Dornan World 2008

Thanks For Reading

2008-12-31T22:21:00.002-07:00

Well, here we are again. The end of another year and a reminder to not take time for granted. I think I've done a good job of that so far. Just about everything I do has intentions. Having kids have forced me to be that way.

Anyway, Bill and I have made our new year's resolutions list and it will be a challenge but we are going to support each other.

I don't have much to say other than I'm very, very happy. I've never been happier in my entire life.

Well with the new year there is a new website for Dornan World. Because I post so many pictures and some videos, I end up using up the maximum memory allowed by the site. Hence, the need to establish a new one. The website is http://dornanworld2009.blogspot.com.

Thanks for being such a loyal reader. I enjoy blogging about my kids and I'm glad you enjoy reading about them.

~Elle

The Perfect Gift

2008-12-30T21:38:00.004-07:00

Today, since I wasn't feeling so hot - we stayed in and did activities that didn't require much energy. One of those activities was painting. It gave us an opportunity to try out the new easel Aunt Shannon got them for Christmas and I must say this is definitely one of my favorite gifts they received.

Kendall ended up painting three pictures and if I guess correctly, stood in front of that easel for a good 45 minutes.

I love the fact that they can both paint at the same time! One of the challenges I have with my kids right now is learning how to share. So this is so perfect. They're not fighting over the same toy and are both occupied and quiet! A mother's dream come true!

Well done Aunt Shannon! Bravo!!!

Goodbye Breckenridge

2008-12-29T21:50:00.004-07:00

We left Breckenridge in all it's glory today.

After swimming along side Clint Hurdle for a good hour, we packed it in and headed home.

Shi Shi provided the entertainment on the ride home.

P.S. I'm sick. Ugh. I think we all are.

A Night(mare) on the Town

2008-12-28T20:08:00.003-07:00

The town was beautiful, filled with Christmas lights and people bustling here and there. Bill and I were looking forward to a night on the town. But the kids had a different agenda.

Luckily it ended wonderfully but I sometimes wonder how we survive the screaming, the crying and Vaughn touching other people's hair sitting in the booth behind us at the restaurant, during dinner.

Tomorrow we are headed back to reality after a nice getaway. Thank you to our friends who let us use their condo!

The Perfect Pool

2008-12-27T20:25:00.002-07:00

There's a great recreation center nearby where the kids have really enjoyed the pool.

Surprisingly, it's not that crowded either.

Vaughn loves doing this little mini slide they have there where Bill or I will catch him at the bottom.

Kendall can barely stop smiling when she's in the pool.

We'll definitely be back here again and again.

Rocky Mountain High

2008-12-26T21:19:00.002-07:00

Our view right now:

SWEET!

(If you can't tell, this post was written by my husband.)

Summing Up Christmas Day

2008-12-25T23:59:00.002-07:00

It's super late and I'm exhausted so I'm keeping it brief....

Woke up and Kendall was very upset due to the fact that she couldn't find one of her dinosaurs. Daddy remedied that real quick.

Cheesy antlers mommy bought at the store thinking she'd be able to convince her kids to wear it all day. No such luck. Lasted about 15 seconds before getting tossed onto the floor.

Shi Shi getting ready to watch the chaos that was about to ensue.

Controlled chaos (if there is such a thing). We had to somehow keep Vaughn motivated into opening his presents, as he was really interested in playing with the ones already opened. Kendall ended up having to help him out.

Tornado aftermath.

A final surprise!

A used train table bought off of Craigslist.org with trains, cars and other accessories yet to be unwrapped. This provided hours of entertainment.

Off to the Macs for Christmas dinner. Noah got a train table for Christmas too!

Noah singing and dancing to Hot Diggity Dog. Moves like a mosh pit dancer.

Dinner.

Dessert. Fondue. 3 different flavors of chocolate. YUMMMMMMMMMM!

On the way home after a long day. Vaughn holding onto "Dog Dog" and Kendall shielding her eyes against the bright camera flash.

Great Christmas. Love my family and friends :) Very happy. Very content.

Thank you to everyone we love. We do love you and are so grateful to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Traditions

2008-12-24T23:59:00.002-07:00

One of the things we talked about tonight with our friends was tradition. Christmas traditions.

Spending Christmas Eve with our friends, The Macs, is turning out to be another tradition we have established in recent years and it's one of my favorites.

We eat, talk, play and exchange presents basking in the joy of each other's company. Feeling so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

Here's a little clip I took from tonight where Aeron pretends to be Velociraptor dinosaur. LOL! My favorite is his "little" arms!

Of course another tradition that many other families follow is the ever popular "Milk and Cookies for Santa" tradition.

We like to make him as happy as possible in hopes he'll find our names on his list of good boys and girls, leaving presents before he departs to the next home.

We must have been really good! We also must have a wonderful, loving bunch of family members and friends who are all so thoughtful.

Tomorrow is going to be such an exciting day! I've got my camera and camcorder ready to capture the moment :)

Gingerbread House

2008-12-23T23:39:00.002-07:00

We built a gingerbread house the other day! Er... sort of. It was my first time and the kids' first time too so I think it turned out okay (LOL!).

Kendall was completely into it except for the occasional freak outs because her hands were getting messy. I would say Vaughn did more eating than actually decorating.

I had very little faith that the frosting was going to have enough adhesive power to keep things glued together but it did!

I had a very hard time finding a gingerbread house kit. It seemed everywhere I looked, they were already sold out. The one I did eventually find only came with the actual gingerbread cookie pieces. There was no candy, frosting or icing. I had to buy that separately but the only candy that it came with was about 25 pieces of little (I'm talking microscopic) dots.

So I fished around the kitchen cabinets and found some Halloween candy like Starbursts and Sugar Babies, to pretzels and fortune cookies.

Aren't gingerbread houses supposed to look appetizing?

Daddy's Birthday

2008-12-22T23:34:00.001-07:00

Today was my husband's birthday and I'm just so happy right now. I really love just hanging out with my hubby and children, playing "Dinosaur" or "Flying" or whatever other games we invent. It's my favorite thing to do in the entire world!!!

Happy birthday honey!!

School Holiday Party

2008-12-21T22:00:00.001-07:00

Last Friday, Kendall's school had a holiday party and I must say, I was very impressed how organized and creative all those involved were! Here's Kendall posing with one of her classmates. This girl just loves Kendall and is always hugging her.

Here, their teacher is explaining in Mandarin to the 3YO and 4YO classes how to craft a Christmas tree.

Then the kids went on to create a Christmas tree ornament themselves.

The kids played a fun reindeer game.

Eating goodies.

On the way to meet up with all the students in the Mandarin program.

Gathered all around for the Christmas exchange.

Green tongue!

More green colored tongues!

First Ski Lessons

2008-12-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Dance Recital Videos

2008-12-18T23:18:00.015-07:00

Videos from Kendall's dance recital this past Sunday...

Video 1:

Video 2:

Video 3:

Video 4:

Dinosaur Dream

2008-12-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

I dreamt of dinosaurs for the first time in my life.

Obviously, my life lately has been filled with dinosaurs. .

Your kid's passion become your own sometimes

Holiday Party

2008-12-15T23:14:00.002-07:00

I attended an annual holiday party this past weekend and had such a great time because I got to just hang out with some of my friends. I don't usually like going to parties where I barely no anyone except the host. So this was definitely fun.

We played the White Elephant gift exchange game which is always fun too! My friend and I scored an iTunes gift card. Exactly what we both wanted (at the sacrifice of our other friend).

And one again, my friend put her amazing talent to work and created this beautiful cake. Inside was a chocolate and peppermint cake and icing. Yummy! It tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Zoo Lights

2008-12-14T22:02:00.001-07:00

The other night, we went to the local zoo to check out their lights with our friends and it was pretty nice.

They have such an adorable little daughter.

Our kids however, were not so adorable.

Kendall mellowed out later on and made a reindeer.

This little boy had complete melt down! I'm talking laying on the ground, screaming and crying melt down.

I love how little Alexis has her eyes fixed on Kendall here...

and here. So cute!

Vaughn... *sigh* I can't wait until he's past this stage of temper tantrums!

Mr. Fix It

2008-12-13T23:50:00.002-07:00

One thing that Vaughn sees me do on a regular basis is change batteries.

I wish I had a super duper battery charger station that could hold 50 batteries of all sizes so I could just recycle and recharge batteries, instead of buying them all the time. I don't know if someone has created that type of product but if not, they should and sell them at all the toy stores and baby stores. What a great investment that would be for parents!

Anyway, as soon as I set down the screwdriver, Vaughn picked it up and was ready to help out.

I just love the look of concentration on his face :)

After he got bored with that, he decided to push the screwdriver along the floor like it was a car.

Countdown to Christmas

2008-12-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

We started our count down to Christmas when we received a couple of packages from grandma Dornan for Kendall and Vaughn. There were 25 pieces of chocolate in each package, hidden behind little numbered flaps from 1 to 25 (representing the days before Christmas), that you open to retrieve your piece of chocolate.

