"The Real Deal"

Well today was the first official day of school. You were excited to get ready for your first real day of Pre-K3. We made sure to get up extra early to give us plenty of time without having to rush or put any added pressure on the morning. So we got ready, and then read "The Kissing Hand." (JuJu got us our very own copy!) I thought it would help you, and tie in to the story, if we had our own kissing hands. With a red Sharpie, I drew a small heart in the palm of all of our hands. Then we were off to school. It shocked me as we were driving that you all of a sudden wanted a wipe to get rid of your kissing hand. I think you just didn't want anyone to see it, but it made me feel so sad. We did as you requested and wiped yours off, but assured you, it was really still there in your heart. As we pulled up to Immanuel, I glanced back to the backseat, and you looked kind of worried. It wasn't until we got out of the car and I gave you your hug and kiss that the tears started flowing. I quickly left and wiped away my own.


Our "Kissing Hands"

Much apprehension mounts as we get in car line.

The fretting didn't start until this moment.

JuJu, Shelby, and I promptly picked you up at 11:45, and judging by the look on your face, you had had a great day, but were so excited to see us. When you got in the car, we tried so hard not to bombard you with questions, but it was difficult. You took a moment to digest the doings of the day, then we started asking! You played outside, you colored a raccoon picture, sang songs, and played in the kitchen. Your classroom has a hamster too. "She bites" is what you repeatedly told us. And you couldn't remember her name, and you wanted to call Ms. Weiss to find out. The next day, the first thing you told me when I picked you up was the hamster's name: "Olibia"

After school, you were eager to see us.

But you had a great day!

"Shelba - as Brother has Nicknamed You"

Shelby, you're 12 weeks old, and you get cuter every day! You are starting to do a lot more too. You've noticed that you have hands, and you stare so intently at them. We've started putting you on the activity gym/mat and although it is short-lived, you enjoy looking and even grabbing all the little animals dangling above you. You are such a smiley girl, and a laugh is just around the corner. You've got the clammiest hands and feet ever; we hope you grow out of that. Your eyes are still blue; we hope you don't grow out of that! You absolutely adore your brother, as loud and crazy as he is; your face just lights up whenever he's around. Sometimes you'll allow others the pleasure of holding you, but for the most part you're a true mama's girl (and we like it that way!)

"School Days,School Days.."

You had to talk to Mush and tell her "I'm going to school!"


My baby is growing up!

I cannot believe that you are three years old, Landon, and today was your first day of preschool. We weren't sure we were going to make it with the potty-training stipulation, but miraculously, you have started pooping on the potty with about a 50% success rate, so we went for it. Unfortunately, you have a bad cold, so you didn't rest very well last night, and you were up extremely early. You were so excited about your first day. You did, however, know that I would be there with you. Mush called this morning, and you had to talk to her and tell her you were going to school! When we got to Immanuel Lutheran, you proudly marched right in, like you knew what you were doing and where you were going. Once we got in the classroom, you went straight to playing. There were all kinds of cool things: a kitchen, a little store with a grocery cart, a dollhouse, and OH YEAH, a bucket of cars! Mrs. Weiss, your teacher, took everyone on a tour of the school. She showed us where the bathrooms were, and you promptly went on in, and did your thing! I was so proud. When we went to the chapel, all the parents had to go back to the classroom, and you got a little panicky and tearful, but when you came back to the room, you were just fine. Mrs. Weiss read y'all a sweet story called "The Kissing Hand" about a raccoon who was afraid to go to school. But his mom gave him a special kiss in his hand, so she would always be with him. Then you colored a picture of a raccoon and had a special snack; a chocolate chip cookie with a Hershey kiss in the middle. Then it was time to get ready to go. Mrs. Weiss gave you a hand stamp and told you she would see you on Monday. You had such a great first day. With so many new things to learn and discover and new friends to make, I know you are going to love it. Even if it takes a few weeks of tears. Mine and yours.

"Great Shot!"

Anytime you can get your hands on my camera, Landon, they are there. And since I'm in the market for a new one, I have been letting you try out your creative license with photography. Here are a few of your prized shots. There are lots taken of your cars, of course. You had to take this one of your toe-it has a bo-bo on it. Shelby is a frequent subject of choice too. And the funniest one here lately is this picture of JuJu taking a picture of you taking a picture! Watch out Ansel Adams!

