Days with Lily

September 25, 2008, 9:04 pm

Lily and I love Tuesdays and Thursdays. On nice days we have tea parties outside or go to the park and meet Papa for a picnic. Lily absolutely loves to pack lunches in her special pink lunch box. She always packs a few extra treats for her Papa.

This week I took Lily to the eye doctor as she failed her vision exam at her 4-year check-up. Lily had her eyes dilated which was not a fun time for her. Then the doctor examined her which was like a circus. Lily and I were very entertained by the production including the movie Shrek, a baaaaing sheep, a moooing cow, and rattles. Turns out Lily is far-sighted. She will need glasses for reading (well, when she learns how to read) and writing and any up-close work at school or home. She picked out some adorable pink frames. I've promised her that I will wear my glasses more often, and she listed many of her friends who wear glasses including Alli, Grandma Linda, Grandpa Hottman, Matt, the twins, Carter Wainwright, etc. Hopefully she will wear her glasses without too much complaint.

Today we went to a farm at story time. Lily enjoyed feeding the donkeys and goats. Each child brought a bag with items that start with the same letter as their name. Lily proudly showed her items: A picture of her Grandma Linda, a picture of herself, a leaf, lip-gloss, and a lollipop.

Here are some pictures of our outdoor fun:


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Fall fun in Cedar Falls

September 25, 2008, 8:52 pm

Last weekend we went to visit the Hitchmans in their new home. Lily and Julia really hit it off and played quite well together (Julia lets Lily boss her around for now). David was not feeling well but did enjoy an introduction to Bakugan from Noah.

Nathan ran for 35.5 miles to prepare for his 50 mile race at the end of October while the rest of us went to the Fall Festival (I'm pretty sure we had more fun).

Here are some pictures from the weekend:



My favorite quote from Lily that weekend was in the corn maze when she said, "Wow, this is really tall grass!"

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Quote of the Week

September 23, 2008, 7:25 pm

Lily brought me to tears today when she was playing with a Mr. Potato Head and said, "Hey, he's like Humpty Dumpty! You know...the tomato that fell off the rocks!"

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A Conversation with Lily

September 22, 2008, 5:30 pm

On the 10 minute drive home today, Lily said the following things to me:

(Gasp)"Today is the first day of fall! We have to make a cake! Let's make a vegan cake when we get home to celebrate! Do we have soy eggs?"

"Do you like these jeans I'm wearing? We can get you some huge great big ones just like them!"

(Gasp!) "I need to call Santa! I have to tell him that Swiper has been bad and gets rocks for Christmas."

"Hey bugs can't get stuck in a bowl 'cause they can fly like a butterfly. Right?" (long pause) "Not ants though. Like ants in your pants. That's mean though!"

"Guess what tomorrow is?!! Christmas! And snow! It's fall so tomorrow is snow out Mom!"

Just a taste of driving with Miss Lily...

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Boba Fett in the House

September 17, 2008, 8:13 am

Lookie what came in the mail yesterday (Noah's high of the day of course):



Boba Fett does 2nd Grade Homework: (I love how Noah's tongue sticks out when he's concentrating... I mean Boba's tongue.)



Enough with the paparazzi! I will get you with this mechanical pencil:


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On the Subject of Noah

September 16, 2008, 10:59 am

I don’t want to sound old fashioned, but kids these days are so into technology. Noah asks me to search e-bay for various toys or costumes. He can pull up the Toys R Us website and browse with the best of them. Noah is going to be Boba Fett for Halloween. I had no idea who this character from Star Wars was, so Noah (with a slight sound of annoyance in his voice) explained to me about the clones. I think he’s more infatuated with the weapons that Boba Fett has than the costume itself. His friend Cade is going to be Captain Rex for Halloween (not really sure who that is). We ordered his costume off e-bay, and Noah is anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Noah comes home with multiple iphones every day in his backpack. He folds paper into the shape of an iphone and then decorates it like an iphone. One evening he asked if Nathan and I would like to make iphones with him. I made mine, and he said, “Oh, Mom, that’s like a cell phone not an iphone!” He proceeded to explain the iphone to me and then I made one, which he felt was up to standard. I often giggle as I pick up the paper iphones around the house or when Noah yells out, “Where’s my iphone?”

Noah is in soccer and cub scouts, so he’s a busy kid. He is a wolf in cubs and is excited that his buddy Cade joined cubs this year. At dinner every night we have started to talk about the highlight and the low of our day. Noah’s low is always “leaving Cade’s house” and his highlight is often “playing with Cade.” We went to the zoo one weekend, and everyone’s highlight was going to the zoo. I was so happy to be included in one of Noah’s highs.

Noah is in 2nd grade now, and the spelling words have gotten a little harder. Last week he missed 8 words on his pre-test, and he was pretty upset. He learned the words and did well on his spelling test on Friday, but the experience was stressful for our conscientious Noah. Last Friday the teacher gave everyone the spelling words for this week. So on Sunday night I suggested we review Noah’s words. We went over them, and he got home yesterday with a big smile on his face and announced he got 100% on his pretest.

Noah loves to watch sports with Nathan. They are big time Bears and Cubs fans. He always asks for the score from the previous game when he wakes up. He loves numbers and knows the numbers of his favorite players. We're amazed at his memory for scores and player's numbers. Of course they watch sports on the princess couch:



Last week was Nathan’s birthday, and Noah asked if he would come to school and have lunch with him. Nathan already had planned to go out to eat with me. I told him he could go have lunch with Noah instead, but Nathan decided to do both. Noah loved having his Papa eat lunch with him. We’ll be sad when those days end and he is too cool for us (and maybe has upgraded from the paper iphone to a real cell phone…)


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On the Subject of Lily

September 16, 2008, 10:47 am

Lily has a vivid imagination. Nathan and I think she really believes inanimate objects are talking to her. We have a cup in the shape of a horse that Nathan has talk to Lily, and she gets herself so worked up that we have to remove the cup from the room. I think her imagination will serve her well, but at the age of 4 she just gets scared a lot. Lily is very scared of skunks and calls them “stunks.” She asks where they live and if they will ever come to our house. I assure her that stunks live far far away.

