"Captain Hook"

I use this blog as our family's journal, so even though I posted this on facebook already, I wanted to make sure that I officially recorded this conversation, b/c it is destined to be a classic.

E came home from school the other day saying that her friend was singing a song that she just couldn't get out of her head now. I asked what it was, and she sang, "She wears high heels, I wear sneakers, She's Captain Hook and I am a leecher."

I honestly try not to outright laugh at my children very often, but I laughed and laughed and laughed. Of course, she didn't understand why. So, I explained that the lyrics actually say, "She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers."

Sorry, Taylor Swift, I will never hear your song again without laughing out loud.

I LOVE SIX YEAR OLDS!

Big Thanks to Our Veterans

For the past few years, M has written a poem for my granddad (who served in WWII) for Veteran's Day. He often commented how her "thanks" made it all worth it, and that touched me so deeply. I mean, seriously, an eight year old girl says "Thank you" and all those years in the jungle of the Phillipines are all worth it?! Wow!

Granddad passed away this summer, so I sat at the school's (excellent) Veteran's Day concert last week, feeling sad that we couldn't do that tradition this year. Suddenly, I realized that we know 3 families from church whose husbands/daddies are currently serving in the Army! Hmmm.

So, after talking to their wives, the girls & I decided to make these great big cookies as a small token of our appreciation. One just returned home this summer from a year long deployment in the Middle East, another leaves for his 4th tour over there in Feb for an expected year. The third has served multiple tours & and is currently a recruiter. The girls each wrote a letter (complete with illustrations) and I wrote a letter, too. We are so grateful to all our service men and women who have given and continue to give so much to our country.

The best part of the whole day - even better than eating the dough - was watching these men's expressions as we delivered the unexpected treat. We could tell that they aren't used to being personally thanked very often. We've created our new favorite Veteran's Day tradition! Next year, I hope to be able to include local men & women we know who've served in the past as well (but I've got to figure out who they are - it's not really something that most really talk much about). It was just a terrificly humbling experience...how do you really put this kind of admiration and gratitude into words (or cookies)? It was a WAY better day than spending it at the mall, "honoring" the Veteran's Day Sales (although I'm sure there were some pretty good deals out there). THANK YOU, Veterans!

What Kind of Food Are You?

While driving the girls to school this morning, we were listening to an oldies station and a Karen Carpenter song ("Rainy Days and Mondays") came on. I turned it up and said, "I love her voice and I totally wish I could sing like her." M said, "Mmmmm. Reminds me of apple cider. All warm and spicy."

E & I laughed, and she said, "What?! People often remind me of foods."

E: "What am I, then?"
M: "You're a pineapple. That's the fanciest fruit. It's sweet and everybody likes it but if I eat too much of it, it makes my mouth hurt."

E: "What is mommy?"
M: "A strong after dinner mint. It makes all the bad tastes go away."

E: "What is daddy?"
M: "A big juicy watermelon. Messy, but really fun to eat."

E: "What is Abby?" (M's bff)
M: "She's a carmel apple. Kind of hard to explain why."

E: "What is Zeus?" (A's dog)
M: "Animals aren't food to me. Just people are food to me."

I'm still laughing...

New Dresses

The girls' Primary program was this past Sunday and all the children were asked to wear "white on top." It really does look nice - and almost angelic - when they're all up there. Anyway, we happened upon a 60% off sale at Penney's the day before, and they were even the dresses that mom & I had considered buying for the girls when she was here over Halloween. So, it seemed a "sign" that both sizes were still on the rack - and on sale to boot - plus I found an "extra $15 off purchase" coupon in the dressing room...the universe really wanted the girls to have matching dresses, apparently.

The program was great and the girls both did a great job having both their parts memorized and each of them was asked to sing in small groups, too. There was just enough break in the rain to take a few quick pics when we got home from church...

Yes, M got some new glasses, which we love, but they also have transition lenses, which M likes, but Mom doesn't like them in pictures!

Cake Walk

The girls' school has a traditional cake decorating contest for the cake walk at the Fall Festival (not Halloween Party, mind you). Here are the girls' entries for this year:

We were surprised that neither won a prize, but that's ok. The fun is in the creating - and eating the leftovers! We didn't win a cake at the cake walk, either, but with all the flu going around, I was a-ok with that!

Museum of Flight

The girls didn't have school one Friday in early October (never did figure out why, exactly, but hey - we'll take it!) and P suddenly felt "sick" so we decided to head to the Museum of Flight to use our pass once more before it expires.


Feeling very presidential, MY First Family descends the steps of Air Force One (used by Ford, Kennedy, Nixon)

I didn't photograph it, but we heard a presentation from a scientist who worked on the water purification system for the Int'l Space Center, and M & I were brave enough to try a "sample" of water that had been through the system. It tasted like...water!

Point Defiance Park

We've been loyal members of the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium for 3 or 4 years now and just recently discovered there are acres and acres and acres more to the park! The zoo sponsored a geocaching contest that we participated in (even though we didn't have any electronic gadgets, we still found the caches!) and were motivated to keep exploring this gorgeous park!

E comes up with some pretty unique places to pose...

Our little mermaids...

While strolling along the waterfront, P's eagle eyes noticed this little seal washed up on shore. He had a hook & line stuck in his mouth but was still alive. We had the zoo's phone # on the brochure for the geocaching contest, so we called them, and they gave us another phone # to call, and about 4 agencies later, we finally found someone to come get him. They said it would take about an hour to get there, so we stayed for a bit, left for awhile, and when we came back, he was gone, so the girls are really hoping he got some help with that hook & is back on his way to his momma.