All Day Crop!

For those of you NOT in the scrapbook world... an All Day Crop is a full day devoted to scrapbooking and fellowship. Sometimes it's a full day devoted to fellowship and scrapbooking. Either way, it's fun... if you like to scrapbook! :)

This past Saturday I hosted an All Day Crop at my house. There were 6 of us girls and I wish I had pictures of all the tables lined up in our playroom!! It was packed full of tables, chairs and just about every scrapbook supply you can imagine!

Anyway, I didn't get a whole lot of layouts completed, but I did have a great time and that's what matters!

After lunch I had the girls participate in a little contest.
You had to make an 8x8 layout all about yourself. You had to use a photo of youourself (I took photos of the girls who didn't have any photos of just themselves... like me!) and you had to complete a few pre-selected sentences.
Sentences like:

• I am...
• I am not...
• I love...
• I hate...
• I like...
• I dislike...
• I enjoy...
• I do not enjoy...
• I always...
• I never...
• I need...
• I want...

They all turned out so GREAT! I even let Chandler get in on the action. She was DYING to "scrapbook with the girls" so I let her come in for a little while and complete the sentences. I took her photo and then I made the layout for her.

I promise these are Chandler's actual answers... word for word!

Do Your Kids Like Books?

Do you like FREE books?

Check out Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. **Note: This program may not be available in your area. Go to the website to see if there is a sponsor your state/county/city/community.

Chandler and Riley are both a part of this program. Well I should say, Chandler WAS until she turned 5... children are eligible from birth through 5 years old.

We started the program last May... it took about a month to get our first book... I think we joined in the middle of a cycle so we had to wait until the next one started.

Each month the girls get an age appropriate book delivered right to our mailbox.

Chandler LOVES to get mail so she was always extra excited when it was "book day". When her final book came (Ms. Bindergarten gets ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate) I had to explain to her that she wouldn't be getting any more books because she would be starting school soon.... anyone who knows Chandler would know that she was more than ok with this explanation since it means that kindergarten is closer than ever!

We have been more impressed with Riley's books than we have with Chandler's, but that's just our own personal opinion.

Riley loves to look at books so this has been a great program for her.
Some of Riley's favorites include:
Where's My Nose by Susan Ring
Look at the Animals! by Peter Linenthal
Look Look! by Peter Linenthal
Corduroy Goes to the Doctor by Don Freeman

So... check out the Imagination Library. It's free. You might as well sign up!

Riley "reading" with Daddy

Only Chandler!

Chandler says things on a regular basis that make me laugh... here's a good one.

Here's a little background: Our friends, Patty and Andy, just became grandparents. Their grandson's name is Baker and he is adorable!
When I told Chandler that Ms. Patty had a grandson named Baker she said, "Oh! Like the Bakerman in that Pat-a-Cake song!"

So...

Last night we were having dessert with our friends Jonathan and Amy.
This is a real life conversation between Chandler and Jonathan...

Chandler: "Pastor Jon-fin. Ms. Patty has a baby."
Jonathan: "Really? Ms. Patty at the church?"
Chandler: "Yep. She has a baby."
Jonathan: "Yeah. She has a grandbaby."
Chandler: "Yep, a grandbaby."
Jonathan: "What's his name again?"
Chandler: "Cooker."

After I finished laughing at her mistake I corrected her, "No Chan. His name is Baker."
"Oh yeah. I forgot, like the Bakerman!"

Baker. Cooker. They both work in a kitchen, right?

UGH!

Sorry if some of the photos aren't showing up! I've reloaded and arranged them about 10 times. I have no idea why I'm having so much trouble with them!

11 month update

We have a had big start to 2008 here at the Miles House!

