2009's Top of the Car with the Tree Pic

A few weeks ago when we brought home the tree.....I do not know how many more years I can lift her up on top of the car....but taking the pic has been our little tradition since she's been home....
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And here's Delaney's new tradition, the PINK Russian Tree! I thought I would get her very own small tree so we could put all the Russian ornaments we have on it and it would be "her" Russian tree, and, of course, being 4, she picked out this VERY pink tree! he he!! Not sure if a pink tree is very Russian, but it's cute and she's very pleased with it!
Merry Christmas!!

Still wearing The Robe.....

Nope,the novelty hasn't worn off yet.....
Wanna take bets she graduates from high school wearing it?

A conversation about Pineapples and Palm Tress...

Not really a Christmassy-thing…but a Delaney funny nonetheless.
While driving Little Missy to school the other SNOWY, cold day, it went something like this…

“Mommy, what do pineapples grow in to?”

“They don’t grow into anything except pineapples.”

“Well, what are those tress called that look like the tops of pineapples?”

“Palm tress? Yes, honey you are right, the tops of pineapples do look like palm trees.”

“So pineapples just stay pineapples, they don’t grow into palm trees?"


“Yes, that is correct.”

“Well, it’s kinda funny how they look the same and they both grow in Hawaii but pineapples don’t grow into palm trees?”

“Why is that funny?”

“They have to turn into something!”

“No, baby, pineapples are pineapples and palm trees are palm trees.”

“Palm trees don’t grow into anything either?”

“No.”

“Well, how come some are short and some are tall?”

“There are different kinds of palm trees.”

“If there are different kinds, why don’t they turn into anything or why don’t pineapples turn into palm trees?”

“That’s not how God made them, he made palm tress and he made pineapples.”

“But he made them both grow in Hawaii.”

“Yes, he did, that’s why Hawaii is so beautiful.”

“We’d better go to Hawaii right away and straighten this all out!!!!”

“We’d better, huh?

“Yes, I think God would want it that way.”

Delaney again: “Oh, and mom, can we get some pineapples today?”

Aloha…..

Photos of Christmases Past

Just to kick off the Holiday Season, new blog look and a few pics of Christmases past...Delaney Style!!!

A New Robe!

This weekend I purused the Sunday morning ads and (no surprise here) I found some things on sale and we decided to head out shopping! Of course, you can't just go into Target or Macy's and ONLY look at the ONE thing you saw in the advertisement!

My mom and I did find our ad items, but we also checked out the other departments and my mom ended up buying this adorable robe for Delaney. "I've never had a robe before!" (well, she had a swim cover-up we called a robe, but she's right, first robe!)

Who would have thought she would love it SOOO much! That child has not taken that *adorbale* robe off for three days!! She almost went to school in it! Last night she fell asleep in it and when I carried her up to bed and took it off.....well, let's just say that little 4 year old unleashed the devil on me!! he he!!

It IS very soft and cozy and pink...and did I say *adorable*? I'm thinking not so much anymore......

The Very Scary Witch!

Little Missy has chosen to be a witch for Halloween...a "SCARY" witch. It was a tough decision that came down to a skeleton, a cheerleader or scary witch. She is now working on her Scary Witch Laugh....

Look Ma! No More Training Wheels!!

Well, she still needs a bit of practice! But Little Missy has been asking me to take off her training wheels for about a month now...and she actually did it!



Short little spurts but she did it! I had her ride into the grass, so I am sure another week of practicing she will have it down!


Just like she said she could swim without her floatie, she can ride her bike without training wheels. Geez, this child going to give this Ma a heart attack someday!!

Food On Our Plates

Everyday when I leave for work, Little Missy asks me to stay home, but she hugs and kisses me and goes outside and watches me drive away from the sidewalk while holding up the "I love you" sign and blowing me kisses as I round the corner. It is our little ritual we do everyday and we both love it! he he!

As I was dressing this morning, she was laying on my bed, eating cereal from the box.. and she was smiling, almost laughing. When I inquired about the source of her early morning happiness, she said, "I am glad you are going to work!" "What?" My child that begs me to stay home for 100 days and is estatic when I take time off and is sad on Mondays.....and calls me at work to say, "I miss you," and walks around carrying my picture when I am gone? Mommy must know more....

