Blowing Bubbles

Here are some cute pictures of Sadie blowing bubbles on our front porch:

This was during that warm week we had. It's been pretty chilly this week, and it's snowed a couple of times. Sigh. Later on that same day, Dylan spilled the entire bottle of bubbles ON MY COUCH. And this was after I told him a zillion times that he could not bring the bubbles into the house. You turn around for two minutes, and all heck breaks loose.

The Museum of Idaho

My family and Nat's family went to the Museum of Idaho on Saturday. They wouldn't let us take pictures inside, which made me sad. They also wouldn't let us chew gum! How old are we - 7th graders? My son has been bugging me to go to this museum forever, so we finally found a time that was good for all of us - yesterday afternoon. I'll just show you some photos from the museum, which I swiped from their website.

Here is a picture of the outside of the museum, with a pyramid transposed behind it by some clever photoshop person, since the newest exhibit is about ancient Egypt. The horsemen and dirt road in front of the museum are also transposed:

Their new exhibit, which is on loan from the Boston Museum, I think, is called The Pharaohs. Lots of old sarcophagi, pottery, and jewelery:

I learned a few interesting factoids - both Egyptian women and men wore eyeliner. They piled it on pretty thick, because it helped with the bright sun in the desert. Kind of how football players put that black stuff near their eyes so that they can see on the football field. The old walls and papyrus that have been found always show men standing, and women sitting. And the mummification process took 70 days!! I had no idea it took that long.

Next to the pharaoh exhibit is the children's area:

It is supposed to simulate our state's wilderness. It has tons of little tunnels that go from room to room. Dylan and Sadie had a ball. There is also a tee pee and a mini cabin.

Then we went downstairs, to the exhibit that kind of showed our local newspaper's growth through the years, from the early 1900's onward. Then there was the exhibit that had lots of really interesting facts about Idaho Falls. It was so interesting to read about the founders of our city - a lot of park and street names popped out at me while I was looking around - many of them are named after these early, turn-of-the-century citizens:

Then they had this area that was like a main street, Idaho Falls kind of an idea. They had a little dressmaker's shop, with antique dresses and mannequins in it, a general store with barrels and whatnot, etc. Here is the little dentist's office, with an antique chair and instruments:

Not bad for a small-town museum. We had a good time. It's nice to do something different.

The Easter Festival

Dylan goes to Headstart. For those of you who don't know about Headstart, it's a preschool for, well, how do I put this? I can't think of a different way - poorer kids. You have to show your tax return when you apply, and if your income is under a certain amount, your kid can go to Headstart for free. We got Dylan into Headstart last year, when Ben was a student - he obviously wasn't making much money at his part-time job, so we were a shoe-in. I adored it! The program is funded by the government, so the teachers have to show that they are benefitting these kids. You have to set goals with the teacher every couple of months - areas in which you want your child to improve, etc. And then the teacher has to document the child having reached the goals. Not only that, they check their hearing and vision a couple of times a year, and they have a psychiatrist come once a month to observe the kids and make sure they seem behaviorally healthy.

Because Headstart looks at last year's tax return to determine eligibility, we were able to get Dylan into Headstart this year, though technically, we are making a little more than the income limit. He is really thriving there. He's made a lot of friends (he's a very outgoing dude). Some of the kids and their parents are kind of... scary. So, when one of his friends asked me if Dylan and he could have a play date sometime, and he gave me a little piece of paper with his name and number on it (he had his mom write it down for him), I was a little nervous. But as I have gotten to know this kid and his mom, I really, really like both of them. They are decent people. Plus, the kid's grandma is a teacher at the Headstart center, so I trust her.

Dylan and this kid (Marcus is his name) had their very first playdate today! Marcus's mom and grandma wanted to take Marcus and Dylan to an Easter Festival at a local college. I've never heard of it, but it's supposed to be really great and be like a carnival. I was kind of nervous to put Dylan into the hands of people I haven't known for very long, but I was really, really careful about getting to know them first. Dylan had a blast! He came home with a sack full of candy and the coolest Spiderman balloon. I can't believe my kid is old enough to go on play dates!!

