This cute little devil will take you back to my wierd little world...
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Who They Are...
These pics were taken at Wal-Mart Studios, on the 14th
of January, 2000
Number Sixteen...05 February 00
We have had even more excitement than 4 inches of snow...
We got almost 6! This time it stayed for much longer
than a day...We still have patches in the woods and
places where it's shadey. And we got the snow on the
25th of January! So, it's been about 2 weeks. Which
is totally unheard of in this area.
Which means, of course, more snow days. Rebekah got
almost a whole week of school (she was right when she
said it was just like Christmas) and we made more snow
angels, had more snowball fights, and built (with the
help of lots of neighbors) a giant snowman. It took
4 guys to put the middle ball up, and 3 to put the head
on:) After it was knocked down (we didn't want any
kids to get squished if it fell on it's own), Rebekah
tunneled through the bottom ball. It was huge.
Rebekah and Sam were both getting the hang of walking
on the ice by the time the ice finally melted. Sam
still needed assistance, but Rebekah was out skating
around on it, and having a blast. She's changed her
mind about it never snowing again...
Sam is starting to develope a good vocabulary. She
speaks in tiny sentences. Mostly she knows more words,
and she uses several together to get her point, needs,
or dislikes across. She's doing really well. She also
tries to escape outside...Especially to go play with
Rebekah.
Speaking of whom, Rebekah doesn't seem to have suffered
any damage from completely missing almost a full week
of school. I was a little worried about it, but she
seems to be readjusting wonderfully. She's very eager
to try homeschooling next year, but she isn't rebelling
too much against public school yet:)
Well, I guess that's about it. See you all later...
Number Fifteen:)...22 January 00
The most exciting thing happened on the 18th...It
snowed here! We got about 4 inches that stayed for
the whole day:) It was great. Rebekah and Sam went
out and played in it...Rebekah made snow angels and had
a few snowball fights, and Sam just walked around in it.
It was really fun. Rebekah got a six day weekend...Four
days for the Martin Luther King holiday, and another
two for school closings because of the snow! Thursday
morning sent another inch or so of snow, but it was
gone by noon...But the first batch was great.
We had one small problem...We were running through
a parking lot with Brent chasing Rebekah and I, and
I hit a big patch of ice, slid all over, and crashed
into a car...Rebekah hit the ice, and fell flat on her
face. Needless to say, she didn't like the experience.
She was crying for about 15 minutes afterward, and
saying she hates the snow and wanted it all to go away.
I took her through some patches of snow, and other
patches of ice (at a much slower speed) and I think
I changed her mind about wanting to never see snow
again...We'll see.
Rebekah is teaching Sam all of her little tricks...Sam
has given one of the cats a hair cut (just a little
snip, but it's enough to be noticed), and she's begun
to play dress up at least as much as Rebekah. They
are trying to have slumber parties (mostly in Rebekah's
room) and I think they are getting to be pretty good
friends. Which is very nice, since I was starting to
wonder if that would ever happen. They still fight some,
but nowhere near as much as they used to:)
Rebekah is doing very well in school. She recognises
most of the alphabet by sight, and she has the rhyming
concept down really well. She reconises her numbers,
too, at least up to 10, which is where the report
stopped. She can put sequencing pictures in the
correct order, and she can match sets of graphics.
I think she's doing great!
I think that's about the most of the exciting things
that the girls have done this last week...We are hoping
for snow again this weekend, which will be a blast.
See you all later:)
Number Fourteen...11 January 00
Rebekah has done it again. What, you ask? She chopped
her hair off, that's what. It's now kinda feathery...
Almost '80s style, but needing badly to be cleaned up.
She's going to get her hair styled this Friday, probably.
After that, we may go get those family pics I've been
promising forever:)
Sam has said her second word on the telephone...This
time it was "Hi". Her first phone word (I don't
remember if I've already said this) was "Meow". I was
so excited. She said it to my best friend, Laurel. It
was neat. She now knows how to communicate via the
phone...
I guess that's the lastest leg breaking news. Pics will
be coming soon...We are going to get pics taken at
Wal-Mart studios, and if they are anything like last
time, we'll have copies on disk and I'll be able to
post them soon. If not, off they get shipped to
California, where hopefully someone will get them
scanned for me. So, like, later:)
Number Thirteen (my very favorite!)...02 January 00
Well, here we are, in the new millennium. My kids have
been around to see the change (I don't know that they'll
remember it, though!) We had lots of fun...The girls
stayed up to see the new year come in, both of them!
We were SO supprised that they made it. And even more
supprised (and horrified) to find out that they wanted
to get up at the normal time the next morning (7 am!).
