tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-223421932012-01-27T15:18:29.743-06:00Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.comBlogger2701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-9214862077751382822012-01-27T15:18:00.002-06:002012-01-27T15:18:29.752-06:00

We are doing an American Government study this week. I found a copy of the Preamble to the Constitution online (forgot where) with each word in a different box. I printed it out, had the girls memorize it, then chopped it up and had them glue it down by memory. 

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-46046674107690707502012-01-27T15:16:00.000-06:002012-01-27T15:16:06.085-06:00

We managed to order tadpoles in the middle of January and they all arrived alive. I got them from homesciencetools.com. I've ordered things from them before and always been happy. I had to specify which day they would deliver but I forgot that our mail always comes very late in the day. We were gone to ballet when they arrived but it was one of our strangly warmer days and they were all fine. 

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-66578298753941084822012-01-27T11:14:00.000-06:002012-01-27T11:14:45.876-06:00

Yep, we made slime. It was fun. You mix some Borax in with water. I think I used four cups water to one fourth cup Borax. You slowly pour that, little bit at a time, into a mixture of equal parts school glue and water mixed together. We had more of the Borax solution than we needed. I used clear glue and dyed it green. At first our slime was pretty stringy. As we added more of the Borax

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-73534452068624682482012-01-27T10:58:00.001-06:002012-01-27T10:58:24.248-06:00

I've been wanting to make one of these for a while because it just seemed fun. I found a water bottle I really liked so I used it for this. I used rice but I could have used sand or salt or anything else really. I dyed it blue with food coloring and rubbing alcohol. I used rubbing alcohol because it evaporates quickly. I used a little too much at first and was choking on the fumes.  The

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-9375087257841164232012-01-27T10:50:00.001-06:002012-01-27T10:50:31.787-06:00

Everyone needs to make ooblek at some point in time. It behaves very strangely. If you play with it slowly, it behaves like a liquid and if you play with it quickly, it behaves like a solid. So you can't punch your fist into it, but you can dip your fingers into it. You can pick up a handful of it only to have it melt between your fingers. Add water to the corn starch. You need more corn starch

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-38071948010979807762011-09-30T13:38:00.000-05:002011-09-30T13:38:16.269-05:00

It was windy so some of our papers kept blowing onto the ground. We brought out the wipe off board to talk Latin nouns. The weather has been gorgeous lately.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-75398392316241250092011-04-19T20:53:00.001-05:002011-09-30T14:24:33.783-05:00

We got a trampoline for Christmas!

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-35447566454258672262011-04-19T20:03:00.006-05:002011-09-30T14:29:46.645-05:00

For Imogen's tenth birthday (wow, I kind of feel old typing that) we decided to redo her room. It was very boring, plain white, and almost always very messy. I sat her down about a month before her birthday and asked what she wanted. She shrugged. I told her that I had an idea but if we did it, it wouldn't be a surprise and she wouldn't have much to open on her birthday. She loved the room

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-53713579849336805732011-01-03T15:36:00.002-06:002011-01-03T15:37:56.990-06:00

Imogen: "I can't believe it's 2011."Me: "I know. Your life is zooming by in front of your eyes. What have you accomplished in your nine years?"Imogen: "Well... I cleaned my room."

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-25653157280430568182010-12-16T10:17:00.001-06:002010-12-16T10:26:35.567-06:00

Imogen watched this trailer.She said, "So, basically... she dyed her hair?"

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-45120445297422645842010-11-07T09:36:00.002-06:002010-11-07T09:42:13.215-06:00

Imogen said to me, "You are so cruel. Like fairy tale stepmothers."

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-71124980786157530232010-10-28T10:00:00.000-05:002010-10-28T10:00:12.968-05:00

I had red put into my hair when I was in Texas. But I can't tell when I'm inside. They show up really well in the sun and it's usually not till people see me in the sunlight that they actually notice. Anyway, so I was trying to get a decent picture of what it looked like outside, which is harder than you think on a windy day.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-50310920928951895402010-10-27T10:00:00.001-05:002010-10-27T10:00:09.282-05:00

They came yesterday during beautiful weather, and we managed to to rescue them from the outdoors immediately. The instructions basically said to leave them alone and keep them safe at this point while they grow.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-1624459220218798092010-10-26T17:09:00.002-05:002011-09-30T14:32:58.033-05:00