When I asked why this sudden change of heart, she said, "Because you going to work gives us money to put food on our plates. And, Mom, I like to eat!"

Thus the learned wisdom of a four-year-old!
(Here she is with our Family Day pajama party "Feast" in August.)

The Official Soccer Picture!

Here is Little Missy's "official" soccer picture. Mrs. Beckham! I asked her Saturday after soccer if she felt like David Beckham.....she played even better than before, and is very fast! She smiled and said, "like the girl in the movie?" And I said "Yes," then she said, "The girl with brown skin or the girl with skin like me?"


I swear every conversation with that child takes an unexpected turn, not right or left, even, just an unexpected turn......you'd think I would know by now...he he!

Up next, her dance performance pics from this weekend, also. Wouldn't you know, Always-Camera-Ready-Mommy had a dead battery in both the video camera and the still camera! Luckily, another Mom said she will share her pics with me and took some of Delaney on stage! Thank goodness for other Always-Camera-Ready-Mommies!! I think my friend, Ray, said once, Watch out for a Mom with a camera!!!

Bend It Like Beckham!!

Little Missy has been sooooo EXCITED to start soccer and the day finally arrived Saturday! We woke up to the VERY strange sound in California of thunder and gray skies. Then it made a good attempt at rain which, luckily never amounted to much. When I told her it might rain, "But it's my first day of soccer, doesn't God want me to play soccer today?"


Well, turned out He did...he he!!
We may just be fostering a little Beckham out there?? (btw, she LOVES that movie, too!)

Summer's End...

August was a busy month and we are glad to have it behind us! We had a garage sale with our neighbors, TONS of work and time and we only made about $200!! But, we straightened out the garage, got rid of a LOT of stuff AND painted the garage floor! Something I've been wanting to do for long time! Still not quite sorted through ALL the cr*p, but almost!

This month also marked my dad's 70th birthday! He had a little eye surgery before his birthday, so we had a quiet celebration with some family members at the house. Delaney learned how to play Texas Hold "Em from her cousins......boys will be boys! he he!
Little Missy had some more swim lessons, another session where she passed with flying colors...since getting our pool this summer, she had also decided she did not need her floatie any more! This was before her lessons! That was crazy, she taught herself to swim! Mom's fearful of this child having NO fear! Geez!
We had a really nice time with Alice and Karina at the State Fair, dropped a wad of cash there! Delaney's first fair, she rode on the huge ferris wheel, milked a cow, and rode a pony! We have such a nice State Fair here, we always enjoy it. She asked about seeing bears everywhere at the fairgrounds. I reminded her that the bear was on the California state flag and she asked, "What does that have to do with the fair?" When I told her that this was the California State Fair, she exclaimed, "Oh, I actually heard about that on TV!" Guess I need to explain more to her when we do something!

Getting ready for school to start, her pre-school has a work day where all the parents come clean up the playground and classroom before school starts. Last year I painted three picnic tables and this year I washed the windows and painted the rocking horses! I will be glad not have to do that next year when she starts kindergarten!

August 8th was our third Family Day! I can't believe it's been three years since I have had the honor of being this beautiful child's Mommy! Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for putting us together. She is my light and everyday I get unsolicited, "I love you's". What could be better? We celebrated by going to play mini-golf and having a pajama party! FUN!!





Lokoing forward to school and all her other structured activities starting! Soccer starts soon and she's excited about that! So am I, last week I bought her shin guards and she wore them all night and even slept in them! My little nut!!!
Okay, no complaints, my friends you are updated!! he he!!

Road Trip!!

We just got back from 10 days on the road to Southern California and had a blast! We went to Lego Land, the beach a few times, a children's museum, Seaport Village, a harbor boat ride, swimming and visited with friends! Delaney was SOOOOO good, I told her I was very impressed! This was the longest car ride she's done, but she likes riding in the car, she so did great.

I surprised her with staying at a hotel for a couple days and she kept saying, "Thank you for doing this Mommy, thank you so much!" over and over again the night we checked in! She was so happy about the hotel. The previous week she decided she did not need her floatie in the pool, and she didn't! That little Miss has taught herself to swim! At the hotel pool, everyone kept asking how old she was, because she was swimming underwater and jumping in, etc.

