Bad to the Bone

In the last few weeks Evan has errrr….how shall I say this nicely….exerted his independence. He’s been a little more cranky than he normally is. To give him the benefit of the doubt, we are starting to cut out his naps which may be a touch hard for him. However, in the last few weeks, the little guy has shredded our fitted sheet on our bed, bitten my butt and had an all out “lay-out” when taken to the store to replace the sheets.

Alan looked at me a little funny when I told him about the shredded sheet. I actually made Evan go get his piggy bank and empty it out. Alan said, he won’t know what that means. Maybe yes, maybe no. Later that week when we went to the store and we were talking about getting the new sheet, he did actually say, “get my piggy bank mama?” Hmmm……hopefully lesson learned.

As far as the bitten butt….well…let’s just say that’s the last time I am the head of the train with Evan behind me.

That boy is BAD TO THE BONE!!!

Another horse show....another first

One of the cute moments at the show was when Evan waved at Kiira in line





Kilham farm had another show this past weekend and BOTH kids got to ride in it. They did leadline. Kiira was a terrific big sister, showing Evan the ropes and Evan was just so proud that he could "ME TOO" with Kiira!

Highlights were the judge telling Kiira that she was the most professionally dressed kid in the class. The most humorous moments were the judge trying to talk to Evan and it going something like this:

Judge: "How old are you?"
Evan: "Good"
Judge: "Have you been riding long?"
Evan: "I three."

Right at the end of their conversation, Kisses (who Evan was riding) shook and poor little Evan looked like he was going to be shaken right off. Thanks to the judge and Holly who held him on.





Oh right - and mom got to ride too! We won our equitation class, and had clean (but slow) rounds in our 3'-0", 3'-3" and 3'-6" jumper classes. Go Rhett!



Daddy and Nanny cheered us on!

Second lost tooth

I think losing the first tooth traumatized her, she just didn't wanna let go of this second one. The poor tooth was dangling by a thread by the time it came out.

In case you can't decipher the note to the tooth fairy it says, "Please can you give me a real bunny. If you can't can you give me a robot bunny."

Goodness. We had to clarify that the horse shoe present was just because it was her FIRST lost tooth. There would be no more presents after that first one. Just money. Let's hope the money is talking.....

The tooth fairy DID write a very nice note back saying that perhaps she could use her dollar towards a robot bunny. Phew.

I just can't get OVER these beautiful flowers

Translated.....Nanny has arrived. This is usually one of the first things out of her mouth when we start driving from the airport to our house. And make no mistake, she brought her carry on of presents!

This visit was just as fun as all the others. We hit the local parks, went to lunch, did some grownup shopping, took the kids to traintown and then Nanny stayed long enough to watch the kids in their horse show. Evan's FIRST horse show. Man were they cute!

Kiira's first piano lesson

Recently Ms. Kiira has started piano. She loves it and mom and dad feel good that the piano that is sitting in our living room now does something besides collect duct. She is a wiz at Twinkle Twinkle and is learning how to read music. Go Kiira go!

The other benefit to the piano is that you really can't go wrong. Sure, you can hit a wrong note but overall, it still sounds good. I mention this because while growing up, I played flute and my sister, Liisa, played violin (by way of the french horn). None of these three aforementioned instruments sound particularly good when first discovering them. So yes, I am thankful for the piano!

Evan and Kiira swimming

Although Evan did not want to do a lesson, we finally cajoled him into participating. Once in the pool, he has a blast. He has no hesitations about putting his head under water, likes to try and "dive" to the teacher and smiles proudly while mama hovers close by like a member of ESPN.

Another video from Woodside

Not sure that Facebook is letting me do my audio...why does everyone seem to have figured this out. Ugghhh....
Here it is anyway....

A video from Woodside Labor Day Classic Horse Show

Enjoy a video of Kiira and I at our horse show!

Self help

Hawkeye has recently been studying computer science. In her meantime she has been integrating some meterology, specifically wind and rain.

Evan's first day of school

Well, as Evan likes to say, "he's a big boy" now. Although, I'm not quite sure he truly believes that based on school this week. His first day of school was fantastic. Of course, mommy got to stay with him. Let's just say his next few days - not quite so successful. One day he snapped Alan's necklace off because he was clinging to him and the day after it took three people to peel him off of me. One of the teachers said "hmmm...haven't seen one this tenacious". Meanwhile, poor mommy is doing a combination of laughing and crying. It really was comical but at the same time heartbreaking. I guess the true definition of "we laughed...we cried..." applied here.





