Shoes

Let the shoe fetish begin...

Driver's Training & the Dukes of Hazzard

 Jack gave Josie a little Drivers Ed training the other day.

 "Jos, you can get in a car by opening the doors…"

 "Or you could be cool and climb in through the window."

Someday they may have to share a car…that should be interesting.

Mentone Egg Queen

Mmmmmm, eggs.

Two members of our family are very happy that Josie is eating "real" food

Does anyone remember when I worked in Mentone, Indiana after college? Mentone is "the egg capital of something."  I want to say "the world" but - it's Mentone. It doesn't have a stoplight, so it's kind of hard to imagine it could be the capital of anything. My days were spent listening to "The Belles" talk about who was eating lunch at the bar down the street and who had been parked out front longer than 2 hours. They kept track of things like that. It was a modern day Mayberry.

Eggs. Josie tried them for the first time this weekend. She had a little bit of a rash yesterday. It could be completely unrelated…but now we have to wait a little while before we try them again.

Question: Do you think there has ever been a Mentone Egg Queen (yes, that title exists) that has ever been allergic to eggs??? Josie could be the first.

PS: I stand corrected: Mentone is the "Egg Basket of the Midwest" with the largest (concrete) egg in the world.  Glad we got that figured out. I didn't want anyone to lose sleep over it.

Things to Celebrate

This past weekend my family got together to watch football and celebrate Jon's 26th birthday! We will find any reason to eat cake.

Josie squeezed into her Colts cheerleader outfit. Why not a LIONS one, you ask? Because her Lions outfit is 24mth…and we are praying it fits next season. Unfortunately for Josie & the Colts - they lost yesterday.

Jack sported a Lions shirt. Unfortunately for him & the Lions - they lost, too. The Beckers weren't happy about that. But Jack was happy to have his Grandparents, Great Grandparents, uncles, and aunt here with him.

And he (re)discovered chocolate cake. Considering he was LICKING the crumbs off his plate - I think it's safe to assume he really liked it.

"Thanks for having a birthday so I could eat cake, Uncle Jon."

My dad was telling some pretty bad jokes.

But Jack liked them.  Or perhaps this was Jack & Grandpa Jerry making a pact for more cake next weekend. Grandma & Grandpa Clevenger will be on Jack & Josie duty…Tyson and I are going to Indy to celebrate the marriage of cousin Billy & Mallory. We are excited to see everyone!

Josie Talks

As Josie (quickly) approaches her 1st birthday - she is (quickly) growing up. In the past two weeks she has: started crawling, pulled herself up to standing, started eating real foods (and ate an entire piece of pizza!), added two new teeth (up to 6!), and, like any normal girl, she loves to hear herself talk.  I thought baby #1 grew up fast…baby #2 is SO much faster!

Awesome, Not Awesome

Awesome: Discovering you are out of popsicles, so you convince your dad to give you Rocky Road ice cream for dessert. Awesome.

Not Awesome: Seeing your kid sister beg like a dog and try to steal your Rocky Road ice cream. Not Awesome, Josie.

A new side to Josie

Don't let this cute face fool you. Since she has started moving…Miss Josephine has shown us a new side. A side that reminds us of her big brother, Jack.

 She's a sneaky little thing. She's determined, too.

 She has an affinity for Apple products - which also confirms that she is 100% Tyson's child.

"Oh, hey mom. Nothin' going on here. Just being my sweet, perfect self."  Riiiiight. The baby gate is coming out this week and the crib is getting lowered. Trouble.

Wagon Walks

Jack and Josie loved a Sunday Stroll through the neighborhood. Josie is a BIG fan of her big brother…and Jack thinks she's pretty great, too. The other day I told Jack I was going to send Josie home with our friend, Leticia. He didn't think that was such a good idea. "No, Leticia. You no take my Jos." At least we know he loves her.

Daycare Disease (x3)

Daycare Disease has made a comeback. After Grandma Shirlee stayed home with Josie, she came down with it. She sounded awful…and stayed in bed for a few days fighting it off. That's what you call "taking one for the team."

Monday evening I started feeling pretty lousy. I thought it was a sinus infection and prescribed myself routine Neti Pot rinses, along with plenty of fluids & an occasional Tylenol. Then on Thursday morning when I woke up, I discovered it had settled in my chest. I battled through the day at school and that night went to our local RediMed. I was told it was an "upper respiratory infection." The doctor gave me some meds and I came home to write sub plans. By 10pm I'd convinced myself I'd see how I felt in the morning (fellow teachers understand this…I'd almost rather be at school sick than write sub plans - TORTURE). 

Anyway, I woke up Friday feeling a little better and committed to going to work. Unfortunately, Jack woke up with a fever. This time it was Grandpa Denny to the rescue.

