Haddon's First Trip to the Theatre

For a while Casey has been promising Norah that sometime he would take her to see Wall-E. And today we thought that we would make it a whole family outing. First we went to lunch at Taco Bell, where Haddon was very grumpy. And on the way to the restaurant, Norah was nodding off a little bit. We began to wonder if our adventure would work!

But Norah was energized by her taco and rice, and although Haddon's mood shifted, we figured that he would shape up when he saw the "giant tv".

Needless to say, he perked up! When Haddon saw the commercial's he exclaimed, "Wow!" and pointed to the screen in amazement. The seats were very fun for him as he rocked them back and forth, folding and unfolding his chair.

Then it was time for the movie to begin, and he was mesmerized. Sitting on my lap he barely moved a muscle throughout the entire picture. In a climactic scene, he couldn't help but shout out a little, pointing at the screen.

Norah enjoyed the movie as well, but was more antsy. With only twenty minutes left she declared to her father that she was ready to go, and began to walk out. She stood and sat, but all in all was very good and enjoyed herself. At one point the movie goes silent suddenly, and we could hear her little voice chanting, "Wall-E! Wall-E!" -rallying behind the little robot as he tried to help humans return to earth.

It was fun to have a fun afternoon like that, and it is something that we will remember and think fondly of.

Introducing Victor and Sally

Well, tragically Tony the white fish died after only 4 days with our family, and Eunice, the orange fish, followed him on the Fish's Long Flush today. So, today I went with the kids to Petsmart again to replace the replaceable fish.

Norah was fine with what happened. She has accepted death- at least as well as a little girl can at the ripe ol' age of three. But we welcomed Victor, a silvery black fish and Sally, another orange goldfish. Norah predicts that Victor will die first, but Sally will be alive two months. We'll see.

I didn't figure pictures were necessary since, who knows how long we will be blessed by Victor and Sally?

RIP Tony

Norah has had her first experience with death. Her white fish Tony died sometime last night. He was behaving strangely, and we wondered if he was fading. But alas, he is gone, and Norah seems fine with that. He was only in our home for 4 days, so she's doing okay. When her dad showed her the fish that had to be flushed, she said, "Oh. Now we have to get another fish." She has also asked if Eunice will die, and we told her that she will eventually. Norah seemed to accept that.

So she'll be fine.

Summer Fun

Norah and Haddon have enjoyed some new outside play toys- thanks to Haddon's birthday money and Nana and Papa Lute!

When Dad was Away...

This past week Casey was in Santa Clarita for a week of school at the Masters College; so the kids and I were on our own. Well, the kids seemed to figure out that mommy was alone, and that there was only one of me- and two of them.

Norah, throughout the week, wanted to dress herself- so that made for some fun outfits. Here, you can see, she is proudly wearing a new Disney Princess nightgown that she got in the mail from her Nana Lute, a sun hat that is too small, and her pink furry winter boots. It's been in the 90's here.

And Haddon just proves to us all the time that he is truly 100% boy. He doesn't flinch at being dirty as his girly sister does, and I have picture proof to show it. He continues to be a climber too. He keeps climbing up on that spa that you can see right by him, and then runs around in circles on top, nearly making my heart skip a beat! He comes way too close to the edge for my taste!

Also, the last day that we were on our own, I was in the shower, and when I came out, Norah proudly displayed her arms and legs tattooed with pink and black marker- all stripes. You see, she was pretending that she was a cat. Apparently she was a black and pink striped cat. And being the nice big sister that she is (sometimes), Haddon got to be a cat too. It was not washable marker. And you can see that she still has pink on her arms in the pictures of her with her goldfish!

Needless to say, I'm glad to have my husband back, even though he'll be leaving again in a week.

Norah's First Pet

We went to the pet store last night and got Norah an aquarium with two goldfish. She has been dying to get a fish lately for some reason. And she loves her new fish; she has named them Tony and Eunice (Tony is the white one; Eunice is orange).

Celebrating Haddon

Tomorrow Haddon will be two, and today we had a little get-together with our good friends, the Vaughns, at a nearby park to bbq hot dogs and play. It was a low-key celebration, but we had a blast- even in the heat! We are so grateful for Calvin, Jackson and Chloe as friends for Norah and Haddon.