Well, got off to a little late start and began our count down on December 7th. That meant we had to eat 7 pieces of chocolate from each package!! In one night! Do you think that was a problem? Not at all!

I couldn't open them fast enough for them, so Bill had to help out. There were times when they had a piece in their mouth, another in their hand, and reaching with their other hand to get more!

Odd Combination

2008-12-11T21:14:00.001-07:00

Vaughn continues to love playing with this stroller. However, he will no longer push it around empty. Something has to be in it.

And lately, it's been his trucks and cars.

Never thought I'd see someone pushing a truck around in a stroller.

His love for cars, trucks and trains is turning into an obsession. I never thought I'd spend 30 minutes playing with a single toy truck, pushing it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and so on and so on - across the floor.

The Ochsner Christmas Party

2008-12-10T22:47:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we attended a Christmas party hosted by our friends Andy and Deidre. This is their daughter Alexis enjoying her first Christmas season.

It is always fun to see how your friend's house evolves when a little child enters their lives. Their basement has been converted into a playroom covered with toys.

This is enjoyed by all the kids who come to visit little Alexis.

I thought it was funny how Alexis really had no interest in the adults. Her attention usually turned to the other kids running and playing around her. Kids just automatically are drawn to each other. Usually.

Deidre was one of the first friends I befriended when I moved out here about 5 years ago and I feel so very lucky :)

After the party, we headed home and as we pulled in front of our house, we noticed a group of people standing around across the street. Bill and I soon realized they were carolers and the only thing on our minds was "No!! Don't let them come to our house. It is a total mess with boxes and bins and 1/2 done Christmas decorations everywhere!" They came anyway but we were able to stop them on our sidewalk and have them just sing a couple of songs there. They were in good spirits (and maybe a little intoxicated) and Kendall and Vaughn had fun watching them.

When I was in high school, I remember a bunch of us would head to the local nursing home and sing carols and talk to everyone afterward. Maybe when the kids are few years older and can sing carols, we'll start doing that here.

The Elf on the Shelf

2008-12-09T20:00:00.001-07:00

We received a package the other day from grandma Dornan and as soon as I opened it, I knew what it was. It was The Elf on the Shelf. I remember hearing about it from one of my colleagues and she said her kids really get into it.

Several years ago, a mother came up with this Elf idea that would appear in a different place in the house, and the kids would have to find where the Elf was each morning. The Elf would watch the kids and report back to Santa each night, while the kids were asleep, if they had been good or bad that day. Of course, if you have been good, you get presents on Christmas. If not, well you know...

Vaughn has no clue who or what this Elf thing is but Kendall got it immediately. All throughout the day, Bill and I would refer to Janelle (that is the Elf's name (named by Kendall) and NO he is not a girl. he is a boy.) whenever Kendall acted inappropriately. She would emphatically respond "I'm good! I'll be good. Okay? I'm good!"

Thanks grandma Dornan! It's working ;) Bill wants to use it all year long!

Oh Christmas Tree (Lights - Grrr)

2008-12-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

We have one of those pre-lit Christmas tree lights. Always thought they were such a great idea because hey, no need to string and unstring the lights on the tree. I'm all for efficiency. That is until one strand of lights burned out. And after getting some advice from my father-in-law (Thank you!!!) and doing some reading on the internet (information super highway - total understatement), I learned a lot about Christmas lights. I ended up changing fuses and replacing no less than 10 light bulbs on our tree. From start to finish, it took me no less than 2 hours to set the tree up before it was ready for ornaments. Have a question about Christmas lights? I'm your woman.

Bill and I decided to take all the glass ornaments we have and place them on the top half of the tree so the kids won't be tempted to play with them.

I'm going to start a tradition this year with my kids, that my friend Deidre told me her parents did for her. Every Christmas she got one Christmas ornament, and she still has the original box it came in and each box is dated. I just love that! I'll always try to buy an ornament that represents what the kids were into that year. So for Kendall it will be a dinosaur and for Vaughn it'll be either a truck or a car this year.

I'm also going to start buying a Christmas ornaments that will help create memories of places we have been or things we have experienced.

Over the years, those ornaments will have special meaning and we will gradually have them replace the ones that have none.

On the Outside

2008-12-07T22:56:00.003-07:00

I came into the kitchen and saw this. Both my kids sitting side-by-side together at the top of the steps. My heart melted and I immediately reached for my camera to capture this moment.

Notice anything peculiar in this photo?

Now do you see it? After stripping Kendall out of her Christmas outfit as soon as we returned from taking pictures with Santa (so as not to ruin it), Kendall requested I clothe her so she didn't have to walk around the house naked. I told her to go to her room and pick something out. She later returned with what she calls her "bra" and said "I want to wear this." I was so surprised and found it so funny. I told her she could wear it but that we had to wear something else so she wouldn't get cold, so I got her something comfortable to wear and put this bikini top over her shirt so she could see it, rather than wearing it underneath.

When it was time to go to bed later that night, she asked to keep it on. I'm okay with it and hope she doesn't ask to wear this out in public (except when we go swimming of course).

Santa Pictures

2008-12-06T23:59:00.001-07:00

Today, we visited Santa with our friends, in hopes of snapping some good photos with him and the kids.

Noah was the first to go and did pretty good. He really didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, or sit next to him but we are able to get several good shots as he tolerated the adults snapping away with their cameras.

My kids however, well... that was a different story. Kendall cried but she didn't scream. Vaughn had a melt down. I managed to snap this one picture. Bill couldn't take the crying and immediately "rescued" his son. For me, after doing this for the 4th time now, the crying doesn't break my heart like it used to. I know that sounds harsh but if I let the crying get to me, I would not have had any pictures of my kids with Santa.

We ended up taking a picture with Santa all together. This picture though will not be the one that makes it into the frame. It'll be the one up above. It's classic.

The Meyers decided to go the family picture route as they quickly realized their sons were just as terrified of Santa as mine were.

Once the pictures with Santa was taken, the kids could go down this slide. The coordinators were trying go for that A Christmas Story type setting.

The kids were all given bubbles to play with afterward.

Everything was fine until my dear friend decided to wipe the snot away from Vaughn's nose.

He didn't like that.

Not at all (as he sinks lower and lower on the bench). LOL!

Needless to say, he survived the traumatic events of the day with some bubble blowing. Or should I saw bubble eating.

Thank you grandma Dornan for Kendall's coat. It's adorable!

Family Time

2008-12-05T00:23:00.005-07:00

Final pictures from Thanksgiving trip to Ohio....

At the airport, waiting to board the plane. Vaughn completely interested in the ground crew.

Kendall laying around, completely uninterested in the ground crew.

Kendall posing with grandma Dornan.

Kendall posing with grandpa Rim.

Kendall performing a chinese song.

Kendall getting loving attention from aunt Shannon and uncle Lonnie.

Vaughn stripped down to socks and a diaper in preparation for the traditional spaghetti meal.

Pasta anyone?

Kendall hanging out with great-grandpa Scarazzo.

Vaughn playing fish with grandpa Dornan. I understand Vaughn whipped his butt :)

Kendall sitting with great-grandma Scarazzo.

Kendall pouting after being told she can no longer jump on the bed because it's time to sleep.

Intense conversation with great-grandpa Scarazzo.

Horsing around with aunt Shannon and cousin Lea.

Thanks to our family for a great time!

Round and Round

2008-12-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

My sister called the other night and usually it's to talk to me. Actually, it's always to talk to me but this last call was an exception. I asked "What's up?" She replied "I want to talk to the kids." I smiled and of course obliged.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my little sis got to bond with her niece and nephew and loved spoiling them. And boy did they take advantage of it!

Kendall kept wanting to place chase around the house, or be spun around and around by her aunt. Aunt Joan always said yes, much to my mom's dismay, as all the screaming and running around was a bit too much for her.

Whatever Kendall did, Vaughn followed suit. These photos are of Vaughn getting his turn at being spun round and round.

Music

2008-12-02T20:22:00.001-07:00

When I was a little girl, I spent quite a bit of time home alone with my sister, as my parents worked a lot. During these times, I could often be found in my large bathroom with the radio plugged in and blaring the top 40 tunes on WHOT 101 FM, dancing and singing in front of the mirror.

Once in awhile, someone would ring the doorbell and I would snap back to reality, quickly turning off the music, feeling embarrassed and hoping whoever it was didn't hear me.

For as much as I loved music, I did not like playing the piano. Like many Asian kids, I was forced to endure years of piano lessons. It wasn't so much that I didn't like the piano, it was that at the time, I'd rather be playing outside with my friends instead of practicing daily in preparation for my next lesson.

The words "Someday, you will be glad you learned." come to mind now because it is true. I now miss my piano and wish I had one in my own home. When I was back in Ohio at my parents home for Thanksgiving, I sat at the piano every night playing it.

My kids often interrupted my playing so they could have a turn at the keys. I'm hoping that in a couple years, I can get them to take lessons as well.

Deck the Tree

2008-12-02T00:43:00.002-07:00

While in Ohio, the kids got to decorate Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas tree. Kendall learned how to handle the hook...

while Vaughn got to feel the prick of a hook.

