Playing Fetch with Kayci and "I'm done!"

This is a long clip (4 minutes), but it's worth it. Kayci got to feed Noble yesterday, and to our surprise he ate better for her (with less mess, even) than he does for either me or Kristi. We've said all along that Kayci is Noble's favorite person in the world, so this is just further evidence.

But that didn't stop him from repeatedly throwing his spoon on the floor and making Kayci fetch it.

But the best part of this video is at the end where Kayci tells him to say "I'm done" ... and he does.

Taylor Time!

When Kayci was 3, Santa sent a scout elf to live with us during the holiday season.  Kayci named her Taylor, and each night, Taylor would go back to the North Pole, report to Santa, and return to our house the next day.  Every morning, Kayci would wake up and look for Taylor's new hiding place.  It was always fun to see where Taylor would pop up next.  Last year, Taylor returned, and we enjoyed another month of elf-ing.  Kayci has been so excited about Thanksgiving, and finally she told me why:  because it meant it was time for Taylor to come back.  Yesterday off and on she'd mention Taylor.  She talked to James about whether or not Taylor would know that we aren't in Marble Falls or Fredericksburg (where we usually go after Thanksgiving), and he assured her that Santa would send Taylor to the right place.  

Last night, James and I went on a date to see "Four Christmases."  (We laughed out loud, but it's not one we'll buy or anything.)  While we were gone, Kayci made this drawing for Taylor (I don't know why it's sideways, and James will cringe):

When we got home and I put Kayci to bed, she was so excited about Taylor...she said she thought she might stay up "all night" to watch for her.  And promptly fell asleep.  This morning I awoke to a 5 year old girl poking me saying, "wake up."  Umm...okay.  She was bouncing up and down, come see, come see--lo and behold, Taylor had returned.  Kayci found her perched on the piano, with a book to explain the tradition to Noble and a gift for each child.  Christmas has officially begun at our house!  

Giving Thanks at Our House...

This year, for a variety of reasons, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house.  Most years we celebrate with either "his" family or "my" family, but this was one of those years where we said everyone's welcome...come on out!  And they did!  We had  a great group this year, with the usual suspects along with Great Grandma Curtis in from Colorado and Lois, Richard and Marsha from Kansas (well, also Texas, but they still drove over 5 hours to come and eat with us!).   All in all, there were 14 of us here yesterday.  If you've been to the little green house, you know that it was pretty crowded in here, but it wasn't bad at all...everyone visited and kind of did their own thing (as much as you can in a space like this), and we're grateful the weather was nice so the deck was available, as well.  The food was wonderful (thanks for everyone who brought something to the table), and I'm particularly proud of James' turkey.  There were several phone consultations, but this is the second time that James has done a turkey all by himself, and it was great!  We actually weren't horribly late serving (also a surprise if you've been here), and had the oven cooperated we would have been right on time.  As it was, we were about 4oish minutes behind schedule, but I don't think anyone got too anxious.  To have that many people, and that many different families, together is just an awesome thing, and those of you who have big families know this kind of thing can go either way.  But in our book, it was a success--it felt so good to have Lois cooking in our kitchen (we had to call in the Weseloh girls on the gravy, as it's not something we make around here...ever), and Marsha walking around with her camera.  It felt like...home.  This year especially we are grateful for our family, near and far, and for the opportunity to share this day and our table(s).  :)  Happy Thanksgiving!  

Killin' Time...

That old Clint Black song has been in my head this week, hence the title of the post.  Today was Kayci's first ever early dismissal from Kindergarten.  She was pretty excited about being able to have lunch with us, but at the same time, a bit apprehensive about WHICH half of the day she'd miss out on...hee hee.  She'd asked me if I would be the first one in car line, and I told her no because quite frankly, I don't usually have an hour to kill waiting at the school.  But today, the universe conspired against me (it had to be about me, right?) and Noble just wouldn't nap.  At 11:00 he asked for nigh nigh, so I decided to grab him and the laptop and yes, go sit in car line for an hour.  He'd nap, I'd get my report done...well, he didn't nap.  But I did make progress on my report!  Kayci was SOOOOOOOOOO excited that we were the first in car line, too.  I don't think it made me mother of the year or anything, but for about 5 seconds, I felt pretty good about my parenting.  So...on the car line high, we took off from school, but now, since car line was over so quickly, we had 30 minutes to kill before James' lunch began.  I thought, what can I get done in 30 minutes at home...then realized, that stuff'll be there after lunch.  I did something I haven't done all school year--I took the kids to the park on a whim.  It was awesome, too...the weather is gorgeous today, and Jackson St. Park was pretty well empty except for 3 very happy Pharaons.  And yes, unfortunately, the laundry and dirty house were waiting after we got home from CiCi's (Kayci's choice).  Ha ha, though--I showed them...I laid down with my kiddos and took a nap.  Now it's time to pay the piper, but for a few hours there, I was mother of the year.   

