Today's been a good day so far - much better than yesterday in terms of my mood. The roofing crew is still banging and sawing away. This roof is going to look soooo good. Of course it wouldn't take much to do that considering the old shingles were probably older than me and there were a few layers of shingles underneath. They also removed a huge antennae that's been on our roof as long as we've lived here. Not sure what purpose it served, but it feels good knowing we're less of a lightning strike target and an eye sore.

The kids and I took off to Vermillion on an impromptu trip. Their library was having a book sale - $5 for a bag or box - and I just couldn't resist. Came home with a box full - Cory should be very pleased (said sarcastically). Accalia was a bit disappointed because a family was there before us and basically cleared out the kids' selection. We found a few of those pocketsize guide books about trees, sea life and insects, so she had fun looking through those. I found everything from Anne Tyler to Louise Erdrich, so I'm good to go.

We had lunch at Burger King - Accalia's choice - and I was planning to take them downtown to check out the shops, but Accalia said she wanted to go home. So here we are. Cole is nursing down for a nap, and I think Accalia may be falling asleep on the couch.

I was so pleased to see a big article about the benefits of breastfeeding in today's paper. It was written by the lactation consultant at the hospital. I had forgotten there was one, even though a local Leader had talked about her before. I called and left a message with her, and hopefully she'll contact me soon. It'll be really nice to have a breastfeeding ally in town since I've decided I'm going to start up a LLL group of my own. Just waiting to hear back from my District Adviser to find out if she things it's a smart idea when I already have my CLA responsibilities, although considering she has a group and is the Area Coordinator of Leaders, I'm not sure she'll be too concerned.

Okay, going to put Cole in bed. Sounds as if Accalia's awake and moving around.

We have banging on the roof! Our roofer showed up this morning with his crew, and they've been working steadily ever since. Can I even begin to express how nice it is to have progress made on our roof after waiting nearly a year for him to show up? Nope, probably can't. Hopefully this will only take 2 or 3 more days. The noise isn't that bad today, although I did put Cole down in the guest room for his nap because they're working directly over our bedroom right now. It is rather inconvenient having the front door blocked off with large pieces of plywood, but I'm assuming that's not permanent.

This morning we went to story time. Accalia never seems especially thrilled to sit through the reading of three stories. I think it just doesn't capture her attention the way the intimacy of her and I snuggled up on the couch does. For her weekly prize for completing her reading minutes for the summer reading program, she was able to pick out a book. Well, I should say that's what she picked out of the basket of prizes. That's definitely what I would have picked, too :) The activity/craft today was using a bedsheet to throw up a bunch of water balloons. The kids had a blast, but Accalia never did get hit by a water balloon. Not sure if she was happy or disappointed by that.

This afternoon we stopped at the pet store to see the puppies and kitties. I don't know that we'll be getting a kitten any time in the near future since Accalia latches on to my leg and won't let go if any kitties start heading in our direction. Then we went to the childrens' consignment store, where Accalia picked out a toy and I picked out some winter outfits for Cole from the 70% off rack. Woo hoo!

Accalia was thrilled to get a package in the mail from her auntie Heather - a few warm weather outfits that she absolutely loves. She's been wearing each outfit for a while and then changing to another one every since they arrived.

And one of Cole's birthday presents arrived today (yes, I know his birthday is still over a month away) - Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton. It's such a cute song from her Philadelphia Chickens cd, and I started singing it to Cole whenever he's nursing or being slung to sleep. And sometimes he'll look royally ticked off if I don't start singing it. Once I do, though, his whole body just relaxes.

Today three of my friends and their kids came to visit. Amy, Sara, Karen and I (along with 8 kids total - 2 each) try to get together once a month. Usually Amy, Sara and Karen manage to get together more often because they are all involved with the same LLL group and this group. But it's for sure this once a month deal. Today was fun. The kids had fun, too, I think - at least mine did :)

After they left, I had to go to the dentist to take care of those cavities and chipped tooth. It only took about 15 minutes and I didn't even need novocaine. Wow, I was impressed! Then we went out to supper (although probably not the best idea with overtired kids) to celebrate two things - getting our $800 child tax credit check in the mail and Cory finding out his presentation proposal has been accepted for next year's ACA national conference in Kansas City.

I'm going to try to get a little boy to sleep now. Wish me luck!

Right now Cory is tearing up the carpet on our upstairs landing. All of the carpet in our house is absolutely disgusting and probably older than me. Thankfully we only have carpeting in the living room, upstairs landing and one of the upstairs rooms. Underneath so far - except for a spot at the top of the stairs that is plywood - is beautiful hard wood just like the floors in the other two bedrooms. Of course there's still all of the work of sanding and whatnot, and Cory has said he'll probably send me and the kids away when he does that. Anyone want some guests?

I'll put Cole down for a nap as soon as I finish this. Accalia had a MAJOR meltdown a little bit ago. Not sure what brought it on. She's probably tired and then she hurt herself. She really wants to help Cory right now, but since there are sharp carpet staples and dirt all over and she's stark naked, it's probably not a good idea. Maybe we'll just cuddle up and read some stories instead.

A while ago I posted about an article in Real Simple Magazine called "20 Rules To Break Now" where one of the rules was to save time and not breastfeed. Obviously the wrong thing to print if you don't want to outrage breastfeeding advocates. I just found out about this website, so now you have a place to go where you can email the magazine, the doctor quoted in the article, and find other resources to let your outrage be hear.