It was great for the kids and they enjoyed seeing all the different Christmas ornaments.

Shhhhh

2008-11-30T21:11:00.003-07:00

Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving? We had a great time in Ohio visiting our families! We love you guys!!!

Other than the kids being sick (again!), they were pretty well behaved most of the time. They loved all the love and attention!

My sister pulled out this old phone for the kids to play with and they took turns pretending to talk to someone on the other end. Kendall was so serious about it and I found that she replicated just about everything I usually do when I'm on the phone.

Here she is telling me to "Shhhhh. You have to be quiet." It's what I often say to her and Vaughn because I usually have a difficult time hearing the other person over their voices.

Pre-Thanksgiving

2008-11-23T23:02:00.003-07:00

Dinner with friends is always a treat so when our friends, the Macs, invited us over for dinner - we were thoroughly delighted.

It was a pre-Thanksgiving dinner which was a nice reminder of how blessed we are with our friends. They are like family to us.

I love seeing the two older boys really bonding. They always seem to laugh when they are around each other. Here they are doing backward flips.

Vaughn was busy getting his hands on anything that had wheels.

I was glad to see Kendall join in on the fun as she is the only girl in the group. As time goes on, I think she'll be a little more social with her male friends.

How To Climb Up Onto a Couch

2008-11-22T21:48:00.001-07:00

BEAT MICHIGAN

2008-11-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

Several weeks back, we went to a colleague's son's football game and had a blast cheering him on. We've got the annual rival game Saturday. As Bill always say "Go Bucks! Beat Michigan!"

If You Love Dinosaurs

2008-11-19T20:25:00.002-07:00

then this is probably the next best thing than actually seeing one in real life

When Kendall first saw this thing, she was in awe.

Because of my daughter, I have fallen in love with dinosaurs too.

Battle Over Stroller

2008-11-18T20:14:00.003-07:00

Kendall loves this stroller...

...but Vaughn loves it way more.

He loves anything with wheels. He loves it even more if he can push it across the floor.

So while Vaughn is busy playing with the stroller, Kendall reverts her attention to her baby doll bed.

I ask Kendall if she's the mommy and she always responds no. Vaughn however nods his head when asked if he's the daddy :)

Dino Wrestling

2008-11-16T23:01:00.001-07:00

No words needed here....

I'M DONE!

2008-11-15T21:06:00.002-07:00

I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!
I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!
I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!
I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!
I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!
I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED!

What did I pass you ask? Click here to find out.

You can stop calling me Elle now and just call me Ms. PMP now :)

Birthweek Day 7 (Dinosaur Party)

2008-11-09T21:42:00.008-07:00

Today was Kendall's 3rd Birthday party and we had a blast :) The morning was spent cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.

The afternoon began with a nap shortly followed by a surprise as Kendall opened her bedroom door: A big red dinosaur.

Here's Vaughn holding one of the dinosaurs Kendall gave him. This one is a brachiosaurus and is one of the more gentler dinosaurs. I'm learning that Kendall likes the more ferocious dinosaurs. The ones that have teeth and like to eat people.

This was the highlight! Look at this cake and all the little cupcakes! Seriously? My friend made this! Isn't it sooooo amazing! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I'm still in awe looking at this picture! She is so talented! Thank you Melissa!!

Now this dinosaur, the one that Kendall is holding, is more her type: The Tyrannosaurus Rex. Her other favorite dinosaur is a spinosaurus.

Don't you just love this little ensemble?! I just adore the hat!

Bill made burritos and tacos for the party and they turned out delicious!

Vaughn really liked hanging out with Bowen. He followed him around the party and imitated him. If Bowen laughed, Vaughn laughed. If he put his hand underneath his chin, Vaughn copied. It was so cute. Vaughn is definitely a boy. He really likes the rough and tumble of the older boys. I think they will all become really good friends as time goes on.

One of the games we played was Dinosaur Egg Hunt. All the kids received a little bag and went running around the room looking for dinosaur eggs to put in their bags and take home with them. It was really cute to see how excited they got every time they found an egg. There were 72 eggs in total. Inside the dinosaur eggs were... You guessed it! Little baby dinosaurs.

The next game we played was Dinosaur Piniata. The kids took turn swinging at it until the string broke.

They then just tried to hit it on the ground.

Unfortunately, the dinosaur did not want to break.

So finally, we had the adults start taking a swing at it and when it broke, the lollipops spilled out onto the carpet. The kids took their cue and scrambled to pick up their yummy treats.

After a little bit of playing, it was time for cake. Kendall was a pro at blowing out the candles.

I hadn't planned on having Kendall open the presents during the party but she had other ideas.

You can see the top back of Vaughn's head, as he watches the two boys playing. He soon quickly joined and was having so much fun playing with them.

I asked Kendall tonight, as I was tucking her into bed, if she had a good day. She replied yes. I asked why? She said "It was my birthday party." I explained to her that mommy and daddy love her so much and we want her to be happy. She nodded and gave me a kiss. I love it when she's happy!

Thank you to all my wonderful close friends and family. I really love you all. Really, really do. You guys help make my life complete and I cherish you so much.

Well, hopefully all these pictures will last you a week. I won't be blogging this week as I need to focus on my studies. It's the final week before the exam and I just really need no distractions. Thanks for being such loyal readers! See you Sunday.

Birthweek Day 6 (Falling Behind)

2008-11-08T23:59:00.001-07:00

Okay, there's just so much going on and too many pictures so these pictures are from yesterday, her actual birthday. We went to our favorite museum yesterday so we could check out Imax's latest dinosaur movie at Kendall's request.

Vaughn insists on getting his own seat (at first) and Bill has to use his leg to make sure it stays down since Vaughn is still too light. I just love his little legs.

Afterward, we came home and sang Happy Birthday before eating cake.

Aunt Shannon we love the outfit! She will get a lot of use out of it!

Birthweek Day 5 (The Surprise)

2008-11-07T23:07:00.002-07:00

Today, Kendall officially turned 3 and she was in for a HUGE surprise!

Here is her and Vaughn a bit scared of going near the surprise.

Eventually, they found the courage to come closer and actually touch the new triceratops. That is until...

It started moving and roaring, sniffing and chomping, shaking it's tail and blinking it's eyes.

They were in complete awe and terror of this creature but I know that Kendall was excited about it at the same time!

Birthweek Day 4 (Carly)

2008-11-06T23:59:00.002-07:00

I just love my friends. I really do. One of them is Carly. She is one of my old college friends who was in my wedding and I in hers, who I spent nearly every day with my last year in college as we were both Resident Advisors to an all freshman dorm. I just totally heart Carly!

It just so happened that in the mail, Kendall received a package from her for her birthday.

Here she is sporting her new birthday present. It's seriously the softest set of pajamas I have ever felt and Kendall loves it and was very excited to sleep in it tonight. I have a feeling she's going to want to sleep in it every night.

Thankfully we waited to put them on her until after she finished eating her cupcake treat.

She was trying to lick some of the icing off her face.

I don't think Vaughn found it to be very attractive.

Birthweek Day 3 (Endless)

2008-11-05T21:33:00.001-07:00

We have a pair of grandparents who love to spoil their grandchildren, especially when it comes to birthdays. Today was a very exciting day as Kendall got to open a large package from grandma and grandpa Dornan. Hey, didn't we just get a Halloween package from them??

In it, we found a cool Winnie the Pooh helium filled balloon and what seemed to be an endless supply of clothes and accessories!

Kendall just kept pulling them out one-by-one and I kept thinking - okay, that's the end but nope. They just kept coming and coming. It was like she had a whole new wardrobe.

Her favorite was a cute little black hat that she immediately tried on and went straight to the mirror to see what she looked like in it. Of course I already knew that she looked Adorable!! Thank you grandma & grandpa Dornan!!

Yes We Did!

2008-11-04T21:32:00.003-07:00

Today, Americans said:
NO to racism
NO to homophobia
NO to ignorance
NO to corporate greed

and

YES everyone deserves healthcare, no matter if you are rich or poor, sick or healthy, young or old
YES let's save our planet
YES to early childhood education, college education, better education
YES let's change our foreign policy

and so much much more!!!

As I write this it's really finally hitting me and I'm filled with so much hope! For our country and for my children's future! BUT we shouldn't rely just on our new president. We need to do our part too. We need to look at ourselves and figure out what we can do to make things better, whether it's through volunteer work to create housing for those who don't have a home, or speaking out when something or someone is not right or recycling or whatever it may be.

Barack Obama didn't get into office through his efforts alone. It started at the bottom, at the grassroots level. We have so much power and I feel like today was the day that helped prove that fact. (Cookies made by Deidre Ochsner - Love it!)

We watched the results crawl in with our friends, The Ochsners, as we both thought about our children's future.

Be safe Mr. President!

Birthweek Day 1 (Get Your Motor Running)

2008-11-03T23:15:00.002-07:00

It's that time of year again where we celebrate for an entire week, Kendall's birth. She will be turning 3 this Friday but we begin the celebration today: Day 1 of 7. Kendall got this very cool trike for her birthday and was test driving it all over the neighborhood.