I apologize--these aren't the best pictures, but you get the idea.  The kids had a blast!  

Like buttah!

Thanks to my Kansas cousins for introducing us to making butter!  This is one of those things I would do in my PPCD classroom, but I never knew what I was doing and now I know we never quite got it right (sorry, Ms. Elaine!).  A few years ago at the reunion, Connie brought in glass butter churns (is that what you call them?) and we made butter.  The older generation told us the different tricks to making great butter, like the cold water bath.  It was a lot of fun, and when we came home we made our own butter several times before it went the way of most things that take more than a few seconds.  

Anyway, since Dad was in the hospital, I wasn't able to go up to Kayci's school on Halloween and do an art activity with them.  So, I asked Mrs. Bolcerek if I could do something this week instead, like make butter or do hand turkeys.  We planned it for today at 12:30 so Daddy could join us, too.  We had a blast, and I think Kayci and her friends did, too!  I was impressed that the kids got into it and all but a couple of them had a pretty good jar of butter.  It was so funny to see the kids piling the butter on their crackers...I'd say most of them came up with  2-3 Tablespoons of butter, and there wasn't much left on the plates at the end.  Ugh!  Kayci is a butter eater from way back, so this was right up her alley.  :)  I was proud that she didn't make a peep when it was time for us to leave...I was worried we'd have some drama when it was time to say goodbye.  I have to say, I'm disappointed they're not doing a feast or anything.  (They'll do it next year in 1st grade.)  Not disappointed enough to like, do one myself, but you know...

Sunday Blues

Last night I was sitting on the couch giving Noble a bottle.  The pizza was ready and it was past time to eat, so James fixed our plates and brought them into the living room so we could all sit together while I fed & cuddled Noble.  Kayci sat next to me, and she was just picking at her food.  Finally, she turned and said:

I need to tell you something.  I don't want to go to school tomorrow.  I know it's not a choice, but I just wanted to tell you that I don't want to go.

I was shocked that she'd said it so well, instead of whining or throwing a fit, etc.  Of course, I was at a loss for words and was looking for a balance between babying her and telling her to butch up, so in the meantime she did start crying for real...it was sad, because she's right.  Here's are her main gripes, in no particular order...

It's not fair that I have to go to school for 5 days and only get to stay home for 2 days.  (We talked about that, but hey, what can we really say?  We ALL feel that way!)

I have to go to school and you both get to stay home.  (I said, no, Daddy goes to work while you're at school and she said no, both you and Noble.  Well, crap.  Yeah...)

While I'm at school, the three of you have lunch together every day and I don't get to have lunch with you.  (Well, yeah, but we don't get the cool lunch box, so we'll call that a draw.)

I don't like going to school every day.  It's hard.  (This is the first time since she went to KinderCare as a toddler that she's gone anywhere for 5 days in a row...I don't blame her on this one.  Last year when she started going to school 4 days a week, I was lost for a long time.)  

This was one of those parenting moments when you can't take the time to huddle, you just have to muddle your way through and hope you get it right.  I don't know if we got it right, but she woke up happy and ready to go this morning, so that was a relief.

Alrighty...I've been blogging this morning for a few seconds here and there--now I've got to get back to grading before Noble realizes he's asleep and wakes up.  Happy Monday! 

Na Na!

I was watching Noble explore this morning and talking to him, listening to him, and it occurred to me: the child is fascinating. (I don't mean that Kayci was less than fascinating, but life was moving at the speed of light 5 years ago and I didn't always take the time consistently to just be in awe of her.) Anyway...we're very blessed right now to be at a point where we can just stop, look and listen.  

