600/9-30.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158654711002530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWf4LdkkMMcEhTAqNJaQW0fpO1V0ovLtzTYxS_VBlh6w3WFSkVgVDMJoWw0PJRfScRWh9ltlIKfAR404ag2xmx5uJZHrEO6stp4rgNS6p4KXKz_diQUDGkU17qYVvRUj_Y3SO-KZGU8kR/s400/9-30.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">Week 40 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/01</span></div><div align="center">Been having some gorgeous weather - Mari decided to give roller-skating another try.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzADfE-uqXtuIzArMJdZFLeBSuue1PxF14TqJU4ulc5FOP-d_kupStPtNwOBWuClNDPeUV_4x1XhGM2-udqc6YnCpREeCuhrHlnp-OY2756eRK4rOoT2XSf-a7HFLVgpgXhiyLjovUv7Eq/s1600/10-1.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158650391540418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzADfE-uqXtuIzArMJdZFLeBSuue1PxF14TqJU4ulc5FOP-d_kupStPtNwOBWuClNDPeUV_4x1XhGM2-udqc6YnCpREeCuhrHlnp-OY2756eRK4rOoT2XSf-a7HFLVgpgXhiyLjovUv7Eq/s400/10-1.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/02</span></div><div align="center">We went to a local Oktoberfest celebration. Mari got to ride a little pony - she LOVED riding it, but freaked when they suggested she pet it on the head.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvw_ud26smsPOzz-6VuAlxeObSMmMozCJ1DGDDyUzV1bqidYLDfNKEBp8Co4KEYsIVJiXu0ajJMYtBWfFWwGID8KCMrXe9D5YP8ztrgfazYhd0hrwmQJNl8NBv07DhHtlj-bo4ZQq5olX/s1600/10-2.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 315px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158647916627218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJvw_ud26smsPOzz-6VuAlxeObSMmMozCJ1DGDDyUzV1bqidYLDfNKEBp8Co4KEYsIVJiXu0ajJMYtBWfFWwGID8KCMrXe9D5YP8ztrgfazYhd0hrwmQJNl8NBv07DhHtlj-bo4ZQq5olX/s400/10-2.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/03</span></div><div align="center">Trying out a new hairstyle....a veil pattern in a circular shape. Very cute and held up well.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NahwJk324BVqVb4vMlLbNKWuf19GJqundbOTTzL3QkX0E1eRbtEjTqLkfUO4WyUEqJ_iluC2VrpMSCwdbmBJXhQ22Ekx_2YYWl1ZshK9ETiMSk9214LE0dXqTiaU-6sHfonozlI2aJ0b/s1600/10-3.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 309px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158629113972386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NahwJk324BVqVb4vMlLbNKWuf19GJqundbOTTzL3QkX0E1eRbtEjTqLkfUO4WyUEqJ_iluC2VrpMSCwdbmBJXhQ22Ekx_2YYWl1ZshK9ETiMSk9214LE0dXqTiaU-6sHfonozlI2aJ0b/s400/10-3.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/04</span> <div align="center">I was trying to take a picture of this shirt (I was trying to describe the neckline to someone and thought a picture would explain it better) and Mari was being her silly self.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9L5u5VL2fE-c8ZJK5waIGPmy57XvqOn22OUVzfYE897Uadtd0e940gODrdFJGyFN-O804dgmze6yDc8EacjaSDPBiubSkKEt-wqMq7hMGEAdqST8iQLfAJGYQ9hyLsBiuyXXb6qT6Z9o/s1600/10-4.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 202px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158624634856914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9L5u5VL2fE-c8ZJK5waIGPmy57XvqOn22OUVzfYE897Uadtd0e940gODrdFJGyFN-O804dgmze6yDc8EacjaSDPBiubSkKEt-wqMq7hMGEAdqST8iQLfAJGYQ9hyLsBiuyXXb6qT6Z9o/s400/10-4.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/05</span></div><div align="center">Happy Referral-versary!!!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0KNnEviivpfE76tu1rTGC-H3U5z_8zPa5r75MrinViH3w6-a9iZ_7kbQCkqB_B9de02tbL70aAC1Mi-k23L8clJRvX_c8MAbC1yVm_xZEALeSfjOk6AHaasQpdm1NsXJ03FfdO83pT9ZH/s1600/10-5.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 265px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158456173753698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0KNnEviivpfE76tu1rTGC-H3U5z_8zPa5r75MrinViH3w6-a9iZ_7kbQCkqB_B9de02tbL70aAC1Mi-k23L8clJRvX_c8MAbC1yVm_xZEALeSfjOk6AHaasQpdm1NsXJ03FfdO83pT9ZH/s400/10-5.