playing with animoto

I found a new fun web tool to play with, its called animoto http://animoto.com/. All you do is put in 15-20 pictures and it turns them into very cool 30sec movies. They actually look like commercials of your life - its fun. The program is a little hard to work with as far as downloading pictures, but I think that is because I'm on a mac and its built to download from a PC. But here is a small movie I made yesterday with some pictures from Hannah's birthday party.

Check it out!

Much better

Awwww its Monday again. I know I've posted this in the past but Mondays rock. Its a nice start to the week. Kate is in school in the am and Hannah is in in the pm so its just me and 1 kid all day - so nice. And today was the first day of doing a carpool with another family to school. Kate was picked up at our house at 830a and off to school she went with her friend Addison. It saved me about 45min round trip of drive time. I then picked Addison and Kate up at 12n when I dropped Hannah off - it worked out great. It sure saved me some time this morning. I got to put 4 loads of laundry away - what fun. I live such an exciting life.

Hannah had a fun morning of playing in her sisters room with her sisters toys while she was at school. We'll see how long that will last.

The family is on the mend as far as the colds go. Kate is over hers and never really got the bad one, Hannah has still been acting like she is coming down with it but hasn't yet. I'm getting over mine and Greg is on day 3 so tomorrow day 4 should be his worst and then hopefully it should be gone.

Whine whaaa whaaa whine whine - I'm sick

No fun around here. I've come down this weekend with some sort of nasty cold. Both girls have been fighting something for about 2 weeks (since school started) but they haven't really gotten sick. And then boom I woke up with a sore throat and a stuffy nose and all kinds of pain. I went to the dr. and she said it looks like a virus and the standard course of a virus is 3 days in 3 days out, so I'm about half way through.

Dinner last night was yummy, although my company was lacking. I felt like my face was sliding off my head most of the night so I wasn't much fun to be around. But the food as always was yummy.

My super family and a dinner out

We made super hero capes today. The kids had a blast flying around the house today. And Greg was one of the first to to leaps through the living room with his new cape on. It was a hoot to watch. I don't know who had more fun, me watching, the girls laughing or Greg leaping. It was a site all the way around.

Greg and I are heading out to dinner tonight for his 40th birthday. I can't wait. We're going to LuLu's http://www.lu-lusrichmond.com/
We've been a few times and love it. They make the best peanut butter pie - I can taste it already. I'll let you know what I get for dinner.

Kate's "sweetpeas" & "sweethearts" are back

Just to keep everyone updated on Kate's imaginary friends - they are back. As you might have read in a past post her "friends" were eaten by a bear. Well just yesterday her little "friends" have come back. She was just sitting in the car and started yelling that her friends where running fast next to the car to catch up with us. And then before we knew it they jumped in the car and all was well. She has a huge imagination - its fun to listen to.

Speaking of brains. Kate and Hannah were playing a guessing game in the car the other day. I was very impressed with the level of the game. Hannah would say "I'm thinking of something that is brown" and Kate would say "give me a hint" and Hannah would say "it has a long tail" and then Kate would say "is it a cat" and then Hannah would give another hint like "it eats bananas" and Kate would yell "monkey". They did this back and forth over and over. Kate would ask for a hint (hint how does a three year old know what a hint is). Or what I thought was even better is when Hannah would ask for a hint and Kate would give a correct one without giving away the thing. It was truly amazing.

2nd post today - Greg turns 40

Yep. You heard me right. Greg turns 40 today. I'm starting to get to that funny place in my life where I'm remembering my parents ages as I turn them. I remember when my mom turned 36 (my age this year) and I really remember when she turned 40. Its that same feeling when you go to the doctor and they are younger than you, what the heck, doctors should be my parents age - oh wait I am my parents age - yikes when did that happen?????

The girls and I bought Greg a cake and some cards and sang a great big happy birthday to him. Its the simple things that make it fun. Greg and I have a date night on Saturday so the celebration will continue through the weekend - and then thats it :) HeHeHe... I say this because I think the entire month of August is my birthday, so I tease Greg that he only gets through the weekend to celebrate and he's, like wait just a minute.....ahhh marriage.