I think I'm sick of growing crystals now. And I think the novelty has finally worn off for the girls. I'm completely out of Epsom salt, I've cleaned up salt messes on a regular basis and now I'm sitting here wondering what exactly I'm going do with these stupid things. The girls seem emotionally attached to them for some reason. I wish the sugar crystals had worked so that I could let them eat

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-56072430144553617492010-10-25T10:00:00.000-05:002011-09-30T14:34:17.374-05:00

I can talk about color fairly extensively so I decided to give the girls a lesson. I got out a box of crayons, created a color wheel and talked about how colors interact with each other. Then I drew six hearts on a piece of poster board and had them choose colors from one half of the color wheel and color the hearts. Then we chose watercolor paint and painted over the whole thing. The wax

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-62259048213122612682010-10-22T14:01:00.004-05:002011-09-30T14:31:31.376-05:00

Genevieve's ballet studio is located in a building that serves as a general arts facility. For some reason, ballet is the thing we are always rushing to get to on time. She's yanking on her shoes and running into class at the last second or even a couple minutes late. Being an on time type of person, this kind of thing drives me nuts. But this week we managed to make it early enough to walk

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-70290372191805444232010-10-21T10:00:00.000-05:002010-10-21T10:00:08.276-05:00

Today we ordered ants to go in our new ant farm as well as caterpillar larva (larvae?) to go in our new butterfly pavilion. We discussed how we would eventually free the butterflies (not sure how that's going to work in Missouri winter but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it). Imogen asked if we would free the ants as well. I said no, they would live out their lives in our ant farm

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-88536216505109597982010-10-20T10:00:00.001-05:002011-09-30T14:35:54.094-05:00

We have now failed to grow crystals with sugar, table salt and rock salt. The Epsom salt crystals were really cool though. So now we're going to try to make colored crystals.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-5577210732881958132010-10-19T12:53:00.002-05:002010-10-19T12:57:10.279-05:00

Traveling can be exhausting. It's a long drive. I have to say that my kids were almost perfect.Imogen said, "Look at those distant mountains!"I said, "Those are nearby hills..."The best part of Oklahoma... is leaving it behind.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-7488435439105176552010-10-08T12:10:00.001-05:002010-10-08T12:10:00.401-05:00

Last week we tried and completely failed to grow sugar crystals. I don't think I had the water saturated enough. This week we moved on to salt.We decided to try table salt, rock salt and Epsom salt. The Epsom salt dissolved the most easily. The rock salt was rather difficult to dissolve.We made shapes with pipe cleaners and hung them in the jars. We labeled our jars and will wait a few weeks to

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-32732590885352638732010-10-07T21:34:00.003-05:002010-10-08T12:41:29.601-05:00

Her real birthday isn't till Monday, but we're leaving for Texas this weekend and she'd rather celebrate it before the trip than after. Of course. These are her birthday cookies. She wanted them rather than cake. Probably because of what Faith and I did on Elijah's birthday...Yes, I managed to stick 8 candles into a single cookie. I made two different kind. On bottom are peanut butter cookies. On

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-66488862056886064472010-10-07T21:25:00.003-05:002010-10-09T11:27:41.774-05:00

First we painted paper with tempera paint. I had a specific idea for this project and knew as soon as the paint started going on the paper that it wouldn't work. The colors we chose were too bright and garish. Some of them seemed to vibrate against each other. Nope, wouldn't work for my previous idea, but I hated to waste the paper they had worked so hard on painting. So I cut it into strips.I

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-74037346986919668262010-10-07T21:14:00.002-05:002010-10-07T21:25:23.468-05:00

We had Elijah's third birthday at my house. Little kid birthdays are pretty much the same thing. They always get overexcited, which causes them to be overtired. Elijah wasn't sure about all the attention. He opened one gift and decided it was the coolest gift ever. So he's got a room full of adults staring at him waiting for the rest of the gifts to be opened. We had to trick him into putting the

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-3058212118443806492010-10-02T14:25:00.004-05:002010-10-02T14:44:03.594-05:00

It turns out, giving your kid a camera is a fascinating thing. Imogen got one for her birthday.It's not an amazing camera by any means. She takes mostly blurry shots of the dog. Or Elijah.But it's amazing to see life from her perspective. From the back seat of the van, on our way to Genevieve's ballet class.She took a picture of her shadow. She was bored, waiting for ballet to be over.Again, in