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/06</span></div><div align="center">Mis-Match Day at school. I think we did pretty good (please ignore the messy house in the background).<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphY3y88HU-f19YR0dRGLlXV7KNn3BQYlgZwSNAUWUAyvbecEphVpYV_jvie8r6XRU3JbwBZHLilWSbB4rokTAG4JJHthPBBbnAtgkvxZvUBHR6O3aVVYYsY_z0hqrvs69YMNW_sPa0mjM/s1600/10-6.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 345px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158445831730658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphY3y88HU-f19YR0dRGLlXV7KNn3BQYlgZwSNAUWUAyvbecEphVpYV_jvie8r6XRU3JbwBZHLilWSbB4rokTAG4JJHthPBBbnAtgkvxZvUBHR6O3aVVYYsY_z0hqrvs69YMNW_sPa0mjM/s400/10-6.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strike>2010</strike> 2009: 10/07</span></div><div align="center">Yup, had to go back in the archives, didn't have a picture this day (ooops!). This is Mari trying on some hand-me-down costumes last year....she refused to wear a costume. This year she is SUPER excited about wearing one.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYD5zoloLYdCENiY4kFs-oVZ8YKMmIcKCYj-DesWwzZnLVzNor21MVzlEzgLM1XHz2WeIJowI248w0ddsZsvIcjrDE0DrcMBKP2bOcBNK0Jfs-9XcKew22tL8en-yEQJy5RZxc0PhQ8CV-/s1600/10-7.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158439379275682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYD5zoloLYdCENiY4kFs-oVZ8YKMmIcKCYj-DesWwzZnLVzNor21MVzlEzgLM1XHz2WeIJowI248w0ddsZsvIcjrDE0DrcMBKP2bOcBNK0Jfs-9XcKew22tL8en-yEQJy5RZxc0PhQ8CV-/s400/10-7.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Week 41 of 52</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/08</span></div><div align="center">Our dear friend, Heather, got married this weekend and Mari and I were both honored to be in her wedding. This is Mari hanging out waiting on the rehearsal to get started. She got to pull the ring bearer down the aisle in a wagon, so she was thrilled with her flower girl job!!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QkoJUqd_wD7-5zdTHQ0bsjsOfNLxc1gdq-uAv7PXe-DrkPWQdafuhxhqLBgZL_dLonuPyYtWL9BYm2IrLD9aMP4qeOxaCcn2-e2JTq_kkz4f8hIysprvSoz-3Fm59pNqbbNY0V30CnkC/s1600/10-8.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158432421007778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QkoJUqd_wD7-5zdTHQ0bsjsOfNLxc1gdq-uAv7PXe-DrkPWQdafuhxhqLBgZL_dLonuPyYtWL9BYm2IrLD9aMP4qeOxaCcn2-e2JTq_kkz4f8hIysprvSoz-3Fm59pNqbbNY0V30CnkC/s400/10-8.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/09</span></div><div align="center">Heather and Charles got married on a gorgeous autumn day in an absolutely beautiful wedding. I'll do a post with more pix later but here's one of me and my stunning flower girl daughter.<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqm1v19nLUQ1tKNn1488WrF01HzFdFAxNacSFwt2fv1axl__4qVP8uqNEL-hs8ALUpcJJ4DMxecZ5ejMbSaMaUqatiaTiCFbjYKm9ZAp__NXwLiz53UPeh4qqcVkKTJGb9ZC3YWS02JT2/s1600/10-9.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 324px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529158432820575186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqm1v19nLUQ1tKNn1488WrF01HzFdFAxNacSFwt2fv1axl__4qVP8uqNEL-hs8ALUpcJJ4DMxecZ5ejMbSaMaUqatiaTiCFbjYKm9ZAp__NXwLiz53UPeh4qqcVkKTJGb9ZC3YWS02JT2/s400/10-9.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/10</span></div><div align="center">Mari's unbelieveable curls, 24 hours after twisting them in. LOVE THEM!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlv7XG1IvdSvyXu-7yWD5rXAFZRW74RNfSsjZNjiZ3wsSAXkK_x3HxDfxwSp04mmwmD7L2ZkLhpkn6mZ1GHCBy5sltD9MC5i3z5sffn0FCHlhr_HEj1fcgcadSt-vWbE5XXsMXpT0N7yZL/s1600/10-10.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 332px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529157847946139042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlv7XG1IvdSvyXu-7yWD5rXAFZRW74RNfSsjZNjiZ3wsSAXkK_x3HxDfxwSp04mmwmD7L2ZkLhpkn6mZ1GHCBy5sltD9MC5i3z5sffn0FCHlhr_HEj1fcgcadSt-vWbE5XXsMXpT0N7yZL/s400/10-10.