Valerie Fitzenreiter is an amazing woman that I met online on an unschooling list. She unschooled her daughter from the very beginning and has an amazing daughter, Laurie, who recently graduated from college. Valerie, along with Laurie, formed their own publishing company and will soon release the book that Valerie wrote about unschooling. I just ordered my copy of "The Unprocessed Child: Living Without School" and can't wait to read it. I'm also so happy to be able to show my appreciation for this woman who has proven to be so inspiring to me. You can read more and order the book at Valerie's website.

Valerie Fitzenreiter is an amazing woman that I met online on an unschooling list. She unschooled her daughter from the very beginning and has an amazing daughter, Laurie, who recently graduated from college. Valerie, along with Laurie, formed their own publishing company and will soon release the book that Valerie wrote about unschooling. I just ordered my copy of "The Unprocessed Child: Living Without School" and can't wait to read it. I'm also so happy to be able to show my appreciation for this woman who has proven to be so inspiring to me. You can read more and order the book at Valerie's website.

I rock! Okay, not really, but I did win a contest today. I followed the link to this website after reading about it here. I can't wait to get my prize! Isn't it a cool sling? I think I could easily become a sling collector. This will be my fourth. I bought a nojo when Accalia was around a year, but I never really liked it. I keep it around, though, in case my other two slings are dirty. My friend Amy bought me a Maya Wrap sling as a baby gift for Cole, and my friend Sara gave me a Kissaluv sling when he was about six months old. I love them both. Now I can't wait to try out my Funkalicious sling.

Okay, Accalia says she has Scrabble set up for us to play so I'd better go.

The weekend is almost over, and it's been a pretty good one. On Friday we went camping at Newton Hills State Park. We got a later start then planned, so we didn't arrive at our campsite until almost 7 p.m. We were back in a little loop off of one of the main loops, and there were five sites total in our loop. The sites were a little closer together than we're used to out at the lake, but it wasn't bad at all. And it was the perfect setup if you're having a bunch of people camping together for the weekend and all want to be together. It rained off and on Friday night, but nothing too heavy. That night we walked around the campground, and Accalia had the chance to play at one of the playgrounds. We made a fire that night, too, and Accalia just had a blast helping us out with all of those camping duties.

On Saturday, Cole and I were up bright and early thanks to the numerous birds in the area. We saw a bunch of blue jays in nearby trees as well as several hawks and eagles flying overhead. Accalia slept until 9 a.m., which she doesn't even do at home! The fresh air must really have an effect on her. That morning we drove about 3/4 of a mile to the nearby lake, hoping there would be a nice swimming beach since one of the attractions is supposed to be a swimming beach. Well, there was a boat landing at least. The beach could be nice if they'd pull all the weeds and grass. Cory took Accalia down to the water for a few minutes to wade, and he said the water was nice and clear. After that, we went back to the campsite for lunch. Then we took a hike on one of the nearby hiking trails. By that time the kids were getting tired, so we broke camp and headed home. That night we rented a couple DVDs - "All Dogs Go To Heaven" for Accalia and "Two Weeks Notice" for us. Eh is about all I can say about our movie.

This afternoon we went out to the lake for a swim. The kids had fun as usual. Cole would just crawl directly into the deep water if we didn't stop him. He has no fear of water, which has its positives and negatives.

Now it's time to start thinking about supper. Maybe we'll grill...

Much of the news for the past couple days has been about the tornadoes that passed through South Dakota this week. Right now the weather experts are estimating that around 60 tornadoes passed through.

Our friend Eric emailed us the story behind this picture he took that I linked to a few entries ago. He wrote that he got word there was a tornado nearby so he took off in hopes of capturing it on film. He thought he was driving parallel to it and then thought he had lost it when sunshine broke through the clouds. Then he turned and there it was, so the photographer that he is was holding the camera in his hands while driving with his knees. He was a half mile from that tornado.

Eric and Cory grew up together in Lake Wilson, Minnesota, which is a tiny town of just over 200 in southwestern Minnesota. In 1992, a tornado passed through Lake Wilson and the nearby town of Chandler and caused much destruction, needless to say. So, Cory and Eric have had enough personal experience with tornadoes between the two of them.