"Hot Chickens"

Landon, you and Daddy went out to the deer lease yesterday to ride four wheelers and for him to show you around. He said yall had a blast, and unfortunately Mom forgot to send the camera, so there are no pictures. But the funniest thing was said after you got home that I had to blog it, so I will never forget. After being in the woods, the "abalanche" was all dirty, so of course you and Dad had to take it to the car wash, and apparently there was a good looking girl there. You announced as you came inside the house that you saw some "hot chickens." Hot chickens? Translate: hot chicks! Thanks, Daddy for teaching our boy the way to be around the ladies! Ha!

"My New Umbearra"

You got a new "umbearra" at Wal-mart yesterday, and what do you know? It rained today, and you got to test it out!

"Mad Scientists"

This afternoon, we were looking for something to do inside the air conditioning, because it was so darn hot. We decided to go to Sci-Port. We hadn't been in a while, and you always enjoy yourself there. We checked out one of the IMAX movies called "Dinosaurs Alive." It was really neat, and you liked seeing all their bones, and especially liked when they showed one poop. You kept saying over and over, "he pooped, he pooped, he pooped." Maybe the dinosaur will serve as some sort of inspiration for you to poop, in the potty, of course. We then headed over to the "Kids at Work" area. You and Dad worked on plumbing a potty, you designed some buildings on the computer, and you and Nina made some gooey, slimy stuff out of glue, borax and water. Although a lot of it is over your head, you also enjoyed testing the properties of physics with pulleys, vortex tornado makers, and the bournoulli balancer. It was a great way to spend a hot, Sunday afternoon.

"Be Free, Myrtle, Be Free"

We inherited Myrtle, our red-ear slider, from Daddy's friend Roy's son, Brodie. Landon, you fell in love with her when Brodie brought her over to our house about a year ago. She was about the size of a silver dollar. With much love, floating food sticks, and the occasional freeze-dried shrimp snack, Myrtle grew to be a turtle of about six inches (they can grow up to about 14!) Myrtle made the move with us, and JuJu cared for her diligently, cleaning her tank three times a week. Myrtle had to be lonely and was getting a little too large for her 15 gallon aquarium, so we decided she might want to go and live with her family now. You seemed okay with this idea, with the understanding that we would go and visit her at the duck pond. There are other red-ear sliders there, and we felt Myrtle was big enough and strong enough to "hold her own." So today, we loaded everyone up and headed to the duck pond on King's Highway to set Myrtle free. As we neared the water's edge, you said to her, "I'm gonna miss you Myrtle. I'm never going to forget you Myrtle." It was truly heartbreaking! I assured you Myrtle would never forget you either, and she was excited to see all her friends and family. She immediately gulped down some kind of bug in the water and swam a little way toward some logs in the water. I'm sure Myrtle will fit right in; she was a really great turtle!

"Chuck E. Who???"

Today, Poppie and JuJu took us to Party Central. It had been a while since we had been, and Landon, you were able to enjoy it more now. First up, of course, was a driving game. You can't keep the car on the road to save your life! But you still love to put the pedal to the metal and spin that steering wheel. We played a few others too, like skee ball, so we could get some tickets. It was so funny- you put the little cup with your tokens and tickets in Shelby's carseat and she, by accident, grabbed them in her little hand. The look on her face was priceless; she was like, "what the heck is this?!" (see the picture!) They had a really big indoor jungle gym with slides and climbing nets that you had a blast playing on. We ate pizza and funnel cake fries and had to get an iCEE! Today was your first ever go-kart ride too. We stretched the truth a little bit about your age (you're as tall as a four-year old, doesn't that count?) to get them to let you ride in a kart with Poppie. You had fun going round and round the track, although you had had enough by the end of the time. As we were leaving, you redeemed your tickets and got a cool pirate finger puppet. Party Central put Chuck E. Cheese to shame!

"The Very Hungry Caterpillars - Part Two"

While we were gone on our little trip, JuJu sent us an email with pictures of the before-mentioned caterpillars who were now cozy inside their chrysales along the back fence and on the passion flower vine. Lots had even already turned into the Mississippi Fritillary Butterflies.

