tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82950062002096292032024-03-13T23:18:10.773-04:00The Adventures of Xavier and Bennett...as well as other various ramblings and way too many photos brought to you by their mother who is nearly crazy with love for them (she means that in every sense of the word...;-)Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-35653876325144132562010-10-17T01:09:00.005-04:002010-10-17T21:08:10.998-04:00Flash<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqFxgsci5I/AAAAAAAAEU4/6-cA5-J7Gbk/s1600/DSC_0006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqFxgsci5I/AAAAAAAAEU4/6-cA5-J7Gbk/s320/DSC_0006.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528878578187144082" /></a><br />The above is Bennett on September 12th showing off his "shirt that makes me super fast." He is completely convinced that if he wears one of 3 particular pairs of socks, this shirt, or his white shin guards (during soccer), he is faster than he normally is. <div><br /></div><div>Actually, he IS getting speedier and more coordinated when running. Someone at his soccer game today commented to me that he is "small, but scrappy!" Scrappy?! I like it! (I'm pretty sure he meant that in a good way.)</div><div><br /></div><div>He had a GREAT game today, including a fantastic defensive kick that moved the ball 3/4 of the way down the field and led to the set up of a goal. He played goalie for a quarter and made an awesome stop too. Almost made a goal kicking the ball through 2 of the opposing team's players, but it went just on the wrong side of the goal post. UGH, I wish I had pictures of all this action! I had my camera, but my SD card was sitting all by itself on the kitchen counter, leaving my Nikon just an empty shell of an electronic. :-(</div><div><br /></div><div>This was the last soccer game of the season, but there will definitely be more to come. Recently, Bennett informed me of the following, "My three sports are soccer, basketball, and golf." Nevermind he has never played basketball and has only mini-golfed, but apparently, this is what we're in store for in the next 12+ years. He was so excited to sign up for basketball, and that starts next month. I will be sure to bring my Nikon AND my SD card.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-86257146932756750702010-10-17T01:07:00.002-04:002010-10-17T21:06:07.841-04:00Barking-hole-digger.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqFFfVji5I/AAAAAAAAEUw/n69gRwmqSLI/s1600/DSC_0616.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqFFfVji5I/AAAAAAAAEUw/n69gRwmqSLI/s320/DSC_0616.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528877821908454290" /></a><br />This is Stewart.<div><br /></div><div>He's part Beagle, part Collie and all "barking-hole-digger". I think that should be his breed name, since he's officially a mutt.<br /><div><br /></div><div>I suppose I love him. ;-) He's almost thirteen, and has been with us for 10 years. I got him from the Summit County pound the day he was set to be euthanized. I've never known a more affectionate, appreciative animal. He still acts like he's a puppy, running around the yard like a maniac and jumping over small objects for sport. On the other hand, he also knows how to relax, and can sleep for hours without moving a muscle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stew is famous for digging holes underneath our fence and escaping to roam the neighborhood, eventually ending up at Nick's parents' house, getting a biscuit from them, and then carrying that biscuit a quarter mile home to eat it in the comfort of his own living room. </div><div><br /></div><div>He's the reason that I cannot sit down with a kitchen full of dishes after a meal, even if I wanted to. He barks and barks and barks until the kitchen is clean. (He is under the impression that there's a chance I'll give him some remnant from a plate if I'm not cleaning things up immediately.) </div><div><br /></div><div>Poor Stewart lost his best friend back in April. Our other dog Ruby's death hit us all a little harder than we thought it would. Stewy wouldn't eat and was very lethargic for weeks. He lost weight. But gradually, he's regained some spring in his step. More on Ruby when I go back and cover what I missed this spring.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best Stewart story of late is from over this summer when he ran through FRESH TAR on one of his excursions about town. He returned home, with a front paw that looked like he had dunked it into a bucket of tar, and little bits all over his belly/chest (from running with the tar-laden paw) and on his whiskers (from trying to lick the tar away.)</div><div><br /></div><div>He came into the garage, I opened the door, and was happy I censored expletives as B happened to be standing right behind me. I said, "STEWART!!! Are you kidding me?!" And Ben said - "Yeah, Stewart! Are you kidding me? Are you kidding us? Are you kidding EVERYONE?!"</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn't that awesome? So, when "are you kidding me?" just doesn't pack enough wallop, "are you kidding everyone?" really fits the bill. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the tar - 2 hours of cutting, using Goo-gone, and Go-Jo hand cleaner, Stewy was set free from his tarry prison. I used the Goo-gone prior to reading the bottle, which said something like, "avoid prolonged contact with skin, contains chemicals that are toxic and flammable, never ingest." I read that, and then glanced over at Stewart who was licking his paw, completely soaked in the Goo-Gone. </div><div><br /></div><div>But what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, and Stewy emerged triumphant over solvent toxicity and fresh tar. What a dog!!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-40183723319600039142010-10-17T00:29:00.004-04:002010-10-17T01:06:21.536-04:00Raspberries<div>Bennett and I can make ourselves sick on berries. We eat strawberries, blackberries, and red raspberries by the pound. No joke. My attempt at growing our own this year was a big fat failure, so we found ourselves at Rittman Orchard about every other week throughout berry season, picking till our berry bucket runneth over. If you have a dedicated "berry bucket" that says something...</div><div><div><br /></div><div>This day, September 4th, was particularly Fall-like before it's time. I LOVE Fall. Love it. I love the crisp air, the colors, the smell of the leaves mixed with the last of the season's fresh-cut grass smell. Most of all, I love the sky and it's contradictory moods - bright blue patches with glowing white friendly clouds, mingling with gray rimmed ominous looking clouds. I love the depth of a Fall sky - it always seems so 3-dimensional to me, in a sense that it rolls out in front of you across the horizon and is so fluidly dynamic. Its mesmerizing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's an example that doesn't even go 50% of the way in showing you how pretty the sky was that day:</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqBFnnQM1I/AAAAAAAAEUo/MrLX-6j0y3I/s1600/DSC_0553.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqBFnnQM1I/AAAAAAAAEUo/MrLX-6j0y3I/s320/DSC_0553.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528873426083656530" /></a>B, with aforementioned berry bucket:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqBFXEJ9XI/AAAAAAAAEUg/zeA1PcE9OwI/s1600/DSC_0557.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLqBFXEJ9XI/AAAAAAAAEUg/zeA1PcE9OwI/s320/DSC_0557.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528873421641479538" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-KgXPaGI/AAAAAAAAEUY/0IZzXPrYE7g/s1600/DSC_0558.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-KgXPaGI/AAAAAAAAEUY/0IZzXPrYE7g/s320/DSC_0558.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528870211501910114" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-KFi5frI/AAAAAAAAEUQ/A7EFU9j1Ges/s1600/DSC_0559.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-KFi5frI/AAAAAAAAEUQ/A7EFU9j1Ges/s320/DSC_0559.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528870204303048370" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-JldymLI/AAAAAAAAEUI/q3ZybqSV8bY/s1600/DSC_0563.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-JldymLI/AAAAAAAAEUI/q3ZybqSV8bY/s320/DSC_0563.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528870195691690162" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-JBRJowI/AAAAAAAAEUA/xHweeewPBGQ/s1600/DSC_0566.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-JBRJowI/AAAAAAAAEUA/xHweeewPBGQ/s320/DSC_0566.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528870185974997762" /></a>He's quite the poser now, thanks to my God-Daughter, Clara. I adore her...she is drama personified. Bennett is picking up on her mad posing skills. Only her "crazy poses" though, because, after all, he is 6 and a boy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-IjoR0JI/AAAAAAAAET4/65PAWlt1kR0/s1600/DSC_0567.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLp-IjoR0JI/AAAAAAAAET4/65PAWlt1kR0/s320/DSC_0567.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528870178018939026" /></a>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-62904882626837532222010-10-17T00:14:00.002-04:002010-10-17T00:24:31.377-04:00Game PlanShame on me.<div><br /></div><div>Honestly, Kristy - what have you been doing the last few months? I'm so regretful that I haven't kept this blog up in real time. However, I am going to commit to the following:</div><div><br /></div><div>1) Update from the day school started to present with pictures and journaling of our highlight happenings.</div><div><br /></div><div>2) Blog our Disney vacation from back in January. (Stop it. I know that was 10 months ago. Just. Stop.)</div><div><br /></div><div>3) Blog from January to present all the little posts I've missed along the way. And the big posts - like our vacation to Mexico in July. (I know that was 3 months ago. Stop.)</div><div><br /></div><div>4) Accomplish all of this by the end of November. (I know this is a lofty goal. Before you scoff at me, stop.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I will do this!! Just you wait.</div><div><br /></div><div>(Thank you for your patience. :-)</div><div><br /></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-2616113146882319212010-10-16T23:16:00.007-04:002010-10-17T00:14:33.527-04:00FIRST GRADE BOYS - XAVIER<div>Here are me, X, and B on the morning of Xavier's first day of school, August 24th.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpuhvqHHJI/AAAAAAAAETw/GFXUltbBoBw/s1600/DSC_0503.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpuhvqHHJI/AAAAAAAAETw/GFXUltbBoBw/s320/DSC_0503.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528853018558536850" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt-aU9crI/AAAAAAAAETo/aHiFsQeQmMM/s1600/DSC_0504.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt-aU9crI/AAAAAAAAETo/aHiFsQeQmMM/s320/DSC_0504.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528852411537257138" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt-O1_CzI/AAAAAAAAETg/CRro_HDk6DE/s1600/DSC_0505.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt-O1_CzI/AAAAAAAAETg/CRro_HDk6DE/s320/DSC_0505.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528852408454548274" /></a>I drop B off at 8:25, and then Xavier and I head over to his school. We sing on the way. Can you tell he's singing here?<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt98AjNxI/AAAAAAAAETY/qCnmG8mx8s4/s1600/DSC_0510.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt98AjNxI/AAAAAAAAETY/qCnmG8mx8s4/s320/DSC_0510.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528852403398588178" /></a>Showing off his 2 bottom teeth that are growing in. He lost all 4 front ones this summer. :-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt9KSai9I/AAAAAAAAETQ/6AIlkP1rsVM/s1600/DSC_0511.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt9KSai9I/AAAAAAAAETQ/6AIlkP1rsVM/s320/DSC_0511.