Yesterdays news - big day for Kate

It was kinda a big day for Kate. In the morning she had and appointment with an Orthopedic this morning. Her left foot was still turning in just a little and she complained about some pain first thing in the morning so I wanted to get it looked at. All went great and no need to do anything for it, the dr. said it will straighten on its own. She even got her first x-ray - such a big girl.

And after we dropped Hannah off at school we headed west for her first Karate class http://www.usatigerma.com/index.htm
Unfortunately it didn't go so great for Kate. Although she did sit through the entire class and watched, which I was fine with. And she showed Hannah all the moves she learned so she must have been paying attention. And I figured out the mistake I made with the class when I was driving home. I kept telling her how much fun she was going to have in Karate class but I never really told her what it was. Now if you say to a little girl your going to dance class they all know what that means and what to expect. But Kate had no idea what to expect in the karate class so I think she was just overwhelmed and needed some research time, so hopefully next week will be a little better because she seems to be talking about it allot. So I just made a mental mom note to show her more karate stuff on the computer when we got home so she would know what was going on.

Sorry no picture of her during the class, she was stuck to the wall and wouldn't move :)

My sweet Kate

So as promised, tonights post is all about Kate. To describe Kate in one word would be impossible to do. She is so many description all in one. I've never met a kid like her. She is spunky, full of life, sweet, affectionate, rambunctious and cute. About half the time she has on a smile from ear to ear and is very excited about something and the other half she is watching you intensely to see what your going to do next. And when she gets something in her head there is nothing else going on until she finishes her task. I have found this good and bad, depending on how fast I'm trying to get out of the house.

The most fascinating thing I have found lately with Kate is her imagination. She has the most unbelievable imagination for a 3 year old (not that I have allot to compare). She currently has anywhere from 5 to 10 imaginary friends that she calls her "sweet hearts" or "sweet peas". Now when I say imaginary I don't mean the scary kind, I'm talking about the cute story telling kind. She pretends to have school with them, she'll sing songs or walk them around the house in the stroller. She likes to walk up to me and ask me to hold them and as the good mom I am I put out my hand and she shows me how to hold them just right so I don't smoosh them. Apparently sweet peas and sweet hearts are very small and delicate. And just yesterday she came to me very dramatic and said that all of her sweet peas and sweet hearts had died. She had her little head tilted to the side and said that a bear ate them all. I said that we will have to go to the store to buy more and she just quietly said that the store was all out of them. And away she went to play with something else. Not really sure where this all came from, but I just rolled with it. I'll have to get her into acting or writing classes at a young age to let this brilliant mind flourish. But until then she has her first karate class tomorrow. She is very excited. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fried green tomatoes and Hannah's 5 year Dr. appointment

At the beginning of the summer Greg and I built a small garden in the corner of our yard. This was our first venture into gardening. I started a bunch of plants from seedlings including tomatoes, basil and poblano peppers. And to our surprise our garden grew and grew. We've had so much basil this summer that we haven't been able to keep up with it. But our poor tomatoes where planted a little late so they haven't quite turned red yet, the heat of the summer is gone. But then it hit me, what about fried green tomatoes. So today I searched for a recipe, picked the biggest green tomatoes off our huge plants and make the best fried green tomatoes - EVER. I am just over the top tickled with myself. They where so taste. So if you have any green tomatoes on your plants I highly recommend making some for yourself.
***for the entire photo shoot of the fried green tomatoes start to finish go to http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007392&l=ce965&id=1122309468

So enough with me me me me. Now onto Hannah's 5 year doctor appointment. As I do with most things I told her last night at bedtime what the plan was for the next day. I told her about her doctor appointment and her only question was will I get shots. I told her that I didn't really know but that we would worry about that tomorrow. In a very sweet little voice she said "it will be okay if I do, I'll be strong". She just melts my heart. Last year at her 4 year check up she got 2 shots and after the nurse did the first one Hannah looked at the nurse with her eyes watering and asked the nurse if she could be a little more gentle with the next one. I thought the nurse was going to start crying. And the nurse still remembers this and mentions what a big girl she is when ever we go in. So back to this years appointment. The great news was that Hannah did not have to have any shots - yippee. And the even better news is that she doesn't need glasses yet. At her 4 year check up she was having some trouble with the vision test so I thought this year she might be a little worse, but all is still well. Maybe next year. And she has also grown by leaps and bounds. Her height was 44inc (up 4 inc) and her weight was 41.6 lbs (up 6.6 lbs). So all is happy and healthy in the world of Hannah.

