New Faces

Today when I dropped Camille off at daycare there was a new little girl sitting on a chair by the teacher. Her face was stained with tears and her eyes a little red. Ms. Ann (the teacher) introduced Gracie to Camille. She asked Camille if she would be Gracie's friend. Camille of course, was happy to oblige and ran over to the sad little girl and gave her a hug. She took her by the hand and led her to the back door where all the kids wave to their parents as they leave. As I slowed down to wave good-bye, there was Camille. Madly waving her one hand, and Gracie's hand firmly gripped in the other. I'd like to think that I lead by example when it comes to embracing new people.

I have come to appreciate the new area which is becoming our home. We have found a great school district with high educational standards for their students as well as a tight reign on their spending habits. We have found an excellent daycare/pre-school that helps Camille to thrive like she did with our previous daycare ladies. We joined a very close knit church, discovered an outstanding dance studio and above all, we have started to make new friends.

The people that I work with have been so great to Mike and I since we've moved. I can't say enough about how blessed I am to work for this company. The culture is more like family then it is corporate, and for that I am thankful.

At the new dance studio the dance parents are discouraged from hanging around the studio during lessons...which is quite a switch from NRG. Parent observation night was a couple of weeks ago. Sydney has come a long way in a short period of time. All she does now is tap around the house (Their song is "GI Blues" by Elvis). I hate to discourage her, but sometimes I just have to tell her to stop, especially at the dinner table. Camille loves dance almost as much as her big sister. She wakes up asking if its Wednesday (her dance night).

For the last two months we have prepped Camille that once Halloween had passed, we were done with pull-ups. Potty training this child is truly an exercise in training. We literally have to sit her down every 30 minutes. It is a slow process (as it was with Sydney), but eventually we'll get there. We have almost two years before kindergarten starts.

Sydney has made a new little friend in our neighbor across the street. Emily Kate is so sweet and the two of them play really well together. Sydney had her first dinner at a friend's house on Sunday. The girls were bouncing back and forth between the two houses all afternoon. They were at our house eating a snack when I asked Emily Kate if she wanted to stay for dinner. She didn't like the idea of eating lasagna, so she thought it was a better idea to have Sydney to her house for dinner.

My mom came down a little over a week ago, and that was a lot of fun. We explored the downtown KC area as well as the big suburban mall. Truth be told, the Nordstrom's and Macy's in Minnesota are far better then they are here. Our saving grace for department stores is a new Von Mauer that just opened up, and it's huge! I can't wait for Angela to come down so I can take her there. It must have good shopping because my boss's wife found three dresses and several pairs of shoes there over the weekend. Just thinking about it makes me a little giddy.

Mike went home last weekend and bagged his deer. He tells me that it was bitterly cold with sustained winds of 25 mph. I'll take a mall to sitting in a deer stand any day. He also found out on Friday that he has a job with McAfee (with whom he becomes employed tomorrow).

All in all, we have a lot to be thankful for this fall. Now, if we can just sell that house...

The Last Slice

I am sitting here this morning preparing to head out for another tailgating adventure. I woke-up at 6:30 to put my side dish in the oven and take a shower. Oh wait, I woke up at 5:30. I didn't realize this until I had already gotten out of the shower and had my food in the oven. The side dish came out, but I left the caramel rolls in and then I forgot about the caramel rolls. They smell good but are about as hard as hockey puck. Damn it.

Halloween, oh how I love Halloween! Our first holiday adventure was met with 75 degrees and sunshine. This was the first time we have put costumes on the kids and didn't worry about coats, we didn't even put shirts under the costumes.

Jane and I headed out around 7 with kids (thanks to daylight savings time being shoved back it wasn't really dark until then). We were by far the smallest group at 5. Most packs traveled with at least 10 people. There had to have been at least 200 kids out....if not more. I had walked Sydney, Camille and Hadley up to a house and by the time we turned around, there were at least 20 kids in our view. We couldn't get off the porch. There was no where to go.

The girls were witches this year for Halloween. I was delighted that it wasn't another Disney Princess revival. Miss Hadley was a flying monkey. Camille was very quick to point out to each homeowner that Hadley was a flying monkey. She would put a hand on Hadley's shoulder to keep her from leaving before she had a chance to described her entire costume.

We came back to the house and handed the girls off to the guys who took them down a few more streets. Jane and I sat on the front step and handed out candy (and we started drinking a little wine, I won't lie). The neighbors across the street came home and Sydney ran over to greet their daughter with a hand full of candy. The neighbors asked Sydney to go out and do a little more trick-or-treating. She was delighted to go. Camille and Hadley were perfectly happy sitting on the steps eating candy and then chasing each other around the yard.

If you are new to a neighborhood, Halloween is the perfect time to get to know your neighbors. We had a few over for drinks after the kids were done going house to house. I think this is going to be a really fun neighborhood. The guy down the street has Guinness on tap...if I ever can't find Mike I will know exactly where to look.

After our neighbors left, we decided to order pizza. In my true fashion, I fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up at 1 am, I asked where the pizza was. Mike kind of looked at me and didn't say anything. "Is it all gone?" I asked. Dead silence from Mike. It was! The whole pizza was gone, and Mike, Shannon and Jane didn't save me one piece.

The next day it turned into a "it wasn't me-fest" when the issue of no pizza when I woke-up was brought up. And then to top it off, I went to get coffee and was sidetracked by one of the kids needing something. When I got back to pour it, there was Mike finishing off the pot. Seriously. First the pizza and then the coffee. I guess after 10 years of marriage all bets are off and its every man for himself. Maybe if I keep Guinness on tap Mike will love me like he does the neighbor. I bet he would have saved a piece of pizza for that guy.