The Princess sleeps in her Throne

I do think this carseat is appropriately named the Regent. I was worried that her head would flop forward when she fell asleep, like it did in that awful old EB 3-in-1 monster. Nope, this seat is reclined just enough that she can snuggle right in and sleep.

Sheep riding is fun

Sheep riding accident

Being Awyn

My daughter is sometimes a complicated personality. This is an understatement.

Awyn's latest thing is to try to pee standing up, like a boy. Her brother can do it. Her daddy can do it. Why can't she? About a month ago we were outside in the backyard when she declared she needed to pee. I told her she could squat outside, or go in the house. She declared with a footstamp that set her curls bouncing that she was going to pee standing up. Smirking, Eric and I told her to go right ahead and try. It was late enough in the evening that we could simply strip her clothes off and toss her in the bath, an event that was rapidly approaching whether she peed on herself or not.

Would you believe she simply arched her back and peed straight out, like a boy, and didn't get a drop on herself?

Being Awyn, she then decided she can always pee standing up. It took me a little over a week to figure out what all of her accidents were all about. I kept finding her wearing a different pair of panties, or naked from the waist down, and a saturated pile of clothing in front of the toilet. At first I thought she wasn't sitting right on the toilet. It didn't occur to me that she was trying to stand up to pee. Well, she is, and she's not at all discouraged by the piles of wet panties she's currently going through. I'm getting a little tired of the extra laundry though, and washing the bath mats all the time.

She also wants to pee on a cactus. Part of me wants to let her try. I'll be standing by with the tweezers.

When reading, one should stand on the sheep.

Crazy girl

I can't remember what she's eating here. She's our little goofball.

Robots Oh My

Sam and Awyn were playing with Sam's robot. I used this picture as part of Sam's birthday party invitation. He's asked for a robot cake, and rockets. So we're trying our best to comply.

Face washing time

Awyn is supposed to be washing her hands and face. Her hair is also a little wet.

Awyn's New Ride

Awyn now has a Britax Regent, in Madison (that's the pink and floral cover's name). They were on sale right along with us getting our tax refund. I was debating between the Graco Nautilus ($150 + shipping) that harnesses to 65 lbs, converts to a high back booster, then a low back booster, and this seat. I chose this seat after it went on a mega sale. It harnesses to 80 lbs. She'll be riding in this seat for a very, very long time. She loves that it's pink and has flowers, but thinks it's too big. Sam is in deep seat envy and would like his own. Unfortunately, the sale is over, and I have other plans for the rest of our rebate money. Maybe I'll get him a Nautilus. The only down side to the Regent is that it's not airline approved; and it's way too heavy/bulky to haul through an airport anyway. We'll just have to come up with a different plan for when we fly. Oh, and we're moving, call us for details.

This is not a box

Sam and Awyn play in the carseat box.

H I P spells everything

Awyn likes to spell words and names. She likes to recite the alphabet. Is she some kind of genius? Of course she is!

Well.... Ok, so to be more honest about these Wunderkind skills... Every word is spelled H I P. If you ask her how to spell Awyn, she says HIP. If you stop at a stop sign, and ask her what it says, she says, "H I P, stop!" As for the alphabet, she sort of says letters in any particular order as best as she can come up with them, usually with lots of h's, i's, and p's.

Why is Awyn so eager to spell and read and learn ABCs? Because her brother really does spell words and read words, both sight words and using phonics. He has the alphabet down cold, and knows every letter by sight, and what sounds they make. He does get tripped up by combination sounds, like sh, ch, tr, and whatever x is supposed to do. Still, it's impressive at times. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't compensation for how delayed his language skills have been, and his definite continued need for speech and occupational therapies.

Binoculars

Sam and Awyn love playing with binoculars.

A new type of Crib Tent

Sam and Awyn love it when I turn Awyn's bed into a tent.

Painting

Awyn has decided that painting with water colors is wonderful. She dips her brush into the paint, then the water, and then paints on the paper. Mostly she tells me she's painting eyes or monsters. I'm glad she tells me, because right now it looks like a lot of multi-colored lines.

All us firefighters have helmets

I was goofing around with my hard hat before heading off to the Fort Davis Wildland Firefighter Academy. I spend, according the the notes I took, 33 hours in class time, not counting lunch and dinner breaks. I learned a bit about digging handlines and fire and safety. I passed the test with a respectibly high score that should make anyone proud. I will go for my physical next week, then do the pack test, and get my red card. Eric's not sure where my gear should be stored; his is down at his office because he didn't have enough closet space in his ranger closet (he did before I took up half of the uniform closet).

I really did enjoy the training, and I met some fun people. I was one of five women to attend the class, out of 15 students. I was the only one who wasn't already a structural firefighter with various volunteer fire departments. They were a little vague on hose lays and nozzles, because everyone but me already knew all about that. Still, the foam was cool. And I did like using a pulaski to cut line.

Another South Rim Hike

Eric led another training hike up to the South Rim. I'd planned on going with him, but I had a tummy bug. So I missed his 'bubbles on the Rim' talk again. I'm in deep bubble envy. I want to blow bubbles off the South Rim. It's only a 13 mile hike... I think we'll have to plan another trip soon; I can always find a sitter for the kids.

Monsters Beware!

Awyn brought her lightsaber all the way down into the cave to fight monsters. From the moment Eric and I started telling the kids that we were going to a cave, Awyn started talking about monsters. She packed Sam's lightsaber too, but his stayed back in the van instead of in his backpack.

Sam wants to type his own name:

samuel lee leonard

Yes, another family picture!

Of course we had to get a picture of Sam and Awyn with grandparents.

Ah, my little family

A family portrait with the bat, naturally.

The Bat

Yes, we now have a series of pictures with the bat. Sam has loved the bat on all three of his visits down into the cave.