November 2007

December is half over, and I'm just now getting around to November's web page! Sorry, everyone. It's a hectic time of year.

Thanksgiving week sucked pretty bad at our house. Lily had a high fever for a few days and had to stay home, and then Michelle and I got sick too. The doctors said we both had strep throat AND influenza. I had pinkeye as well. What a lovely holiday! The Peughs invited us over for Thanksgiving despite our many diseases. We brought hand-cleaning gel and tried not to breathe on anyone. I think we got away with it.


The private school we're looking at, Lausanne, had an open house this month, so I took Lily to see the classrooms and meet the teachers. She had fun running around and trying out all the play areas. It looks like a great place.


We spent a lot of time on the playground at Lausanne. (After all, I want her to like this school!) We did have one big mishap, though. She normally loves the swings at the park, but the swings here are for bigger kids. I pushed her really high like she's used to, but she slid off the swing and fell. She wasn't hurt, but she cried. I was proud of her, because after a few minutes, she wanted back on the swing, and then I didn't push her as high. Before we left, another family showed up with a boy Lily's age, and he too went flying off the swing.


Lily is not as big of a chocolate fan as I am, but she does like the plain Hershey chocolate bars. Michelle bought me some Godiva truffles this month (yum), and Lily ate a lot of those too!


Lily rides her bike a lot, both in the house and outside. Sometimes she asks me to ride with her, so I get on her other bike and we take turns following each other.


Michelle bought Lily a "magic wand" that lights up and makes a cool sound. We have watched over and over a Dora episode where Benny the Bull turns himself into a potato by accident, using a magic wand, so Lily was pointing her wand and turning us into potatoes.


Lily's day care class learned songs for a Thanksgiving play. I think the names of the songs are "Gobble Gobble Gobble", "Ten Native Americans" (note the political correctness), "I am a Popcorn", and "The Turkey Dance". This is her very first public performance ever! She wore a turkey costume (third picture). We almost missed the show -- the day care center didn't announce it and we only found out about it the day of the peformance.


Here's a video of one song from the class's performance. The kids sing "I am a popcorn, I am a popcorn", and jump up and down saying "Pop! Pop! Pop!" Lily is the second kid from the right side. She mostly just stands there! Click the picture to watch (it's in MPEG format), or download it here. The die-hard fans can download the whole show (3 min. 45 sec., Quicktime format) here.


In the wee hours of the day after Thanksgiving (a.k.a. Black Friday at the stores), I stood in line at Best Buy to get one of 20 laptops on sale for a mere $229. We were thinking this could be Lily's laptop, to put games on. The store opened at 5 a.m. and I thought I was planning ahead by showing up at 1:45 a.m., but there were already tents and chairs and 90 people waiting there. At 4 a.m. they started handing out tickets for the different promotional items, and minutes later they announced that those laptops were all taken. Oh well! Should've stayed home and slept!


Michelle's company had a holiday party. The two Michelles went early to help set up, and Bill and I showed up later with all the kids. Cameron was eager to get on the Moon Bounce and kept bouncing in it for a long time.


Madeline and her parents sat nearby while Cameron was bouncing. We tried to get Lily and Madeline to bounce, but they didn't want to.


Lily was much more interested in walking back and forth along a low wall in the yard. For hours! First she walked on it while holding my hand, then she didn't need the hand, and then she was running. Other kids joined in later, and soon there were ten kids playing on the wall, including Madeline and Cailey. Lily liked standing on the platform at the end of the wall, which she called her Tower of Power (second picture.) I don't know where the name "Tower of Power" came from. Notice her shoes (third picture), which I call her Ruby Slippers.


Santa Claus was at the holiday party. We have a bad track record with Santas and Easter Bunnies -- Lily always cries hysterically. She tolerated letting me hold her close to where Santa was, and Madeline could also handle that distance with her Mom. Cameron and Colin had no problem sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what they wanted.


Here are a couple of Lily's outfits. The first one is cute, and the second one is just goofy. Cailey came back from a trip to Minneapolis, talking about the snow, so Lily is here saying we better get ready for the snow. We're in the Memphis area, so she's not likely to see much snow!


Kids are always cuter when they're smiling!


Michelle's parents will be moving near us next year. Here's the land they bought, right after all the trees and grass were cleared off. In a couple years Lily will know this spot as Lola and Papa's house.


Lily learned that her two middle names are "Elizabeth Jeannette", and has become very interested in everybody else's middle names. In this video Michelle is quizzing her on middle names. Click to watch, or download here.