wishes

How does one become a butterfly?" she asked. "You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar~by Tja'Sha

repower america

www.repoweramerica.org

to heather

hoping things look up!

breakfast banana splits

the 5 minutes before we leave for school each weekday morning, are frantic ones. we pack in dressing, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, washing off dishes, putting on socks and shoes, and gathering homework and keys in crazy record time. i try to lure the kids in earlier, but there is just always something more important holding them up...except this morning. i announced, "if you quick get ready, we are going to have banana splits for breakfast!" needless to say they were in the kitchen dressed in a flash. here was the catch: they were breakfast versions of the sweet treat and here is our recipe:

1 sliced banana

1 cup yogurt (frozen the night before to give the illusion of ice cream)

blueberries and strawberries

rice crispies sprinkled on top

they would have loved a cherry on top if i would have had them, but even without, the treat was a hit, healthy, and easy! success!

ferrari madness

okay, so wyatt and my grandfather have had this little obsession with ferrari over the past year! wyatt knows every make and model. he just LOVES them! todd took the boys a few months back (you may remember wyatt's post with his pics) and he collects all the little models he can find. well, i guess he has been speaking my grandpa's language because a ferrari is the car my grandfather had always wanted. he and wyatt daydreamed of times where he they could drive to school in it and take pictures of it. after many, many months of looking...my grandpa decided he was going to take the plunge and just DO IT!! go grandpa!! so the other day, it was on our driveway and all the kids

were so excited. once the tag comes in, wyatt and owen will have an awesome ride to school (though it will have to be separate as there is only 2 seats).

tiny gymnast

grace is loving her gymnastics class. it is amazing what can change in a few short months. a couple of months ago, she did not want to leave my side for a class and now she is off on her own, in her little class, doing all her exercises! i am so proud of her! she has to take a few

breaks to come give me "big hugs!" i will gladly take them!! the cutest part is when she looks over and gives me a little smile and then a little wave! i love that girl!

on my way to "very viewed"

thanks for 5000 clicks!

little school

grace and i try out many classes--from ones offered at the library to community centers to private playcenters. they are all fun, but nothing seemed to meet her needs of wanting to do a "school-like" class, but still

with me. we decided to start our own "class." we have asked our friends trevan, alex, and maggie and we are going to meet every wednesday. we are going to have a theme each week with songs, art, snack, and learning! we had our first one the other day with the theme of "circus!" trev and alex could not make it, but grace and maggie started it out in style. they both loved show and tell and making their circus book. grace keeps singing the songs! i think it is going to be a great time for us all!

christmas in january

we typically spend christmas eve eve exchanging with the dyson kids, but a series of winter colds forced our celebration into january. it turned out great, one extra gift to open for the kids and a morning full of jumping on the trampoline and digging in the sandbox!!

happy birthday ethan!

happy 7th birthday to sweet ethan!

m and m

marlo and mabel are just such sweet friends. we just think mabel is the best dog and we are so shocked that marlo is the best cat. we never thought having a kitten would be so much fun. thanks to heather for getting us on the kitty bandwagon!

we are back (finally)

YEAH!! computer is fixed and we are back. wyatt and owen surprised grace with a very special tea party. she just loved it!

the menu was a "sweet" one (of which i was given a list to take to the grocery store):

marshmallows with chocolate icing and sprinkles

oreos with whipped cream

fruit platter

tea (hot water)

crash

our computer CRASHED last week so for now i am operating on a borrowed laptop. so, there probably will not be many exciting blogging going on, but check back soon...cute pics. and stories are in the works!!

best invention

this has to be he best invention i have found this year! it's organic, it's easy, and it makes YUMMY pancakes! look here http://www.batterblaster.com/index.php for a $1 off coupon and i found mine at the grocery store next to the whipped cream!! TRY IT!!

buy a volvo, get a tree.

though it does not sound like a good bargain, it is a great incentive by volvo for owners. it just shows their dedication to the environment. here is the information i received after purchasing our new car:

"Together A Forest Program;

The first 28,000 Volvo owners to register on this website will be helping grow the first Volvo family forest...a Global ReLeaf restoration project in the Payette National Forest.
In June 2006 a tornado touched down near Bear, Idaho and affected approximately 4,336 acres of the Payette National Forest. Most of the blown down area lost between 20-50 percent of its canopy coverage. With the help of Volvo owners like you, the Forest Service will plant 218,000 conifers in 2008 to restore the damaged area located near the town Bear, Idaho. Benefits of the project include watershed restoration, fuels reduction and bark beetle risk reduction. Wildlife that will benefit from rapid reforestation include the northern goshawk, Canada lynx, gray wolf, pileated woodpecker, white-headed woodpecker, elk and the northern Idaho ground squirrel. Council High School is participating in this project by growing conifer seedlings in their greenhouse.
Once the Payette National Forest project is complete, Volvo will choose additional Global ReLeaf projects to sponsor on behalf of our owners."