Since I'm on the subject of breastfeeding, I'm going to encourage everyone to attend a World Walk for Breastfeeding if there's one near you this summer. Many La Leche League groups hold theirs to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week Aug. 1-7. The nearest one to me is in Sioux Falls, so we'll be going to that in September. If attending a walk isn't going to happen, then please consider giving a donation to La Leche League. This is an organization that is almost completely run by mothers who volunteer their time and basically exists thanks to donations and funds raised by local groups. If a financial donation isn't doable, then please give yourself a gift and educate yourself about breastfeeding and it's benefits. A great place to start is here. I think the good doctor quoted in that Real Simple article may want to check out that website to learn that mothers who don't breastfeed are going to miss out on a whole lot more than just "some of the bonding".

Cole is nursing to sleep, so I'm sneaking in a little computer time as I usually do. Extremely hot and humid today, so we're staying inside where it's cool. We rented a coupld DVDS - the Barbie Rapunzel one for Accalia (turns out she wanted the Barbie Nutcracker one, but oh well) and Phonebooth for Cory and me (hopefully tonight).

I've been listening to Ani DiFranco lately. Cory burned a bunch of her cds for me when Napster was alive and well. I like her music because she usually sounds so fierce and angry, but it leaves me feeling very mellow. Is that strange? Maybe I have a ton of anger built up inside of me and I'm unknowingly releasing it whenever I listen to her.

On another musical note...Elton's John's "Rocketman" was playing on the radio when we were driving to pick up movies, so Accalia talked about him going into space :)

La Leche League is coming out with a new book about nursing during pregnancy and tandem nursing called Adventures in Tandem Nursing. I'm definitely ordering a copy. The author, Hilary Flower, actually interviewed me when she was writing the book, but I don't know if I made it into the book or not. This was when I was pregnant with Cole, so I just had experience nursing through pregnancy at that point. I really hope a lot of women and a lot of health care providers read this book because there are way too many people out there who have the misconception that nursing during pregnancy is dangerous for the unborn baby and the mother. And really, the only time you may have to wean is if you're at risk for pre-term labor.

It's been a pretty good day. This morning the kids and I went to the Gavins Point Fish Hatchery and Aquarium. We just went to the aquarium part. Accalia and Cole had been there with Cory a few weeks ago, and Accalia really wanted me to go. Her favorite fish was by far the catfish. I think she likes the "whiskers". They have a 40 lb. catfish named George. I think I would freak out if I was swimming in the lake and ran into George :)

Then we went to Burger King for lunch because Accalia has wanted a specific Sinbad toy for a long time. Alas, that was not the one she got today, and a mild meltdown ensued. She recovered quickly enough when I showed her the cool things her new toy could do.

After that it was home again home again jiggity jig, and the kids spent some time playing in their pool. After that, Cole took a fairly long nap and Accalia and I played together.

We took Lucy out for a walk a little bit ago (Cory won't be home until 9 p.m. and can't do his usual dog walking responsibilities), and Accalia fell a couple times and skinned her hands and knees a little. About a block after falling the first time, she stopped and said in a really quiet voice, "Something's happening to me, Mommy". She was looking at the palm of her hand, which was a little red and had some skin flaking off. I explained what was happening and she felt much better.

Accalia's really tired but is thankfully keeping herself awake by dancing to this Barbie tape her cousin Mariah sent her. Cole is happily watching her.

As I was slinging/nursing Cole to sleep a few minutes ago, I caught a glimpse of Accalia in him that brought me back to when she was this age. Oh, it's hard to remember those times even though it was just a few years ago. And looking at pictures of Accalia around the year mark, it's hard to believe she was ever that age. Sometimes I wish I could make time stand still. And then there are other times when I want to fast forward a few years or so :)

We went to the park this afternoon to feed the ducks and geese and play. We need to bring more bread next time because we disappointed a great many water fowl. Accalia had the most fun watching all of the gophers and finding their holes. She played on the playground equipment some but was more interested in rolling down the shady, grassy hill and chasing butterflies.

I think all I need to do to keep Accalia entertained is buy her a new pack of underwear :) Yesterday she picked out a seven pair pack of Disney Princess underwear. Since then, she's been trying them all on, lining them up on the living room floor, and so on. The girl is nuts about her undergarments.

The underwear buying trip to Kmart was a very good one for Accalia. They're having a big clearance sale right now, and we picked up a new leotard a size too big and a pair of sneakers for the fall. The sneakers fit her just perfectly now, so it'll be a bust if her feet grow in the next few months. I just couldn't pass up shoes for $3, though. Too bad they didn't have them a size bigger.

After Cory got home from his one client appointment last night, we went to buy ice cream cones at a new restaurant in Yankton - Scoops. It's a little family-owned restaurant that sells sandwiches, pizza and ice cream (Schwans and Ashby). Accalia has very simple tastes. All she wanted was chocolate (she alternates between chocolate and vanilla). Cory had strawberry cheesecake, and I had Eskimo Kisses (chunks of chocolate and bits of coconut - very yummy). Cole fell asleep on the way home and was out for the night. Accalia was up late since she napped.

Today if we manage to get ready we're heading to the grocery store to pick up a few things. That's about all of our excitement, though.

Storytime at the library this morning. Rather a boisterous bunch and not just the children. There are a couple moms who keep bringing their kids who just have no interest in sitting and listening to stories. I just wish they wouldn't try to force them to sit there when they would be having more fun running around at the park or something. And I'm not just saying that because one of those kids fell over Cole and upset him greatly...

