New Pool

The kids and I went out and got our new pool this morning. We decided to invest in one that we can use for a few years, so it's huge. I also got Hannah one of those swimsuits with the floaties sewn inside and she loves it. It took a while for it to fill but the kids didn't care. They played in it from the time it began filling up until about 5 minutes ago. They even ate sandwiches for lunch poolside. I hope that this occupies them for the summer!

Playing in the pool
More playing in the pool
Just beware of the shark in the water!

Photo Post and Some Other Stuff

First, here's a picture of Dad and the kids enjoying the first watermelon of the season this weekend!

And here's one of some clouds overhead just a couple of minutes ago. We just had a huge rumble of thunder!

The kids are now officially on summer vacation and Jacob was officially promoted to third grade. Daniel, thankfully, was promoted to first grade for the fall. Phew. Seriously, he's come a long way in reading and really does excel in science and math. He also seems to be doing really well in Spanish. Yay Daniel! Jacob brought home three awards from his teacher..."Friendliest" "Best Boy Reader" and "Best Spanish Student" The kids love Spanish. Who knew? LOL!

Daniel got mad because Master Johnson told him last night that if he didn't shape up in Tae Kwon Do, he wouldn't even be allowed to test for his belt. Of course, that led to tears all of the way home but I say good for him! Why should stuff just be handed to him when he won't put in the effort? I'm hoping that it gets through to him.

A Post For A Monday...I Mean Tuesday

Three day weekends always mess me up.

Dad came in on Saturday and we had a nice weekend doing nothing. We grilled twice and that's about it. It was a nice visit.

Unfortunately, after he left, I got really sick. I thought that it was just allergies but it turns out it was one heck of a cold. Mike let me sleep most of yesterday and I'm feeling a little better today. Today, it's mostly muscle soreness from coughing and my nose is on fire from blowing it so much. But, I think I'll make it. I need to wash some sheets today.

Today is Daniel's last day of school for the year. Two schools and three teachers after he began kindergarten, he's ready for first grade. Jacob has his last day tomorrow and it's just a half day. I wonder if they'll find out their teachers for next year soon.

Congrats!!!

I got an e-mail from my good friend Michelle yesterday and a big "CONGRATULATIONS!" is in order for her, her husband Brian and their little boy Jonathan!!! Baby Matthew Jason was born on Thursday, weighing in at 11 pounds 10 ounces and 22.5 inches. What a big boy! And cheeks! I'm such a sucker for cheeks! Baby Matthew is still in the NICU so please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers.

Congrats again and I hope that he comes home soon!

Exhausted

This morning, the kindergarten classes met at a park for a fun picnic day. The park was across from a children's farmstead so after checking in at the park, we headed over to see some animals. Jacob was furious that Hannah and I were going but he wasn't. I was talking to another mom (Jacob's best friend's mom) who also has a son in Daniel's class (and a daughter Hannah's age...easy playdates!) and she said that Zephan (Jacob's best friend) was also upset that he didn't get to go. I told her that maybe next weekend I'd take Jacob and Zephan. She liked that idea.

Anyway, the kids had a great time and I'm exhausted. It didn't help that we left the picnic and went to ice skating. Daniel and Hannah are all spread out on the couches with their eyes barely open. Here are some photos...


Daniel and Hannah share a swing in the butterfly garden

These bunnies were huge!

Pumping water!

Daniel tries to churn butter

Hannah milks a cow

Just a nice picture of Daniel and Hannah

In the children's garden

Hannah pets the smallest baby goat I've ever seen

Congrats to Jordin!!!

I'm not surprised that Jordin won AI last night but it does shock me that she's only 17!! Here she is singing, what will probably be her first single, after her win last night.

American Idol

Can I just say that Jordin kicked Blake's butt last night? I really hope she takes it. I have to root for anyone who makes me cry while she's singing.

I found this on YouTube for Mike. Our Tivo cut out right as he was beginning to sing. So, here's Chris Daughtry singing Home on American Idol last night! It's hard to believe he only came in 4th last season. He really should have won it all. Oh well. Doesn't look like it's hurt his career any. Enjoy!

