That Bizarre American Tradition

Yes...it's that time of year again. Halloween. Ben & I still don't get it, but we certainly do know that the kids like dressing up and eating candy.

This year we ended up with Anakin Skywalker and a Princess.

Who's that Good-Looker?

Oh my...it's my husband :)

Doesn't he look good in his new glasses? I think so anyway.

Happy Birthday

It's been many years now, but I remember the day my little sister was born.

Owen & I were staying at the van Drunen's house, and were thrilled when the phone call came in just after 10.00pm saying we had a little sister. We were thrilled, not just because we had our new baby but because that new baby was a sister. We had vowed that if she had been a boy we would not call him by Mum & Dad's chosen name, and by having a sister Mum had successfully avoided that argument. We were definately happy to have an "Anita" rather than a "Warren".

I remember going to the hospital, and seeing her all swaddled up in her little cot. We had a little card with her name on it, and the nurse wheelled her over to the big window and we got to oooh & ahhh at a close but "safe" range. (Obviously we were all covered in big nasty germs in those days).

I don't remember too much about you coming home Anita but I do remember you being a toddler and many of the "growing up" years. I remember you telling me that my hair cut made me look like a mummy - and no I was not impressed about that idea. I can even remember the green dress I was wearing that day.

Anyway - I wanted to say Happy Birthday Anita!

Have a great day.

Up and Down

It's fun getting new toys - especially when they are toys for the grown-ups. We got new garage doors with automatic door opens, so Ben & I have been a little silly opening and closing our garage doors. Ben is excited because it's another electronic gadget to add to our collection. For me, it's the joy of not having to get out of the car in the rain to open and close the garage doors.

So...just to let you get the feel....here we go....

Uppppppp.....
Downnnnn.....
Uppppppp.....
Downnnnn.....

Oh and for some strange reason, the buttons inside the garage have a temperature gauge on them and it's in Celsius. The door man started to tell me that we could change it, and I had to explain that we like it better the way it is.

How do you spell... ?

To be honest, I was expecting to hear this question from Isaac first. I therefore was quite surprised to hear it come from Lizzy. On reflection I should have known Isaac would not have asked - his style is more to seem uninterested and the suddenly do it perfectly.

So here is the word from my little girl. Can I tell you I was thrilled to see this?

Previously she had only written "E"'s for Elizabeth. Then suddenly she writes "STOP", and although you can't see it in the picture, made it into a stop sign. Have I told you that she's also started reading? She reads one of Jan's starter books to us every night. I'm so proud of her.

Wiggle, Wiggle....Gone

Yes...the tooth is gone. Isaac lost his first tooth sometime on Friday afternoon. For a moment, we actually thought it was really lost, and not just a case of a lost tooth. Isaac came over to Ben and said "Look at this!" and opened his mouth. It took Ben a moment to realise his tooth was missing but suddenly he realised and said "You've lost your tooth!" He then went on to ask where his tooth was, but Isaac did not know. Ben's next question as "Well...where were you when you lost your tooth?" To which he responded at the computer. Mind you, it had been over an hour since he'd been playing on the computer and he'd eaten dinner in that hour.

Sure enough - over at the computer was a tooth, sitting on the floor. Lost tooth, found.

Here is a picture of our gappy boy, for your viewing pleasure.

Wiggle, Wiggle

Big news in our house today...

Isaac came home from school today with a loose tooth.

Wiggle, wiggle...more news to come soon.

Radioactive Man

Take a look at this picture...

Bet you didn't know you were looking at my husband! OK, so it's obviously not Ben really, however today he was the radioactive man to me.

He had a bone scan this morning and was injected with a small amount of radioactive material, which essentially will make his bones glow if he has any damage or infection in them.

We have very mixed reactions on what we want to see from the scan. Glowing bones will help with a diagnosis, and non-glowing bones will mean that we still don't know what is causing the pain but we can eliminate some stuff.

Now for the waiting game...

Musical Inclinations

The other week Lizzy & I were in the car, listening to the classical radio station. A piece of music by GF Handel came onto the radio.

Suddenly Lizzy pipes up and says "You got married to this". Ummm. Wow. I walked down the isle to "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba". This wasn't the same peice but it was another by Handel.

Let's just say that I was pretty impressed that she recognised a similar style of music. Maybe she has more musical inclinations which I hadn't given her credit for.

Missing My Brother

When Isaac first started Kindergarten, Lizzy seemed thrilled because she had mummy all to herself nearly all day long. When Isaac came home, she pretty much ignored him and went on her merry way.

However, in the last two weeks that has changed. We meet Isaac outside the Kindergarten room, and the moment Elizabeth sees Isaac she runs to him, calling out "Isaac!" and gives him a great big bear hug. Usually I have to detach her from him.

Obviously the novelty of having mummy to herself has worn off, and now she is thrilled to see Isaac at the end of the school day.