“I want to add an “e” to the end of my name.

But don’t worry- it’s silent.”

Last week the girls both had Christmas programs at preschool.  Yes, Christmas programs.  Caelan’s class began by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  Songs were sung (Brenna puts a lot of emotion into her songs and ends each with a deep bow), treats were eaten, gifts were given to the teachers and school ended for the year.

Photos from the Christmas Programs

Of course the fun is just beginning!  Cousins came over Saturday morning to slide down the fresh powder on the hill in our back yard…

Sledding

The snow was almost too light and deep to do good sledding.  Until Doug and my brother-in-law made some tracks- then things really started to move!  Fun was had by all and hot cocoa was enjoyed afterwards.

And now we are just a couple days from Christmas.  The girls are very excited.  A couple of nights I have added gifts- which are noticed the next day, the information excitedly exclaimed to Doug and I.

With much preparation for church and family I probably won’t be writing again until after Christmas.

From my family to yours:

Merry Christmas!  May the joy of the season bring

you cheer, laughter and love!

Early Tuesday morning I woke to pee and something just didn’t seem right.  Something was leaking…  As it was around 4 am it took me a few minutes to realize that my water had probably broken.  Since we had a false alarm earlier in the week I wasn’t too sure I wanted to go to the hospital again, only to be sent home.  We took our time getting out the door- Doug even wrote on the blog before we left (3:47am).

We arrived at the hospital and, yes, I was in labor.  I was given something, I can’t remember what, to help move things along since I wasn’t dilating.  I know we called my mom and she arrived that morning sometime.  I had a lovely corner birthing suite.

Unfortunately my labor was slow.  Contractions weren’t bad but my body wasn’t cooperating.  Pitocin was ordered.  My body hyper-reacted to it and I began experiencing 20 minute contractions, one on top of the other.  The pitocin was stopped until I could have an epidural.  Once that kicked in the pitocin was started again.

By 4:30, over 12 hours since my water had broken, I had still not completely dilated.  In fact, I was only dilating on one side.   I was beginning to run a temperature and Brenna was becoming distressed during contractions.  We decided on a c-section for our safety.  I cried.  As I had entered the hospital I had dreams of a natural delivery.  I was so sad that I wouldn’t get to hold my daughter right away.

Thankfully the surgery was uneventful and Brenna was born shortly after 5 pm.  As I remember it I am amazed it has been 5 years.

And now I have a daughter who isn’t a baby, isn’t a toddler…  She needs me less and less every day but loves to cuddle beside me and read.  My darling Brenna…  The first night I brought you home I cried when I left you in your crib alone.  Now you kiss me goodnight and run off to your room to read before bed.  You amaze me every day.  I love you.

Yes, she picked out the socks and we had to find an outfit to match!

I may be biased but I think she’s gorgeous.

The Laundry Basket Monster

…a collapsible pink laundry basket.  Caelan amused herself for an hour with this.

And what was Brenna doing during this time.  So glad you asked.  She was giving Mommy heart failure.

Can't see the child for the leaves...

How high is she?

Brenna is a monkey.  She was easily about 18 feet up this tree.  The lowest branches are over her head and she flips those long legs up there and away she goes.  Scares me half to death.  I relegate Doug to tree-climbing duty.  I can’t do it.

Lovely, aren’t we?  They had a nice set up with free chair massages, ice cream shakes and a dietitian.

You may remember that I had three “Got Milk” goodie bags to give away.  These include the “Face of Wellness Report” and will be going to:

Fantastagirl, Elaine & Sara who all need to drink more milk!  Remember the old slogan “it does a body good”? I’m pretty sure it’s true.

OK, on to sights from the fair…

Hot Beef Sundae

If you haven’t tried a Hot Beef Sundae from the Cattleman’s Beef Quarters you must try it!  Real mashed potatoes, tender roast beef, gravy, cheese and a cherry tomato on top.  Delish!

Brenna and Clifford

I wish I could explain why we fight the crowds every year in the Varied Industries building.  I honestly have no reason for it except air conditioning.  And maybe Clifford.  Caelan wanted nothing to do with him…

My Mermaid

Something we always plan for is play in the fountains.  Spare clothing is always packed.  The girls have fun splashing with other kids and we enjoy sitting for a bit in the shade.

A trip to the fair isn’t complete without a stop in the Ag Building.  This year the theme was moon landing. There was also a butter TV playing the footage from the landing.

Butte Astronaut

And, of course, probably the most popular attraction, the butter cow:

Iowa State Fair Butter Cow

Close on the heels of the butter cow is the Champion Big Bull…

That's a Lot of Bull

And the Champion Big Boar.

Big Pig

We don’t do the midway…  Yet.  I know the day will come but I want to avoid it as long as possible.  We do, however, take a turn on the Giant Slide.

Fun for the Entire Family

And Caelan took her first glider ride this year.