A Quick Poll

Since we're coming up on the end of the school year, the kids are coming home with lots and lots of stuff they've done over the year. Both of the boys brought home a lot of art. Jacob has a cool butterfly he made with pastels and Daniel has a very nice sponge painted flower that made it into the art show. Here's what I'd like to do: frame them and hang them in the living room. Mike has no problems framing and hanging them, but he has a problem with the placement. He wants to hang them in the basement (family room). I think that, especially framed, they'd look awesome out where everyone that comes in can see. What do you think?

Here's Jacob's butterfly


And Daniel's flower

Bike Parade

Tonight, we had a bike parade on our street. It's always shocking to see just how many kids are on the street. The kids had a great time.

This isn't even all of the kids...
Riding back up the street after the parade...

Randomness For A Sunday

We decided to have steaks on the grill last night for dinner. I have to admit that it's the second time this week that we've grilled steaks for dinner. When we went up to the store to get the steaks, they also had some great artichokes, so I got some of those too. Those are mighty tasty grilled. A little balsamic, a little lemon, a little olive oil = yummy! And Oriana enjoyed her steak bone. Tonight, it's BBQ pork chops and grilled asparagus. MMMMMMmmmmm!

Last night, I decided that I was tired of looking at the baskets of clothes in our closet...plus, I couldn't find a lot of my summer stuff, so I went a little laundry crazy. Anyone who knows me knows that I'd rather scrub toilets all day than do laundry, so this is huge. A lot of our summer stuff went straight from boxes into laudry baskets when we moved in, so I guess this is the final push to get unpacked. LOL! I am already on load 4 of 7 and everyone has their own laundry basket at the top of the stairs. As soon as the clothes get out of the dryer, they are sorted into their corresponding basket for folding/hanging. It's actually a nice system that I may start using. The kids can hang their own stuff up or put it in their drawers. I don't think that's asking too much of them.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Ruskin Heights F5 tornado that went for 71 miles through Kansas and Missouri and killed 41 people. A lot of the pictures from the aftermath look almost exactly like Greensburg. Scary. If anyone's interested, here's a link to photos and the story...Ruskin Heights Tornado

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Hannah Ice Skating

Here's a video of Hannah at her ice skating class. The camera was low on batteries, which is why it's choppy, but here she is!

Season Finale

I'm still angry about the GA finale last night. Very angry. Couldn't they let at least one person be happy? Seriously. I can usually get some perspective and hope after reading the writer's blog, but the line, "everyone's single," has me more than a little upset.

George - Can't this poor guy catch a break? First, his Dad dies. Then he rushes into an unhappy marriage with Callie. Then the whole Izzy thing. Now, he fails his intern test? Seriously? I guess someone had to fail but George? Really?

Callie - Okay, so she got good news this epi. She's Chief Resident. I don't see anything that would make her worthy of the position, though. And when she finds out about George and Izzy (which I'm sure she's figured out already), it's really going to hit the fan.

Izzy - She's just pathetic

Bailey - How did she not get Chief Resident? Doesn't make sense to me.

Alex - Why can't he just get over himself already? Every time he has an opportunity to be happy, he screws it up somehow. Of course, just as things were going well for him and Izzy last season, Denny walked in so I guess it's not always his fault. I just don't get why he wouldn't tell Ava/Rebecca what she wanted to hear. Of course she wasn't there when he went back. So predictable.

Chief/Adele - They also seem to have a good ending. It looks as though they're going to work it out. It'll be interesting to see if he can better juggle work and family.

Cristina/Burke - So, just like that, Burke realizes that he's turning Cristina into someone else and doesn't want to marry her and moves out? Really? At least Cristina got the apartment. LOL! I'm really doubting that Isaiah Washington's going to be back next season, so I guess this was a good way to write him off the show.

Derek - Gets chief and then turns it down. This was one of the things that was keeping him from Mer and he gets it and says no? Yeah. Okay.

