SO THIS MORNING I WAS AT THE ZOO...

Or maybe it was the car wash...

Either way...

there were monkeys:

MONDAYS...

Sometimes...Mondays can look good.

Sometimes, though, they just look like Mondays...

despite sunny-side-up eggs and molassesy syrup

Or as Remi says: syriup (think giddy-up.)

Somethings Denny's can fix..Monday mornings is not one of those things.

'N' IS FOR NOODLE

Remington came home from school on Tuesday with her first letter bag, featuring the letter "N".

The letter 'N' was written on the front of a brown paper bag. In class, she had "traced" the letter by gluing Noodles (elbow maccaroni) on top of it.

For the "home fun" (which is what Emma's math teacher calls home work- what a crock!) Remi had to find the letter 'N' in magazines, cut them out and put them in the bag. I was quite impressed with how quickly and accurately she found the letter...I helped her cut them out and then asked Charlee to help her with part 2.

Part 2 of the home fun was to find a small toy or item from home beginning with the special letter (N) and put it in the bag. So Charlee and Remi dug through the toy box...someone came up with a naked baby...then Charlee found what she called a ninja (but it was actually the Purple Pie Man). They were not happy with the toy selection. So they began looking around. Then Charlee spotted it...the show and tell item.

But first she needed permission, because it didn't belong to her.

So out she went to ask:

"Grampy, can Remi take your nose to school?"

This is what she meant:

THE VISITOR

For the past few months we've found...shall we call them "gifts"...on our front porch almost every morning.

They are the kind of gifts you don't want to step in.

And they stink.

And you should flush them down the toilet.

At first we were sure there was a cat hanging around during the night.

Then one day we came home and found

this little guy:

We've named him "Mr. Pooh".

For obvious reasons.

BARBIE-LICIOUS

There's a new Barbie in town.

For her big #3 b-day, Remi got a Barbie kit which included sungalsses, mobile phone, bracelets, ring and wig.

She loved it:

TOURNEY-DAYS

This past weekend we had the Austin Labor Day Cup Tournament for the U13 Dynamo girls...Emma's team!

We had a blast. We arrived at the hotel 8:ish Friday evening. Full of excitement, many of the girls migrated to the hotel restaurant excited for a dinner together. The waitresses, tired at the days end, were extremely disappointed to see our larger-than-large group come in. The girls loved it though. It took a while to get all those dinners together. The girls...whom an hour ago were so ready for the fun night of bonding...dropped like flies one by one. Us parents stayed late awaiting the tabs.

Saturday...5:30 AM brought wake up for the first game, 7:30...where the girls won 1-0. Emma played amazing and took a hard tackle from behind that lost her the goal she was about to make. Then back to the hotel for some elevator tag...soccer ball crafts to hang on hotel doors (which were all propped open as girls came and went)...Subway lunch...and bonding. On to the next game...tied 1-1. Then back to the hotel for more elevator tag...quick showers... more bonding and then a fun fajita buffet at a local Mexican Restaurant.

Sunday...up at 5:30 AM again...brought game #3. Hard loss...5-1. Many of the girls stuck around to watch the team playing after us. That game would determine our fate : 4:30 game or home? All our cheering (the Space City team SURELY wondered what in the heck our Dynamo team was doing cheering them on) succeed in keeping us in Austin for yet one more game. Back to the hotel. More elevator tag. More bonding. Lots of girlies hanging out in our room....which was great! Then Aunt Chaille met us and treated us to lunch at Cracker Barrel...it was really nice...and really great to see her! Then back to the fields for the afternoon game.

The Challenge team we played was amazing. They really had their stuff together. Our forwards barely touched the ball. Our defense played an extremely tiring game...holding them off as best they could. 1 opposing kick made it into our goal despite all that hard work. Challenge also made 2 penalty kicks. So all in all, officially, we lost 3-0. But I say we lost 1-0; penatly kicks don't count in my book ;). Our amazing goalie, Kaylee, and our diligent defense fought a really tough fight...and did a fantabulous job of it!

But here's the way I see it...the weekend was a huge success. All that elevator tag...and all that bonding...that's what's gonna spill out on the field in this upcoming fall season. That will shine brighter than any trophy! I'm glad to have been part of it and can't wait to do it all again next year!

Here are some of my favorite pics:

THE "RAT" HOTEL ???

So last night I was busy packing for our Austin trip.

I had the suitcase open and laying out in my bathroom.

I already had Remi's clothes tucked away in the suitcase and was working on getting mine together.

Remi walked in and gasped with excitement. She put her little hands on her little cheeks (uhhm...I mean "big" cheeks) and asked (while gazing at the luggage):

"MOMMY!, Are we going to Chuck E. Cheese's?"

What?!

JIMINY CRICKETS

Mushu loves crickets.

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Thusly, in Emma's room, there is a cricket box.

You've seen cricket boxes, right?

Little square things with screen sides?

No.

That's not a cricket box.

Think Rubbermaid.

Think about 14x12x14.

With breathing holes drilled around the top.

That's our cricket box.

It currently contains 3 dozen baby crickets.

(someone farms these things?)

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The first night of cricket-feeding...Scott helped Emma.

It's a tricky procedure...grabbing those hoppers.

After you catch them, you've got to put them in a cup and shake calcium on them.

Then they're ready to serve.

Scott made the whole process look pretty simple.

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So Sunday night, Emma and Charlee took it upon themselves:

"No Daddy. We can do it."

Up they went.

To feed the bearded beast.

We heard giggles.

Then we heard nervous girls braving the cricket box.

Next we heard screaming.

Lots of it.

Then silence.

About five solid seconds of silence.

Then:

"It's okay...we got it!"

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Close eyes.

Deep breath.

I'm thinking: God gave us daddies for a reason.

Maybe one of those reasons is to handle the cricket-catching.

Just a thought.