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528852390051744722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt8fJVC9I/AAAAAAAAETI/qkJm5A8ZzZw/s1600/DSC_0516.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpt8fJVC9I/AAAAAAAAETI/qkJm5A8ZzZw/s320/DSC_0516.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528852378470910930" /></a><br />Now it's Xavier's turn...it makes sense that he goes second because he actually didn't start until August 24th, one day after Benny. (Even though you are reading this first, as blogger lists things in chronological order of postings, and I typed it second.)<div><br /></div><div>I actually didn't know he started the day after B until the week before. All summer, I was under the assumption August 23rd was the day o' magic, but I was wrong. Ha! Anyway, X and I had great one-on-one time while B was in school that first day...I relish those days, when I have just one of my boys to focus on by themselves. I get to appreciate all the little things that make them who they are, that sometimes slip by unnoticed when I'm multitasking parenting. </div><div><br /></div><div>This year, Hazel Harvey Elementary has created a Multi-Disabilities (MD) Unit for Xavier and some other children in our district that have developmental disabilities. Currently, there are only three kids in the class, with one teacher and 2 paraprofessionals. Xavier gets to go into typical first grade and Kindergarten classrooms for social and learning activities. He LOVES the Kindergarten curriculum and nurturing environment. The music, dancing, and continuous doting of 5 year old children makes him grin and giggle. Its so awesome to see. He goes back to the MD classroom for therapy (PT/OT/SLP) and for individual activities with his teacher and interventional specialists. He's working on lots of communication activities, doing simple turn-taking games, and thoroughly enjoying himself throughout the day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, the last eight weeks have not been all sunshine and cotton candy. Prefacing this with the fact that the school and I are working to make things better, and without getting into specifics, there was a huge communication breakdown with regards to Xavier's general safety and addressing of IEP goals in the classroom. It dominated the last several weeks of my life. As outward evidence of the intense level of irritation I had brewing within me, I walked around with a twitchy left eye and developed a monster zit during the last week of this debacle. I had been patient, my polite voicings of concern were being placated with incomplete, PC answers, and I had had enough. Long story short - I started being blunt, and things got fixed. I think we're on the right path now...although from now on, I will no longer assume, my general alertness has been raised, and I am demanding more complete communication (which I had assumed was being done, but unfortunately was not.) I'm still pretty upset and raw over this...I lost trust, and hope the school will work to gain it back. Xavier deserves more...</div><div><br /></div><div>On a happier note - X has had the introduction of even more awesome people into his life. His first MD teacher was great, but moved onto another position 2 weeks into the school year. (Because of "the problem", I think.) The new MD teacher is also wonderful, and the 2 paraprofessionals are super. He also got to hang out with a great substitute in between teacher #1 and teacher #2.</div><div><br /></div><div>What a year so far...and we're only 8 weeks in? Lordy - what else is in store? I hope nothing that gives me a twitch. (That was annoying.)</div></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-79070568932171608932010-10-16T22:25:00.006-04:002010-10-17T00:14:23.695-04:00FIRST GRADE BOYS - BENNETT<div>Bennett's first day at Sts. Peter and Paul was August 23rd. He is so proud and excited to be a "Grader". That's what he and the other Kindergarteners last year called the kids in the grades above them - "Graders", as in "Oh, Mom. That kid is a Grader." "What's that mean, Ben?" "He's in second GRADE, Mom. DUH. That makes him a "Grader." You know, if you're in a "grade" and not in Kindergarten." Outstanding logic. Got it. So now B's a GRADER!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is B, making a half-hearted effort at breakfast before school. Notice - he is painfully skinny. Notice - his choice of food. Notice - the Pediasure box woefully neglected and looking lonely over in the corner of the chair. This is why he barely tips the scales at a whopping 40#. For awhile there (it seemed like months, and I think it actually was...) every single time he'd get on the scale (which is very often, and this is by his choosing) he weighed in at 39.6#. When he broke the 40# mark, we all did a little happy dance. It was a big moment. How about a donut instead of that kiwi buddy? No such luck.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmc08tOxI/AAAAAAAAETA/hGU5zo_AHuw/s1600/DSC_0461.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmc08tOxI/AAAAAAAAETA/hGU5zo_AHuw/s320/DSC_0461.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528844137986341650" /></a>First year of uniforms! He must wear navy or black pants/shorts and white or hunter green shirts. He can wear navy sweaters, etc too. He actually really likes the uniform (as do I.)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmchn29OI/AAAAAAAAES4/BJ3l0YfLEU8/s1600/DSC_0467.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmchn29OI/AAAAAAAAES4/BJ3l0YfLEU8/s320/DSC_0467.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528844132798624994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmcInJyBI/AAAAAAAAESw/DpORbMlQRY4/s1600/DSC_0469.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmcInJyBI/AAAAAAAAESw/DpORbMlQRY4/s320/DSC_0469.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528844126084778002" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmbwRGjGI/AAAAAAAAESo/YmN3GFiE7i4/s1600/DSC_0471.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmbwRGjGI/AAAAAAAAESo/YmN3GFiE7i4/s320/DSC_0471.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528844119549840482" /></a>Requisite "silly pictures" ---<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmbl3ewRI/AAAAAAAAESg/VSq0UCtD3fY/s1600/DSC_0475.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpmbl3ewRI/AAAAAAAAESg/VSq0UCtD3fY/s320/DSC_0475.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528844116758020370" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>(He is a mama's boy. :-)</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiTBMRtvI/AAAAAAAAESY/7aS9kxRvcfY/s1600/DSC_0477.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiTBMRtvI/AAAAAAAAESY/7aS9kxRvcfY/s320/DSC_0477.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528839571427669746" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiS6nn8FI/AAAAAAAAESQ/sQt_ekKjOB4/s1600/DSC_0478.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiS6nn8FI/AAAAAAAAESQ/sQt_ekKjOB4/s320/DSC_0478.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528839569663324242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiSUcXyGI/AAAAAAAAESI/WRagiEW0gwo/s1600/DSC_0479.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiSUcXyGI/AAAAAAAAESI/WRagiEW0gwo/s320/DSC_0479.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528839559415580770" /></a>Bennett with some of his ladies, Mia, B, Clara, and Monica.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiSEgIrLI/AAAAAAAAESA/j2ql-QArfbw/s1600/DSC_0486.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiSEgIrLI/AAAAAAAAESA/j2ql-QArfbw/s320/DSC_0486.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528839555136400562" /></a>Bennett and best buddy, Linus.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiR9soxnI/AAAAAAAAER4/aQ9kRG1cfqI/s1600/DSC_0494.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TLpiR9soxnI/AAAAAAAAER4/aQ9kRG1cfqI/s320/DSC_0494.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528839553309787762" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><div>Bennett has really grown leaps and bounds in school activities. He's reading like a champ and getting better at it each day. All spelling tests (every Friday since the start of school) have come home with 100%'s. I say, "Write you name on the top of that math homework, and I'll be over to help you in just a minute"...literally one minute goes by, and I hear him shouting, "DONE!" And he is, and they're all correct. M-A-G-I-C. Watching learning and mastery happen is amazing me every single day.</div><div><br /></div><div>He's growing socially too, and is making such good choices in friends, and with behavior. I'm so proud of him with his tremendous growth in this arena - B really has to reign in his impulses at times, and make a conscious effort to make the right choice --- he's doing this consistently now, and I'm getting great feedback from his teacher. The reward system she has in place for behavior at school is working like a charm for him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bennett continues to blow me away with his depth of curiosity and questions, his perceptiveness and cleverness, and his sensitivity. Here's a quote from his teacher on his progress note: "Ben is truly a remarkable person, and I feel it is a privilege to have him in my classroom." </div><div><br /></div><div>Mrs. Gaudio is right - he is remarkable. I know I say this all the time, but I just am completely wow'ed by the fact that this child was born 4 months early, weighed 1#3oz at birth, and has had developmental challenges all along the way...yet he his success is HUGE in every way possible - he's smart, sweet, loving, and most importantly, has so much fun. How lucky we all are. :-)</div></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-58843541618865961232010-07-06T12:26:00.006-04:002010-07-06T12:52:47.486-04:00WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!I'm sure no one has really noticed, but its been over TWO MONTHS since I posted last. That's a record as far as lapse in posting goes for me, I'm sure.<div><br /></div><div>So, you may be wondering - what has she been DOING?! </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, lots. She's been doing lots. And nothing all at the same time. You see, my friends, it is summer. As with every family - the children are out of school, which gives life at home a different dynamic. Its slower...its faster. There's boredom one day...too much to do the next. We're out of our routine, sometimes that's alright, and sometimes it just plain sucks.</div><div><br /></div><div>I guess what I'm trying to say is ----> Summer and I have a love-hate relationship. But I'm doing my darndest to make this summer a good one for us. The boys are involved in the community summer recreation program. We've gone on a couple mini-road trips (one to IKEA...for projects are in the works. Again. Always, really.)<br /></div><div>Over the next few days I'll try hard to update the blog, as its still very important to me to keep these memories in written and photo form going. Its so fun to look back on, and I know I'll appreciate it when my boys are grown, and I can remember what daily life was like back when they were six and seven. When I look back at old pictures, I think, "Man, I'd like to go back to that for one day, just to live it again...I miss X and B being 1 and 3..." So I'm realizing that someday, I will look back on these days I'm living in right now, and want to experience them again. Its helping me appreciate the quiet beauty that monotonous, normal days can hold.