Moe-Nicole

We went to see Moe Bandy's show last night. Britt and I were cracking up at Allyson who had been very fussy due to lack of sleep. But the minute Moe's music started she started clapping her hands and raising them in the air and really enjoying the concert! After the show Nicole said "Moe Bandy is my favorite show". We waited until everyone else left and then I asked him to sing her a little song. He ran to get his guitar and sat down on the steps next to her. She got suddenly shy but it was still pretty cool.

 

Color Me... All Over

Today I spent most of the afternoon on the phone with HP (via India) trying to fix a problem with our computer.  I let the kids watch videos, color, anything that would pacify them while I was dealing with the computer.  I should have known letting them use markers unattended was going too far.
(Oh, and the braided pigtails on Nicole was attached to an earlier dress-up episode where she wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  Best I could do, folks. The kid's hair is just not that long.)

Pompeii

Lately Nicole has been almost obsessed with volcanoes and the story of Pompeii.  (I think she may have heard something about it in preschool.)  Everywhere we go, Nicole asks if there's a volcano there. We have checked books out of the library, watched videos on the internet, and tried to learn all we can about the subject. 

So I began thinking about the Brady Bunch episode where Bobby makes that volcano (the one that blows up on Alice).  And I decided Nicole and I would build our own volcano.  Of course, we used a plastic cup and playdough...and we ran out of the right colors...and it melted right away.  But Nicole thought it was great.  Here's the big eruption:

Swimming

We spent some time the other night at a friend's new house. They bought this place with lots of land, house with 4,000+ square feet and a wooden bridge over a creek that leads to a pool... for $165,000. Crazy. We enjoyed the pool and Nicole had her first experience diving off a diving board! (With her floatie safely around her.) Okay, so none of us (except the kids) are going to win any beauty contests but Britt in the swim mask ... left me speechless. One of the funniest pictures I've seen in a while. :)

VBS

Nicole, Allyson, and I were involved in VBS all week. (I volunteered in crafts...obviously they didn't know me when the assignments were made.) After each day we spent time with Nicole's good friend, Holland, and her little sister, Darcy. Tonight was the performance. Here's just a portion. Nicole doesn't seem too interested in the performance. I think it's because she spent the entire afternoon at Holland's house. I picked her up in time for the two of us to run to a favorite store and have a quick dinner together. Daddy and Allyson met us there. I love this picture of the two of them getting ready to watch the show.

Family bike ride

Nicole asked for "family time" last night so went on a walk/bike ride. It was such a nice evening. We love our neighborhood.

Allyson "talks family"

Allyson is talking more all the time. Here she says the names of several different family members. I'm sorry if we didn't get to everyone but she decided she'd rather have the camera for herself and the video had to come to an end.