James and Kayci (or, more to the point, Da Da and Dee Dee) haven't lost any sleep over it, but my big ol' ego and I have been dying for Noble to say Mommy.  Or Ma.  Or Ma Ma...I don't care what you call me, just call me!  For a while now, when he wanted me, he was just go "nnnnnnn" (reminded me of my Resource class learning about Norman Newsome's nose going nnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnn...).  We even joked about it, how he didn't need to say my name, he'd just make a noise and I'd be there.  (Um, yeah, not overprotective at all but when the kid gets quiet, you'd better run...and if gets quiet and THEN he calls you, you'd better fly.  Case in point:  last night he went into Kayci's room while we were making pizza.  I kept going in to check on him, all was well.  A few minutes later, we heard...wait, that would ruin what I was going to say.  Well, he started calling our names and I ran in there and he was up on Kayci's stool on his knees, stuck.)

Okay, so this one's a round trip.  Back to the nnnnn...I didn't think that was my name, per se, as much as the sound he made when he needed comfort or cuddles, i.e. Mommy.  He does say nigh nigh when he's ready to have a bottle and cuddle to sleep, and he's always said "neh" when he's hungry. So the nnnnn sound is kind of a basic needs thing to us.

 Well...this weekend the nnnnnn evolved into Na Na.  We've heard it over and over, crawling through the house, Na Na Na Na...getting stuck, Na Na Da Da...3:17 this morning in the crib, Na Na?  Da Da?  Na NAAAAAA...  Standing beside the tub this morning, waiting for me to put him in the shower with me, Na Na.  

So there it is, I have a name.  I've been totally psyched about it, too.  But just now, he went over to the buffet and stood up to check it all out, reached into the wine rack and started saying Na Na!  Na Na!  I told him "ah ah!" so he'd put his hands down, and he did.  He wasn't stuck, so I didn't go get him.   I was like, oh, he's talking to me.  Then he actually got a bottle of wine, and I said NO! NO! as I hurried to grab it/him.  He said Na Na!  Hmm.  Crap.  

Ooh, and speaking of:  one of Noble's favorite words is poop.  I think it must feel fun to say it--I know I have fun with it.  :)  He crawls around, poop poop poop.  What's cool is, he knows what it means, because when I ask him "do you have poop?" He'll grin if he does, or say "uh uh" if he doesn't...or ignore me if he's still working.  

I wish the camera looked out instead of in...I'm sitting on the couch and he's standing in front of me, peering around the computer playing peek a boo.  It's cool, because it's HIS game, not me playing with him.  What fun!  

Okay, hang in there...

Both of Brad & Sherri's girls have pacifiers.  If you'll remember, Noble refused his pacifier a long time ago in favor of his thumb, and now won't take either.  We had to keep a close eye on him this weekend...he'd stalk the baby, waiting for us to let our guard down so he could swoop in and steal her passy, as Addie calls it.  At one point, we let him take it, thinking he'd realize what it was and lose interest.  Nope.  If you can picture him on his tummy/elbows, both hands on the pacifier just chewing the heck out of it, turning it around, etc...after just a minute, he was literally wet up to his elbows and laying in a puddle.  So I washed it, gave it back and we dug up one of his as a decoy.  We thought we were smart, but he got us...he was in the office with Addie, and I guess she put her passy down to go do something.  James and I were cooking or something, just keeping one eye on him.  He turned around and put his back to us, and was sitting there all hunched over.  I realized what he was doing, and whispered to Daddy.  He called Noble's name and Noble turned around with Addie's passy in his mouth, and when he saw Daddy looking at him he whipped his head back around like, you don't see me.  After that, we couldn't get him to look at us--guess he was "hiding."  Not so well, but hey, he's young yet.  It was hilarious that he thought he was pulling one over on us, though.  And yep, we washed the passy and didn't let him have it again...it was funny, though.  Don't tell Brad & Sherri, we'll be off their list...

What a day!

We had a rare thing happen today--we had absolutely NO PLANS.  It was great!  Would have been greater if the whole family hadn't decided to get up at 4 freaking 30...but hey, you can't win 'em all.  Here's a fun pic of Kayci reading "Blankie" to all of us--I was amazed at the words she can read now!!

