Little Mermaid and t-shirt jammies

Tonight was girls' night - H is at heat transfer class. So after a marginal dinner and homework (pulling teeth! did I say pulling teeth!) we changed into jammies and watched Little Mermaid. Here are the Roses posing in the jammies they decided to wear (grownup t-shirts, one of which is from a 1997 tennis tournament that H played in. That's a 12-year-old t-shirt, people!).

Little Mermaid is one of those movies that is better in concept than reality. It is simultaneously boring and scary. How does THAT work?

The Short and Fat - 2009

That is not a comment on my physique, but rather the name of the race H rode in this weekend.

This is his second year riding in a big mountain biking race in northern Wisconsin. We stayed at the same cabin on Ghost Lake where we stayed last year. This year the weather was much, much nicer! We spent a little time down by the water - took the motorboat out and the paddleboat out. We tried fishing; not so successful.

Here is H and the Roses this morning before we left:

We really liked seeing the beginning of the race, watching H approach the finish line, watching the fish swim under the dock, throwing kidney beans in for the fish (don't ask!) and sleeping late - well - relatively late. For Rose #3 anyway. We are already talking about 2010 - H might do the long ride next year!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Right?

I have been absent. I started a new writing class. H started a new heat transfer class. (What is heat transfer, you ask? I do not know. I will never know. No matter how many times it is explained to me, I. do. not. know.) School is in full swing. I have finally arrived at a strategy for Rose #1 and her homework. The expectation for 2nd grade homework is 20 minutes per night *and* 10 minutes of reading aloud. So, we set the timer for 20 minutes and I work with her - spelling, math, whatever is on the agenda. And, then we reset the timer for 10 minutes and she reads to me. We are reading Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. It is a good read!

This weekend we are going to the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. This is our second year at the festival. The best part (in my opinion) is that we stay at a very, very nice cabin that is owned by an acquaintance of our family. Fireplace. Lake right out the back door. This year it is going to be sunny and nice - we are going fishing! BTW, did you know that the state of Wisconsin has an extensive, I mean truly comprehensive, set of fishing regulations! I looked at the PDF online of the fishing regulations and that sucker is 72 pages!!

Rose #2 is an all day kindergartener...

OK, the first day of kindergarten pictures did not turn out well. This is the best of the bunch. The girls all look good, but the daddy's eyes are closed...sigh.

Rose #2 had a really good first day of kindergarten. She was excited at all the toys in her new room, and she went like a big girl trooper on the bus.

We now have two Roses in all day school. This means that my family is getting older, I am starting to get my body back (after having three Roses in four years, nearly to the day), and...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the years of seriously expensive childcare! Yay!

Big Second Grader

Is this young lady not the SPITTING IMAGE of her daddy?

Today was the first day of SECOND GRADE. I remember second grade - Mrs. Duerr - and her "terrify them" approach to drug abuse resistance education. (It worked in my case, not so much in the case of others.)

Anyway, I digress. Rose #3 and I walked Rose #1 to the bus stop. Rose #2 could not be rousted out of bed. Luckily our nanny Tamara was here to hold down the fort! Anyway, here are the beautiful Roses on the first day of second grade.

Bigger Than a Breadbox

We were very happy to be invited to Guppy's for dinner tonight, after back to school night (#2! in a row!) at Rose #2's school. After we got home we checked the garden for tomatoes, and boy did we score! Rose #1 found our biggest, reddest tomato yet. Here is Rose #3 with said tomato:

And Rose #2, who wanted to pose multiple times with the BRT (big, red tomato) to make sure I got the exact right shot:

And Rose #1, who is my only child who actually likes to eat tomatoes! I love tomatoes.