I don't believe there have been any casualties as a result of the tornadoes and storms, but the itty bitty town of Manchester (around 20 people) was wiped out. One of the residents of Manchester happens to be a woman expecting her first children - twins - in August. And now their house and everything is gone. My heart just broke watching her story on the news. I can't even imagine losing everything at a time when you're preparing for the most amazing event of your life. This is the story, and it includes an address to send donations.

I'm posting a lot today, aren't I? Both kids are sleeping right now, so maybe that has something to do with it. Cory's won't be home until 8:30 or so, so the kids and I are getting plenty of quality time together today.

Accalia played upstairs with her dolls for much of the afternoon. It was so strange. And Cole is usually clambering up the stairs after her, but he just wanted to stay downstairs and hang out with me. So it was almost like I had one child again. At most, Cole and I have spent maybe an hour together alone, and I often wonder what it would be like if he were an only child - how that would affect his behavior or personality.

While Cole and I were downstairs alone, I happened to turn the tv channel to TLC's A Baby Story. I started getting all choked up watching one story, and it was so strange. I never got emotional while I was pregnant with Cole watching it, although I only watched it a couple times. The mainstream, medicated, induced births drove me nuts, especially since I was planning a homebirth. The story I saw today was neat, though. The parents were both chiropractors and had a strong belief in all things natural. This was their second child, and she was seeing a midwife for a hospital birth. I think my favorite part was at the end when they were talking and she was holding her newborn son and there wasn't a pacifier or bottle stuck in his mouth! It almost seems a requirement for that scene. Oh, and I thought it was really cute that she and a couple pregnant friends had their bellies painted like pumpkins since it was around Halloween.

Accalia tends to have a LOUD voice, but she can also speak very quietly or in a normal tone. It's just that she chooses to use her LOUD voice more often than not. (On a side note, Cory also had a LOUD voice as a child and outgrew it by the time he was 8, I believe. Eek for me!). So today, after Accalia most likely woke Cole up from his nap with her LOUD voice, Accalia and I figured out what her super hero power is (she's crazy about super heros just like her daddy). Can you guess it? Yep, it's that LOUD voice. And since super heros only use their powers when necessary, we decided her LOUD voice powers can be used to warn people from far and wide when a disaster is about to strike. We also thought her LOUD voice would be good for things like breaking up boulders blocking roads since the sound waves will be strong enough to break the boulders up into tiny pebbles. So that's our latest super hero - Thunder Girl.

This morning we took Lucy to the vet for an hour to start acclimating her to the kennel there. All of the girls came out and did a meet and greet session with her before they all took her back and took turns putting her in and taking her out of the kennel. She did fabulous. Next Tuesday I'm taking her back for a slightly longer visit over the noon hour so she'll be taken out for a walk when the other dogs (if there are any) go out. This isn't the ideal place we want to board Lucy since there are no runs, but we're going to start getting her over her negative reaction to being in a kennel with people she knows and who are willing to help us with this.

While Lucy was being kenneled, the kids and I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few supplies for camping tomorrow night. We staying overnight at Newton Hills State Park. We've never been there before, so we're pretty darn excited. I hope we get the chance to do some hiking. Our campsite is right by hiking trails, so that should be convenient.

My cousin Rachel passed along the link to the website ofJason Gay. He's a Christian musician who grew up in my hometown of Mankato, MN, and lives just a few miles outside of Mankato now. We went to the same high school, but he was a few years ahead of me so we didn't have any contact that I recall. He and his wife are really good friends with my friend Heather, though, so I hear what they're up to a lot. I heard him sign at Heather's wedding, but that was nearly five years ago. He has a beautiful, beautiful voice. I'm not really in the know with contemporary Christian music, but he's apparently making quite a name for himself. So please check it out if you're interested. He's a really nice guy.

I tried to get on to my blog for half the day yesterday, but they were "updating" apparently. We shall see if there's much of a difference from this end.

Accalia's last dance class went well. The girls could invite people to come and watch. Cory wasn't able to get off from work today, but he did come to part of her class earlier. Accalia had painted a picture of a ballerina and wanted to give it to her teacher. So, on the paper I wrote "To Stephanie, From Accalia". When we got to the studio, Accalia asked where her teacher was and I pointed to Stephanie sitting behind the reception desk. Then Annie, a high school girl that has helped out with class for the last few times came in, and Accalia handed the picture to her. Talk about awkward! So I told Annie that Accalia had painted this ballerina for her and Stephanie, and then I asked Accalia if she wanted to show the picture to Stephanie, too. Stephanie took the picture then, and we moved on to class.

