Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

When she particularly wants us to give her something, Sierra quotes lines from this sweet, silly book about a pigeon begging and bargaining to drive a bus. Here's her pigeon routine, complete with her impersonation of the illustrations.

"Hey, can I drive the bus? I'll be your best friend! How 'bout I give you five bucks? What's the big deal!? It's just a bus!!! No fair! I bet your mom would let me. I have dreams you know! Fine. LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!"

Bee Bee Bobbi Bobbi

Madeline is very hard to capture doing anything on video because as soon as she sees the camera, she stops whatever she's doing, gets a huge smile, and tries to grab the recording device to see herself. This is the little I could catch of her. She's imitating one of the kids' favorite picture books about a little bird who keeps the zoo animals awake all night singing "Bee Bee Bobbi Bobbi!" Caleb and Sierra use their hands like bird puppets and sing the song, so my guess is Madeline thinks puppets sound like the Baby Beebee Bird. I suppose it's an appropriate song for her since she has kept me up all night on occasion as well!

The Giggling Giraffe

by Caleb Biddulph

The giggling giraffe--he loves to laugh
Around he troops, on all fours,
Like 123 hyenas he roars.
He shouts and thunders, screams and calls!
But we never can hear him--his neck is too tall!

Spring Break

Happy Easter! Hope the bunny found you and left lots of goodies. We had the last week off for Spring Break, and have had lots of nice weather despite the crazy storm that swept through the area, fitting in time for relaxation and a little local travel. We enjoyed the tulips at the Dallas Arboretum, the Ft. Worth Zoo, and playdates with friends. Ted took Caleb and Sierra on an overnight trip to Austin, touring the capitol, LBJ library, and history museums. As kids' tastes are often very simple, their favorite part was getting some freshly made Dr. Pepper at the factory in Waco and relaxing at their luxurious accomodations in the Super 8 motel.

As you can see, I've added lots of pictures of our week. Hope you enjoy the movie Caleb and I put together for everyone.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

A Special Surprise--Caleb and Mom playing an Easter Duet!

Girls on Easter Sunday

Austin Trip

LBJ Library & Museum - President's Limo

LBJ Library & Museum - Oval Office

University of Texas - Austin campus

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Egg Hunt Day

Madeline and Sierra in their matching spring dresses from Nana

Ft. Worth Zoo

The kids especially loved feeding the parakeets

A brave bird delighted Sierra by landing on her feeding stick

Caleb and Madeline holding hands as they sleep on the way home

Dallas Blooms

Sweet and Sassy

Sierra and Caleb were invited to a party this weekend for some family friends at a beauty spa for kids called Sweet and Sassy. The girls dressed up in fancy dresses; got their hair, nails, and make-up done; and then had dancing, karaoke, and a fashion show. Caleb was a bit dashed when he and the other two boys at the party had to hang out in the mall while the girls were being pampered. When he came in for pizza and cake and saw the party was still going on, he and his friend from school hopped up on the dance stage and did all kinds of crazy dance moves. They were actually far more into it than the girls, who all seemed rather bashful. They got their hair spiked and glittered, and even participated in the fashion show. Each kid was announced with a favorite things list as they appeared on stage, and it was so funny when Caleb's announcement said that Kroger is his favorite place to shop.

Destination Imagination

I've been coaching Caleb's Destination Imagination team with some other moms this year, and Thursday the kids gave a performance for their first grade class and Saturday they had their big meet. It was a lot of work writing their own play; designing their costumes, backdrop, and prop; and learning their lines and actions. This was everyone's first time in a play, so we had to cover a lot of basics to get them ready. The requirements for the play were that it had to be about something from history that got changed by a magical prop. They had to build the prop and include geometric shapes on it, and they also had to write a song as part of the play. The kids chose to have the Great Wall of China be a portal that took a tourist into Webkinz World, a place that those of you with young children will have heard of. Caleb, who is normally reserved but comes to life onstage, was hilarious as Oinky, a pig who lost all his money. They also had to complete an Instant Challenge at the meet, which was a problem solving challenge that they had never seen before. Some of the kids were pretty nervous, but they did great, and they all feel like little celebrities since their classmates are asking them for autographs.

Oinky the pig costume à la glue gun

The DI Team - Asher, Mia, Caleb, Cooper, Dylan, and Matthew


"I have always wanted to be a piggy bank."