Meredith/Derek - Seriously? Derek goes all McDreamy and tells Mer that she's the love of his life and wants to have this huge talk right as they are heading to the church. Then he gets upset because Mer has to go? Ummm hmmm. In typical GA style, Mer's speech to the crowd about the wedding being over had a double meaning. Shonda confirmed it. So, I guess they're over. That sucks. What happened to all of the pining in season 1 and 2? Mer's had some really crappy things happen to her...she drowned, her mom died, her step-mom died, her father slaps her in front of everyone, on her way to the funeral Thatcher essentially calls her a murderer, she freezes on her intern exam and Derek tells her that he was flirting with an attractive girl (of course it's Lexie Grey) at Joe's and that was the highlight of his week. So, Derek, what was the highlight of Mer's week? Was it the step-mom kicking it and being blamed for it or was it her father slapping the crap out of her?

Lexie Grey - Seriously? They bring in Mer's half sister as an intern. The girl flirting in the bar with Derek is Mer's half sister. Come on. Oh, and of course she's an intern at Seattle Grace. Of course she is. I really don't think I can handle this triangle.

This show makes me so angry sometimes.

Son of A Mother F&*%#$@ B&%*$

The Grey's season finale was CRAP!!! LKAJDF;OIASUDFOLKASNDGFLS;IDHG;LARFDNGLJ!!! I can't even form the words. CRAP I TELL YOU!!!! CRAP!!!!!!

Shonda, what in the world are you doing to my show?!?

This One's For The Braves

Bradley Braves, that is. Or any Peorians who are interested. Dad sent pictures of the destruction going on. Gone is the Haussler pool and Sigma Chi as well as some houses on Maplewood.

Photos courtesy of Dad

Haussler Pool...


I think this is the street next to the Field House. If it is, I used to park here a lot on Tuesdays and Thursdays my Junior year.

I think this is Maplewood...I'm losing perspective here!


Is this Sigma Chi? I'm so confused

Hannah's Gymnastics

I feel like I've been neglecting Hannah a bit here on the blog, so this one's for her. Here are some pictures from her class this morning. She's too cute!

Didn't See This Coming

Raise your hand if you were shocked that Melinda was voted off of American Idol last night. My hand is raised way up in the air. I had said that I would love a Blake/Jordin Finale but I didn't think it would actually happen. When they told Jordin she made it through to next week and Melinda and Blake were left, I really thought they'd send Blake home. Not that I didn't like Melinda, because I did. She's a great singer but I think that Blake and Jordin would make albums that I would actually listen to.

So now, we have two left. Who's going to win? I seriously don't know. Either one could take it, but I think I may have to go with Jordin for the win this season.

A Couple More Pictures

Jacob has a project for school where he has to make a weather instrument. Out of the choices: a anemometer (measures wind speed), wind vane, barometer, and rain gauge, he chose the barometer but we did end up making a rain gauge for us. He's pretty proud of his homemade barometer and is checking it constantly. (BTW, I have directions for making each of these if anyone is interested)

Daniel thought it would be funny if Knuckles was actually Batman.

Updated Grey's Sneak

I knew that Derek saying "yeah, you should be worried" was edited in since he wasn't talking as he walked away. Apparently, this ran on some Canadian show last night. The quality is poor but that's okay. Looking forward to tomorrow night!

Karate Kids

Here is a photo of the boys in their uniforms. I think they are so cute! My little white belts!

Here's another of them striking a pose...

Grey's Sneak

Before I post, just want to let Dad know that Grey's is 1 hour 15 minutes this week.

Okay...so it's Season Finale time. I bet you are all happy about that. LOL! Anyway, here's a sneak peek at this week's episode. I just want to say, for the record, that Derek's an ass (actually, I think the phrase I've been using is Mother F*$%@*)


And a new promo...

Playing With My New Camera

Mike gave me a new camera for Mother's Day and it has a video feature on it. Not only does it take video, but it also takes audio! I took a short movie of the kids and uploaded it to YouTube (cause I didn't know how else to get it on here). Let's see if this works...

500th Post

Seriously? 500 posts? Crazy. Maybe I post too much!