We also went to the library to gather up more books and report Accalia's reading minutes. Her prize this week was an eraser. Last week it was a pencil. Not to complain or anything, but I think I liked the summer reading program at the library in Mitchell better! Last summer they also did a program where you reported the number of minutes you read (20 minutes for every state and then you could color in a state). Once the map of the U.S. was colored in, you could pick out a free book. Accalia acquired a number of free books :) I just hope Accalia gets to pick out a book with this program. That was THE highlight of the summer reading programs I participated in as a child. I absolutely loved doing that.

Accalia continued folding towels throughout the day. At dance, the girls were standing in line holding scarves they would twirl before doing scissor runs. As Accalia was waiting her turn, she put the scarf on the ground and kept folding it up. LOL!

I came across this ap-oriented magazine that is due to be published later this year. I know absolutely nothing about it or the publisher other than the plan is to bring attachment parenting to the mainstream. I just tried that link and nothing is coming up. It worked last night, so maybe it's a temporary glitch. At any rate, there's also a Yahoo group to check out.

Last night was another stormy night in the area. Yankton only received rain and wind last night, but there were tornadoes in many other places. About 45 miles north of Yankton, a storm chaser said one storm produced up to 30 tornadoes, one of them two miles wide. Our friend Eric, a newspaper photographer in Huron, SD, took this picture of a tornado.

On Monday night, I took Accalia outside around 9:30 or 10 to look at the very distant lightning south of us. Accalia wanted to go back in the house once I explained what lightning was and how to be safe when lightning is nearby, but I reassured her that the lightning was still far, far away and we'd be okay for a little longer :) We also watched the fireflies. They were just floating inches from us. Very neat.

For the past few days, Accalia has been emptying out our towel drawer in the kitchen and folding every towel. This is definitely a skill I hope she perfects and wants to practice a lot!

Yesterday we spent the majority of the day with friends. The kids were exhausted but had fun.

Today it's cool and cloudy - a very nice change compared with the 90s and humidity of yesterday. It's Accalia's last dance class. She seemed a little sad when I mentioned it this morning while she was in the tub, but I told her she could take lessons again in a couple months when the fall sessions start up and that perked her up.

It's a stormy night tonight. Not too stormy to be on the computer, though!

Not a terribly exciting day, but it was good nonetheless. Accalia had dance today. Her last class is Wednesday. I think she's getting a bit bored with doing the same things like the bunny hop, summersaults and skipping. What she really wants to do is learn ballet. So I think we'll be signing her up for classes in the fall as she requested so she can learn more. She was looking at a fashion spread in a magazine, and it just happened to be a bunch of dancers modeling clothes while doing different poses. Accalia has been doing them constantly tonight and receiving help from me or Cory when she needs a partner.

Cole discovered the toilet is a virtual wonderland of fun. He's quite proficient at flushing the toilet now, and thanks to Accalia leaving the toilet seat up and forgetting to flush, Cole also learned what it's like to splash his hand in a bowl full of urine. Ewww! Accalia couldn't have cared less about the toilet. We had a toilet seat lock and everything, but it wasn't even necessary. Same with Lucy's dishes. I don't know when Accalia realized they existed. Cole will crawl from one end of the main floor to the other in order to try to splash around in the water.

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to visit our friends Amy and Sara and their kids up north. It's supposed to be extremely hot, too.

Thought I'd better correct a statement I made in a previous entry that someone brought to my attention :)

In a June 19th entry, I wrote: "We've also been working on crate training with Cole..." Just wanted to clarify that we are in no way trying to crate train Cole! LOL!

Yesterday was a fairly okay day. We decided to check out the festivities at Czech Days in nearby Tabor. Note: Never go to local festivals early on in the day because there's ABSOLUTELY nothing going on! We went in the morning because there was a kiddie parade scheduled, and Accalia always has a blast at parades. We got there just a little after it was supposed to start, so I think we missed the majority of the parade. Or most likely there wasn't much to begin with. We found a prime spot at the end of the route, though, where Accalia and Cole were the only kids and the people on the floats threw tons of candy at us. That made her very happy.