For Chandler is was:
*Her 5th Birthday
*A birthday photo shoot
and
*The Kindergarten Physical

For me is was:
*My Birthday
*Taking on the role of the Pre-school choir director at our church
and
**LOST returned to TV... we all know that has been the highlight so far! :)

For Brandon:
*Royal Ranger "Pinewood Derby Car Season" is now in full swing

This past month has been a really BIG one for Riley.
*She endured surgery
*She's obviously growing... her food intake is AMAZING! She's eating us out of house and home. Don't believe me... just wait till you see the photos!
*She loves to clap
*She has developed an extremely creepy laugh
*She seems to have bypassed the normal, "mama" and "dada" for more complex words like, "Uh Oh!" and "No No"
**One thing has NOT changed... she can't get enough of big sister Chandler!

So, here are the 11 month photos!

That's a night light she's holding.
You may remember the 8 month photo that was so difficult because she was really ANGRY or the 10 month photo that was difficult because of the snotty nose....
This one was a challenge because she was TOO HAPPY! Is that even possible?? YES! She was squealing, laughing, throwing the bear and trying to climb all over the chair. I was able to keep her still with the night light just long enough to get this shot.

"Hey Buddy! I know you! We meet here every month!"
This picture is also a good shot of her surgery incision. We had a follow-up appointment this past week. Her doctor said it's healing up nicely.
She wants us to come back in 6 months to see if the cyst had any impact on the astigmatism that she discovered at Riley's first eye appointment.

Silly Girls!
I love this picture... this is pretty much how the whole photo shoot went. Chandler would laugh and it would make Riley laugh. Riley laughing would make Chandler laugh... and it started all over again!

Proof of Riley's eating habits....
This is what Riley does after she eats everything in sight... she starts checking her arms, legs, belly, etc. for anything that might be left!

This particular day she sat in her high chair and ate for just about 2 HOURS!
I put her in her chair at 4:00 so she could eat and I could start dinner. She had a jar of baby food and some dry cereal. When she finished, she started hitting her tray demanding something else... I opened a can of greenbeans and gave her a few. She ended up eating just about the whole jar.
By then, it was a little after 5:00 and Brandon was home. We sat down for dinner and Riley demanded her portion as well! She ate a little of this and a little of that until we all finished dinner at about 6:00!

If you are trying to come up with an idea for a birthday gift for Riley, food is probably the way to go! :) Or maybe clothes... her belly is going to grow so large that we aren't going to be able to keep her in current clothes much longer!

1st Sucker

I know, babies aren't supposed to have hard candy.... especially babies that only have 6 teeth!!

BUT... It was the day before Riley's surgery and she got into the bag and opened the sucker wrapper all by herself... who was I to deny her a reward? :) It was only 1 dumdum!

Look how natural she looks... you would think she had been eating suckers her whole life! :)
Her salivary glands were working over time!

Good to the last lick!

Kindergarten Physical

So, I realize that I told you that Chandler was going for her physical and she would be getting 4 shots and she was handling the news pretty well, but I never told you how it went... the whole surgery thing took all of my attention for a while!

Here's how it all went down....

We dropped Riley off at my neighbor's house and headed to the doctor's office. I didn't think I could handle Riley and still give Chandler the attention she would need before, during and after 4 shots!!

Waiting

Still waiting... we actually didn't have to wait very long, but with 4 shots looming in the near future I'm sure it felt like an eternity!!!

When they called us back she immediately asked the nurse, "Do I get my 4 shots now?" The nurse looked at me as if to say, "YOU TOLD HER ABOUT THE SHOTS!?!?!"
Yes, I am one of "those parents" who doesn't want her child to find out at the last possible second that we are going to torture her!!! :)
The nurse never answered her.... I guess avoidance was the best way to handle it!

