The Hannah Family

Set up by a 3-year-old already, I don't stand a chance

Dave showed up next to my desk while I was working.  He held out a cute plastic turtle bath toy.  "Who got this for me?"  Wracking my brain and marking my place in the report, I remembered and answered "I did." 

"No!  The Easter Bunny brought this to me!!"

"Oh that's right, the Easter Bunny did give you that."  I stared at him wondering why he interrupted me when he knew the answer, and he gave me a recriminating look as if to say how dare you try to take the credit for someone else's generosity. 

Luckily we only went on a short drive

I unbuckled Dave (3) from his car seat this afternoon and he sang out, "I'm free!" as he hugged me.  What a cutie.

Real work-at-home jobs

Since I do medical transcription from home, I get a lot of questions from other moms who also want to earn money while staying home with the kiddos.  According to a good article I read today, click here to view, there are at least 57 phony job offers for every legitimate opportunity.  That makes me steaming mad!  My advice?  If it sounds too good to be true... it is!

Claire is at her first day of kindergarten

She was excited about carrying her new princess backpack and woke up an hour early to get ready for school.  We are happy for her, but of course I miss my girl already!

 

Edited to respond to the question of how the first day went by Mary:

Claire has the next four days off to recuperate, then goes five days next week and thereafter (they have a staggered schedule the first week so they can get used to things with fewer children which works very well).  It's a good thing because she said her legs were sore from running - apparently she tackled that playground pretty hard, ha ha!  I have a folder full of forms to fill out (tongue twister), but she has easy homework like being read to.

Katie has been predicting Claire would get lost in the big school and Claire did, but she asked "a grown-up" and was directed back to the kindergarten end of the hall without any panic.  Success!

She said the best part of school was playing with the Legos that are different than our two kinds, and the worst part is "school is weird because they put you in with a lot of kids you don't know."  She also said she doesn't like the way our pets get so upset when she's gone.  It's a very good thing she couldn't see Dave asking me for 3 hours straight to get in the van to go get his Claire Bear.

Claire gives me helpful advice like this all the time

"If you are going to take a fish for a walk, it's best to just carry his bowl."

Lots of photos from our trip to New Hampshire

I took so many pictures, hope you like them!

We traveled through 10 states to get there, a long 14-hour drive.  We took a tour of Dianne's bed and breakfast first, the Apple Gate.  Then we went to Brambley Cottage on Lake Pearly where we stayed and played.  It was beautiful.  We took side trips around the local towns, but the highlight for us was the Friendly Farm.  The kids are already talking about when we go back next year so the vacation was a definite success.

I began uploading photos, but it will take me another day to share

Blame it on work and the Bachelorette finale tonight.

Tuckered out, but we're home from New Hampshire!

I will share our adventures and pictures tomorrow.  New Hamster, as Claire refers to it, is breathtaking. 

A picture from my high school graduation resurfaced yesterday

Aunt Cindy Sue sent this via email of me with Grandma Lois and Great-Grandma Lena.  Feels as if I've just gone through a time warp (and a perm)!

No, I am not packed yet

I did get the oil changed in the van, but Mr. Oil Change Dude didn't cover the mat with anything, got in with his grungy boots, and now it is FILTHY.  I have to scrub that tonight or Mark won't go anywhere!

The neighbor's birthday party was a big hit.  I'm working now, but I keep thinking about that mat in the van so I'm going to run down to take care of that so the world can continue to rotate and the vacation will still have a shot of getting off the ground.