Tyler's First Day of School

It's official! Tyler is now in Kindergarten. I'm traumatized, but so far Tyler is really enjoying it-except for the bully, aka "mean girl", that pushed him down and then (after she got in trouble for pushing) slapped him in the face (for getting her in trouble). Tyler said the teacher saw a red mark on his face where he got slapped and so she put some cream on it!? Maybe I should send some mace and a first aid kit in his backpack next week.

Tyler doesn't seem to miss me while he is at school, but I really miss him. He has been my relentless little buddy for 5 years, and now I have no idea what he did from 8:52am to 3:57pm. Did he eat his lunch? Did he remember to wash his hands after he used the bathroom? Did he give "mean girl" what she deserves and punch her in the face?

I'm sure I'll get used to it-I still have my little sidekick, Bret, to keep me busy and I do know what he is doing all day. He's flushing toothbrushes down the toilet, ripping keys off the computer keyboard, or just stuffing q-tips down the air vents. He recently learned to open doors and has become particularly mischievous-I think that means he is a normal little boy.

It's a new season for our family and I am going to embrace it. Maybe I'll actually finish unpacking and get the basement organized? No, probably not.

Anyone know how to clean up this mess?

Help! A bottle of Tide leaked all over the carpet. How do I clean it up? I've soaked up as much as I can with a towel, but there is still a lot stuck in the carpet. Any ideas?

Bret's First Birthday

We had a traditional "first birthday" party by letting Bret make a mess out of a small cake-I think he knew he was getting away with something. He's a little rascal and we love him. Happy birthday Bret!

Tyler's Classic Kid Jokes

Why was 6 afraid of 7?

Because 7 8 9!

Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill?

To get to the bottom!

What did the dinosaur eat after he went to the dentist?

The dentist!

Knock, knock.

(who's there?)

Little old lady!

(Little old lady who?)

I didn't know you could yodel!

Does anyone really know why gas is so expensive?

I remember being able to fill up my car for around $20 and now, as you know, you can't even buy 5 gallons for $20. So I'm really wondering-Why? I hear explanations like short supply or increased demand, wars in oil producing countries, politics, governmental conspiracies, increased costs for drilling, and blah, blah, blah. Although I'm no economic genius, the only explanation I really believe is greed. Greed prompts people to do some pretty unthinkable things, so it's easy to believe that some really wealthy people (who happen to own oil companies) are really greedy and they want to get even wealthier, so they inflate the price of oil and we all just go along with it. It's not the end of the world, but I don't like the price of gas influencing my daily decisions. (I think my son has a broken bone-should I drive him to the ER? I have really good insurance, but no, can't afford it, the gas alone would cost more than the hospital bill. I'll just make him cast out of popsicle sticks and tape-it's better than wasting a tank of gas.)
Does anyone really know the truth? Will the prices ever come back down?

Fire still burning near Aaron's hometown

People have been asking me if Aaron's family has been affected by the fires, and yes, they have been evacuated. Aaron's hometown of Paradise, CA has been hit hard by the CA fires. The last I heard 49,000 acres have burned. The first big fire didn't burn near his parent's home, but at least 70 homes were destroyed. Unfortunately, the latest fire is right behind their house. It has burned to the bottom of the canyon in their backyard, but hasn't crossed the river (more like a stream) yet. It is doubtful that firefighters will be able to save their home if the fire crosses the river and heads up the canyon as there are plenty of trees and brush to fuel the fire. We are praying that it does not cross the river as many other families will also lose their homes. Aaron's parents were able to remove many items (photos, albums, etc.) from their home before the mandatory evacuation and are staying with relatives for now. Hopefully the fire will burn itself out before any more families lose their homes.

Tyler turns FIVE!

We love our Tyler. He is a good big brother for Bret, a great helper for Mom and Dad, and a very happy, smart, handsome, and kind boy. We are so grateful to have him in our family!

Tyler decided on the morning of his birthday party that he wanted a transformers cake. I made Aaron make it because he has all the artistic skills in our family.

I thought it looked pretty good, and more importantly, Tyler thought it was really cool (if you don't know your transformers, this is "Bumblebee"-he transforms from a robot into a Camaro)!

Tyler with his new hotwheels track-he couldn't stop jumping up and down when he opened it. He loves speedracer even though he has never seen the movie-you just can't go wrong with race cars.

Tyler waiting for us to hurry up and take a picture so he can blow out his candle and eat Aaron's masterpiece.

Tyler trying to bust open the pinata (unfortunately I could not find a transformers pinata, but I did learn that a "party store" in MI is actually what I call a "liquor store"-not a place to buy balloons or pinatas).