I feel like we've been posting a lot of Noble lately, but he's just at a really fun place right now. Fun in the, take your breath away, take 10 years off your life way...
This afternoon we had company (James' dad and Addie & Kaylin, our friends' kiddos) and Noble was in rare form. He was playing on the living room floor, then took off for the front door. Addie followed him and we thought they were playing, then she came back around. Then the curtains behind the couch started moving, and just as we realized what was going on, Noble started squawking. We very carefully got off the couch, thinking he was stuck behind...but nope. The turkey must have realized that he could crawl between the couch and the wall to get into the "forbidden" corner. He had a blast turning the subwoofer up and down, licking Kayci's HSM dance mat (hey, figured he earned it) and chewing on the rocking chair. More power to him!

You might think it's cute, but it's snot...

Hee hee, Ronny snapped this last weekend.  If you've seen Nobley at all this fall, you, too, have seen the snot bubble.  

Break it to me gently...

Last night was Kayci's last soccer game.  I can speak for all 4 Pharaons when I say, soccer was a BALL!  We really enjoyed the games, hanging out outside, visiting with other families, etc.  I am a little sad to see it go, but glad our schedule will open up now for holiday fun.  :)

Kayci's coach gave every girl a trophy (a cute little girl kicking a soccer ball--both freaky and fun).  Kayci was way, way excited about the trophy, and after our celebratory dinner at Chili's, we found out why.  She said, "I thought I was the only girl who got a trophy."  We said, no, it's not that kind of trophy--every girl got one.  Daddy and I explained that sometimes you get a trophy for playing, and sometimes you get a trophy for being the best.  Well...that opened up a can of worms, because Confident Kayci said something to the effect of, if they did give out a trophy for being the best, she'd get that one.  Well...all apologies to her self esteem, but we had to break it to her gently that no, she wouldn't...Kenley, another little girl on the team, always gives 200% and is consistently on the ball, etc.  We didn't talk about Kenley's scoring (she's amazing on the goals, too) but focused on how hard she works and how she always, always tries her best--things we've been trying to get Kayci to work on.  Well...that didn't go over well, hearing that you can't go out there and not try and still be the best, so then she cried.  Part of me was glad it was finally (after 2 months!) sinking in, but it's still hard to know we hurt her feelings.  So the rest of the ride home, we came up with things that Daddy is not the best at, but he tries anyway.  By the time we got home, Kayci felt better but Daddy's self esteem was bruised.  Oh, well, sometimes you gotta take one for the team.  

If you're only reading the e-mails...

Many of you e-mailed that you didn't know how to view Ronny's blog, which makes me think that some of you are reading the automatic e-mails, but not actually visiting the blog.  If so, you're missing out!!  The blog has all of our entries, of course, but it also shows you which blogs we follow, etc.  (It's cool...you can just click on a link and it automatically opens in a new window.)

Anyway, go check out the blog for yourself, and while you're at it, click around and see what our family & friends are up to!

And before I go, don't forget--this Thursday is Kayci's last soccer game if you're interested!  

If you want to go to our blog, here's the address:

http://ipharaon.jamespharaon.com

best. news. ever.

See Ronny's blog...

:)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Yesterday, Grandpa turned 65.  He celebrated with a trip to Brenham (his first since the hurricane!).  Little did he know, the reason we kept pushing for him to come here was to save Ronny the trip to Houston.  Ronny had to be in the States this week for work, and planned it so he'd be here this weekend to surprise Grandpa for his birthday.  This morning, Grandpa woke up and said he wanted to go to a diner for breakfast.  We were happy to oblige...and when we arrived at the Bread Basket, guess who was standing outside?  Turns out, it's true--the best things in life aren't "things"--that's the best gift anyone could have given Grandpa (and Grandma!).  You'll have to watch Ronny's blog and see what he has to say about his adventures this week.  :)

To make a great day even better, Timmy came, too!  (So did Susie & Ward, and we had cake and pie...and tons of candles.)  Happy birthday, Grandpa!  

Mobile Noble 3: Fast and Furious

Noble has mastered the art of crawling by himself from one end of the house to the other. He loves being mobile because it gives him the opportunity to get into MORE STUFF in lots of interesting places.

And he's gotten CRAZY FAST, as you can see in this video. We're thinking of hooking a generator up to the little guy.

Soccer's Wrapping Up...

For those of you who are interested in watching Kayci play, we're in the final stretch. She has a game tonight at 6 (well, it's pretty rainy so maybe not), then a game on Thursday (Nana & Dan are coming to that one) and her last game is next Thursday, the 20th. So, if you want to watch Bitty play...make plans today!

