S.O.S

On vacation, no Internet access, send help!!

Waiter, there are preservatives in my lunch!

I recently grabbed a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli at the store, thinking it may come in handy for a rushed meal.  We were due at a party yesterday (see post below) at 1:00 and I was trying to get some lunch into the kids before we got there.  Lauren has a somewhat sophisticated palate for a four year old, as some of our family (Sara) will attest.  She loves artichokes, asparagus, and "stinky" cheeses - feta, blue, etc.  So it was no surprise that she turned up her nose at the so-called ravioli.  And since Owen is a little monkey see monkey do at this point, he refused them, too.  Although when Lauren wasn't looking, he would take bites!

Look Ma, no sunburns!

We went to our friends' house yesterday for their 4 year old's birthday party, and holy cow, let me tell you, the kids had a blast!  There were two big bounce houses that they'd rented, but one of them was a water slide.  Considering it was 102 degrees yesterday, I think the regular bounce house got used for maybe 5 minutes.  The water slide, on the other hand...

Well, let's just say that our kids fell asleep on the way home, around 6:00pm, and slept ALL NIGHT LONG - 13 hours!  Lauren did wake up at 9:15pm for some cheese, crackers and milk, but went right back to bed after that.

Living up to his nickname "Big O"

I've been teasing Lauren's preschool teacher all year that one day I'm going to try to sneak away and leave Owen behind, since he's the same size as a few of her classmates. Well, today was his day! When we walked in this morning to drop Lauren off, Ms. Lily informed me that one of the volunteer moms had to take her child to the ER and she needed a fill-in. She said "And if you stay, Owen can stay, too!"

So Owen was in tricycle/playdough/lego heaven all morning. At snack time he was so confused that the food was RIGHT THERE in front of him but he had to wait for everyone to sit down and pray. He just kept looking at me with his big brown eyes, asking "Me? Eat? Now? Me? Eat?" He did pretty well during the first two circle times, watching the kids sing and go through their daily routine, but by the closing one he had had enough. He kept telling me "Go home now!" Hopefully he won't fuss next week when we drop Sis off and leave!

Four!

Well, where do I begin? I'm not as eloquent with words as my dear friend Gen, but I'll do my best.

Our girlie is four today. Where has the time gone? I feel like I blinked and three years flew by. At the same time, I see home video of her at 12 months and can hardly remember her at that age.

She's a rough and tumble little chick who can hold her own with the boys, but give her a pair of dress up shoes and our hardwood floor and she's in heaven. People tell us we're lucky her personality is so strong, so no one can take advantage of her. But to have her listen to us now and then would be a good thing, at least until she knows what she's doing! She can be as stubborn as ... well, both of her parents, I guess! She is the spitting image of me when I was her age.

She can sweet talk her Noni and Papa something fierce, and she's got a convincing smile to go along with any plan she hatches. Her memory amazes me, and the girl has a better internal GPS than her great Aunt Madeline. "Mama, you just passed our street, where are you going?" "Mama, Jamba Juice is that way."

Her new favorite activity is playing with Daddy's iPhone. He will barely be in the door and she's asking "Hi Daddy, how is your iPhone?" She's a pro on the computer, navigating the (parental controlled) Internet all on her own. She's technologically savvy, this one!

Happy 4th Birthday, Sis! We love you like crazy!

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Two birthday parties in one afternoon - whew!

The first one was for the quads. They share Lauren's birthday, and will be two years old on Tuesday.

Lauren was loving the bouncehouse!

The second one was another family party, for one of Lauren's schoolmates and her two little siblings. Their mom, my friend Taryn, made these amazing cakes that looked like beaches!

Owen looked like a pro swinging at the pinata!

A decade

10 years ago this week Adam and I met and started dating. Neither one of us can remember the exact date, but we know it was the first week in May - we'll just have to celebrate the whole week!

La bamba!

One of our neighbors is having a Cinco de Mayo party and they've got a real live mariachi band playing. I've got every door and window in our house open to hear better - this is awesome!