Cory took the kids out for about 45 minutes in the afternoon. Wouldn't tell me what they were doing. He came back with a freshly washed van, though. He's doing the same thing again today with the kids - minus washing the van, I'm sure - so maybe I'll find out what's going on. I was just going to relax when they left, but I realized that I still had to answer my online help forms for LLL. I'm seriously considering taking a break from answering them. Not that it hasn't been rewarding - there's one woman who keeps in touch and has for probably a year now. It's just too much on top of my CLA duties.

In the evening, we went out to the lake where there was a childrens' concert being put on by Penny and Pals. It was very cute, and Accalia loved dancing along to the music. Penny invited all of the kids up to the front of the stage to follow along with the motions, and Accalia hooked up with a little boy and danced with him the entire time. There are actually two more kids' concerts scheduled over the next couple weeks in various spots, so I think we're going to try to go to those.

It's raining and lightning and thundering right now. Cole got me up at 6:30 a.m. but is back in bed after less than an hour of being up. Everyone else is still asleep, too. I think I'll take advantage of this and hop in the shower.

Cory took both kids out for a bit after we got back from walking Lucy. Ah. The house is completely quiet. No one is reaching for me or calling out "Mommy!" Of course I'll miss it something fierce before long, but for now it's wonderful to just be. And concentrate on me. Another reason I'll be looking forward to their return is because Cory is bringing me a delectable ice cream treat. Yummy!

This afternoon Accalia was painting with watercolors and said she was going to paint a picture of the ballerina on the cover of one of her sticker books. So she did a very abstract rendition of it. That's the first time she's ever painted something while looking at the image for inspiration. Or this is the first time she's told me she's doing it.

On the way to the van just a few minutes ago, Accalia's face started to crumple when she realized I was staying behind, and she said, "I'll miss you." We laid down on the front lawn and cuddled and I asked if she'd be okay if she could bring back ice cream. "I want chocolate ice cream!" she said as she jumped up and ran to the van. It's good to know she'll miss me, though :)

Lucy got out of the crate again! We were gone for about 1 1/2 hours this morning to Wal-Mart and the library, and she once again greeted us at the door. Still waiting to hear back from the trainer and any input from a list I'm on. I'm at a loss! I think we probably need a different crate - one that isn't collapsible and is a bit more Lucy proof. Of course that still doesn't remedy the real problem - why Lucy doesn't feel okay staying in her crate when we're gone. I've been a dog owner for five years but am such a novice when it comes to these things. I wish we could have started out right with Lucy, but I think we can make vast improvements if we start working on it now.

This is one of those days where I'm just feeling so touched out. I think Cole must be teething. Or else he's having a growth spurt. Something. I'm definitely nursing more than I usually do. And Accalia has been extremely hands-on and vocal lately. Just a few minutes of quiet, I plead! At least Cory will be able to take both kids somewhere this weekend. I have to actually do work, though, when they're gone. I have a deadline coming up for an article I have to write for our LLL Area's publication. Shouldn't take me long at all since it's only supposed to be about 800 words. I've probably written at least a quarter of that already.

Another day is almost done.

Last night was a little traumatic for Cole. He fell out of bed - first time (and hopefully last!) He was sleeping on the side that we don't have a bedrail on, so we need to take care of that right away. All I remember is waking up, hearing a thump, shouting (according to Cory) "Oh my God!" and picking Cole up off the floor. He calmed down almost right away and we settled back to sleep.

This morning a dog trainer came to visit with us. We wanted to see what she saw in Lucy that needed work. We've been doing a lot with Lucy over the past few weeks on correcting her perception of herself as the dominant one of the family and using a lot of positive reinforcement to do so. She's starting to behave much better in a lot of areas. The trainer agreed that Lucy needed more management than actual training, so we'll keep plugging away. We've also been working on crate training with Cole, and today I put Lucy in her kennel for the first time while we left the house when I went for a haircut. I'm not positive that the kennel was latched completely correctly, but if it was then we have Houdini on our hands. When we came home, Lucy greeted me at the front door. I looked at the kennel, and the door was facing into the kennel rather than outward as it should be. I emailed the trainer and am waiting to hear back from her about how to handle this. Lucy is fine in the kennel when we're at home, and I don't put her in there very often, but when we leave apparently she freaks out.

