Chocolate Baby

				Ember had her first Oreo today, thanks to Willow. The mess was pretty ridiculous; her arms, legs, hands, feet, and onesie all looked like her face, not to mention the pawprints all over the couch, carpet, coffee table, and stack of folded laundry next to her.  And what about that chocolate booger, WTF???  She does look awfully pleased with herself though, doesn't she?

Willow's 3rd Birthday

Willow's party was awesome, despite the fact that only one friend showed up!  Seriously, i invited 12 kids, and only one came.  I know it's a busy weekend, and the moms of 6 of the kids were kind enough to tell me they had other plans.  Two more, i didn't hear from, so whatever, but the other three led me to believe they were coming, but didn't call or anything (one of these has done this to me before!!!).  Nevermind that we spent money we didn't need to for food and party favors enough for all those kids and their families (thanks, by the way, for letting me do that b*******), i just thought it was pretty crappy that our supposed friends didn't think enough of us to at least let us know they wouldn't be there!  Poor Willow, she's THREE, NOT AN IDIOT.  And yes, when she's told her friends are coming for a party, she IS disappointed that they don't.  She is "old enough to understand" and even if she wasn't, it's still not cool. End Rant. ANYWAY we did have fun, Dale's parents bbq-ed a bunch of stuff, and we had LOTS of fruit and cupcakes.  Willow decorated them last night, except for a few i arranged as a flower...yeah, one of my "famous" birthday cakes, heh.  But noone complained :)  My mom came over, and so did my friend Rachel and her little boy, Jack.  Rachel almost didn't make it, but i'm glad she did; we love the company of our family, but finally having another kid there really made it special for my little people :)  They played all over the playground and the pool; it was so much fun!  i think they liked just being with him as much as they would have with a whole mess of kids :)  and Jack is very mild-mannered like Willow, so it was cool that they got to kind of set the tone instead of Ryvre for once..that boy does tend to rule a crowd ;) Willow wearing her new crown The Cake In the "boat" with Jack!

Lake Fun

	The kids at Table Rock Lake   Ryvre, being wild as usual   Sweet Willow   Ember, trying to eat rocks   Weirdos posing for the camera!

Girlfriend

Yes, Ryvre has a girlfriend.  Her name is Madison, and they're in the same Sunday school class.  Her mom was their teacher, until last week when they "graduated" to the pre-k class, so she knows all about their relationship, and has been keeping me updated.  She thinks her daughter loves him so much because they're both mature for their age, and he's the only one that understands her.  i can see this.  Apparently she'll do a little dance in class, and Ryvre says: "Oh Madison, that was sooo beautiful."  Oy.  He's just a sucker for a pretty face.  And she loves the attention he gives her.  This is all far too close to the pattern of more mature relationships for my comfort!  He told me yesterday that "all the girls in my class love me"  WHY did he have to be born a scorpio?  Lord help us. 

i know i'm bragging, but he truly is a smart little booger.  His teacher said to me "Ryvre isn't like the other kids..." which of course made me worry LOL.  She said the other day, he looked at a picture and said "N. O. P. A. R. K. I. N. G.  No Parking."  i'm thinking he probably just recognized the sign from seeing it another time and asking what it said, but i'm still impressed.  Another teacher told me almost a year ago (he was three) that the kids going into kindergarten didn't know their letters as well as he does.  And i hadn't tried "teaching" them to him yet.  Of course i'm proud that he picks things up so easily, but more than that i am WORRIED, as a homeschooling parent, because i don't know how i'm going to keep him entertained/interested with acedemics when he catches up to me!

Sweet Girls

   Smooch!



Cosleeping is Love



Laugh til you Cry!  (Notice the redness around her eyebrows; probably the only thing she inherited from me)

Class of '06

 Congrats Kelsey, and the rest of Reeds Spring HS Class of '06!

I just want to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for making me feel friggin old tonight.  i watched alot of you grow up, being the "baby" siblings of many of my friends.  It's really, really wrong that you're all officially "grown-up" now.  Just had to say that.

Poor Hermit Crabs

Alright, WHAT is with our hermit crabs?  About a week ago, one left its shell, so we assumed it was sick and/or dieing.  We put it in isolation with food, water, and a couple of shells.  He moves around plenty (maybe even more than the healthy ones), eats and drinks.  If not for the fact that he's naked (which looks really weird, by the way), you'd think he was happy as a...well...hermit crab.  We still keep an eye on him, but have come to the assumption that captivity has just made him neurotic and suicidal (they were not pet store crabs). Then yesterday, we watched as another, much larger, crab climbed out of his shell!  WHAT is going on here?  We checked back in a couple of hours, and it was obviously dead.  Ryvre didn't want to flush it, so Dale took the kids outside and buried it under a tree.  Noone cried or anything, but Ryvre told me this morning "Mom, if i had one wish, i would want my crab to be alive again.  We could put a shell outside so he can find it"  *big sigh*