Meet the teacher day

Today was the day we went to Grace's new preschool to meet her new teacher. She wasn't as enthusiastic about going to school as she has been in the past. We've been trying to build it up a lot and this morning when we woke her up she asked, "Am I going to school today?" Immediately followed by "I don't want to go to school today. I'm too hungry and thirsty."

She was reluctant to go and when we got there was initially clingy and shy despite being very outgoing when we visited for the first time (about 6 weeks ago). After we were there for a while, she played with the other kids in the kitchen area, put some puzzles together and colored a picture. We'll see how Wednesday goes. I'm thinking it's not going to be as easy as I had hoped. But then, nothing ever is, is it?

These two pictures are the pictures that we took this morning to take to school. I guess her teacher is going to hang them up in the classroom.

Wednesday will be here before we know it. Wish us luck!

We're off to see the wizard....

the wonderful wizard of, oh wait I mean Wicked.

Yay!! After listening to the soundtrack for 6 years and reading the book 6 years ago, I finally got to see it. Steve, my sister and I went together and decided to make a night of it (thanks to the grandparents for babysitting the kids). We dined on scrumptious food at Sullivan's and then raced over to watch the show. I wish I had pictures from Sullivan's of at least the food, but I left the camera in the car. Dork! My sister did take a picture for me with her iphone but I'm not computer savvy enough to figure out how to get it from my email to this post. Oh well.Here's an illegal picture took for me of the set before it started. I'm just sorry that we couldn't take pictures during the show. It was really good. Now when I listen (sing along) to the soundtrack, I'll know what's going on.
A picture of us in our seats during intermission.
Ok, so maybe this post isn't as exciting as I promised, but it was a very enjoyable night. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night and my dreams were all about the show.

Saturday adventures

We spend Saturday running a few errands. Finally took our iMac in to get fixed. Hooray. Steve was still recovering from his jet lag (still is, I think).We tried out a new place across from Westgate lanes, so new that I can't even remember the name. My mom told me about it. It's an old, closed Albertson's that is now home to various small shops, a food court and a jumpy jump (as we call them) place. The shopping and food court weren't the greatest, more like a flea market but we really liked the jumpy jump part.

Here the kids are showing off their peppers. Some random man was going around giving out these peppers. Steve took a handful. I'm not sure what kind they are.Riding a horse for 50 cents.

The jj place had a great part with little areas for pretend play. They had a garage with cars and power tools. They played bumper cars.

A 50's diner where you could cook, serve your customers and even ring them up. Buttons, buttons and more buttons, a little boy's delight.
Grace making me a delicious lunch of tacos, french fries and a hot dog. Yum!

They also had a nice supermarket area with a great produce section.

With mini shopping carts and not the plastic ones.

Lucas loved pushing this one around and shopping for blocks,...and a baguette.Checking out the baguette at the store.They also had a theatre area with dress up clothes, a stage and a dressing table complete with mirror and lights. Lucas liked pouring out the curlers out of the canister.
And finally after being there about 30-45 minutes, we made it to the jumpy part. Not very many jumping pictures because the battery in our camera died after this one. Too bad.
This place was a bit hit with the kids. Lucas had a big tantrum when it was time to go when he realized that he couldn't take the shopping cart with him. Even as I type this Grace is begging to go back. I guess this place opened 4 weeks ago and so it was still very clean with new toys that still worked. Perfect.

We'll be going back.......someday.

Tomorrow will be my big reward. You won't want to miss that post. Sooooo excited, I can hardly stand it.

Happy Birthday LBJ!

Okay, so it only took me an hour or so to upload all these photos. This one is long but I just had to include all the photos. I know that if you are reading this then you probably don't mind unless of course you have dial up. I'll try to keep the commentary brief.

My mom invited us out to the LBJ ranch out in Johnson City to celebrate LBJ's birthday. They were supposed to be having refreshments and fun activities for the kids.

The kids getting ready. Lucas is getting good at following directions now and will sit on the step to get his shoes on. He'll even sit there sticking out his feet.

We stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch and ice cream. It tastes better if you get some on your nose. Seriously. Try it some time.
I think Lucas takes after me because he definitely is more into the cone than the ice cream.
Outside the mule pen on the living history farm which is located on LBJ ranch. Apparently they have a small staff that lives just like people did in the early 1900's. At least from 8am-5pm. They take care of the animals (chickens, cows, hogs), and the land just like they did back then.
In the stable. Just a little stinky. Grace held her nose the whole time. "This smell makes me cough."
Calling everyone to "come and get it."
Lucas's turn.
Grace and Grandma watching the chickens. Grace liked watching them dig.
A little closer to the chickens and turkeys. The man who worked there said that if they had any aggressive chickens they'd catch 'em and make them for dinner. So, I guess they have incentive to be nice. They were on their best behavior. No fried chicken tonight.
Waiting for us on the other side of the fence.
We took a walk into the hen house to see if there were any eggs. But all we found were these ladies hard at work laying their eggs. In the heat, no less.
She was panting away. I'm sure she was just thrilled to have her picture taken. If it had been me I would have pecked someone's eyes out.
Since we didn't find any eggs, we decided to look around at the rest of the house. The tour guide said that we could check back later.