It's apparently Crazy Hat week at the library, and there was a notice in the paper inviting kids to wear crazy hats to storytime this week. So Accalia picked out her Mickey Mouse Sorcerer's Apprentice hat she got at DisneyWorld. There were a few other kids wearing hats, too, but the really odd thing is that storytime had nothing to do with hats! I was expecting that the kids were be read stories about hats. Maybe Mem Fox's The Magic Hat or Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat. There were no stories about hats. No movies about hats. No hat activities. No hat crafts. We must have a rather dysfunctional storytime here in Yankton.

Oh, I felt bad for Accalia when the activity started - leapfrog. Some of the kids found partners to play leapfrog while others didn't want to do it. Accalia wanted to do it, but she was too shy to ask anyone. Just as I was going to ask the little boy standing near her if he wanted to play leapfrog with Accalia, the librarian had everyone sit down again. I just hated seeing Accalia standing there alone and looking so sad. I think I must have issues from childhood about not being included in things or something. Or maybe every parent just doesn't want their child to feel left out. I don't know. I was exactly the same as Accalia growing up. I would have just stood there, too, not knowing what to do if someone didn't come up to me and ask to play leapfrog.

There was a mom at storytime with two kids - one probably younger than Accalia and one a little younger than Cole. I've seen her the last couple times actually and she's always nursing her youngest. Just sits there and nurses away. I think she saw me trying to nurse Cole one time, but Cole doesn't usually nurse in public and he wasn't interested at that time. I was going to talk with her today, but we just never got the chance. I sat down by her and said hi and she said hi back, but then her baby was fussy and she was walking around with her, and Cole was crawling all over, and then I was sitting by Accalia, and so on. Hopefully next week!

Cole and I are just waiting for Accalia to wake up. She fell asleep at 12:30! So strange. She must really be exhausted. Our big excitement this afternoon is buying Accalia new underwear. She wants to get the Disney princess underwear, and it just happens to be on sale this week.

This-or-That
1) DVD or VHS? DVD is most definitely nice since there's no fast forwarding necessary and there are often very cool extras. I'm fine with VHS, too, and I'd better be since we only own two or three DVDS at this point!
2) Best Literary/Movie Villan: Voldemort (Harry Potter) or Sauron (LoTR)? I'm almost embarrassed to say I haven't read either of these. They're on my long To Read list, of course, but not a priority right now.
3) Meat: rare or well-done? Welld-done
4) High Speed Internet-Cable or DSL? Haven't experienced DSL yet, so I'll have to stick with high speed.
5) Women: 1-piece bathing suit or Bikini? One-piece. Once upon a time I did have a bikini, but I'm much more comfortable sticking with my one-piece.
7) Beer or Liquor/Wine? Hmm. I don't drink much and I don't really have a strong preference. Probably my last choice would be a glass of wine.
8) Coke or Mountain Dew? Coke
9) In honor of my 10/18/03 nuptials: Morning or Afternoon/Night Wedding? I've only experienced an afternoon wedding, and I was perfectly happy with that. Don't think I'd want a night wedding, but a morning one would be just fine.
10) Carpet or Hardwood Floors Hardwood floors
11) American cars or foreign? I've always wanted a Volvo.
12) Cutest TV Twin: Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen? I have no idea who is who.
13) Coffee: Caffeinated or Decaf? Not really a coffee drinker. Truthfully, I probably wouldn't even know if I had caffeinated or decaf.
14) Thought-Provoking Question of the Week: Computers: Do they make life better or worse? Why? Overall, better. There are always negatives to almost everything, and it's very much a pain when the computer isn't working properly or you find yourself sucking away too many minutes of the day online when you really should be doing other things. But without our computer - specifically the Internet - I wouldn't have met nearly all of the amazing people I have and I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much of the support I have for decisions Cory and I are making as parents. And it would make my CLA work much more time consuming since I do almost all of it by email.

We're finally back after our extended weekend visit to both sets of grandparents in Mankato and Lake Wilson. We had a pretty nice trip - nothing too exciting to report. Other than parents and siblings, we saw our friend Heather for a while. She brought Accalia ballerina paper dolls and Spiderman stickers, so Accalia had her little slice of heaven.

I had a dentist appointment this afternoon (it's been a little over a year since my last cleaning, so I was long overdue). Unfortunately I have two cavities :( I'm going back next Monday to take care of that. I'm so very excited.

The highlight of today was definitely opening the package containing my autographed copy of The Unprocessed Child. I started reading it right away - well, as "right away" as is possible with two children, a dog, a husband, a dental appointment and getting back from a trip allows - and I'm just in love with it! I knew I would be, of course :). I just wish everyone who has children or works with children could read this book. It's not just about unschooling but about treating children with respect and allowing them to become who they are, not who we think they should be. Absolutely fabulous. It's one of those reads that inspires me to do better, that reinforces what I've felt and that reassures me that we really are doing what's best for our children even if society doesn't agree.

Looks like it's time to head to bed. Cole has already been there for a couple hours. Accalia is probably plenty ready to sleep. We were just outside a few minutes ago so she could sing a few stirring renditions of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

We're leaving today for a few days away in Mankato and Lake Wilson. The kids should be in heaven since they'll get to see both sets of grandparents in one trip. Now I have to get busy packing...

The end of another day. It was a late night for both kids since they both had late naps. Accalia, Cole and I were upstairs tonight, and I was sitting on the futon watching the two of them wrestle around on the floor. I love that Cole's reached an age where he is able to play with Accalia. Obviously they can't play together all of the time since Cole will just knock over all of Accalia's elaborate set ups with her farm set or her dolls or whatever it may be. But it's just so nice to watch them be siblings.