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/11</span></div><div align="center">Mari hair.....well, it's big. Time for a LONG overdue trim. She got one. I always trim it myself cause I don't trust anyone else. It looks so much healthier now.<br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIaSx8yHpUUnoNt-BDafL3IwuRav9GCj3B4Ew99rnAMkjNLF1Hw3W7-nZgcD5Jj23Osf8td41GZ6h4Jn7KSexQiA8iD-iKdq0BGK1b4Ho7n4wdshQIj-AkHoJuAoCEH4cLzNfAUSa5K3m/s1600/10-11.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529157842558671698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIaSx8yHpUUnoNt-BDafL3IwuRav9GCj3B4Ew99rnAMkjNLF1Hw3W7-nZgcD5Jj23Osf8td41GZ6h4Jn7KSexQiA8iD-iKdq0BGK1b4Ho7n4wdshQIj-AkHoJuAoCEH4cLzNfAUSa5K3m/s400/10-11.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strike>2010</strike> 2008: 10/12</span></div><div align="center">Flashback a couple years. What a little cutie!!</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUTgQF7tmvJ1s-NYvOGmXXVS2fXHxHTG2CKEcNRuLK_QjrwmQ7pBCJULbS900aNSHI5-Iq80IPKAJdJ0LDOiHVSXDJoHl9UjyWfXeev1LHBC3Wk1z8fi0T5XekGH5c4VOUucI3oUPd1ne/s1600/10-12.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 301px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529157843353603106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUTgQF7tmvJ1s-NYvOGmXXVS2fXHxHTG2CKEcNRuLK_QjrwmQ7pBCJULbS900aNSHI5-Iq80IPKAJdJ0LDOiHVSXDJoHl9UjyWfXeev1LHBC3Wk1z8fi0T5XekGH5c4VOUucI3oUPd1ne/s400/10-12.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/13</span><br />When I put Mari to bed, there were only 2 stuffed animals in bed with her. Hmmmm....<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXpbuyNFHQL8MxJugN2B4RNFLClKkAcGozCWDKX823zbViqT1XFAhlXBWFGpBS43R5Jt_GxlNSrlfTIrF8EvUC3NYfczZw5MZJ7qMaVSpZba_USwMcxg42p7dfnSMPiZh4w2hPzpUb843U/s1600/10-13.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 298px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529157837196399474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXpbuyNFHQL8MxJugN2B4RNFLClKkAcGozCWDKX823zbViqT1XFAhlXBWFGpBS43R5Jt_GxlNSrlfTIrF8EvUC3NYfczZw5MZJ7qMaVSpZba_USwMcxg42p7dfnSMPiZh4w2hPzpUb843U/s400/10-13.JPG" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 10/14</span></div><div align="center">Somewhere in here is a rocking Super Hero dress for Halloween. Hope I can find it!</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWQA0a74eT3bMrYuTtrWOXfx-qpZRugQG7khSX4QVYqp9mS3ItKjd37v3_yuGozrl37e_HZunXUg-s5NWUNtnHrPAb2brULYFhZlbJQxT3EY5pIL0UtIPWCzlW_jxnuwTH6VZOWi9Znwr/s1600/10-14.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529157834649195090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWQA0a74eT3bMrYuTtrWOXfx-qpZRugQG7khSX4QVYqp9mS3ItKjd37v3_yuGozrl37e_HZunXUg-s5NWUNtnHrPAb2brULYFhZlbJQxT3EY5pIL0UtIPWCzlW_jxnuwTH6VZOWi9Znwr/s400/10-14.JPG" /></a><br />Hope you enjoyed that LONG post!! Real posts coming soon.</div></div><br /></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-15918384946770138792010-10-05T20:11:00.003-04:002010-10-05T20:21:58.743-04:00The Day Time Stood StillThree years ago today, I received the most incredible phone call of my life. I waited for <strike>eternity</strike> 1/2 hour for an email to arrive. I remember clicking on the attached picture and turning away (I still had dial-up, *gasp*), waiting for the whole picture to pop on the screen, wanting to look at the whole picture all at once.<br /><br /><div align="center">Then time stood still.......I gazed into those eyes forever.</div><div align="center"><strong>October 5, 2007</strong></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBiuBt014cRSiIxP36Wxr1gvvipOLQ9hOFuuXRDSLOxu98ogotfmM4fOxuKXI9ca0Dtsd7dqBhvyg2bM8KQlsQ39ydD2slK6GYRjBSamIU_okJOll-dSwZrHG52R3BVqm3s_Dh7lZEc_Bn/s1600/DSC00314.