2011_09_28 Wednesday

I'm going to maintain a link to Jonathan's artwork throughout this year. It will include school projects and any major works of art he does at home. Check it out:

And, here are some shots of us messing around last night:

2011_09_23 Friday

The past two weeks have been pretty hectic.

I flew with the kids to Atlanta for a long weekend. They did fabulously in the planes. I wrapped up a bunch of $1 items to keep them busy, and it totally worked. Elise was a little squirmy, but since we were flying during the day, we had the row to ourselves. Jonathan was a little nervous going through security, but he did great. And, on the way home, the plane was smaller so we only had two seats in the row.

Then, I flew to Orlando for a fantastic three days of work. Gosh, I'm so happy to be back in the workforce!!

2011_09_14 Wednesday

Elise's Walkabout:

As I was making dinner, I knew Jonathan was in the den watching Sesame Street, but Elise was unusually silent. After scanning the first floor for her, I heard a noise upstairs. Sure enough, Elise had climbed all the stairs and crawled over the gate and wandered into the bathroom!!! Guess she can do stairs!

2011_09_08 Thursday

Today's Back To School Day!!!! wahoo. We had orientation yesterday since Jonathan will be in a different classroom. It was nice for him to preview it and meet the new kids and two new teachers. There are 24 kids and 4 teachers! Anyway, he got a Schultute this morning. Pix to come. And, we strolled right in and he ran off to play, not once looking back or even saying goodbye. I showed him where the toilet was, and he went off to find the Legos. He was completely fine...in fact, he was more worried about Ducky (ugh!) being ok while we was gone. Everyone said how much he's grown; I don't see it since he's with me daily. What a kid.

2011_09_05 Monday

Happy Labor Day! It's been raining for most of the day.

We had a quiet morning, with Dave and Jonathan up "early" to play trains quietly until the rest of the house (ie mom and Elise) woke up. Oma and I made a huge batch of pesto for Dave.

This afternoon, we had the pleasure of seeing the bear lumber across the street and then over to the bird feeder. The chickens under my car must have been nervous; I was! It was about the size of a pony. Jonathan, who was the one who saw it at the bird feeder, leaped up into the 'tree house' to yell at the bear: "Hey bear! go away!" Elise has been yelling 'mbaaaah' and 'pssst!' ever since and running between two low windows and pointing outside.

2011_09_04 Sunday

I woke up to "psst. psst. psst. psst. psst. psst. psst. psst. psst. psst." this morning. Elise has figured out that that's an attention-getter. Dave got a toe-grab since he was slightly closer than I was.

E's working on new words...

ee-a ee-a = rocking, rocking

chee-chee = chicken

dah = dog

dat = that

Along with mastering the omnipresent NO and ME. She can sign for more and help, which are basically the same signs. She's enjoyed splashing water from the dogs' bowls. She's enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with Oma's scarves. She's made a great hat/halo for herself out of a squishy floor mat. She's discovered the washing machine and has made it into a toy, opening/closing the door, spinning the dial, taking things out, etc. Opa taught her to High-Five.

Jonathan is having a great time exploring the toys (especially the trains) and games (classics like Battleship) in the loft. He rode with Oma and Opa to/from dinner last night without a second thought. I love his critical thinking: "Mom, why do grown-ups get to stay up when I have to go to bed?" If only we could leave Ducky for one split second!!

2011_09_03 Saturday

Well, we all survived Hurricane Irene's torment. We lost power on Saturday night BEFORE the hurricane actually hit, around 6am. It rained the entire day. In the end, we had about 3+ inches of standing water in our basement. Luckily, Dave and I moved all the low-lying things up. Once the rains stopped on Sunday, I took some buckets to the basement in a vain effort to scoop out the water. I do think that I made a small impact, but at best, I was able to keep the water from rising too much more. By the evening, it was back to the level where I had started...and my back and hands hurt. We decided it was best for me and the kids to head out to the Barony on Sunday night. Power wasn't restored until Tuesday around 5am. Dave followed us out on Tuesday night once the power came on and the sump pump and dehumidifiers were doing their jobs. Water was also shut off, and even today it needs to be boiled before use.

So, here we are at the Barony...we played putt putt, went to a 4-H-type fair (saw lots of farm animals, milked a (fake) cow, and watched a "tractor" pull competition: http://s757.photobucket.com/albums/xx211/ldemmert/110829J2Milking%20GrangeFair/?start=all), went to a minor league baseball game (traded autographed balls with the mascot, saw great fireworks, J2 ran the bases: http://s757.photobucket.com/albums/xx211/ldemmert/110901Baseball/?start=all), helped Opa hang owl houses, plant veggies, build bookcases, collect eggs. The boys split off and did an amusement park while the girls got haircuts. Man, we've been busy!