Friday evening, Mike left work a little early and we went up to see Spiderman 3. It completely held Daniel's attention for 2 1/2 hours. He just sat there mesmerized. In my opinion, the first two were much better. They just opened too many cans of worms for a 2 1/2 hour movie. The kids had a great time and I guess that's what matters.

When we got home, our new neighbors were moving in. They seem very nice. There was a group gathered in Amy A-T-S's driveway...I think they were watching them move in. Mike, the kids and I walked over to introduce ourselves and told them that if they needed anything to let us know.

We get the kids in bed and I hear a knock on the door. One of the ladies next door wanting to know if she could borrow a screwdriver. What I still find interesting is they came over here and knocked on the door instead of going just across the street where everyone was gathered to ask. Sue made a valid point, that they probably didn't introduce themselves but we did and that's why they came here. It's strange to have people living in that house.

Hannah was told on Friday that she could move up to the next level in ice skating. I don't know if I think she's ready for the next level. When I talked with her teacher, she said that I could keep her in the same level and if everyone is really below her then they would move her up. So, really she's not stuck if I put her in this level again. She really loves the ice skating and she's not bad at it.

Now, if we could just get Daniel to pay attention in Tae Kwon Do.

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to wish all you Mamas out there a happy day!

What Have I Done?

I was sitting at gymnastics yesterday, plotting out everyone's summer. As I was plugging activities into my calendar, I made the realization that everyone's activities are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays, Hannah has ice skating, the boys and Mike have Tae Kwon Do and I have Bible Study. On Thursdays, Hannah has gymnastics and the boys and Mike have Tae Kwon Do. Thursdays aren't going to be so bad but Tuesdays are going to be full of running around. I guess I should be thankful that they don't each have 2 baseball games a week like last year. That got tiresome.

Cleaning Day

I've been bitten by some strange cleaning bug. I mowed the lawn this morning, have load #3 in the washer (and loads 4 and 5 on standby), cleaned, swept and mopped the kitchen...cleaned and vacuumed the living room, cleaned and swept the half bath and I'm getting ready to head upstairs to clean the bathrooms and the kids' rooms. I also need to vacuum the stairs and the bedrooms. Right now, the first floor looks pretty good but I expect that it'll all be trashed by the time Mike gets home.

Crack That Whip

I went to pick up Daniel from school today and from the minute he got into the van, I knew I was in for it. He immediately began yelling about how Caden messed up his Spanish worksheet and how upset he was. I told the kids that I needed to run to the grocery store and Daniel began yelling that his Game Boy wasn't in the car. Sorry, I'm not going back to get it. You can play with it when you get home. He starts screaming at me. I decided to ignore it.

By the time we got to the store, he seemed to have calmed down but began screaming about his Game Boy again on the way inside the store. I told him to knock it off so that we could get groceries and we'd get it soon. We go in and Hannah helps me pick out some apples. I asked Daniel to help too but he was just screaming at me. I bent down and whispered to him that he was embarrassing himself and he needed to stop. He then begins screaming for everyone to stop looking at him. I picked him up and gave him a time out in the middle of the produce section. Meanwhile, Hannah and I are picking out various fruits and veggies. Daniel decides to get up and start picking out his own apples...oh, and he's yelling at me while doing it. I pick him up and put him on the back of the cart. I told him that if he didn't stop, we were going to have to leave.

At this point, a lady that worked in floral comes over and asks if a balloon would make him happy. I told her thank you but I was not rewarding his temper tantrum. However, Hannah's been really good so she could have one. So now, he's freaking out because he's not getting a balloon. He begins punching my chest, I put him down to try to get him to stop and he begins kicking me in the ankles. Hard. So hard, my right foot was sort of numb for an hour after.

I pick up Hannah out of the cart and set her down. I pick up Daniel, throw him over my shoulder and walk out of the store. I put him in the van and while I walked around to get Hannah in, he opened the door and took off running through the parking lot. I managed to grab him and put him back into the van and told him that if he did it again, I'd break out the 5 point harness.