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, stay tuned for more, but be patient as well. Lots has happened, and you all know I take pictures almost daily. And I have lots to say. (I'm a bit of a talker...;-)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-72457676622269755452010-06-15T22:30:00.009-04:002010-07-06T12:22:33.101-04:00Bennett is SIX!My Bennett Paul turned six on June 15th. Benny looked forward to the day since June 16th, 2009. Every once in awhile throughout the year, he scrolls through the list of family birthdays to figure out how many he must make it through until it's finally his turn again. This year brought some confusion, because his birthday was on the 15th, but his party wasn't until the 26th. So, the date of his actual birthday came into question. (In his mind at at least. Ha!)<div><br /></div><div>To celebrate, Bennett, Xavier, and I were had planned on taking a couple of friends to place with Mini-golf, Go-Karts, etc, etc. But the weather was HOT and had the potential for strong storms...therefore, we decided doing something in a nice air-conditioned space would be much better. So, Ben, Xavier, Gabe, Clara, and I loaded into the van and away we went. BOWLING!!! I suggested it (I stinking love bowling) and Ben jumped on it. I got a kick out of the fact that Gabe and Clara wanted to pretend I was their Mom for the afternoon, and went totally overboard with shouting "MOM! Look at me!" "MOM! Can I push my brother Xavier down the ramp?!" "MOM! These bowling shoes don't fit me!" </div><div><br /></div><div>Very excited and happy -<br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKr8Z1YcI/AAAAAAAAEPI/Z9gjxZjs7LQ/s320/DSC_0273.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490814489504080322" /><br /></div>For only his second time bowling, I was really impressed with how well he did with it. Not bad form!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKuhoLq5I/AAAAAAAAEPo/HLpiB3_vNkQ/s1600/DSC_0250.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKuhoLq5I/AAAAAAAAEPo/HLpiB3_vNkQ/s320/DSC_0250.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490814533856111506" /></a><br /><br />The nice people at the alley set up a ramp for Xavier to get down to the lane, and then had another ramp for him to push the ball down. He LOVED it. We had to hold his hands back while we were setting the ramp/ball up for him. As soon as I pushed his chair up to the ramp, he brought his arms up and was looking for the ball to push. He had so much fun.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKuMGtuuI/AAAAAAAAEPg/5yBgrV4AiWg/s1600/DSC_0245.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKuMGtuuI/AAAAAAAAEPg/5yBgrV4AiWg/s320/DSC_0245.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490814528078592738" /></a>Looking and listening for the balls to come back from the lane.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKtj0seNI/AAAAAAAAEPY/p1spIPABB6c/s1600/DSC_0241.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNKtj0seNI/AAAAAAAAEPY/p1spIPABB6c/s320/DSC_0241.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490814517265594578" /></a>He rolled a STRIKE on this one! (I think he knew it was a good one when he pushed it off - look at his face. ;-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOqvB_nSI/AAAAAAAAEQQ/gEqMlOo_CLg/s1600/DSC_0279.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOqvB_nSI/AAAAAAAAEQQ/gEqMlOo_CLg/s320/DSC_0279.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490818866781068578" /></a>Gabe, getting ready to hold X's hands up so I could put the ball on the ramp.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOpwSXdbI/AAAAAAAAEQI/Ih0Qn38GVzs/s1600/DSC_0277.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOpwSXdbI/AAAAAAAAEQI/Ih0Qn38GVzs/s320/DSC_0277.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490818849938306482" /></a>Alternative method of rolling the ball...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOpBoDktI/AAAAAAAAEQA/x_gfkQ03ilk/s1600/DSC_0262.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOpBoDktI/AAAAAAAAEQA/x_gfkQ03ilk/s320/DSC_0262.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490818837412811474" /></a>He shouted "Wow! I threw the ball so high and far!" and then I heard him say under his breath, "I'm not sure if that's good or not." (HA!)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOoly5rkI/AAAAAAAAEP4/7kqTWCpvbCA/s1600/DSC_0258.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOoly5rkI/AAAAAAAAEP4/7kqTWCpvbCA/s320/DSC_0258.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490818829942107714" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOnc2yfGI/AAAAAAAAEPw/Zl3bxX-Lygg/s1600/DSC_0252.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNOnc2yfGI/AAAAAAAAEPw/Zl3bxX-Lygg/s320/DSC_0252.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490818810362625122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNQlWQQiKI/AAAAAAAAEQY/oFWcWtd4KtI/s1600/DSC_0286.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNQlWQQiKI/AAAAAAAAEQY/oFWcWtd4KtI/s320/DSC_0286.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490820973253920930" /></a>Four of my favorite people, EVER!!! :-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNRoqwqgoI/AAAAAAAAEQg/GFbnpTrGQHU/s1600/DSC_0287.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNRoqwqgoI/AAAAAAAAEQg/GFbnpTrGQHU/s320/DSC_0287.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490822129809785474" /></a>Back home that night, Ben requested "breadsticks with dippy sauce" for dinner. Wish granted! (He thought it was so cool I stuck candles in the breadsticks. ;-)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNSrGo8ICI/AAAAAAAAEQo/a9AApMakG6k/s1600/DSC_0294.JPG"></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNSrGo8ICI/AAAAAAAAEQo/a9AApMakG6k/s1600/DSC_0294.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNSrGo8ICI/AAAAAAAAEQo/a9AApMakG6k/s320/DSC_0294.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490823271164944418" /></a></div><div>And...the moment he 'd been waiting for. For MONTHS. The unveiling of the birthday present. A Nintendo DSi. I couldn't help but tease him a little though. I emptied the box and put in 2 pairs of socks (old ones - HA!) instead of the DSi. He was confused for a second, but then laughed sort of nervously and said, "Ummm, really. Is there a DSi in the house somewhere?"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNUFIa25hI/AAAAAAAAEQw/mxwxpJEUuF8/s1600/DSC_0297.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNUFIa25hI/AAAAAAAAEQw/mxwxpJEUuF8/s320/DSC_0297.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490824817830979090" /></a>And of course, there was. With a green cover. He LOVES green. His Kindergarten teacher said he's the only student in her history of teaching that needed multiple green crayons throughout the year. Not because he broke them or lost them, but because he used them all up. HA!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNWCU7rYoI/AAAAAAAAEQ4/aO8frF4SpOw/s1600/DSC_0304.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/TDNWCU7rYoI/AAAAAAAAEQ4/aO8frF4SpOw/s320/DSC_0304.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490826968673510018" /></a></div><div>Happy Birthday, Bennett :-) Watching you grow up is probably the most magical thing I've ever witnessed. You make me laugh with your cleverness and funny, witty remarks. I admire your creativity and sensitivity. You ooze charm, silliness, and cuteness. Your strength and persistence to succeed in what you do continue to amaze me. I'm so proud of you and count myself super lucky to be your mom. I'm endlessly happy because you are in my life. XOXO with boundless love, Mom.</div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-84771738350564914772010-05-04T14:48:00.002-04:002010-05-04T14:59:10.144-04:00beansXavier loves beans.<br /><br />Whether they be green, baked, or in a bag - he's all about them.<br /><br />Here he is in his new bean bag chair. Its super comfy, and he loves laying in it. Look, he's so relaxed, he's yawning. :-)<br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S9hpePA4w8I/AAAAAAAAEOQ/v9mKCCpJ3eA/s1600/DSC_0672.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S9hpePA4w8I/AAAAAAAAEOQ/v9mKCCpJ3eA/s320/DSC_0672.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br />His favorite bit is rolling off on purpose. He curls up into a ball and rolls right off, lands with a giant thud, and laughs. He does the same thing off the couch these days...can't leave him alone on any piece of furniture, really. He works hard to get himself to the edge of whatever it is and rolls to the floor. THUD! "What's that?! ooooh, that's just Xavier, falling off of ________." He's quite the rascal about it. :-)<br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S9hpeqWQPFI/AAAAAAAAEOY/tjebFdCJTeE/s1600/DSC_0674.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S9hpeqWQPFI/AAAAAAAAEOY/tjebFdCJTeE/s320/DSC_0674.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-24434843280494429252010-04-02T22:24:00.004-04:002010-04-02T23:02:47.949-04:00SEVEN years of Xavier :-)Today is/was Xavier's birthday (I say 'was' because he is in bed sleeping as I write this. ;-)<br /><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ao9o9ZuWI/AAAAAAAAENo/lMDU7YL2aU8/s1600/DSC_0829.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ao9o9ZuWI/AAAAAAAAENo/lMDU7YL2aU8/s320/DSC_0829.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br />Straight out the gate - it had the potential for being a great day for Xavier. The weather was PERFECT (i.e. 80 and sunny, his kind of weather!) and...I couldn't believe The Disney Channel actually participated in celebrating Xavier's birthday, too... Xavier woke up late today, because its the first day of Spring Break. This meant that he missed his obligatory morning dose of The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (by now everyone on Earth knows Xavier LOVES Mickey). Or I thought he missed it...Disney KNEW Xavier would sleep in, made the show come on 1/2 hour after it usually does, AND, made it an hour long special!! Score.<br /><br />Nick was at work the first 3/4 of the day, so Xavier, Bennett and I just hung out here at home. Xavier listened to some music, played with some of his favorite toys, and was having a grand old time.<br /><br />Right before lunch, a delivery man showed up with a bouquet of balloons that could nearly make our house float away like in the movie "UP". Our friends, (Aunt Court, Uncle Will, Gabe, Clara, and Mallory) had sent it for him. What a hit it was! He played with the balloons for hours (no joke) and had the best time. Mickey is bigger than him -heck, he's almost as big as me! LOL. Thanks a million times over, Dannemillers!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Look at X's arm - 'come here, Mickey. I want to whack on you.'<br /></div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap1Dn7hdI/AAAAAAAAENw/AdAvTuzlYwE/s1600/DSC_0808.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap1Dn7hdI/AAAAAAAAENw/AdAvTuzlYwE/s320/DSC_0808.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap1QaI0hI/AAAAAAAAEN4/8c-4lCso8ig/s1600/DSC_0815.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap1QaI0hI/AAAAAAAAEN4/8c-4lCso8ig/s320/DSC_0815.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap10Vjw-I/AAAAAAAAEOA/PK6Bt0pfApA/s1600/DSC_0817.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap10Vjw-I/AAAAAAAAEOA/PK6Bt0pfApA/s320/DSC_0817.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap2Ld9BRI/AAAAAAAAEOI/i8M7sVkyCB4/s1600/DSC_0819.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S7ap2Ld9BRI/AAAAAAAAEOI/i8M7sVkyCB4/s320/DSC_0819.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br />After lunch was more 'hang out/relaxation time', which Xavier is fond of. Clara came over and played. We enjoyed the terrific sunshine and warm breezes. What an amazing thing to have it be 'summer in April' for Xavier. He loves warm weather, and more than once (okay, a ton) I've wished that we live in a more temperate climate. Ohio weather is the pits. The PITS!