Vaughn was not going to be left out, and even though he still is learning what pedal means, he was able to join in on the fun.

Even if he needed the help of his dad.

Kendall felt like a big girl with her own new trike. Another milestone achieved.

Clean Clean Clean

2008-11-01T21:55:00.005-06:00

Today, Bill and I were like madmen cleaning up the mess in our house and car that had accumulated over the past week as we had very little time with all the Halloween stuff going on, work and just life in general with kids.

The weather has been so phenomenal and we enjoyed it today at the nearby playground. Tomorrow will be much of the same as we turn our attention to taking down the Halloween decorations. I'm already thinking ahead to Kendall's birthday and Christmas. Yes Christmas. Call me crazy. You wouldn't be the first :)

A Long Halloween

2008-10-31T21:56:00.008-06:00

Today, my office had a pretty kick a$$ Halloween party where families could come too. We had a potluck filled with yummy dishes and everyone brought in candy for the kids to go trick-or-treating from cubicle to cubicle.

They also had a Halloween Charlie Brown movie playing and coloring.

We then headed to back to Kendall's school for a Halloween parade and some treats.

Afterward we went to a Halloween event in our neighborhood that is put on by all the local stores. The street was packed.

At the end of the day, we finally came home and Kendall was elated to go through all the candy she collected from the zoo, butterfly pavilion, a party, Bill's work place, mine and the local neighbors. I can honestly say this was by far the looooongest Halloween I have ever had. Bill and I let them eat whatever candy they wanted, as much as they wanted. Which actually wasn't as many as I thought it would be. Kendall and Vaughn often would take a bite of something and then look for the next best candy to try out. Talk about loading up on sugar. We also had a good number of kids come by our house to trick or treat but Kendall and Vaughn hardly noticed them, as they were much more into their candy.

Happy Halloween everyone!

A Treat in a Box

2008-10-30T23:41:00.000-06:00

Kendall and Vaughn got a surprise when a package came from Grandma and Grandpa Dornan. Kendall was so anxious to see what was in it.

I handed this present, still wrapped in it's tissue paper, to Vaughn and he just looked at as if to say "What am I supposed to do with this?" But after watching his sister, he soon realized he needed to remove the wrapping to get to the present.

Besides some Halloween goodies, they both scored the coolest hat you could give a kid: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY baseball caps.

As soon as Vaughn saw his, he placed it on his head. A buckeye fan in the making!

My Husband Was At It Again

2008-10-30T22:50:00.000-06:00

Bug a Boo Part 8 (Watching a Movie)

2008-10-29T20:27:00.000-06:00

We watched a little bit of the Wizard of Oz they had playing on the big screen and I just love the fact that Darth Vader refused to eat popcorn because "Darth Vader doesn't eat popcorn."

This little kid walked into the room and his jaw dropped when his sister pointed Darth Vader out to him, whispering something in his ear. Throughout the movie, he kept looking over at Darth Vader with this look on his face like he couldn't believe it.

Bug a Boo Part 7 (Feeding)

2008-10-29T20:26:00.000-06:00

Vaughn is at this stage where he really won't eat unless he gets to feed himself.

No problem when we are at home...

but when you're out in public, with no change of clothes and the food that he is eating is ice cream...

then it can be a bit of a battle, which includes yelling and temper tantrums.

Kendall didn't notice the drama, as she was more focused in locating the gummy bears hidden in her ice cream.

Obama's Loss Traced to...

2008-10-29T20:00:00.000-06:00

I've had several people send this video to me, which I thought was quite funny. If you know anyone who is considering NOT voting, I suggest you send this to them too!

Bug a Boo Part 6 (Out of the Movies)

2008-10-28T20:57:00.000-06:00

Don't these pictures look like they could have come out of the Star Wars movie?
Scene: Princess Leia looks out the window overlooking her kingdom.

An alarm sounds and interrupts the peaceful view. Princess Leia makes a mad dash to investigate the cause.

Here she comes! Watch out evil trespassers!

Bug a Boo Part 5 (Picture Perfect Butterflies)

2008-10-28T20:56:00.000-06:00

The best way to get a group picture with Vaughn, so that he's not running around, is to just pick him up.

Kendall and Vaughn enjoyed playing this game, although instead of standing behind the black tape, they walked right up to the holes to place their bean bagged animals in.

Picture perfect butterflies, don't you think?

Bug a Boo Part 4 (Take 4)

2008-10-28T20:55:00.001-06:00

Here I am trying to get a group picture of us together but Vaughn was too busy walking all around the room and would not stand still by us...

I never did get a shot and after 4 takes, Darth Vader grumbled "Forget it."

Bug a Boo Part 3 (Red)

2008-10-27T21:21:00.001-06:00

One of the things I like about my costume is that it's so vibrantly red! Silly huh? But I don't I would have the guts to wear a red dress except dressed in costume. To wear red is to be confident. It's to say "Hey! Look at me."

This reminds of me of the time I wrote my dad a little note in red ink. I was probably in high school, and the note was something to the effect of "I'm over so and so's house and will be back at such and such time." When I came home, my dad was pretty upset with me because I had written him in red. He says it's bad luck. I guess it's something he learned as a little kid and it was hard for him to shake it off. I was finally able to make him laugh and see how ridiculous his logic was but I found it quite interesting too.

Bug a Boo Part 2 (Hello Kitty)

2008-10-27T21:20:00.000-06:00

I don't think I have any good pictures to show it but Vaughn has been using a Hello Kitty trick-or-treat basket. This was one I had bought for Kendall her 1st year. Kendall however really likes her pink pumpkin to trick-or-treat with instead. I could have sworn we had an orange version of it too but we just can't seem to find it anywhere. So Vaughn is using the only one we have left but he doesn't mind, or rather he doesn't care or notice. It still collects candy and I think that's all that matters.

We had a little difficulty here, petting the starfish because Kendall's sleeves kept getting in the water. She didn't seem to mind as soon as she spotted the candy.

I think the kids have eaten more candy in the past two days, then they have their entire life. But hey, it's Halloween so you have to let them go a little crazy. I just hope they realize they realize that when it's over, that means no more candy :)

Bug a Boo Part 1 (Holding Rosie)

2008-10-27T21:19:00.000-06:00

The Butterfly Pavilion held their annual Halloween event called Bug a Boo and we just had to check it out. I can tell you we were the 1st customers to arrive. 45 minutes before the doors opened to be exact. After seeing how scarce parking was at the zoo the other day when the gates weren't even open yet for another 10 minutes, I was worried we wouldn't get a parking space at this event if we didn't arrive early.

So we unbuckled the kids from their car seats and let them play up front in the car, which they rarely get to do. I think this was Vaughn's first time and Kendall's 3rd. I think every button was pushed, every knob was turned, and Bill and I were stepped on at least a hundred times. The CD player kept getting turned on and off, and the volume went from zilch to explosive a few times. The indoor lights didn't escape their notice, nor the mirrors in the visors. Kendall enjoyed poking her head out of our sun roof, letting the fierce wind whip her hair around. I found the whole thing quite amusing. Darth Vader however, was ready for the doors to open so we could make our escape to less confined areas.

Here's Darth Vader holding the infamous Rosie, the tarantula with his bare hands. Darth Vader was not happy about having to take his gloves off. The employee told him Rosie would get it's tentacles stuck on it so they had to be removed.

Here's Kendall who touched it lightly and then quickly withdrew her hand, unsure of what the spider might do to her. I actually touched it too. Several times in fact, in order to convince Kendall that it was okay.

Vaughn got to touch the tarantula too.

I guess when you get in character of your costumes, you somehow find the courage to do things you normally would not do.

Meyer's Halloween Party

2008-10-26T20:52:00.004-06:00

Today, we went to a pretty cool Halloween party hosted by our friends and they really went all out this year. Not only did they have bags of goodies for the kids to take home but they got a chance to decorate their own pumpkins. Here are some of the kids dressed in their costumes...

Are You Real?

2008-10-25T22:18:00.003-06:00

The following were some of the things my husband heard today from little children...

"Are you real?" whispered in awe. My husband looked down and nodded his head slowly.

"Can I take my picture with you?" My husband stared and then finally nodded his head slowly twice.

"My son loves you." My husband looked at the father and then down at the son, saying not a word.

"Wow!" My husband stared and continued walking.

"Oh my god. It's you." My husband just stared and continued to walk.

"Look! It's Darth Vader!"

Yes. Darth Vader was at Boo At The Zoo today. It was kind of unreal to see kids just completely fascinated by my husband's character. He was indeed a celebrity today.

Have you ever seen Darth Vader carry around his son, Luke Skywalker? LOL! I thought this a funny site to see.

Here are the two siblings: Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker.

Here's their mother: Queen Amidala

My husband complained exclaiming "Darth Vader does not push around a stroller!"