Also, if you ordered from her school fundraiser, you should have received your items in the mail. If you didn't get yours, please let me know so I can take care of it for you. Thanks so much for supporting Krause! :)

Look What I Can Do!

(She tied her shoe!)

99 Balloons

Once again, have to cite my friend Brenda...

This morning she posted a video that reminded me that each day is truly a gift, and how much I take for granted.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=th6Njr-qkq0

Cuddly Bubby

This is how Noble and I spent most of the morning...the hand clutching the shirt came in when I tried to get up off the couch. I had James snap this picture when he came in for lunch to relieve me so I could run a quick errand. :)

Sick Bubby

Noble has some random upper respiratory infection, along with a virus that's causing a high (for him, 101 degrees) fever.  This is the 3rd day of the fever, so he's been very fussy and just not himself.  We've been spending our time on the couch--he's happiest when he's laying on me, of course, and while I do protest a bit too much about the laundry and my work that are not getting done, well, it's kind of nice to just BE for a bit.  But seriously, this fever's gotta break or one of us is going to go nuts.

Anyway, for fun this morning I dressed him in the tiedyed onesie Aunt Peggy sent him.  I thought the bright colors would brighten his mood.  Not sure that he's affected, but I sure smile when I see him!  :)  

Kayci's Vote

Kayci's class had an election yesterday--her take on it is priceless.  Apparently, one little boy got a talking to for repeating what his grandparents said about one of the candidates (can only imagine) and the teacher had to break in at one point and tell the class that you shouldn't vote for someone just because you share the same skin color (we agree).  Anyway, she asked me to show you guys her ballot and her Weekly Reader.  Remember those?  :)

This is Kayci and Daddy at our polling site, Blinn College.  She was so excited--it was a little surreal, as a friend of ours signed us in and then another friend's name was actually on the ballot.  Gotta love living in a small town!  :)  

Get out and vote!

We are all up early, getting ready to go cast our ballots. James has memories of voting with his Mom when he was Kayci's age, so we wanted to make sure to include Kayci this morning (hence the 7 AM call time). Kayci early voted yesterday in class...when she told me about and she said the name she voted for and then said, "Oh, Mommy, that IS the hero guy, right?" See, they do listen!

Anyway, short post, big message--no matter how busy you are today, get out and VOTE.

Speaking Noble-ese

So, Noble's definitely a second child when it comes to his language. It's hilarious, because he has fewer words than Kayci did at this point (I know, I know, you shouldn't compare kids, especially boys and girls)...but, he's great at communicating. Today was one of those days when he was completely off schedule, consequently, keeping Mommy off-kilter. I amused myself by keeping track of his "language" all day. Here's what I heard, and they're all sounds that we hear regularly so I'm assuming they're turning into words:

"Iwantthat"--it's all one word, used when he was reaching for baby food at the store, Mommy's water, his cup, etc.--he's requesting (and yep, when I step back and listen to ME, when he asks for something/reaches/etc. I say "want that?")

"Ihabthat"--cousin to "I want that", used when he's sure he's got his hands on said "that"

"Igetthat"--he's playing with "that" (think this one comes from us always telling him we're going to "get him")

"AhAh!"--this one was funny. He didn't want me to put him in his crib, and ahah'ed me. (That's what we say to get his attention instead of saying no, no all the time. It's more of a noise than anything.)

"DaDa"--his favorite syllable, word, sound...you name it! Originally, it meant "bottle", and has evolved to also be Daddy's name. (Although he is experimenting with "DaDee.")

"NeNeNe"--he's babytalking, telling us he's at the end of his rope and needs a bottle and comfort ASAP!

"NighNigh"--He was tired today and after "nenene"ing, he laid his head on my shoulder and tucked his arms in (Noble-ese for he's ready to sleep). He patted my shoulder and said, "nighnigh."

"DeeDee"--Consistently, this one is Kayci. :) It drives me nuts, though, when she refers to herSELF as DeeDee. We're not starting that--we know a DeeDee already, and it ain't Kayci!

"Huhhuh"--Noble has the dorkiest little laugh, not his belly laugh but his "hey, I'm slightly amused" laugh. Love it!!

New rant/political post on Destructoville

I have a new rant/political post on Destructoville, if you are so inclined.