"She looked kind of sneaky..."

Snowy Day in Texas

This week we had an honest-to-goodness snowstorm hit Frisco. Not knowing how long it would last, I picked Caleb up from school a little early so we could beat the traffic and the kids could have some time playing oustide. The beginning of the snow was beautiful--I have never seen such big, fluffy flakes, and at first it was so warm I wondered how it was sticking. I made the kids some warm Ovaltine and spent about half an hour rounding up gloves and snow boots that had been stored away. The girls and I only lasted minutes in the snow because the flakes were now icy and each one stung as it fell onto our skin. You can see in the picture that the kids are all freezing, but Caleb stuck out the cold and finished his little snowman, which I photographed the next day when it was beautiful and sunny. It's so true what they say about the Texas weather--if you don't like it, wait a few minutes because it's bound to change.

Winter happenings

We've been having a busy winter with lots of family time--Ted's brother Nathan visited for Christmas, we spent the following week in Santa Fe with the Biddulphs, and my mom and dad were here for a few days in February. The kids loved riding around on Uncle Nathan's back, and I just hope he hasn't suffered any long-term side effects. Even Madeline, the stranger grouch, giggled whenever he entered the room. Our trip to Santa Fe was relaxing with lots of cocoa and tea in the lodge to offset the freezing weather. We enjoyed the Southwestern shops and architecture and spending time with Ted's brothers and parents. My mom and dad treated us to shopping and eating out, and the kids loved having quality time with them and the treasures they brought from their China trip.

Caleb was very calm and played "Jolly Old St. Nicolas" and "The Caravan" beautifully in his first piano recital

The family after Caleb's recital

Frisco Library decorated for Christmas



Christmas Day in Frisco

Uncle Nathan visits

Madeline and mom start preschool

I started working as a permanent sub at Sierra's preschool Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30 to 2:45. Sierra switched classes since she was going Tuesday Wednesday, and little Madeline has started school there as well. It's a job that's really compatible with the kids' schedules, and while it can be tiring working with this age group and going home to three small children, I find that it's getting easier and that so far I've liked it pretty well. Sometimes I'm in a classroom, and sometimes I teach Spanish or movement. On top of the girls' lunches, pillows, blankets, and spare clothes, I have a huge bag that I tote with me every day with anything that I might possibly need to get the kids' attention and affection--my frog puppet Hopscotch, magic tricks, favorite picture books, stories on CD, and indoor games for bad weather days. Honestly, the teaching is the easy part--it's getting out the door in the morning that's killing me! Next year I'm requesting to be a permanent pre-kindergarten teacher so hopefully I can store my things in one room. Madeline is still getting used to being in school. It's hard when she sometimes sees me and starts crying, but she's in a class with only three other little girls her age, and she has a very kind teacher who promises me that she's just fine when I'm out of sight. Ted, Caleb, Sierra, and I have all noticed that Madeline seems much more confident and mature since starting school. I'm sure part of that is just getting older, but she seems very proud of herself when I pick her up at the end of the day and she holds Sierra's hand as they walk to the car.

Here's the big girl all ready to go!

Sierra had a big day too, changing to Mrs. Swope's class

Mommy and Madeline before our first day

First Loves

Caleb and Sierra have both declared their first loves. Caleb has a little girl in his school class and Destination Imagination that he really enjoys. He read an article in TIME magazine called The Thermometer of Love, and took the accompanying test to see how he felt about her. After taking the survey, he determined that he was 36% in love, and the next day he went to class and shared the results with his classmates. Caleb's love interest came running out of school to tell me that Caleb had a crush on her, and all I could say was, "You're pretty lucky because he's a really nice guy." Sierra told me that there was a little boy at school who told her he loves her, and that she loves him too. (She said all this in a very sing-song princessy voice complete with clasped hands--I almost expected birds and butterflies to land on her shoulders.) He's not in her class, and she doesn't know his name, so she asked me to very discreetly find out who he is. She made me swear that I would not connect myself to her in any way when I approached him. As soon as she started describing him, I knew who she was talking about, because as she says, he's the fanciest boy in the school. He wears button down shirts and bow ties and has striking coloring with olive skin, black hair, and bright green eyes. (Isn't she too young for this?!?) I performed my mission as required, talking with him as he made his way to his classroom in the morning and catching his name on his school basket without even asking him. I was very discreet indeed.