Okay, confession time. Every once in a while I become an Oprah geek. I have subscribed to her magazine but don't currently subscribe. When Accalia was a baby, I would watch Oprah almost every day. Now there's no time for that. I really, really wish that I could get on her Favorite Things show and get all that free stuff! And I've now decided I'm going to participate in her book club and read the latest selection: East of Eden. I really enjoy the classics of literature but never make a point of prioritizing them on my reading list. I did this so I get the chance. And I haven't read much of Steinbeck, so I'm looking forward to that.

I knew it eventually had to happen with a roomful of little girls. During Accalia's dance class, I went out to the van to change Cole's poopy diaper. When I came back in, all the girls were looking for their moms. Apparently one girl had to go to the bathroom, so four others decided they did, too. I could tell the instructor was a tad bit annoyed, but she had the girls keep doing exercises while one girl went to the bathroom. When it was Accalia's turn, we went into the bathroom and she declared she didn't have to go. Why do I have the feeling that Accalia is going to be one of those females who likes to travel to the bathroom in a pack? I've never been that way, but I suppose someone has to be :) The girls learned how to crab walk in class today. That was the big excitement. And Cole has now taken to shrieking throughout class, something he normally does most of the time at home. It's just the way he communicates at this point, but I really wish it were a tiny bit quieter!

Speaking of Cole, somewhere over the past few weeks Cole has turned into a little toddler rather than a baby without me noticing. I looked at him one day and saw the boy he will be. It's sad and exciting at the same time. It's so hard to believe that he'll be one in less than three months! His first year has really flown by. And it's exciting because I just just see what a fun kid he will be. He's got a terrific personality. Absolutely engaging. He's one of those kids who tries to work the room to either make everyone smile or to pay attention to him. He's definitely like my brother Jeremy and my cousin Andrew in that respect. Not at all like me. Accalia is like me. Shy until she's very comfortable with a situation and not easily taking a leadership role.

Well, I'm off to finish reading The Little House to Accalia. She fell asleep last night halfway through.

I wish every morning could start out like this morning. I actually showered before Cory left for work. Accalia slept in until 8:30, so I managed to vacuum the living room while Cole rode along in the sling. Then Cole fell asleep and Accalia woke up, but Cole was asleep for maybe only 15 minutes. So here we are at 9 a.m. and I think I'm going to get some breakfast. Accalia has dance today and I'm not forgetting that!

Hmm. You'd think that after attending the kick off party for our library's summer reading program last night I'd remember to actually go to story time today, wouldn't you? So there I was at 10:25 a.m. I happened to look at today's date and thought, "June 17 sounds like a date we had planned to do something." Then I looked at the time and it hit me that we should have been at the library at 10 a.m. After muttering a few expletives, I went into the living room where Accalia was happily playing with a toy she bought with birthday money and told her of my scatterbrained mistake. Not sure she did more than give me a slight nod. Oh well. Maybe next week.

After putting Cole down for a nap this afternoon, I started reading to Accalia. She's semi excited about the prospect of getting a "surprise" for every 100 minutes of reading. After five minutes she slid off the couch to play with her new toys once again.

Cory didn't leave until nearly 8 a.m. for his first day in Springfield. He'll usually be out of the house around 7, but this was so, so nice having another adult around in the morning for a bit. Didn't mean I actually got a shower in before he left, but oh well!

Lucy has taken to sleeping up in bed with us for the past few nights. I doubt this shows an increased amount of affection for us. Most likely it's because she's no longer allowed up on the couch. It's very sweet and brings back memories of her puppy days, although now she's 60 pounds heavier and sharing space with two additional humans. I woke up at one point in the early morning and couldn't see Accalia in her twin bed that is set up next to our queen sized bed. I saw Lucy at the foot of her bed but no Accalia. Finally I saw Accalia down at the foot of the bed, too, snuggled up next to Lucy. That was nice, but it wasn't so nice when Lucy moved over by me during the night, and just as I was spreading my legs slightly apart in an attempt to roll over, Lucy plopped down between my legs and I couldn't move them for some time. Or maybe I just fell asleep again before I tried to move them...