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524719368231343874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBiuBt014cRSiIxP36Wxr1gvvipOLQ9hOFuuXRDSLOxu98ogotfmM4fOxuKXI9ca0Dtsd7dqBhvyg2bM8KQlsQ39ydD2slK6GYRjBSamIU_okJOll-dSwZrHG52R3BVqm3s_Dh7lZEc_Bn/s400/DSC00314.JPG" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">I still gaze into those eyes, only now it's in person.</div><div align="center"><strong>October 5, 2008<br /></strong></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWO-9D1pGw8AY-1HEtLVKCcftg7I0OWqTPF5l_8vfhmGb9Fyvgp2beDXqgKdknuTfew1Fp63hzCqV29_FPQV2QFz9CsYzg4amAMBl73OBmIH7oJohBU3tnovz2C_FZP1gWrOUrBG7tkfb/s1600/ha.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 388px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524719363687350322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWO-9D1pGw8AY-1HEtLVKCcftg7I0OWqTPF5l_8vfhmGb9Fyvgp2beDXqgKdknuTfew1Fp63hzCqV29_FPQV2QFz9CsYzg4amAMBl73OBmIH7oJohBU3tnovz2C_FZP1gWrOUrBG7tkfb/s400/ha.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Those eyes are the most incredibly expressive eyes on the earth (helped out by a pair of amazingly expressive eyebrows)....so much emotion behind those chocolate gems.</div><div align="center"><strong>October 5, 2009</strong></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MiuzLI-pkgYHOgsdq9B8Qqp1dZ-zHRWmrKupy84Nkp10x_97jrjNk-pOXzQg42GDDNvtTzmyidUf4V2UXGb5kZY6kyAh2TkoZYGQnJXRcRPLhHdWO2l-Op7SAlzI1X7aVkwBBgNh7gHP/s1600/016+(3).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524719362260795986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MiuzLI-pkgYHOgsdq9B8Qqp1dZ-zHRWmrKupy84Nkp10x_97jrjNk-pOXzQg42GDDNvtTzmyidUf4V2UXGb5kZY6kyAh2TkoZYGQnJXRcRPLhHdWO2l-Op7SAlzI1X7aVkwBBgNh7gHP/s400/016+(3).JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center">I wish time stood still now....as you can see, it hasn't. As much as I'd love to just stop time again, I do love seeing this beautiful angel blossom and grow.</div><div align="center"><strong>October 5, 2010</strong></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_9OonN5-bibkYFs84Ffl4YE-Lm31jiESu33EUw8wtydy_2ID2EUkpik-Vq5rvtmp3nER4v4o_UpeR8wIlEn8SU-tP-2k-5MAPqvCU30djhz7zVMlMAOkFqx9EkGZTJKhDbZ2vGeNWA5j/s1600/039a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 265px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524719358648347458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG_9OonN5-bibkYFs84Ffl4YE-Lm31jiESu33EUw8wtydy_2ID2EUkpik-Vq5rvtmp3nER4v4o_UpeR8wIlEn8SU-tP-2k-5MAPqvCU30djhz7zVMlMAOkFqx9EkGZTJKhDbZ2vGeNWA5j/s400/039a.jpg" /></a> <strong>3 years. Wow!</strong></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-36235080764034912392010-09-29T20:12:00.004-04:002010-09-29T20:29:46.200-04:00Week 37 of 52We absolutely loved our beach vacation and I'll do a separate post (sometime) all about it with more pix and details. Something just so relaxing about the beach. Loved it! And loved that my mom was able to come along...it definitely takes some of the edge off to have an extra set of eyes and hands.<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/10</span></div>There is a really great story to this picture and I only wish I had it on video. Grandma decided she wanted to fill our 5 gallon bucket with water....having just assisted Mari with filling her little one, I knew that catching a wave caused a sudden, swift filling of a heavy bucket. I guess Grandma didn't realize this. When she bent down to catch the wave and fill the bucket, it pulled her over and into the water. Killed the cell phone in her pocket, soaked her, and provided me with a whole lot of laughter and ammo for teasing.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmQ4gQ2yKJkw4nQv7i17y7BrKPd6rYzpfwxUUdMlwX8h7zLs75tbqaPW4buztoxW1J0h-q3vVDYTK78EKwRgCym4JweeLLTwFd8Inz1iDQwFgsxyCekFAy3H7WynbUE8_vdsRDDJDdRCT/s1600/9-10.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522493132409341186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmQ4gQ2yKJkw4nQv7i17y7BrKPd6rYzpfwxUUdMlwX8h7zLs75tbqaPW4buztoxW1J0h-q3vVDYTK78EKwRgCym4JweeLLTwFd8Inz1iDQwFgsxyCekFAy3H7WynbUE8_vdsRDDJDdRCT/s400/9-10.