One step ahead

Recently, we've been talking to Aubrey about the fact that soon, the Binky Fairy will be visiting our house. (For those of you who don't know, the Binky Fairy visits a child late at night, and collects all of the binkies that the child has "outgrown.") Last night, just after books, as I was tucking her into bed, we had a short conversation, and I realized that Aubrey is already one step ahead of me.

Mom: Pretty soon, the Binky Fairy will be visiting our house! She'll come and get all of your old binkies!
Aubrey: Hmmm? (While sucking steadfastly on said binky.)
M: Yep, she will come and get your binkies, and take them to little babies all around the world who who don't have any, and who are sad and need them.
A: My binkies?
M: Yes. Do you know any little babies who need binkies?
A: Yeah.
M: Really, who? (Anticipating the names of babies at school, or perhaps some of my friends' kids.)
A (straight faced): Aubrey.

Well played, my child. Well played.

Cirque Du Soleil

For Mom's birthday, the fam all chipped in and Beth, Lacey, and I took her for a girl's night out. We enjoyed cocktails, a yummy dinner downtown, and the Cirque du Soleil show, "Kooza." Wow, what an amazing show! The costumes were so ornate, and the the performers were so talented. I would never (ever!) have the guts to do some of those stunts. It was just so fun to get out and about, stay out late, and not have to cut up anybody else's meal for them at dinnertime. :) Thanks girls, for a fun night out, and Happy Birthday, Mom!

First sprinkler run of the season

It was so beautiful yesterday (80 degrees!) that the girls began begging for the first sprinkler run of the season. They had so much fun running, prancing, shrieking and laughing, and it felt so good to just be outside in the sun.

We spent our Mother's Day...

Taking photos and being silly...

We tried to get a nice photo...

...but really, this is more like our real life...

Exploring Grandma's garden...

Playing with Uncle Dan's new puppy, Lil...


And enjoying the sunshine...!

Soccer 2010

After a two week hiatus due to her ankle injury, Camryn was back in the game this weekend with her soccer team. It has been fun to see her interact with new kids, and develop team work skills this season.

The soccer part, though? Well to her, that's just secondary to the socialization and snacks, which is what I really think she's there for. She certainly enjoys her time with her team, but it's pretty clear that she's not in it for the competition. She just wants to be a part of the group, and have fun. And that's what it's all about anyway, right?

Concentration

I think Aubrey loves to paint even more than her big sister.

Take your Child to Work Day

Camryn was THRILLED when I proposed the idea of her joining me for 'Take your Child to Work Day' 2010. Until this year, I had never considered it, but taking into account her recent love of anything school-related, and her intrigue with my job and the kids I work with, I figured now was my chance. So this morning, she got all ready, filled her backpack with markers and activity books, packed a lunch in her monkey lunchbox and was SO excited to be a "big kid" for a day.

We started off with a stop for doughnuts for the class...a surefire winner! When we arrived at school, the office staff helped prepare her a special visitor's badge to wear, and then we headed to the classroom to set up her desk. We made sure she had her needed supplies on hand, and she wrote her own name tag too. :)

During the day, she did many things: participated in Music class, watched "How To" demonstrations by the kids (a big hit!), had laptop time (check out her serious concentration here), enjoyed recess, and colored, colored, colored. She also got to have lunch in the staff room, play with some of her friends (who are daughters of my coworkers and were there for the same reason), hold several class pets, (including a frog) and even attend first grade for a whole hour (thank you, Felicia!), while the 5th graders had their DARE class.





By the end of the day, she was ecstatic but EXHAUSTED. She was having so much fun with her friends though, that I didn't think anything of letting her have some more playground time after school. Turns out, we should have quit while we were ahead...

Literally two minutes before the end of my work day, as I was walking down the porch to retrieve her from the play structure, she collapsed into a heap at the bottom of the climbing rope (pictured above), screaming. bloody. murder. It was several minutes before I could even get out of her where it hurt, let alone what happened.

Long story short, she fell from the climbing rope, and the swelling that quickly ensued urged me to take her to the doctor. I carried her from my classroom to the office, then to my car, and upstairs in the doctor's office, since she wouldn't put any weight on her right foot, and it was getting bigger by the minute.

After an exam, Dr. D. sent her to get X-rays to make sure it wasn't broken. Luckily, it was determined that she had a "pretty impressive sprain," rather than a fracture (Whew!) Unfortunately, this now means several days off of her feet, lots of ice, and NO SOCCER. Which also means that now Brian is coaching a team of elementary schoolers that his daughter doesn't even play on. (But that's another blog for another day.) I think next time I take my child to work, we'll just leave after the buses and go out for ice cream!