Need A $75 Spatula?

Drew stepped in the van yesterday when I picked him up from school, and he excitedly told me, "Mom! We are having a fundraiser at school! If I sell 200 things, I can get an iPod or a flat-screen TV!"

Dear, naive little Drew. He hasn't been in school long enough to know just how much his Momma detests school fundraisers. I detest them for a variety of reasons.

1. The stuff the kids have to sell is JUNK. And it's not just junk. It's over-priced junk.

2. A new tactic the schools now use is to reward the kids who sell just two items with a special assembly. Any student that sells just two items gets to go to a special assembly. If a student doesn't sell any items or sells just one item, he/she stays in the classroom and works while the other students attend said assembly. This happened to us last year, and I think it's pretty crumby.

3. In past years, our kids' school has used the majority of the proceeds from this fundraiser to take all of the students to see a movie. And it costs them over $2000 to take the whole school to a movie - usually a movie half of them have already seen any way. In all fairness, the school has not done this for the last few years. I have been pleased with the all-day school carnival they use the money for. I do hope they continue this in the future.

4. And the main reason I dislike this fundraiser is that the company's spokesman comes and gets the kids all fired up to sell their junk, and I have to be the bad guy to tell my kid he actually won't be getting a flat-screen tv.

Drew and I literally spent hours yesterday debating this fundraiser. He was a determined little guy while he pled his case. He even had Ross trying to join his cause. And I thought, "Silly Ross. You should know this routine by now!"

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

The Many Uses Of Vegetable Oil

Mallory's fine baby hair causes a lot of crazy bed-head. So one day when it was looking particularly ratty, I assumed she had slept wildly. Well, combine that with the fact that we don't get up and moving quickly on summer mornings, so it doesn't get combed until noon or after. I used my fingers to try to smooth her hair and realized she had a big hard clump stuck in it. Great. Gum. Now, this chunk of hardened gum was right on the top of her head, and I started thinking, "How am I going to get this out without...

...ripping out handfuls of hair and leaving a bald spot that rivals Dr. Phil's?!"
Let me tell you, ice does not work. Neither does peanut butter. I hopped online, desperate for ideas that would leave my three-year-old with enough hair that people wouldn't think she had Alopecia.

Apparently other mothers have experienced the same episodes with their toddlers and suggested using vegetable oil. We gave it a try, and it was the cure! It felt nasty in my hands and in her hair, but it was definitely better than having her walk around with one big dread lock-looking strip of gum-covered hair. In just a few minutes the oil and comb got the wad of gum out with minimal damage. A quick wash of the hair and we were good to go.

Yesterday at the grocery store I threw three packs of gum in my cart while simultaneously screaming in my head, "NO! NO! NO! What are you thinking?!" Mallory is banished from gum for a while.

Baby Bunk Bed

We have been acquiring baby gear over the last few months since I had already gotten rid of all of our old stuff. We just bought this port-a-crib with a bassinet attachment, and Drew wanted to put it together to see what it looked like. He filled the bassinet with a pillow and a blanket and proclaimed the bed to be a bunk bed that he would share with the new baby.

The Tie Breaker

The whole crew tagged along for my ultrasound today to hear the big verdict. Well, not everyone tagged along willingly. Drew begged me to let him stay with the Waddells and wanted me just to tell him what it was. He decided to be a happy camper once he saw the images of this sweet baby.

Mallory saw this one and kept saying, "It's waving to us! Hi baby! I love you!"

Here is a a sweet picture of the feet.

We are all tickled pink to find out we are having a GIRL! Mallory, who has been insisting it's a girl this whole time immediately said, "I think it's a boy." Ross and Elizabeth are both happy. They didn't mind what it was. Drew simply wanted a pizza, but he will eventually be just as pleased to get a baby sister. I think.

I thought it was a girl all along, although I would have loved a precious little boy as well. A short time before we found out that a baby would be joining our family, I had a very vivid dream about a little girl. It was the kind of dream that seems so real. I dreamt that a tiny little girl was walking around in our bedroom. It was so real that I woke up to find myself walking around our bedroom and hallway looking for her. It took me a minute to realize that she had indeed been in my dream. I truly believe this little girl is meant to be a part of our family, and I can't wait to meet her in December!