Very Darey

Sadie is petrified of the light on our stove that indicates when a burner is on or when a burner is still hot. She thinks it's extremely scary. She can't say "scary" - she says "darey." You can see her look of concern for being so close to the light. I guess it could be considered scary. That blue light that you see in the woods in Watcher in the Woods still scares the crap out of me.

New Clothes

Ben's stepmom, Brenda, is the BEST. This is a picture of her:

Every now and then, she sends us clothes for the kids. And thank goodness she does, because we don't have room in the budget for clothing. She recently sent a box of clothes for Sadie and Dylan in the sizes bigger than the sizes they are currently wearing. After thanking Brenda profusely, I folded them up nicely and put them in a box for when Dylan and Sadie each jumped up to the next size. Well, two days later, I noticed that all of Dylan's shirts were turning into unflattering belly-revealing shirts (see Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. The shirt that Bill wears throughout the movie is exactly the look Dylan was sporting):

I also noticed that all of Dylan's pants were highwaters. So I had to dig them out of the box, two days after packing them away. Several months ago, Brenda had given us a few other outfits for Dylan to "grow into," so we were able to pull those out, too. Dylan was ecstatic. He calls his new shirts his "cool" shirts. I won't let him wear his shorts yet (it snowed yesterday. Dude), and his new shirts are all short-sleeved, but if he is wearing a coat outside, it doesn't matter too much. Here is Dylan, modeling a jacket Brenda got him several months ago, which we saved. Sadie was jealous and wanted to wear one of Dylan's "cool" shirts, so she is modeling one of those. And picking her nose:

Below is Dylan, showing off his new shirt and tie. He's wanted a tie for a million years. He insists upon wearing this tie every week, no matter what the outfit. Dark brown corduroy shirt and blue striped tie. Nice. Red plaid shirt and blue striped tie. Nice. Maybe we'll buy him some more ties for his Easter basket, or something.

Brock's Birthday

My nephew, Brockie, turned three today! We went over tonight for cake and ice cream. He was all smiles when we were singing to him:

We had Brock open presents before we dug in to the cake. Here, Mom and Dylan are helping Brock open the present Ben and I got for him - a Superman who "bends steel." It's the funniest toy - you push a button on his back, and he bends this thing that is supposed to be a piece of steel:

Whenever we had to help Brock with that annoying wiring that goes around every nook and cranny to keep toys in place in the packaging, he was sooo worried that we were going to steal his new toys. He would do this nervous hand-fidget thing. So funny:

Once he opened all of his toys, he had to hold every single one of them - he didn't want anyone stealing one!!

After cake, the kids ran downstairs to play. The adults stayed upstairs and chatted, but Ben and Mom couldn't resist playing with the Bending Steel Superman:

I stole the next two from Nat's blog. Me and Ben (could I look any nastier??):

And my kids with my mom:

Such a Cliche

I inherited my treadmill from my stepmother-in-law this last summer, and Ben said, "You won't use it. You'll use it to hang clothes from. That's what happens to everyone who buys a treadmill." I swore up and down that wasn't true. After my miscarriage (which happened soon after I inherited said treadmill), when the doc said it was okay, I started jogging on it. I actually jogged every single day for two months! But then I got pregnant again, and voila. Our treadmill is now our clothesline. Some say, "Well, just walk on it - it's easy to take a brisk walk when you're pregnant!" I would ordinarily agree. Except, would you take daily brisk walks if you had any of the following problems?:

1. You have shooting pain going from your hip, down your leg, and then from your hip across your groin. It's so painful that you can't lean over to pick up anything, and if you cough, the shooting pain makes you cry.
2. You barf, on average, twice a day.
3. You feel nauseated all day long. Even though you're six months along.
4. You feel like your legs are being ripped apart, like a turkey that one is stuffing in preparation for Thanksgiving. You can't roll over in bed or get up from a sitting or lying position without tears coming to your eyes.
5. You have heartburn that feels like someone is stabbing you in the chest. All the time.
6. You feel like you haven't slept in 10 years.
7. You have a constant headache. For six months straight.

So, I think it's okay for my treadmill to be on sabbatical for now. Don't you? :) I'll use her again, I promise. Six weeks after that glorious day when Micah is no longer in my body!