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/11</span></div><div align="center">Happy New Year - Melkam Addis Amet</div><div align="center">I wish that we could spend every Ethiopian New Year at the beach but I guess school will interfere with that in a couple of years. We had such a great time and Mari was so well-behaved. It helps to basically have no agenda and nowhere you need to be.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJOCfPkdNHMzSSzwsAYfRMDgcC8k72nx-oiR3Cby0fio7UioNd_8iHfKoa1JStmbYhIZ0J3xipW-2MY9W_AcOmLtmowRBpNKaRocSSUVh66ZgNNjJ-ueNGqcQvMNEHAWb150KwhKsSXUO/s1600/9-11.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522493124302475954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJOCfPkdNHMzSSzwsAYfRMDgcC8k72nx-oiR3Cby0fio7UioNd_8iHfKoa1JStmbYhIZ0J3xipW-2MY9W_AcOmLtmowRBpNKaRocSSUVh66ZgNNjJ-ueNGqcQvMNEHAWb150KwhKsSXUO/s400/9-11.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/12</span></div><div align="center">We really didn't want to leave the beach. So I guess it was only fitting to wake up to gray, rainy skies as we prepared to leave.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUbjwiSbcaACbild9ztvoa__8nM5C_L7pz7EcNxZD6mgcZ0JpdmbNeBo9PG-OqAhJCB5TGLUxLO9wPvx5e-kG2bAW41it8yZg6fA_xofgL7Gm1rFWUHFNLVLpzr9RqSCNiLxNu70sMQWe9/s1600/9-12.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522492990421575346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUbjwiSbcaACbild9ztvoa__8nM5C_L7pz7EcNxZD6mgcZ0JpdmbNeBo9PG-OqAhJCB5TGLUxLO9wPvx5e-kG2bAW41it8yZg6fA_xofgL7Gm1rFWUHFNLVLpzr9RqSCNiLxNu70sMQWe9/s400/9-12.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/13</span><br />Mari LOVES the Nickelodeon Mega Music Fest special that was on recently...I DVRed it and we have watched it so much that she can recite the dialogue in between the songs (she is SO cute saying "hosted by Jon Leguizamo"). This is her face watching it....it never get old or dull for her!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjajda7mfWfT0xqtffn56dDhZ99YxVBzuPEnDZt1swiDdSqVbrfW9whv9hDsg48sgpFJzSlAniNzf1lxsrYGciNvRyEIiGIox8YUhXsISDBmnvJAbtXcTUx33_oBUwtt4aynNyBmaeUDwQo/s1600/9-13.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 399px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522492982961148450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjajda7mfWfT0xqtffn56dDhZ99YxVBzuPEnDZt1swiDdSqVbrfW9whv9hDsg48sgpFJzSlAniNzf1lxsrYGciNvRyEIiGIox8YUhXsISDBmnvJAbtXcTUx33_oBUwtt4aynNyBmaeUDwQo/s400/9-13.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 09/14</span></div><div>Mari's newest obsession - the LiteBrite her grandparents got her for her birthday 6 months ago. She does amazingly well with putting the right colored pegs in the right places (R=red, Y=yellow, etc) but she has a little trouble with the actual dexterity of it. We are in the bathroom cause it's the only room dark enough to light it up (sorry! we don't do the picture in the bathroom, just take it in there to look at it!)<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fod5PPo0ifU7jWh1DaPEWLJeBRc6I43QSQmrfndJp1l2sD_tY3MdPmmN3tngE3Wzi_3Wlg3r03RbNhzndMAIW3hhWlUBnC3DRjdIEWPAXESRqpM4JDXXobbQCNx5wuZwiFfS0OIBMn0H/s1600/9-14.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522492975380439618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fod5PPo0ifU7jWh1DaPEWLJeBRc6I43QSQmrfndJp1l2sD_tY3MdPmmN3tngE3Wzi_3Wlg3r03RbNhzndMAIW3hhWlUBnC3DRjdIEWPAXESRqpM4JDXXobbQCNx5wuZwiFfS0OIBMn0H/s400/9-14.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/15</span></div><div>Mari had a really rough evening this night and pretty much cried herself to sleep. I went to check on her when I heard her settle down and found she had grabbed her baby picture off the bookshelf....she tends to cling to "baby" stuff when she's feeling out of sorts.