<br /><br />We had dinner out at The Olive Garden with The Dannemillers. Xavier's hands down favorite food is Italian, so it worked out perfectly that we had to find someplace with many non-meat choices (today is also Good Friday). Xavier had cheese ravioli and scarfed every last morsel down. And a breadstick too. The best part of dinner was watching him hold Gabe's hand 1/2 the time we were there. Gabe was sitting to his left, and Xavier kept reaching for him, patting his arm, holding his hand...it was very touching. He routinely grabs the person to his right (me) but he didn't want me, he was obviously choosing his friend Gabe, and I thought that was pretty sweet and special. :-)<br /><br />X 'happy screamed' and belly laughed the ENTIRE 20 minute ride home.<br /><br />There will be more 'celebration of Xavier turning 7!!' on Easter Sunday, when our friends and family are here. Stay tuned for more pictures, there are sure to be many.<br /><br />What a super day, for an child who really deserves it. I'm endlessly proud of his ability to make real differences in the way others see their own lives and the world around them. He's got an incredibly infectious spirit of love and happiness about him. I will never stop being in awe of him and who he becomes to every one he touches. I cherish you, Xavier, and feel unbelievably lucky to be your Mom. <3 xo <3Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-12181633259030318542010-03-13T12:07:00.006-05:002010-03-13T13:17:52.657-05:00X lost his first tooth!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">Xavier's front right tooth came out (with a bit of help from Nick) on Tuesday, March 9th, right before bed. I was unfortunately at work and missed the big event. But reports from both Nick and Bennett were that Xavier was cranky before it came out. It had started bleeding a little because X was moving around so much with his finger out of annoyance of its hyper-loose state. But after Nick twisted it just a little, it came out, and Xavier was really happy.<br /><br />I took these the next morning before school. I woke him up, and asked, "Xavier! Where's your tooth?!" He put his finger in his mouth right away, pushed his tongue against where the tooth should have been and got this huge grin on his face. It was re-played just like that at school when he was showing off his MIA tooth-status to his entourage.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vGiDkaluI/AAAAAAAAEMg/-bxtvYXKYGw/s1600-h/DSC_0691.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vGiDkaluI/AAAAAAAAEMg/-bxtvYXKYGw/s320/DSC_0691.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Look how pleased he is! Also, take note of the cool shirt Xavier is wearing, made by him by our friend, Andy. (www.wearecampfire.com) Its very appropriate, as we call Xavier "Ralphie" occasionally. He shares, we think, a striking resemblance to Peter Billingsly's character on "A Christmas Story".<br /></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vGisGYkrI/AAAAAAAAEMo/cwyJNm4E8VA/s1600-h/DSC_0697.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vGisGYkrI/AAAAAAAAEMo/cwyJNm4E8VA/s320/DSC_0697.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">We waited until Friday night, March 12th to put the tooth under his pillow. I wanted Nick and I both to be home to discover in the morning what the Tooth Fairy had brought Xavier. Here's the little case that Grandma P bought Xavier when he was born. After I put the tooth in there, I thought...this looks like a little tooth casket, with the blue velvet lining.<br /><br />(My apologies to the sissies who are grossed out by the 'tooth funeral' picture below. )<br /></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vHA3PyP4I/AAAAAAAAEMw/b3CsPLyzQ6Y/s1600-h/DSC_0722.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vHA3PyP4I/AAAAAAAAEMw/b3CsPLyzQ6Y/s320/DSC_0722.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Bennett's note to the Tooth Fairy (his idea and words):<br /></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vHBQwNDiI/AAAAAAAAEM4/LJ3DexsAfoM/s1600-h/DSC_0724.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vHBQwNDiI/AAAAAAAAEM4/LJ3DexsAfoM/s320/DSC_0724.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The prize this morning?! A MICKEY MOUSE CUP WITH A STRAW!!! The Tooth Fairy is a complete genius. This is a perfect present! Its a well known fact that Xavier LOVES Mickey Mouse, but a little known fact that he has recently learned how to drink from a straw (after 5+ years of trying).<br /><br />He loves it!<br /></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIIk1xfnI/AAAAAAAAENA/zFl0a3xM49o/s1600-h/DSC_0734.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIIk1xfnI/AAAAAAAAENA/zFl0a3xM49o/s320/DSC_0734.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIJDnkc5I/AAAAAAAAENI/51WLTtYuxtY/s1600-h/DSC_0744.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIJDnkc5I/AAAAAAAAENI/51WLTtYuxtY/s320/DSC_0744.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIJ3utfWI/AAAAAAAAENQ/HAqfnMWYoy0/s1600-h/DSC_0747.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIJ3utfWI/AAAAAAAAENQ/HAqfnMWYoy0/s320/DSC_0747.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIKg3m5MI/AAAAAAAAENY/JQPehw8xX3Y/s1600-h/DSC_0749.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vIKg3m5MI/AAAAAAAAENY/JQPehw8xX3Y/s320/DSC_0749.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vUZBhIowI/AAAAAAAAENg/Eh_U80pzGQY/s1600-h/DSC_0751.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S5vUZBhIowI/AAAAAAAAENg/Eh_U80pzGQY/s320/DSC_0751.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br />(The "Tooth Fairy" wants to say an extra special thank you to her assistant present-shopper Melisa M. You're such a caring, thoughtful friend! Xavier LOVES it!!)<br /></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-76519973684168879082010-03-01T14:51:00.011-05:002010-03-01T17:37:01.355-05:002010 Polar Bear Jump<div align="center">February 20th, we knew 5 out of the 393 nutty (yet chariable ;-) people who jumped in the frozen Portage Lakes to raise money for the American Cancer Society. And, everyone actually lucked out...we had one of the best weather-days of 2010 so far, nearly 40 and sunny.<br /></div><div align="center">It was quite an event - 393 jumpers and about 4000 spectators. Nick, Bennett, and I came out to support the 5 crazies we knew who were going for a swim : Lisa, Lesa, Dr. Dang, Crissy, and Dale. Parking was insane...here we are waiting for the bus to come shuttle us from the parking lot to the jump site.<br /></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdLkZRa7I/AAAAAAAAEK4/WFA-eJSBo9Y/s1600-h/DSC_0586.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443758134169529266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdLkZRa7I/AAAAAAAAEK4/WFA-eJSBo9Y/s320/DSC_0586.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdMMZZO7I/AAAAAAAAELA/rKvk60PUQ68/s1600-h/DSC_0588.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443758144907459506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdMMZZO7I/AAAAAAAAELA/rKvk60PUQ68/s320/DSC_0588.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><br /></p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdNAyNJMI/AAAAAAAAELI/hn3Rp2hmTWs/s1600-h/DSC_0589.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443758158970168514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdNAyNJMI/AAAAAAAAELI/hn3Rp2hmTWs/s320/DSC_0589.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>Before the jumping even started (but after an incident that acquainted me with the fact that Ben is petrified of port-a-potties)...Bennett was whining about the cold. (Even though it was so warm, that at some point I took my coat off. And this fact alone, I'll have you know, means it was NOT that cold out.) I believe in this picture he just got finished saying, "I'm cold. Hold me."<br /><br /><br /></p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdNwvO2TI/AAAAAAAAELQ/ZaforG6KfI8/s1600-h/DSC_0590.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443758171842599218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdNwvO2TI/AAAAAAAAELQ/ZaforG6KfI8/s320/DSC_0590.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><br />Here are my friends - Lisa, Lesa, and Dr. Dang, waiting for their turn to jump...<br /><br /></p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdObNGENI/AAAAAAAAELY/hj_Mh_eeFRQ/s1600-h/lisa,lesa,dr+dang.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443758183242141906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 254px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wdObNGENI/AAAAAAAAELY/hj_Mh_eeFRQ/s320/lisa,lesa,dr+dang.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><br />jumping...<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg2MEnOiI/AAAAAAAAELg/8kD0FZPs-ls/s1600-h/l,l,dd+jumping.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443762164909685282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg2MEnOiI/AAAAAAAAELg/8kD0FZPs-ls/s320/l,l,dd+jumping.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><br /><br /></p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg2WQs9kI/AAAAAAAAELo/g_LGtqiOupA/s1600-h/l,l,dd+jumping+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443762167644747330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 199px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg2WQs9kI/AAAAAAAAELo/g_LGtqiOupA/s320/l,l,dd+jumping+2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />...and Crissy and Dale jumping.<br /><br /><p></p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg2rpynqI/AAAAAAAAELw/lvsHBmZQYac/s1600-h/crissy+and+DJ+jumping.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443762173387120290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 223px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg2rpynqI/AAAAAAAAELw/lvsHBmZQYac/s320/crissy+and+DJ+jumping.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><br /><br />Look at what a good sport Lisa is...Bennett wanted to take her picture with my phone (his latest fun thing to do.) She hadn't even changed out of her cold, wet clothes. And the wind was picking up! What a trooper!<br /><br /></p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg3fk-S-I/AAAAAAAAEMA/Qk5TMp1w9xE/s1600-h/DSC_0647.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443762187325557730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg3fk-S-I/AAAAAAAAEMA/Qk5TMp1w9xE/s320/DSC_0647.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>Proud popsicles.<br /></p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg3KG_UpI/AAAAAAAAEL4/N-l7t6Kilt0/s1600-h/DSC_0645.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443762181562651282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wg3KG_UpI/AAAAAAAAEL4/N-l7t6Kilt0/s320/DSC_0645.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>Just a popsicle. (waiting for the bus back to the car.)<br /><br /><br /></p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wy8653R3I/AAAAAAAAEMY/-jgt2hZK7YM/s1600-h/DSC_0656.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443782071769581426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wy8653R3I/AAAAAAAAEMY/-jgt2hZK7YM/s320/DSC_0656.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>Nick and Ben raced to our car (the white one...so they've got quite a long way to go yet...) Nick was showing no mercy that day, and pulled ahead full speed. Ben stopped and performed his "cowardly lion" impression. Real, this time.<br /></p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wy8AFa_eI/AAAAAAAAEMQ/bwbeZXDzirI/s1600-h/DSC_0658.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443782055980367330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wy8AFa_eI/AAAAAAAAEMQ/bwbeZXDzirI/s320/DSC_0658.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>See? He's saying, "Dad's not supposed to be able to BEAT ME!!!"<br /></p><p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wy7iQyzHI/AAAAAAAAEMI/faL8wkP1OEo/s1600-h/DSC_0659.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443782047975001202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4wy7iQyzHI/AAAAAAAAEMI/faL8wkP1OEo/s320/DSC_0659.