Free Katie

As if keeping up with our 3 kids isn't hard enough, Dylan and Katherine usually show up with some extras.

Katherine was supposed to arrive home from school yesterday with a friend. But she arrived alone. No Katie.

Katie had lost her permission slip to leave with Katherine and had been sent away in tears to attend her usual after-school program.

I felt really bad that she was upset, and I felt even worse when I couldn't get in touch with her mom, who was still thinking that Katie was with me. So Katherine and I jumped in the car and set off to rescue Katie.

We didn't even know where to find her, but we finally located the right place. Of course it was locked tight, but we sneaked in behind a man after he punched in the security code. We didn't get far, however, before the administrator found us and thwarted our effort. So we weren't able to actually free Katie. But we were at least assured that her mom knew where she was.

To make Katie feel better, we promised to reschedule for today. So, this afternoon, I'll be counting heads again. And if I'm lucky, everyone will be accounted for.

Dylan Turns 11!

It's hard to believe that our Dylan is 11 years old!
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We started the celebration early by taking her to Six Flags last Saturday. She invited three of her friends, Elizabeth, Vincent and Travis, to go with us, and I can say with confidence that, in the high energy department, Vincent and Travis can give Dylan a run for her money any day. Somehow I managed to convince Scott that I should take Katherine and Isaac to the kiddie area while he took the rest of them off in the opposite direction and that we should meet back together after a few hours. He still hasn't fully recovered. (I'll try to post pictures later, but they're on another camera.)

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The pictures above were taken yesterday - on her official birthday. Her friend, Jenna, spent the day with her. And after almost a week of birthday excitement, even Isaac couldn't take any more. He fell asleep before we even had cake! (The rest of us weren't far behind.)

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We are truly blessed to have Dylan in our lives. She is so special. And so loved. Very much.

Robby and Krisha

We had a great time last week when Robby and Krisha came up from Alabama to visit for a few days. We spent lots of time catching up, and the time flew by.

The girls weren't too happy that they had school and missed our day trips, but Isaac thrived on getting all that extra attention. He especially enjoyed the fact that "Ms. Keesha" would laugh at his many attempts at humor (i.e., adding "poo-poo head" into the conversation at every opportunity).

They left promising to come back soon. We're going to hold them to that!

The Temp

I was cracking up when Dylan came home from school telling me about art class. They were learning the techniques of drawing people, so they had to choose someone from the class be the live model. Well, guess who they chose?

Of all the students in the class, Dylan was probably the most bizarre of choices. The only time I've ever seen Dylan still for an hour was in bed. Asleep. In the middle of the night. And even then I'd be hard pressed to say that she was still for an hour.

She was actually indignant that they complained about her wiggling around. And the more they wanted her to be still, the harder it got. (I'm sure.)

I hope she's not holding her breath waiting on a call-back any time soon. The only job I can imagine that would be any harder for her would be miming. Talk about impossible!

Re-Pay

I've enjoyed the convenience of Katherine having a "lunch account". No more lunch money to fool with. Just send money occasionally to deposit into her account. It's as easy as that.

But "easy" comes at a price. The last time I deposited, I knew she'd have enough to get her through April. So I was surprised this morning when she said her account was getting low. Surely I wasn't off by more than 2 weeks. That's when she told me about "re-buy".

Re-buy is when you buy again.

But why would you want to buy again?

Well, like, if I really like what we're having and want more, I re-buy. Or if someone else wants some, I re-buy for them.

So, for a few weeks now, lunch has been on Katherine. (Or on me.)

This is the point where I told her about "re-sandwich". That's when you have a bologna sandwich on Monday. And on Tuesday, you have one again. And so on and so on.

I-Gol Mania

Yes, we are again hooked on American Idol. So much so that the kids all morph into the different Idol personalities every Tuesday and Wednesday night.

We have Randy (Dylan) who exclaims throughout each performance, "Ooooh that's pitchy."

We have Simon (Katherine) who loves to roll her eyes and complain about "song choice". She has even earned the privilege of being the designated Simon at school where playing Idol has replaced hopscotch and hand clapping games on the playground.

And finally, we have Ryan Seacrest (Isaac) who recognizes the opening music and starts screaming, "American I-Gol, American I-Gol, American I-Gol" with so much enthusiasm that he could possibly have a future in broadcasting if he could just learn how to pronounce those darn D's.

Oh yeah, and there's Gracie - the closest thing we have to Paula. She just sits there looking dumb.

Leading the Troops

Scott put his "crisis management" experience to good use yesterday while dealing with a dozen high energy / hyperactive 10 and 11 year old girls. (Imagine 12 Dylans)

He and Dylan hosted her Girl Scout Troop at our home yesterday, and he managed to pull off 2 hours of activities ranging from a walk to the nearby nature park to painting flower pots to digging in soil and planting plants.

He did a great job, but he literally collapsed into a chair after the last one walked out the door, and he didn't move much throughout the remainder of the evening. The girls loved him, though, and begged him to host them again soon. I think I'll surprise him by signing him up to be a troop leader!

We're Back...I hope

If you're wondering if we've dropped off the face of the earth, the answer is - Well, yes. Sort of.

After hunting eggs on Easter, Dylan began feeling sick. She spent the rest of the week - unfortunately her Spring Break - sick.

Dylan was sick through Friday, and on Saturday I woke up with a full blown case of the flu. Everything between then and now is a blur. Only after receiving a truckload of medications from the doctor on Tuesday has the fog slowly begun to clear.

Obviously, Scott took care of everyone while I was MIA because I counted heads this morning and all were accounted for. The only one missing was Scott himself. After arranging for our friend, Stacye, to come and sit with me today, he left on a business trip to New Orleans. In fact, I think he left for the airport about 5 hours early, leaving absolutely no possibility of missing his flight out of here. I can't say that I blame him. I'm just hoping that it wasn't a one-way flight!