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9-dYygQHoHMJw_UYvreMZxu5zZix9zMQ4MDBf_VWgQ70Gcc40VkzjMHY36a8vEoJH0c02Ym3h7KeO18nbVd4beh-fg-meieHcvQ_5ECypg_izQOCOjsGcN0K_juitKnbfmHJRPpsvHRc/s1600/9-15.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522492967214164898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9-dYygQHoHMJw_UYvreMZxu5zZix9zMQ4MDBf_VWgQ70Gcc40VkzjMHY36a8vEoJH0c02Ym3h7KeO18nbVd4beh-fg-meieHcvQ_5ECypg_izQOCOjsGcN0K_juitKnbfmHJRPpsvHRc/s400/9-15.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/16</span><br />Mari's drawing of a bird on a nest of eggs....</div><div>Considering about 2 months ago I couldn't get her to draw a smiley face, I think she's doing pretty awesome!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlmPm27LsRJft3-CF4R1y7XeQTJqTRbN-tLA4i2OEuMtqHr__Q_EAbJdAvh5MgLJVUWLCfVg6ltgUgN6mzc09qi4DOcH7V6_hbnNOVcCfrbBda7Wue8qtPS592pQl3bkbxvpbnzI6vMJU/s1600/9-16.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522492959319092754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlmPm27LsRJft3-CF4R1y7XeQTJqTRbN-tLA4i2OEuMtqHr__Q_EAbJdAvh5MgLJVUWLCfVg6ltgUgN6mzc09qi4DOcH7V6_hbnNOVcCfrbBda7Wue8qtPS592pQl3bkbxvpbnzI6vMJU/s400/9-16.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-70841737735876715792010-09-28T18:56:00.003-04:002010-09-28T19:06:08.966-04:00Week 36 of 52I'm way far behind on blogging....oh well. Get over it! We've had some trials, we've had a vacation, we've had some transitions....just didn't make blogging a priority. Sorry. I'm going to try to play catchup.<br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/03</span></div><div align="center">Ahhh....lovely crusty cough.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hx5qKeCNd2LkU5s2msdIQHrP8pWm3IiChGE2CuFo26LqBw6V37VsACwy4H2Wys1Ay-vsbx5FpxAll6P8eu6PL5yjKrvfMWVN8kw-kvpW6eCBs2CGFttX8Ur31MDX1YYR7aZZYmIFdlQ6/s1600/9-3.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 370px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102583320993394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hx5qKeCNd2LkU5s2msdIQHrP8pWm3IiChGE2CuFo26LqBw6V37VsACwy4H2Wys1Ay-vsbx5FpxAll6P8eu6PL5yjKrvfMWVN8kw-kvpW6eCBs2CGFttX8Ur31MDX1YYR7aZZYmIFdlQ6/s400/9-3.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/04</span></div><div align="center">Mickey decided he wanted to play with Mari's toys.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRO4qjQvm00HR3QUwhSr7ty6ifmnkh_0EybJZbB0Y8LzABU7ABdaXDcdZNu45DxrNPBGL9F6Mle4o2-D6PBnj2tmeTmqCi5wVqY7nDp4n6boshivS2S_M0vynDlYKuwKp3g2jnLpTOQ2E8/s1600/9-4.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 329px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102572331331330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRO4qjQvm00HR3QUwhSr7ty6ifmnkh_0EybJZbB0Y8LzABU7ABdaXDcdZNu45DxrNPBGL9F6Mle4o2-D6PBnj2tmeTmqCi5wVqY7nDp4n6boshivS2S_M0vynDlYKuwKp3g2jnLpTOQ2E8/s400/9-4.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 09/05</span><br />Such a cutie pie.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7mbD3AV_bAHDvVS75bFKW0TOMrnYrWVGQFGhH56NCvjRl3hcyWRFNEIHX1Iu1HwAhAx7SmdnHt0o0NZxy2N9pIsgmCn7AaCOirLC9psJJ8afR56ENOy1Yw58BKLf2hdMHFuGu7liMj5Hb/s1600/9-5.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 186px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102463515531266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7mbD3AV_bAHDvVS75bFKW0TOMrnYrWVGQFGhH56NCvjRl3hcyWRFNEIHX1Iu1HwAhAx7SmdnHt0o0NZxy2N9pIsgmCn7AaCOirLC9psJJ8afR56ENOy1Yw58BKLf2hdMHFuGu7liMj5Hb/s400/9-5.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 09/06</span></div><div>What a clown!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHjnpxincQCVvA7CDUozUeBjZMfU8MhuND4XX7YISAG-utQ1HCzGTuALTYNtC3ifsqrlxGe_w4_DXMVzDEZHtw7z-73pLOXt5pD_83r2Hn0xOPx80TFw1ck-SCaFAvMrUDZd6WetnwbVN/s1600/9-6.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102452194711714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHjnpxincQCVvA7CDUozUeBjZMfU8MhuND4XX7YISAG-utQ1HCzGTuALTYNtC3ifsqrlxGe_w4_DXMVzDEZHtw7z-73pLOXt5pD_83r2Hn0xOPx80TFw1ck-SCaFAvMrUDZd6WetnwbVN/s400/9-6.