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><p align="center">So, it was a fun day. No one died of hypothermia, cardiac arrest, or the like (although the Metro LifeFlight was on standby). However, there was some excitement. Some dude stripped down to nothing, was wrestled to the ground by my friend Mel's husband who is a cop, and was arrested. Several 30-something year old guys jumped in the lake in their white boxer briefs. Looked fine jumping in, ba-a-a-ad coming out. And a spectator standing on the frozen lake fell through the ice. Wonder if anyone sponsored her retroactively, since she technically took a dunk...?<br /></p>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-273037591469047852010-03-01T14:41:00.000-05:002010-03-01T14:42:27.674-05:00c. 1982<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">My jacket, when I was 5/6 years old. </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4bZ5plQVlI/AAAAAAAAEKg/WlTsq3Dfews/s1600-h/DSC_0665.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4bZ5plQVlI/AAAAAAAAEKg/WlTsq3Dfews/s320/DSC_0665.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">For those of you who aren't from Doylestown, our school mascot = "The Chipps". As in the "Chippewa Indians." He thinks its so cool that this was my jacket at his age. Its VINTAGE! HA!<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4bZ6GtlM2I/AAAAAAAAEKo/ItN64ivU6Bo/s1600-h/DSC_0666.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4bZ6GtlM2I/AAAAAAAAEKo/ItN64ivU6Bo/s320/DSC_0666.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Me and Bennett. I'm not sure why he was wanting to showcase this movie. It IS a really good one, though. ;-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4bZ607hYWI/AAAAAAAAEKw/-zeqLJq4H2I/s1600-h/DSC_0667.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S4bZ607hYWI/AAAAAAAAEKw/-zeqLJq4H2I/s320/DSC_0667.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Here are some recent fun tales, courtesy of Bennett. (I beg your pardon if you are one of my "Facebook friends" and you're reading this for the second time...)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Dinner conversation:</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Me to B: "Hey, what do you want people to call you? Ben, Bennett, Benny...?"</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">B: "What about BenBen?" </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Me: (smiling because I call him that a lot) "Well, that's cute and all, but what about in someplace like school?"</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">B: "I like Bennetta"</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Me: "Bennetta?"</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">B: "Yes, Bennetta. Because it rhymes with Canada...well...not really, but it sort of does. And I'd like it to be spelled with only one 'n' just like Canada."</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">******</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Bennett (which he eventually told me he prefers to be called) is constantly being doted on by the girls in his class. I think its because he's got a sort of 'hard to get' personality. Not on purpose, its just his nature, he's a pretty quiet kiddo, but funny, cute, and sweet...and kids having to work to get his attention to get reaction out of him is magnetic, I think. Anyway, the little girls are frequently touching him, hugging him, talking to him. We're always working with him on using words instead of action to make people aware of his feelings. So, when a friend told me she had witnessed Ben having had quite enough of the attentions of one sweet little girl, who was tousling his hair, I was so proud to hear that he looked right at her and said, "I wish you would not do that." (I laughed for about 10 min when my friend told me this, because I guess he said it with an inflection of quiet annoyance in his voice, and then walked away. So funny.)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">*****</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">"I can't lift it!!" grunted in effort when trying to lift a 35# toddler out of his way. (LOL)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">*****</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">I have learned that Bennett has an intense fear of port-a-potties. (But don't we all.) For the sake of not being too graphic, I will spare you the details. However, lets just say, when you gotta go, you'll figure out a way to make things work. </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">*****</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">He has acquired new nicknames - "FratBoy" (I feel he has some of the habits of a college age boy at times, save for the appetite...) and "Cowardly Lion" referring to his particular brand of sobbing (both real and fake.)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">*****</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">And lastly (for now, I need to write more of these down to remember...he comes up with some real doozies...) he has taken to calling me "Mommy Salami." For which I have returned the favor, and am calling him "Bennett Bologna."</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-61332736252997093302010-02-14T10:49:00.002-05:002010-02-14T11:25:51.657-05:00Happy Valentine's Day 2010!<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Ben's card to me (made at school). He gave it to me, and then said, 'Are you gonna eat that lollipop on the front, Mom? I don't think you really like lollipops. How 'bout I just eat it for you?"</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbw5QsWkI/AAAAAAAAEJo/8hkkSkWWnVs/s1600-h/DSC_0583.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbw5QsWkI/AAAAAAAAEJo/8hkkSkWWnVs/s320/DSC_0583.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">This has nothing to do with Valentines day, but its sort of cute, so here it is. This is Ben's grass plant. He has named him "Billy". We water Billy every day, and take notice of his longer hair. I keep asking Bennett if he wants to give him a haircut, but he always refuses, saying, "Billy doesn't want his hair cut, just like I don't want mine cut."<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbxBKaNDI/AAAAAAAAEJw/g-zlg5rdqSo/s1600-h/DSC_0587.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbxBKaNDI/AAAAAAAAEJw/g-zlg5rdqSo/s320/DSC_0587.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Here are some of the Valentine's Day projects o' love that came home with the boys this year.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbxu-pPpI/AAAAAAAAEJ4/zY2y9oPI0Hw/s1600-h/DSC_0588.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbxu-pPpI/AAAAAAAAEJ4/zY2y9oPI0Hw/s320/DSC_0588.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Bennett's most recent spelling test (Feb 12th)!<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbx3aDE8I/AAAAAAAAEKA/gd8X4jtzjX8/s1600-h/DSC_0591.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gbx3aDE8I/AAAAAAAAEKA/gd8X4jtzjX8/s320/DSC_0591.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />Here's the back of the card Ben made me. Apparently, he came up with these things himself, and I feel very happy that he notices some of the things I do, that I thought went largely unnoticed. :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gcRwTtKeI/AAAAAAAAEKI/fyzkeXfVHwM/s1600-h/DSC_0592.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gcRwTtKeI/AAAAAAAAEKI/fyzkeXfVHwM/s320/DSC_0592.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">LOOT! (When we were kids, didn't just a few little folded cards come home with us?)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gcSU-WOBI/AAAAAAAAEKQ/CnsRrCDzIak/s1600-h/DSC_0594.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gcSU-WOBI/AAAAAAAAEKQ/CnsRrCDzIak/s320/DSC_0594.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Another card from Ben :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gcSRTJp7I/AAAAAAAAEKY/RKdArCpFMPE/s1600-h/DSC_0596.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gcSRTJp7I/AAAAAAAAEKY/RKdArCpFMPE/s320/DSC_0596.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Happy Valentine's Day, to all the people who are special to me. You know who you are. :-)</div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-47314952553611410962010-02-14T10:45:00.001-05:002010-02-14T11:12:03.677-05:00100 days of Kindergarten<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Xavier and Bennett both celebrated their 100th day of Kindergarten recently. </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Ben had homework for the day - to count 100 of something and bring them into the class to share. He chose fruit loops, and blazed through the activity as if he'd been counting to 100 for years now. He checked his work by arranging them in groups of 10 and counting by 10's to 100. (His idea, not mine.) He definitely has an aptitude for math type things...he can sort of just glance at a group of items, circle them once with his fingers, and tell me correctly how many are in the group. Its pretty cool. </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">And on Xavier's 100th day, he came home wearing this hat. He loves hats, and was very pleased with himself that day. He usually hates coming home from school (he screams and yells at me EVERY DAY for 10-30 minutes, complaining that he is no longer amongst his friends). But this day, he was happy. </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">He also cannot keep his hands out of his mouth lately. His 6 year molars are coming in AND, big news - he has his first loose tooth! Its the front, bottom right, and he has a finger or his thumb in his mouth half the day, wiggling it around. See?:</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gaqyQUFfI/AAAAAAAAEJQ/vqhkGjYOVfw/s1600-h/DSC_0577.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3gaqyQUFfI/AAAAAAAAEJQ/vqhkGjYOVfw/s320/DSC_0577.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3garK32ThI/AAAAAAAAEJY/wZ5W7SYDVMA/s1600-h/DSC_0579.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S3garK32ThI/AAAAAAAAEJY/wZ5W7SYDVMA/s320/DSC_0579.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-76704243051242306142010-02-02T12:10:00.004-05:002010-02-02T13:21:46.308-05:00Q and U - married!<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Together with the rest of the Alphabet, </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">the letters Q and U request your presence </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">as they are united in marriage,</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">January 21, 2010 at 9am,</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">in the gymnasium at</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Hazel Harvey Elementary School.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">How clever is this?! The Kindergarten classes where Xavier goes to school, held a ceremony to marry off Q and U together. It was a big to-do, very elaborately planned, and was the culmination of the kids learning that Q must always be paired with U in a word.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">The kids walked down the paper aisle runner to traditional wedding marches, and took their seats on the stage. (Parents sat behind them to watch the ceremony). I, showing not much self restraint, giggled through most of it. Because, lets face it, this is pretty funny. The kids/teachers were all dressed up in wedding attire! There were actual wedding cakes! I'm telling you - elaborate!</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">This is Xavier, and his beloved paraprofessional, Lauren, waiting for the ceremony to start.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hcyn6XnUI/AAAAAAAAEIQ/F7ui9OqlXwA/s1600-h/DSC_0516.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hcyn6XnUI/AAAAAAAAEIQ/F7ui9OqlXwA/s320/DSC_0516.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Below, is Mrs. Garbinsky (Xavier's teacher), officiating. The letters were united in "qwa". They took vows...my favorite one (which I couldn't stop giggling about) was:</p><p align="center">Mrs. Garbinsky to the girl that was "U": "Miss U, do you always promise to stand by Mr. Q in every word he appears in."