At midnight, we played with sparklers and little snap
things (they are wrapped in tissue paper, and you throw
them on the ground, and they snap), and hugged and
kissed, and went home and tucked everyone into bed! All
in all, it was pretty fun.
Sam's birthday was very quiet. We baked a cake and
decorated it, and she blew out the candles all by
herself. She's getting SO big! She got a cute little
outfit, and some jewelry, and a Winnie the Pooh
memory type game. And, of course, books. It turned out
pretty well, even though we only had her immediate
family there.
Last night, we went and saw the Poke'mon Movie. The
girls both loved it. Sam was much more enthusiastic
about the short before the movie, called "Pikachu's
Vacation", then the actual movie, but I think it's
because she really just likes seeing Poke`mon, and
she doesn't really have the attention span or the
comprehension for a plot. The movie had a really good
message, though, and I liked it, too. I think you'd
have to keep up with the tv show to really get the
movie...I'm not sure that the card game is enough.
As I was shocked and pleased to learn that Rebekah
actually can walk the ten miles to and from the PX and
commisary, I was equally shocked and pleased when Sam
walked the ten blocks to and from the little minimart
up the street from us. Actually, she sat down and
scooted on her bottom about halfway home, so I picked
her up and piggy backed her, but I was really pleased
that my girls are so fit and willing to be big girls
and walk places. Aside from the fact that being without
a car is getting really old at this point, they are
helping to ease the strain of being wihtout one.
And now, as we start the countdown to when Mommy gets
to stay at home and cook and clean, and Daddy gets to
go to work, we look back on the last year and find that
it was pretty good all around. There were some rather
bumpy places (the girls still are walking about
everywhere), but all things considered, we've done very
well. And with that note, I'll leave you until next
time:)
Number Twelve...26 December 99
Very much fun was Christmas...We got lots of things
and especially lots of candy. Bounced off the walls
and stayed up way past our bedtimes. And ate lots of
good food. The girls got lots and lots of stuff. I
am astonished to say this, but I think both of their
favorite gifts were the hobby horses. They got
computer games and Poke`mon and clothes. Sam got a
pair of skates, and Rebekah got a movie...And they got
oodles of candy. We ate turkey and stuffing and mashed
potatoes and gravy and baked broccoli and cranberry
sauce and more! And after we let that settle, we had
pumpkin and cherry pies (not together) and cheesecake.
It was wonderful. It was fun...
Well, as things go, we took down the Christmas tree
today. It was pretty fun while it lasted, but it was
shedding needles everywhere, and the cats were removing
ornaments at every chance (have you noticed what
wonderful cat toys they make?), and so we have removed
it. Which means it's time to pack away all the
decorations that were out...Some fun. At least we
won't have to do that during Sam's birthday...
Which should be the next update, or maybe after New
Years. See you then:)
Number Eleven...19 December 99
Some fun! Rebekah's party was pretty neat...We had a
lovely cake, it had a picture of Pikachu, Bulbasaur,
Vulpix, Charmander, and Meowth. Rebekah and her friends
loved it. We played "Pin the Tail on Pikachu" with a
Pikachu I drew, and they really loved that. Rebekah
got lots of things...She got many coloring books, and
some crayons, and some jewelry. She had lots of fun.
One of her friends spent the night, and that was pretty
fun until they started getting cranky and obnoxious
around 9am (Since they finally fell asleep after
midnight!) Some fun:)
After we had the party, we had lots of fun decorating
the Christmas tree. Once again, I have managed to pick
up a tree for $10.00. Part of it is the wonderful art
of waiting until mid-December. All the ornaments are
on the top of the tree...Sam has decided they are neat
and she needs to inspect all of them time and again.
The cats don't help, either. So, we are a bit top heavy
on the tree this year. No presents underneath, either.
I know that would be way to tempting for Sam. So, we
have the gifts hidden away.
We are starting to think about Christmas again. It
takes a while to switch gears...Now I'm thinking about
what I'm cooking for dinner, and how I'm cooking it, and
what kind of recipes I need to be hunting down...This
will be added to when it's all over:)
Number Ten, a big fat hen...16 December 99
Well, Rebekah is now six. We didn't do very much
yesterday as far as celebrating goes...She gets her
party and presents on Saturday, the 18th, because
trying to do a party on a school night isn't my idea
of fun. We did take cupcakes to school (in the morning,
there's a little boy in her class that has the same
birthday, and he brought cupcakes in the afternoon).
