First day of school

Today was trial run for preschool/daycare. Daddy stayed with you the whole time and you only went half day. Next week, the real thing begins and you will be going ALL day, two days a week.

On one hand, I'm really excited to have you start going to school. I think you are ready to be around other kids and start learning to sit in a group and take charge of your own little body. When we take you to nursery at church, you walk in and close the door on us. You've never cried except when you had to leave. We've had you on the waiting list for over nine months hoping that we could get you transitioned in before the baby came so the timing is pretty good. Your teachers all seem wonderful and there will be lots of fun things to do all day.

Here you are happy and excited with your backpack, especially after finding out it has a special pocket just for your beloved binky.

On the other hand, I am really worried that a full day of care away from home will be too much for you. Case in point - your backpack full of needed supplies is so heavy, it literally toppled you backward 2 seconds after this photo.

Is this the right thing to do for you and our family? Will you be happy at drop-off and pick-up? Will you bring home a new batch of obnoxious behaviors and communicable diseases within the week? Will I have a complete panic attack questioning the whole thing?

Hold on tight because next week, we are going to find out.

Ho ho ho!

Christmas Eve with Twink, Graeme, and Neve. Our first Christmas night and morning at home. Christmas dinner with Brent, Janis, and AJ. A visit from Will, Deb and Lizzie. Snow! Watching you hug your very first "ho" (snow) man the moment he got arms. It's been a busy and wonderful holiday!

See photos online here.

Oh and that part where I was sick and coughed so hard I peed my pants and threw up at the same time... or the part where I broke one camera, bought another and promptly lost it... well, we'll just forget those things and move on. It's easy since there's still lots of hot cocoa (your favorite!) and ponies to play with.

Family Portrait

We got the photos back from Dave's wedding. Here are a couple of favorites:

Diabetic approved "hoho heet"

Grandma Crow found out she was diabetic this year. Since then she has completely changed her diet and lost more than 50 pounds. I am incredibly impressed with her resolve to live a healthier lifestyle.

Aunt Deb found this recipe years ago and it's become a family favorite. You can make it with sugar or Splenda but the Splenda version actually bakes up better and tastes terrific. We made up a special batch just for Grandma this year.

Spiced Almonds

Whisk together: 1 lg egg white, 1 Tbsp orange juice

Then add: 2/3 C Splenda or sugar, 1 Tbsp orange zest, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp all spice

Stir until mixed then add: 3 C whole almonds

Spread on cook sheet covered with parchment paper

Bake for 50 minutes at 275 degrees

You've spent a lot of time talking about "heets" (treats) since Halloween. Some days it is almost constant. I'm trying to help you understand what "enough" is and how to savor it. We don't want to spoil you and sending you down the path to future health problems, or demonize food giving you eating issues. Luckily, you still eat a wide variety of foods and keep trying new things. You asked for broccoli the other day which made this mama very happy.

Treasure or junk - just don't ask me

One of my favorite things about the Swap Shop is that you get to pick your own treasures and they are never what I would expect. They had a brand new "Tickle Me Elmo" there today and as I have been thinking about getting you one for Christmas, I was excited to see how you'd like it. You didn't play with it for 30 seconds.

But the broken work goggles with the lenses missing? You played with them for over an hour, figured out how to get them on, and then wanted to wear them home.

It is also a treat to see some other kid playing with something you don't use anymore. Half the time we've been over there lately, someone is playing with a doll wearing one of your old dresses. It makes me smile every time.

All in a name

Well, you are a good eater. You'll eat almost anything we feed you - including the mushrooms on a vegetable pizza recently.

Unfortunately, those poison things growing on the lawn. Yup - they are also called mushrooms. I certainly didn't think about that variety when I was talking to you about the yummy vegetables you were eating. And daddy didn't think about you liking mushrooms as "food" when he showed them to you outside.

But you put it all together for yourself and decided to try a little snack while daddy had his back turned. Just how much of a snack, we'll never know, as you trampled the patch and can't really answer if or how much you ate.

Thank goodness for the Poison Control Hotline. They quickly helped us rule out any major danger and then called us back every two hours just to be sure you were ok.

I really hope we never have to call them again but what a relief to know they are there!