Lily loves the book Sleeping Beauty and asks us to read it to her often. In the book there are three good fairies and one wicked fairy. She’s very scared and fascinated by the wicked fairy and her big black bird. One day when I was reading the book to her she said, “Oooh, I don’t like that wicked frickin’ fairy!”

Lily and Papa were home one day, and Lily was being very ornery. Papa told Lily that they could not have a tea party because of her behavior. Lily said, “If I kill you then only Mama will be the boss of me.” I know this is a disturbing story, but Lily is surrounded by boys who enjoy playing with toy guns and talking about war. She has an older brother and 5 boys at Theresa’s house (she’s the only girl). We of course have discussed that killing her Papa is not an option.

Lily loves going to preschool and is very proud that she is in the 4-year-class. Every Tuesday and Thursday she points out to me that the smaller 3-year-olds are in school and she has the day off. She thinks her teachers know everything, and she often argues with me and Nathan that her teachers are smarter than us. Nathan is pretty adamant he’s just as smart if not smarter.

I am eating a vegan diet for a 6-week challenge, and Lily is obsessed with my eating habits. A few days ago she slammed her fist on the table and yelled, “I want you to be vegetarian NOT vegan!” She also tried to convince me that peanut M&M’s are made out of soymilk chocolate not cow milk chocolate. She asks what is in foods that I can’t eat. She was very sad that I couldn’t eat cake on Nathan’s birthday, and she can’t wait to get rolos and gum for me on Halloween. She often asks, “How many more sleeps are you vegan?” When we go out to eat she whispers in my ear, “Don’t forget to tell them you’re VEGAN!” Lily thinks I pretty much know everything since I always have answers to her never-ending questions (although I don’t know as much as her teachers), so one day she proclaimed, “Vegans must know everything!”

Last week I started my part-time schedule, and I love having Tuesdays and Thursdays at home with Lily. I never had an opportunity to be home with just Lily as I started my job when Noah started Kindergarten. Lily and I fill the day painting nails, drawing, painting, playing with dolls, and playing like she’s the mom and I’m the kid. She calls me “son” when we play house, and I never correct her. I like being the 9-year-old son who often folds laundry (it’s my chore). I have a younger sister named Dora who is also a comfortable pillow.



On Thursdays we go to story time. Last week Lily and I missed Dawn and Kevin at story time. There were two other 2-½ year old children at story time, and Lily gasped and whispered to me, “Just like Kevin!” The next two weeks the librarian will talk about farm animals. She talked about cows last week and that made us miss Kevin even more. We will go to a farm for a field trip in two weeks. Story time won’t be the same without Dawn and Kevin. We miss Kevin so much and talk about him daily.



Lily told me one day that when she grows up she wants to be an arter. I wasn’t sure what that was, so I asked her. She said, “You know, I want to do art!” I told her that is called an artist and that’s what her Grandpa is. She said, “Oh, he’s an artist when he grows up?”

Lily had her 4-year-old check-up last week. She was 41 inches and 32 pounds. She is completely average--50th%tile in both (oh but so not average). She got 4 shots, which was a little traumatic for her, and she limped the rest of the day. She yelled, "That Doctor's office is BAD with their MEAN shots!" I agreed. She failed her vision test, so she has an appointment with an eye doctor in a few weeks. Let's all imagine Lily with glasses for a little bit...ahhhhh. (She is adamant that she will wear contacts like me and not glasses).



Lily loves squirrels and calls them “squo-rals.” She says none instead of no. For example, “Let’s take none nap today!” She also still says gor-als instead of girls. She is very proud to be a big 4-year-old goral. We think she is full of personality.

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35 Year Old Papa

September 16, 2008, 10:31 am

Nathan turned 35 last Wednesday. Lily and I made him a pineapple upside-down cake the night before his birthday. Lily was so excited that Papa would open his presents when she woke up in the morning. She cried a little that everyone had to go to work and school on such a special day.

Noah picked out a Cubs shirt for his fellow cubs fan along with a cool cubs mug. Lily picked out a box of chocolates, which she hoped would be shared with her (and of course she ate more of them than Papa did).

Here are some pictures of the birthday fun:


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Let Preschool Begin

September 4, 2008, 8:26 am

Lily counted down the days until her first day of preschool (for big 4-year-olds!) She started a few weeks after Noah, which made it hard to wait. Yesterday she woke up with a big smile on her face and couldn't wait to see her teachers and friends at school.

After school, Lily informed me that there are still 2 Taylors and now 2 Emmas and a Noah! She is the only Lily Starr.

Here are some pictures of Lily on her first day:



Click for video of Lily running to the school

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Kentucky Clan

September 4, 2008, 8:23 am

Nathan, Noah, Lily, and Uncle Jason took a trip to Kentucky to visit the Tackett clan. I had to work Labor Day weekend, so I had a rare weekend at home alone. Noah and Lily had a blast with their Grandpa Tackett and their Great Grandma. They went to the aquarium where they pet sharks. Yes, sharks! Lily can't stop talking about it (she feared sharks before her trip to Kentucky). Lily loved her great Grandma and still talks about her beautiful necklaces.

Here are the kids with Grandpa and Great Grandma:

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