Official Critic?

Veda has been to her 4th movie in a month. Uncle Ry took her to see Arthur Xmas and they snapped this photo in the lobby while they were waiting for me to pick them up. I asked Veda how she liked the movie and all she could talk about was the minature blue monkey that Ry won for her out of the vending machine.

Stinker

Someone decided she wanted to get in for another dip right after I had dried her off and put her jammies on. I think I'm going to need to put a gate around the tub...

Bad Taste

She won't eat what I make her for dinner but she will eat soap... go figure.

Overheard

Todd is in China for an entire week so Ry and I thought we could get away with putting onions in the soup we made. Would give the house a good 7 days to air out so Todd couldn't smell the evidence. As I was cutting onions and Veda supervised she said "ew they smell like toenails". Such a Daddy's girl.

Flying in Style

Todd sent this picture from the plane bound for Beijing. He felt bad because he is relaxing in business class while I'm home with the crazies. A thousand times over I would rather be home than travelling overseas on a plane right now. Being very pregnant makes me boring and happy to be at home!

Is this healthy?

Feeding on Veda's curiousity of all animals, dead and alive, Todd rigged this makeshift coffin for the dead bird we found in the yard the first day we were here with the kids. Veda enjoyed giving her bird rides around the neighborhood before we put him to rest in the garbage.

A River Run Through It

This would be our backyard today. I think they said we hit a record rainfall for the day... last time it rained this much was in the 1800's. This is a bad joke... it has been raining since we moved here.

Pizza Date with Dad

We met Dad for lunch today at Dewey's. The girls couldn't stop talking about how the guys made the pizza. Great entertainment while we waited for lunch.

Morning hugs for Uncle Ry

Newport Aquarium

We had to pick up uncle Ry in Kentucky this morning so we promised Veda an outing to the Aquarium. We weren't disappointed and we bought a season pass so we can go back as often as we'd like.

Overheard

I asked Veda if she liked the tree skirt. She said this tree is a boy, not a girl, it doesn't need a skirt.

Avoiding the Mall At All Costs

So I was reading the local paper's calendar of events and I found a Christmas Craft Fair benefiting the Children's Hospital. Santa was to arrive at 9:30a by firetruck and pictures with old man were free. Bingo I thought. When we showed up there was a line down the street of mostly 70 something women eager to raid the Christmas bakery and silent auction. Only a few kids in sight... I was worried that I was in trouble. Turns out none of them wanted their picture taken with Santa so we got plenty of time and takes... unfortunatley Adele never warmed up to the idea. She kept one eye on him most of the time... I think he smelled like beef and cheese.

Christmas Tree Expedition

Veda and Todd went with Papi, Owen and Uncle Chris to cut down thier Xmas Tree in Madison over Thanksgiving.

Children's Museum Madison

And a few pictures from our visit to Madison's Childrens Museum while we were in Madison at Kel and Chris' for Thanksgiving. Adele was pretty sick the night before but she sure perked up when she walked in the door. I'm the bad Mom who took her sick kid to the museum and probably got a lot of other kids sick. Sorry - I was in survival mode;)

Children's Museum Iowa City

Some pics from our October visit to the Children's Museum while we were in Iowa City. Will always be a fan favorite;)

Movie Night

Veda got to see two movies last weekend. Here friends Jacob and Alex played the young Adam Sandler in the flick Jack and Jill so we thought it would be a good idea to take her. Wrong... not a kid movie and Veda freaked out when she didn't get to see Jack and Jill go up the hill to fetch a pail of water... yes she said that.

So we made it up to her by going to Puss in Boots. As luck would have it the main characters were Jack and Jill so Veda thought we had just got it wrong the first time. This was Adele's first movie and she loved it! She sat in awe for the first hour before she realized she could run up and down the stairs for added entertainment.

ANOTHER rainy day...

At the girls school they try to get them outside unless the weather is extreme. It was still raining today so Veda's class got to run outside... literally they just let them out the door to chase each other for a few minutes to burn energy and get fresh rain air;) Thank goodness for PlayDoh later in the day...

Timeout

Adele was a little under the weather this weekend but that didn't stop her from antagonizing Owen. She is so use to Veda picking on her that she decided she would pick on someone her size. So she spent a lot of time on the stairs in timeout and got really good at saying sorry.

The finger rub

Everyone knows that Veda's comfort is rubbing fingernails. Papi took her to the muppets movie Thursday and said his fingers hurt from Veda's finger rubs during the flick. Well she discovered another victim... Owen actually liked it though.

Christmas Card Outtakes

Lots of different backgrounds...all equally challenging to get everyone on the same page...

Thanksgiving Prep

Veda got to make some Rice Crispie turkey treats for Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday morning with DeeDee and Papi...Adele happily contributed by making her own chocolate dipped pretzels.

Catch Up

The move put my blogging talents on hold for some time. Here are some pictures from our stay in Iowa. The movers came mid-October and then we flew home with the kids to Iowa for a bit. Todd and I went on to Ohio to move into the house on our own while the kids stayed with Nonnie and Bull. I went back to get the kids and my parents drove back with all of us to help us with unpacking. It was a crazy few weeks and the kids were obviously unsettled. I think we've finally found our happy place. The girls have started at a new school, Veda is in dance classes and we have a routine. Now we can start to enjoy all that Cincinnatti has to offer - other than cold weather;)

Adele exploring the empty shuttle truck before they started loading in CA.

Clear Lake - apparently this dog sculpture is a tree stump.

Bull worked hard to make leaf piles for the girls.

 Digging for carrots... which we ate for dinner... along with fish Papi had caught on his trip to FL.

 Veda and Papi got lots of fishing in. She was especially entertained by the gutting of this fish. "Oh look... at all the blood... there goes his head."

 Cousins

 Owen and Adele the Artists.

 Cuddle time with Bull.

 Keeping busy in Nonnie's shower.

Fun at Wilson's Apple Orchard. The apple slushies were the highlight I heard.