Once we got back, we decided to utilize the bug habitat that Mush got you for your birthday as our own caterpillar to butterfly garden. We put in four caterpillars and lots of juicy leaves for them to eat. It is so cool to watch them munch away at those leaves. They absolutely devour them and very quickly too. It wasn't too long, and what do you know, we had our own chrysalis forming. Today, one of our very own chrysales opened up for a butterfly to emerge. A miracle indeed. You were so very excited to see this transformation, almost before your very eyes.

"And They're Off"

This afternoon, Daddy, Mommy, and Nina took you over to Louisiana Downs to watch the horses race. I know it's probably not the best thing for us to expose you to (the casino, the gambling, blah, blah, blah) but it was a "family" day at the track, and we thought you might have fun watching the horses. When we got there, we had to ride on a crazy elevator that didn't seem to know which way was up or down. We had to ride it three times before it ever got us to our destination. We all got hotdogs and cokes and started trying to figure out how to read the tip sheets and programs. None of us had really ever done this before. It wasn't until we left the air conditioned box seats and went outside that our luck started heating up. We met three little boys (two were 11 and one was about 7 or 8) whose dad was a jockey! We had our very own inside tipsters! And they did pretty good, too. We never bet on their dad (upon their advice) , but we did win a little money based on their picks. And Landon, you had a great time palling around with the "big boys" and cheering on the horses. We all had a really good time.

"Growing Strong"

Today you both had doctor's appointments for wellness exams. Landon, this was your first visit with your new doctor here in Shreveport, Dr. Parker. You had been coughing some and Dr. Parker found that you had a double ear infection. After he listened to your heart, you asked him if you could listen to your bones too. You then asked him if they had lollipops here and told him about your caterpillars. I think it goes without saying, you felt pretty comfortable with him. They had to prick your finger and give you two shots, but you were so brave. You are growing so big too. You were 40 1/2 inches tall (97th percentile!) and weigh 32 pounds (I think that's been your weight for almost a year now!).

Shelby, you got a good checkup too. You have grown 4 1/4 inches since you were born, and you weigh 10 pounds, 6 ounces. You were up for 4 shots today, and it was heartwrenching for all involved. Landon was so concerned for you; he whimpered and held his little face as you screamed your head off.

This was taken a couple days after your check-up. You're growing so fast. Faster than I remember Landon growing. You smile so much now, and it won't be long before you're laughing out loud.

"Big League Chew"

So, once again we have travelled beautifully. Shelby has been a dream in the car. And although we hardly ever stopped while we were in New Orleans, and Landon, you were utterly exhausted, you too did great. Until the Big League Chew. We stopped in Natchitoches, only an hour from our arrival back home, to potty, nurse Shelby, and get a few snacks of our own. You got some Mike & Ike's and a pouch of Big League Chew bubble gum. You were so very patient while you waited for Mommy to finish with Shelby and so happily got back into the car again. We were on the road again for about fifteen minutes, when it occurred to me that now might be a good time to check and see if you were ready to spit out the cud of gum that I was sure was flavorless by now. When I turned to ask if you were ready, I could not believe my eyes! In an attempt to "make your car dirty," (your new Nissan DeeDee bought you just the day before) you had smeared that Big League Chew all over it. Not to mention your hands, the carseat, and a little on your (horror!) Pooh Blank!! I had to pull the car over to gather myself, retrieve the car, and try to get the gum off of you and the seat to the best of my ability. Luckily, when we got home, Poppie knew just what to do. We put the car in the freezer, and he scraped and "Goo-Gone-d" it until it was good as new. So here it is prior to the clean-up job:

"The Big Easy"

DeeDee & Papa's Condo


View of others' rooftops from the balcony


Street view from the balcony

We had such a good time visiting DeeDee and Papa in New Orleans. Landon and Shelby, you have absolutely the best of both worlds. I can't help but think of that old fable "City Mouse, Country Mouse." At Poppie and JuJu's, you have that whole "nature at your doorstep" thing with toads, caterpillars and chrysales; and at DeeDee and Papa's in the French Quarter, there's never a dull moment with police sirens, people yelling on the street, and watching very interesting people pass from the balcony. You two are so lucky!