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-61124343285270132762010-01-01T10:56:00.004-06:002010-01-02T13:25:06.031-06:00

(click image to view larger)

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-79353537100337461002009-11-29T10:26:00.003-06:002009-11-29T10:32:08.843-06:00

We had totally perfect weather this weekend. Imogen and Genevieve got to spend time with Jeremy's cousins, Rachel, Laura and Sarah.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-2316796714193873342009-11-29T10:21:00.002-06:002009-11-29T10:26:23.078-06:00

The first batch of pumpkin bread (pictured here) had no baking powder. The second batch had baking powder. Problem: the recipe calls for baking soda. Each batch makes nine miniloafs of bread. That's eighteen pumpkin flavored bricks I have laying around. Seventeen, actually, because Elijah ate one. Slowly.The pumpkin pie, however, turned out very well, which is nice. I've never made pumpkin pie

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-4846098464607756352009-11-10T14:17:00.002-06:002009-11-10T14:25:32.721-06:00

It's been gorgeous days, but also that awkward in-between stage when you wake up in the morning and are cold so you put on too much clothes and find yourself roasting in the afternoon. Imogen and Genevieve each have school sweaters, jackets, gloves, hats, shoes, and tights of varying thickness for customizable warmth. This makes everything harder because there's that much more to keep track of.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-21189784847049230922009-11-08T16:54:00.003-06:002009-11-08T17:05:16.471-06:00

Elijah is a regular visitor these days. I think it's cool that my kids get to have a cousin around. I hardly knew any of mine. Even though he's much younger, they enjoy having him around. He takes naps in Genevieve's bed on occasion, and Genevieve has this strange habit (which is getting out of hand if you ask me) of storing copious amounts of stuff in her bed. It began with stuffed animals. And

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-18026192308928954662009-11-08T16:32:00.002-06:002009-11-08T16:40:18.652-06:00

We went trick or treating for Halloween. We obviously didn't have any particular costume theme we were going for here.The aftermath. It went quickly.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-84915166580044765872009-11-04T16:06:00.002-06:002009-11-04T18:07:21.152-06:00

We saw an old man selling a shih tzu puppy by the side of the road. As we ooh'ed and ahh'ed, Imogen said, "Can we buy it mommy?""No, of course not," I said."Why not? Monster is so troublesome.""Oh, so we just get rid of Monster and buy a new puppy?" I said, laughing."Sure. We could sell Monster for $100.""No one's going to pay for that dog," I said."Well, maybe you should grow his hair out like a

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-54264216722954976402009-09-05T18:00:00.001-05:002009-09-05T18:02:43.062-05:00

Our back yard is a jungle.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-36517937870817211652009-09-05T17:33:00.003-05:002009-09-05T18:00:36.168-05:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-3201668579609330732009-08-10T09:26:00.002-05:002009-08-10T09:35:36.699-05:00

I had these tiny canvases on hand so I pulled them out along with a bunch of paint that I didn't use, as well as paint that I did use. It's funny the different value we placed on different colors. The kids were very impressed with the silver and gold paints that I bought and thought I would use but never do. I, on the other hand, use replace my white most often, and I think I was the only one to

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-27225874186741002772009-07-05T16:07:00.004-05:002009-07-05T16:32:43.969-05:00

Yesterday, we invaded Mary's house for a cook out again. This is a fairly new tradition where we sometimes forget to invite everyone, completely fail to coordinate who will bring what, so that we show up uninvited with enough hot dogs for 20 people and no ketchup or mustard.We argue about how well done a marshmallow should be.There are various schools of thought on this one...Wet wipes are

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-73867756536675951852009-05-27T21:03:00.002-05:002009-05-27T21:05:04.086-05:00

"I had a hamster when I was a teenager," I said. "We kept her in a fish tank.""That's awkward," Imogen said.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-57410476049375039242009-04-25T16:39:00.001-05:002009-04-25T16:41:02.796-05:00

Sorry for dropping off the face of the planet. My last final is on May 12th. I'll be back then.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-44995725609219703262009-02-09T10:31:00.002-06:002009-02-09T10:37:45.107-06:00

Things have been really busy lately. But here are a few pictures I took, playing with my camera.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-31882705901320766462009-01-30T21:51:00.002-06:002009-01-30T22:06:15.773-06:00

