Tea Party

If only furniture could talk... I wonder what this table would have to say?

My dad made this table for my cousins before I was born. When Kendall was born, my aunt gave it to me. It's covered in glue, glitter, marker, and crayon. It's weathered every seasonal art and craft project and a few science experiments. This was Sabrina's first tea party.

My grandfather made the three little chairs for the kids when Sabrina was born. I have yet to paint them. They're starting to get covered in glue, glitter, marker, and crayon, too. I'm tempted to let the kids continue decorating them and then just add a top coat of sealer.

Where did my baby go?

Sabrina Belle turned 1 year old (10/22/2008). How did that happen? She's walking, talking (saying Mimi and Daaaeee - imagine "daddy" without the middle d's), signing (milk, more, and eat), and often responds correctly with yes and no head shakes. We ask her to do things like "put the toys away" or "find your mimi" and she does it! She loves doggies and can point them out in picture books. She tries so hard to keep up with Kendall and Owen. Fortunately, they still think she's cute and allow her to tag along most of the time.

And oh how she loves birthday cake....

The Houses visit Disney World

And what fun we had! We drove to Houston on Saturday, October 11 and spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa House, Uncle Scott, and cousins Cody, Kristopher, and Jasper. We got Sabrina settled for her week with Grandma and Grandpa and headed to the airport on Sunday afternoon. Kendall and Owen were very good travelers. Landing was a bit rough on their ears but they were very brave. It was pretty late by the time we were checked in to our hotel so we just ventured as far as Downtown Disney for some dinner and shopping. We promised Kendall and Owen they could buy one "special thing", a hat, and a T-shirt. Kendall knew before we left Dallas that her one special thing was going to be a Cinderella dress. We bought it that very first night and she wore it almost all day on Monday and Tuesday (see pictures).

We met our friends Steven, Julia, Jackson, and Robert Hall on Monday and park hopped with them all week. I think the highlight of the trip for Kendall and Owen was getting to see Jackson. The Halls moved to Phoenix earlier in the year and we hadn't seen them for about 5 months. It was great catching up.

Our agenda was something like this:

Monday - Magic Kingdom -- see as many princesses as we can see
Tuesday - Magic Kingdom -- see as many princesses as we can see, Winnie the Pooh, and maybe a pirate
Wednesday - Hollywood Studios -- see as many princesses as we can see. What? There aren't any princesses here? How about the Little Einsteins then?
Thursday - Epcot -- see as many princesses as we can see (for the novices Snow White hangs out in Germany)
Friday - Animal Kingdom -- I'm tired. I just want to hang out at the hotel. But there are cute animals and pretty flowers in the park. Ok, I'll give it a try.

It was so fun watching the kids meet their favorite Disney characters. Kendall and Owen carried on long conversations with all of the princesses. I overheard them telling Cinderella about their puppies at home and that Nana and Papa had a big dog like Bruno (Cinderella's dog). They told Belle that they named their baby sister Sabrina Belle after her. She was happy to hear that she had a name twin. And Owen, our little Casanova, got kissed by almost every princess at the park. Mulan even called him her little soldier which he still blushes about even today.

It was a great vacation. The whole family had fun and we can't wait to go back in 2-3 years when Sabrina is old enough to join us.

CHORES!

With the exception of putting away their own toys, Kendall and Owen like to help out around the house, and I am taking so much advantage of it! When Owen asked to help wash dishes, I was hesitant but since half of our dishes are plastic these days I figured, "what the heck." He scrubs and stacks the "clean" dishes up for me to put in to the dishwasher. He earns a quarter for his piggy bank every day that he helps.


Kendall has gotten in on the action. She's been helping with dinner. She either makes a salad or a dessert (sometimes edible, sometimes more for decoration.) Like her mommy, she has a hard time saving her money. Her last two quarters went right in to the Jay Jay the Jetplane ride at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Oh well, she had fun and I enjoyed her pudding with strawberries and whipped cream!

Here are a few pictures from our September fun. Look for State Fair of Texas pictures in a couple of weeks. Kendall and Owen walked over to see them raise Big Tex on Monday. He has the biggest boots EVER!!!

Is she licensed to fly?

Grandma Besco's birthday cake - we decorated it!

Mommy doesn't think this is very safe...

She'll be walking any day now!

First Day of School

At last, the glorious day arrived - the first day of preschool. Kendall handled it like an old pro. And Owen, well he kind of handled it like and old pro, too, even though this was technically his very first day of "real" school.

We dropped Sabrina off at PDO. After several rounds of hugs and kisses we were off to The Science School at the Museum of Nature and Science. With lunch boxes in hand we maneuvered the mud puddles in the circular drive, found classroom A, and showing no fear or trepidation deposited the lunch boxes into cubbies and joined circle time. There were no tears. There weren't even any hugs for mommy! With a mixture of elation (I was about to have 3 1/2 hours of alone time) and sadness that none of my children seemed to missed me one bit, I was off to the coffee shop to sip caffeine and read a book (yes, it was as sinful as it sounds).