Rebekah helped make the cupcakes...We put the batter in
ice cream cones, and then frosted them. Most of her
classmates liked them, but a few just ate the frosting
and then threw the rest of it away. We also went to
eat at the Burger King on-post, hoping to pick up a
few more Poke`mon balls. The girls each got one, but
the Burger King on-post isn't affiliated with the
corperate ones, and isn't selling the balls individually.
Which means that Brent and I went without. So, tonight
I go off-post and pick up a couple Poke'balls for Brent
and I, and also a few for stuffing stockings:)
Speaking of which, Rebekah has gone totally Poke`mon.
She had to have a Poke`mon edible picture on her cake,
she needs to catch them all, and she wants to be a
Poke`mon Master. I guess it's better than wanting to
be Barbie. I also have to get Poke`mon everything for
her party...Plates, napkins, cups, etc. I did find a
Poke`mon toy that I think no one else she knows has...It's
a little play area...Like MicroMachines or Polly Pocket,
except with Poke`mon. Very cute.
Well, I'll fill you in later about how the party goes.
Sam's big enough to get upset when she doesn't get to
open presents...I'll see if she is as easily consoled
with a party bag when it's her sister getting all the
toys as she is when it's one of her friends. I guess
that's all for now. See ya 'round:)
Number Nine (should I start this with "Engine,
Engine"?)...11 December 99
The field was incredibly hard on the girls. They didn't
get to see me for a whole five days. The poor tykes.
Brent says that Rebekah picked on Sam, and I know that
they were both clingy the first day home...I guess that
they are confident that I'm staying home for a while,
though, since today they haven't been stuck to me all
day:)
Other than that, Rebekah is learning that she can spell
words that are just letters...PX, TV, OK, etc...Very
cool. She talks a lot about when we get to go home to
California...I think she's excited about Mommy being at
home more. And I about wrecked the car one day when
she started telling me about her memories of the
snow...Our last visit there was the year I joined the
Army, three years ago. I was home on Christmas leave,
and she told me about the trip we took to visit Brent's
family, and the trip to the snow we took. She remembers
it all. Wow.
Sam is making her own wierd progress. She likes Pokemon,
and thinks that all of them are called Pikachu. She
has gotten really good at saying Pika. She sounds just
like the Pikachu on TV. Sam has also decided that she
likes the phone. She has told a few people "Meow" on
the phone. Very cute. If only she'd say more. (Watch
me jinx myself...After all, it's a well known fact that
we spend the first few years trying to teach our kids
to talk, and then the rest of their lives trying to
teach them to shut-up...I may be in for some big phone
bills!)
They are pretty good, otherwise. Christmas seems far
away, still, but we're starting with the carols, and
when Rebekah's party is over, we'll start decorating
for Christmas. So, look for more later:) Bye now!
Number Eight, and going up...27 November 99
Okay, so some of you are wondering, how is Thanksgiving
a children's holiday? Well, first and formost, it gives
parents around the U.S.A. a perfect chance to sit back
and remember what a blessing your kids are, to begin
with, and to remember to be greatful for the opportunity
to mold and raise them. Mine, however annoying and
obnoxious, are lovely souls, and I am greatful for the
gift of being their mommy...For however long that title
lasts...
It's also a wonderful time to share things with your
kids that you may not get around to sharing during the
rest of the hectic year. Rebekah suggested we make
cornbread for Thanksgiving...It turned out really good,
and gave her some input on the "feast". She helped
bake the banana bread...I really think she liked mashing
the bananas...She doesn't get to play with her food as
often as she'd like:) We gathered pine cones, so that
we can make birdseed feeders out of them. We stopped
and blew dandilion seeds.
Mostly what I am trying to get across is to slow down
a little this week, and look at your kids, and remember
how precious they are to you. And think a minute before
you yell at them, and give them a break every once in a
while. I guess that's it. Maybe next time I won't be
quite this sappy...:)
And Seven, one of my favorite numbers...10 November 99
Well...Longer than usual time for me to neglect this...
We had a wonderful Halloween...Sam was a witch-her own
choice...As we were in Wal-Mart, I showed her the witch
hats, and she wouldn't let one go...So we found a cute
orange calico dress to go with it, and a cauldron for a
trick-or-treat bag, and there was our little witch!
Rebekah went in for her usual...This year it was a
ballerina, but she's always been something similar. We
got her ballet shoes and a ballet dresss, and she looked
adorable. Much sorrow, the camera didn't work, so no
pictures are going to be available:(
Samantha is trying to be in her terrible twos...Even
though she is still only one! She won't go to sleep
at bedtime, she won't go to sleep at naptime, she
gets in to EVERYTHING! And so on, and so forth...The
poor cats eat wet cat food at least once a week, the
roses Brent brings home get torn apart, and Rebekah
wears her ballet slippers about as often as Sam...At
least she is still sweet some of the time. She likes
kisses and hugs...