</p><p align="center">little girl ("Miss U"): "I do."</p><p align="center">Mrs. Garbinsky to the boy that was "Q": "And Mr. Q, do you promise to understand that sometimes, Miss U will need to appear in words without you?"</p><p align="center">little boy ("Mr. Q"): "I do." (I swear there was a tone of disappointed resignation in his voice.)</p><p align="center">HA!!!<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hczLJ3Z_I/AAAAAAAAEIY/6DIe8pd5Qyw/s1600-h/DSC_0521.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hczLJ3Z_I/AAAAAAAAEIY/6DIe8pd5Qyw/s320/DSC_0521.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">After the ceremony, the kids put on their coats, and went outside, so that they could give a big send off to the happy new couple, bird seed and all.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hczec2qcI/AAAAAAAAEIg/7dwFE5p9P_k/s1600-h/DSC_0537.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hczec2qcI/AAAAAAAAEIg/7dwFE5p9P_k/s320/DSC_0537.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Then, on to the reception. (Elaborate!) There was a lot of dancing (the chicken dance, the hokey pokey, the twist, etc.), and cake. Here are Lauren, Xavier, and his friend Jordan getting ready to twist. (Look at Xavier looking up at Jordan and Lauren. ;-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hcz9ty1DI/AAAAAAAAEIo/ZTt-LjP9kBc/s1600-h/DSC_0548.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hcz9ty1DI/AAAAAAAAEIo/ZTt-LjP9kBc/s320/DSC_0548.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center">Lauren said, during the rehearsal the day before, Xavier was so excited about the dancing/music, that he was coiled up into a permanant, ecstatic little ball. Fists clenched, shouting glad tidings of happiness. He loves dancing :-) I get kind of sad, knowing my days of being able to hold him while dancing are in short number. He's huge now (45lbs, 45in. - or as we like to say, 45-squared.)<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzZ9AK5I/AAAAAAAAEIw/ZRDNi7hI7Wg/s1600-h/DSC_0552.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzZ9AK5I/AAAAAAAAEIw/ZRDNi7hI7Wg/s320/DSC_0552.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Xavier and the ever-present friend, Jordan. As an aside, Xavier has quite the entourage. When I bring him in to the classroom every morning, he is immediately surrounded by no less than 4-5 kids, waiting to attend to his every need. There are actual struggles over "who gets to take his coat". He's like a little magnet, this kid of mine. :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzhRNo2I/AAAAAAAAEI4/TqtO-zlK3t0/s1600-h/DSC_0555.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzhRNo2I/AAAAAAAAEI4/TqtO-zlK3t0/s320/DSC_0555.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Chicken dancing with Lauren.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzg3V_1I/AAAAAAAAEJA/gonzDDU7RcY/s1600-h/DSC_0558.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzg3V_1I/AAAAAAAAEJA/gonzDDU7RcY/s320/DSC_0558.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Can't say enough about how wonderful Lauren is to Xavier. He's SUCH a lucky boy.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzyLJ8rI/AAAAAAAAEJI/VYasx6yBRwM/s1600-h/DSC_0573.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hdzyLJ8rI/AAAAAAAAEJI/VYasx6yBRwM/s320/DSC_0573.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-91360459256296904832010-02-02T10:53:00.002-05:002010-02-02T12:00:45.142-05:00Happy New Year<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Wow, I'm only a month late on this one! Awesome!</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">This is something Ben wrote, ALL by himself, January 1st. You can click on the picture to see it larger, if you'd like.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">I like how he wrote '2010' as '20010'. Wrong, but cutely wrong. :-)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKhDZN3ZI/AAAAAAAAEII/8TSVUjgbiug/s1600-h/DSC_0270.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKhDZN3ZI/AAAAAAAAEII/8TSVUjgbiug/s320/DSC_0270.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-15919231195079701452010-02-02T10:50:00.003-05:002010-02-02T11:57:26.898-05:00Christmas 2009<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">HoHoHo! Merry February! I'm catching up, don't judge! ;-p</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Here's Bennett, Christmas morning, pausing right before he opened his first present. Nick and I got our first present before the boys got up...Xavier slept until 9 and Ben until 10. What a Christmas miracle!</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKE9zOcCI/AAAAAAAAEHY/sJorK4ebwKE/s1600-h/DSC_0218.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKE9zOcCI/AAAAAAAAEHY/sJorK4ebwKE/s320/DSC_0218.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center"><br />Nick, opening his gift from me, a weathervane for our shed. Before you go thinking this is really a strange gift, I'll have you know, Nick really wanted one of these, and was totally surprised and happy about it. I was laughing, because the opening of this gift was akin to the opening of the leg lamp in "A Christmas story" (see previous post)...Nick exclaimed (stealing a line from the movie), "Well, there could be ANYTHING in here!" :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKFGUWsyI/AAAAAAAAEHg/lzPLurhejWo/s1600-h/DSC_0222.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKFGUWsyI/AAAAAAAAEHg/lzPLurhejWo/s320/DSC_0222.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center"><br />Xavier with a few of his gifts - a favorite was the Mickey Mouse toy sitting front and center on his lap. It plays short little Mickey songs. :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKFWntPYI/AAAAAAAAEHo/iWA2HkiP1Qw/s1600-h/DSC_0223.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKFWntPYI/AAAAAAAAEHo/iWA2HkiP1Qw/s320/DSC_0223.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKFp9PemI/AAAAAAAAEHw/5UF8f2bTELg/s1600-h/DSC_0229.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKFp9PemI/AAAAAAAAEHw/5UF8f2bTELg/s320/DSC_0229.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />My Dad got us a Wii. That's right. Our first game system in 15+ years. Ben was ecstatic. The picture below shows Nick and Bennett getting his "Cars" game started for the first time.<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKUdm9b2I/AAAAAAAAEH4/56NrXk9RKoA/s1600-h/DSC_0230.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKUdm9b2I/AAAAAAAAEH4/56NrXk9RKoA/s320/DSC_0230.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center"><br />And finally, here are several of our family members, exchanging Christmas gifts after dinner (we had everyone over at our house this year.) Pictured are - Nick's sister Michelle, his brothers, Mike and Eric, his mom, our sister in law Vicki, and our nieces, Alyssa and Kathryn.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKUkjb57I/AAAAAAAAEIA/piWMaguPdAk/s1600-h/DSC_0232.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hKUkjb57I/AAAAAAAAEIA/piWMaguPdAk/s320/DSC_0232.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center"> </p><p align="center">That's it! I realized when I was making 2010 calendars back in November, even though I take millions of pictures every year, I never take many Christmas pictures. Anyway, we had a great Christmas, and at this point, were really looking forward to our vacation in Disney World...where, of course, I DID take millions of pictures.<br /></p><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-1575849568747783632010-02-02T10:27:00.008-05:002010-02-02T11:40:23.348-05:002009 Christmas Prep<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Happy Groundhog Day! Now...lets talk about last year's Christmas! HA!</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Bennett made this card at school - apparently, in his mind, Jesus resembles a segmented insect with a mohawk.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hEnqE1V5I/AAAAAAAAEGA/-e4y1ucp4gc/s1600-h/DSC_0200.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hEnqE1V5I/AAAAAAAAEGA/-e4y1ucp4gc/s320/DSC_0200.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">We made our first gingerbread house. It was fun to build (construction was surprising easy, compared to other horror stories I've been told), but not so fun to decorate. The cheapo icing bag that came with the kit broke about 5 minutes into decorating it...make the rest of the job excruiatingly tedious. We did the best we could, and it came out alright.<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hEn7wX0gI/AAAAAAAAEGI/HRsyrsItP5Q/s1600-h/DSC_0203.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hEn7wX0gI/AAAAAAAAEGI/HRsyrsItP5Q/s320/DSC_0203.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br />The end product of 'the house'.<br /><br /><p></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hHmgz5oqI/AAAAAAAAEGY/Vrc32xnVO5k/s1600-h/DSC_0211.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hHmgz5oqI/AAAAAAAAEGY/Vrc32xnVO5k/s320/DSC_0211.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="center">A "Thanksgiving gift" I gave Nick (so we could have it up in the weeks before Christmas). We LOVE "A Christmas Story". And it doesn't hurt that I believe Xavier bares a striking resemblance with Peter Billingsly (Ralphie.)<br />"NOT A FINGER!" (pronounced 'fingaaa!', and said with much frustration.)</p><p align="center">HA!<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hEoFH42NI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/Qevxw3qvnPo/s1600-h/DSC_0209.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hEoFH42NI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/Qevxw3qvnPo/s320/DSC_0209.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />Here's Bennett, spreading magic reindeer food. My friend Lisa has the super secret recipe, and she was very generous in giving us a bag to scatter on our lawn Christmas Eve. Ben took FOREVER in the 20 degree temps to spread it just right, so the reindeer would see it.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hH1W9gsoI/AAAAAAAAEGg/kFVK9E5wRxo/s1600-h/DSC_0216.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hH1W9gsoI/AAAAAAAAEGg/kFVK9E5wRxo/s320/DSC_0216.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />The bros loving on each other ----<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJKioqSxI/AAAAAAAAEGo/j4y4IDLnGs0/s1600-h/DSC_0241.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJKioqSxI/AAAAAAAAEGo/j4y4IDLnGs0/s320/DSC_0241.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJLLoqb_I/AAAAAAAAEGw/DylyzdKOez8/s1600-h/DSC_0247.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJLLoqb_I/AAAAAAAAEGw/DylyzdKOez8/s320/DSC_0247.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJLUgKKNI/AAAAAAAAEG4/f3MQecY-AZA/s1600-h/DSC_0250.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJLUgKKNI/AAAAAAAAEG4/f3MQecY-AZA/s320/DSC_0250.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center"><br />This was Ben's pick for a pose - Xavier thought this was funny.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJLsICfaI/AAAAAAAAEHA/9hIIAfUECRg/s1600-h/DSC_0256.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJLsICfaI/AAAAAAAAEHA/9hIIAfUECRg/s320/DSC_0256.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />Here's Ralphie by the tree. I mean Xavier.<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJg1bj9FI/AAAAAAAAEHI/JlEAa1YkHK8/s1600-h/DSC_0262.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJg1bj9FI/AAAAAAAAEHI/JlEAa1YkHK8/s320/DSC_0262.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Xavier loves the white lights. He could stare at them all day long. This picture is pretty special, because it really tells you just how much wonder and amazement he feels when looking at them. Kind of an "ooooo-ahhhhh" expression, right? :-)<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJhGXhMXI/AAAAAAAAEHQ/YELRVMkggGQ/s1600-h/DSC_0266.