And another day tomorrow. The only thing on the schedule is me getting a haircut. Cory won't be home from work yet, so both kids will be coming along. That's usually what happens and it works out okay. Not the most relaxing time for me, but my hair gets cut and that's the most important thing.

Both kids are napping right now. Both definitely needed it. There's nothing less fun than starting off the day knowing the kids need more sleep.

We haven't done much really. Made a trip to Wal-Mart and to the thrift store. I'd say the thrift store was the highlight of the day :) Accalia picked up this very retro toy from Tyco called Magic Copier. I'd never seen it before today, and Accalia loves it. It's a "real copier machine", according to the box. It requires a couple batteries and carbon paper. I haven't used carbon paper since I was in grade school or junior high and that's how we printed the school newspaper that I was editor of at our tiny parochial school. Anyway, you insert a piece of carbon paper and then the copy paper. Then you draw whatever you want on the top, which is similar to a Magna Doodle or Magic Doodle drawing board. Then you press the "copy" button and it whirls out the copy of your drawing! Accalia is just in love with it at this point.

The theme at storytime this morning was the circus. Interestingly enough, the circus is in town this week. Hmm... Accalia was a bit disappointed because they didn't do a craft. Instead, one of the college girls helping out this summer demonstrated juggling, and then all of the kids practiced tossing one ball back and forth in their hands. This was actually quite entertaining for Accalia. I thought it was a rather bad idea to do this in between reading stories and then having the kids sit back down while holding their balls. Let's just say that the kids were a bit more restless after that.

We dropped Lucy off at the vet for another kenneling session, this being about half a day. She was actually excited to go! That's a great sign. Everyone greeted her at the door with lots of pets and praise, and Lucy just laid down and wiggled all over enjoying the attention.

Cole's sleeping right now, and Accalia's eating a popsicle and watching toons. I'm trying to fight off a migraine. Probably not too smart to be sitting at a computer then, huh?

This-or-that

1. Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck? Bugs Bunny. Did any other rabbit ever look so good in drag?
2. Tom or Jerry? Jerry. We had a lot of hamsters growing up, so I had a soft spot for rodents. Now I just pray that Accalia or Cole never want any sort of rodent for a pet!
3. Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck? Mickey Mouse.
4. Rocky & Bullwinkle or Boris & Natasha? Rocky & Bullwinkle. I never saw much of this cartoon, though.
5. Road Runner or Wile E. Coyote? Road Runner. I have to say I did feel sorry for Wile every once in a while. I'm not sure, though, if it was because he was always getting hurt or because he just seemed so gullible.
6. Sylvester or Tweety? Tweety.
7. Popeye or Bluto? Popeye. I always wanted to eat spinach out of a can after watching him. I prefer fresh spinach from the garden now. And Bluto was such a bully.
8. South Park or The Simpsons? I've never watched South Park. Definitely Simpsons. Cory is a huge fan, and I have friends who could just entertain you for hours quoting from the Simpsons.
9. Jetsons or Flintstones? That's a tough one. I'd have to say the Flintstones by a hair.
10. And finally, the eternal question asked by all good Scooby-Doo fans: Velma or Daphne? Velma. I think I must have related to her more or something. I LOVED Scooby Doo. Seriously. I learned so much about popular culture, too. Sonny and Cher. Mamas and the Papas. Phylis Diller. The Harlem Globetrotters. Those will always be connected to Scooby Doo.

I remember not being allowed to watch He-Man. Not sure why. Perhaps my parents thought it would send me over to the dark side. It's probably why lots of parents don't allow their kids to read Harry Potter.

Our roofer was here bright and early - a little past 8 a.m. - to drop off tools and give me a quick update. He was going to wait to drop off the shingles until it's more clear which direction the weather is headed. It was really dark and cloudy this morning with just a few sprinkles. There's a chance of storms all day, and it's really hot and humid. Hopefully the rest of this week will be excellent roofing weather.

I'm so, so proud of Lucy. We bought a crate for her a month or so ago. I've had my doubts that she'll ever take to it since she's 5 and never crate trained. We've taken the approach that trainers using positive reinforcement and clicker training recommend so that the dog actually likes the crate and doesn't see it as punishment. So we haven't been pushing the crate on Lucy, but whenever she shows any interest - sniffing at it, even just looking inside it - we reward her with treats, praise, whatever is extra special to Lucy. The reasoning behind this is that Lucy will associate the crate with treats or something she likes and will continue to want to do more with it in order to get more treats. So, it's basically a form of conditioning (Pavlov and his dogs, for example).

Well, except for a few times when I've had to put Lucy in the crate because someone was at the door, Lucy hasn't been in the crate or interested in just hanging out in it until today. I led Lucy into the crate this morning when our roofer stopped and heaped tons of praise and treats onto her after he was gone. After that, she started going in and out of the crate and has just been lying in it today. And I've given her treats and praise every time I see her in there. Perhaps it's just clicked finally that the crate is her safe place to be. But what I think has really made a difference is putting something out to keep the door propped open. We've always kept the door to the crate open, but I think Lucy has seen how the door can swing open and closed and that has really scared her.

Well, that news was probably extremely boring for all of you non-dog people - or those who just don't care about Lucy's training - but it's a huge moment for her!