He doesn't seem to want to go anywhere lately without his backpack and his tennis racket. Backpack like Kiira, tennis racket like Daddy!

Back to the basics

Well, it seems the big boy bed is not working out. Evan has been saying there are "monsters" in his room. I have put the side of the crib back on. Let's hope that makes things all better. Somehow, I am thinking that may not solve the problem......

Woodside horse show

Labor day weekend was horse show. I've been eager to go to one since we bought Rhett last November. It was a four day show and we decided to concentrate mostly on equitation classes. We ended up doing okay! We did the PCHA Medal (5th place), the Norcal Medal (8th place), the USEF Medal (5th place) and the Foxfield Medal (4th place). The USEF and the Foxfield Medal we got called to go back in for workoff. Both classes I had to go first. While I like to get things over with and not have to stand around nervous, I HAD hoped to watch a round to avoid other's mistakes. Both classes included a trot fence.

While we were not perfect by any means, we still did pretty good. My trainer, Lumpy, said that the people that came in first and second in nearly all my classes were ringers. Basically professional amateurs that people asked to ride their horses.

I learned alot at the show and now know what to work on at home for the next few shows.

Kiira did leadline on Rhett on Monday. Man she was cute - and so proud of being in the whole riding outfit. Loved her little coat that I bought used a year ago and have been waiting for her to grow into. There were three in leadline and they said they all did wonderful jobs - gave them all a first place and a hobby horse. VERY cute.

Stay tuned for some pro shots I will post in the near future as well as some video....

Thanks for a great show Amaretto (Rhett)!!

First lost tooth

Yes, it finally happened. The one event Kiira has been waiting for for over a year (besides her birthday and seeing cousins that is). Her first tooth has fallen out. Well, truth be told, she got a little impatient, and while it was quite wiggly, she finally just pulled it out. She was over at Mona Helen's house playing with Claire and I think the fact that she had a friend there made her a bit more bold than she normally would have been. Not sure she was prepared for any bleeding though as she seemed quite disturbed by the blood I was told. She forged forward however and placed her pre-written note for the tooth fairy under her pillow. In case you can't read the letter, it says, "Dear Tooth Fairy, Please can you bring a real horse shoe."



It seems the tooth fairy has some connections in the horse world and lucky for Kiira, she brought her a REAL HORSE SHOE.

Now, we have #2 tooth loose. Stay tuned.

First recognizable picture

Today Evan said to me, "Mony, I draw you a pitcher of a flower". And he layed down on the floor, drew a flower and put a stem on it. Man, I couldn't believe it was actually something I could recognize. It seemed like a milestone! I am thinking Picasso ;-)

Party like it's 1969!

Another friend turned 40 this year. Gotta say - I love the excuse to dress up and have a good time. Not to mention the fact that we get to listen to "classic rock".

"Hi, my name is Heidi. I like classic rock. Preferably the 70's era." Yes, I admit it.

Thanks Katie and Rick for turning 40 and inviting us to your party. Thanks Belinda and Dave for whooping it up with us as well!

School blues

Well, Kiira seemed to have gotten a bug this week. At least I thought so. She had flu like symptoms Sunday night so I kept her home from school Monday. Headache, threw up. I thought she had recovered only to have her come down with another headache and throw up early Tuesday morning. Another day home. At this point, paranoia got the best of me and I started worrying about swine flu. Apparently the symptoms I described were enough to warrant precautions at the doctor's office too as they made us come in masks. I thought to deflect any fear, we would decorate the masks. We got a few funny looks in the waiting room but I told Kiira we were protecting ourselves from other people's germs. That was a good answer for her.

Long story long, Dr. Wright thought it was either a slight flu or migraines. Wednesday, well, we made it to school. Wednesday night (or rather Thursday morn) she was up from 1-4 am with a headache (threat of throwing up but she held it down - thank goodness). Off to school late Thursday. Finally email the teacher and say, you know what - I think Kiira is having good old anxiety. I definitely get anxiety so I wouldn't be surprised if Miss Sensitive, put alot of pressure on herself, internalize everything Kiira did too. So, I asked the teacher to meet for some tips and to keep an extra special eye on her.

The teacher, Mrs. Ehrhorn, has been great. She has held Kiira's hand to carline, she has given her some special attention and best of all, she has kept me in the loop. She sent a lovely reassuring email Friday that Kiira was starting to get a little more talkative and was interacting a bit more. Phew. Now, onto one of my many children's books to find out how to deal with anxiety and a 6 year old!

Monday night (a holiday), let's see if we make it to school tomorrow.