Well, it's not too much of a change having a four year old around the house now! Accalia had a really nice birthday on Saturday, and overall our weekend of camping with family and friends went well. We're all still exhausted, though, and I think Accalia is going to have to catch up on sleep one of these days.

Today we made a partial attempt at getting things back in order. I didn't try too hard, though :) Accalia had dance today and had fun as usual. One of the moms complimented Accalia. She asked me if Accalia had taken dance before. When I said no, she said Accalia just seems like a natural. Nothing like compliments to warm a mother's heart! I'm not sure if Accalia actually has a natural ability for dance or if those hours of imitating Angelina Ballerina are paying off.

Tonight our library held a kick off party for the summer reading program. There were a bunch of games for the kids to play outside, including Duck, Duck, Goose. It was hilarious watching Accalia. She doesn't quite get the concept of a lot of these games, and so every time someone was picked as "goose", Accalia would jump up and run around with them, too. One time she was actually chosen to be "goose" and managed to outrun the bigger boy by cutting through some of the parents standing nearby. Very funny. There was also a puppet show, which Accalia had been looking forward to for quite some time.

Cory got some extremely good news last week at work that I haven't had a chance to write about. His supervisor came into his office and told him that the therapist at the prison in Springfield (about a half hour from Yankton) was being fired the next day - long overdue in most people's minds. And Cory would be taking his place! Cory's first day there is tomorrow, and we are so incredibly happy! No more 3 hours of commuting each day! No more $200 in travel expenses taken out of the budget! Of course the best thing of all is that Cory will be at home more often and his stress level will definitely be lower. So we're all very happy about this.

I keep forgetting to mention that Cole's birth story is in the current issue of Pandora's Box Magazine. Keara has done another wonderful job as usual.

The California Baby sunscreen/insect repellent I ordered from Attached Mamas arrived today! I'd tell you how lovely it smells, but I'm stuffed up from this cold and can't smell much of anything. I'm excited to try it out this weekend when we camp. If you haven't been to Attached Mamas before, go now! Meredith is such a great work at home mommy.

Early this morning after Cory left for work and the kids and I were still in bed, Accalia started crying in her sleep from a bad dream. At one point she woke up enough to see me, throw her arms around me in relief and fall asleep again. I didn't ask her about it after we woke up, but when we were driving to dance she started to tell me about her dream, saying it was about me and how she couldn't find me. What a scary thing to dream about! I asked if she did find me and she said yes, so that's a relief.

Accalia also informed me that "Daddy wipes my nose soft. You wipe my nose hard." So now I have to change my ways...

Not a lot going on tomorrow. Cory will be working until 9:30 p.m. or so. I'll be doing stuff to get ready for this weekend. Have to take care of some of the baking before Friday, since that'll be a little more hectic with my family starting to arrive.

Accalia had her fourth dance class today. She's exactly halfway through and is having a lot of fun. She loves doing the bunny hop, summersaults and walking across the floor on her tip toes. Each class the girls choose a pose from all of the different pictures on the walls and practice it, and Accalia really likes that, too. I'm so happy she's enjoying herself. I wonder if she'll want to pursue dance classes as she gets older.

I have to say, though, that their instructor really bothers me. She's one of the older, more accomplished students at the studio, I'm sure, and definitely acts like she knows she's good. Granted, part of my prejudice may come from the fact that she reminds me of the girls I absolutely dispised in high school, but it's completely different now that she interacting with my child. She doesn't seem to really understand children, although she's not horrible with them. It does annoy me when one of the girls is practicing something and she looks away to check a spot on her elbow or make sure her breasts aren't falling out of her little dance top. Yes, the sarcasm is intentional. Today when we came in, I heard her make a comment to the other girl working there that she didn't know how many summersaults she could handle seeing today. None of the kids heard her (I don't think), but it's just her attitude.

For $17, I didn't expect to get a professional, but I'd sure appreciate someone who is looking forward to being with the kids and actually wants to see them enjoy and learn. Obviously if Accalia started with actual dance classes she wouldn't be taught by another student (I hope not!), but I just don't want this girl's attitude to ruin things for her or any of the other girls if this is something she really wants to pursue.

Okay, gotta get supper ready.