Accalia's had a Winnie-the-Pooh sing-a-long video since her second birthday, I think, and it's always been one of her favorites. Today she wanted to watch it while Cole was napping, and she sang along to it the entire time. Very cute :)

Another not very exciting weekend around here. That's okay. It wasn't bad. Cory got on a bit of a cleaning kick yesterday and mopped the floors. Me, I've been keeping up with laundry fairly well :)

Last night we started to watch "We Were Soldiers". I really don't enjoy watching war movies because of the battle scenes, but this hasn't been horrible in that respect. We aren't too far into it yet thanks to children who don't stay asleep. I'm more into this movie than other war movies I've seen, though, and that's probably because my dad was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam conflict and I grew up surrounded by books on Vietnam, my dad talking about some things and just knowing this was a very significant part of his life. My dad owns the book this movie is based on (of course) and actually ran around with one of the men written about in the book. There's a character based on this man in the movie, too, but it's a very small part and we haven't gotten to it yet.

My dad went to Vietnam in 1970, I believe, and was there a few years. I remember listening to some tapes he made while there that he sent back to his parents. It's a little hard to hear him talking because the background noise from the helicopters and such is so overwhelming. My dad flew in combat missions - dropping soliders off to fight, picked up wounded soldiers and did some night flights searching for people.

I have to say that I really admire people who feel such loyalty for their country that they're willing to die for whatever they're fighting for. I couldn't do that. I'm too much of a pacifist and probably a coward. I'm just in awe of people who join the military by their own free will - some almost 10 years younger than me (I'll be 27 in September) - to protect our country.

Oh, exciting child development news! Just a little bit ago, I was sitting at the computer while Cory and Cole were sitting on the ground near me. Cole was standing up near Cory and suddenly took a quick sideways step to reach for something. All on his own! Without holding on to anything! We don't think he even had a clue what he was doing, but it was so neat to see him take that step so naturally without thinking.

I'm really too tired tonight to write a letter to the editor to everyone who is a complete idiot, so if anyone feels the urge to tackle one, please go to Lisa's website, read her recent post regarding an article in the most recent Real Simple magazine and do your thing.

Cole slept horribly last night. Both kids went to bed very early - Accalia fell asleep on the couch at 6:30 and Cole probably around 7. But when I went to bed a little after 10, Cole decided to toss and turn almost all night, and so I did the same. We were even up for an hour between 4 and 5 a.m. Then we finally got up for good around 6:30. I feel as if I've gotten no sleep, and I hate that feeling. Cole has to be getting close to something - walking, more teeth - something. He's just more cranky during the day, and he's generally not a cranky guy.

This morning we went to visit my friend Lilah and her daughters. Danielle is 5 1/2 and Lauren is almost two months old. This is the first time we've gotten together for a playdate since we moved back to Yankton, and it's been almost 10 months! Very sad. We had a nice time, though, and Accalia and Danielle enjoyed playing together.

I'm just in awe of how together Lilah is, though. When Cole was two months old, my house wasn't spotless (okay, it never is), I wasn't writing articles for the local paper or giving piano lessons or continuing on with my duties as president of the local New Year's Eve celebration. And I wasn't even fully dressed at 9 a.m. Okay, so I was in the process of packing up a house and moving by the time Cole was three weeks old. And I have no idea how much attention Danielle and Lauren receive, but still!

Lilah isn't the attachment parenting sort, but she's not a horrid, screaming parent either, so that makes it pleasant to get together despite our parenting differences. We met not long after Cory and I were married. She was going on maternity leave soon and I was filling in for her at the newspaper with duties such as laying out the life section, writing, filing, etc. The funny thing is that she was friends at one time with my high school journalism instructor, Sharlene Bush. Anyway, Lilah continued to work until Danielle was about two. Then she stayed at home and we started getting together on a weekly basis until we moved to Mitchell, where Lilah happens to be from.

That's probably been the biggest excitement of the day. Cory will be home in a little over an hour and I'm very much looking forward to that.

I think I have to be very, very careful when I'm older and possibly retired to avoid getting into the habit of writing letters to the editor. I think I could become a very frequent contributor if I had enough time on my hands. I just submitted a letter to the editor in response to this editorial.

And here's my letter:

I am writing in response to the editorial in the July 10th issue concerning midwifery in South Dakota. The editorial board wrote: "What benefits doctors and hospitals shouldn't even be a consideration. All we need to consider are the risks and benefits to mother and child. Period."

I couldn’t agree more. It would be incredibly naïve, however, to think that the current system operates on the basis of what benefits mothers and children most. I don’t believe it’s for the benefit of women and children that most cesarean sections that are performed are not medically necessary, that many are done simply for the convenience of the doctor or the mother. I don’t believe it’s for the benefit of women and children that many women are given drugs such as epidurals or pitocin during labor without being told the risks that range from an increased chance or cesarean sections or other intervention or difficulty in breastfeeding.

Statistics have been available for years showing that homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital births. Statistics also show that midwfe-attended births dramatically decrease the use of medications or the number of cesarean sections or episiotomies performed.

There will always be women who do need to give birth in hospitals for one reason or another. But if the current trend of treating pregnancy and labor as a disease, as something that must be medically managed, continues, then women and children will never be given the care that would truly benefit them.

Women also need to be informed consumers. Following the advice of a doctor or a midwife simply because they say so and without researching for yourself is unwise. Ultimately it is up to the woman to weigh the risks and benefits, but what good does that do if she doesn’t even have an option?

