Friday, January 27, 2012

Toddler Sayings

"And then one froggy Christmas Eve."

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Brooklyn, what is Woody's horse's name?

"Bazoo."

It isn't Bulleye?

"No, it's BA-ZOOOOO."

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Brooklyn, is Caleb your cousin?

"No, he's my sisser."

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Brooklyn, is Daddy a baby?

"No, he's big boy."

Thus began John's nickname of Daddy Big Boy.

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Friday, December 16, 2011

First Christmas Program - Toddlers

Brooklyn goes to a Lutheran church/preschool for daycare. Last night they had a Christmas program for the 2 - 4 year olds.

It was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!

The kids in all 3 classrooms had been practicing their songs for weeks. John and I knew something was up when, come December 1, Brooklyn began singing Jingle Bells even though we hadn't started listening to Christmas music at home yet.

So we get to the auditorium and find PRIME seating right on the middle isle. I couldn't believe no one had taken the seats we found! A perfect spot for stills and video of this very first of, I imagine, many plays/concerts/games/etc that we will attend to support our daughter.

As the program begins out come the 4 year olds dressed as participants in the nativity story. They come down the middle isle and take their places in one long single file line across the stage.

Music starts. It's Silent Night. One half of the line is singing a speed racer version. The other side is singing really slow and the music track is yet at it's own speed. We were cracking up hearing this musical chaos. By the time the kids got it together, the song was over.

Next come the 3 year olds. They sang Feliz Navidad. Bahahahaha! I know the director put that in for comedy because there was nothing funnier than seeing their puzzled little faces and hearing the confused murmer during the "prospero ano y felicidad" part. So many of us parents were cracking up.

Finally, the 2 year olds come out dressed as elves - each child holding onto a long gold ribbon (to keep them focused and together, I imagine) as their teacher lead them up to their places on stage with the other two groups.

We were able to see Brooklyn walking down the isle before she saw us. She did really well in this new environment and from where I was seated could get many good pictures while daddy ran the video next to me. Once she saw me, she smiled soooo big and almost came to me rather than going up on stage.

The kids finally all took their places and started to sing Jingle Bells, shaking their little bells with all the bell-loving passion a two year old can muster. They did great and you could tell they were having fun.

You never know what to expect with a child's first experience in a group performance. I guess some kids could get shy or frightened, but not mine. She's a ham! And it didn't surprise John or me in the slightest. (Lisa, Krissy - I can hear your thoughts right now..."Well, she is YOUR daughter!" Hahaha!)

No, Brooklyn was not shy on stage at all. She would sing, shake her bells, look for us, wave really big, yell "Mommy!" every now and then, pose, cut up with her little friend Savanah. It was so hard not to giggle into the video the entire time.

After the singing was over it was time for each group to leave the stage in an orderly fashion to go back to their classrooms and take off their costumes.

The 2 year olds each took hold of the ribbon and were to follow their teacher. Brooklyn decided to come straight over to me for a big hug, but since she was first in line she took all the other kids with her!

The entire auditorium of parents was cracking up as we had this pile of kids in our row rather than following the teacher.

Good times.

I truly love having a 2 year old. There are moments of I'm-gonna-pull-all-my-own-hair-out, but the antics and hugs and silly faces and hilarious conversation keeps your hair in your head.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Stuff She Said...

Chick-munk

Daddy: Brooklyn, want some nu-nus?
Brooklyn: Daddy, it's NOODLES.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Wow, has it really been this long?

I need to update this thing for reals.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

She Said It

Me (while driving to daycare/work this morning): Wow, the sunshine is really in my eyes.

Brooklyn: Cover you eyes, Mommy.

Friday, July 8, 2011

And we have lift off!

It was like the clouds parted and the sun shone just long enough for lift off to be successful. Up on the roof none of us could believe it didn't get scrubbed. But I'm glad it went on the first try. And I can't believe I didn't cry. It is sad, this thing coming to an end. But (trying to stay positive and I can't believe I'm going to be this cliche...) when one door closes another opens.

I can't get the pics of lift off from my Canon right now but I can give you this little tidbit. Here is a highway cam of the poor tourists trying to leave the KSC Visitor's Center.



Yeah, you guys thought a trip over here was going to be this awesome adventure...all fun and games in sunny Florida. Ha!

It's an adventure all right. But in that traffic right now it might seem like a big steaming pile of adventure, filled with "rude drivers", topped with a dollop of "road rage", and sprinkled with "holy cow my kids are screaming and fighting in the backseat".

Nah. It was all worth it.

Go Atlantis Go!!!

I'll write another entry documenting my memories of the shuttle program, but for now, with exactly 30 minutes before Atlantis is scheduled to lift off, I wanted to share some of what is going on around town in anticipation of this final launch.

It took me 1 hour to drive 2 miles on my way into work this morning. And this was 5 hours prior to launch. I shared the road with hundreds of tourists, tour buses and media vans.

One report stated that 1 million people were expected to come to view the launch. That is IN ADDITION to those of us who already live here.

Here is a screen shot from a highway cam showing the traffic coming from Orlando into Brevard County via the Beeline. See the left most lane on the screen that looks backed up for miles? Yep, that is the road carrying peeps here to Brevard County. And this show was taken about 2 hours prior to launch.



A few weeks ago my coworkers and I were able to go out to the launch pad and have our pictures taken with STS-135 Atlantis, the shuttle who's mission will close out the Shuttle Program.





Weather is looking dismal for lift off. There's a 70% chance that weather is too cloudy and rainy for an emergency landing but Houston still says we are a go.

Time will tell.

I'll be watching and photographing from the roof of my building and if it launches, will post pics later.

God bless the crew and all the employees who made this great program and great day possible!