Hannah's oblivious to what's going on and is thrilled with her balloon. Daniel's now screaming that we left without his apples and I told him that's what happens when you hurt mom. We get home and I didn't even ask him to get out of the car. I opened the door, unbuckled him and took him upstairs to his room, where he spent the next 3 hours. He didn't think that I would make him eat lunch up there, but I did. I told him that I was done with this. Not only was his behavior unacceptable but it was dangerous and I wasn't about to put up with it. I had to let him out so that we could go get Jacob and I tell you what, I've never seen a more compliant kid. We were even able to head back up to the store and had no problems (he even told me that he was embarrassed to go back in there because of how he had been).

This evening, Daniel decided that he was going outside. It was getting close to bathtime and I didn't want him going out. He was already out the door at this point. I told him that he could go outside tomorrow but now it was time to come in. He told me no, he was going out. I looked at him and said, "excuse me?" He looks at me and says, "I'm sorry," and starts to come back in. Then he stops and says, "no. I'm playing outside." Get your butt inside and you can spend the rest of the time in your room. He comes in but refuses to go to his room. Mike gets up and tells Daniel to go to his room. Daniel tells him no. Mike picks him up and tells him that when we tell him to do something, he needs to do it and he can stay in his room. Mike comes downstairs and asks, "now what?" LOL! Now, he stays in his room.

I wonder how long it's going to take for him to realize he's not in control.

Random Post For A Monday

Sue started something with her hummingbird feeder. We got one last week and Jacob has been watching that thing like a hawk. We had one hummingbird buzz it a couple of times and even tried to drink from it. That was Friday. We hadn't seen him again and Jacob was upset. We decided to try to change out the stuff inside to see if that would help. It was only after taking the thing apart to refill it that I realized that I had put it together wrong. I'm guessing the hummingbirds couldn't get to the stuff inside. So, we put it back outside and Jacob resumed waiting for "Jim" (that's what he named the hummingbird).

Between thunderstorms yesterday, I looked out at it and saw Jim buzz the feeder. I called Jacob and he was mad because Jim was gone. Another minute later, Jim came back and ate for about 5 minutes. It began raining again so Jim took off but Jacob was happy that Jim had gotten a bite to eat.

At some point, someone discovered a bottle of super glue in a drawer. Hannah thought it was nail polish (I didn't realize I bought the kind with a brush) and tried painting her nails with it. Jacob discovered what she was doing and closed up the bottle, but it was too late. Luckily, her fingers didn't get stuck together but she had super glue all over her fingers...and she was not happy about it.

A little while later, I guess Daniel discovered the glue and tried doing something with it. I only discovered what he had been doing after he was trying to wash it off. Sorry buddy, super glue has to wear off, it certainly doesn't wash off. So, at the end of the night, 4 of the 5 of us had super glue on their hands (I got some on me when I discovered what Daniel was doing). Ugh.

Will It Stop...Ever?

**Update** According to my weatherman, as of 7AM, we've gotten 4.39 inches of rain (since Sunday morning, so that's a little better than 24 hours). Lee's Summit (to the north) has gotten a whopping 5.51 inches of rain in the same time frame. And it's still raining here!

It rained all day yesterday and it's set to rain most of today, and tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after (do you see a pattern forming here?). We got about 3 inches of rain yesterday and have gotten almost an inch already today and our backyard has become a pond again. I wonder how long it will take for it to dry out.

Dad called last night for a check-in and while we were talking, the weather radio went off. The display said "tornado warning" but the guy talking said that it was a "thunderstorm warning." The display eventually changed to say thunderstorm but it freaked me out a little. Mike casually asks, "Do we need to head to the basement?" No, not yet anyway. The weather radio was going off every 20 minutes or so, prompting Mike to make the comment, "It puts a level of stress on things that doesn't need to be there, doesn't it?" Yeah, but I like to have it if we need it. I got so tired of hearing the thing go off (for severe thunderstorm warnings) that I finally put the thing on display only around 10pm (it still beeps a little when you get an alert).

Jacob kept asking about the guy who delivers the warnings and such. Who is he? Does he know how wierd his voice is? Where is he coming from? Hannah loves to sit and listen to it. She gets angry when a girl comes on because she thinks that it should just be the guy. I think that this poor radio is going to get a workout in this area of the country.