I am sick, sick, sick! Both Cole and Accalia have this same cold, but thankfully it's much milder than what I have. I'm congested, my throat is sore, my nose is runny (how can you be congested and have a runny nose at the same time?), and I just feel icky. Took the kids and myself to the chiropractor yesterday and we were all in need of adjustments. I think my adjustment kicked everything back in the right place and this cold is just running full force through my body. Hopefully the worst of it it over before this weekend.

Cole's napping right now after an awful night, but we'll probably head to the library once we're all ready. Definitely don't have the motivation to do much today, although I've already swept the floor and am on my second load of laundry.

Cory's parents gave Accalia a sleeping bag and the DVD "Zoe's Dance Moves" for her birthday. Accalia was so excited to show her dance instructor what she had learned from the video. The instructor was a bit clueless at first - guess teenage girls aren't always familiar with Sesame Street videos :)

Cole's napping in my arms after sleeping up in bed for a while, and Accalia's asleep in the recliner. Accalia woke up in the middle of the night with a scratchy throat and stuffed up nose, so she must have caught whatever I have been developing over the past couple days. It almost feels like a bit of an ear infection for me, but it's been decades since I had one of those, so I could be wrong. I might move up my appointment with our chiropractor scheduled for Friday to see if he can help.

Cory's parents are camping out at the lake this weekend. They arrived yesterday, and we went out for a bit last night. We didn't stay terribly long because it was rather chilly, both kids were getting tired, and Accalia was a little bored. Tonight we're going out again to celebrate Accalia's birthday since Cory's parents won't be able to make it for her actual birthday on the 14th.

Last night Cory and I watched "The Sum of All Fears". It was an okay movie. I'm not a huge Tom Clancy or Ben Affleck fan. Affleck just doesn't pull it off as a convincing actor all the time.

Accalia, Cole and I have been spending a bit of time at our neighbor Kathy's house the past couple days. She's single and her only child is away at college right now, so she gets lonely, I think. We went over Friday because we saw she had a new little puppy, a spitz Chihuahua mix named Sasha. Very cute. It definitely helps that you can't see much Chihuahua in her. Puppies and four years old are the perfect combination because they have about the same amount of energy and wear each other out. Accalia and Sasha ran around for quite some time. On Saturday Kathy invited us to come over and blow bubbles. She has quite a supply of bubble blowing equipment, so that was fun. And later in the day we took her up on her offer to harvest spinach and lettuce from her garden and had yummy, fresh salads for supper.

I think this will be a fairly busy week. Accalia has dance on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday we're taking Lucy to the vet. She had an ear infection back in December, and we noticed a few weeks ago that it seemed to be coming back - or hadn't completely gone away. I've been putting in the antiseptic drops we got from the vet, but they don't seem to be doing much good. When we've pet her a few times lately, she's whimpered in pain if we touch around that ear the wrong way. I can definitely empathize with her since I think part of the reason all of the noise from the kids lately has had me on edge is because something is up with my own ears.

Anyway, my family is arriving Friday for our camping weekend and celebration of Accalia's birthday, so I'll be preparing for that and then spending all weekend out at the lake. I think it's going to be great. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

I have to stop typing now. My arm is rather sore with my 20 lb. guy lying on it.

I've been experiencing a bit of sensory overload these past couple days. Accalia is rarely quiet or still, it seems. Cory's mom warned me that Cory was the same way, so I'll attribute it to his side :)

I think I wrote a while ago that Cole had taken to rubbing my elbow when he nursed and it was driving me nuts. He didn't do it terribly long, but now he's grabbed on to my fingers and picking at my fingers and cuticles when he nurses. I really should invest in a nursing necklace so he has something to occupy him fingers. I have a feeling he'd definitely be a nipple twiddler if given the chance.

Cole's favorite song for me to sing lately is Snuggle Puppy from Sandra Boynton's Philadelphia Chickens. He just turns into a big lump of cuddly baby when I start singing. It cracks me up to hear it sung because Eric Stoltz sings it and that just strikes me as really funny. Of course I have the song in my head constantly now. "Ooo, Snuggle Puppy of mine! Everything about you is especially fine. I love what you are. I love what you do. Fuzzy little Snuggle Puppy, I love you."

Yesterday the kids and I were playing in the front yard when a jeep drove by with two guys in it and one of them whistled at me. LOL! Do you know how long it's been since a man other than Cory whistled at me? Takes me back to those wild college years... Uh, yeah right, Amy.

