A Royal Party

Late one afternoon...

waiting for dinner and daddy...

...we ventured into the world of princes...

...and princesses...

...and queens...

Alright, so that last one is a stretch. But you have to admit that it's fun to pretend.

Happy Wednesday!

Murillo Mystery: Solved!

Thanks for all of your guesses!
Yes, I know what it is! This was just my lame attempt at engaging you readers out there. Most of you were on the right track. Although...intimate underwear? Really anonymous?

Thursday afternoon was a sad, sad day for me. As I hurriedly emptied the dishwasher, the crock part of the crockpot slipped out of my hand and fell just two feet to the ground, onto the throw rug that we keep by the sink. It broke into the many pieces you can see here.

Just a few days prior, I was sharing with all that would listen just how much I loved my crock pot. I actually inherited it upon marrying Duncan. I believe it was given to him by his brother and sister-in-law. (Am I right, Ian and Stef?) It allows me to make my simple dinners in the morning or at lunch time and it frees up so much time here at the Salada home. So when it broke last Thursday a genuine pout could be seen on my face. Sensing a blog-worthy even, I snapped a few pictures and cleaned up the mess. I shared the sad news with Duncan as soon as he got home from work. He then suggested we could go and buy a new one, then and there--even though a babysitter was coming so we could catch a baseball game! My depression must have been most evident. I insisted I could wait and that we should follow through with our original plan.

May she rest in "piece."
(Teehee)

On Friday night, armed with a 15% off coupon, we took a family trip to Kohls with the intent to scope out the crockpot selection. We discovered this bigger-than-the-old-one-floor-model-with-no-box on sale for 60% off of its original price. The tag said 49.99 with a sale price of 19.99! And another 15% off of that for a total of 16.99 + tax! How's that for a deal?

We brought her home, cleaned her up and she's ready to go. She was going to get her first run tonight, but Duncan suggested we hit Chick-fil-a after our family flu shot appointment. I think he's such a wise man. So, she'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'm sure she won't disappoint.

Murillo Mystery

This is a roll call of sorts. Never left a comment? Consider trying to solve this Murillo Mystery!

Any guesses as to what the above photo shows?

First Days of School

September 8th and 9th were big days here at the Salada abode!

On the 8th, Violet had her first day of pre-school. She's been wanting to attend for two years! So, it was a big day. As you can see, as usual, she was all smiles.

On this same day, Amelie had her Kindergarten orientation. She was glad to be able to visit her old stomping ground before heading to her new school!

Violet eagerly got in line.

Violet is one of three girls in her class. There are seven boys, as well!

Violet happily posed with her cubby after class.

The next day, September 9, was Amelie's first day of Kindergarten!

I do believe that she attends the very last half-day Kindergarten program in the world, about which I'm thrilled. She goes in the afternoon, so we have all morning to fill her water bottle, write in her communication book, and get her dressed in her uniform.

I can't fathom getting her there by 8:00am! I know that will be necessary next year, but I'm thankful for this year of transition.

Oh, and our freighbor, William, is in the same class. Aren't they cute in their uniforms?

Getting the sillies out before entering the building is a must.

Finding their hooks.

Amelie at her desk!

Oh, and for kicks, this is Amelie in her other uniform option. She came up with the "on-the-bike" pose all by herself.

Our beautiful girl.

So two weeks down and how is everyone doing?
Amelie is doing so well. She loves school and comes home extremely happy and energized. Since she attends for the latter half of the day, we've had the mornings to read, play, and run errands together with our buddy Linus(and Violet on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Violet has been doing well also. She's so wanted to go to school for the last two years, and her dream has finally been realized. However, in he middle of her second week, reality set in and she insisted she wanted to stay home with me. Successfully ripping out my heart, she brought me to tears this past Friday morning. It took hugs from the teacher, the director and several conversations throughout the morning with Duncan, my mom, and friends to get me through. And upon picking her up? She'd had a great morning! I haven't heard any complaints from her since.

I've been more overwhelmed than I'd ever imagined as school approached. All of the driving and schedules and things to remember have exhausted me. I'm very happy with the schools we've chosen for our girls and they also seem happy to be where they are, which is huge. The rigorous schedule is just far more exhausting than I realized it would be. However, the structure has been good for me. Duncan and I are up at 6am to have our quiet times. I've got dinners planned out for each week and usually have them going by the end of breakfast. These things are necessary for our week to run smoothly! We've also planned that I'll work out on Mondays and Wednesdays and Duncan will ride his bike to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Over all, the structure is agreeing with us quite well.

I've heard through the grapevine, that some regular readers of this blog have been concerned at its silence over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, that might be a regular occurrence as I figure out how to squeeze it in here and there. Please bear with me!

Linus Victory Turns Two!

Last Saturday, August 29th, was Linus' second birthday. The night before, Duncan and I set up his gift from one set of grandparents and put his other gifts inside of the very cool space capsule tent.

Here are some videos of the big reveal on Linus' birthday morning.

I love listening to Amelie on the above video--such a great big sister! She guided Linus through the entire process of opening his gifts. Of course, she was excited to see what he got, but she genuinely tried to help him.


Linus is saying the word "party" over and over. Clearly, having no idea what a party was, he thought he was experiencing it!

The tool set, which was from us, was a big hit--

with everyone!

Here, Amelie showed Linus his blue tractor card.

And Linus showed off his mad drilling skills. He really liked the drill.

Linus attempted to drill the rest of his gifts.

We actually had to take away the drill so he could open the rest.

Blocks!

For breakfast, Linus ate two fried eggs and two waffles. The eggs, by themselves, are common, as are the waffles. But eating TWO eggs and TWO waffles was quite a feat for this new TWO year-old!

Remember that drill? Well he was so excited that he had to show it to the Rohals. (Their picture is on our fridge.)

Linus chose a blue tractor cake! (You can hear his saying his version, "blue dada" in the card/drill video above.) Thanks to this website, I now can draw tractors!

And Amelie drew a most-impressive tractor on our homemade table cloth!

In addition to being asked what he wanted on his birthday cake, Linus was asked with whom he would like to celebrate his birthday. He chose Rock, Adeline, Dewey, and Lulu. Of course some parents of the those guests were in attendance, as well as Rainbow and Bopbop (my parents.)

As far as the menu went, Linus LOVES hot dogs and most fruit. So those two things were at the center of our celebration meal.

Some of the party guests. I think this picture was taken right after I swatted at Linus' head to kill one of those pesky mosquitoes.

Linus with his gifts.

He finally got into the whole paper tearing thing.

Rock and Violet look on. It'll be your turn soon, Rock!

After dinner and presents, we went inside, away from the horrific bugs, to eat some cake and ice cream.

Linus didn't know about the whole blowing-out-the -candles thing, so his buddy, Dewey, helped him out.

Rock's mom doled out the ice cream, starting with the birthday boy.

Rock and Lulu dug in!

Adeline forgoes the fork and Violet contemplated the same.

The almost-Kindergarteners, Amelie and William (aka Dewey), waited patiently.

The Birthday Boy savored every bite and needed a glasses adjustment. (Taken care of already, for those that were worried.)

After everyone, save one party guest, had left the dining room, Linus exclaimed, "I love birthday cake!" and then began singing Happy Birthday to himself.
Cake drunk?
I'm thinking that's a big maybe.

We love you, Linus! And we're ever so thankful to have had for two years. We look forward to what this next year will bring! And the one after that, and the one after that, and...