Severe Weather

I'm sure you have all heard about the massive tornado that hit about 300 miles from here. It's crazy to think that a tornado can completely wipe out an entire town, but it did. Someone on the weather blog posted a link to the Wichita station and I was able to watch the storms roll through Western Kansas for most of the night. When I finally went to bed around 2am, there were still 3 active tornado warnings posted and about 5 towns had been hit. Wow. Welcome to Kansas.

They say that we have severe weather threats for this evening into tomorrow. Hopefully, it'll all miss us.

Say a little prayer for those hit by last night's tornado.

Promo

Here's next week's promo...



And here's a sneak peek at next week...

Another Grey's Post

First, let me say I'm a little upset with the way they did this. I was hoping for an hour of Grey's and then an hour of the Addison Show but they intermingled it all and there was too much going on with GA to spend so much time on Addison. However, I did like the spin-off. Plus, with Taye Diggs, you just can't go wrong.

That said...they really glossed over the Burktina wedding, Mer/Der issues, Gizzie and the whole Susan thing.

The wedding planning...I would have loved to have seen more at the bridal store. Seriously. That could have been really funny. Glossed over.

Mer/Der. Shonda's screwing up my favorite couple. The promo next week has me really scared. That girl Derek's talking to at the bar had better be another sister...if he hooks up with someone else, I may be done with this show.

Gizzie...okay, so there was tension between Izzy and Callie. So George and Izzy kissed in the elevator. Again, glossed over.

Then there's Susan. Can Meredith catch a break? She almost dies. Her mother dies and then her stepmother (as Sue would say) goes to kick it with Jesus? Ummm...okay.

I'm beginning to wonder about the mental stability of her highness, Shonda Rhimes. Two episodes left in the season, girl. Time to really kick it into high gear here!

Pile It On

So I just got off of the phone with Mrs. P, the school psychologist. They've had to tweak Daniel's behavior plan to work better for him. Apparently, Mrs. T, Daniel's teacher, is upset because the plan works for other kids in the class, but not for Daniel. Whatever. All I know is that they are now bribing Daniel to be good. He gets a good report for the day and he gets a Yu-Gi-Oh card. According to Mrs. P, Daniel wants to be good and is desperately trying but needs something tangible.

You wanna know what I think? I think it's all crap! I think they are expecting too much from these 5 and 6 year olds and are doing whatever they can to get these kids to act a year or two older than they are. Amazingly, more than 1/4 of the boys in his class have "behavior plans" and apparently are lacking social skills (something Daniel has NEVER lacked...I'm sorry, but it's BS). We didn't have any of these "problems" in Virginia...not in preschool or in his kindergarten.

In A Funk

I don't know if it's just because we haven't seen the sun in a while or what but I can't seem to shake this funk I'm in. I feel like I can't do anything right and the kids are driving me nuts. Hannah's been the worst offender. She seems to think that the more she nags and complains, the more she'll get. I think Daniel senses something and has been all lovey with me.

I'm tired of the moms at gymnastics. The only person I really talk to is one of the girls' nanny. The other moms are considerably older than me (we're talking pushing 50 here...their young kids are adopted and most have teenage/adult children) and I'm tired of feeling incompetent and inferior. You send your children to public school? You couldn't pay me to live in the area you do. They're just so snobby there. I would never live south of 95th Street. I'm just tired of it. Their kids are monsters...they don't listen to a thing anyone tells them, and half of the time don't even participate at all. Their mothers don't want to discipline them because "they had such a rough first 7 months of life back in China/Guatamala." Whatever. You are not doing your child any favors ladies.

Ugh!!!

For Dad

Saw a license plate holder that said

I'm not speeding...I'm QUALIFYING!

Seen Today...

I was driving past the Shell station on my way to get Daniel from school this morning and I had to laugh when I saw the gas prices:

87 Octane: $2.99/gallon

Plus Fuel: Both Arms

Premium Fuel: Both Legs

Hey...What Is That Thing?