Similar to her play kitchen at home except hers is plastic, not cast iron.
With Lucas standing there putting his little hands into everything, it got me thinking. How did they baby proof this? The family who lived there (in the 1900's) had 10 kids!
Getting a lesson on playing jacks.
A quick swing on the front porch. Lucas looks like he's up to something.
We headed back to the hen house and look what we found....
Does she look traumatized, shell shocked perhaps (no pun intended)? Just a little? I have to admit it was a little weird to be "stealing" the egg from that hen who worked so hard lay it. It was still warm---uck. I like my eggs cold and in an egg carton.
Lucas got an egg too.
Just like Easter but without the bunny and baskets.
Carrying it back to the house. He almost dropped it right before we got there but he got it there in one piece. Phew!
Enjoying some lemonade in honor of LBJ and because it was super hot.
The watermelon was nice and cold.
Classic. No other words needed for this picture.
It was a long day, but we all had fun. When we got home it rained. The kids were so excited. Grace stood on the window sill and sang to the rain as it fell. Lucas just cried that he couldn't get on the window sill himself.
Hope nobody's computer crashed while trying to download all the pictures. What will I do if we ever go on a vacation or when the holiday comes around?

Trip to Boggy Creek Farm

I'm writing this post while watching the ten o'clock news thanks to our new digital convertor box. Bye-bye VH-1, BET, MTV and telemundo. Now the only channels I get are abc, nbc, cbs and pbs. Perfecto!

Today the kids and I went with my sister and my dad to a farmer's market at Boggy Creek Farm. None of us had been so we thought we'd give it a try.

Grandpa and Lucas scoping out the farm.
Near the hen house. Ironic because just last night we read Chanticleer a story about a rooster who gets tricked by a fox and then outwits the fox before he gets eaten. Kind of a weird bedtime story, but Grace really liked it and asked for me to read it again. I think she liked the part when the fox is carrying Chanticleer in his mouth.

No Chanticleer here, just a rooster named Rusty and a hen named Aunt Penny (though we were never able to pick her out). Two ladies who worked there told us all about the chickens. Apparently one of the hens is a lesbian (not my words) who thinks she's a rooster. I guess we don't have to worry about Austin being anything but weird.
Lucas, not too sure about those hens, lesbian or not. Every time they would "bock, bock", he would step back. Maybe he thought they were saying "back,back".
Grace being a good helper and carrying Nina's vegetables for her.

Roaming around.
Sitting around.
In the leaf cave. I just hope it's not poison ivy.
Back to the hen house.....
to say "bye-bye chickens"!

One last picture before we go. We couldn't leave without a tractor picture. These pictures turned out a little better than my usual because my dad and sister helped me yell at the kids to "LOOK AT MOMMY!".
They enjoyed the farm, their first "real" farm and mine too (?).

Also wanted to fill you in on some conversations from today.

I guess the first is more a monologue than a conversation. Have you ever watched Dora or Diego? They both go through this routine where they repeat the same series of sentences. For example, on Diego they might be looking for a penguin and will show a picture of a bear and then Diego (or whoever) will say "Is this a picture of a penguin? (dramatic pause) Noooo, it's a spectacled bear." They typically repeat this 2 or 3 times until they actually show the penguin. Well, Lucas loves both of these shows and when they do this he'll chime in his "Nooooo"(the cutest "nooooo" you ever heard) at just the right time. Well, this morning he woke up at 5:30 (speaking of roosters) and I laid down with him in bed. He snuggled up next to me and in the dark he starts babbling away and then amongst the gibberish he would insert a "noooo". It only took me a couple of times to realize he was copying the cartoons but because he can't speak a lot of words, he was just babbling with the correct intonation as if asking a question and then answering himself with a "noooo". I only wish I had a tape recorder. Maybe he's going through Dora withdrawal.

The other conversation:

Me: "Lucas, can you say Lucas?"

Lucas: "Bubba"

Me: "Lucas, can you say good girl?"

Lucas: "Goo gir"

Me: "Lucas, can you say good boy?"

Lucas: "Bubba"

Ha! I'm not making this up. This boy really is a stinker. I really should figure out how to upload videos.