Flowers, ten cents

Mia set up a flower stand outside my Grandmother's house and attempted to sell flowers cut from the backyard for a mere ten cents.

All proceeds were to benefit the children from The Village of Hope in Ghana.

Personally, I thought it was quite a bargain.

Apparently no one else did.  She didn't sell a single flower.

If you were one of the five people that drove past this precious little child trying to help orphans ten cents at a time, I hope you can live with yourself.

(I'm not bitter.)

I'll admit she wasn't exactly dressed for success.

But still...

Mia built a "pillow palace" after school yesterday.

Bode took to it quite well.

Pillow Palaces:  Just one of about five million reasons why I love this little girl.

The first week assessment: An interview with Mia about kindergarten thus far

So, Mia, do you love kindergarten? 

(dead silence)

What is your favorite thing about school so far?  

"Nothing."

What is your least favorite thing about school so far?

"Nothing."

Who do you sit by at lunch?  

"No one."

Who do you play with at recess?  

"Nobody."

What was the best part about your day today?  

"I didn't have French today.  You said I was going to French today but I didn't.  You were wrong."

Do you like recess?  

"Today at recess I was like, when is this going to be over?"

Have you enjoyed your first week as a school girl?

(silently picking at her toenails)

There you have it, folks.  One week down, 468 more to go.

"Smile, Mia, it's your 5th day of school!"

I hate that I love this.

A hamburger and french fries should not make me so happy.

But it does.

And I'm not going to try and pretend I'm some organic, tree-hugging, bark and leaf eating girl any longer.

I'm a Five Guys girl, who also hides huge bags of Skittles in the glove compartment and about wrecks the car trying to get to them without the kids seeing.

All this baring of my soul has made me feel kind of self-conscious...and hungry.

And she's off...

...to kindergarten.

A close-up of the first day of school outfit:

Yaya made a custom "Oakdale Rockets" dress.

Our wonderful hairdresser and friend, Katie, provided the hair accessory.

I provided the annoying little brother.

Andy provided all the dominant genes.

Waiting for the school bell at the same school her Daddy attended.

For the sake of full disclosure I must tell you that she cried a little, as did I, but I made it to the car first.  

Andy was very relieved.  He had 9-1-1 on speed dial.

Now that I'm such a pro at this whole first day of school thing, I plan to vomit all my advice on all you Edmond School Moms, whether you want it or not.  

And here it is, drumroll please....prayer and chocolate. 

Good luck tomorrow!

Today I am not well. *UPDATED

Apparently the day before my daughter's first day of school is the day that I lose it emotionally.

It's also the day that I have to ask the guy in the Starbucks drive-through to get me a kleenex.

And the day I turned to food as a coping mechanism.  Namely chips, salsa, cookies, coke, coffee, pastries, and chocolate.  *Add to that ice cream and fettucini alfredo.

"Hold me."  I'm saying that, not her. 

Thankfully Grammie will be just down the hall.

Today is also the day for this little guy's third birthday, although he's convinced he's already three due to the early birthday party. 

"If you don't want to celebrate twice, it's your loss,"  I told him.  (Toddlers can be so unreasonable.)

I predict tomorrow will be the day that my lamaze breathing will finally be put to good use.

This will be the last post about Bode for a while.

Next week is "Operation Mia Starts School" week which is really code for "Operation Summer Loses It" week.

But today is all about Bode and his decent into the the threes (which is worse than the twos, I am sorry to tell you.  Although at least this time I am going into it with my eyes wide open).

So there was the whole birth thing and then yada, yada, yada...Bode's three.

Once again, Stephanie Anderson rocked the cake.

Do you want to know the secret to a fun birthday party that you can actually enjoy?

Reserve the back room at Johnnies.  

Invite like five people via a one sentence e-mail (preferably in the subject line).  

Buy a cool cake.  

And do nothing else.

Except eat a big, fat Theta burger, fries, and someone's onion rings that they left unattended for half a second.

I'm dead serious, that's really, truly all you do.

And I promise you'll actually have fun and not feel like you've been shot in the face when it's over.

Whew! I was worried for a second there that he wasn't getting enough Toy Story themed gifts. That was a close one.

Bode has begged for this Zurg (Buzz's nemesis) gun for months now.

Buzz Lightyear himself does not have this much of his own gear.

Aunt Maggie was the clear favorite.  

He judges people solely on the gifts they buy him and he makes no apologies for it.

He feels his life is now complete.

The big kids reading a book.  I love this age.

I predict a trip to the ER in our near future due to these wings, but I just can't bear to tell him that he can't really fly.

Over and out.

I love this little man to infinity...and beyond.

Great Wolf Lodge; it's still pretty great.

We returned to our favorite back to school retreat for a few days this week.  

Great Wolf Lodge is a home-run with the children.  

Our first stop in Dallas was Fuddruckers, per Mia's request for the chocolate brownie with cream cheese frosting.  I happily obliged.

Brownie face:

Our love is so intense that we can't bear to look away from each other, even for a second.

Not really.

This was the best shot I could get of her.  

If it kinda sorta looks like a gun, Bode will "shoot" it for 5 hours straight.  He's a huge fan of anything even slightly resembling violence.

I'm fully aware that the Bodester looks a little demon-possessed in this picture.

Andy and his Dad are still in Dallas watching their beloved Yankees in 104 degree heat.

I don't love anyone that much.

The post-vacation blues

Vacation, in no particular order

1. Yaya got altitude sickness and never left the condo.

2.  Sweet Ahmo fell and broke her right arm and left elbow.

3.  I now know my way from the hospital to the pharmacy to the hospital to the condo back to the pharmacy back to the hospital to the condo.  It's actually a beautiful route.

4.  Despite it all, we still had a wonderful time (well, at least most of us did).

Pre broken arms picture:

"Vacation is the best!" 

 (I'm not convinced)