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/07</span></div><div>It took us a long time to get down to just one more day until BEACH!!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmsoK_Wz4x0rnCfEunjFqQWfaDk3x9uPNqE7SxxHtAvylwJNecg1O2GfQopdUq-Ok3xJTi_nBEM66n3ovoXDL73BkFhXRprYD_9oPSh1zpV9NpdgCmtarWg7DZq3wDtP_ug4mgTzQhPQ4/s1600/9-7.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 204px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102448875123058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmsoK_Wz4x0rnCfEunjFqQWfaDk3x9uPNqE7SxxHtAvylwJNecg1O2GfQopdUq-Ok3xJTi_nBEM66n3ovoXDL73BkFhXRprYD_9oPSh1zpV9NpdgCmtarWg7DZq3wDtP_ug4mgTzQhPQ4/s400/9-7.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/08</span></div><div>Mari counting her good behavior coins and cashing them in for beach money. 1 coin=25 cents. She had $10 to take to the beach!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgez09c6jrdHMBW_DBni5rNs4JXrlDatfm3mN_QE7Dlw25OhO1byRSHq1wqsIdggWfYlo5_t-tY4JdcjS5afIZ92-kj31OTTC9Dsfd1WxSBNdAu4gkLAH1MF8G2xY90rWtY_sc7Bn9VeyEc/s1600/9-8.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102444323102978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgez09c6jrdHMBW_DBni5rNs4JXrlDatfm3mN_QE7Dlw25OhO1byRSHq1wqsIdggWfYlo5_t-tY4JdcjS5afIZ92-kj31OTTC9Dsfd1WxSBNdAu4gkLAH1MF8G2xY90rWtY_sc7Bn9VeyEc/s400/9-8.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/09</span></div><div><span style="font-size:78%;">No caption necessary.</span></div><div><strong><em><span style="font-size:180%;">BEACH</span></em></strong></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfTw5FNSlKPpVrmcPwwoiEf5hH9sINX_R_SwF3yzm6IyjbxqgY926TnWwKN2BFpniIP_XjSxW_KtBYXNmdp4AOtm1QaGr7RWsGpGvQPDb_kPeL0q2ffOcRmNOsaA09K2t4_HiT3CtZRUi/s1600/9-9.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522102435988112610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfTw5FNSlKPpVrmcPwwoiEf5hH9sINX_R_SwF3yzm6IyjbxqgY926TnWwKN2BFpniIP_XjSxW_KtBYXNmdp4AOtm1QaGr7RWsGpGvQPDb_kPeL0q2ffOcRmNOsaA09K2t4_HiT3CtZRUi/s400/9-9.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2501588435234650089.post-63100935495921102562010-09-05T20:09:00.009-04:002010-09-05T20:25:58.431-04:00Week 35 of 52<div align="center">Can't believe we are into September and I'm still doing this. Wow! Ugh! It was another exciting week in our house (hahaha!). So, here ya go!<br /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 08/27</span></div><div align="center">One leg out to cool off...those legs are getting so much longer lately.</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4RrbbeaL9gQz03FIu7bLR3Dio-mFaYN39KpO28myh-DC5extoHfn8Q6gvURjz_YDBOcx_C6MtJg2yWn1z_YRkrLZsu0Gi-Tgh0dl_Lf4P0FlLXTG-3MpZHfOT7w6elqbI-A2OmWglPyw/s1600/8-27.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586348501010386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4RrbbeaL9gQz03FIu7bLR3Dio-mFaYN39KpO28myh-DC5extoHfn8Q6gvURjz_YDBOcx_C6MtJg2yWn1z_YRkrLZsu0Gi-Tgh0dl_Lf4P0FlLXTG-3MpZHfOT7w6elqbI-A2OmWglPyw/s400/8-27.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 08/28</span></div><div align="center">Made a bunch of cookie dough logs to freeze.</div><div align="center">And no, I did not take one out of the freezer and eat some of it raw...I would never do that. Ha!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-79xuz8wf25dUYpTZ3SeN6kOxWq8iVq0sIwKwAdEmNBQMIwriR7N8DHPaJjeJFGIOs0qKjz2XnIJxdC_4NPVTYJVBNJZcb2Vb9Xzx2KYIBfSIKNo1dqgL-YkKKNdo44E2e-fvCl7UfB8/s1600/8-28.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 233px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586346267207074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-79xuz8wf25dUYpTZ3SeN6kOxWq8iVq0sIwKwAdEmNBQMIwriR7N8DHPaJjeJFGIOs0qKjz2XnIJxdC_4NPVTYJVBNJZcb2Vb9Xzx2KYIBfSIKNo1dqgL-YkKKNdo44E2e-fvCl7UfB8/s400/8-28.JPG" /> <p align="center"></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 08/29</span><br />Little Miss Abigail's second birthday party!!