Pictures
Well, I finally got some pictures ready - enjoy!


Ballerina

At the Zoo with Lauren

Another zoo picture

Catch-up
So much has been going on since my last post I need to play catch-up. Yeah, I've been a slacker, but I'll have you know that I finally got the pictures on my camera to download onto the computer. Now I just need Pete to gimme the network cable back so I can get them from one puter to the other. I promise, I'll put some up soon.

Anyway, where to start? Hmmm, Sarah's been a fashion hound again. Tuesdays at school is dance day. The girls go to ballet and learn how to tippy-toe and spin around. It's very cute. Sarah isn't officially in the dance class, but she picks up the moves while watching the other kids dance. Her friend Briana gave her a pink leotard she'd outgrown - it has a skirt built into it - so Sarah would feel included when it was time to get dressed for dance. Well, Sarah thought that was the best thing since sliced bread. When I picked her up last Tuesday she still had it on. She said to me, "Look Mommy. I'm a ballerina!" then got up on her tippy-toes, her arms up in the air and twirled around. So cute! Naturally she did not want to take the "ballerina dress" off that night.... or the next day (that was a fight) or that night (that was an even bigger fight). I had to hide it after that.

This past weekend, our friends, the Lampheres, had a yard sale. We were treated to the 5 finger discount on hand-me-down clothes Lauren had outgrown (sweet!), including shoes. Now if you know Sarah, she loves shoes. When we go home after having a great time at the yard sale (sure, you can have a great time at a yard sale!) she found one pair of shoes she liked - Barbie shoes that light up when you walk. Unfortunately, the shoes are way too big for her now. But she didn't care. She went stomping around in them. When Sarah gets something new, she always wants that thing to sleep in the bed with her, be it a toy, socks, a dress, shoes, you name it. If she really likes it, it's going to bed with her. (Making a mental note about boys in the future - look! Another gray hair.)

Let's just say that I had to hide the shoes. The next morning she wanted to wear them, but I put my foot down (no pun intended). So she found another pair of shoes in the bag that fit much better though still big - fancy black mary-janes. She wanted to sleep with these on, too, but I wouldn't let her. Instead, we decided that just having them in the bed with her was satisfactory.

By the way, since yesterday was dance day, I let her take the leotard to school. She's still wearing it. *sigh* I need to prepare myself for a fight tonight.

LET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMMBLE!

Lights Out!
Thanks to Hurricane Ivan we were without power for a total of 72 grueling, boring hours. A power pole behind our house caught on fire and suffered several explosions before the lights went out. It was exciting and scary at the same time! Sarah thought it was fun when the big fire truck came to our house, too. The firemen said there was nothing they could do - but the fire went out before they got there anyway.

It took a little while before Sarah understood that when the power is out, you can't watch TV. She kept asking to watch a movie, and would remember that "no power, Mommy." We did have a power inverter we plugged into my car, so we could watch TV at short intervals. That helped a lot entertainment-wise, but the rest of the time it was an adventure finding something to do. We read lots of books, played with puzzles, went to the store, ran around in the yard, blew bubbles... whew! And we cooked out and ate on the deck.

On Friday, I called Daddy at work. His co-worker answered the phone and I told her my name and asked for Pete. Sarah immediately started yelling something, but my attention was on the phone. After I hung up Sarah pressed her face to mine and growled, "You not Mandy! You Mommy!" Huh? "My name is Mandy," I explained. Sarah placed her hands on her hips and screamed "You not Mandy, you Mommy!" Apparently, she had heard me tell Tammy my name, but did not agree. Mandy, in Sarah's world, is her cousin Andy. Therefore, I cannot be Andy - I'm Mommy. Later, when Daddy got home, I told her, "Daddy's name is Pete." She nodded in acceptance. "My name is Mandy." "YOU NOT MANDY! YOU MOMMY!" I pointed to Pete: "Who is that?" "Pete," she answered. I pointed to myself, "Who am I?" "Mommy." Silly girl.

Déjà-DVD
Well, it has come full circle - we're stuck watching Finding Nemo again - arrrrggh!

In the beginning there was Finding Nemo. Sarah found that she liked it, and it was good. Next came Monster's, Inc., followed by Toy Story 1 & 2, Shrek, Cinderella, Robin Hood, Jungle Book, Scooby-Doo, and countless others. But in the end, the princess returned to that which made her happiest - a story of a little clown fish.

I can't wait until Scooby-Doo 2 is released or when the new Spongebob movie hits the theater... even Shrek 2 would be a nice change.

Until then, we will be making our daily trip to the EAC, dudes.

Par-tay
Saturday Sarah and I were invited to celebrate Sera's birthday (Angi's little sister). We met everyone at Cosmo's - Johanna, Angi, Sera, Kelsey, Paul, Gillie (sp?), Charlie and Teresa.

A band set up right next to our tables outside and the girls had a blast dancing! I will try to get some pictures of that from either Teresa or Paul.

Action - Reaction
Action: Sarah hits you, points and demands that you "CRY!"
Reaction: You stick out your bottom lip and pretend to cry.
Reaction: Sarah pets you and says in the sweetest voice "Awww, what's the matter, baby?"

Action: Sarah notices you have a boo-boo.
Reaction: Sarah gently pets your boo-boo and asks, "Me kiss it?"

Action: Sarah bonks her head on the bottom of the table.
Reaction: Mommy comforts the princess and says, "I'm sorry."
Reaction: Still crying, Sarah says, "That's okay."

Action: Sarah does something very silly.
Reaction: Mommy doesn't think it's very funny.
Reaction: Sarah says, "I just kidding, Mommy."

Chalk-late
One of Sarah's favorite new activities is cooking, or what she calls "making." If she has a cup, bowl, sauce pot, pan, anything that can hold something plus a utensil to stir with, she "makes" her little heart out.

Naturally, you need something to put in the container to "make" be it buttons, raisins, stickers, rocks, etc. The other day she decided that several broken peices of chalk would do nicely. She put the chalk in a little bowl she had just finished eating peanut butter and Nutella from - the perfect size for "making." She stirred it with her spoon, coating the chalk with the remnants of the Nutella and PB. I asked her what she was doing. "I'm making, Mommy." Ahhh. "What are you making?" I asked. She looked up at me and simply said, "Chocolate." Sure enough, the chalk was liberally coated with chocolate Nutella. Now it was "chalk-late." She was horribly upset when I wouldn't let her eat it. Go figure. :)