Children's Museum

My mom, dad, sister Lindsay and niece Morgan spent last weekend with us. With it being too cold to play outside, we headed to the Children's Museum at the Mall in Coralville, Ia. All the girls had a fun time exploring topped off with a ride on the merry-go-round.

Flying Air Planes:








Amazing Air:




Making Pizza:








Merry-go-round:

What's in a name?

As most of you know, I was laid off from my job about 2 weeks ago due to state budget cuts. While I am enjoying sleeping in, getting to take the girls to school and have more time with them and Ian, I do miss my job. Hopefully, things will turn around and I will get to return to it in the near future, but in the mean time I've been required to "job hunt" in order to receive the pocket change I get collecting unemployment. Haven't found much worth applying for, but have come across some interesting websites and I thought this one was worth sharing (and what a better time to update the site, right?): Urban Dictionary....went there and typed in each of our names and this is what it came up with:

STELLA: Disco girl, usually caught wearing short skirts, heavy make-up and chewing gum. Found in groups of three or more at high schools and shops. A classy, flirty young woman. Playful, a tease.

ZOE: means life




ABIGAIL: A super-sweet girl. Extremely gorgeous and tons of fun. When you meet one you will want to be a huge part of her life but you would have to be very lucky for it to happen. An Abigail will stay on your mind forever so you will know when you meet one. The girl who is always searching for herself. The girl who feels beautiful when spreading joy to others, but has difficulty doing so. The girl who may often fear losing her sanity, because she so often comes close to it, but you never know it because she settles quietly to the side of the room. The girl who tends to keep to herself, but if you give her reason to trust her and time to open up, and you treat with respect, then you're in for an amazing experience with a beautiful person. The girl that intimidates you, in some way or another, because of her silent power, so everyone leaves her to be alone. She is highly intuitive and creative, with a vast imagination. She is strong, intelligent, and knows what is beautiful in life.






Thought it was pretty fitting, considering I already had photos of each of the girls to truly illustrate the definitions.

The Aftermath of Christmas....

After waking Abby up this AM, it appears as though Santa skipped town. The girls were bound and determined to believe that they would find him somewhere in the house--but no luck. This feeling quickly subsided when they saw the presents under the tree. In a blinding flurry of torn paper pieces and tossed boxes, Christmas was over. The girls received a nice art easel, school clothes, some books, "princess" dresses, shoes and accessories from Santa this year. They were pretty overwhelmed by everything. Sharing after realizing what they received was a joke, and quickly became Carey and I "playing referee". Enjoy the pictures.

To get you in the Christmas Sprit...

What other than a 3 year old preschool christmas program could put you in the mood to celebrate this holiday season? Not much else if you ask me-it was rather cute and entertaining as you will see in the following videos. We did discover that we need to purchase an actual video camera (soon!) instead of relying on the the video on our camera (so I apologize in advance for some of the quality). Hope it puts a smile on your face and some joy in your holiday season!!

Their class sang about 10 songs...what an undertaking I thought...but it also presented the opportunity for each of the kids to have a part in one of the songs. The girls were part of the first song, each holding an ornament. First is Abby, then Stella and Zoe...



Front and center is the trio (the 3 girls to the left of the railing). This video pretty much summarizes how the rest of the program went for our 3 in particular- Stella was the entertainer...dancing, continually waving to Grammie and Grandpa Fox, mouthing the words...you get the picture; Zoe did some dancing and singing, but Abby was pretty mellow, occasionally singing and doing some actions (not the norm for her).

&$%$#%^&&!!!

I heard what I thought was one of the girls going on a tirade on Friday while in the bathroom brushing my teeth. Stomping between three bedrooms, Zoe was laying into poor Stelly, and I'm not quite sure Stell was even aware of what she had done to warrant this--if she even had. Irregardless, here is the video. There is some background noise to listen to that I am sorry for, but I think if you listen closely, I think you can make out Zoe's (and later, Stelly's) comments....Hopefully the FCC won't pick up on this.

The "Save Boney Joe" Fund....

While decorating the Christmas tree this past weekend, the girls happened upon a little skeleton that Carey and I used to hang during Halloween. Of course, "Boney Joe"(as he was dubbed) was manhandled, and lost a leg as a result. This seemed to upset the girls, but then again, what's one leg, eh? I'll be getting around to stitching him back together soon--but if someone out there would like to donate to the "Save Boney Joe" fund, all donations are tax deductible. Mommy wasn't too jazzed when the girls and I decorated the Christmas tree with Boney Joe.