Tomorrow my entire post is going to be about Kate. I've started noticing that I've been focused on Hannah these last few weeks. Not sure if its been because Hannah has has a birthday and all the stuff that goes along with that or if its because I've been so frustrated with Kate because she is 3 and strong willed and I'm trying not to gripe about her all the time. But I have some cute little stories about Kate that I'll share tomorrow, her imagination is out of this world and she comes up with the funniest stories and songs. So more on her tomorrow.

MOMS club family picnic

When Hannah was about 8 months old I joined this great group called MOMS (mothers offering mothers support). I've now been in the group just over 4 years and love it. Its a wonderful group of moms and all the kids are awesome. Its just nice to have a large group of friends all doing the same thing I'm doing.

This year I joined the board of the MOMS club to give back a little of what they've given me over the years. And we decided to do a family picnic this year to get all the families together. Because so often its just us moms getting together during the week while the hubbies are at work. So we thought it would be fun to get everyone together - and it turned out to be a great time. One of the members of the moms club, Julie, took this idea and ran with it. She put together a great day for everyone. We had great food, lots of games to play and a great place to have the party. So here are some fun pictures from our afternoon along with the funniest video of the kids doing a sack race (or a trash bag race as it was).

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30137785&l=79e1b&id=1122309468

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg1Y4IWNmHY

Yesterdays fun

The girls had a blast yesterday with one of Hannah's birthday presents. Uncle Jord and Laura bought Hannah a dinosaur digging set. It came with all the tools and a block of chalk that had a dinosaur head in it. The girls had so much fun playing paleontologist. I highly recommend this gift for kids age 5+.





http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2891566

Do you read my blog???

I've added a feature on my blog to show who is reading my blog. If you would like to become a "follower" than click on the side bar to the right and let me know you are enjoying my blog.

I started the blog because I thought it would be a fun way to keep everyone up to date on the family. But come to find out I really enjoy writing my little daily happenings. Its been allot of fun to write it down and share it with you.

Thanks for reading......come back for more.

Hannah turns

What a great day. Hannah came down this morning and was very surprised by her new bike. She loves it. After school she rode it around and around the block. She took a few falls, but thank goodness she has her knee pads and elbow pads on otherwise it would have really hurt. She really enjoyed the brakes on her new bike and used them over and over. Kate was not all that happy that Hannah got a new bike and she didn't. But she got her revenge while Hannah was at school Kate rode it around the house a bazillion times. Maybe just maybe Santa will bring one for Kate for Christmas.

I still can't get over that my oldest is 5. I know have a 5 year old and a 3 year old - wow does time fly.

Here are some other pictures of the girls opening up gifts and enjoying the day.
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007179&l=0447d&id=1122309468

The eve of Hannah's birthday

So 5 years ago today I was awaiting the arrival of our first child. We knew it was going to be a girl and we had already named her Hannah Rose. What we didn't know was what day she was going to arrive. Sure we had a rough guess, but you just never know when these little things are going to make their entrance.

All was well on this day 5 years ago, but once I went to bed I just didn't feel right. And at 2a the contractions started. And just about 8 hours later our sweet little Hannah arrived on September 18th, 2003 at 1121a.

I'll always remember the day before her arrival because I just kept wondering when and then before I knew it she was here. Oh and hurricane Isabelle also arrived on Sept. 18th 2003, knocking out power and water for 16 days and forced us to flee to northern NJ with a new born baby. But beyond all that our lives changed forever when our little Hannah arrived.

So for some reason I become very sentimental on the eve of my kids birthdays. And this year is no different.

But what I can't wait for is Hannah's face in the morning when she comes downstairs and sees her birthday present waiting for her - a new big girl bike. I'll take lots of pictures tomorrow morning and share all the fun birthday celebrations with you tomorrow - my big girl is turning 5.