The other night, I was out checking out the flowers in the garden when I spotted something. I thought Jacob might like to see it, so I ran in to get him. Luckily, it was still there when we came back.

We both stood back and watched as what I thought was a hummingbird, went from flower to flower, sucking nectar with it's long tongue. Jacob looked closer and told me that it couldn't be a hummingbird because it had antenna. Hmmm. But it's the right size and hovers and acts just like one. After it had buzzed Jacob and completely scared the daylights out of him, we went it to see if we could find out what it was.

We looked up hummingbirds but couldn't find anything that looked like what we saw. We looked up moths but couldn't find anything that looked like what we saw. After a while, we gave up for the night and decided we'd give it another try later.

Jacob had mentioned to his teacher that we had seen something in the backyard that looked like a hummingbird but had antenna. She quickly said that it was probably a hummingbird moth. Hmmm. Never heard of one. As soon as Jacob got home from school, he quickly Googled it and, just like that, was a picture of what was buzzing around in the garden. You can take a peek right here. (if you click the top picture of the white-lined sphinx moth after going to the page, you'll see more photos of it.)

It was pretty cool to see and I hope that he comes back.

Can You Say Overprotective?

I took Daniel to the dentist this morning to have his cavities filled. Hannah was having a great time playing with the Duplos in the little play area they have. It's a nice sized area that has a little bitty opening for an entrance. She'd come out every now and then to show me the car that she was making for me. I had just finished my 4th magazine when a lady and her 7 year old daughter (I know because I heard her tell the receptionist) walked in. (I'm so happy I had pen and paper available to write all of this down! LOL!)

The mother was handed a clipboard to fill out paperwork for her daughter. The daughter was looking at the fish in the tank (they have a cool tank that has a lot of the same types of fish as in Finding Nemo) and was causing no problems to anyone. This mother was following her kid around the tank with the clipboard, trying to fill out the paperwork. She followed this kid everywhere. The girl went into the little play area and the mom followed, with the clipboard. She kept telling the girl to, "stay with mommy." But she wanted to play with the toys and the other kids. Seriously, where's the kid going to go, anyway? One of the hygenists came out to do a quick look at her teeth before actually doing the cleaning and the mother insisted on going (they had asked her to stay behind). I really thought that this was the end of the story, but they came back out a minute later, the mother still trying to fill out the paperwork.

Right after they came back out, the mother said something about not being able to get anything done. Umm, well, if you'd sit down and let your kid play, you'd get it done just fine.

So, the following begins again. The other kids were looking at this mother like she was nuts and no one wanted to play with the little girl because the mom kept interferring. At some point, the mom finished the paperwork and while she was handing it to the receptionist, the little girl went into the play area. The mom freaked out! When she saw that she was in the play area, she looked at the girl, picked her up and said, "you were lost! You can't just wander off like that! I was scared!" WTF? She had walked 7 feet away.

Anyway, the mom proceeds to sit down at the entrance of the play area and would comment and correct everything the girl was doing. Since no one would play with her, she got bored pretty quickly. She wanders out of the playroom and over to a thing they have set up for toddlers. She starts playing with some of the beads (the mother's right on top of her again) and just when she looks like she's starting to have a little fun, the mother tells her, "Okay, it's someone else's turn." Number one, there were no other kids around and two, it was big enough for 4 kids to play with.

She goes back into the play area (her mom sits down at the entrance again) and the girl starts to play with the wooden trains they have. At one point, she pushes a train down the track and it flies off the table. No big deal, right? This mother actually freaked out. "It's okay! It's okay! We'll fix it! We can put it back!" She yelled so loudly that the other kids jumped. You could tell the girl was so annoyed with her mom, she kept rolling her eyes and sighing. I've never quite seen anything like it.

On another note, they said that Daniel did a great job at the dentist. They also told me that Daniel will go really far in life because he's so persistent, smart and funny. All are completely true. I do have to laugh because he got so tired of waiting for the dentist that he walked out to the lobby because he was bored. The dentist saw him pretty quickly after that! LOL!