Christmas tree decorating 101...

The girls and I attempted to put the Christmas tree together over the last weekend. It went well and was a good time for the girls until their attention waned, and then they found alternate means of entertainment. This was either dancing, or looking out the window to the neighbor's Christmas lights. Mommy provided alot of emotional support.

Belly Update

It's hard to believe that we have already reached the 26 week mark of my pregnancy and that one more week would equal the girls' delivery date of 27 weeks!! Hopefully things continue to go as planned and we make it far beyond that date. Dr. Zhang finally convinced herself that I am having a "normal pregnancy" and cleared me from having to see her every 2 weeks. Although the baby only weighs in at 1 lb 11 ounces at the moment (the same as what Abby weighed at birth) , it's rather active and I thoroughly enjoy every kick and movement!

Pregnant with the girls (the last "belly picture before their unexpected arrival):


Now with the singleton:

Belly Update.

Preschool Pictures

Here are the first of many school pictures:

Stella, Abby, Zoe


Abby



Zoe


Stella

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!!

It's always nice to have connections or ties to something...and for me, that is being an alum of Mt. Mercy College...and the fact that our sitters, Mallory and Sarah are still students there. Anyway, every year they do Halloween on the Hill the weekend before Halloween and provide games and trick-or-treating for kids...the best part, it's indoors!! We did participate again this year and the girls had a great time. We were also joined by my college roommate and friend Jenna and her daughter Ella. I think we had just as much fun walking through the hallways and saying..."remember when....". It's amazing to me how the girls knew which candy wrappers contained chocolate and which don't, 'cause that seems to be the majority of candy we got! Oh well, it's been a great motivator for potty training!

Poodle= Stella
Bee=Zoe
Lion=Abby
Ladybug=Ella

Me and the critters



Sarah with the girls



Mallory and David with the girls

A quick comparison

I assume most of you know by now, if you didn't guess from one of Ian's previous updates, that the Fox Den will be welcoming a new cub in March. Yes, you read correctly, just one...and that's a fact...we have already had 4 ultrasounds and all that has ever been found is ONE baby this time, and we couldn't be more excited!!

Things have been going well for me, so completely different than the first pregnancy. Let's hope that it goes longer too! I'm already 22 weeks along, making my due date March 7, 2010. So, here are a couple of the "belly pics".

At 19weeks with the girls :

Now at 20 weeks:



Guess I thought there would be more of a visible difference.....

The Fox girls' 1st mosh pit....

I was cleaning the kitchen this morning after breakfast, and the girls were in our bedroom watching a show....I thought. They all happened upon the kitchen to hear me listening to "Slayer". As if the name wouldn't give it away, Slayer is very heavy metal....just watch the video and enjoy, it's pretty silly.

My center....

Sometimes I forget just how lucky I really am...and it takes a sight such as this to really remind me what is important in my life. Not work. Not money or anything material. Just family.

Soon to be the "Fox 4"?...

....

A Stretch.....

I am going to attempt to get the girls' more involved in the continuation of this blog....perhaps that will help keep me more consistent with this. (Crosses fingers) We will try (not competitively) to add pictures on here for everyone, but especially for people that aren't "Facebook saavy" (like myself).

Mommy's Bday...(now new and improved...with video!)

Carey had a birthday on 9/28/09....who would've thought that she's almost as old as me now. Anyway, the girlies and I tried to surprise her with a birthday cake, and it turned out pretty well. Even decorating cakes--we decorate with style....by the way, we are available for birthday parties and the such if anyone is interested in cakes...

1st Day of Preschool!

Sorry for the long delay since the previous post. I honestly have no idea as to reasons for the lapse. Now that Summer is officially coming to a close, preschool starts for the girlies. Preschool was actually set to start on 9/9/09. The problem with that is that Stella, Zoe and myself had a bout of a particularly unpleasant stomach bug. If it gives you an idea, the vast majority of our carpet has been recently shampooed. We are doing good here, and I expect that Carey most likely will be updating with another post very soon (I'm not going to steal her thunder). Anyway, the girls were kept home that day, and "technically" their 1st day of preschool was 9/14/09. Here's some cute pictures. Enjoy.

Ms. Zoe

Ms. Stelly
Ms. Abigail