Other than that, I haven't done much public voicing of my opinion today. Accalia went to the dentist this morning. No cavities! Woo hoo! The hygenist attempted to clean her teeth, but it really freaked Accalia out. She had maybe two teeth cleaned before she started crying a little and reaching for me. After the appointment, we talked about it and decided it would really help her if we bought one of those toothbrushes that spins around and around so she can get used to the polishing tool.

I have a dental appointment in 1 1/2 weeks, and I'm looking forward to that. I've had this little chip on one of my front teeth since last November, I think, but I just haven't gotten around to making an appointment. I'm a little overdue for a cleaning, too.

I'd better take this opportunity with Cole napping and Accalia almost asleep to do a little training with Lucy.

Cory has come up with a phrase that he says will soon replace the ever eloquent "Who pissed on your cornflakes?" For the record, I don't think I've ever even thought to say that to someone. We were finishing "Maid In Manhattan" tonight (okay movie, pretty corny writing), and we were treating ourselves to peanut butter M&Ms. I happened to have a few in my hand and my naked girl came over and was standing with her back to me when she let out quite a bit of gas right where my hand with the M&Ms was situated. Well, Cory gleefully coined the phrase, "Who farted on your M&Ms?" Now for anyone who ever thought we might be a high society, sophisticated family, I've dashed your reality :)

I mentioned that Accalia was naked. As those of you who see us in real life can attest, Accalia enjoys being naked and will drop her clothing in a second. She's obviously extremely comfortable with her body, and I don't plan to do anything to change that. I do wonder, though, if it's normal that if I ask her if she wants to put clothes on, she'll automatically ask, "Why? Where are we going?"

Today was an okay day. Cole was a cranky, cranky boy, though. Maybe it's teething. He didn't nap very well today either. I just got him to sleep a little after 10. Accalia and Cory are also upstairs in bed, and I'll be heading there in a few minutes.

We really didn't do much except run a couple errands, do a little weeding, a little laundry and other gloriously non-descript domestic duties. Tomorrow Accalia goes to the dentist for a checkup. it's been a little over a year since we both have been, so I really need to make an appointment, too. It's just a matter of finding a time when Cory will be able to watch the kids.

Cory has come up with a phrase that he says will soon replace the ever eloquent "Who pissed on your cornflakes?" For the record, I don't think I've ever even thought to say that to someone. We were finishing "Maid In Manhattan" tonight (okay movie, pretty corny writing), and we were treating ourselves to peanut butter M&Ms. I happened to have a few in my hand and my naked girl came over and was standing with her back to me when she let out quite a bit of gas right where my hand with the M&Ms was situated. Well, Cory gleefully coined the phrase, "Who farted on your M&Ms?" Now for anyone who ever thought we might be a high society, sophisticated family, I've dashed your reality :)

I mentioned that Accalia was naked. As those of you who see us in real life can attest, Accalia enjoys being naked and will drop her clothing in a second. She's obviously extremely comfortable with her body, and I don't plan to do anything to change that. I do wonder, though, if it's normal that if I ask her if she wants to put clothes on, she'll automatically ask, "Why? Where are we going?" LOL!

Today was an okay day. Cole was a cranky, cranky boy, though. Maybe it's teething. He didn't nap very well today either. I just got him to sleep a little after 10. Accalia and Cory are also upstairs in bed, and I'll be heading there in a few minutes.

We really didn't do much except run a couple errands, do a little weeding, a little laundry and other gloriously non-descript domestic duties. Tomorrow Accalia goes to the dentist for a checkup. it's been a little over a year since we both have been, so I really need to make an appointment, too. It's just a matter of finding a time when Cory will be able to watch the kids.

Overall another good day in our little corner of the world. We went to storytime at the library this morning, and it was better than it was the week before. Part of that is because there were closer to 20 kids rather than 30. Accalia also seemed pretty interested in the theme - dogs. She was especially happy when the children's librarian came over to her after crafts (folding a piece of paper to look like a dog face and decorating it) and asked her if she'd like to check out any of the books they read today. So Accalia went with her back into the meeting room and picked out a couple books.

I've started working on training Lucy using this book, which was given to us by the trainer we saw a couple weeks ago. This first week we're supposed to be keeping Lucy in a 30 minute down-stay position and a 10 minute sit position on alternate days. The authors describe how to physically place your dog in the positions, which is a big way to show your dominance over them. Now, anyone who knows Lucy may find it really hard to imagine her actually doing this, but we completed our first training day successfully! She didn't stay down the entire 30 minutes but didn't put up much of a fuss when I would put her back down. Small steps with that dog :)

Accalia fell asleep between 5:30 and 6:00 this evening and slept for 2-3 hours. She's still awake at this point, which is to be expected. While she was sleeping and Cory was with a client, I gave Cole a bath and read some East of Eden out loud to him. When I asked him if he wanted me to read that to him, he started bouncing up and down in the water and letting out little shrieks. And while I was reading, he just sat there listening to my voice and chewing on a bath toy. Very cute. Already knowledgeable of the Salinas Valley at the tender age of 10 months :)

Cole fell asleep shortly after that, so Cory and I started watching one of the DVDs I checked out from the library: "Maid In Manhattan." We haven't finished it yet since both kids woke up (Cole's nursing to sleep right now). It's entertaining but not the greatest romantic comedy I've ever seen. Somebody who worked on the movie is fairly smart about parenting experts, though, since there's a scene where J. Lo is reading an Alice Miller book on the bus.

Now I think I'll be trying to head to bed myself.