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/S2hJhGXhMXI/AAAAAAAAEHQ/YELRVMkggGQ/s320/DSC_0266.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-86841399168338599692009-12-30T12:08:00.005-05:002009-12-31T13:13:09.504-05:00Bennett's Christmas Play<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">December 14th, Bennett was in Sts. Peter and Paul School's K-grade 2 Christmas play! He was an angel, and had a line to say in the play. Much prep and practice went into the performance, and it was a huge success.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Here's Ben, when he first spotted me in the crowd. It was so cute to see him searching through everyone for me when the curtains opened.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMg-5OybI/AAAAAAAAEEQ/gRyxJW44lX4/s1600-h/DSC_0134.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMg-5OybI/AAAAAAAAEEQ/gRyxJW44lX4/s320/DSC_0134.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Singing with Mia and Jacob.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMhUW1lEI/AAAAAAAAEEY/Pjl-rbjy7hM/s1600-h/DSC_0136.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMhUW1lEI/AAAAAAAAEEY/Pjl-rbjy7hM/s320/DSC_0136.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">He said his line perfectly (and loudly) into the microphone. "The baby is the Son of God, sent to us from above." (so proud, I was. :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMhqWmxEI/AAAAAAAAEEg/Ky5EevQHHo4/s1600-h/DSC_0154.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMhqWmxEI/AAAAAAAAEEg/Ky5EevQHHo4/s320/DSC_0154.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Bennett's pensive 'waiting' expression.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMhzYPYhI/AAAAAAAAEEo/bD9nO_g-sjU/s1600-h/DSC_0163.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEMhzYPYhI/AAAAAAAAEEo/bD9nO_g-sjU/s320/DSC_0163.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQLF1LBHI/AAAAAAAAEEw/Zkivj10m5Hs/s1600-h/DSC_0164.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQLF1LBHI/AAAAAAAAEEw/Zkivj10m5Hs/s320/DSC_0164.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Here he is, getting ready for the evening show. Unfortunately, I had to work, and only got to see the afternoon performance, but at least I got to see him in action once. :-)</p><p align="center">I know the next pictures look very similar. But I love the "varying expressions o'Bennett" showcased in them.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQLQHkB8I/AAAAAAAAEE4/7vXlZX1A2nk/s1600-h/DSC_0177.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQLQHkB8I/AAAAAAAAEE4/7vXlZX1A2nk/s320/DSC_0177.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQLwUuSNI/AAAAAAAAEFA/7XfG3ZC2c5U/s1600-h/DSC_0178.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQLwUuSNI/AAAAAAAAEFA/7XfG3ZC2c5U/s320/DSC_0178.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQL7YrW0I/AAAAAAAAEFI/W5Of0lWqO0w/s1600-h/DSC_0180.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQL7YrW0I/AAAAAAAAEFI/W5Of0lWqO0w/s320/DSC_0180.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ2lukE0I/AAAAAAAAEFQ/KBnV0Wz0rxI/s1600-h/DSC_0182.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ2lukE0I/AAAAAAAAEFQ/KBnV0Wz0rxI/s320/DSC_0182.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">He looks like he's taking off in this one.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ22-zVKI/AAAAAAAAEFY/n26eQngSHlc/s1600-h/DSC_0184.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ22-zVKI/AAAAAAAAEFY/n26eQngSHlc/s320/DSC_0184.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">The whole K-grade 2 gang.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ3Nzkv9I/AAAAAAAAEFg/MvjJII4tdWo/s1600-h/DSC_0187.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ3Nzkv9I/AAAAAAAAEFg/MvjJII4tdWo/s320/DSC_0187.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Bennett is beside Mary (aka Lillian ;-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ3YVYntI/AAAAAAAAEFo/CW9L8Dfzse4/s1600-h/DSC_0188.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEQ3YVYntI/AAAAAAAAEFo/CW9L8Dfzse4/s320/DSC_0188.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzESlIalyKI/AAAAAAAAEFw/p6ItSeCNgVI/s1600-h/DSC_0192.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzESlIalyKI/AAAAAAAAEFw/p6ItSeCNgVI/s320/DSC_0192.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Again, he looks like he's about to fly (this time up to the microphone for his line.)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzESlWx2t-I/AAAAAAAAEF4/6FdPeBlz3Us/s1600-h/DSC_0195.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzESlWx2t-I/AAAAAAAAEF4/6FdPeBlz3Us/s320/DSC_0195.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">(He's growing up so fast...)</div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-13100190950931143382009-12-29T13:51:00.005-05:002009-12-29T14:46:02.399-05:00The Itsy Bitsy Spider<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Xavier loves this timeless little ditty. I've sang it with him since he was born, and it's stuck. He smiles and 'sings' along with you nearly every time.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">One of his creative, thoughtful teachers (Mrs. Kerr) took this fact and ran with it. She made him a little activity board for him to act out the song. There are white puffy clouds to feel, and a spider that can move up and down the spout, which is cleverly made out of a bendy straw.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">HE LOVES IT.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">We play with it all the time...it never fails to capture his interest instantly and bring a smile to his sweet little face.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHaZN3hYI/AAAAAAAAEC4/0t0M7VYi9iw/s1600-h/DSC_0100.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHaZN3hYI/AAAAAAAAEC4/0t0M7VYi9iw/s320/DSC_0100.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHa7aRleI/AAAAAAAAEDA/yL9H1WSpvfw/s1600-h/DSC_0108.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHa7aRleI/AAAAAAAAEDA/yL9H1WSpvfw/s320/DSC_0108.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHbDGTgNI/AAAAAAAAEDI/Bluw-Q96OP8/s1600-h/DSC_0109.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHbDGTgNI/AAAAAAAAEDI/Bluw-Q96OP8/s320/DSC_0109.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">He can move the spider up and down the spout...<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHbcHNdQI/AAAAAAAAEDQ/CpuAA8oR3-E/s1600-h/DSC_0110.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEHbcHNdQI/AAAAAAAAEDQ/CpuAA8oR3-E/s320/DSC_0110.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />Singing along -<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI442C4BI/AAAAAAAAEDY/DJbrx2tSqUM/s1600-h/DSC_0111.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI442C4BI/AAAAAAAAEDY/DJbrx2tSqUM/s320/DSC_0111.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI5Wl4P8I/AAAAAAAAEDg/dmJQVWByU-E/s1600-h/DSC_0112.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI5Wl4P8I/AAAAAAAAEDg/dmJQVWByU-E/s320/DSC_0112.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI5p7vbiI/AAAAAAAAEDo/BKaatAifxS0/s1600-h/DSC_0114.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI5p7vbiI/AAAAAAAAEDo/BKaatAifxS0/s320/DSC_0114.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">I don't know for sure, but I think Xavier and his buddy at school helped draw the house.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI56VCBGI/AAAAAAAAEDw/A57s2k6-qVU/s1600-h/DSC_0115.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEI56VCBGI/AAAAAAAAEDw/A57s2k6-qVU/s320/DSC_0115.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Thank you, Mrs. Kerr, for being the special person you are to Xavier and our family. We appreciate you daily. :-)</div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br /><br />On a rather unrelated note (other than the pictures were taken on the same day...), here's Benny, lining up his cars in what he calls, "the Kitchen Garage."<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEJtHWeZ7I/AAAAAAAAED4/ZE10eYb03Dk/s1600-h/DSC_0123.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEJtHWeZ7I/AAAAAAAAED4/ZE10eYb03Dk/s320/DSC_0123.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEJtR5rzDI/AAAAAAAAEEA/sx7Mq6b8Udk/s1600-h/DSC_0126.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEJtR5rzDI/AAAAAAAAEEA/sx7Mq6b8Udk/s320/DSC_0126.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">And he calls this - "the overhang, so they don't get wet." Ha!<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEJtm_jHbI/AAAAAAAAEEI/czhTZvMICW8/s1600-h/DSC_0130.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEJtm_jHbI/AAAAAAAAEEI/czhTZvMICW8/s320/DSC_0130.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-30691697997737883532009-12-23T10:16:00.001-05:002009-12-23T10:18:18.140-05:00W-I-N-T-E-R !!YEEEEEEEESSS! I have made the leap in my blog from Fall to Winter. Fantastic. :-)<br /><br />This picture was taken in early December, and you'll notice - Ben is ready to go outside...but there is NO COAT. I can't tell you how happy I was to have a longer Fall this year. I would hang onto a 50 degree Winter all season long if I could. (Btw, he's quite the picture poser these days, isn't he?)<br /><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzD_y0EmFAI/AAAAAAAAECY/LMmNxPC_84M/s1600-h/DSC_0079.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzD_y0EmFAI/AAAAAAAAECY/LMmNxPC_84M/s320/DSC_0079.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><div align="center">As is Pandrea tradition, our tree was up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Ben was especially taken with decking the tree out with ornaments this year. Crazy excited about it. We turned up the Christmas tuneage (which Xavier LOVED) and let him go to town. An hour later, the bottom 1/3 of our tree was heavy with doodads, and Ben was very pleased with himself. We told him they needed to be spread out, so Nick lifted him so he could reach higher spots when redistributing the 313 ornaments he had put in 5 square feet of tree.<br /><br />And then the moaning about "the Christmas train" began. "Now we nneeeeed the Christmas train." We ran out of time to put it up that night, and everyday thereafter, we heard about it. Its sort of a pain to put up, and we knew that it wouldn't really fit around where we put the tree this year, so I was avoiding it.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">On a day I was being bombarded with begging, I told Ben, "Listen, your dad's not here. And the box is too big and heavy for me to carry up from the basement by myself. We'll have to wait." That smartiepants looked at me and said, "Well, duh, Mom. You and I can just open the box and carry it up piece by piece."</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Huh.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Dangit! My kid is getting smart! Last year that would have sailed by and he would have accepted my explanation as gold. </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">He did accept my alternative excuse though, because it was true...I had no idea how the train track would fit around our tree...So he decided to use his Geotrax set to temporarily. Again, smart, clever child :-)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEB8p2u3eI/AAAAAAAAECg/XrMh-uFs5HQ/s1600-h/DSC_0090.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEB8p2u3eI/AAAAAAAAECg/XrMh-uFs5HQ/s320/DSC_0090.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEB80VbDmI/AAAAAAAAECo/9ncuh_3FIXs/s1600-h/DSC_0092.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEB80VbDmI/AAAAAAAAECo/9ncuh_3FIXs/s320/DSC_0092.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEB9PyunhI/AAAAAAAAECw/nB3zb_7W-4E/s1600-h/DSC_0094.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzEB9PyunhI/AAAAAAAAECw/nB3zb_7W-4E/s320/DSC_0094.