CALTROPS!

You may remember the caltrops. A steel device used to disable calvary. A horrible weapon, most likely banned by the Geneva Convention. It was layed down like a mine field to discourage calvary charges by wounding the horse's feet. You may think this diabolical weapon is no longer in use...but it has reared its horrible head in new, despicably camoflauged ways.



The small block caltrop: used to disable fathers of small children when they go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

The Large Block Caltrop: General purpose caltrop used during daylight to annoy and harass parental units.

The sad face caltrop: not only a particulary vicious weapon, but designed to crush the morale of a hopping mad parent when dislodged from between the injured toes.

and finally...
the panda bear caltrop: used in early morning to destroy all hope of crossing a living room without injury.

BEWARE THE CALTROPS LURKING IN YOUR HOME
Matt "Wounded Foot" Dreyer

STRIKE!

Check out the kids and us playing on the patio!

Matt

the TALENT SHOW!...

OK, that's not the auditorium of our new school but it may as well have been! It felt palatial and it was incredible to see so much of the school community in one room...there was so much enthusiasm for the kids, the show, the new site...it was great. And all the kids were so good, that means you Emmett, Benj, Isabel, Aitana, Bidane, and Indie and everyone...we all really enjoyed it.
(Oh, and Silas sat through 2 1/2 hours with minimal breast exposure and not a bit of crying. So we are half way there for our NY flight!)

I feel your pain!...

(photo from the first week with newborn Emmett)
You may think that this is just not the best picture of me but it goes beyond dark circles around the eyes. Anyone who has been there or IS there, with a newborn, no sleep, cracked nipples...knows this expression. The semi-faked smile that says to your spouse, "you aren't really gonna take a picture of me now are you..." followed by a few displaced tears...and hopefully a shower...

Looking through these old pictures of Emmett's first days, I can really feel the whirlwind of emotions... It's rough, as well as being great and new etc...but HARD, too. That's why every mama has a story to tell, not just about their childs birth but about all of it, from diapers to the first day of school and on and on. It's a battle story mixed with a bit of fish-tail, shaggy dog and glory days!


After the many, many responses from a couple of posts back (the grocery store incident with Silas) I see that every one has been there...and it helps to know that. My sister-in-law Cami, is in the thick of it...day 13...hang in there mama! And check out her ridiculously cute baby girl Finley!!

so funny!....

all over the place...Silas the LOUD!

OK, this boy is all over the place! Scooching, a bit of actual knee crawling, lots of grabbing and reaching out, LOOKING at everything, swinging his head around, doing 360's ...this little bit of video doesn't even come close to the level of TROUBLE we are in for! (in a good way!)

down to earth moment...

well, today in the grocery store I had one of those sobering moments when you realize you are not all that...and you wonder if you actually are just a fake after all...



so...Silas was in my arms on the way into (I admit) VONS, in the sling, and I thought, "he's old enough to try out the cart." So, I put him in and he proceeded to scream his brains out in the lot and then through the front door and all through produce. At first I felt unphased because, well, that happens and has happened to me time and again. So, I finally picked him up, now hysterical, bright red with snot pouring down his face. I put him in the sling, dropped his hat, bent over to pick the hat up and he grabbed onto some edge of something that literally tipped over the apple cart. OMFG. (I am not sure if that means what I think it means but I hope it's a swear word and takes the lords name in vain.)
Now Silas is obviously a mess and I am starting to sweat and get stressed and agitated and frustrated and unable to calmly deal...in otherwords, all my cocky mommy confidence just left the building...
...so now I have nice grandmotherly types coming out of the bakery to help ...not to pick up the zillion apples that fell but to help poor pitiful me who obviously knows nothing about anything, by telling me that Silas should be in the cart and he's too old for this and that...how they never brought babies to the store (basically how all my decisions were WRONG!) And then the final blow, by me of course..."Go AWAY !! I am FINE!!!" (Yes, I really said that...and in a very snotty and uncalled for immature voice, too...)
...at that moment, or rather looking back on that moment, I see how many times I have waltzed in to give advice or help like some know it all savior and all I should have done was picked up the frickin' apples.
...so for all of you out there who have been victim to my sage wisdom (and you know who you are!) I am SORRY!
...because I don't know squat.

kindergarten camping...

We all just had so much fun on this trip...and I took a ton of pictures. I guess I'll have to get a flicker account because I got some great shots of all you wonderful families out there. Our school is full of truly interesting, and cool people. Thanks Morgan for the jump start into group camping! Dirty feet and all, I'd do it again!

Morgan and Silas being cute...both of them!!

The group, minus a few who left a bit early!

THE famous KATIE!!

Snuggly Forest Sleepers.

Morgan and Isaiah pondering...

The girls doing their thing.

Emmett was excited to find a "native american kitchen"!