We had fun on the way back stopping in LA to visit freinds and then also stopping to see some friends near Yosemite who live at the lake. We swam in the lake at night and went on their boat.

Delaney taught herself how to body surf at the beach and even tackled a little snorkeling! It was a very nice time for having a scaled back vacation!
Here's a little slide show from our trip, we are missing a few pics *some* friends are suppose be sending soon! (hint hint Lisa and Sherry!)

Delaney said she wished she lived down there, but the day after we got home, she said, "It's good to be home, isn't it Mom?" And while we had a great time...it was good to be home!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Father's Day and Car Sickness

Well, Father's Day brought up a few questions about Little Missy not having a Daddy...luckily all she's really said is, "I wish I had a Daddy!" She hasn't asked why and I can mostly make her happy with saying she has Grandpa!

At first she wanted to give the gift she made at school for Father's Day to me...YES! I am Mommy AND Daddy most days!! he he! I already spent a lot of time around the house doing things a Dad would do, fixing fallen curtain rods, taking out the trash, (I'd marry just about anybody for this!!), painting...I have an 18 volt drill...I am FIX-It Mommy! I own a variety of srewdrivers to fix the variety of toys that have an infinite number of sized screws....geez, drives me nuts...of yes, jars of nuts and bolts and nails and screws....he he!! I digress....

We made our way to Grandpa's this weekend to celebrate Father's Day with him. As Delaney told my neighbor yesterday, "We went to Mom's Dad's house!" I have no idea why she said it that way! "You mean your Grandpa's?" my neighbor said, "Yup, my Grandpa, my Mom's Dad." Guess she's just putting it into perspective!
Here she is on the way up, watching Beauty and the Beast. I just thought it was very funny her sitting back there all wired up and content eating crackers.

We had fun at Dad's, went out for Chinese food on Saturday night and she could not wait to give him the picture and frame she made at school...(yes, I gave it up for my Dad!!) So she gave it to him Saturday. It was a magnet, so it is being rpoudly displayed on Grandpa's fridge! I love the look on Grandpa's face in this picture, his was thanking her for the gift! His gifts on Sunday were on 8x10 of the Spring photo and a Leatherman tool.

They always go for "Woods" walks, and in the winter it's a snow walk. I remembering taking a picture about two weeks after coming home in Aug 2006 of them walking and took the other one this Sunday! Can you believe how much she has grown in three years? A couple weekends ago I was shocked I had to buy her size 11 shoes! Size 10 was too big just a couple months ago! She has always had big "boatfeet"!


Little Missy has always bee very healthy, thank goodness! A few colds, and only once has she ever thrown up! Well, now twice! Let's just say, winding mountain roads, looking down at the DVD player and a large blue Icee did not a good combo make! She told me she was dizzy, thent old me her tummy hurts, then mentioned it again, and it finally dawned on me why....I looked back at her white face and knew what was next...so I grabbed the DVD player from her and gave her a bag, just in time! Whew, electronics and car saved! We stopped just a few mintures from Dad's and she managed to make it there fine...a piece of bread and Sierr aMist and she was just fine! We are headed on a long road trip next month, so I need to remember she can't watch a movie when the roads get hilly or winding. I'ts funny, because she has in iron clad tummy! Like I said this was only the second time in three years she's thrown up....I know how lucky I am! (and in more ways than just that!)

What A Day! First ER Trip!

