Victoria's Tantrum

Well, this might be the last video in a long while. I broke my camera last weekend- placed it on top of a sink when I washed my hands and it fell off. Here's the last video I was able to salvage. I actually had Jer take this video when we were driving in Corpus Christi and Victoria was throwing a fit. My friend Chris was talking to me the day before about how she sometimes feels that she's the only one who has the tantrum problem and I wanted proof that my daughter does too. What is funny, is that as Jer turns on the camera, she goes into hiding. So, Chris, note: to stop a tantrum, try turning on the camera. This one's for you.

Bella's Laugh

One of the girl's favorite things right now is to spin each other on the computer chair. I love the sound of their laughter.

Dr. Suess Makes House Calls

Playing with my kids tonight...
Victoria: I have allergies.
Me: I have allerigies too.
Bella: I have allergies too.
Me:What should we do?
Victoria: Let's call a doctor. Look, it's Doctor Bella.
Bella: No, I sick too.
Victoria: OK. (Picking up the play phone off the kitchen set.) Yes, Dr. Suess can you come over and give us some medicine. OK, he's on his way.
Me: Oh, look I heard Dr. Suess at the door. Come in. Give us our medicine please (opening my hand and taking it). Yum, it's good. See you later. Thank you.
Victoria: (Gobbling down her medicine.) Yes, it's good.
Bella: (Gobbling down her medcine.) It's good too.
Victoroia: Ahhhhchhooo, oh no, I'm still sick.
Me: Achoo, me too.
Bella: Achoo, me too.
Me: What should we do?
Victoria: Let's call Dr. Suess again.
Oh, to live in the mind of a three year old... or an almost two year old.
(The picture was taken in Corpus at a pizza place- Victoria was goofing off and making me laugh.)

Heard Museum

What a gorgeous day to go to the Heard Museum. The weather this morning was in the 70s when we started out. We met our friends Patti, Grayson, Nico, Marlee and Chris for our trek. I felt electrified with excitement! First we saw the Animals Around the World- some lemurs, and other animals I couldn't pronounce and had never seen before. Then we went into the butterfly house. Victoria loved it! She ran around trying to catch the butterflies. It was so cool! Bella liked it, but got bored quickly and wanted Miss Patti to read her the Hungry Caterpillar book. After that, we ate lunch and played in a sandbox that had rideable dinosaurs. Lastly we took a walk around the park part of the museum that has the dinosaur exhibits. It was so neat to see how much our kids have changed in almost a year. Last year they were crying at the mock dinosaurs, this year they were trying to feed the dinosaurs sticks. My kids crashed as soon as I started the car for home. What a glorious day!

School's Back From the Summer

Driving in the car, the first morning back.
I had just asked them, who wants to go to school? Raise your hand.


Note Bella's Monkey and Blankie.

Happy all around.

Bella was telling me about her day.

The girls started their first day of school today. I was a little apprehensive about Bella going- last night I asked her if she wanted to go to school like her sister and she said no. Yikes. It didn't make matters better when she fell down in the parking lot because she was holding Monkey and Blankie and didn't see the curb. So she had just finished a good cry when I took her into her classroom and introduced her to her teachers, Miss Blythe and Miss Pamela. Those are tough names for her to say. She calls them Miss Byte and Miss Paaapa. She stood there frozen and looking around- there was a screamer and all these new faces. Unfortunately, I had to go walk Victoria to her class which is 5 minutes away or we would be late. When I took Victoria to her classroom, she didn't want to go in. I had to coax her to sit in her seat and play with the playdough. Her teacher Miss Karin came over and tried to get her to stay in her seat, but she wanted to hide behind my leg. Finally, I decided to leave and viewed her from afar. Once Victoria's crutch was gone, she opened up more and I heard her telling the teacher that at home she cuts playdough with scissors. I went back to check on Bella and she was against the door still holding her lovies with another boy beside her in the same boat- shell shocked. I was a little worried, but left.