For a while now, Imogen has been very concerned about the lack of snow in her life. Sure, when she was two or three it snowed a lot and she got to play around in it. However, these are, apparently, the golden years of her childhood, and until yesterday, she had not had a few key experiences. At times, it would snow, but not enough for a snowball fight or snowman construction. She was literally

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-1873533775679235362009-01-27T18:51:00.002-06:002009-01-27T18:54:52.811-06:00

Freezing rain plus a lot of sleet means a couple days off of school. Which is nice, in some ways. I think Imogen and Genevieve are getting cabin fever though. I hear them yelling at each other in the next room.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-7075239891206419412009-01-27T18:15:00.004-06:002009-01-27T18:57:36.497-06:00

Today we did nothing. The girls built forts out of blankets and chairs and spent most of the day in them. The weather outside is frightful, but the central heating is delightful.Last night I sent Genevieve into her room to clean it up. Imogen reported a few minutes later. "Genevieve isn't cleaning her room.""Oh?" I said. "Go pick up five things in Genevieve's room.""Why?" she said."Because you're

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-47529042583199547602009-01-24T16:33:00.004-06:002009-01-25T18:00:04.285-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-44689731671672601672009-01-23T19:45:00.004-06:002009-01-23T20:04:11.301-06:00

I got a new little camera for an early birthday gift (thanks mom!) It's been a good winter for cameras. It can take videos (among other things). Imogen and Genevieve love videos. You hit record and they act like complete idiots and then they watch the clip, cackling maniacally as if it's the funniest thing that ever managed to be captured on screen. Then I delete the clip and they beg me to

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-38877464603304982072009-01-17T12:28:00.003-06:002009-01-17T12:41:21.923-06:00

Some days at school seem to be harder than others. They come home and they are in weepy grouchy moods. And they have such a strange mother that my reaction is to point a camera at them.When they were little they would sometimes pitch these horrid screaming tantrums. Nothing would get them out of it. I usually just dragged them to their room and let them scream it out, until they were willing to

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-38855718515798106932009-01-17T12:16:00.002-06:002009-01-17T12:27:56.498-06:00

Until last month, this is the camera I was using. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, just that it's old. I bought it when Genevieve was a baby. Digital cameras have come a long way in six years. But it's still perfectly functional and not overly complicated, so I gave it to Imogen and Genevieve. Imogen likes it more, but tends to shoot a lot of pictures of the dogs. They both spend more

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-73885651260317184462009-01-16T14:19:00.001-06:002009-01-16T14:22:20.903-06:00

It snowed today.Just a little bit.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-62269986718513337612009-01-13T21:15:00.002-06:002009-01-13T21:23:09.289-06:00

Imogen, Genevieve and I all started school on Monday. This is my last semester. Unless I have a total nervous breakdown, I'll graduate in May. The girls both have quite a few years left ahead of them.Life gets so busy. I try to snatch as much time as I can to play with them, talk to them. We write notes to each other on the wipe off board side of their easel. "I love you mommy! I hope you have a

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-68749444823197521862009-01-10T11:00:00.001-06:002009-01-10T11:04:22.105-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-68492579610399923942009-01-09T16:21:00.000-06:002009-01-09T16:22:21.986-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-26856337360469685122009-01-09T11:53:00.002-06:002009-01-09T12:18:04.183-06:00

Imogen and Genevieve got several board games for Christmas. They typically love/are obsessed with games, whether electronic (Wii, Nintendo DS), of the card variety (Go fish, Uno, etc.) or on a board of some kind. They received Battleship, which I left in Texas, and Life and Clue which I left in Missouri when I went to Texas.But now that we're home, I'm expected to get these games out and teach

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-15081902239668068072009-01-08T10:32:00.003-06:002009-01-08T10:38:09.994-06:00

We're enjoying these last few days before school starts up again. I tell the girls to clean up their rooms and as usual, they make their beds, painstakingly arranging stuffed animals. Then they get bored and decide the room is clean enough.Some people get tired of my many photo shoots. When does it ever end? When they move out, of course.Genevieve is my less willing model but even she is tolerant

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-43055766602134864282009-01-07T08:02:00.002-06:002009-01-07T08:09:14.496-06:00

We're back from Texas. We've been back for a few days. We still have unpacking to do. The tree needs to be taken down. There's a new dog that lives behind us and he barks all night long. The girls have abandoned their good travel behavior and have been bickering as usual. Our trip was fun and relaxing, but it's always good to be home, getting back into your normal routine with the addition of

