My baby boys

I just couldn't resist posting this picture. I think they are so cute. This is a regular thing. Cam always wants to kiss Hefe and Hefe usually kisses him back. I love how they both have their eyes closed!

I make monkey

Today I had to run all over Woodbridge looking for a cake decorating tip for my class tonight. Off course I couldn't find it and had to drive to Stafford to finally get it. While on the hunt for the tip we went to my least favorite store WalMart. While we were there Cam and I saw the new Martha Stewart crafts they are selling. They have a really cute line of kids crafts that need no scissors or glue. The pieces are all precut and come with sticky stuff on the back. All you do is peel and stick. Even though they say they are four ages for and up I knew that Cam would love to make the monkey puppet with me. So we bought it. He was so cute. He took it off the rack, carried it through the store, scanned it and put it in the bag. Then he carried it out to the car. All the time he was saying "I make monkey home!" I told him that as soon as we got done our errands that yes we would make the monkey. When we got home and barely out of the car he started again, "I make monkey?" So when we got in the house after we got settled we sat on the living room floor and made the monkey. He loved it. I had him pull of the paper and he helped me press the pieces into place. When we were done he was so proud. He even wanted me to take a picture of the monkey with the cats. Hefe had no problem with that but Lila on the other had had no interest with getting her picture taken with a monkey puppet. Right now he is taking his nap and the monkey puppet is right there on his pillow.

So what did you do yesterday???

Nothing big, just had lunch with my sister....



Yesterday morning I got a text from my sister while I was out for my morning walk to call her. Now first off my sister is a night owl so getting a text at 9 am means business. So I gave her a call and she said that she was on her way down, from New Jeresey, with her moms boyfriend. They were heading down to pick up his grandkids and would be going right past the house so she wanted to stop in and say "Hi". I love my sisters and never get to see them as much as I would like so I said sure call me when you are here. So after a few back and forths about the time and location we settled on Chick-fil-a. So Cam and I got in the truck and headed over. While it was only less than an hour it was well worth it. Hopefully when they bring the kids back we will get another chance to visit. I have a picture of her and Cam but I can't find my SD card reader so that will have to come later.

Our outside pet

Friday when Cam and I got back from our errands I was putting something in the trash can and I saw something move in the grass. Upon closer investigation I saw a lizard. So I decided to try to catch it so the kids could see it. After a few minutes (it climbed up the side of the house) I got him into a bug box. Then it was off to the Internet to figure out what kind of lizard it was. I wasn't sure if it was native to Virginia but after a few Google searches I found it. It was a Southern Five-lined Skink. I wanted to save it until Kenzie got home from school to show her. So as soon as we got home I got the skink and brought it outside for the kids to see. Kenzie immediately named it Domingo. Both the kids loved Domingo. I took Domingo out of the box to let them hold him. As soon as I put him into Kenzie's hands he just sat there. Then it was Cameron's turn.

Cameron couldn't wait but Domingo wasn't as anxious so Kenize kept a hold of him and Cam just pet him and looked at him. After a few minutes we let him go back in the grass. Domingo scurried back under the shutters on the front of the house where I had found him. The kids were sad that we couldn't keep him and bring him in the house. As much as I love lizards and loved having one as a pet I wasn't up to caring for another body in my house. So for now Domingo will be our outside pet and hopefully we will see him again. I have caught Kenzie a couple of times standing in the front yard talking to the shutter where he lived. If he is smart Domingo packed up and moved to a quieter house.

Update

So want to hear the best part of the Thursday drama? Once they evacuated the kids from Kenzie's school (the school closest to the scene) they decided to storm the house. And guess what they found????






Nothing!!! The house was empty! Six hours the kids were in lock down and the whole time the cops were in a standoff with an empty house. How do you like that. The best part was the quote in today's paper made by the Prince William Police Spokeswoman "I can't say it was bad information. The timing might have been off." Ya think!?!?!

So there you have it. This incident has caused a lot of frustration from parents here. I am on both sides of the issue. I am very pleased with the manner that my child was cared for. When a potentially dangerous situation occurred the school acted to make sure that she was 100% safe. I was never worried that she could be in harms way. I knew with out a shadow of a doubt that the school was doing everything to keep her protected. I am however frustrated with the way that I was informed or more so the lack of information that I was given. And I am extremely frustrated with the reunification process. They definitely need to work on that and get a better plan in place in case a situation like that happens again.

