LoveBugs

Have I mentioned lately that I love them?

A very hairy post

This is my new favorite hairstyle for Kendra.
I just put in a ponytail but don't pull the hair all the way through the holder the last time.

After a few minutes, it starts to fan out on its own and ends up looking perfect -- like I spent more than 24 seconds on it.

Here it is from the side:

From the back:

And, what it looks like after it gets combed out at night. Wow.

Best referral ever

Think

Menards

could use

some free

advertising

for their rugs?

Tonight's questions

From Kendra at bedtime: I think there must be fire dragons in the lake of fire. Are there?

And then from Evan at his bedtime shortly later: Will we have bottoms in heaven, or will we not need to go to the bathroom?

I think it might be time for Chad to start handling bedtimes again if they're going to be asking that difficult of questions.

That "that" is important

Evan's laying on Kendra's back, pushing her head down to the floor whenever she picks it up. After several rounds, she says no. To which Laura hollers, "Don't break that! That's my sister!"

Look, Ma! No nostrils!

Look! I can do this with the magnets off the fridge!

First day of preschool - Kendra

Kendra ready for her first day of preschool -- without Evan in her class!

Three lovebugs on Kendra's first day.

Already hard at play!

Kendra's first day went very well while she was at preschool. Things were very hard when she got home though. Just like last year, she was very sad that Mommy hadn't stayed with her. She's keeping all of her sad pent up while she's there, then when she gets home all of the sad comes out as frustration at Mommy. After she got home today I printed a little tiny picture of Chad and me and "laminated" it with tape so she can keep it in her pocket. That's what I had in kindergarten and it seemed to help some, so hopefully it will help Kendra. Only time will tell though.

Blueberry Schmlueberry

The paint color for our bedroom may have said it was Blueberry Yogurt, but I'm not buyin' it.

That color is so Chad's Eyes.

First day of kindergarten - Evan

Today was Evan's first day of kindergarten. He's been notably unexcited about it for several months. As it got closer, he started getting more excited about it, but not a lot.

Thursday night was the back-to-school night, and he was quite excited to carry his PE shoes. They're Toy Story, and they light up! After his first day of school, he was sad that they didn't have PE so he didn't get to wear his new shoes.

Evan and Daddy shared the load carrying stuff in for back-to-school night.

And Evan was very excited to see that his name was written on a pirate by the door to his room.

He also liked his desk. Or at least he was trying to give me a real smile.

Evan got to choose breakfast for his first day of kindergarten. He chose funny face pancakes. Daddy did an excellent job of constructing it for him!

Getting ready for school this morning went smoothly, so there was still plenty of time to be goofy with Laura.

See? This is our schedule. Their goofiness came during "Play?" time which is between #4 and #5 on the Morning Chart. (It has a question mark because there is only play time if you've done everything else up to that point early enough.) Yes, you can think I'm a nerd or a drill sergeant or something for making this chart, but for today it worked great to keep everyone moving on getting ready. When someone would forget what they still needed to do, they could look at the chart. So, after Day 1, I'm feeling like a genius for making it. We'll see if I still feel that way at the end of Week 1...

Here's Evan, ready to go.

And here he is with the girls, who didn't have to be dressed to go anywhere this morning.

He wanted to make sure I had a picture of his Spider-Man backpack too.

As he was getting out of the car at school, he said, "I think this really might be fun!"

And he was off, running for the school.

In to the school.

In to his classroom.

And sitting down at his desk. Do you know what my favorite part of this picture is?

It's that Evan and Mathias were holding hands, or a pinkie at least.

Here Evan is getting off the bus ... the first time.

And here he is getting off the bus the second time. This time with his backpack and all his stuff. Minus the "special chocolate" they got at the end of the day that he lost on the way home. I can't imagine how he lost it, what with his backpack all unzipped and upside down and all.

His review of the day was that kindergarten is "mostly good".

And away to home we ran to eat, play, sleep, and start all over tomorrow!

Why didn't He think of that?

"Mommy, why doesn't God make balloons that are already blown up so we don't have to blow them up?" --Kendra

Alter ego

Laura has an alter ego. It's named Baby Mouse. She started playing Baby Mouse a few weeks ago. It's cute. She talks in a very high-pitched voice and has "squeak" or "squeak squeak" between most of her words. Baby Mouse nods and squeaks to answer most questions. Baby Mouse is also very snuggly and gives kisses readily.

The last couple of days though I've realized that Baby Mouse may indeed be an alter ego. Laura doesn't snuggle. Baby Mouse does. Laura doesn't give kisses. Baby Mouse does. Laura gets upset. Baby Mouse doesn't. Laura only nurses at bedtime and the occasional naptime. Baby Mouse still wants to nurse in the middle of the afternoon sometimes. Laura wants to be tickled. Baby Mouse wants to be cradled. Laura likes being told, "I love you, Laura". Baby Mouse likes being told, "I love you, Baby Mouse". Laura is adorable. Baby Mouse is adorable.

Ok, so maybe that last one isn't so different. But, regardless, I will miss Baby Mouse whenever he (she?) leaves our house. I like Baby Mouse's snuggles and kisses and squeaks.

Huh?

[Note: These are from several different times, not all today.]

Symptom: Leg ache
Description: It feels like there's a monkey dancing inside my leg and it keeps bonking its head on the inside of my leg.

Symptom: Chest/tummy ache
Description: It feels like there's a baby gorilla punching inside my tummy, and he won't stop punching.

Symptom: ?????
Description: It feels like there's an orange in my bottom. Oh! I forgot! I put a pencil in my underwear earlier.

[Note: The descriptions of these medical conditions are the sole property of our family. If you use them as your own, we would know you stole them from here. Because, really, I don't think these things have ever been uttered anywhere else. Ever.]