Rebekah is working on the letter "K" in school this
week. I got to go to her parent teacher conference,
and her teacher loves her. She's a big help in the
classroom, and she does what she's told (If only she'd
do it at home, too!) She is doing at least the average
expected of her...The school she's at doesn't have a
rating system for doing better, just for if your child
is meeting the norm. So I'm not sure if she's excelling,
but she's deffinately not behind.
I guess that's all for now. Anything else I think of,
I'll put in later. Look around at some of my other
pages in the next few days...I'm finally getting back
on track with this whole web thing!
Six, six, six...Oops!...16 September 99
Anyway, we have just weathered a hurricane. Both Sam
and Rebekah's second. Some fun. We got a lot of rain
and wind. The power flickered. The girls liked rushing
through the wind and rain to get into stores as we
remembered those few, last minute things we thought
we'd need...And then back out as we saw the lines and
decided we didn't need the stuff that badly. We drove
through a part of town where there was no lights at all.
Now that the sun's out, Rebekah has been running around
the neighborhood comparing her hurricane experience
with that of her friends. Sam was just grateful to be
allowed outside again.
Rebekah has reached the letter "c" in the alphabet.
She's learned the cutest little song about how the
shapes of her numbers go. She wants school to open
by tomorrow so she can share and tell her little
Barbie clock (which is more like a watch, but clock
starts with the letter "c", which is her letter for
this week.)
Sam has become old enough to want to come with us in
the mornings...She throws fits when we take Rebekah to
school or when I leave for work. She's also hitting
the copycat age, and if Rebekah is doing anything, she's
right there beside her, trying to do it too. It's cute,
but it frustrates Rebekah to no end...
That's most of the news for now. Grins, and we'll see
you after the next hurricane...Joking, joking...
Here's number five...18 August 99
Here we go...Rebekah has been in school for a few days,
and she likes her teacher, classmates, and even school,
except in the morning when she needs to get ready. Big
suprise, huh?
Other than that, we got our new kitten. Male, of course,
we want no baby kittens running around beneath our feet.
The girls are enchanted with our new addition. Sam
doesn't ever want to let it go, and Rebekah is constantly
trying to save him from her. Mushu is already making
the point that he is the rankingest cat of the house,
and tortures poor Gizmo mercilessly. Rebekah put Mushu
in time-out this morning for fighting. Yes, she is
intervening at all opportunities. I think that Gizmo
is starting to adjust to our rather hectic household,
though...When I cam home for lunch, he was out in the
middle of the living room, not hiding under the couch.
The couch provides protection from Sam, and even partial
protection from Mushu. Mushu has gotten big enough that
he has to struggle to get under the couch, and his
manuverability is greatly hindered down there.
Anyway, that's the news for this page. See ya next time:)
Number four...08 August 99
It seems like I'm updating this less and less
frequently...I think that'll change once Rebekah's back
in school, and I have more things to report. Anyway,
July was kinda busy, too. The girls loved the fireworks
display for the 4th of July. Sam liked the noise, I
think, and Rebekah still points out where we parked
that night every time we drive past. She said it looked
like flowers in the sky...
Other than that, I think that Sam has discovered the
secret of opening doors. We may never be safe again.
She has also mastered the knack of eating popsicles...
Very cute. She loves to escape outside and play in
the heat and humidity.
Rebekah has a new wardrobe for school. She is so excited
somedays to be going back, and others, she doesn't want
to return at all. She begins shool on the 13th of
August...Superstition is telling me this could be a very
odd year. She'll be going from 8:30 to 2:30. I guess
that Brent will finally get a break from her. Since
coming home from California, she has made several new
friends, and tries to be outside playing all the time.
Mostly in the water. Her friends are off on vacation
for the time being...Most of them are going to miss the
first few days of school, attending weddings out of
state and visiting relatives. So lately she's been
rather lonely, but school should help a lot.
Anyway, I'm starting to see why I've been so lazy about
updating this page. The girls won't really be doing
much until I can start talking about Rebekah's teacher
and classmates, and what she's doing in school. Sam's
made most of her big accomplishments, so it's probably
going to be pretty slow about her, too. I'll probably
update this again this weekend, after Rebekah's first
day in kindergarten. Until then, be well:)
Third time's the charm?...3 July 99
Well...Rebekah got her ears pierced. As everyone in
California knows already, having seen her on our
recent visit. As for every one else...Guess what? We
went to California for the whole month of June, pretty
much. It was very nice...
We visited the girls' granddaddy and Aunt Korrie first.
