10 on Tuesday

1. These girls turned 15 this past Friday.  More on that later! 
2. Some kids like to sleep with a fuzzy blanket or soft toy...my kid's choice of bedtime snuggle item last night:  a book (and 3 pacies which is pretty standard)
3. This is going to be a long week, I can already tell.
4. I forgot Feb is a short month so payday comes this Friday, not next Tuesday
5. Rory was getting into something last night and I told Kevin that his baby was being naughty.  Rory heard me and wandered around the Living Room repeating 'I Naw-Nee' over and over.
6. Rory has this horse and I walked in the living room the other day to find her riding it with no diaper on.  Apparantly we are descendants of Lady Godiva...who knew.
   
7. I hate my washer and dryer but am too cheap to buy a new one.
8. Rory spent a lot of time outside on Saturday since the weather was nice, she really like running around like a crazy baby and expending energy.  I admit that it was nice getting some fresh air.
9. It is supposed to snow tonight...wasn't it 65 three days ago?
10. I can't think of 10...sorry

  

ABC's

I haven't done one of these in a while so I figured I would give it a shot.

A= Age:  29
B= Bed size: Queen
C= Chore you hate?: Unloading the dishwasher
D= Dog's name(s): Ruby, Nellie
E= Essential to start your day: Rory Snuggles
F= Favorite color: Purple or Pink: Pink
G= Gold or Silver: Silver or White Gold
H= Height: 5'7
I= Instruments you play(ed): Flute/Piccolo
J= Job Title: Mom/housekeeper/Fraud Investigator
K=Kid(s): 14 month old baby Girl
L= Living Arrangements: Me, Rory, Kev and the 2 dogs
M= Mom's name: Connie
N=Number of kid(s): 1 (Didn't I just answer this one for "K"?)
O= Over? Drama...OVER IT!
P= Pet Peeve: texting, chatting or surfing the net while trying to have a conversation...RUDE!
Q= Quote from a movie: "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission" (Princess Diaries/Eleanor Roosevelt)
R= Right or Left handed: Right.
S= Siblings: None.
T= Time you wake up: Weekdays between 5:30-6:00, Weekends, 6:30
U= Underwear: wearing it...enough said
V= Vegetable you dislike: Carrots (cooked, I like them raw)
W= Ways you run late: Caught by a train, Unexpected diaper issues
X= X-Rays you've had: teeth, tailbone, sinuses, back
Y= Yummy food you make: Stromboli
Z= Zoo favorite: seals and sea otters

*Copy and paste to your own blog...you know you want to.

14 Months Old

Ok,  so now for the official 14 month post.  Getting Rory to smile on command is not as easy as it used to be.  I used to fake sneeze to get her to smile...worked everytime!  Now, when I fake sneeze, Rory says "Bess You."  Sweet, but no smile.  She is also SO mobile (and fast) and so it isn't easy to get a good shot.  Here are a few.

She was really more interested in the rocks...who knew that rocks were that interesting?  Kevin has quite a rocky mess on the drive way...sorry Kev!

 

 "Hey Mommy...my shoes squeak!"

  

 

 I realize that this isn't the best picture, quality wise, but it is SO Rory right now.  She is so happy and she was loving running around and making her shoes squeak. 

 

That is all for today! Ciao!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It is really more of a slush, but we got out for about 5 minutes before nap anyway.  I think that we might go out later this afternoon again, if we do...more pics to come.

Happy Singles Awareness Day to ME!

I don't have my camera with me and I can promise you that the cookies won't last until I get home so you will have to deal with pictures from the web!

Yesterday THESE showed up on my desk

They haven't fully bloomed  yet, but I am looking forward to them all being out tomorrow or Sunday.

Then today...THESE showed up.  My favorite cookies from my favorite Boy!

I love you too Kevin!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Picture Catch Up

Since the last few post have been heavy on the words and light on the pics, I am not going to say a lot in the post, just post pics and let you enjoy the view.

Nellie: "Be Still Rory, you taste like Peach Puffs!"

Rory: "Nellie, where did Daddy go?"

Ruby:  "When is the next nap time?"

