More reading - still photo

Here's another reading picture, her reading to Car Baby, who is clearly a captive audience. She's really loving reading and being read to....we're doing "chapter books" now at bedtime. The Magic Treehouse series is a family favorite. The ironic part is that she HATES going to the library. She prefers that I be her personal shopper for books.

Parker reads Bob to Bob

Here's a little video of Parker reading. These are little books called Bob Books, and they have short sentences with mostly 3-letter words. She's really super proud of herself that she's able to 'read a whole book'. The teacher also sends home little "take home readers" from school and she's doing great with those too.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


EDIT: sorry the first video didn't work, I can't seem to make the Blogger video upload. Hopefully this one works using Dropshots.

Ski Trip

We've just returned from our annual ski trip. This year we went to Steamboat Springs with a group from Bob's work. It was a great trip - Bob and I could really tell that we have improved our fitness levels. I even skied down a Black slope (the hardest) with out getting stuck.
We had Texas-like weather...in that it changed frequently. The first day of skiing it was sunny and relativly warm, but with high winds. The next day there was about 6" of new powder (see trees in background) and it snowed most of the day, with VERY poor visibility and much colder. The third day started out like the day before, but ended up sunny. On the day we left, the temperature at the base was 10F....I'm glad we missed that.

I still haven't mastered smiling with ski goggles on. They smush your cheeks down.

Happy Valentines Day!

Couch Cushion Fort

It really doesn't matter how many toys you have, or how elaborate your play room is, the funnest thing to do always seems to involve building with couch cushions. This was one of those times where it's quiet for an extended period of time, so you go see what's up, and find a new couch cushion construction project in progress. She's made a fort using the end table as framing. By the end of the afternoon this game had morphed into "Inn Keeper Dog" where she was (in her mind) a dog that was the keeper of the Cushion Inn....dressed in her strawberry shortcake costumes...and a tail. Makes perfect sense to me.

Elizabeth's School Outfit

Here's another one of Elizabeth's handmade outfits. This is her school outfit. It was hard to get a good picture..the models weren't very cooperative. Typical.
She has a little plaid pleated skirt, a yellow top with crayola buttons, a hat and red sparkly shoes. The pants go to a different outfit, but she's wearing them because she was cold I guess. There is also a purse that matches the shoes and holds a little tiny chalkboard, but it didn't make the photoshoot. On her back you can see her little red vinyl backpack.

Iced in...somewhat

The rain and sleet left enough ice on the roadways to cancel all the schools around here, so we're stuck at home today. The sun is out, but it's still 23F outside. Bob made it into work and said it wasn't really a big deal, but I guess we're going to stay in as long as we can stand it. I bet the library closed anyway. I wonder if we could make it to Sonic.....

Since we have a LOT of time on our hands today, we took the opportunity to do complicated hair. She must have been SUPER motivated for this hairstyle to stand still long enough for me to fix it. Introducing, for the first time ever, braided pigtails. I did a side view so you couldn't see how crooked her part is. The rest of the art direction is by Parker ("take a picture of me looking at Elizabeth!").

Weather update

9pm. After an ENTIRE day of forecasting freezing rain, it is FINALLY sleeting. They even closed the schools early today in anticipation of ice on the roads, but there was nothing. They even pre-empted Oprah to have an hour of coverage of the (only) wet (not icy) overpasses! I'm torn between wanting all the weather drama buildup to pay off, and wanting them to be wrong so there will still be school. Continue to stay tuned.

General news

We don't really have any interesting news, so I'll just do a general catch up on what's been going on.
Parker had a dentist appointment last week. She did really well (it was really iffy) and even did Xrays. They estimate it will be about 2 years before she starts losing teeth. Thanks goodness. I'm NOT ready for that. She does have some mild tooth movement from sucking her fingers, so we have been trying to break that habit. This isn't a huge deal, because the dentist said that she can still suck them at bedtime, but while she's awake, it's too much. So no more fingersucking in the car or while watching tv. We're doing ok, the car is the roughest thing. So instead of fingers, she's chewing gum. We're going avoid extensive orthodontia, but probably create a TMJ problem.

What keeps a 4 year old busy while you read the Sunday paper? Clipping coupons.

We've added a little calendar to the refrigerator and every day she marks off the day and counts how many days until valentines day. It's helping with number recognition too.

And lastly apparently we're expecting a "significant ice storm" tomorrow. They've been downgrading the forecast all day. Yesterday they weren't even expecting freezing temps I don't think. Stay tuned.

New food group: food you can cut

I use scissors quite a bit in the kitchen when I'm preparing food - cutting crusts off of bread, chopping up salad stuff more finely, pizza, etc. Parker has picked up the habit. It's so rare that she's excited about food that Bob said "we've got to find more foods she can cut!". Here, she's cutting up pepperoni....the first time she's ever eaten it.

Also, she's wearing her ballet recital outfit from last year, and I've straightened her hair. She loooooooves having her hair straightened. She says dreamily: "I look like Barbie!"

