New...and Improved...or Not

Dylan has an application on her phone that allows her to speak into it, saying a person's name or number, and it will automatically come up for you. Supposedly.

We were riding in the car and she was experimenting with it. Dylan would say, "Mom" and her phone would reply with either, "Missed calls?", or the name of someone else. And the name her phone would give would sound nothing like the name Dylan had spoken. For example, for "Mom", it would respond with something like, "Are you saying, 'Alexandra'?"

This went on for a good 20 minutes or so, with all of us, including Isaac, giving tips: "Hold it further away from your mouth", "Closer", "Louder", "No, that's too loud". And so on.

Finally, that dumb phone said, "Are you saying, 'Mom'?"

We all clapped and cheered. And Dylan excitedly asked, "Now, isn't that a lot easier than having to dial it?"

Uhhhhh......???

Singapore - More Views

This in one of the pools at Scott's hotel. Much better image than the toilet.



He says that the streets and sidewalks are all very nice and clean.



There are also lots of nice malls. He knew I would like that!



Time Magazine named Singapore's Gardens the best in Asia. Scott spent time walking around them trying to ward off jet lag. He succeeded by staying awake until 10:00 p.m. their time, which was 10:00 a.m. our time.



Banana trees are everywhere.



The trees not only have resurrection ferns, but this one has a bird's nest fern that Scott says is as big as a small car. I wish he would take a real camera so we could see better!



Swans swimming under Nibung Palm trees.



A rain tree at the garden entrance.



The U.S. Embassy is just 2 blocks from his hotel. Always a welcome sight!

Singapore - 1st View

After a 22 hour flight, Scott has arrived in Singapore. And 22 hours on a plane has obviously had an adverse effect. He sent a picture of a toilet. (It is interestingly different, I have to admit.)

"I Stealed It"

This weekend, we stumbled onto a little secret in Isaac's room. His "stash". He has a little cart behind his bedroom door that usually holds puzzles and game pieces. But when I opened the top drawer, I found Scott's missing bible, Katherine's bible, and a necklace of Dylan's.

"Isaac, what's this?" Daddy's bible.

"Where'd you get it?" I stealed it.

"What's this?" Kafrine's bible.

"How did it get here?" I stealed it, too.

"Who's necklace is this?" That's Dylan's. I wiked it, so I stealed it, too.

So, is stealing a bible really a crime? Something to ponder.

Shhhhhhh!!!!!

The kids have been in school for 8 days and already the dreaded teacher's note. You know, the one that says,

"Isaac is working hard at using an indoor voice."

Uh - oh. We've been down this road before. This letter will be followed by all the 'friendly' reminders to "please work with Isaac on developing the habit of using a quiet voice when he is indoors".

Okay, so we KNOW Isaac is loud. We don't need these little reminders. After all, he is with us for the remaining 21 hours of the day!

The only thing I know to do at this point is provide the teacher with a stamp that says, "Loud, Again". She could use this for his daily progress report and at least save herself the effort of writing it out.

Paris Pictures (taken from Scott's BlackBerry today)

The sun is setting on Notre Dame.



Paris traffic circle, the Pantheon in the distance.



People sitting along the one of the many paths. Jet lagged, fell asleep in a chair here earlier.



A line of chestnut trees in the afternoon sun.



A royal residence in the park, from the 15th Century.



At the Luxembeourg Park outside his hotel. Hundreds of people out enjoying the sunny day.

Kind of Blah

Scott travels regularly. It's just pretty much routine for us...no biggie. But he (a) rarely travels on the weekend, (b) rarely travels out of the country, and (c) is rarely gone for an extended number of days. So I'm feeling a little out of sorts after he left for Paris today. On his agenda: France, Belgium and Egypt.

I guess it's the combination of Sept. 11, rain, cold, dreariness, and all the other aforementioned things that have me in a funk. Not to mention my newfound fear - more like borderline phobia - of getting the dreaded Swine flu. If I have to get it, just please, please don't let it be while Scott is gone. (And he has another one of these weekend/global/long trips coming up in two weeks.) So, if you have any mood enhancing, immunity boosting tricks, kindly share. In return, maybe I can get Scott to send you a pyramid postcard.

Back To School

Winner of the "Most Sleepy Eyes" Award. She was awake at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep.



Winner of the "Asked a Million Times When School Was Gonna Start" Award.



Winner of the "You Can Never Have Too Many Accessories" Award. (Hint: The glasses are not prescription.)

Isaac's 4th Birthday

Isaac's birthday was Sunday. We celebrated with his requested meal of grilled fish, broccoli, rice, chocolate cake, and chocolate chip cookies. Not your typical preschool fare, but Isaac's favorites.

I have to admit, there have been moments when I've contemplated Isaac with a little bit of concern. From day one, life with this little guy has never been simple. Interesting, surprising, complicated...yes. Dull, quiet, easy...not so much. I guess if I had to sum up Isaac in one word, in all honesty, it would be - LOUD. He is just plain loud. He is loud when he talks, he is loud when he plays, he is loud when he eats, and he most certainly is loud when he's not a happy camper!

But, as he gets older, a new side of Isaac is becoming more prominent. His sweet side. He's always been loads of fun, definitely. But this loving side is really just emerging. The hugs, the "I wuv oo's", the kisses. The sweetest thing in the world is hearing him spontaneously announce, "I wuv our famiwy". Well, I 'wuv our famiwy', too. And I'm so happy that this little fellow joined us four years ago. So very, very happy.

More From Summer

Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont



Lake Champlain (Adirondack Mountains in the background)



Sailing on Lake Champlain



The City of Burlington



Katherine and one of her friends from camp



Funny picture of Dylan resting at night. Funny because this is the only picture we have of her from the trip. I asked the girls to take pictures at camp. Katherine took over 100. Dylan to one...on the bus.



Cambridge, Maryland



Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge



Maryland



Daydreaming



Crabbing



Hunting for treasure



Scott and Isaac



Playing Checkers



Scott and our big girl



**Funny for the day**
Katherine recently went to the orthodontist. Isaac, who always wants to be like his big sisters, has been walking around today, showing his teeth and saying, "I need bracelets on my teeth, too."

Now to the pictures...sorry there are so many. I'm trying to fit most of our summer into one blog entry. The first ones are from our trip to Vermont. We went there at the end of July, less than a week after returning from Alabama.

The last pictures are from Maryland. We went there the last week of August. It was the same weekend that Hurricane Bill was supposed to dump tons of rain on the area, but we got lucky. It only rained a few times during the evening hours when we were already inside.

Now on to fall. School starts on Tuesday!

Alabama - Grandmother and Granddaddy's

The older cousins at Kim's lake house.



Kaili and Isaac



Dylan with her "whopper" of a fish!



Caleb and Isaac...trouble in the making!



Alex - the best little fisherman in Alabama. I caught one fish to his twenty...no joke.



We also went to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville.



Ready for blast off!

Alabama - Mawmaw and Pawpaw's

The best thing about the south? The food!!! (especially Mawmaw's)



Yes. Isaac is actually driving. (He was actually a really good driver!)



The kids went to Vacation Bible School. They all had fun, but Isaac absolutely loved it!






We spent Randy's birthday at Maynor Creek in Mississippi.






Aunt Pearl has rescued another baby deer. It was a tiny little thing and would bleat like a goat...really cute.