Christmas is coming

Allyson wants to know if Santa is a thief. She'd like to know if he buys stuff in the stores when everyone is sleeping, and if so, how does he pay for the stuff if the cashiers are sleeping. I think she is beyond believing that little elves make the same stuff they sell at Walmart, and last year I made the mistake of saying that Santa can't afford to buy every little girl an American Girl Doll. We've also purchased gifts to children whose parents can't afford gifts this Christmas. The lies begin now, and now I need to remember which lies I've told. Why can't Santa afford AG dolls for all little girls? Why doesn't Santa bring the same number of gifts to the underprivileged as he does to the over-privileged? Is Santa violating Trade Mark rights and patent infringements by allowing his elves to copy the toys we see at Target? And do the elves have non-compete clauses? Are they allowed to work in factories during the off-season, or sell their goods to China if they've already met the "wish-list" demand?

I've decided that my best bet is to go with naivety. "I don't know. I've never met Santa so I'm not sure". We'll see if that will get me through the next couple of years.

Bike Riding

We started working with Allyson on riding a two-wheel bike back in March. She lost interest by May and then she decided that she'd rather swim than ride a bike (which was fine with us because it was too hot for bike riding). Now that school has started and the swimming season is coming to an end, we've made a push for her to try again. We think she'll be riding by herself in no time. We were able to jog (or RUN) along side of her several times, but we didn't tell her she was riding alone. She became suspicious and kept turning around to see if we were still holding on, thus turning the wheel and almost crashing into various curbs! Tonight's training was a big step for Allyson - and a huge work out for me! We look forward to being able to ride to school with all the big kids!

KINDERGARTEN!!!

Elementary School. WOW.

I'm not sure how to summarize the past five years. But we made it. She's made it through the first two weeks with no real problems. Allyson started school with a cold so she was a little hesitant on her first day, but she got over it once she got to school.

Summer 2009

Summer break is over. The time seemed to go by quickly. Kind of like the past five years. This summer Allyson enjoyed being Allyson. We spent time swimming, playing and visiting family. She enjoyed our trip to Ohio and North Carolina and also having the Myers' cousins visist us in Florida.

The cousins came down to Florida to kick-off the summer break

Then we went to Ohio to celebrate the 4th of July with some friends. The kids enjoyed the plane ride up, while Daddy enjoyed a quiet car trip over the holiday weekend. Keith returned to work while we vacationed in Ohio for two weeks. Then returned to make the trip back to Florida with a stop in NC to celebrate Brett's birthday - and a party for a horse

August dissappeared quickly as we started gearing up for "back-to-school" or rather "start-of-school" for us. Allyson and I went shopping for a few new outfits and a backpack. She wanted a Hannah Montana or iCarly backpack. I said "no". We agreed on a Hello Kitty backpack. In a blink of an eye we went from Dora and Princesses to HM and iCarly! What happen to my little girl? The summer flew by, much like the last 5 years.

Pre-K Graduation

Preschool is officially over! She's now headed to Kindergarten (if we can make it through the summer!)

Dad and Me Night

Every year the preschool invites Dads to come for an evening of " Dad and Me Olympics". This year we sent Pop Pop with the Orange Team so that we would have some pictures! The teams had to compete in activites like soccer, discus throw, obstactle course, and shaving! It looks like they had a great time (while Aiden was at home learning to use the potty).

Preschool Cap and Gown???

They seemed to find a way to get parents to order photos one way or another. Who can resist a mini-graduate? The tactic worked like a charm on us! Looking at her in this picture, we can hardly believe how grown up she looks. "Graduation" is in a few weeks and I'm pretty sure a few tear will be shed by her over-emotional mother. (although I readily admit that there is no great accomplishment in recieving a pre-school diploma, but the novelty is still cute).