Crafty crown

I had a burst of super crafty energy the other day and made a felt crown for one of Parker's friends. I'm making one for Parker next. I used a tutorial I found on another blog: http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/juicy_bits/2008/09/32-felt-birthday-crown-tutorial.html
But she machine stitches hers.....I did hand embroidery because I knew I couldn't stitch around my flowers as well as I'd like, and once I did that, I didn't want to mix in machine stitches. In the tutorial she uses 100% wool felt - I just used the regular poly kind from Joann's - they didn't have any wool in bright colors. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I've already started on the one for Parker, but hers will probably have more sparkly stuff on it, as per her request.

Modeling:

Another doll outfit

Here's another one of the doll outfit's that Parker's GiGi (Bob's mom) made for Parker's doll for Christmas. This is her rain apparel. It's a raincoat, boots and hat, all lined with the cutest green ladybug fabric ever.

Homeschool Ballet

Parker has rediscovered ballet this week. It combines all of her favorite things....dressing up, music and dancing. But she has made it clear that she does NOT want to take lessons again, she prefers to just play ballet at home. She knows we'd have to get a new studio (closer) and a new teacher and she's just not into it. But that's fine with me, it's less driving, and more money for my hobbies.
Every day after school, she gets out her ballet bag stuffed with leotards and tights and puts on an outfit and plays ballet student. I got her some books about ballet from the library....she's NOT interested in a DVD of ballet for some reason, I've tried that. Here our typical afternoon.

"I'm looking for moves"

I took a million pictures, hoping to get just a few to be able to share. I've uploaded them all to a web album in case you're interested in seeing the progression of the afternoon. If you play the slide show really fast, it seems like she's moving. Click on the picture below to access the web album:

Homeshcool ballet

It's a snap!

(I hope this video posts properly. I never know until I publish it. )



After weeks of practice, Parker has learned to snap her fingers. She's so thrilled with herself....she wants to demonstrate for us all the time, and she'll just absently snap here and there when she's talking to you.

Next up will be tying her shoes and whistling. She might get the whistling pretty soon, but I'm afraid shoe tying is way down the road.

more cookies

I thought it would be really funny to make gingerbread men with bites taken out of them, and sad faces. They turned out pretty funny! This wasn't my original idea...I saw it on a blog somewhere.

Christmas: The Aftermath

In case you don't read the comments, my mom posted a comment on yesterday's post that said "Do I see MATCHING shoes on Elizabeth???". Yes mother, there are matching shoes with EVERY outfit, including the nightgown. I told you Claudette is part Santa's elf.
Here's another outfit. You can't see the fabrics, the the top and vest are fleecy, and the pants are velvety. And yes, there are matching shoes, hat AND purse.

It's been a looong day. Parker is in rapid detox from the mixture of being pampered while she was sick, unlimited apple juice and chocolate milk, undivided attention from adults and a constant stream of gifts and new toys. We're back to the harsh world of amusing yourself, limits on tv time, errands and solid food.
(I can't remember if I said, but Parker has been a little under the weather since Christmas day with a little cold or virus or something. She's better now.) Here's a picture of her 5 oclock fit.

Don't feel too sorry for me though...every mom of a preschooler had the same fit on their kitchen floor at some point between 4 and 6 most likely. It's the witching hour.

We started disassembling the decorations today. Parker was somewhat helpful this year - I took ornaments off and gave them to her, and she sorted them. It made for quick work. I realized afterward that I didn't take a picture of the tree this year. I changed the colors a bit....silver and green instead of silver and red.

Christmas 2008

At looong last, Christmas came and went. Parker has been counting the days for what seems like MONTHS. She was really into it this year, they did a lot at school regarding the birth of Christ, etc. She 'read' me one of her Christmas books,
"The angel appeared to Mary and said 'you're going to have a baby' .",
"And Mary said 'I can't handle a baby!' "

At least 2 months ago, she picked out what she wanted Santa to bring her - an American Girl doll. She went back and forth about which certain one, but finally decided on Elizabeth after we made a scouting trip to the American Doll store here. It was chock full of little girls with their dolls in tow, waiting to get the doll's hair (!) done in the salon, or to dine in the little cafe...where they have booster chairs for the dolls so they can sit up at the table too.

We were very worried about her changing her mind after the order was placed.....the plan to tell Santa in person fell through. We attended Spaghetti with Santa at her school, and she loved the meal and the live music, but REFUSED to sit in his lap. I offered up every bribe I could think of, but she wasn't interested. On the way home, although I never told her this, that if she didn't tell Santa what she wanted, she wouldn't get her doll. She sobbed "can't we just BUY a doll?" Like, why do we have to go through this middle man, anyway? She was ready to have me turn the car around and go through with it, but I assured her that just writing a letter would be good enough.
We hosted Bob's parents for Christmas. I cooked a fancy dinner Christmas eve and Parker was very amped up, but she went to bed at the appointed time.

Setting out cookies....we left the milk in the fridge until later.