God and the age in which we live

Kayci and I were having a conversation in the car on the way back to Brenham on Friday morning (we stayed the night in Houston after visiting Tim in the hospital and woke up really early to get back for work and school.) She told me, looking out the car window, that she could see three stars side by side in the sky. That, I told her, was a constellation called Orion. That's the constellation from which Great Grandaddy Curtis got his middle name and from whom Noble got his middle name.

Kristi and I have a habit when we see the Orion in the night sky of saying "hello, Granddaddy." It's just a nice little reminder of a really great man. So I told Kayci that that's why sometimes we say hi to Granddaddy. We talked about how he's not really there at the star and that he was really in heaven with God.

Then Kayci asked me what God looked like. I have my own idea of what both God and heaven look like, but everyone does. She said that she thought He looks like a little man with a beard behind the stars. I told her I didn't know and that no one on Earth really knows. To which she replied:

"Maybe when we get home we can look it up on the internet."

Scenes from Halloween!

Happy Halloween

Ruin Me, Indeed

Ironically, last week I posted about a song that really touched us, Ruin Me. And lo and behold, immediately after our week's plans were shot to...um, well, shot. First of all, Monday ROCKED...I got in a full 8 hours for GPISD, from home, with Noble. It was AMAZING! And then Kayci got home from school...she went straight to bed for 2 hours, then woke up with a fever. We called the soccer coach and made appropriate apologies. It was a very quiet evening at home until bedtime--an hour after we went to sleep, Kayci came and got me and then promptly threw up (but, being my daughter, it was all very organized, in the toilet, etc. Yea!). I went back to her bed with her and she had a hard time going back to sleep. I think she thought she'd been asleep for a lot longer than she had, because she wanted to get up. I told her, when Daddy gets up and stays up, we'll get up. Well, at 2 AM, Daddy and Noble got up and Daddy wandered in to check on us. That was all she wrote--she bugged me for the next 30 minutes until I gave in and we moved out to the couch. She watched a movie and I tried to sleep, and we finally REALLY went to sleep right before Daddy left for the gym. Tuesday was a quiet day at home, with both kids feeling puny. Luckily, it was truly a 24 hour virus and we were able to go to Houston on Wednesday so I could go to the hospital and sit with Grandpa. He had a really rough week, but was feeling well enough on Friday that the Pharaons were able to head home for Halloween.

We LOVE Halloween here in Brenham! We sat on the front porch and had dinner, then walked around the neighborhood and trick-or-treated. Just like when we were kids! It gives Kayci a chance to experience something that's pretty rare, and Mommy & Daddy a chance to visit with neighbors. It was just awesome! Noble ended up sleeping...he was one tired Jedi after 3 days in a row at KinderCare (he got better each day--I don't think he cried at all on Friday!). We went back home and sat on the front porch until we ran out of candy and glow-bracelets. A funny thing about trick-or-treaters on our busy street: not one walked up, cars just pull up and stop and kids get out, come up the walk and then go get back in the car. At one point there were 4 cars in front of our house--it was just funny, something our Houston friends probably can't even imagine. :)

Saturday it was back to the hospital for Mommy, while Daddy & the kids got to take a long-anticipated trip to the San Jacinto Monument. We spent some time that afternoon shopping, then had a late dinner with Grandma before we hit the road for home. It was a long day, but a great day--Grandpa has been improving steadily since Thursday night, and we hope he'll go home in the next couple of days. It's so good to see him eating again (although he'd rather have a Whataburger than broth, but what can you do?).

Today we had hoped to enjoy our extra hour of sleep, but we ended up being wide awake at 4:30 AM. Daddy & I caught up on Grey's Anatomy and the Office before Kayci woke up, then we had plenty of time to hang out before church. Jhido and Adam came up for lunch, and we had a great meal outdoors at the Airport. There were so many planes today, and it seems that those who didn't fly in rode motorcycles--there were a ton of motorcycles. It was a gorgeous day today!

A Room of One's Own

I sent poor James out into the wilds of Destructoville for daring to share his unrelated views on our family blog, so it's only fair that I do the same. Random thoughts and musings will be posted as it tickles my fancy on my personal blog, Adventures of MommyGirl. That's me! I won't send out e-mail updates, just feel free to pop in whenever you've got a minute or are just really, really bored. I dig comments, by the way--it's turned out to be a really fun way to communicate with some of you who I don't normally get to speak to on a daily basis!