Hooray For Saturday!

Portraits

The good ones get printed up, then mailed or handed out to those that like to scare rodents or small pets from their homes.

The outtakes get posted here.

Snow? Yes. Angels? Questionable.

Look At That!

Our daughter has a strange way of asking me to look at something.

Usually a child of her age will say something such as, "Looky!", "Look! Look!" or "Look at that!".  Instead, our daughter demands, "Turn your face around!, Turn your face around!".

It's very funny when we are in the vehicle.  She will say, "Daddy, turn your face around!  Turn it over there.....when you get to a red light."

She will take it a step further when at home.  If I am not listening or paying attention, and there is something she thinks I couldn't live another second without seeing, she will come up to me, lightly grab my cheeks and turn my face in the direction she is wanting me to look.

Needless to say, I often act like I don't hear her because we get such a laugh when she physically has to turn my face.  The Little Man is starting to catch on to this as well.  Hilarity ensues.

Thunderstruck

Last night I made myself go to bed early.  I was actually sleeping before 2AM.

About 2:15AM, some green, orange and red moved into the area.  It was the biggest thunderstorms I've heard since living here.  It was constant lightning and thunder, loud house shaking thunder, for about an hour and a half.

The daughter was going bananas during the storm, so I went and hung out with her in her room.  We talked about Plum Pudding, not a creamy fruit treat, but a sidekick of Strawberry Shortcake.  Not the summertime desert, Strawberry Shortcake, but the cartoon gal that wears a big hat and has a bunch of sidekicks with desert names.  It was enough conversation to keep her from screaming every time her room lit up and the ground rumbled from the storm.

Now when we get rain or a storm roll through, Doodlebug asks what color it is.  Meaning what color on a weather radar is used to indicate the strength of the rain or storm.  She learned that hanging out with her grandfather, looking at weather.com before driving back to KY from IN one day.

If we get rain today, we hope it's only green.  She only likes the green rain.

Learning To Swim

Our children are taking swimming lessons at the YMCA, as part of our burning daylight summer.

It's safe to say, I never had a swimming lesson in my life.  Oh, unless you count being thrown into a depth of water that was over my head and then being told to get to the water's edge.

Lesson learned.

Best Of Both Worlds

I can't believe our daughter is about to graduate from preschool.  Her last day of class is a week from today, which also is the big night.  The big night is the graduation ceremony that the school is putting on for the class.  From what I gather, not only will the children be dressed in cap and gown and graduating from preschool, they will be performing for our entertainment.

Doodlebug can't keep a secret for anything and she has spilled the beans to me about the live performance, which will include the musical numbers Best Of Both Worlds, by a girl the daughter refers to as Hannah Bu'tanna and Y.M.C.A., by The Village People.  Hmm, OK.

I'm not so sure about fueling the Hannah Montana fire, isn't that show geared towards kids over 10 anyway?  Luckily, Doodlebug doesn't seem to interested in everything Hannah, just the one tune to practice.

I only hope that she can come out of her shell during the performance, as she does around the house when she is singing and dancing.  If so, it could be quite a show.  Whatever the case, Dad might shed a tear.

Just Another Day At The Park

Yesterday was the first day in a very long time the kids were able to run around at the park without a worry to what the weather conditions were.  Very rare.  It was the best weather day we have had in quite some time.  The sun was out, it was around 70 degrees and windy. 

We went to the park after lunch, played for two and a half hours and we loved it.  The park was packed with moms, kids and me.  You could sense the cabin fever of the past month being cured, not only for the children but also for the parents, as everyone took time to take in some fresh air and run wild in the park.

Another thing I realized at the park is how fast our children are growing up.  Over the winter, The Little Man learned to climb up the ladder parts of the apparatus on the playground, without ever practicing on it, and Doodlebug is now swinging in a "big kid swing" as long as someone would like to push her or swing beside her.