good job volvo!! for more information go to www.americanforests.org

playdate

grace and marlo had a nice play date today complete with a tea party, stroller ride, and a "cat nap" in a bed prepared especially for a kitten. marlo was very tolerant and actually seemed to enjoy sitting in the baby highchair and for a moment even wore a little hat. i, however, had visions that we were stuck in the movie "toy story" and grace was sid's little sister tormenting animals and dolls. so glad marlo is willing to endure!

the greatest show on earth

though i wish my parents would have been able to come as well, it was so wonderful of them to get all us kids tickets to the circus! this year it seemed more like a magic act and the illusions were spectacular. our friends max and jack were among the 3 kids picked to go out for the acts so it was exciting for us to watch them in action! and of course, nothing like $100 (oh yes, i did say $100) worth of popcorn, cotton candy, and snowcones to fill my kids bellies---ugh! however, they had a GREAT time and all loved every minute. the elephants truly were the best part. i was glad to see they were kind with the animals and if someone was out of place they seemed pretty relaxed and compassionate...at least i hope!

go gators!

i have to admit, during the years at uf i truly did enjoy going to the games, particularly the national championship game against fsu in new orleans, however since i have had kids, gator athletics have really been a thing of the past for me. i must say it is quite embarrassing when someone says "aren't you excited for the game?" or "can you believe the gators?" and i am at a loss. it is really pathetic when your 6-year old son knows there is a national championship game before his alumni mother! so, to solve my problem, my friend debbie has graciously agreed to send me updates and announcements via email so i will be in the "gator loop" once again. so according to her latest email, the gators are once again proven to be #1! (i did know this tidbit, but confirmed in my update from deb). so cute---when i passed this info to my boys (i guess i felt i needed to do my gator duty and impart football knowledge to my sons), wyatt asked me if i was a cheerleader when i was at school there. see, he knows i support the team and "cheer" them on!! go gators!

mall chic

so, driving home yesterday 3-year old grace says as we pull into our driveway, "mommy, can we go to the mall tomorrow?" then i ask "why grace?" and she answers "well mommy, i need a new hat!" so off we go to the mall today and she found this great purple one for only $1.99. too stylish!

introducing "marlo"

we are pleased to announce the adoption of our new kitten marlo. she is a 10-week old tortoiseshell ("torti") cat, a breed which has been said to be a sign of good luck. they were often referred to as "money cats!" she is frisky and "clever" as wyatt said and is a great addition to our family. just waiting now for a litter box visit...owen is on potty duty! more pics to come soon.

what's new?

okay....look around...a new surprise here on this why grow page. do you see it?

ice cold lemonade in nice warm january

even though we received one "you should be having a lemonade stand in the summer not january" comment, our afternoon was a success. anyone that has kids knows, that when doing a lemonade stand it is truly about the process not the product. we honestly have not even looked to see how much was collected however we had a great time raising it. we started by putting our FREE stand together and then grace made the lemonade. owen baked the cookies (of course) as he is always the designated baker of the house, and wyatt organized the cups, napkins, chairs, and money jars.

after moving out all our supplies, the kids were ready. grace decided the stand needed some decorating so she went to get potted plants, garden props, chalk for pictures, and then even back inside for some pony toy decorations. we had several neighbors pop in, a few walkers slowed for a glass and a cookie, and then a surprise visit from heather, maggie, and hadley! that was the highlight. then the little girl from next door started to bring over baskets of water balloons (well then wagonloads of water balloons) and the lemonade stand was then done.

it was a great time for all!!

50 cents

calling all friends, we are having a lemonade stand at 3:00pm TODAY if anyone is in the neighborhood for a cold glass of lemonade and a freshly baked cookie!

new angels site

the new sallie's angels website is up and running! click here

for more information on what we do, opportunities for volunteering, and the current needs/wish list. tomorrow i head over there to do a teddy bear tea party for little sweet v. turning 5. thanks to my mom and dad for getting the tea cups and tea pots, heather and chris for getting the party hats , plates, and wand, laura and suzy for getting the strawberries, and paty and bonny for donating bags full of house supplies and yet another bike and helmet! they will be thrilled!

talk about addictive!

This Traveler IQ challenge compares your geographical knowledge against the World's First Travel diary's other 3,500,849 travelers who have taken this challenge as of Thursday, January 01, 2009 at 02:00PM GMT. (TravelPod is part of the TripAdvisor Media Network)

well we made it...

at least some of us did! on our quest to reach midnight, grace fell asleep first at a respectable 9:00pm while todd, the boys, and mabel were on a flashlight walk around the neighborhood. when they returned we watched "pirates of the caribbean" in which owen and i soon feel asleep after it ended...reaching 11pm (1 hour shy of our goal). however todd and wyatt went downstairs for some video games and at 12:03pm, amongst the sounds of local fireworks and yells of joy outside, i heard todd and wyatt coming up the stairs! "we made it!" wyatt said! he was so excited! i am glad he did!