Oh yeah...the blog!

So...it's been a month...give or take. Busy, good times have been had.

Several of which have involved a standing fan.

In case you don't immediately see the movie reference, let me back up a little to give you the big picture...


Still don't see it? Allow me to help you out...blonde girl standing on the left is actually a red-headed mermaid lying a rock, with the wind in her hair and the salty, ocean spray in her face.

It seems the mesmerizing whir of the fan compels Norah to imitate Ariel (specifically, the part of the movie where she is singing, "Ahh Ahh Ahhhhhh....Ahh Ahh Ahhhhhh....",).



And what's even better, she's taught Eli her "song". The instant the fan is turned on, he races to do his best little mermaid impression. He's got the tune down cold!








One Saturday afternoon, Jason and Eli ran into Hastings while Norah and I hit HEB, next door. J and E finished a little faster, so they were waiting in the car when we came out. Norah had managed to sweet talk the balloon guy into giving her an extra balloon for her brother, and I thought his reaction was priceless!







Who wouldn't love a free smile this big?

I wish I could say this smile lasted forever...but unfortunately, the smile faded about the same time the balloon did. Thankfully, it doesn't take much to turn this little fella's frown upside down.






One of my favorite reasons, of late is seeing him in his "Choo Choos". (E's nickname for his Thomas the Train underoos). Nearly every time he puts them on, he says, "Choo-choo!!" (in high-pitched, train whistle fashion). And no, he isn't completely potty trained...but he is doing really well.


In addition to loving his big boy pants, E has a major love for shoes. (Not so much for the fashion aspects as for the "I must have shoes on my feet at all times" factor, which I'm told was the way my dad was when he was a child) The irony here is that E's feet are so wide, we only have a couple of pairs that he can wear. Flip flops seem to be his favorite right now. This photo was taken about 10 minutes after he woke up. The previous 9 minutes were spent getting into my closet and picking out a pair of heels for me to wear (with my pajamas), followed by taking Jason his shoes shouting "Shoes! Shoes!" until we put them on. Jason and I decided he must have wanted us to take him out for donuts. Shoes= leaving the house.

Another fun discovery during our hiatus...homemade "stars". Our living room gets a lot of sun in the morning, thanks to a skylight, and Norah figured out that if she put an open vegetable steamer directly in the sun...







Voila! Instant stars!
















Last week marked the final story time with the summer reading program at the public library. Norah turned in her second summer reading log and was awarded with a "gold" medal. She was so proud, she gave me a genuine smile! The lady in the photo is Ms. Bobbye, one of the wonderful, fun children's librarians. (Norah loves her because she always brings a banjo to story time and she sings LOTS of fun songs)







We had to stop by the downstairs desk to see Norah's best librarian buddy, Ms. Dorothy. Ms. Dorothy (whose name, I should add, Eli can pronounce perfectly) always takes the time to make N & E feel special, no matter how busy the library is. She is a precious lady.