This-or-That

1. Strawberries or blueberries? Strawberries
2. "Legally Blonde 2" or "Terminator 3"? Cory will be so disappointed, but I'd have to say "Legally Blonde 2".
3. Hamburgers or hot dogs? Usually hamburgers, but there's nothing like a hot dog at a ball game.
4. Boating or hiking? Hiking
5. Suntan lotion or sunblock? Sunblock. I doubt I'd get tan even using suntan lotion. LOL! I have very strong German/Norwegian genes that shout "Extremely pale Caucasian!"
6. "Big Brother" or "The Amazing Race"? Neither really. If I had to choose, though, it would be "Big Brother".
7. Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett?Beach Boys
8. Grow your own produce or buy from supermarket/greengrocer/farm stand? If we could actually get a decent garden one one these years, we'd grow. For now, we buy.
9. Drive with car windows/top down, or with air-conditioning on? I'll drive with the windows down until it's hot or humid enough to warrant air conditioning.
10. Go away for vacation, or stay at home? It's nice to get away and see someplace new or at least just different. Staying at home is fine, too, as long as it's fun and relaxing.

Today's been a good day so far. Cole is nursing to sleep and Accalia's sitting on the couch reading a comic book. These past few days Accalia has been acting so, so grown up. She's been reading like crazy. She'll grab some of her favorite books and just sit someplace and read them to herself, naming all of the things she knows and asking me for help sometimes. Of course she still wants me to read to her, too, so I don't have to get all sad and misty eyed that she's suddenly going to not want to share books with me :) And she's been practicing buttoning up her shirts. She has very few shirts that button, but she's been getting herself dressed and undressed again and again. I can just see her taking everything in and getting ready to make the leap as she moves on to the next thing and the next and the next.

Cole continues to show off his standing alone skills and can easily go from a sitting to a standing position without any support. Then he jumps up and down and screams happily. Yesterday he was standing and then just plopped face first on the floor. I think he was probably reaching for something or wanted to go to something and completely forgot he hasn't quite figured out the walking thing yet. Soon enough...

It looks like we'll *finally* be getting our roof reshingled this week. Woo hoo! We hired our roofer last year! Long story and very frustrating, but as long as it gets done and is a decent job we'll be more than happy to put it behind us. Our roofer stopped by today to drop off the building permit and tell me where they're finishing up a job so we can check his progress. I drove past that house today - just a couple blocks from ours - and the good news is that it looks like a decent roofing job as far as my knowledge goes.

I think I'll put Cole up in bed. Accalia was looking very tired while reading, so maybe she'll want to take a nap, too...

We went to see fireworks last night. Apparently there had been storms in Yankton Saturday night, so the fireworks display was delayed two nights. We didn't know for sure, but we were hearing lots of loud fireworks booms throughout the early evening, and as it got closer to dusk, we saw more and more traffic headed in the direction of the park. Accalia was still awake and very excited to get to see fireworks, and Cole seemed pretty happy, too, even though he had been sleeping. Accalia oohed and ahhed throughout the show, rolled down the grassy hillside and danced around to the music. Then we headed home, where Accalia fell asleep pretty quickly and it took just a bit longer with Cole.

This was a really weird weekend just for the fact that I felt so aimless and lost throughout. It was kind of that feeling you get when you've just finished a really good book, one where you almost feel as if you're in the book and one of the characters. I should snap out of it soon :) It's so nice to start off the day with opening up the windows and letting the fresh air in. I think it may actually be cooler and not very humid.

Last night we drove 1 1/2 hours to Mitchell to watch "Finding Nemo" at the drive-in. Going to movies at that drive-in was one of the highlights of living in that town (that and meeting my friend Sara!). Accalia was so, so excited. Both kids slept on the way up, so they were fairly refreshed when the movie started a little after 10 p.m. We sat outside for a few minutes with our friends Sara and Allen (well, Allen was in the car with their sleeping 4-month-old daughter, Claire), but we all headed back to our respective vehicles when the wind picked up and it started raining a bit. Accalia was absolutely captivated throughout the entire movie. She hasn't been that enthralled by a movie since seeing "Monsters, Inc." at the drive-in. Maybe it's something about Pixar movies. At any rate, Cory and I really enjoyed it, too.

It was close to midnight when we left, and the ride home was uneventful. Cory and I talked and talked for the 1 1/2 - partly to keep each other awake and alert and partly because we rarely have 1 1/2 hours of uninterrupted time together. Accalia woke up slightly when we got home but went straight up to bed. Cole took a tiny bit of settling down after his diaper change, but he went to bed fairly quickly, too. Thankfully he let me sleep in until 8 a.m. at least, which isn't enough sleep for me, but it's better than getting up at 6 a.m.!

No huge plans for today as far as I know. It's humid and hot. The weeding of the flower beds and our sad, sad vegetable garden will have to wait until the humidity is much, much lower.

Last night Cory and I were sitting in the living room watching Cole play, and Cole stood up all by himself without needing support from anything or anyone! He was sitting on the floor and then suddenly standing up! He did that twice last night and once this morning. Oh, it scares me thinking how close he is to walking!

Tonight has ended in a very disappointing manner. We had reached the end of our block on our way to the park to watch fireworks when our neighbors at the end house said the fireworks had been moved to tomorrow night because the storm the previous night had damaged some of the equipment. She said it had been on the radio all day, too. Guess we weren't keeping up with outside events! So then we decided we would try to go to a nearby fireworks show in a different town. We decided to head to Crofton, NE, which is only 10 miles or so away. Well, Cole was screaming. And we knew the fireworks wouldn't start until after the ball game in that town, and we happened to have the radio on the station that was broadcasting the game and it was just in the seventh inning. So we headed back home.