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-13661795280558788512009-01-03T09:14:00.001-06:002009-01-03T09:23:21.325-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-14553807532166407472009-01-03T09:02:00.002-06:002009-01-03T09:14:39.306-06:00

Yesterday my father and Lana drove us down to Matagorda and Blessing, TX. We looked up some family history and we went to the beach. I wanted Imogen and Genevieve to be able to see the ocean for the first time. But it's January, so I thought it would be too cold to swim. I still think it was too cold to swim.I thought, they can walk around in the sand, which they did.And get their feet wet. Which

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-91426561601701973992009-01-02T22:47:00.000-06:002009-01-02T22:50:11.929-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-35537032009697048032009-01-02T22:44:00.000-06:002009-01-02T22:46:59.649-06:00

Imogen's motorcycle ride.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-70161184157278025302009-01-02T22:41:00.000-06:002009-01-02T22:44:13.378-06:00

Genevieve's motorcycle ride.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-80754491709260417672008-12-27T21:31:00.000-06:002008-12-27T21:32:10.861-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-27986440580713204102008-12-27T21:26:00.001-06:002008-12-27T21:28:05.713-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-73500196410603688962008-12-25T21:36:00.001-06:002008-12-25T21:39:51.688-06:00

This has all been very exhausting for the dog.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-18965501128454442982008-12-25T21:31:00.000-06:002008-12-25T21:36:20.317-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-44177546766057460202008-12-25T19:54:00.000-06:002008-12-25T21:31:35.044-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-8581096962733949792008-12-24T20:20:00.000-06:002008-12-24T20:22:02.543-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-68500843772464366072008-12-24T19:58:00.000-06:002008-12-24T20:03:09.281-06:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-37694714583542166232008-12-23T07:54:00.000-06:002008-12-23T07:56:58.148-06:00

Before.After.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-63960292373726290752008-12-22T11:17:00.000-06:002008-12-22T11:18:44.210-06:00

My new totally awesome toy.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-22112451032978129322008-12-22T09:40:00.002-06:002008-12-22T09:43:45.817-06:00

Genevieve doesn't believe in being overly cooperative.See the part of her hair in front that's poking up? The overly short part? Back in October she cut that off of her hair. Since it's been two months, you can imagine how short it used to be. And I asked her, "Why? Why front and center? Why so short?" And she said, "I dunno."

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-26574117667072598032008-12-22T09:36:00.001-06:002008-12-22T09:40:16.813-06:00

Melly.Imogen has strange ideas of hair decor.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-24436624819304061172008-12-21T14:21:00.001-06:002008-12-21T14:25:07.799-06:00

Some day Imogen will regret her unwillingness to look like a normal human being any time I point a camera at her. That day will be when she brings a boy home.*cue evil laughter*

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-6173601361429528622008-12-21T14:14:00.003-06:002008-12-21T14:21:06.700-06:00

We've had a stomach bug making a sporadic appearance around here. Someone gets sick (say, at Target) but then they get well fairly quickly. Genevieve was threw up last night (perhaps because we had a Christmas celebration yesterday with some of Jeremy's family and it is quite possible she had nothing but candy and cookies to eat all day). This morning she woke up feeling bad and now, as of 2 this

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-19559879622321391052008-12-18T13:41:00.000-06:002008-12-18T13:55:25.110-06:00

I hate tummy aches. It's such a vague symptom. I don't really know what to do with it.Yesterday, or perhaps the day before, I got a call from Genevieve's school. "Genevieve is here in the office with a tummy ache." Fine. I went and got her and brought her home where she perked up immediately, ate lunch, and watched movies. I couldn't help feeling like I'd been had.So today, Imogen does the same

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-42802420926517732062008-12-14T17:01:00.001-06:002008-12-14T17:13:11.677-06:00

I just got done locking myself in my room to wrap some gifts. This raises my children's anticipation levels astronomically. Which is hilarious. They spent time at the door asking what each other's gifts were which I pretended to be willing to tell them if they sent the other person away, then I gave some variation of burnt tortilla/fresh tortilla/smelly tortilla/colorful tortilla (??) as an

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-194437432623436142008-12-10T19:01:00.000-06:002008-12-10T19:02:56.756-06:00

"Mommy, what's bigger: an alligator or a crocodile?""A dragon.""Oh..."

