Ooops

So I realized that I’ve been posting about photo/video updates only on Facebook for the past two months. Sorry! New stuff on fleaandcompany.smugmug.com...

Hello again. New photos of Sturbridge Village at http://fleaandcompany.smugmug.com/Family/2010/August-2010-Sturbridge-Village/

Don

Hi everyone. I added more photos to the “August” gallery. They’re at fleaandcompany.smugmug.com, or use can go directly to the gallery at http://fleaandcompany.smugmug.com/Family/2010/August-2010/. The new photos start about halfway through the gallery.

Don

August photos: blueberry picking, Childrens' Museum, more blueberry picking...

Hi everyone. I posted new photos a few days ago, but forgot to tell anyone. The direct link for the new photos is http://fleaandcompany.smugmug.com/Family/2010/August-2010/, but you can also access it from www.fleaandcompany.com. As always, send me an email if you need the password (hello@fleaandcompany.com).

Jackie's Third Birthday

New photos on the website, of Jackie’s third birthday! Video will come soon (I hope). The direct link is

http://fleaandcompany.smugmug.com/Family/2010/Jackies-Third-Birthday/13165664_x5nKc#955167697_4qLhG

Don

Polka

Tonight, Jackie taught me all about polkas (the Strauss kind). She started by telling me about Green Polka, which is apparently a “grass polka”. Then there’s the Purple Polka, which she said “is pretty”. The Brown Polka “is very loud”, while the Blue and Yellow Polkas are “yucky”. There’s also a Caterpillar Polka, which I thought sounded like fun. Then she went on to tell me about other kinds of music, like bird music. Bird music, she said, sounds like “Tweet Tweet Tweet”, while cow music sounds like “moo mooooo” and pig music like “oink oink”.

Ben likes brushing his teeth

Tonight, after the kids had a before-bed snack, Jackie got up and wanted to brush her teeth. I got her set up in the bathroom, and went back into the dining room. Now, Ben had been hoarse all evening (Tiffany said from screaming all day). Jackie followed me into the dining room, and bed noticed she was brushing her teeth. He started saying “tee...tee” in his deep but hoarse little voice, and pointing to/rubbing at his teeth. Then he pointed at Jackie, who walked out of the room back to the bathroom. So he was telling us that he wanted to go brush his teeth with Jackie.

Pooltime

Hi everyone! New photos on the website! Check them out at http://fleaandcompany.smugmug.com/Family/2010/July-2010-Pool-time/12804416_6za9B#923116839_QGhzz Don

New Galleries Up!

Hi everyone! I've gotten the old galleries up, plus new photos. Click the new "Photos and Videos" link at right to get there. You'll need a password- email me at hello@fleaandcompany.com for the password.

Don

Galleries are down

Hi everyone, I had to take the galleries down, as I realized a privacy concern with what was contained in the metadata of the photo files. Plan B is to either 1) reupload everything or 2) switch to another means of photosharing that we can password and not have to worry about the security issue. I'm trying out #2 right now. If you want to see, it's at http://fleaandcompany.smugmug.com Just ask us for the password, if you can't figure it out! Don

New photos

New photos on the site! Hooray!

New photos!

New photos!

Quick Update

Obviously I have failed in catching up on my posts over the last month. Ben had a fantastic birthday, details to come later. Hopefully the kids will start napping and being less clingy soon and I will feel up to working on all the posts I need to write. I mainly just wanted to let everyone know that the kids and I will be in TX May 22 until June 29. Don will be joining us on June 16 and will leave with us on the 29. So that should allow plenty of time to visit with everyone we miss. We will even make it down to Austin to see my Uncle and his family! So wish me luck in getting everything done in the next two months I need to. (We will also be gone a week in April to NC, so I have a lot to do!) ~Tiffany

Taking out the trash, and other news

Hello everyone, I was standing in the kitchen holding Ben, who had a tea bag wrapper. I put him down, and to my surprise he toddled his way over to the trash and put the wrapper in there! Then he took it back out. And put it back in the trash. At that point, I cut him off and washed his hands. But still, I was impressed. It was particularly endearing given how he walks, with his legs fixed in the shape of a horseshoe and his arms up in the air. In other news, Ben had his second bath tonight, and again Jackie was a good girl and didn’t jump around too much in the tub. Ben was fussy getting in, but after that he played in the tub for about 20 minutes until his feet were wrinkly and I took him out. He had a fantastic time splashing in the tub and bobbing up and down. He stood up and walked around too. The light-up duck toys were his favorite part; he showed one to me with such a scream of excitement it almost seemed to pain him. Oh, and Ben ate like ten to fifteen tortellini tonight, in a heavy cream sauce with bacon. Man, he can really put it away. -Don

Something new

So Ben did something new last night during dinner. Jackie, not wanting to eat as usual, was standing next to Ben (who was eating, as usual). Ben was eating some muffin that Nunni and Pupi made over the weekend. He was taking bites, and then holding the piece out for Jackie to take a bit too. He did this with his water too. Another thing Ben likes to do is use his sippy cup for eating. For example, he’ll put Cherios on the top of the cup, lift the top of the cup to his mouth, and then eat the cereal off the top off the cup. Silly boy. -Don

Bath time

So I gave Jackie and Ben a bath together tonight, by myself as Tif was at a meeting at church. Now, Ben hates water. When I turned the bath water on, Ben half-stumbled, half-walked out of the room into the office. And when he walks, he looks like he’s just gotten off a horse. I found him sitting in the corner in the dark crying. Poor boy. The other night I had put Muppets on for them to watch, and he started wailing when the menu screen came up with Animal on it. He’d bee-lined for me, and whimpered his way through the show’s intro, eventually calming down. And today, I brought the vacuum in to clean the floor under the kitchen table. He was scared of the vacuum, being careful not to get near it. Later, after I tied up the cord around the back of the vacuum, he starting wailing as soon as I started to move it (the power was off). He’s a sensitive boy. I should also mention that I put Ben on the slide for the first time today. He kind of smiled and giggled a little. After he few more slides, he liked it so much he was trying to climb up the front of the slide. -Don

So it has been a long while since I last posted anything. I even have several posts started that just never got finished. Life is busy; life is always busy. That is just how it goes, but it is better than what happens if life stops. So I will try to write a few posts about current happenings and try to go back and finish the earlier posts. I'll let you know when the earlier posts are written as they stay in their time line and won't appear as recent posts.

Now for when all of this will happen. I will try to be updated by Ben's birthday in March. That gives me just about two months. Wish me luck!

~Tiffany