Never a dull moment at the Swanson household

Well today has been a one of a kind day. I will start off saying that everyone is home safe and sound. Here is how it went. This morning was actually a very good day. I did the usual. Dropped Kenzie off at school, went to the mall to walk, did story time at the mall with Cam (more on that to follow), and then met a friend for lunch. After lunch Cam and I headed home for his nap. I was downstairs on the computer when I noticed it was time to go get Kenzie. As I got up to get Cam the phone rang. It was an automated message from Kenzie's school. At 1:45 p.m. the school was put on lock down due to police activity and that dismissal would be delayed. Information would be provided when it was available. So of course I started to panic a bit. We live just over a mile(1.1 miles) from the school. When I came home around 2 p.m. everything seemed normal in the neighborhood. So I started to search the Internet for answers. And just my luck my computer wouldn't cooperate. So I quickly called Rob and made him do some searching. We couldn't find any more information. So I decided to take my phone and head across the street to my neighbor Ann's house. Ann and her husband Ben are retired school teachers. They taught for years in the local schools so I knew she would be able to shed a little light on what the process was. In talking to Ann she wondered if this had anything to do with a murder that happened locally on Tuesday. As we were talking we could hear helicopters hovering. If you have been to our house you would know that helicopters are not unusual. We live within walking distance to a hospital that regularly receives medivacs and in the flight path of Quantico and DC. So we went to see where it was. I could see it hoovering in the area where the school was. So now I was starting to get a bit more worried. I got back on the computer and found out that they had tracked a suspect to the murder down to one of the streets very near the school. There are actually three schools very close to this location so they were all put in lock down to protect the children. After what seemed like forever the news reported that they were working on evacuating the kids to a nearby middle school and that we could start picking them up at 6 p.m. I headed there a bit before 6 and the place was a mad house. You would think with all the time they had to plan that there would have been a bit more organization. So from one line to another I patiently waited to get to Kenzie. While in one of the lines one of the teachers recognized me and told me that she knew where Kenzie was and that she was happy and just sitting reading her book. That made things a bit better since I knew that she was ok. Finally after an hour and a half I was reunited with my girl who I have been referring to lately as "Spunky". She said she was a bit scared because they didn't know what was going on but other than that she was ok. She spent her time doing her homework, reading and talking with her friend Haley. She asked me what happened and I explained everything. I also made sure she understood that everything that went on was done to make sure that the kids were 100% safe and that nothing was going to happen to her. She seems to be fine with everything and not concerned in any way. We decided to let her choose something special for me to pick up for dinner and we came home, gave each other lots of hugs and let out a huge sigh of relief. So as you can see there are never any dull moments in the Swanson household. Link to the info

Use the Force MacKenzie

Today I had to run a few errands and asked MacKenzie to tag along. I wanted her to come because during my morning walks at the mall I saw signs saying that they were having a special Master Builder event for Lego. They were building an eight foot talk Lego Yoda and you could come and help. MacKenzie loves to help and I knew that she would enjoy it so off we went. There were a lot of people there. All you had to do was find a space at a table and follow the direction cards left on the table. While we were there they were working on making tan and brown blocks. MacKenzie and I worked on a few and ended up turning in 12 bricks. When you turned them in they gave the kids a coupon and a certificate to take to the Lego store. At the store they put your name on the official certificate saying you helped build Yoda and gave the kids a Lego/Star Wars poster. Kenzie had a lot of fun. Hopefully I will remember my camera on Monday and I will take a picture of the completed Yoda.

Mini Yoda to show what the big one will eventually look like.

The beauty of You Tube

In searching for a video from Kung Fu Panda we came across a bunch of dinosaur videos. Cam loves this one and makes me play it over and over again. He even immitates the noises and laughs at them. Welcome to the world of having a boy!

1st Day pics

As promised here are the pictures of Kenzie's first day of school. Kenzie is starting to develop her own sense of style. So we got a magazine geared toward girls her age and found an outfit that she liked for the first day of school. Then Kenzie an I went out for girls day out to find the pieces that we didn't already have. She was so proud of her self and her outfit.

And of course here is a picture of Cam. He kept trying to be in the pictures.

Today

I love this commercial. I was bummed when they didn't play it this year. This is all I could think about today. While I love Kenzie with all my heart I am glad that she is back in school. She loves school and was starting to get bored. Now she has an outlet for her energy and her need for knowledge. I will post pictures and more about her first day later.