She waited until 7am to come downstairs....and was thrilled to finally get her doll.

Parker and Elizabeth

Gigi (Bob's mom) spent untold hours making doll clothes for Elizabeth. After seeing all she made, I'm convinced that Santa's elves are real, and she's one of them.

Opening the doll clothes

We've been doing photos of the diferent outfits, and we'll post them soon. Here's one:

Matching nightgowns

She's REALLY into the matching clothing thing. It looks like I might have to start sewing soon. We hope everyone had a great holiday. We're going to be busy... Parker only has 6 months to plan her birthday party.

The Strange But True Story of the Amazing Marathon Man

They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step....and the journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step as well.

Last year around this time, Bob decided to take a step in the right direction. He wanted to get in better shape. To lose some weight so his pants would fit better. To make better choices about what he consumed. He started running his usual 'get in shape' amount of 3 miles. I suggest he should push it to 4, and do a longer run on the weekends of about 6. And he liked the idea of maybe doing the half marathon with me in December.

The more he ran, the easier it got and his distances got longer and longer,and soon it became apparent that running an entire marathon would be an achievable goal. He read a book on marathon training, and set up an 18 week training program. And the training program was not an easy road at all...it included running 5 days a week, with increasing mileage. It involved getting up at 4:30am on Tues, Wed, and Thurs to get his runs done before work. Running either on the treadmill or outside in the dark, wearing a orange construction vest at first to prevent being flattened by the newspaper delivery guy. On weekends he pushed Parker in the stroller on runs under 6 miles.

Also along the training path there were challenges - fitting run schedules around crazy work hours, a very unfortunate bout of delayed heat illness in the middle of a dinner party, and knee trouble in the final weeks of training. The knee pain (IT band to be exact) lead to intensive physical therapy, icing during his daily commute and hours stretching. But even with those obstacles, last Sunday, Bob not only completed his marathon journey, but he had an amazing running debut!

The weather on race day also presented an enormous hurdle. The winds that day were horrible, 20-30mph, with gusts even stronger. The kind of wind that causes you to hang on tight to the steering wheel so you don't fly off the overpass. During the section of the course that circled White Rock Lake, Bob said he felt like he was standing still. At mile 23, he was really really struggling. He decided to walk for a bit for the first time in his race. After a half mile, he decided it was too painful and exhausting to walk, and running was somehow easier than walking. He managed to will himself to finish, and was only 10 minutes slower than his goal time. Many people that day were slower than their goal time, if they finished at all. The paper reported that winner had the slowest finish time since 2001....which was a race with no elite runners.

His finish time was 3:40:23 (3 hours, 40 minutes, 23 seconds), 8:25 pace...that's like setting your speed on your treadmill to 7.1...and running on it for 3 hours. This is an awesome finish time for anyone, much less a new runner and a first time marathoner.

The rest of his stats:
He was 427 out of 3938 total marathoners, 357th Male Overall.
84th in Age Group
Top 10% overall (top 14% of males).
And the links -
From the GPS watch we wear:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1545677
(if you mouse over the graph, you can see the pace)

Photos (use bib# 5243):
http://www.sportphoto.com/Event.aspx?EventID=61

There are many famous quotes that tell us that what is important is the journey that you take, not the destination. I'm guessing the folks that said that would have called it quits around mile 20. At the end of his brutal 26.2 mile journey and 6 long months of training, Bob found himself 30lbs thinner, no longer needing cholesterol lowering drugs, and in the best shape of his life. Sure it was an amazing trip, but view from the finish line is pretty sweet too.



Bob Post, 03:40:30 (NET) @ Finish Pace 8:24
(that's the actual text that people who signed up for racing tracking received when he crossed the finish line)


(I ran the half marathon in 2:16. More on me in another post)

Million dollar idea....and a picture

Know what i'd pay good money for? Tessellation cookie cutters. Shapes that you can cut out, and when you do, the negative space is a shape too, so there's not much waste. Not just any shapes of course.....seasonal ones. Nothing comes up when I Google it.

And here's a picture so that no one has a fit over the post/picture ratio lately. Here's Parker in her Pilgrim paper hat from school. They also made little vests out of paper bags. And they all assigned themselves "Indian names" (shouldn't that be Native American?), and hers was Hopping Rabbit.

Weather report

Ugh, it is cooooooold and nasty here. Sunday evening it was in the 70's and people were dining on restaurant patios. We woke up Monday morning, expecting maybe 4o's, and it was 24F! Then yesterday evening the freezing rain and sleet started and has continued off and on. The roads are a mess and many schools were canceled today. But not Parker's! Since I had some very pressing errands to run, I took her to school about an hour late. There were some slick spots, but everyone was driving like turtles, so there were no troubles. It's the hares you have to worry about. Or the combo: hare most of the time, and then deciding all of a sudden to be a turtle when they get on an bridge.

Anyway, when it was time to get out of the car, I told her,

"It's so cold outside!! We should have worn hats."
And she said,
"Why? We look just fine."