Bikes

On Saturday, we hit some garage sales and picked up some bikes for the girls. I had been looking for quite some time for bikes on craigslist. The girls are always using the neighbors toys, and I thought that it was time to get our own. So Josh suggested we try garage sales (which is so out of character for him). We are both pleased with our finds. We picked up Jessica's bike for $10, and went and got her a helmet for $8. It's kind of funny that the helmet was almost as much as the bike.
This is Cora on her new bike. Yes, it is a boys bike and it is a little big. But once we told her that Josh would paint it, she was happy. We got Cora's for $15, and her helmet for$1. After we were done "shopping" we went to pick out some paint for Cora's bike. She picked out pink and aqua for her colors.
Maren absolutely loves her bike. She can't reach the pedals, but she can get some speed using her feet. She is quite the daring thing. She pushes her "bike" up the incline of our driveway, gets on, turns around and cruises down the driveway without slowing down. It freaks me out every time. The first few days, the girls spent hours outside. Now when Cora gets home from school, the girls usually want a snack and then head outside until dinner. Then it's outside again until it's bed time. It is a complete contrast of the time that we spent out doors in our old apartment. I love it!!! And so the better part of the late afternoon and early evening, I am outside monitoring, my kids and the other children of the cul-de-sac. Someone has to.
Well, I am in need of some advice. Everyday this week, Maren has either taken off her diaper after pooping and wiping it on objects or reached down her diaper and gotten a handful and wiping it on objects ( including herself and clothes). I don't know what to do. I can't follow her around with my nose at her bum waiting to catch it before she does. I am just tired of cleaning it off places I shouldn't have to. It's really gross to clean crap out of fingernails too. Anyway, I am on a role here. I have posted twice in a row. Wow.

road rash- a posting by Carol

On Friday evening I went out front to call the girls in for dinner. They were a few houses down in a neighbors driveway playing. Cora and Jess responded quickly to me, but Maren was a little slow. As I was walking over, I asked Maren to come home for dinner. She started running down the drive and her cute little legs couldn't keep up with her and she had a little run-in with the cement. She hasn't been very nice to herself lately. Maybe it is her age, but she seems pretty battered lately.

Josh and I had an alarming experience yesterday. Cora was playing outside for a few minutes while dinner was cooking. I thought she was playing alone, but was playing with a boy from her class ( who lives a few houses down) and his little brother. They seemed to be playing fine. I called her in and I asked her about what she was doing and if she had fun. She proceeded to tell me what she was doing and then she said, "and Justin showed me his penis." Ummmmm, What???? I tried not to overreact and down play her experience. Josh asked her as casually as he could what happened, and then I told her she did the right thing to tell us that. Later Josh went and talked to the boy's dad about it. At first we weren't sure how to handle it, but decided that if it was our child we would want to know. Justin's dad was very receptive and appreciative and said he would talk to him about it. So hopefully it won't happen again and it will just be a non incident. Well, that is pretty much all that has happened around here lately. Hope you all are well.
-Carol

No hug for you!

Yes, those are snails. These are a few more of the pictures we took while in Utah. The girls found a whole bunch of snails, and loved the fact that they could stick to the wall. The picture of Carol and Michell is entitled "no hug for you only high five!" said with an asian accent. Michelle and Carol would tease each other after watching the girls gymnastics. I don't know if you noticed if a girl did decent she got a hug, if not so much only high five. Michelle thought it was hilarious. Almost as funny as "your mom." I wasn't to disappointed to have a change of joke. Love you Michelle.
-Josh