Sky Glider

Before we left we made a stop in the Butterfly House.  It’s pretty amazing as the butterflies will just land on you.  They are so big and beautiful.  Brenna freaked out when they flew by her head and when one tried to land on her she had a fit!  Yes, I laughed at her as I tried to calm her down.  She didn’t seem to mind when they landed on me, though.

We spent 8 hours at the fair.  That’s enough until next year!

The newest game we’ve played online is Pocketville.  She loved creating her avatar, picking out her pet, playing the games and exploring  the “world”.

Pocketville is a cute game; it’s very pink and girly.

Creating her avatar

It’s also a safe online area.  There is a chat feature that we don’t use as Brenna doesn’t type or read that well.  If your daughter does well with typing and reading the chat is “closed chat text”.  See the parent’s area for more information- I didn’t understand it until I saw it.

Brenna has really enjoyed it and Caelan has enjoyed watching over her shoulder and giving her input on outfits, games and where to visit.

Adopting the puppy

Pocketville is free to play but there are options for “dressing” your dog and “decorating” your home.  You can earn Pawllers for these things, but you can also buy tokens, too.  And to get you started I have 250 free tokens for you.  Just insert this code into the “VOUCHER” area after you set up an account.  Here’s the Voucher Code: B9GX8NUDYS
The code expires September 30, 2009.  Go ahead and share this post with your friends!  And let me know how your child enjoys Pocketville!

This post is courtesy of

Zeus is a Yorkie and quite used to being overlooked by my sister’s boys.  He’s not a “rough and tumble” dog but a lap dog.  He prefers to sit quietly in a chair beside a calm adult.  So my girls scare him to death.  Apparently two energetic little girls chasing him and yelling isn’t his idea of fun.

One thing he doesn’t mind the girls doing, though, is walking him.  And Caelan has taken on that job with glee.

"Me and Puppy"

Apparently Zeus is now her “best dog” and as she walks him we hear running commentary, “Me and puppy are going this way” and “fast running Zeus!”  It’s so incredibly cute.

Caelan is a rather greedy little girl bad share-er and doesn’t like to let her sister have a turn walking Zeus.  Luckily we have Toby, who is our dog.  He’s over 11 years old and quite gentle.  Which is lucky as he weighs double what Brenna does.

Brenna and Toby

Doug stays close by to help if Toby happens to pull but, mostly, Brenna has it covered.

Like I said my sister won’t dog sit for me; apparently a 90 pound dog is more work than a 9 pound dog.  Or he takes up more room.   But we’ve enjoyed having Zeus this week.  The girls have been taking care of him, feeding and watering him, helping me put him out to potty.

They will miss him when he’s gone.  So much so that we are considering a small dog “of their own” as a Christmas gift…

Well, neither did I – until last week.  According to our local paper my town was chosen as a “Playful City” because of the number of parks we have.  Which, honestly, is a lot.  According to the city there is a park within walking distance of every home in our town.  And most are connected by bike trails.  According to the website “Playful City USA is a national recognition program honoring cities and towns across the nation committed to taking action for play.”

Canoeing at All City Play Day

Yesterday the town hosted and All City Play Day at two of the parks that are adjoining (which, funnily enough, are within 4 blocks of our huge sports complex, the best in the state, and back up to both an elementary and middle school- can you say playground equipment?)  There were dozens of activities- most of them free.  We went canoeing, made bracelets, race big wheels, tossed bean bags, watched a dog show, skateboarding, sand volleyball, soccer and football and joined the fire department in a water fight.  We didn’t get to the birdhouse building, scavenger hunt, wall climbing (the girls weren’t big enough), yoga or tennis.  And we didn’t play on any of the playground equipment!  (gasp!)

Oh, and we had a picnic before all the fun began.  It was a fun evening and another reason why I love my small Iowa town.

Making a bracelet at All City Play Day

A beautiful bracelet

Water fight!

One of the best parts of the night was running into the girls’ ex-gymnastics coach Miss Amy!  We’ve missed her a lot since she left coaching to stay home with her kids this summer before beginning a new position in the fall.  We ran in to her at the canoeing and I thought the girls were going to push her in the lake in their excitement to hug her!

Today’s event changed all that.  You see, today Brenna got a present when she went to deposit her savings at the bank.  They gave her silly putty.  I tried to talk her out of it and into a twirly pen or a crayon wheel.  But, no, she had to take the silly putty.  Probably only because I tried to talk her out of it.

It turns out that silly putty does not make good necklaces.  Or maybe it does, but not when you have long hair.  Because what you get is a mess like this:

Lovely blue stuff stuck into the hair.  On the top, underneath, at the ends.

Add a mom (who happens to be having hormonal issues) and a haircut is in short order.  Freeze it?  Not a chance.  There’s a lesson here…

Tears follow- both because the remaining silly putty gets thrown away and the scissors come out.  I really think most of the tears were for the stupid silly putty…

3 inches lost…  And she still has a ton of hair…

Not that we need a costume to act like a clown…