Scary tiger with clouds by Katherine
Ummm...ameoba???? by Lauren
I know it's been awhile since I wrote. We've been busy trying to squeeze the last bit of fun that we can out of life before our world is dictated by school schedules.
new word for the week: animalanche - (n)the catastrophic failure of the stuffed animal net hanging in the corner of Katherine's room. (v)Being buried alive by assorted stuffed creatures after such failure.
Katherine started school on the 20th. She goes to Pre-K from 1-4 M-F. So far she's enjoying it. Her teachers name is Adrienne, she's only one of three girls in her class and none of the other kids know their letter sounds yet so she's looking forward to helping all the "younger kids".
She's quite the fish now and she can swim from one side of the pool to the other. She loves everything to do with water and we've spent a lot of time at the pool lately.
Lauren is just as cute as ever. She's being easy for the most part. Although she is showing no interest in potty training whatsoever. She's all good with pooping in her pants. Whatever, no rush I guess. I do think that for posterity sake, I should note that she's got the oddest sleeping thing ever. Most kids need a blankie, doll, thumb...not Miss L. She can only fall asleep if her foot is in your butt crack. I take her to bed, she fusses. I lie down next to her with my back to her and read a book on my pda. She stuffs at least one foot into my waistband and nestles it into my butt cleavege & passes out within 5 minutes. I then remove the foot from my butt and get on with my evening chores. LOL She's so going to hate me for documenting this.
I've started a parents group in our neighborhood. I knew that there were other kids in our neighborhood who we could get to know and figured that if no one is going to call us, then I'll figure out something else. This is what I came up with. I started a yahoo group and posted this there, on fliers (which we passed out) and in the newsletter.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCnorthwood/Some of you may have received the flyers that I passed out, but I ran out before I got the whole subdivision covered.Some of you may have seen the flyer at the pool.Some of you may have no idea what I'm talking about.After living in Northwood for almost three years, I realized that we only know a small handful of our neighbors. I know for a fact that there are a lot of families here and I guess I'm longing for a simpler time. Back when neighbors were really just extended family and you felt safe letting your children play in the neighborhood with the knowlege that everyone knew your kid and that if s/he were up to no good, another parent would let you know. A time of children being "Best Friends" with a neighbor who they shared experiences with. A time when parents could get together to enjoy each others company and experiences. A time when a babysitter was just a block away. A time of childrens parades with homemade instruments and decorated bikes and ice cream socials. Maybe I'm being idealistic but I think we can bring that time back to northwood and create a community family rather than just a neighborhood. Now that my youngest is old enough to let me at the computer for more than 5 minutes at a time, I decided to make the time to give the community an opportunity to join me to celebrate our families.I'm trying to organize Northwood's parents for age based playgroups,field trips, parenting chat, an exercise group and maybe even a babysitting co-op.The goals of this club are to Meet our neighbors and build a new network of friend, to Introduce our children to new play mates to Provide a comfortable place for parents to discuss those issues that we all struggle with to Provide fun activities for our neighborhood children and familieso Help new members of our community integrate and learn more about our area This group is what the members make it so your suggestions are always welcomed.Both moms and dads with children of all ages are welcome to join andthere is no fee. There may be fees for individual activities (such as trips to Busch Gardens) but you may choose which activities toparticipate in. My goal is to keep most of the parents and childrens activities either free or very inexpensive.You may join by going to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCnorthwood/or by calling Cary Wright at 813-862-2659 from 10am-8pm. You willneed a Yahoo! ID to join the group online but I plan to have most ofthe contact with members via email and the group website.There is a message board, calendar and other information about thegroup at the website above.Woops! I guess I didn't make it very clear in the flier that parentsof children of all ages are welcome to join. All parents can benefitfrom a couples night out and the older teens may benefit from helping corral the youngsters during activites like a "home-made parade",talent show, ice cream social etc. The older kids may enjoy going toBusch Gardens with their peers too. Plus, the parents of younger kids(like me) can always benefit from the knowlege of parents who've beenthere done that. :-)This will all be in the next edition of the newsletter too but Iwelcome you to join now. So far we have 5 members and my girls arealready fast friends with two girls nearby who we'd never met before.Last night, I had the girls and their mom over for a PJ party and the girls played dress up and watched a movie while us mom's sipped frozen apple-tini's. YUM! It was loads of fun.So don't wait. Join now and get in on the fun.
so far only a few people have joined but it's all good. it comes out in the newsletter next month so I'm thinking we will get a bigger response then. One person did respond and it's been great. JoLynn and Andrew have two girls Avery (4.5) and Ashton (2.5) and a pool. They also have an unpstairs and two dogs, which Katherine is obsessed with. We've been spending a lot of time with them lately and the girls get along great. Andrew is out of town a lot so when he and Woody are both gone, us moms get the kids together for PJ parties and appletinis. it's been nice having someone right around the corner to call when boredom hits.