Anderson Farms Part 9 (Dark Room and Up in the Air)

2008-10-24T22:30:00.004-06:00

How does a kid know that when they look into a dark room that it is supposed to be scary? I guess you don't learn that really. You just inherently know that because darkness prevents you from being confident in what you are seeing or what you are doing. Kendall saw this room and I heard her exclaim "Oooooo scary."

Kendall frozen in the air by the photos.

Anderson Farms Part 8 (Barrel Train)

2008-10-24T22:22:00.003-06:00

Hopefully Aeron won't mind that I'm borrowing some of the pictures he took :) Hi Aeron!

So I had never been in a barrel train before but it looked like something the kids would enjoy. And they did but mom and dad were pretty squished in so much that we had difficulty trying to get ourselves out when the ride was over.

These were definitely made for one person, and that person would be a little kid. Not recommended for grown-ups. At least not the barrels we were in.

Anderson Farms Part 7 (Need a Ride?)

2008-10-24T22:11:00.000-06:00

We don't have a wagon of our own so I think it's a treat to Kendall and Vaughn whenever they get to play with one.

But I realized wagons are just not as fun if you don't have anything in it.

To pull an empty wagon is a little lame. Otherwise why bother pulling it, right?

Anderson Farms Part 6 (Pumpkin Patch)

2008-10-24T22:01:00.000-06:00

Here we are getting our pumpkins. Unfortunately, we noticed a HUGE truck full of pumpkins driving onto the farm. When we inquired about it, Farmer Wayne informed us that they have had so many visitors, they were simply running out of pumpkins and had to order them from other farms.

Needless to say, my friend was a little disappointed. It's almost like it's a farce.
Well, Kendall didn't notice and was happy with her pumpkin because she could actually pick it up by herself and carry it around.

Vaughn didn't have as much luck and decided to just sit next to his and hold it possessively.

When Noah was asked what kind of pumpkin he wanted, he replied "A skinny one." LOL! Never heard anyone request a skinny pumpkin.

We ended up coming home with 3 pumpkins. Reminder we had already purchased 4 from our previous visit to a different pumpkin patch. Unfortunately all 4 have been eaten away by squirrels. Next year, we are not going to carve our pumpkins until a week before Halloween.

Out of Bounds: McCain distorts Joe's story

2008-10-24T11:48:00.001-06:00

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

What happened: On Saturday, McCain praised "Joe the Plumber" in his radio address, saying "Joe Wurzelbacher is a straight-talking man himself" and recounting a conversation Wurzelbacher had last week with McCain's rival, Barack Obama. "Joe explained that he works for a small plumbing and heating company," McCain said. "He's been thinking about maybe taking over the business when his boss retires. Problem is, that would make Joe one of millions of small business owners who face a sudden increase in taxes under my opponent's tax plan."

Why that's wrong: Much of the Wurzelbacher story has been shown to be incorrect. He's not a licensed plumber in Ohio, according to state officials, and while his boss, Al Newell, is, Ohio law requires a plumber to register with the state and then seek a local license. Wurzelberger's estimate that the business makes between $250,000 and $280,000 a year turned out also to be exaggerated. Media reports found that the business' estimated total annual revenue was about $100,000. Even if its income reached above $250,000, Obama's higher rate would only apply to amounts above that. Plus, Wurzelberger has said he has no precise plans to buy the company anytime soon.

Anderson Farms Part 5 (A Slimy Feeding)

2008-10-23T20:58:00.001-06:00

Usually the best part about going to a pumpkin patch is picking out your pumpkin, but for me the best part was getting to the pumpkin patch.

Hello farmer Wayne! Really nice guy who pulled our wagon.

There were probably two other families on the wagon besides us. We had room to move and sit wherever we wanted. We were the first wagon out that day, and every wagon thereafter was jam packed with people.

We made a stop to feed the cows, who knew immediately why we were there. If you weren't careful, you walked away with your hand covered in slime. Yuck!

I love the view of the mountains. I just love Colorado!

Anderson Farms Part 4 (No Train For Me)

2008-10-22T23:57:00.000-06:00

Like I said in my last post, Kendall wanted nothing to do with the train. Instead her eyes laid here on this beauty. Can you spot her in the picture? Click to enlarge.

Do you notice how there are no other kids around? Fast forward an hour later, and it was packed. So glad we came early!

Anderson Farms Part 3 (Wooden Train)

2008-10-21T20:21:00.000-06:00

It's so bizarre. Kendall had absolutely no interest in this train. Nada. She passed it up and headed straight for the playground. The boys however immediately went to it to explore. Can you see little Vaughn peaking through? :) My little baby! You'll have to click on the picture for a better view.

THERE he is!

Noah, who is actually going to be a train conductor this year for Halloween, headed straight to the front of the train. How appropriate!

I just LOVE this song!

Anderson Farms Part 2 (Milking the Cow)

2008-10-20T20:27:00.000-06:00

Noah and Vaughn had an udderly fantastic time milking this cow.

Don't worry it was just water, or so that's what it looked like.

When I drink milk, I really don't like to think too hard about where it came from. I know that's silly but that's the way I feel about meat too. If I think about it too much, I'll start gagging.

Anderson Farms Part 1

2008-10-19T21:06:00.002-06:00

We visited another pumpkin patch with our friends, The Macs, and it rocked! One of the employees was telling us that they had 18,000 visitors the day before. 18K!!! In one day! Wow! We got there right before it opened and there was a little line but about an hour later, the line grew tremendously long and I bet they couldn't get in right away, as there were probably limits on how many people this place could hold at one time.

I took a ton of pictures and will spread them over the week. Here's Kendall with her boyfriend, not wanting to hold his hand.

And Vaughn who clearly wanted nothing more to do with picture taking.

SNL Skit of Brokaw Moderated Debate

2008-10-19T02:01:00.002-06:00

If you missed the SNL skit of the debate moderated by Brokaw, you'll have to check it out. I thought it was hilarious!

I Heart the Woods

2008-10-18T21:07:00.002-06:00

I feel like I don't get to walk through wooded areas enough like I did back when I was living in Ohio. As a little kid, before all the housing development went up behind our street, our backyards led right up to some pretty cool trails made by all the neighborhood kids.

We would really take care of our woods too, bringing out all the rakes and sweeping away the leaves off the narrow trail. We rode our bikes through it, making large mounds so it would be more interesting. We would sometimes sneak up the ladder to a tree house made by some of the older kids when they weren't around. There was even a little pond that would ice over in the winter and we would "skate" on it with our boots or tennis shoes. Back then, I wasn't scared of bugs - I don't think I even noticed them as I was too wrapped up in whatever imaginative play was happening at that moment.

The best was when we played hide-and-seek! The endless number of hiding places were nothing short of awesome. Man, I sure knew how to play when I was little. I wouldn't trade that for anything :) Well, most anything.

I love that picture directly above. Kendall's boyfriend got a new puppy: a bernese mountain dog name Lucy and she is going to get to around 100lbs within less than a year. Anyway, Kendall and Vaughn were sooo scared of her - to the point they were in tears, screaming, wanting to be held. (Darn! I should have taken a picture of that!) But towards the end of our walk, they lightened up a bit and almost forgot she was there.

Do You Like My Hat?

2008-10-17T20:53:00.002-06:00

I LOVE MY SON!

Obama Roasts McCain

2008-10-17T10:58:00.003-06:00

If you have been following the presidential campaigns and want a good laugh, you must see this video. If you can't view it below, click here to be navigated to the You Tube website where you can view it there.

I just have to say I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. It was great.

Hallow-cheesy

2008-10-16T22:49:00.004-06:00

Kendall's boyfriend was over last weekend to see the local entertainment at the nearby library, where this guy did some magic tricks and had his puppets dancing to Halloween themed music. It was pretty cheesy but the kids enjoyed it. Can you tell by their faces? LOL!

The library was packed which tends to happen when the weather turns cold.

The kids also did some pumpkin carving which really meant the dads did most of the work.

Kendall got bored pretty quickly with it and decided to watch instead.

Just for kicks...

Ignorance

2008-10-15T23:37:00.000-06:00

Picking Pumpkins

2008-10-14T20:12:00.005-06:00

I'm too tired so I'm just posting pictures...

Vaughn's 1st Huge Inflated Slide

2008-10-13T22:12:00.000-06:00

This large slide was much faster than we had originally anticipated. Kendall was the first to go down and as I was shooting pictures, I realized she was going really fast. I held my breath as I waited to see her reaction when she got up from the bottom of the slide and she just had this stunned look and then asked to do it again. Whew.

So when Bill and Vaughn made their way up, Bill yelled from above "Should I let him go by himself?" He hadn't seen what I had because he was making his way up while I had witnessed Kendall's fast ride. I yelled anxiously "NOOOOOO! It's too fast!!!" I had this look of terror on my face as I watched my husband dangle Vaughn up in the air getting ready to sit him down and let him go on his own. I yelled again "NO NO NO! It's too dangerous! DON'T!" After a few more yells and gut wrenching pleas, Bill finally believed me and held him tight as they flew down together. Another WHEW! Bill too stated how fast it was after he came down.