Considering how active my little girl is and how much she loves to jump and climb and run and skip...well, you get the idea......it really is a wonder this didn't come sooner! We almost went to the ER in March of 08 during the "My room is full of fish-I'm stuck-Seeing bugs all over Mommy's face and bed-and everywhere-incident" with the very high 106 fever....
So at almost 4 1/2, we visited the ER, of course, on the Friday night of a three-day weekend! Not just any weekend, in our town, Memorial Day Weekend is also Fiesta Days....lots of events, a parade and things going on also!
The day actually had been very nice! I took it off to take Little Missy and her friend to Discovery Kingdom, the Six Flags Park in the next town. The girls were great, we rode all the rides, fed the giraffes, ate coton candy, watched the dolphin show, got wet on the raft ride...no one got hurt...then I brought the girls back home for some play time and some dinner while we waited for E's Mom. So first, they played in the bacyard, barefoot. Then their was screaming and crying, it was E, she had fallen off the scooter and scraped her knee, and broken off a good portion of one of her toes nails! Just a little blood on the toe, but she skinned a pretty big area of her knee. She was crying, then I as I was cleaning her wounds, I was telling her it was going ot be okay, she kept crying, then I said it would all be better because we had Hello Kitty Band-Aids. "I LOVE HELLO KITTY" she screamed, still crying. Some Neosporin, TWO Hello Kitty Band-Aids on her knee, an Elmo Band-Aid on the toe, (you never know which Toddler TV Character will be the miracle Character of the day, so you must have a few choices, today we picked up some Scooby-Doo Band-Aids...), and all was well.
E's Mom arrives and we sit and chat for a while and the kids were playing upstairs...all is well, I have a glass of wine, E's Mom had something to drink, the kids are fed.....BAM! BANG! I didn't really do anything at first, then I didn't hear anything...so I thought I would go check...I look up the stairs, and E is at the top and I can hear Delaney crying, I asked Delaney to come out, E's is just standing there, I ask E to tell Delaney to come out, E is just standing there...so I head up, and I hear Delaney REALLY crying, and there is my Mom (who had been taking a shower) with blood all over her top with Delaney at the sink and a wet wash cloth on her head! "What happened?" Well, no one knows for sure, but I guess they were opening and closing doors and E's pushed a door open when Delaney was behind it. Delaney says she was going to show E how to do a cartwheel....well, my poor Mom still needed to get done from getting out of the shower, so I took over and kept the cloth on her head while trying to look at the cut, give a hug, check the cut, keep the cloth on, wipe the tears...
While I was trying to see how big the cut was, Delaney was crying, but not really all that badly, but through her tears she looks at me and says, "Did I crack my head open?" OMG, that was FUUUNNYY!! Oh crap, Mommy, DO NOT LAUGH!! So I hugged her again and told her no, it just a little cut.

I brought her downstairs to the kitchen where the light is better and sat on the counter. E's Mom and I tried to figure out of it needed stitches and she called her Nurse-Mom who also told us which of the two ER's we had to choose from was best to go to.....she aksed how long it was, how much bleeding, did she loose consciousness, etc. and said go get it checked out....

By now, she is fine, it hurts and it hurts to do some things and I think it started throbbing....we find Snuggle Bunny and soem books and off we go....on the way she kept asking about why she woudl have to get stitches and I explained, to a 4 year old who just "cracked her head open", how the skin on your head is thinner and it can't heal without the help of something to hold it together....now, she becomes fascinated by this and we talk about it and every now and then she lets out an "Ow.."
She even let me take some pictures, and also explained to me that E should have looked before opening the door....
I can't believe how brave she was! She only cried when it happened and then when they put the Dermabond on and it stung a little. Turns out the cut wasn't that deep and was borderline needing stiches or staples, and then only one or two. The doctor asked me what I wanted to do and I said if it doesn't need it, just use the glue...

They entire staff there fawned all over her and the next she spent all d ay talking about how nice the doctor was, "I didn't know the Emergency Room doctor and nurse would be so nice!" They gave her crackers and juice and stickers and put on cartoons.....oh, and the cut feels just fine, thank you!!

E's Mom came and sat with us, even though we were there for almost three hours! Then I took Little Missy to McDonald's, also Mommy had not eaten...and we went home and went to bed.....
Okay, not SOOOOO bad, all in all....just the tale of our first trip to ER!!!
Sure hope it's a while before we have to do that again!!! She really was a trooper, it was amazing, my poor baby was being so brave!!!
Oh, I almost forgot to add....least Little Missy NOT be outdone...the entire time in the ER was heard..."My owie is biggeer than E's owie!!!" At 4, EVERYTHING is a competition!

EARLIER IN THE DAY.........
Well, we did have fun that day! Pre-injuries, here are some pics from our trip to Discovery Kingdom!!

Spring Photos!

Hi Friends!! I know, I am a bad, bad blogger! But I am here now....enjoy these pics from..of all places....Wal Mart !!!