To my joy, Kendall and Owen were both happy to see me after school. I finally got my hugs and kisses. As usual, Kendall did not have much to say about what she did all morning but Owen was a complete chatter box -- "We had circle time, the teacher showed us around the room, we played outside, ate lunch, and then you picked us up!" And to top off a great first day of school, he saw Ms. Jill, his summer PDO teacher, when we picked up Sabrina and got to tell her all about it.

I managed to get a couple of pictures before school and one after.

On our way in to the building

Joining circle time - that's their teacher Ms. Heather

One quick shot after school

Sabrina's first day at PDO

Sorry, no pictures.

Today was Sabrina's first day at Parent's Day Out. Her teachers said she had a great time, but she wouldn't nap in the morning (too much to see and do) and that threw off the rest of the day. At noon she sat in her highchair sucking her two fingers and staring at a green bean in the other hand. She wanted to eat the bean but knew that meant taking the fingers out of her mouth. I guess sleep finally overcame her and she took a whopping 30 minute nap. Needless to say, she was out like a light once we got home.

Although she had lots of fun playing with the other babies, she was happy to see us at the end of the day. The only things better than getting a break from diaper changing and mixing bottles are the smiles and hugs you get when you return.

Meet the New Houses!

At long last, summer "school" has come to an end. The last few weeks, with the promise of a hermit crab, Kendall marched in without a tear. Today she even told me about games she played with her teachers and classmates. So off to the pet store we went this afternoon. The first shells they picked were not populated. Kendall settled for a red shell with a terrible copy of Hello Kitty on it. Owen chose an orange shell with a decent Elmo painted on it. Their names - Rainbow Flower and Scooter respectively. They are still living in the cheap FEMA trailer we purchased for them, but plans are underway to create them a more spacious crabitat (kid you not, that's what they are called) this weekend. So far they haven't been too exciting but research shows it may take a few weeks for them to settle in.

This picture has nothing to do with the crabs. I just think it's too cute for words. Sabrina was in her baby tub but happy as a lark to be playing with big brother and sister.

Giving up my anal retentive ways

I know some of you are saying "woo hoo!" while others are thinking "yeah, right. We've heard that before." But really, I am (at least where pictures and blogs are concerned.) I haven't posted any updates since early June simply because I haven't had time to go through my lengthy picture saving and editing process. The relatives are screaming; friends are beginning to think I've fallen off the face of the earth; and I personally am getting stressed out just thinking about it. So, I've turned over a new leaf, and at long last here is the latest update from the House House to you!

June 14 - Owen's 3rd Birthday and Kendall's 1st Dance Recital

July 17 thru 24 - Roadtrip to Iowa to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Besco


























July 27 - Sabrina LOVES Guacamole (thanks to her brother and sister)





Where we are now...

Sabrina is just 9 months old and already pulling up and cruising with furniture. What am I going to do? Kendall and Owen were just barely crawling at this age. She's using sign language to ask for milk and smiles big when we sign "eat" to her. I'm guessing she'll start using that sign soon.

Owen is every bit a 3 year old. One minute he's a snuggly cuddly little guy. The next, he's an independent, defiant Tasmanian devil. Potty training is going great though so we are all happy for that.

Kendall does not like summer "school". Every Tuesday and Wednesday she "has a tummy ache" and declares that she is too sick for school. We've taken to bribery to get her to finish out the summer without all the kicking and screaming. Here in a few weeks we may be the proud owners of 1 or 2 hermit crabs...

Welcome!

Everybody else has one, why not us?

Welcome to the House House blog published by yours truly, "The Mom". I thought about writing this nice long introduction about who I am, a history of our family, why I'm doing this, blah, blah, blah, but then I realized you already know all of that so let's just jump right in where we are today.

Sabrina is crawling and has been for about 2 weeks now. Life has definitely changed for us. No longer can I just plop her down somewhere and expect her to still be there when I get back. She moves slowly but deftly and is getting in to everything. Kendall and Owen are finally learning to put their toys away because anything left out is sure to be covered in slobber and spit up in 30 minutes or less.

Owen turned 3 yesterday (6/4) and has moved on to that next phase of life - POTTY TRAINING! Today is Thursday (6/5) and we are hanging out at home close to the bathroom. We've managed to dribble in the potty and pee on the kitchen floor but he is making the effort and hasn't declared potty mutiny just yet. His birthday party is on the 14th and we hope to be diaper free by then. I think that depends more on my resilience than his.

Kendall is enjoying her first day of summer vacation - if you can call it summer vacation when you only go to school 10 1/2 hours a week. Her summer activities include but are not limited to dance recital, parent's day out twice a week, swim lessons, flight school (museum sponsored program where she'll learn about airplanes and airports), and just general hanging out with family and friends.

That's all for now. Stayed tuned for more updates!