Last year, around this same time, Kendall did one of these inflatable slides that was just as large as this one but for some reason it was pretty mellow. All inflatable slides are not built equally so be cautious.

Whomever Came Up with Balloons is a Genius

2008-10-12T21:04:00.002-06:00

There is no way I could have contained my kids excitement even if I wanted to. There was so much squealing and laughing while we were in this pumpkin tent that was filled with balloons being blown all over the place by a giant fan.

I couldn't wipe the grin off my face as I was shooting away with my camera. I've said it time and time again - when my kids are happy, I'm happy.

I like balloons too but man does our hair get major static electricity after being around them.

We always manage to have balloons at our house. You can find at least 4 balloons blown up somewhere in the clutter. They are great toys to take with you when you travel because they don't take up any room until you get to your destination and blow them up. When you are done, just pop them and throw them away and you don't have to worry about bringing them back with you.

First Corn Maze

2008-10-11T22:05:00.005-06:00

I'm pretty sure this was the kids 1st experience at a corn maze. Kendall was mostly interested in getting to the end where a giant pumpkin awaited.

Vaughn was interested more in his lemonade.

We didn't exactly follow the maze to the mouth of the pumpkin but I fault the person who put it together. Why would you have a door way in the back of the giant pumpkin but block it off with bales of hay? So we just climbed over them :) I say if you don't like the rules, make up your own!

First Roller Coaster Ride

2008-10-10T21:55:00.002-06:00

We went to a pumpkin patch that had all sorts of fun entertainment for kids, one of them was this dragon roller coaster. We were all picking out our pumpkins when Kendall kept looking at this roller coaster with great interest. I think she really liked the fact that it was a dragon. She finally asked if I would ride on it with her and me being such a lover of roller coasters, enthusiastically obliged.

I was worried that she would get too scared and start crying, demanding to get off but she didn't. She really liked it. I love the smile on her face in these pictures! Wahoo! I have a roller coaster buddy for when we start going to amusement parks!

My Dad Got Internet

2008-10-09T21:55:00.004-06:00

My dad just got internet. This is huge! My parents don't have cable. They don't have a cell phone. When they were here last, I helped them pick out a laptop computer and now my dad went and ordered high speed internet. I'm still stunned. The first thing he wanted me to do when he got it was tell him the URL for this website. It is not easy telling a person over the phone, who is not proficient when it comes to computers, let alone how to use the internet. Not easy.

You can't just say:
- Click here
- Highlight that
- Scroll down
- See that link
- Hit the back space
- Webpage
- URL
- Browser

It's also difficult communicating the URL to someone who isn't familiar with URLs. What does "dot com" mean? "Slash?" "No capitals?" "No spaces?"

Just communicating a URL can seriously take 10 minutes for a non-user, when it would normally take 3 seconds.

It's exciting though! For some reason, they are having trouble see this webpage, but they can access the 2007 version of Dornan World. They were so excited to see pictures of the kids. I was on the phone listening to them make comments over each picture they saw.

You might have noticed (or maybe not) I hid some of my political posts recently, only because I know that is not what they want to see when they first come to this site. I'll probably post them back up a month or so from now. I will also be a little more sensitive to what I know they care to see, which is the kids.

So here are a couple of pics of the kids enjoying a bouncy play thingamajig.

I love how Vaughn sticks his arms out to the left to catch his balance and avoid falling down.

One last thing... I have to post this because I think it is very interesting. I just read an article in Reader's Digest that stated the world is more in favor of Obama over McCain, and we're not talking by a small margin (except for the U.S.):

Netherlands: Obama 92% vs McCain 8%
Germany: Obama 85% vs McCain 7%
Taiwan: Obama 81% vs McCain 6%
Brazil: Obama 78% vs McCain 11%
Australia: Obama 76% vs McCain 10%
Spain: Obama 76% vs McCain 13%
France: Obama 75% vs McCain 10%
Finland: Obama 71% vs McCain 13%
Great Britain: Obama 70% vs McCain 14%
Mexico: Obama 70% vs McCain 25%
South Africa: Obama 70% vs McCain 26%
Indonesia: Obama 67% vs McCain 17%
Poland: Obama 65% vs McCain 19%
Canada: Obama 64% vs McCain 14%
India: Obama 61% vs McCain 26%
Russia: Obama 52% vs McCain 17%

Knock it Off!

A Thomas the Train B-Day

2008-10-06T21:56:00.002-06:00

I'm reminded once again how quickly time whizzes by as we celebrated Noah's 3rd birthday this past weekend. His mom, the genius of cakes, made this fabulous Thomas the Train cake, and yes - the cake tasted just as delicious as it looked.

She had made red, blue and yellow colored chocolates shaped like trains, to match the red, blue and yellow balloons that coordinated with the red, blue and yellow nap sacks made out of bandanas, tied to a long stick that held party favors for all the kids. It was all so clever!

Her husband made homemade pizzas that could easily compete with some of the best pizza restaurants out there. YUM!

I need to get on the ball and start getting the invitations made for Kendall's birthday next month. I have decided on the theme: DINOSAURS! She is just really into dinosaurs lately ever since we saw an IMAX movie about them. I think she is very intrigued by them because she finds them somewhat frightening. We've been listening and singing to a lot of dinosaur songs lately too. We also bought her a bag of little plastic dinosaurs that she plays with all the time. There is an orange one in particular that she sleeps with and eats meals with. Her name happens to be Kendall too, although sometimes it changes to Addison. I have no idea where the name Addison came from.

Vaughn's 1st Dance Lesson

2008-10-04T23:55:00.001-06:00

Vaughn had his first dance class today. It was a parent-tot class and he did very well. He only protested when I strayed too far away from him. We danced to music, pounding our hands on the floor, reaching high up to the sky, clapping our hands and marching to the beat. He smiled a lot and when class was over and it was Kendall's turn, he watched with envy through the window, requesting to go back into the dance room.

VP Debate - Setting the Bar Lower

2008-10-03T00:03:00.005-06:00

Did you watch the VP debate? Were you surprised that Palin didn't do as bad as you might have anticipated? And so because she didn't do as bad as you thought she might, you've set the bar lower for her to reach. That is my guess as to what many Americans are doing.

But maybe you are brighter than that and could see through the bullshit, where there were so many canned responses, half the time I had to shake my head to clear it and ask "Whoa! Where the heck did that come from? That had nothing to do with the topic!" It was like she decided to stop the debate and just give a written speech to the American people watching on TV. I thought "Is this a debate or a speech?" I don' think the moderator did a good job keeping Palin in check and had the moderator gone back to Palin after Biden's rebuttal, I think we would have had more stumbling and stammering. Because she would have run out of her canned answers for that particular topic, and couldn't get into any more detail than she already had, which was barely anything already.

Well, if you really listened to the answers... Really listened. You should have caught a lot of the bullshit too. I'm not saying that Biden wasn't always telling the truth either but at least he knew what he was talking about and was giving much more details to show that.

ANYWAY... enough about politics (for now). Here are pictures of the kids dressed up as astronauts at the local museum.

October 4th

2008-10-01T19:38:00.003-06:00

Today was bad. Very bad. In the company I work for (which will remain nameless) my department laid off about 1/3 of our team. I was very, very lucky not to be one of them but how I easily could have been. What if it was me? I would no longer be able to cover for my family's health insurance. In our economy, I doubt I'd be able to find a decent paying job. It's hard. It's especially hard when I looked at my kids tonight and think how I just want to be able to take care of them. Sigh. It was a very emotional day as I said my goodbyes to some of my colleagues who weren't as fortunate. Most of them have kids too. I hope they make it through this okay.

If you haven't yet registered to vote, you have to act now. Some state deadlines are as early as October 4th. That is this Saturday. There is no excuse. Please spread the word.

Healthcare Reform

2008-09-30T22:57:00.005-06:00

Just saw a powerful documentary on PBS that followed a few different families living in the U.S. without health insurance and it broke my heart. I was talking to a colleague of mine yesterday who asked "Do you really believe every single person deserves health insurance? That we should be paying for those who don't help themselves?" This colleague of mine is a John McCain support and has the same misconception around those who are uninsured. Many people think that these people who are uninsured because they can't afford healthcare, is because they are lazy, don't work, and just want to feed of the taxpayers' money.

But you know what? Majority of the Americans who are uninsured (80%!!!!) are actually hard working people who make about $14K per year or $45K per year, etc... They have worked hard all their life, saving their money for retirement but then something happens. They get sick and are unable to work and they eventually lose their job which means they lose their health insurance, which in turn results in them not being able to afford prescription medicine that would cost $2500 per month here, but only $10 per month in Mexico, and because they aren't taking their medication (for things like a liver disease or diabetes) they get sicker and sicker and they end up suffering pain that could be avoided. They end up having to have major surgery that could have been avoided. They end up having a higher probability of dying then those who are insured.

Why is it that our health insurance is one of the most expensive in the world but yet we have the worst coverage? The answer to that is GREED. We have to stop this. Vote Obama!!!