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-36457587696748588572008-12-09T14:33:00.000-06:002008-12-11T10:05:38.738-06:00

This year, I put up my tree when the girls were at school. Usually I let them help, but they made the near fatal error of breaking one of my ornaments last year, and I'm still not over it. Every since I got married, I've collected ornaments.I have special ornaments I buy for special occasions.I have hand painted ornaments given to me as gifts.I have pretty ornaments I buy for no other reason than

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-49295376322033431872008-12-09T14:31:00.000-06:002008-12-09T14:32:58.070-06:00

A couple weeks ago.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-24023730111788995812008-11-09T16:35:00.001-06:002008-11-09T16:51:02.927-06:00

After many months of very sporadic playing, the girls asked me to play chess with them. Being is a masochistic mood, I agreed.Imogen sets up the board while I finish something up in the kitchen and decides that she gets to play white. Genevieve informs me that she will play white when it's her turn as well. Usually I enforce rules of good sportsmanship and make us randomly choose colors, but

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-67180788715929881542008-10-31T20:38:00.000-05:002008-10-31T20:49:53.584-05:00

Genevieve was a cat.Imogen was a robber. She thought of this costume herself. She had the shirt on hand, and I got her handcuffs and broke them in half and painted a mask on her face which deteriorated throughout the evening.We went to a Halloween party at a friend's house. This is one of the games we played.Bobbing for apples. This is Imogen's third one.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-81768519388376087502008-10-29T19:06:00.000-05:002008-10-29T19:12:37.798-05:00

"Hey Genevieve, look grouchy!"Imogen leaving school on Open House night.Sunset.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-80957753446989709192008-10-17T10:46:00.000-05:002008-10-17T11:09:14.108-05:00

For Genevieve's birthday she got Nintendogs. It's a cute game. The first dog we bought, a chihuahua named Lulu, ended up being my dog because I'm the one who trained her and the voice recognition software is a little picky. You earn money by taking your dogs to different doggie competitions. You can feed them, bathe them, train them, take them for walks (be sure to pick up the pixilated doggie

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-61848420381084809062008-10-14T18:40:00.001-05:002008-10-14T18:44:05.479-05:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-85156852715165022582008-10-14T18:24:00.001-05:002008-10-14T18:33:09.437-05:00

My children have been almost angelic today. They have the week off of school so they were here with me all day, which is normally a disaster when I'm busy with homework and can not get them out of the house. But they've played quietly while I was occupied. They barely fought. And I actually witnessed a real live negotiation about a disagreement that did not include screaming, crying, foot

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-74461247718339979342008-09-21T14:37:00.000-05:002008-09-21T14:42:16.331-05:00

First signs of fall. If the girls have time to kill in the mornings, they often ask if they can go outside and look for leaves.Genevieve's backpack. She brings this stuff to school with her. You can't see it but the Easter egg halves have faces drawn on them. They are a family of two parents and two children.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-51094386933702863932008-09-11T20:20:00.000-05:002008-09-11T20:24:34.255-05:00

Around here, all games have names. And the game the girls love to play with Jeremy is "spooky". You turn off all the lights in the house, Jeremy hides, and then the girls look for him in the dark. Right as they are about to find him, he jumps out yelling at the top of his lungs and they scream bloody murder. It's great fun. They beg him to play it. The funny thing is, I remember playing this same

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-2902593616089321862008-09-01T10:56:00.000-05:002008-09-01T11:00:52.548-05:00

In the car after school on Friday, Imogen and I were discussing the need to buy a gift for her classmate's birthday party. I could tell we were going to run into problems."I'll just go and buy it later," I said."Why," she asked."Because, I can tell you and I are going to have disagreements and I'd rather not deal with it," I said."Don't worry, mommy," she said. "I have it under control." As I

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-85677959435653884262008-09-01T10:50:00.000-05:002008-09-01T10:56:34.588-05:00

Karen and Martin and family came down and we had a cookout. The girls went swimming and were fairly wiped out at the end of the day. Just before we left, they were playing catch with Rachel, Laura, Sarah and Jeremy. While I watched absentmindedly, Genevieve managed to get hit the head with the ball no less than three times. The last time, she managed to catch it after it bounced off her forehead.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-4815951537307149512008-08-27T21:46:00.000-05:002008-08-27T21:52:55.711-05:00