MOMS club meeting, birthday gifts, lunch with uncle & Lala and a fire house - all in one day

Another big day for me and the girls. I had a MOMS club meeting this morning at Burger King, the girls played on the very large indoor play area while I did my meeting thing. We then headed home to have lunch with Uncle and Lala. Jordan and Laura are heading to Croatia for 3 months, we're going to miss them so much. I hope they have a wonderful time and we can't wait to see the postcards.

After lunch, Jord and Laura came back to the house and we opened many many birthday gifts for Hannah. Jord, Laura, Grandpa Len and Joyce went way over board. And the kids loved everything. I don't think I could name a favorite toy, they played with them all over and over again.

So after a busy lunch and lots of gifts we headed to Firehouse #13 for a tour. My MOMS club set up a tour of the firehouse and for the kids to meet the firefighters. It was great for the kids to meet the guys in person and see the equipment and trucks up close. And Kate brought the firefighters beef jerky (thats what she picked out for them at Target). The guys where very touched and the tour was great.

We then came home and crashed. Busy day had by all. Oh and Hannah played hooky from school so we could pack all this fun in. She was very happy she got to see Uncle and Lala before they left.

Awww Monday - gotta love 'em

So as a mom I have a whole new respect for Mondays. Back in the days when I was working (outside the home that is) Mondays always sucked because it was the end of a weekend and the beginning of another long work week. Well now as a mom Mondays have changed. First I get my house back, the husband goes back to work and mom is the only force in the house. And second the kids go to school - yippie school! So Mondays rock again. I will never bad mouth the Monday again. So all those lame comments that people make to each other about Mondays, I laugh at you because Monday are the best day of the week. Well until Friday comes and I can't wait for dad to be home for 2 days to pick up where I fell apart. But by god when Monday comes back I'll be ready to go again.

A fun Sunday and so much frustration

The Lyons family had a fun Sunday. Ali came over for the day and Greg and I took the 3 girls to the pool. It was about 96 degrees today - just a bit hot, so the pool felt great. And the family was tired when we got home. And Greg is a little sun burned - that poor Irish skin.

Kate, Kate, Kate, I don't know what I am going to do with that kid. She is a strong willed 3 year old. She makes me feel like I'm loosing my mind. And some days I think I am. She will push and push and then if she still doesn't get her way she will resort to violence, hitting, scratching, throwing any object that is around. Its a bit frustrating. It takes all my power not to give in to her and even more power not to resort to violence when she gets in her fit. Send me more power, because I need it with this one.

Hannah's 5th birthday party

So today we celebrated Hannah's 5th birthday. We decided to take her and a few friends tree climbing. Their is this great company here in Richmond called Riverside Outfitters www.riversideoutfitters.net and they do birthday parties for kids. It was a ton of fun and I think the kids and adults had a great time. The location that they use to have the parties is right on the James River. So we got to play in the water and climb trees, it was heaven.

Here are some great pictures from the party. I think it was truly a day they will never forget. I know I wont.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006915&l=46877&id=1122309468

No post yesterday, too tired

I was so tired yesterday, not really sure why, but maybe we're all coming down with colds. Hannah defiantly has something going. She has been stuffy and started getting congested today. I knew it days ago when her behavior was so off, she always gets that way just before she gets sick. So maybe I'm getting what she has because I went to bed last night at 730p and got up this morning at 730a - it felt so good. Although I was having some issues with my new CPAP machine because I a little stuffy, not really sure how I'm suppose to breath through my nose while I'm stuffy but we'll see.

The family and I are getting very excited about Hannah birthday party tomorrow. We booked a tree climbing party - I can't wait. We're going down to the James River and climbing trees - well the kids are we'll watch from the ground :) I'll send out pictures tomorrow. I just hope it doesn't rain.

gym/school/home/school/mall/home

That about sums up our day. I've feel like I live in my car.

I took the girls to the gym this morning, did some time on the treadmill. Then took Hannah to school. Kate and I came home, I got some stuff together for Hannah's birthday. We went to the post office and then went and picked up Hannah at school. We then went over to the mall to kill some time and terrorize the people in Brook stone and then headed home. Pretty normal day.