I found this to be an interesting article if you care to read it:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2008/criticalcondition/special_podcast.html

I hear these stories and I think "That could be my family someday." Don't think it can't happen to you.

I'm Just a Bill

2008-09-30T00:41:00.002-06:00

With all the talk about the current financial crisis, and the bailout bill that just got voted down by the House, I thought this little clip of what a bill is and how it becomes law would be educational and entertaining for you to watch:

Don't you just love School of Rock! I remember watching it Saturday mornings between some of my favorite cartoons. Those were the days... When the only thing I ever really thought about was playing with my friends.

Now as an adult, I feel so much pressure to keep my family safe. Safe from the chaos that is swirling our nation today.

I hope that with all the changes occurring, to be able to continue to provide a roof over their head, food in their bellies, keep Kendall in school, afford health insurance, etc... I honestly don't think we have seen the worst of it. I recall watching several documentaries earlier this year, predicting this very same turmoil - actually worse.

So be conservative in your spending. Plan for the worst case possible. Who knows what things will be like in 5 to 10 years.

I read something that I thought maybe you should read too, posted by Suze Orman (you know. she's the woman with short, blonde hair who is always on TV, giving people financial advice): http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/29/financial-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-could-be-2015/

Song Bird and Lying Skunk

2008-09-28T20:14:00.005-06:00

I'm about to get raw here because I'm fired up! I've discovered how much ignorance, racism, homophobia and overall prejudice there is still in this nation. I mean I knew there were people out there but I just can't believe it's people that I know and it's pissing me off. What's tragic is that these people think they are just fine. Some of them don't even recognize that the things they say are racist or homophobic.

Why is it that when people think of homosexuals they only think of it in terms of SEX??? When you think of hetrosexuals, is that all you focus on is the man and woman having sex? Is there nothing more to them than that??? And to say that they shouldn't be raising children because they will be taught immoral values just boggles my mind! I am very very close friends with two different lesbian couples who have kids. They are such amazing parents. One of the couples raised a girl from when she was ten and she is now 18 years old, smart as hell with a great head on her shoulders. She is going to a very prestigious college now and so what the hell is immoral about that?!? The other couple has a daughter about the same age as Kendall and they are amazing and are expecting their 2nd child! Their whole world revolves around their daughter because they love her so much. So why the hell can't they get married? WHY?!?!?

Let's talk about racism. If you say things like "Oh well, it's usually the black people who get into trouble." then guess what? You are racist. Ignorant fool! Don't put people in a category when you clearly know that it applies to any race! "Oh she's black but she's so nice and just really smart." What the hell is that supposed to mean. People are so uneducated. So out of touch. They live in their own little bubble and believe everything has to be the way they think it needs to be or it's wrong. PUHLEASE!

Kendall playing with some "black" children. GASP!

I was talking to my Iranian friend yesterday and she had spent the summer in her home country, brining her two daughters and son with her to visit her parents and rest of the family. They do this every summer. Do you know what she said to me? She said she's scared. She says every time she's in the airport, she instinctively gets very protective of her children. People watch her closely and give them terrible looks. And now you've got the republican presidential candidate talking about going to war with Iran. So you have a bad guy ruling the country. Yes. No argument there but majority of the Iranians don't agree with him and his views. They cringe every time he speaks because they know everyone will judge their country based on what he says. These people just want to live in peace. Don't make threats to their country without exhausting all efforts to keep the peace. Before this ruler came into power, the Iranians tried and tried and tried desperately to reach out to the Bush administration but they never heard a response from them. Why do we want to shut ourself off from doing everything we can to avoid a war? WHY???

Okay... There's one other thing I want to cover in this post. Everyone says John McCain is a hero who reenlisted time after time, went to Vietnam and was captured when his plane was hit. According to McCain, he was then tortured until finally he couldn't take it anymore and decided to record a propaganda tape for the Vietnamese. Would you fault him for that? I wouldn't. I hate pain! I'm a big wuss and I know I would be squealing like a pig too.

But this is the thing. According to many POWs who were there too, they claim that McCain IMMEDIATELY confessed to everything and offered to record those propaganda tapes (32 of them!) to avoid being tortured. This is in contrast to what he claims - that he only divulged information until after going through grueling torture. Again, I don't fault him for confessing right away. But the problem is is that he's lying about what happened!!!

So now you have all these families who are part of the POW / MIA group trying desperately for decades to find any piece of information they can on what happened to their love ones and if they could be alive. But all that information is considered classified and cannot be released. So they have fought and fought to get it declassified but someone keeps standing in their way. Do you know who that person is?? MCCAIN! Why would he do everything in his power to not let these people have access to that information? Hmmmmmm.... Could it be because he doesn't want the public to know what really happened in Vietnam? Because that classified information also contains information on McCain when he was a POW. (For those who don't know, POW stands for Prisoner of War and MIA stands for Missing in Action).

I want you to watch a couple of these videos to get an understanding of what I'm saying:

Okay. Last thing. My fellow Coloradans! Monday, October 6th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in time to participate in the November 4 election. That is about a week away. If you have moved since the last time you voted (like Bill and I did) you must re-register to vote! Please SPREAD the word. I know not everyone is going to be as politically outspoken as I am and you may feel uncomfortable talking any politics with people you know but IT IS SO IMPORTANT. Just say "Hey don't know if you know this but we only have a week to register. Just sayin'"
Wearing my Obama hat every chance I get.

Yeah, the media is reporting that all these polls say Obama is pulling ahead but we can't take a chance! We have to work hard every day to get Obama in office. I remember clearly thinking that Al Gore was going to win and that John Kerry was going to win but boy was I in for a rude awakening. Never again will I naively think Obama will win until every single vote has been counted and declared. Please don't sit silent. Start using your voice to get people to register and vote.

OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, COLORADO, MICHIGAN, INDIANA, FLORIDA: You are some of the states that is considered a SWING state. The votes in these swing states are vital to the election! People - don't delay. If you live in a SWING state, do something.

Kendall sportin' a homemade Obama pin given to us by someone we met at the park.

I've been on the look out. Every time I park somewhere - a grocery store, a friend's neighborhood - I've been looking at the cars parked there too. Looking for bumper stickers. I'm a little encouraged by what I see.

New Camera Bonnie Phipps and 1st Hair Cut

2008-09-27T23:36:00.002-06:00

So for those of you who didn't see my previous post about my camera, it broke. This was probably about a month ago. So I researched and researched until I found the camera I wanted to buy. Went to Circuit City (their prices are usually better than Best Buy for the same product) and they said they don't have my camera in stock. They had one on display but didn't know when they would get more shipped in. They said that it has been months since they had any in stock. They checked other nearby stores for me, and confirmed they didn't have it either. Sigh. I was bummed. I wanted my camera now!

Well, instead I had to order it online at their website. The camera would be shipped from their outlet store and would take 3 long weeks. Well, the package was delivered on my front porch. Later, when I retrieved it I discovered the camera had been stolen. Ugh. I was pissed. No. I was really PISSED.

I called customer service immediately and spent an HOUR on the phone with them. I think they thought I was going to give up. Fat chance. They don't know me, do they? So, I was told that a case number has been assigned and someone would be contacting me in 3 business days. Sigh. More waiting.

Well, 3 days passed and no call. So I called and was beyond frustrated when I realized I was talking to someone who clearly had trouble understanding the English language. I had to constantly repeat myself and the situation. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she tells me my ticket was closed the day before because they no longer have that item in stock. I said "Was anybody going to inform me?" Hello! They would just give me a refund instead.

So that night, I went back to the store and asked if they would be willing to sell me THAT camera (I wanted THAT camera) they had on display. The sales associate checked and sure if enough they would. I asked if I could get a discount since it was a display item. They said yes. Got over $70 off the original price. The other good thing that happened was that since the box had already been opened before I purchased it, I could return it within 30 days if I didn't like the product. Without that dumb restocking fee. I said "I'll take it!" It was about darn time, things were going my way :)

So now the question was, am I happy with my new camera. You betcha! It's super fast. Takes great quality pictures. Zooms fast and well and has a bunch of other features I probably will never use.

While, I was watching the debate last night, I played around with it. Here's a picture taken of my bookshelf from my couch, without any zooming.

Here it is with the zoom. You don't lose the quality of the picture when you zoom in on the object. Very cool. I had a huge problem with that with my old camera.

I was trying to take a picture of Kendall through my side mirror and realized after seeing the photo, that you can see the camera a little too. So, that is what my new camera looks like.

Alright. Enough about the camera. I know that was very boring. We went to the library today for their Saturday morning children's program. We hadn't gone in so long, I really missed it. We were one of the 1st one's there. Oh! Last thing I want to say about my camera. It has a neck strap. I know that sounds so lame but I really wanted one with a neck strap. I usually don't wear clothes that have pockets. I'm usually in t-shirts and sweats (as you can see by this photo - no one is going to award me with the title fashionista, that's for sure). And it's difficult to run after 2 kids with a camera in one hand. Those wrist straps don't do it for me. The camera just constantly gets banged against things as I use my hands to do this and that. It's so handy to have it just hanging down from my neck, ready to be picked up when a picture opportunity suddenly appears.