That was fun. We watched Aunt Korrie graduate from
high school, and visited lots of Daddy's old friends.
We visited Columbia, which used to be a gold mining
town, and has been restored to it's former glory. Lots
of old stuff, and lots of neat things there. Rebekah
got to see a flip picture show for a nickle...Black and
white photos in a flip book format, but in a little
machine. She stood by it and turned a wheel, and the
pictures flippedd to show her a ballet dancer dancing.
Both of the girls like Sasparilla, which is like
uncarbonated root beer, and looking at the things that
aren't everyday items anymore...
After visiting Granddaddy and Aunt Korrie, we went to
Chico, and stayed with Aunt Laurie, and visited with
most of Mommy's family. We had a picnic with a lot of
people...The girls loved having kids around to play
with. We went to parks and visited old friends, and
just hung out. It was nice. Aunt Bethie did tons of
babysitting for the girls, and Rebekah remembers her
just fine. Sam also warmed up to her after a day or so.
We went to visit Aunt Zeneta towards the end of our stay
in Chico. Aunt Zeneta's dog, Helga, pulled the girl's
around in a little cart. We got to see Aunt Zeneta's
horses, and Samantha rode both a horse and a pony.
Rebekah was too afraid to be on top of the horses and
ponies, both...I think it's been to long since she was
carried around that high off the ground.
When we were done with the horses, we went camping with
aunt Zeneta and Aunt Mary, and their families. The
girls had roasted marshmalows, and we hiked to see two
waterfalls. It was delightful. On the second set of
falls, we saw two men kayak down the falls. It was
very fun to watch.
We went back to Chico, and then to Sonora, and finally
we started back home. Samantha discovered that she
can make herself vomit at will, and we were constantly
changing her clothes. Rebekah slept most of the way,
and aside from the vomitting, they were both very good.
Now we are back home, and trying to relearn our old
routines. So far, the girls have done very well. I
think that's about all...See you next time!
Now there are two...27 May 99
Today Rebekah got her hair cut. It's now in a chin
length bob all the way around, instead of being a
kinda raggedy shoulder lenth bob. She's cute. We were
also going to get her ears pierced, but she got scared.
Later I found out that she thought that they were going
to use a needle to pierce her ears, and so tomorrow we
will go back and try again. But tomorrow is the last
time this year we are going to try it!
She has learned so much this year in school. She knows
her alphabet, and her numbers up to 20, and all the
colors. She knows how to spell "stop", and I fear that
the "secret language" of spelling is not going to be a
secret from her much longer. She colors inside the
lines most of the time, and has become a wonderful
snitch, which is good sometimes, because we get told
when Sam is getting into the CDs...She's getting so big
now.
Sam has mastered getting dowm the stairs on her own.
This is not neccessarily a good thing. While it makes
it slightly easier when trying to get her downstairs,
she now has considerable freedom that she didn't used
to have. We have to close he door to get her to sleep
now...She spent the first night after we found out
about her new talent walking up and down the stairs
until 10 pm, when we shut her into her room and she
finally crashed. So, it's cute, but, like all parenting
issues, highly over-rated.
Sam has also learned how to get into our area with the
CDs...They are no longer safe. We have them in a corner
with the couches making the walls, and she climbs
over the couches and takes them down...I guess it's time
to just teach her to not play with the things...
I have to scamper now. The kids are doing great,
despite all the inherent problems of them growing up,
and at least Rebekah is excited about being able to
go to California and see her family.
In the beginning, there was one...15 May 99
Hi again...This month has been full of goings on, and I
have been neglecting this page! Big suprise, with
everything else that's been going on...
Rebekah has had her first ever Mother's Day in school...
It was wonderful. The Mother's Day gift that her class
made was a paper teapot with a tea bag enclosed, and
a note that said:
"Here's a gift for Mother's Day.
I'll try my best in every way.
But when you get upset with me,
Relax and have a cup of tea."
And, of course, I love you. It's adorable. She also
gave me a tissue paper flower...I had a blast. Mother's
Day was wonderful.
Samantha has been moved from her crib into a toddler
bed. She looks adorable in it. She is so tiny...I guess
no smaller than in the crib, but without the walls, she
kinda looks a little smaller. Her room has become the
toy room...After cleaning Rebekah's room and finding a
new form of concoction, I have decided to remove all
things she can hide concoctions in or under, except her
bed. We'll see what happens, we may not let her have
anything in her room again.
Both of the girls are healthy and happy, for the most
part...Rebekah is a little upset about her loss of toys,
but she isn't letting that stop her from enjoying the
yard and her friends. I guess it'll all work out. See
ya next time...