Accalia was, of course, very disappointed to not see fireworks tonight. We told her we could stay at home tomorrow and see them, but we had been planning to drive to Mitchell to see "Finding Nemo" at the drive-in there. She immediately chose the movie.

Guess we'll have to wait until later in the summer to see fireworks during the annual Riverboat Days celebration in August.

A happy Fourth to all! Not a terribly exciting start to the holiday weekend, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Last night was a not so great night of sleep. Both kids went to sleep early, but we had storms last night with plenty of thunder and lightning. Accalia slept through everything, but Cole was very restless for an hour or so when I came to bed. And then he woke up around 4:30 a.m. ready to go. After a diaper change and many attempts, though, he was ready to sleep again. This morning was nice with all of us snuggling together in bed. Usually Cory is gone to work or at least up when either of the kids wakes up. I wouldn't have minded sleeping in just a bit, though.

This afternoon we stopped at McDonald's for ice cream, and Accalia played in the playland for a while. She was playing with this boy probably her age or a little younger. They went into the ball pit. When I looked again, he seemed to be holding something or someone down, so I went over and he was leaning over Accalia pushing down on her face! I immediately told him to get off of her (and not in a nice way). Accalia was crying and fairly upset, and she had scratches on one cheek because the boy had apparently scratched her with his fingernails.

Both kids are cooperating very nicely with going out to see fireworks tonight. Cole had a late afternoon nap, and Accalia is still napping. Accalia will have plenty of energy for fireworks, and Cole may be starting to wind down about that time. We'll walk a few blocks down to Riverside Park and sit on a blanket and watch the display.

Ugh. It's one of those days where you feel drained beyond belief. Maybe it's the heat. Weather's always a good thing to blame. When we went out to Wal-Mart this afternoon, it was 93 degrees and very humid. And it's supposed to continue like this through the weekend. I knew it was going to be miserable to be outside this afternoon, so the kids and I went to the beach right away this morning. How surprising that no one is on the beach at 9:30 a.m.! Other than it being windier than all get out, it was really nice since it was just 80 degrees and the water is warm now. We were out there about an hour with Accalia riding the waves and Cole trying to crawl to a stagnant pool of water on the beach.

My La Leche League duties have been keeping me busier lately with lots of Applicants sending correspondence and Leaders contacting me with questions. It's a little more challenging to fit this into everyday life than it was a couple months ago since Cole is more active and less sleepy. The plus side is that he and Accalia entertain each other a lot or he'll even just play by himself. Today was not meant to be a productive day, though, with Cole only napping once during the day. He did fall asleep between 6:30 and 7 for what I thought would be an early night, but alas, he's now awake and cranky.

And Accalia - speaking of sleep - apparently doesn't require much anymore. Oh, I take that back. She's been sleeping in for the past few mornings until 8:30 or so. That would be fabulous if Cole would sleep in that late, too. But no, Cole rises with Cory's alarm clock more days than not. Oh way doesn't anyone think of my sleep wishes? ;)

I think Cole's on the verge of a million different things. I tried to take a look in his mouth today, and it looks like he has another round of teeth ready to poke through. I could be wrong, though. He wasn't very cooperative in that respect. And I think he'll be walking before too long. He continues to master his balance and stands alone quite often now. Or maybe he'll be one of those babies who just prefers to crawl rather than walk even though they have the physical ability.

Accalia has taken to saying "Yes sir!" if Cory or I ask her to do something. No idea where that came from! She also appears to be as intrigued by infomercials as her father. Tonight she came running downstairs with a shirt of hers and the Monopoly Jr. game board and proceeded to demonstrate how she could fold the shirt neatly using the board - "Just like the Flip Flop!" I'm not even sure if that's the name of the contraption or what it does, but she was folding her shirt very neatly with her makeshift Flip Flop.

Well, maybe I'll make an attempt to put Cole down to bed again. One can always dream...

Just another day around here...

Accalia slept in past 9 a.m. today! Not sure why she's suddenly sleeping later in the mornings, but I think it's due to some later nights in the recent past. One of these evenings she'll fall asleep early, I just know it. She's up now thanks to falling asleep for a nap at 5:30. I would've tried to prevent that, but I was nursing Cole to sleep for a nap in the other room.

Thanks to Accalia sleeping in, we were almost late for storytime at the library. Not that it would have been a huge loss...During the school year, story time is restricted to probably 10 children per session, and that's a great size. During the summer, though, there are only two sessions per week rather than 3 or 4, so there are a lot more kids. Today there were around 30, and that makes it almost impossible for the kids to concentrate on stories. It didn't help that there were two college students there who each read a story and weren't extremely successful at keeping the children engaged.

We might go back to the library tomorrow since we had to leave right away and didn't get a chance to pick up new books. We took Lucy to the vet for another brief stay at their kennel in order to help her adjust to being boarded there when the need arises. She did absolutely wonderful, and they brought her out to me panting because they had just taken her for a walk before I arrived.

After Cory came home, we went to the chiropractor and I only needed one adjustment to my left knee! After we first moved back to Yankton, both of my knees were giving me a ton of trouble, and some days it hurt so much to just bend down. Things are getting much better, but it's usually my left knee that bothers me. When we were camping this weekend, I had to show Cory a kung fu move (can't remember exactly why, but I'm sure it was to show him how scary I am), and I don't have quite enough range of motion yet to attempt that. Sigh.

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.