Cory made it home last night from his conference in Minneapolis. It was very nice to have him home again. He was at a conference today here in Yankton and will be at it again tomorrow, so that's nice, too. He was even home for lunch today! And he stopped by to watch Accalia at her dance class for a few minutes before the conference started up again.

Apparently at each class one of the girls is chosen as the leader - the person who'll go first in each activity. Accalia was chosen as leader today and caught on quickly. It'll be interesting to see how she does in the three remaining weeks of class. Now that she knows what to expect, she's very enthusiastic and has trouble sitting still if they aren't dancing. Understandable, of course, at a dance class, but she looks like she needs to be on Ritalin compared with the other girls sitting so prim and proper. LOL! Today they practiced doing sumersaults again, and Accalia discovered that she could watch herself in the mirrors along the walls. She actually paused in mid tumble to see what she looked like. LOL!

I'm going to put Cole up in bed now and then see what game Accalia is talking about.

This morning Cole was crawling around the living room, pretty tired and closing in on needing a nap. Accalia was on the couch and Cole stood up by her. Accalia must have grabbed him or done something that upset him since he started crying, so Accalia quickly gave him a hug which only made him cry harder. "I hugged him and it didn't work, Mama!" Accalia said when Cole wouldn't stop crying. It's so sweet to see those glimpses of empathy in her.

Oh, very funny at yesterday's dance class. The instructor was telling them to find their belly buttons as part of an exercise. Accalia was taking her quite literally and was reaching her hand up the leg opening of her leotard in order to actually find her belly button. LOL! The instructor saw and quickly told her she didn't need to actually touch her belly button.

Cole had his nine month checkup at the doctor's today. These are always very quick since we don't vaccinate, but I like going for the "official" measurements and so social services has a record of our children being seen by someone in the medical establishment in case they ever decide we're negligent parents. Anyway, Cole weighed in at a whopping 20 lbs., 4 oz. (50th percentile) and is now 30 1/4 inches long (90th or 95th percentile). That's basically what Accalia weighed at a year, but I'd have to go back and look at her height.

We also did a little grocery shopping, ran through the ATM, dropped off bills and got things set to have Lucy boarded next weekend for Accalia's birthday campout. I'll probably be writing more about Lucy in the weeks to come, but I don't want to do it now until more things have been decided.

One of Accalia's current favorite books/cds is Sandra Boynton's Philadelphia Chickens. Her books are really cute, and Accalia has enjoyed them for quite a while. We're slowly getting a collection of her books.

I think Accalia's really going to like another book I recently acquired. The Storytime Craft Book is just perfect for her because it combines her love of crafts with all of these stories she knows so well.

This entry was supposed to be posted yesterday, but it wasn't for some reason. I'll try again.

We had a nice, uneventful weekend in Lake Wilson. It was cold and rainy and I had not packed well at all, though. Before the weekend, it had been so warm and the forecast had said that would continue through the weekend, so I didn't even think about packing warmer clothes. Of course, by the time we reached Cory's parents' the temperature had dropped 20 degrees! We all survived despite my negligence :) Accalia went fishing with Cory and his dad, and they caught a bunch of bullheads. Mary sent a bunch home with us, and I am sooo excited about that.

Cory left this morning for a conference in Minneapolis. He'll be gone until late tomorrow night. He left a message this afternoon saying he safely made it, so at least I know he's there.

This morning I took Accalia to Wal-Mart to have her picture taken. I thought for once I could actually have a semi-professional picture taken on her birthday. I was going to have both kids together, but Cole wanted nothing to do with it. Maybe in September for his birthday.

Accalia had her first dance class today. She loved it. They learned how to curtsey, stand at the barré, do slides and a few other things. The most challenging thing for Accalia and the four other girls was to learn how to form a line! I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't go into the dance area with the kids, but we were able to watch everything through a large window and the kids could see us. At one point, I had to go over because the teacher was asking all of the names and she didn't understand what Accalia's name was. Accalia doesn't really pronounce her L's at this point, so her name doesn't come out very clearly. And since Accalia isn't a very common name to start with, that makes it a difficult combination. Accalia's next class is Wednesday, and she's really excited.