I came home and got soooo much accomplished. I took care of appointments and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I went through every bin and toy in our house and sorted it out- reorangized some, some to Goodwill, and some to be stored in a closet for rotation. After finding a dead scorpion in Victoria and Bella's room, I sprayed the entire house for bugs- nooking their room. I got on the internet and went to my momsite, did tons of emails, ordered photos of our vacation, and basically just played catch up.

At 2ish I drove up to the school and crossed my fingers. First stop- Victoria's classroom- she's upstairs in another building of the school. When Ientered, I saw that Victoria appeared to have just awoken from her nap- she was the last one sleeping- loves her sleep, just like mom. She ran over and gave me a huge hug. The teacher said she was shy for the first 30 minutes, then came full circle. She was very talkative and friendly. We went to go pick up Bella, and I had to laugh. She was on the floor dancing and singing to her teachers. She was shaking her head back and forth while almost doing a sommersault. She was holding a baby doll and walking around to her other classmates and just chillin'. I think she thought she owned the place. Aw, my two extremes! The teacher's told me that they were impressed that Bella knew her ABC's and colors. Afterward, I took them outside and took a picture of them from the side of the school. They were happy. I was happy. I'm going to love Wednesdays and Fridays.

The Beach: A Love/Hate Relationship

We went to Corpus Christi this weekend; actually we stayed in a condo in Port Aransis. The girls had so much fun on the beach- digging in the sand, trying to make sand castles, destroying Daddy's sand castles, playing in the waves, collecting seashells, and just exploring another world. I love the beach too and had so much fun watching the girls faces when a wave would come and they would try to jump it. However, after the third day, I felt so grimmy. I have a love/hate relationship with the beach. The only time I felt clean was at bedtime, when I took a shower and washed all the sand and tar off me. Yes, I said, tar- it washed ashore the second day and everywhere you walked little pieces of tar would stick to you- gross. Luckily, Baby Oil gets it off pretty easily- who knew? We went out for dinner at night and tried some pretty amazing sea food dishes. The Tiger shrimp at Castaways is a top contender for my all time favorite meal. I also liked the Mahi Mahi at the port bar. Anything that you dip into buttersauce is good- even broccolli. We rode the ferry boat and the girls liked that too. However, on day two when we rented a two man kayac and went out into the bay with the girls, Bella lost it ten minutes into the trip and kept screaming, "I want to go home." Victoria, not as vocal, thank goodness, didn't much care for it either. Jer had a blast though and the next day he went out into the ocean with a kayak, while I watched the girls. On the last day, the waves were getting really big- shoulder length, due to Hurricane Gustav landing in New Orleans. Jer was bummed because we only had a very short time that day (we had to go home), but he got a buggie board and road some killer waves. I tried to take the girls out in the ocean and jump some waves that day, but the rip tide was so strong that I decided it was not a wise idea and we ended up collecting seashells while Daddy got to hang 10. (Like my lingo?- I've been at the beach too long.) Bella was aweful on the plane ride home- screamed bloody murder for 15 minutes because she wanted to hold her drink by herself and I wouldn't let her because I knew she would spill it. Finally she sneaked it from me when I said something to Jer and she spilled it. It was a great vacation, but I'm so glad to be home.

Speed Limit 35

I officially have a speed limit sign named after my age now. My parents took me out for lunch at Pasados today for my birthday. The Tortilla Soup was delicious! And so was the Margarita! But boy, am I feeling old. I went to go work out this morning at the gym. I was in my favorite class- Fat Burn Fusion, when we started the cool down. You know the move where you take both of your hands and intertwine them behind your back and pull them up your back? Well, that move didn't like my 35 year old body. My shoulder and neck screamed "Ouch!" After a hot shower, the verdict is I've pulled my right shoulder. Ah, the joys of age. At least this is better than when I turned 30 and had to have a colonoscopy. Honestly though, I can't complain. I love my life. It's the best it's ever been. I have an amazing family- caring, funny, smart husband and two caring, adorable, smart kids. I have wonderful friends. And I love where I live. Thank you God for all you have given me.

There's also a picture of the three August birthday girls. We all celebrated our birthdays this past Saturday by going out to Buca de Beppo for pizza and then coming over to our house for cake.