<br />Adorable in her ponytails!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpCbkNyPC0agI0U4caDMdF_e81tEJFh77aWIVrq5TFAJIzzKa5FpNKdfKTNo3GMml5xsp78UWH0tPZfszysQym1a6SYBFJI3Gx58upZwl8l_gptJLbs0xYPOvMHFj0AnLkRpNm_Ci5hIZ/s1600/8-29.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 152px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586248354467266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpCbkNyPC0agI0U4caDMdF_e81tEJFh77aWIVrq5TFAJIzzKa5FpNKdfKTNo3GMml5xsp78UWH0tPZfszysQym1a6SYBFJI3Gx58upZwl8l_gptJLbs0xYPOvMHFj0AnLkRpNm_Ci5hIZ/s400/8-29.JPG" /> </p><p align="center"></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 08/30</span><br />Mari and Madi both got picked up by Grandma in the evening.<br />Here, they try to contain their excitement!<br />(They really were excited - they are just zoned out on TV in this picture)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMCwh_Fu-GveKFUxWhhSyUllTmhH60JUGM34RjI_X2jcbV2mnuK22MTIwNJ9avKN7xzi8F_G94Eb1rz67rqKDluNgW7iqc6VBbeff4Vh7mz84OdO5rlhmAHeCFHnptobRul063DXFfo_i/s1600/8-30.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 332px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586247006430354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMCwh_Fu-GveKFUxWhhSyUllTmhH60JUGM34RjI_X2jcbV2mnuK22MTIwNJ9avKN7xzi8F_G94Eb1rz67rqKDluNgW7iqc6VBbeff4Vh7mz84OdO5rlhmAHeCFHnptobRul063DXFfo_i/s400/8-30.JPG" /> </p><p align="center"></a><span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 08/31</span><br />Waiting on ice cream to become ice cream....yum!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjySneoJIyYXvb_YBlqSoiBcD8LN9F8IbPekdyBdzKFj1WgCGLBm1P9cSWDMMW0swpXtgjwjWrrexhHeC8N2Ra9TH6MI91wEkjdLHphePGbpqqKGZm1nVm6dB_L6NHIDb3UzSRyHLWVbK/s1600/8-31.JPG"></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586235409753330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjySneoJIyYXvb_YBlqSoiBcD8LN9F8IbPekdyBdzKFj1WgCGLBm1P9cSWDMMW0swpXtgjwjWrrexhHeC8N2Ra9TH6MI91wEkjdLHphePGbpqqKGZm1nVm6dB_L6NHIDb3UzSRyHLWVbK/s400/8-31.JPG" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"> 2010: 09/01</span></p><p align="center">Mr. Potato Head Party. Sorry if you weren't invited.</p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlichC52UJJDTS2a20NYqdghACa-ovcasC1v-Hg3X2VpsQeFs1gJK2dxG3XB8-_VIVmeaWee6kyX1W3GNdFwFjSudIN5ucvPqKJNYxcJowchY4UDP2J9OV0Mb21z-qQQyKa5sWldQunC5/s1600/9-1.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 231px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586232701427554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlichC52UJJDTS2a20NYqdghACa-ovcasC1v-Hg3X2VpsQeFs1gJK2dxG3XB8-_VIVmeaWee6kyX1W3GNdFwFjSudIN5ucvPqKJNYxcJowchY4UDP2J9OV0Mb21z-qQQyKa5sWldQunC5/s400/9-1.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-size:180%;">2010: 09/02</span></p><p align="center">Elmo got evicted from Mari's bed for being too noisy (his push bottom in his hand is way too sensitive and he would talk everytime Mari moved at night).</p><p align="center">So Mari decided Zoe needed to keep Elmo company.</p><div align="center">And then she decided they both would be more "company" (comfy) with Raffey.</div><div align="center">So sweet!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW5II7U9ZNlgeYgzttlzp_Jg5oOjKeSgMlxNkgjvsqBaeHrM4YCZ0xdg1gSVFySMmnDFib5K6I4vAi1lhJkIbHTJ2_KqaMN0LJwhIExwckRaxmQwRCSPlatUxlwdQ6BNagjHLbwoUnTzK/s1600/9-2.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513586226752652514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW5II7U9ZNlgeYgzttlzp_Jg5oOjKeSgMlxNkgjvsqBaeHrM4YCZ0xdg1gSVFySMmnDFib5K6I4vAi1lhJkIbHTJ2_KqaMN0LJwhIExwckRaxmQwRCSPlatUxlwdQ6BNagjHLbwoUnTzK/s400/9-2.JPG" /></a><br /><div align="center">That's another week done! Hope your's was a good one!</div>Jillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03058664383204901514noreply@blogger.com2