Watching the children on the playground yesterday really made me take a moment to realize, it is true what parents with older children have told me.  They really do "grow up so fast".  A friend of a friend, who is a stay at home mom to their now grown children, summed it up to me really well the other night.  She said, "The days are very long, but the years fly by."  How true that is. 

Some days are longer than others, but it's these days due to lack of daylight and warm weather, that has made this winter creep by.

Dressing To Impress

It's getting crazy around here with all the sequins, lame' fabric, crowns and wands!  I'm having to check to make sure we haven't added garrisons to the corners of our home and there aren't unicorns grazing in the backyard.

Doodlebug received all of this dress up stuff, as gifts, over the holiday season, which means costume changes are mandatory.  They come fast, they come furious.  Sometimes she is dressed in all of the same outfit, other times she mixes it up and it gets a little tragic looking. 

"Dad....look dad......fashion princess!"

This is the same young lady that had sheets from the movie "Cars" on her bed a few months ago.  I was holding on to the notion that we had a tomboy on our hands, but that notion is now covered in sparkled princess garb.  Is it a phase?  I can only hope so, but I don't see it going away anytime soon.

At least I know I'm not the only one out there that feels this way about all the princess stuff. 

I know our daughter enjoys dress up and I can just barely live with The Little Man strolling through the kitchen in little pink, plastic hooker shoes and a tutu, but I will put my foot down if there is even a thought of those little hoochie dolls coming to my house.  You know the ones, their eyes are giant and a little bit too far apart, kind of like the Spears sisters.

In the meantime, "Here ye, here ye, the fashion princess has arrived with her silly court jester."  Laughs ensue.

Two Little Things

I've currently got two favorite little things.

One is when our daughter will speak out and say, "You forgot something!", then proceed to come over and give me a hug for no reason.

The other is the way our son will speak out at the weirdest times and say, "Bouncy balls!", for no reason what-so-ever.

Silly.

A Night With The Doodlebops

Well we made it down and back from Lexington, KY to spend some time with The Doodlebops, as they rocked Rupp Arena.

The Little Man was going bananas as the silly performers hit the stage, while Doodlebug was a little timid (as always).  I think she might have been freaked out from the height of the seats we were in for a short time, but she came around a few times and got to her feet to sing and dance.

The Doodlebops did not disappoint, as far as song and dance went.  Moe, the orange fella, made his money with a vast array of break dance moves that he would fall into at the drop of a hat.  Deedee, the purple babe in the group, had a couple of solo moments one of which was a tap dance number, while Rooney, the tall mop-headed blue guy, really rocked his guitar during one tune.  Bus Driver Bob was there for the always standard, Get On The Bus Song, but his performance was lacking, perhaps it was an off night for the driver.  Audio Murphy, the big blue dog that runs the recording studio, made an appearance for a song and he brought some cool video visuals to go on the big screen behind everyone on stage and their were some dancers dressed in very colorful outfits that joined The Doodlebops on a few numbers.

Overall the star of the show was Moe Doodle.  He had the kids rocking and getting loud, was break dancing like crazy and of course he pulled the rope.  Much to everyone's surprise when he pulled the rope, he didn't get a bucket of water dumped on him, like what happens on the television show.  Confetti and streamers filled the air when he pulled the rope, which started the last song which was an encore of Get On The Bus.

Was I wrong as a parent for being sad that The Doodlebops didn't finish with their normal ending song, where some of the lyrics they sing go...

We're The Doodlebops, We're The Doodlebops and we thank you oh yeah!

...perhaps a thank you was in order for all the money we dropped on overpriced trinkets, but I'm not sour. 

The Doodlebops have themselves a money making machine, in that live rock show and good for them.  Our kids were entertained and it was a blast to watch them freak out while watching their favorite rock stars.  Here are a few more pictures from the show. 

Parents be warned, there is plenty of merch to buy and they wave it right under your child's nose before the show, during the intermission, and after.  I would recommend going here and making a purchase, then bringing it with you in your bag and presto it on your child when the time is right.  That's how I will roll from now on.