I think Hannah is coming down with a cold. Pretty normal for the first week of school. She has done it every year since she has been in school. The first week she comes down with some type of head cold. Not sure if its just being exposed to new germs or her body being worn down by new stuff, but every darn year this happens. I can always tell when she is about to get sick because she becomes very ornery. She is normally very compliant and easy going, but when she is about to get sick she becomes a pistol and can't control herself - its fun. Where as Kate is always like that so we really never she a difference :)

Can you name all 50 States??

The girls and I started talking about all the states. I could get to about 43 or so but couldn't remember the ones I was misssing. I was remembering a song from childhood that had all 50 states in it, so I looked it up and here it is:http://www.mrsjonesroom.com/songs/50states.html

The girls and I are going to try and memorize the song - wish us luck.

Just another day

No news is good news.

Today was Kate's second day of school, she loved it again and came home singing a new song. Although I'm not quite sure what song it is yet, I'll let you know as soon as I know.

Hannah also enjoyed another day at school. On Mondays she goes to school for lunch and then her afternoon class. She did great joining the group for lunch and didn't even look back. She has grown up so much. I'll never forget her first year of school. At age 2 she cried every day when I picked her up, all the way to the last day of school. She just held herself together until she would see me and then melt down, it broke my heart. But I knew it was good for her.

Kate and I went to the gym this afternoon and then came home and played dress up. She likes her accessories and wears them well. I think today was a yellow Belle dress with purple shoes and about 10 necklaces. Along with her crown and sun glasses, it was a sight. Although I didn't get any pictures, sorry about that, but I'm sure you can imagine the sight. One of our new favorite books is Fancy Nancy, so if you know that character (see picture) than you can imagine what Kate looked like.

Little Bo Peep

So Kate has been singing Little Bo Peep all weekend. I finally got her to sing it for me while I had the camera, I'm so glad I captured it. I was also looking back at some videos and have one of Hannah at about the same age singing Twinkle Twinkle.

So for your listening pleasure I give you Kate singing Little Bo Peep and Hannah singing Twinkle Twinkle, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1kD-Q1dW3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE71aj9HGnE

A great night sleep, a storm and more shoe shopping

I slept like a baby last night. I was on my CPAP machine for the first night at home and did great. And boy I can really feel the difference today. Its amazing how great you feel when you get a good night sleep. Here's to more ZZZZZZZZ.

Tropical storm Hanna went through town today, and moved fast. We had allot of rain and some wind but not as bad as we thought it was going to be. I still had the memories or nightmares of Hurricane Isabelle and feared we would be out of power and water for days. But it was just a little storm and no harm done.

Our shoe adventures went so well with Kate yesterday that I decided to take the entire family for some shopping today - what a mistake. Although everything went well and we got two cute pairs of shoes for Hannah, it was just an ordeal trying to keep Greg and Kate busy. Hannah got the same cute little white keds that Kate got and also a very grown up pair of brown and pink Merrells. They just don't look like little girls shoes, they look so big.

School, CPAPs, new shoes and much much more

Okay, stay with me this was a big day full of info.

I started the day off with making breakfast for the girls while also packing 3 lunches, two snacks for school, Hannah's napping blanket for quiet time at school, my gym bag, Kate's gym bag with another snack, my laptop, got directions over the phone to pick up my CPAP machine, made sure we did hair, face, shoes and potty and got out the door all in 30 min. And I didn't forget a thing. GO MOM.

Our day was hecktick to say the least. I dropped Hannah and Kate off at school at 9a this morning. Hannah will be staying all day on Fridays so she needs to have her quiet time blanket, her lunch and then her school bag with snack for Pre-K class. Hannah did great on drop off and was playing before I had even left the room.

Today was Kate's first day and she did great. I gave her big hugs and kisses at the door and the teacher had her busy with where to put her bag and before she knew it she was distracted and I was gone - no tears!

I then had to drive about 20 miles north of town to make a 930a meeting with the nurse to get my CPAP machine. I'm now the proud new owner of a CPAP that I can't wait to take for a spin tonight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAP

So after the meeting it was about 1030a. I stopped by walmart to pick up some stuff, including water and batteries just in case this storm hits us harder than expected.