Boston 2010

Edward and I just got back from four wonderful days in Boston, MA. He qualified for the trip through a campaign with his company, American Family Insurance. Am Fam has provided us with trips to several destinations we might not normally visit (Washington, D.C., San Diego, New York City, Montreal, and Orlando are the cities we've visited thus far) but that we've had a wonderful time vacationing. We felt a little guilty leaving the kids behind, but we looked at it as one last hurrah before a new baby. The kids stayed with my wonderful parents, and of course they all had a blast.

~The Old State House~

Over the course of three days, we walked the Freedom Trail. It is a 2.5 mile trek that highlights some of the most important events and places in the city. It was a definite highlight of our trip. It was neat to actually see some of the significant places I've learned about throughout my life.

This is Old Granary Burying Ground. John Hancock, Paul Revere, Robert Treat Paine, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin's parents, and Elizabeth Goose (believed to be Mother Goose) are all buried here. The OLD gravestones were quite remarkable.

~Samuel Adams~

~The Victims of the Boston Massacre~

~Josiah and Abiah Franklin~

~John Hancock~

~Paul Revere's House~

"Listen my children and you shall hear,

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...."

Paul Revere had 16 children. This three bedroom home was probably quite spacious at the time. It is the oldest home in Boston.

~Edward having a good time~

He figured he might as well let the donkey eat straight out of his wallet.

~Paul Revere Statue in Front of the Old North Church~

"One if by land. Two if by see."

This was one of my favorite places. Two lanterns were hung here on April 18, 1775, signaling the Redcoats' departure by sea for Lexington and Concord. This is still a practicing Episcopalian church where services are held each week. The pews are set in these cubicle-like boxes. Church members' heads barely peak from the tops to see the minister. It would be kind of nice to corral our kids in one of these! Although, they were VERY loud due to the old and creaky boards. I suppose at this church it was believed children should be heard and not seen!

We often saw really small doors. I don't know if it was because the people were smaller 200+ years ago, it cost a lot to build larger doors, or something else.

I don't even know what this was for! I felt sorry for the pregnant mamas if they had to use this door!

~The USS Constitution~

This was another favorite. This is the world's oldest commissioned warship. This vessel, with wooden sides, was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" when in 1812, cannonballs of a British warship literally bounced off the triple hull. It was quite impressive. Too bad that ugly crane blocked the great view!

~One of the 44 guns/cannons~

This ship was pretty massive. It was especially impressive considering it was made 200+ years ago.

~The USS Cassin Young~

This was a World War II warship. It was also very impressive.

It's kind of hard to tell, but that is the sleeping quarters. That's a triple decker bed!

~Ginormous Torpedo~

This kitchen was TINY! But check out the four foot mixer!

We ended our trip with a stop in Cambridge to tour Harvard. Eh. It was just like any other campus in my book, but I'm glad we had the opportunity to go there.

We were glad to get home to see our babies. Edward took an extra day off so we could rest after our vacation. We walked our little legs off! Vacations are great, but there's no place like home!

Whale Watching

One of the highlights of our trip to Boston was a whale watching cruise. We managed to book our trip with several other American Family friends, so it made for a really great day. Our family had been on another whale watching cruise when we went to Bar Harbor, Maine six years ago. It was an incredible experience, so we knew we wanted to do it again when offered the chance. When we went in Maine, there were only about fifty people on board the boat, and it was FREEZING out on the water. This time about two hundred fifty people were on board, and thankfully, it wasn't as cold. The big crowd made it a little harder to view the whales than our previous trip, but still, it was an amazing thing to see.

~Heading away from Boston~

We were delighted to have such a great "show" by two humpback whales. We only saw two during our three hour trip, but our boat stayed right with them the entire time.

~ Up close and personal~

The most amazing part of the cruise took place during the last twenty minutes we were out at sea. This funny girl, Ursa, would stick her tail out of the water and slap it down, making enormous splashes. She repeated this over and over. She would also roll over onto her back and stick her pectoral fins out of the water. The "show" she gave was far better than anything we've ever seen at Sea World.