I'm sorry, my brain told me to do it.

Arden's recent excuse for everything....

The good thing is (at this point in time, anyway) Arden is scared to lie.  Instead of lying, she usually confesses to a misdeed before I find out on my own.  She has learned that her guilty plea usually leads to a lesser punishment, rather than lying about it and getting a more severe punishment.

"Mommy, I'm sooo sorry."
"Why?"
"I scratched the chair with my fingernail.  My brain told me to do it," she says in the most pitiful tone she can muster.


"Have you clipped down at school?" (clip-down is something that happens when a student makes a poor choice or has poor behavior.)
"No, I haven't.  I've only clipped up!" she exclaims with pride.  Then her tone changes as she suddenly remembers something.  "I did color on my desk, though," she says in a hushed voice, full of guilt.  "I can't help it!  My brain told me to do it!!!"
"Arden, that's not an excuse.  Your brain is going to get you into a lot of trouble."

One more picture that I forgot to include in my last post...

the way Jack suggests wearing "ops"

Jack at 2 1/2

Jack's personality has really started to show these last few months.  He's a little booger.  ALL BOY.

wearing his towel like Dad

squirting everyone around with his water toy.

He dressed himself.  He was in love with this spiderman hat for about a week.  

he has a t-shirt on, tucked into his underwear.... with a belt that he's adamant about wearing.  Trying to measure stuff like Dad.

and now he's added loafers.

He found a scooter while we were in Walmart.  He rode it all over the store.  This was a good way to keep him occupied while I was shopping, AND it made him go faster.  Win/win for me.

"ops"  His flip flops that he loves to wear.  He calls them "ops" and freaks out if he can't find them.    In this picture he's trying to turn on his first favorite show, Dinosaur Train. 

Just like Arden, he has an entourage.  I'm thinking he's worse than Arden.  He has two blankets, Bear (he's using bear as a pillow), several rabbits, a dog, and a frog.  These are necessary sleeping partners.  When he wants to bring them downstairs, he chunks them over the bannister so he doesn't have to carry them down.

he's become quite the swimmer!

this is him pretending to be asleep.

FAKER

A lot of his words are understandable now, but most aren't unless you're around him a lot.

Some more Jackanese.  Believe me, you need this to decipher his language.
"oxic bulk"  chocolate milk
"antch" sandwich
"a-it" rabbit
"oat" yogurt
"ohs" animals
"Osh"(pronounced with a long O)  Arden

Funny story:  Halle tells him, "Jack, my name's not Hahwah, it's Halle,"
This cracks him up.  He comes to me to tell me what Halle said, "Hahwah [said], 'no Hahwah.  Halle'!" smh.

First Days!

Arden started kindergarten!  She was super excited.  She insisted on riding the bus the first day, too.  She has been waiting and waiting to ride the bus for years.  :)

I asked her what her favorite part of her first day was and she said "coming home."  After a few days I realized it wasn't because she didn't like school; she just loved riding the bus.  Her next favorite part was recess, of course.

She's done well these past few weeks.  Her teacher says she is well behaved in class.  Arden comes home excited to tell me about all of the things that she learned and the things that her friends have said.  It's always funny to hear the conversations of multiple five year olds.

this was Arden at the end of the first day.  She was TIRED.

Arden thrives on routine, so kindergarten has been an easy and fun adjustment for her so far.

Halle's first day of school was almost two weeks later.  We held off on her homeschool because we were settling into the house and Brian was on vacation.  Her first day started with a dissection class at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  She will have a class once a month at the museum.  The bottom floor of the museum has about 150 classrooms, something I did not know!  In her first class of the year she dissected squid! 

 

Jack and Brian toured the museum while Halle had her class

The best part of Halle's museum day was Guy's Meat Market!  We had to make a stop there for the best burgers in Houston.  Brian first discovered this place when he worked in construction at Ben Taub Hospital.  Since we were in the vicinity and had extra time, we HAD to get a burger.  O M G, the best burgers ever!

This is Halle on her first day of hitting the books.  All comfortable on her bedroom floor in loungewear.  

Lastly, a picture of the girls and what they do at the end of the school day.  We LOVE our new pool!

Happy 12th Birthday Halle

To my sweet and considerate 12 year old:

You are maturing and growing so much.  You have almost grown as tall as me.  Almost.  Not that it's saying much.  Your feet and hands have outgrown mine, so I know you have several inches more to grow.

You love making unique bracelets with your Krazy Loom.  You make other things besides bracelets, too, like a coffee mug for me for my birthday.  You are very creative.

You love to plant seeds and watch them grow.  You pulled a frozen black eyed pea out of the freezer, from Paw Paw's garden, and have planted it.  Everyday you watch it and water it and it has grown into this giant plant!  You also love cooking, baking, and most things domestic.  Cleaning, not so much...  You despise cleaning the bathroom.

You like searching Pinterest for crafts to do or new ways to do your nails.  One of the new techniques for nails you've learned is called "Galaxy Nails."  

You're a reality show fanatic.  This drives your dad crazy because he hates reality TV.  Some of your favorites are Shark Tank, Next Great Baker, and Dual Survival.

You share my passion for bargain hunting, which makes me proud!  :)  You won't buy anything unless it's a good deal.  If not, you wait for it to go on sale.  You're my favorite shopping buddy.

You are a CORNBALL!  You are constantly cracking me up with your punny statements.  You have wit, which sometimes catches me off guard.  You're also developing a great sense of sarcasm.  Being rather sarcastic myself, this too makes me quite proud.  And goofy.  Geez, girl, you're goofy!

You have a lot of patience with your brother and sister.  Most of the time.  Sometimes you get in trouble for being mean to Arden.....

You LOVE swimming.  You've started your year-round swimming and practice 5 days a week.  You love the water so much that you jump in the pool after your swim practice.  I am happy that you have a passion for swimming, and I hope that you achieve all of your swimming goals.

You are getting to an age now where we can have intelligent adult conversations.  They aren't always adult-like, though.  Sometimes they're outright silly.  You know what I mean.  ;)  You're fun to hang out with, a great daughter, and a great friend.
  
Happy birthday Halle!  I love you!