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-79099955855255495412009-12-22T12:09:00.001-05:002009-12-22T12:18:06.149-05:00Thanksgiving<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"> </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">So I lied, there's one more Fall 2009 post. This one is about Thanksgiving. I only have one picture...but I like it. Its of Ben and the turkey he made at school.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">To celebrate the day, we had dinner over at Nick's parent's house, relaxed, the boys played and decorated the Christmas tree with Grandma and Auntie Meam. I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour, and then went to work. Not bad. :-)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzD9YuHnE9I/AAAAAAAAECQ/ISjhF2dzv4k/s1600-h/DSC_0078.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SzD9YuHnE9I/AAAAAAAAECQ/ISjhF2dzv4k/s320/DSC_0078.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-14851322193718385332009-12-22T12:01:00.002-05:002009-12-22T12:03:49.390-05:00Raking leaves<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Question: What better posts are there to make on the week of Christmas, than ones about raking leaves and a Halloween party?</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Answer: Many multitudes of different wintery/Christmasy subjects, of course! However, I'm still committed to catching this blog up...so deal with it, my friends. Deal. With. It. Tonight, I will finally work on some winter/Christmas style posts, and I will therefore feel at peace with life. ;-)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Okay, so I'll get on with the final posts of Fall 2009. </div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Raking leaves is not something we're especially fond of, but its a necessity, so we try to make the best of it. We have oak trees in our yard, which means that we are STILL raking leaves mid-November.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center">Here's me and Xavier prior to Leaf Fest 2009. I had Nick take this to prove Xavier is giant (compared to me, anyhow.)</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpFHDUxpI/AAAAAAAAEAg/3xnFew12Zzw/s1600/DSC_1245.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpFHDUxpI/AAAAAAAAEAg/3xnFew12Zzw/s320/DSC_1245.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpFGhb-jI/AAAAAAAAEAo/6g73U6h6FTk/s1600/DSC_1247.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpFGhb-jI/AAAAAAAAEAo/6g73U6h6FTk/s320/DSC_1247.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">T-shirt weather in November is soooooo terrific!<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpFuNTboI/AAAAAAAAEAw/uZTxvagWq3g/s1600/DSC_1252.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpFuNTboI/AAAAAAAAEAw/uZTxvagWq3g/s320/DSC_1252.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpF6uAUHI/AAAAAAAAEA4/8iPQjZ9NFJU/s1600/DSC_1254.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlpF6uAUHI/AAAAAAAAEA4/8iPQjZ9NFJU/s320/DSC_1254.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />The leaf tarp...oh, the leaf tarp. The only effective way to take leaves from the back to the front for pick-up.<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqIBtnq-I/AAAAAAAAEBA/4ZhNkiwYyOs/s1600/DSC_1258.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqIBtnq-I/AAAAAAAAEBA/4ZhNkiwYyOs/s320/DSC_1258.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqIFTmJgI/AAAAAAAAEBI/kxlQlXywEFc/s1600/DSC_1259.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqIFTmJgI/AAAAAAAAEBI/kxlQlXywEFc/s320/DSC_1259.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">This picture I'm sure will someday horrify poor Bennett. But I have to remember the times when he tells me, "you are the best mom in the whole world, and I love you with my whole heart, forever and ever." :-)<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqIhdKvZI/AAAAAAAAEBQ/1Ea-CiAYrOI/s1600/DSC_0007.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqIhdKvZI/AAAAAAAAEBQ/1Ea-CiAYrOI/s320/DSC_0007.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqI1IcxsI/AAAAAAAAEBY/12nwMek7HMY/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlqI1IcxsI/AAAAAAAAEBY/12nwMek7HMY/s320/DSC_0008.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br /><br />Ben was so pleased that the leaves he threw landed right on my head.<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlsdlU-WkI/AAAAAAAAEBg/BJ5t3nep7cs/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlsdlU-WkI/AAAAAAAAEBg/BJ5t3nep7cs/s320/DSC_0031.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">Xavier was not amused with the leaf festivities this year :-( ...</p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlsd0ngrqI/AAAAAAAAEBo/LeJlur52CKs/s1600/DSC_0033.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlsd0ngrqI/AAAAAAAAEBo/LeJlur52CKs/s320/DSC_0033.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br />...but Bennett was. :-)<br /><p></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlseZFYP3I/AAAAAAAAEB4/gqAuAVxozl8/s1600/b+in+the+leaves.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlseZFYP3I/AAAAAAAAEB4/gqAuAVxozl8/s320/b+in+the+leaves.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlseJzS3qI/AAAAAAAAEBw/TOqd4Y4Ef8w/s1600/DSC_0055.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlseJzS3qI/AAAAAAAAEBw/TOqd4Y4Ef8w/s320/DSC_0055.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p></p>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8295006200209629203.post-53952012314661514762009-12-22T11:30:00.002-05:002009-12-22T12:03:38.169-05:00Bennett's Kindergarten Halloween party<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">The day after trick or treat, the boys had their Halloween parties at school. I helped out with Bennett's (I'm trying to alternate helping with holidays between the boys, since they're at different schools.)<br />When I arrived, the kids were already in their costumes. You'll notice that Ben decided he wanted to wear an alternative to his "Hillbilly Spiderman". He chose to be Mickey Mouse out of an assortment of costumes offered to us his older buddy, Gabe.<br />Here, the kids are getting instructions on what's going to happen. First, there will be class pictures outside (another beautiful Fall day) and, then, a Halloween costume parade through the main street of our town.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgLXxH_UI/AAAAAAAAD-Q/RdJdX4XFfZg/s1600/DSC_1181.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgLXxH_UI/AAAAAAAAD-Q/RdJdX4XFfZg/s320/DSC_1181.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgLt2rRwI/AAAAAAAAD-Y/TTXTaUfhIZQ/s1600/DSC_1187.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgLt2rRwI/AAAAAAAAD-Y/TTXTaUfhIZQ/s320/DSC_1187.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Sts. Peter and Paul School Kindergarten class with Mrs. Dragovich and Mrs. Williams.<br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgL7ixl3I/AAAAAAAAD-g/a4iwxZEN_MM/s1600/DSC_1191.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgL7ixl3I/AAAAAAAAD-g/a4iwxZEN_MM/s320/DSC_1191.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgMDSrtBI/AAAAAAAAD-o/DeDLwkZtocY/s1600/DSC_1193.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlgMDSrtBI/AAAAAAAAD-o/DeDLwkZtocY/s320/DSC_1193.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">They were the first class ready for the parade, so Mrs. Williams suggested a game of duck-duck-goose to pass the time.<br /></div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh0TBuQ4I/AAAAAAAAD-w/eTH1XUpgCm8/s1600/DSC_1199.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh0TBuQ4I/AAAAAAAAD-w/eTH1XUpgCm8/s320/DSC_1199.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Ben and friend, Lillian.<br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh0_mDEyI/AAAAAAAAD-4/4JXtVFdrIDk/s1600/DSC_1204.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh0_mDEyI/AAAAAAAAD-4/4JXtVFdrIDk/s320/DSC_1204.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh1LpNksI/AAAAAAAAD_A/KBnNGCBEdYc/s1600/DSC_1205.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh1LpNksI/AAAAAAAAD_A/KBnNGCBEdYc/s320/DSC_1205.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">I took this picture to showcase our new library. What once was an empty lot, is now a highlight of our little community's downtown area.<br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh1beeg1I/AAAAAAAAD_I/ToeA-Kdl_HU/s1600/DSC_1210.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlh1beeg1I/AAAAAAAAD_I/ToeA-Kdl_HU/s320/DSC_1210.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">The Kindergarten building at Sts. Peter and Paul School.<br /></div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5Me84cI/AAAAAAAAD_Q/KoOF7aPIvwc/s1600/DSC_1216.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5Me84cI/AAAAAAAAD_Q/KoOF7aPIvwc/s320/DSC_1216.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">I blew my tire out on my way to the party. Hehe.<br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5VvSUSI/AAAAAAAAD_Y/gTgWbomdXxI/s1600/DSC_1217.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5VvSUSI/AAAAAAAAD_Y/gTgWbomdXxI/s320/DSC_1217.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">Costume change! I knew B would be hot in that Mickey costume, so I had "Hillbilly Spiderman" stashed in the car, just in case. The poor child was sweating after our walk, and asked me to switch outfits. Here he is, entering the spooky Kindergarten building. (His friend, Jacob, is also Spidey in the background. ;-)<br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5e2hCxI/AAAAAAAAD_g/e7HYj52mOJ4/s1600/DSC_1219.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5e2hCxI/AAAAAAAAD_g/e7HYj52mOJ4/s320/DSC_1219.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">The party consisted of snacks, "scary" stories, and games. Ben and I made those hands hanging down from the ceiling (gloves stuffed with gummy worms and and candy corn :-)<br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5n3ntNI/AAAAAAAAD_o/7h1yh8sVR8A/s1600/DSC_1221.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlk5n3ntNI/AAAAAAAAD_o/7h1yh8sVR8A/s320/DSC_1221.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />Listening to "spooky stories" told by classmates. This was really cute, as the stories were completely made up on the fly. Kindergarteners are kings of improvisation!<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3GoDTjI/AAAAAAAAD_w/QsNo4ovhPdA/s1600/DSC_1222.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3GoDTjI/AAAAAAAAD_w/QsNo4ovhPdA/s320/DSC_1222.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3bfZ7iI/AAAAAAAAD_4/JvCo9p_UCq0/s1600/DSC_1224.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3bfZ7iI/AAAAAAAAD_4/JvCo9p_UCq0/s320/DSC_1224.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">We played games too - Halloween Bingo...<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3sQBkOI/AAAAAAAAEAA/zoeHPvqpTbo/s1600/DSC_1225.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3sQBkOI/AAAAAAAAEAA/zoeHPvqpTbo/s320/DSC_1225.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><p align="center">and Twister...<br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3i5GaNI/AAAAAAAAEAI/P1z7S2qf1FQ/s1600/DSC_1230.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlm3i5GaNI/AAAAAAAAEAI/P1z7S2qf1FQ/s320/DSC_1230.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><br />and another round of duck-duck-goose.<br /><br /></p><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlnxfE_dqI/AAAAAAAAEAQ/Z1KwD3b1ALk/s1600/DSC_1234.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/SwlnxfE_dqI/AAAAAAAAEAQ/Z1KwD3b1ALk/s320/DSC_1234.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlnxk6QVBI/AAAAAAAAEAY/6zhMj3Skm64/s1600/DSC_1239.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qWqP_dInPIw/Swlnxk6QVBI/AAAAAAAAEAY/6zhMj3Skm64/s320/DSC_1239.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Kristyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03422020411924141669noreply@blogger.com3