We wait until the last minute to put her dress on before church.  She enjoys a little half naked time.  This is what happens when you say "Smile Rory!"

 Definitely a 'Southern girl...look at those monogram britches

 

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Milp, Ruby....what more could a girl want?

 

 

Happy Birthday Kevin (More on this later!)

 

Bathtime aka: Bapp

Look at those curls!

Well, that is all for now!

Primrose--on my Soapbox

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it - Proverbs 22:6

There is a new school that has opened in our area called Primrose School of Riverwoods. It is a "high quality private preschool specializing in early childhood education." I am SO excited about it! Although they have an infant program (similar to daycare), I am most excited about their pre school and private Kindergarden! Primrose Schools are all over the US and they offer the absolute top in preschools. There is a lot of free play and room for self expression. It is sort of a blended approach which we (Kevin and I) think is great. The kiddos get the benefit of structure and the benefit of self led learning. I think that both approaches are beneficial if used correctly together.


As you all know, education is very important to Kevin and I. We were both raised by well educated, well informed parents and were both taught at an early age that education is very important. We were both fortunate to go to good schools and be afforded the opportunity for a good education. For both of us, education was never an issue – we were getting one whether we liked it or not! Our parents understood the long term benefits of a good, solid education. As my Dad said the day that I graduated college: “people can take a lot of things away from you, but that degree in your hand, no one can ever take that away.”

I can remember sitting in class in high school (and likely some in middle school too) and thinking that I hated sitting there, all this unnecessary curriculum was stupid, I was never going to use it anyway and I would rather be at home or outside or hanging with my friends! Although I still think that I learned a lot that I am not necessarily going to use, in hindsight, I am SO glad that I did learn it all and that I have a good, well rounded education! I HATED learning pre-calculus and Algebra, but when I got to college and had to take Calculus, Statistics and Computer Programming classes, I sure was glad that I had an understanding of the fundamentals! I was really glad that I had it when I took Accounting in College and in Grad School. I HATED term papers in high school…with a passion! But when I got to college, although I still don’t like them, I was extremely glad that I had been through English/Literature classes because boy, I wrote a million papers in College and Grad School. I probably wrote more papers in my 1st semester at college than I did my whole high school career!

I think that it is important to educate our children to the best of our abilities. It is our job as parents to equip them as best as we can to be productive members of society, at every age. It is very important for kids to be kids, but it is also very important for kids to learn how to function in a society and how to integrate into their peer group comfortably. As much as it stinks, schedules are a part of life! My boss sure does like it when I show up for work on time, make informed and timely decisions and can be autonomous in my work load. Would I rather be at home doing my own thing and hanging out? YEP! But I also understand that I have a house to be paid for, cars to be paid for, food to provide for my family and bills to pay (and fun free time activities too…I don’t want to give the impression of all business, no play here!), in short, I have responsibilities.

Kevin and I want Rory to grow up to be a smart, funny, well spoken, well rounded person and we feel that the best way to initiate that process is to provide her with the best opportunity for education that we can. We want to instill in her the drive to learn and to achieve and to be the best that she can be. Am I foolish enough to think that she is going to use 100% of what she learns in school 100% of the time? No! But I do know that providing her an education where she gets an appropriate exposure to many different things will better equip her to make decisions about the direction in which her life will take her. I know that I am extremely thankful for my education K-Grad School and so is Kevin.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t change anything, I would still take all the classes that I hated in school (both Primary and Secondary education) because I feel like although I am not an expert, by an stretch of the imagination, I have an appropriate grasp on what is going on. If you had asked me in high school if I wanted to take all those crazy hard math classes I would have screamed “NO!” But in hindsight, that would have been a BIG mistake. I am glad that my parents didn’t always let me take the easy path, and that they pushed me, and allowed my teachers to do the same, to do my best to successfully complete the classes. Had I not done them, I wouldn’t have done well in College and Grad School.

All in all, we are excited about providing opportunities for Rory to get the best education that she can. We know that while it won’t be easy, and there will be times that she hates it, it is our responsibility to prepare her to support herself and her family and the best way to do that is to start at ground level, with a good foundation.

I realize that I got up on my soap box, sorry! Happy Wednesday!