Than off to pick up Kate from school. She was happy and talked about all the great fun she had. We got into the car and we eat our lunch in the car while we drove to Saxon shoes to buy her new school shoes. She ate and talked and I eat, drove and listened. We bought two pairs of cute shoes. Little white keds and these really cute blue and green merrells - that she can run very fast in.

Hannah will be getting new shoes on Monday - stay tuned.

We then drove across town to the gym so I could get a quick work out in. Kate hung out in the kid zone and played while mom did a fast 30min on the treadmill. We then went to Loews to buy some sand so we could reroute some water away from our driveway when the storm hits us this weekend. We're suppose to get allot of rain and we have a drainage problem in the backyard. We're hoping if we can redirect some of the water it might help. Keep your fingers crossed.

So now its 3p and I haven't stopped moving all day. Kate and I head back over to school to pick up Hannah and then head home. We have some nice quiet time at home, eat some dinner, and put the girls to bed. Kate went down a bit hard today, heck she has been for the past few days. I think the family as a whole has had a hard week. We need to do some regrouping this weekend and have some quality family time. I think some needs are not being met and the family (well Kate) is lashing out.

I'll report over the weekend how some one on one time with the girls goes and how they respond. I think we just need to focus on them this weekend, play some board games and have some quality family time - it can never hurt.

Hannah's first Day of Junior Kindergarten

She has been very excited about going back to school. One thing Hannah loves is routine and schedules and school give her both of those and she just loves it. She had no hesitation today when I dropped her off. She saw 5 friends from class last year and was already making new friends. She walked in and waved goodbye. So different from just a few years ago - oh how they grow up so fast.

Now Kate will be tomorrow morning - we'll see how that goes. She is a bit more stubborn and likes to drag out the good byes, so we'll see how it goes. But the good news is tomorrow morning I have 3 hours to myself - yippie!

And as promised here are the pictures from the first day of school. I'm including Kate also because she wanted to bring her bag and pretend like it was her first day also. So I took pictures of both.

Hip Hip Hooray - School Starts Tomorrow

I am so excited that school starts back up tomorrow. The girls are still at River Road Preschool. Kate will be in the 3 year old program that meets Monday and Friday from 9a-12n. And Hannah is in the Pre-K program that meets everyday from 1230-330p. And on Monday and Fridays Hannah will be going from 9a-330p (yes, if your keeping up that will mean that I have every Monday and Friday morning from 9a-12n to myself). I am very excited. At the same time I don't want to wish the years away, but on the other hand - mommy needs some me time.

We went to school today to meet the teachers. Kate has Mrs. Eure who Hannah had 2 years ago and loved her. She is a wonderful teacher. And Hannah has Mrs. Waldruff. We haven't had her but I hear she is wonderful.

Since they started preschool I've been taking pictures on the first day of school and the last day. Here are the pictures from the last day of school last May. And tomorrow I'll post the first day of this year.

oh and Greg too!

Hannah, Kate and me, oh and Greg too!

Thats what my blog title should be.

And speaking of Greg today was his first day back to work after our week long vacation. In his past jobs they would have just said hey how was the trip and then moved on, but to show you that Greg has found his happy place in the job world I've attached some pictures of what Greg's office looked liked when he arrived back to work today.

I would say they like him - just a little. And oh he might say Dude a little to much :)
I'm hoping he'll bring home all of his faces so I can post them all over the house - and yours if your not careful.

Labor Day - what does it mean to you?

Labor day has always meant the end of summer for me. School starts, the warm sun starts to cool off and leaves start to drop. And for some it means the start of football. Not in our house, but many many other houses across the country.

The girls start school on Thursday. I spoke with the teachers today and they are very excited. Kate's teacher will be Mrs. Eure this year, Hannah had her in the 3 year old class so Mrs. Eure is very excited to have Kate. I've also taken on the room parent duties in Kate's class so that will be allot of fun again this year. I really enjoyed being Mrs. Carters room parent last year.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the day. We did some yard work. Had some quiet time and then Greg and the girls went to Maymont to run around while I did some house stuff. I have my second sleep study tonight so I'm doing everything I can not to take a nap today.