See the wall behind Genevieve? I spent a Saturday when they weren't here painting that room. The very next day they started scratching the paint off the wall. They've scratched "drawings" into the paint (smiley faces, etc), drawn on the wall with crayons, markers pens, pencils, and various bathroom products (like some diaper rash ointment we still have from baby days). There are green hand prints

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-50483313905265403432008-08-26T18:44:00.000-05:002008-08-26T18:49:41.540-05:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-61071505489616537012008-08-26T18:40:00.000-05:002008-08-26T18:44:11.754-05:00

They had Dr. Pepper at Walmart for only $2.19 per 12 pack! *gasp*

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-43619732342954579672008-08-22T18:53:00.000-05:002008-08-22T18:55:27.567-05:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-58305670531088044942008-08-22T18:46:00.000-05:002008-08-22T18:49:40.026-05:00

The girls eat a snack and lunch at school, yet they still come home convinced they are on the verge of starvation.I love new art supplies.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-30177788802872576422008-08-22T14:54:00.001-05:002008-08-22T14:58:18.038-05:00

Sometimes it's fun to have many of a particular toy.By some miracle we've been getting ready with enough time each morning for the girls to actually sit down and play for ten minutes or so before leaving, and that's with leaving earlier this year because we're carpooling with another family. We'll see if that keeps up next week after I start school.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-87480949710731159222008-08-21T18:41:00.000-05:002008-08-21T18:42:32.973-05:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-5415522820738886652008-08-20T16:25:00.000-05:002008-08-20T16:27:57.629-05:00

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-991907537640157922008-07-16T20:21:00.000-05:002008-07-16T20:39:13.322-05:00

Imogen certainly doesn't mind a monologue, especially when it's coming out of her mouth. We've been playing alot of tetris on the DS lately and I guess it's been on her mind. As Jeremy was trying to fix something on my computer, I got bored watching him and picked it up and began to play. Imogen proceeded to tell me all about her own personal philosophies and strategies regarding tetris (she's

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-34768956704589292752008-07-14T12:59:00.000-05:002008-07-14T13:09:49.793-05:00

My dogs and I have a disagreement. To them, if it's left unattended, then it's fair game. To me, the floor is theirs, the table is off limits. Zeus knows well enough to stay off the table unless it's really reeeeally unattended, because getting caught is unpleasant. Monster is more clueless, as always. We try not to leave food laying around but things get overlooked. In this case, what got

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-30990541224319769572008-06-19T14:50:00.001-05:002008-06-19T15:27:58.151-05:00

This is not the first time Imogen has gotten an unplanned haircut because of some disaster. This was the first time it involved this goopy slime stuff that I couldn't get out of her hair, which necessitated in my cutting a large chunk off on one side. She looks cuter with short hair anyway.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-12783488356473355182008-06-19T14:42:00.001-05:002008-06-19T14:50:18.445-05:00

We went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. I, being in the midst of raging allergy season, was perfectly miserable the whole time. I did manage to stop sneezing long enough to shoot a couple pictures.

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-57312413848969127982008-06-09T18:02:00.001-05:002008-06-09T18:05:40.906-05:00

The fair thing has gotten totally out of hand. Today alone, this is what I've heard:"Can you get me a cup for my cherries, because Imogen had a cup and that wouldn't be fair."About the parmesan cheese, Imogen said, "Only take a sprinkle because I only got a sprinkle!"They asked for a drink of my dr. pepper. Previously we established that a sip is smaller than a drink and a drink is smaller than a

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-38966365252157456512008-06-06T07:05:00.000-05:002008-06-06T07:08:52.287-05:00

Imogen very rarely wakes us up in the middle of the night, but when she has a nightmare, she wants to be tucked back into bed. I always ask what the nightmare was and she has these really great narrative dreams. Genevieve tries to explain her scary dreams and they are usually only that she saw something scary. Nothing really happens in the dream.Imogen's first nightmare that I can remember is

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22342193.post-68843254637238061312008-06-02T20:10:00.000-05:002008-06-02T20:32:37.595-05:00

A couple months ago the girls were playing outside and they piled up a bunch of sticks on the back porch and pretended to be camping. I felt sorry for them but not sorry enough to try to sleep on the ground for a night or two so we decided to have a cookout, and then go home to our nice squishy beds. We held it last night at Mary's farm and brought hot dogs and made smores. The girls thought it

Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01112298487794194997noreply@blogger.com2