First was the weigh in: 43.5 lbs.
Chandler informed the nurse that she was wrong because last time she was 44 lbs. I told her that it was probably because the nurse had her take her shoes off this time.
"Do I get my shots now?"
Next was height: 3'8"
Again Chandler's response, "I thought I was 44!?!?" My response, "Yes, you are 44 inches. 3'8" is the same as 44"." She looked confused, but she was ok with it.
"Do I get my shots now?"
Next... Pee in a cup.
To which Chandler's response was, "WHAT?!?" WHY!"
Ok, I knew this one was coming... I had been informed by my pals Janna and Melanie (both whom have boys) that I should be prepared. I forgot to tell Chan about it, but I did have her drink extra fluids before we went to make it a little easier. Now, Chandler went to ALL of my ob visits while I was pregnant with Riley (I take that back... my neighbor kept her when I knew the doctor would be "checking" me) so she has seen me pee in a cup and we talked about it at the time, but it had been a while and she had forgotten so we talked about how the doctor needed to make sure she didn't have any "germs" in her body.... I didn't think I could really explain iron and all that so we went with germs. She was ok with that answer. It took her a while... that's alot of pressure for a 5 year old! She looked at me and said, "I think I just need to take a deep breath." I laughed at her and she said, "What?"
"Do I get my shots now?"
Hearing was next: Passed
Now, during our talk the day before (you may recall from the previous post all of the MANY questions she asked) we talked about how, "mommy, daddy, and aunt erin all had to have kindergarten physicals." To this she responded with, "How about Grammy? Did Grammy do it too?" WOW! Good question! Did you have to have Kindergarten Physicals in the 50s?? To help my argument I responded, "Of course she did!"
I told her about when I went (I didn't actually remember, but I remember having my hearing tested once a year in elementary school so I went with that memory and hoped that's how they still check hearing) and I had to wear earphones and every time I heard a beep I had to raise my hand. If the beep was on the left, I raised my left hand. If the beep was on the right, I raised my right hand.
So, the earphones they had looked like something out of "Return to Oz". If you have never seen this movie you really can't appreciate how startled I was when I first saw those earphones. It looked like a torture devise that they used on Dorothy in a psychiatric experiment at the beginning of the movie before she is "called back to Oz". Rent it sometime... it's WEIRD!
It took some SERIOUS convincing to get Chandler to put those things on her head! They were old and scary looking. After the nurse begged her and told her we would only try it once and if she didn't like it she could take them off she FINALLY gave in.
The nurse didn't even tell her what she should do (which I though was a gross oversight on her part), but as soon as Chan heard that beep she threw her little arm up in the air... I laughed because she did it with such force that it reminded me of the old black and white footage I've seen of Nazi soldiers saluting Hitler!
At one point she stopped raising her hand and I thought maybe we were done, but the nurse looked concerned and said, "Chandler do you hear those beeps?" Chandler stated rather matter of fact, "Yes, I hear them, but they are so quiet I don't think I should raise my hand." :)
"Do I get my shots now?"
Eye Exam: 20/30 (Great for a 5 year old.)
I have always wondered how they test a 5 year old for vision... what if they don't know all of their letters yet? Well, here's the answer. Pictures. The chart has about 6 different pictures on it. The nurse had her come up close to the chart and she asked her to identify all of the pictures (I'm guessing so that she could make sure she knew what all of them were before they added the distance factor). She knew them all so the nurse sent her to the appropriate distance and asked me to cover one of her eyes. "I can do it, mom" was Chandler's reply to the nurse's request... I would have expected nothing less!
She could see all of them except the bottom line (maybe it was the bottom 2, I can't remember now).
"Do I get my shots now?"
A little chat with the doctor:
In walks the doctor... Chandler's first question, "Are you going to give me 4 shots now?"
No not right now. Can I ask you some questions? Yes
What do you like to eat? Cheese
Do you like milk? Yes
Do you like green beans? Yes, they are my favorite
Really? My son hates them. Yes, I love them
Can I look at your belly? Are you going to give me shots?
Well, yes, but not right now. Ok, promise you won't put them in my belly? My mom said you will put them in my legs.
Yes, I promise.
She asked if I had any concerns. Chandler complains about her feet a lot so she looked at them and told me that she needs better arch support in her shoes... her ankles almost touch the ground... how have I never noticed this?!?! According to the doctor she should develop better arches over the next year to 18 months.
Then... the shots!
The nurse came in. Chandler asked, "Are those my shots? Are there 4 of them". The nurse didn't really answer her so I talked to her while the nurse prepped all of her stuff.
I had to really work with her (she would probably tell you I worked against her) to get her pants pulled down and hoist her up onto the table... then came the hard part. I literally LAID ON HER to keep her on the table. 4 shots. 2 in each thigh. She screamed like I've never heard her scream before and RIGHT IN MY EAR! I told her after it was over and we got her all dressed and sitting in my lap that I might need to take that hearing test because she screamed so loud! She started laughing and I think that helped some.
We headed out to the lobby. As we were walking down the hall she saw her doctor and said, "You can't give me anymore shots. I got 4 and NOW I can go to school!" Her doctor replied, "Are we still friends?" Chandler gave her a high 5 and said, "Yeah, I guess so!" She flashed a big grin and we were off!