Just waiting on the doc...

Jack and I spent some time at the RediMed Saturday - my THIRD visit in less than two weeks. Thankfully, it wasn't an ear infection…just "something viral." Awesome.

I'm hoping someone in the billing department at RediMed looks at our three visits and thinks, "Oh surely this can't be right…three people in the same family?!?!"  Hey RediMed, give us a few more days and we'll send Tyson to make it 4 for 4.

Whiffle Ball Weekend

This was the 7th year for the Annual Whiffle Ball Classic. Usually we make a special trip back to Fort Wayne for it…but not this year. We were a 7 minute drive from the fields and that was AWESOME!

Jack was a little under the weather this weekend (more on that later) - but we still made it out to watch Tyson and Blake (Tyson's BFF & fraternity brother) play. You may also know Blake as "Floyd's Dad" or if you follow Sarah's blog, "Mister."

 Jack got into the spirit and threw some BP to his dad…but then he remembered he was sick.

 Tyson was the pitcher. Blake made a lot of fancy catches.

 Josie thought the whole thing was a little on the boring side...

But Jack could have sat there all day. It was fun to attend (again) and fun to go home to our own house for naps afterwards!

If you want to read an article about the Whiffle Ball Classic (which was started by our friends Matt & Julia) you can click HERE. Tyson was interviewed for the article that ran in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel last week.

Football, Benjamin, and Caterpillars

This past weekend was spent watching Josie crawl and watching a lot of football. Jack was ready for the Lion's first game! Suuuuhhhhh. Too bad the Lions made me bite off all of my nails before they won. We will take our "W" and hope for less interceptions next week.

Mr. Benjamin Maile came to our house Sunday afternoon. He is a new ONE year old and a new WALKER! I think Josie was smitten. Just ignore the fact that she isn't dressed in this picture.

And finally…Jerry Clevenger came through for me with this giant fellow. I can't wait to get him into my classroom for my students to see! He's going to chrysalis soon…so I better hurry! Best quote from my dad: "My neighbors probably think I'm NUTS…walking around looking at milkweed with my reading glasses on." I totally know the feeling. I got some weird looks tonight as I walked along the road picking milkweed - in a dress and heels.

Josie Crawls

After 9 months of lying & sitting around - Josie is on the move…and we see weight loss in her future. I'm also a little worried that she has more "Jack" in her than we first thought. She seems to really enjoy moving and getting in to things.

In the name of Science...

I was "hunting" butterfly eggs for over two hours today. This is a true story. Kindergarten studies the life cycle of a butterfly… So here is the short/PG version:
1. An egg is laid on the bottom of a Milk Weed leaf
2. Tiny caterpillar eats his/her way out of the egg
3. Caterpillar eats lots of Milk Weed (but not apples, pears, oranges, & junk food per The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle) I've heard it will also poop a lot…which makes sense...
4. Big & strong caterpillar climbs up something and hangs in a "J"
5. A chrysalis forms (notice I DID NOT say cocoon, cocoons are just moths)
6. After about 2 weeks - a beautiful monarch butterfly comes out of the chrysalis and flies away
7. The monarch butterfly flies to Mexico and looks for a partner to "dance" with
8. The partners "dance" then fly back up here to lay eggs & start the process over again

Mini Lesson on Caterpillars/Butterflies - you're welcome for that new knowledge and there will be plenty more where that came from, so get excited!

In other news - I was the crazy lady walking along Illinois & Hamilton Roads this afternoon. I was attacked by 50 million grasshoppers and discovered that milk weed only grow in the most inconvenient places. Places where you can't park your car. Places that have huge burrs & thorn bushes. Most of the time I was walking through weeds up to my waist and the entire time I was hoping there weren't any wild animals waiting to attack me. I was praying. And hunting. And cursing. And thinking, "I don't make enough money to be spending my Saturday doing this." But I love my students, so it was worth it.

Oh - and I *think* I found three eggs. (this will have to be verified by a butterfly egg expert on Monday - aka: another Kindergarten teacher)

Finally - Josie is a crawler. More on this, less on butterflies, I promise.

Sometimes

Sometimes my days at school feel forever long and my nights at home with Jack & Josie feel much too short... Bedtime is always a welcome time - for all of us. And two kids sleeping through the night (when it happens) is amazing.

Poor Jack

The tornado (in June) took his playset…and his parents won't buy him a new one until next spring. So - for now - he plays in a pit o' sand. Poor Jack.

Couch Jumping

Because apparently he doesn't burn off enough energy at "school" all day… Or perhaps he is training for a future in skateboarding? Whatever the case - I see broken bones…and after paying off our first ER visit - it doesn't make me happy to think there could be more.

Miss Josephine is so close to crawling. She just can't quite get those arms and legs to move at the same time.