Of course, as I promised, we stopped at Wal-mart for a prize. She picked out brand new markers and a Disney Princess painting set.

Every few days she'll ask me, "Mom? Am I all finished with shots?" My response (without scaring her to death), "You are done for now. You don't have to have anymore before you go to school."

Princess Party!

Ok! I know. Chandler's party was on January 5th and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it! To make up for the delay I've included a ton of photos. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them) In all honesty, I was waiting on a few pictures. Now that I have most of them, here are all the details!

Chandler wanted to have a Princess Tea Party for her birthday this year. Since turning 5 is a big deal we decided (well we being me and Chandler) that a Princess Tea Party would be perfect. However, as we went through the process of planning it kind of morphed into Princess Party and the "tea" part got dropped.

The Princesses! Left to Right: Maddie, Chandler, Abby and Lily.

Chandler was REALLY bummed that her pal Daphne couldn't make it to the party. She was out on the west coast visiting her grandparents.

Party Horns (or Party Sneakers, as Chandler calls them) were a HUGE hit with the girls. I bought a pack of 8 and it's a good thing because they each went through 2 a piece and could have easily gone through more! Kids this young don't really know how to blow into a horn without spitting and drooling all over the place!

A little pre-lunch dancing! I told you the horns were a hit!

Lunch Time!! Chandler made the menu: PB&J heart shaped sandwiches, carrots and dip, chips, pink princess punch and tea.

Chandler and Maddie telling Knock Knock Jokes. Have you ever heard 3, 4, and 5 year olds tell Knock Knock Jokes?!? It's enough to make you crazy!!!

Abby and her party horn!

Chandler and her sandwich... she asked for PB&J, but she doesn't even like jelly. I had to make her a special PB only. She also doesn't like to dip her carrots so I have no idea why she would even THINK of carrots and dip.

Maddie thinking up another good joke to tell

Little Lily!

Present Time!!!

Fashion Dress Up set from Abby and Ms. Jennifer

Ariel and Prince Eric "Barbie Dolls" from Mommy and Daddy

Shoes from Aunt Erin

A Princess Paddle Ball game from Lily and Ms. Becky

Time for Cake!! Chandler REALLY wanted this particular cake.
Last year we did Princess cupcakes and that worked out great! This year she insisted on "cake, NOT cupcakes!!" We got "the" Ariel cake. All of the girls "oohed and ahhed" over it, but I don't think any of them ate more than 3 bites!!!

**Note to self: Next year get the cupcakes and save yourself the hassle of cutting a cake that no one is going to eat!

Happy Birthday Chandler!

After the cake the girls ran around playing with all of Chandler's princess stuff. From all of the laughs and giggles I would say they enjoyed themselves.
For our "craft" the girls painted mermaid magnets. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us got pictures of them painting them! We were too busy trying to help them keep the paint on the magnets and off of themselves!!

Chandler gave out her party bags and it was time for everyone to go!

Chandler and Abby saying goodbye!

Once everyone was gone, Chandler wasted no time breaking into her new V-Smile games...

and her Fashion Dress Up Set from Abby. Set includes slinky dress, beaded necklace, elbow length gloves (not pictured), feather boa, rhinestone sunglasses, rhinestone studded cellphone with case, and "puppy carrying purse" complete with her very own puppy.

"Huh? There was a party here? I must have slept through it!"
Riley actually slept all the way through lunch.
After presents, the girls loved on her and were very happy to have the little sister at the party. I bet that won't be the case in a few years... when she's not a baby anymore.