Okay. Back to the library program. Their was a woman today who brought her autoharps, playing them and singing with them. She was funny and we got to sing along and dance which is always fun in my book. She even taught us how to use spoons as a musical instrument. When we got back home, we all practiced. I ended up buying her CD for the kids (and myself).

Last thing... Bill FINALLY let me clip and cut his hair tonight!!! I must say that it turned out fabulous! He agrees. There is one section, right behind his left ear that was cut a little too short but otherwise I was happy. Bill didn't care about my mistake and is going to let me cut his hair from now on!!! Of course I have to mention that it took A LOT of persuading to get him to finally let me try, and I had to do him a HUGE favor which will remain a secret between him and I ;)

You Cannot Be Serious and If You Are, It's Scary

2008-09-26T00:42:00.002-06:00

OH MY GOD. How how how can anyone be confident with this person potentially being one person away from being the president? Seriously? I cannot wait to see the VP debate. Oh wait. Will there ever be one? Seems like the McCain campaign wants to postpone this one too. I think we know the real reason despite the claims they are making about an economic crisis. If you don't know, after seeing this video I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Watch CBS Videos Online

When You Go To Vote, Don't Do This

2008-09-26T00:09:00.003-06:00

A friend of mine recently sent me the following. I don't know how accurate it is but I'm not going to take any chances. I hope you don't either.

--------------------------------------

If you are supporting OBAMA please read:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ADVISE EVERYONE YOU KNOW THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT GO TO THE POLLS WEARING ANY OBAMA SHIRTS, PINS OR HATS, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW AND WILL BE GROUNDS TO HAVE THE POLLING OFFICIALS TO TURN YOU AWAY. THAT IS CONSIDERED CAMPAIGNING AND NO ONE CAN CAMPAIGN WITHIN X AMOUNT OF FEET TO THE POLLS.

THEY ARE BANKING ON US BEING EXCITED AND NOT BEING AWARE OF THIS LONG STANDING LAW THAT YOU CAN BET WILL BE ENFORCED THIS YEAR!

THEY ARE BANKING THAT IF WE ARE TURNED AWAY YOU WILL NOT GO HOME AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES. PLEASE JUST DON'T WEAR OBAMA GEAR OF ANY SORTS TO THE POLLS! PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION, OH AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE ALREADY AWARE THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE.
JUST TRYING TO COVER ALL GROUNDS.

Each state has a different set of restrictions as it relates to campaigning near polling areas and wearing paraphanalia showing support for a particular candidate.

Check out this article for details outlining each state's restrictions.

School Pictures

2008-09-24T00:18:00.004-06:00

No. I don't have any pictures to share with you but Kendall did have her school pictures today. I had purposefully asked that the photographer not ask her to say CHEEEEEESE but instead to just say smile. When Kendall says CHEESE her face gets all scrunched up and you can barely see her eyes. It's just a very unnatural look. Well, when I asked her what she did when she got her picture taken, she said "I said CHEEEEEEESE!" Can't wait to see how the pictures turn out.

Biting update...
Vaughn did not bite today. He didn't even try to according to the nanny. I think for some reason Vaughn only bites the baby who comes on M, W, F and not the girl who comes on T, R. The nanny said she read that we just need to be consistent in the punishment. I think I'm going to tell her to put him in time out.

Usually when I put Vaughn in time out he acts like he doesn't care. He just plays by himself but I noticed that today, he knew what Bill and I meant when we threatened time out. And he did not like it one bit. So we'll see.

Still Biting - No Solutions

2008-09-22T23:28:00.002-06:00

Vaughn is still biting. He bit the little baby we nanny share with again today. He tried to bite his sister. He tried to bite his father and I. We have tried everything we can think of. Seriously. Every suggestion I have read and received is NOT working. HELP!

I think I'll call his doctor tomorrow to see if she has any ideas.

Now Is the Time

2008-09-21T22:04:00.002-06:00

This (see video below) is a very, very, very small example of why we need to start investing heavily in alternative energy. We just can't rely on oil anymore. We have to start now before we hit crisis mode all over the world. Wake up world! Wake up!

Getting Up To Speed

2008-09-21T21:32:00.002-06:00

It's been a hellish, long-ass week let me tell you. Work is kicking my ass. I was sick and coughing all the time, with barely a voice to talk with but still kept on talking because I really didn't have much choice. The new nanny started and so far, so good. The new camera I ordered online finally got delivered on Friday, only when I opened the package, there was no camera. Someone stole it, so now I have to wait for a case manager to be assigned and discuss next steps.

Kendall is doing great in school. She knows how to actually write 0, 1, 2 and 3 now. She can count to 4 in Mandarin and say all the basic greetings. She's been coloring, gluing, cutting, learning to use a chopstick, singing songs in Mandarin and also learning some Kung Fu. Her teacher says that when they march down in the hall, they count their steps 1, 2, 3, 4 - 1, 2, 3, 4... and that Kendall is usually the loudest. She also says that Kendall talks a lot. Hmmmm... like mother, like daughter. I forewarned the teacher that Kendall is a talker and she found it hard to believe - especially after that 1st week but now she knows what I mean.

Vaughn is a biter. He bites and pulls hair. I've tried so many things and he usually laughs at me. Today, after an entire day of biting, I finally bit him on his arm. The mark is still there. He cried and so did I (on the inside). Bill was not happy with me but I read and heard from others that it works to get them to stop biting. I know this is controversial and you probably don't agree with what I did but I'm hoping it worked. He didn't bite for the rest of the day. Sigh. He gets away with so much more than Kendall ever did and I've got to put an end to it. He's already bitten the baby who nanny shares with us. He's always trying to bite Kendall, Bill or me. It's has got to STOP.

Changing topics before I get upset all over again... Vaughn is learning so much so fast. He's been saying lots of words and signing. My favorite is when Kendall talks to him like her mommy, and asks him questions like "Do you want to play with this?" or "Are you all done with that?" and he'll shake his head no, or nod his head yes, completely understanding what she's talking about. They are playing more together too which is great. She also is helping me take off his shoes or grab something for him. She's also been playing "mommy" to a lot of her toys. Although when I ask her if she's the mommy, she always responds no. When I ask if she's the big sister she'll say yes.

We finally got the photo prints from Vaughn and Kendall's photo sesssions and they just look beautiful. Bill and I hung them up around the house and Bill tells me several times a day how much he loves them. (April and Bill: He actually said that he doesn't want to repaint the living room and dining room anymore! WAHOO!)

Changing topics again... Our new hang out is the local Nature & Science Museum. Bill says it's his favorite place out of everything we've experienced so far (even Tiny Town!). We all just love it and I'm just amazed at how big it is and how much there is to see. The kids loved everything from the different rocks they have on display, to the really cool animal displays, to the Discovery Zone and space odyssey. We will definitely be spending a lot of winter months there. I can't wait to check out the planetarium! I have always loved planetariums.

Bill's dad sent over some great pics of Kendall and Bill's cousin: Lea...
Lea's mom (in black leather jacket) is Bill's older sister.

Lea's boyfriend who attends another school and plays quarterback.

Lea scored 2 of the 3 goals in their last game. The team is 8-1. I love how these guys in this picture painted shirts on themselves.

Where is Elle?

2008-09-19T00:11:00.000-06:00

Busy. Very busy. Will blog next week. Sorry.

Polka Dots

2008-09-15T23:43:00.002-06:00

Applying sunscreen made fun.

Breakfast

2008-09-14T23:59:00.000-06:00

A couple weekends ago, when Bill and Vaughn traveled to Ohio, Kendall and I spent some great one-on-one time together. Here is a clip of one of our breakfast mornings. Meal times are much more enjoyable with kids.

Laryngitis

2008-09-12T23:59:00.001-06:00

Ugh... I have laryngitis and really need to purchase a humidifier badly. Last year, I went through about 6 different humidifiers, testing them all out and then returning all of them because they weren't perfect. Well, I'm going to have settle on something times 3. I'm pretty sure my entire family is infected it so we need a humidifier for each room.

I finally purchased a camera. After much research, I settled on a Canon Powershot S5 IS. It's a little more than I wanted to spend, a little bigger than I would have liked but it had everything else that I was looking for so I bought it. I tried to buy it in the store because I wanted it in my hands right away but they were not in stock. They checked all the other nearby stores and there was no such luck. When I went back online, I discovered it was only available in their outlet store. So I ordered it online and according to what I read, the earliest I'll get it is a week from today. Ugh.

So, I think what I'll do to compensate the absence of a functioning camera, is do more recording on my camcorder. So you should be in for a treat as there will be videos coming soon.

Anyway, I think we are going to lay low this weekend. I don't want to get any of our friends sick and I want the kids to be a bit better by Monday, as our new nanny will be starting. As I type this, I can hear Vaughn coughing in the next room. Poor little guy. Our air is so dry here which makes having laryngitis even worse.

I'm totally bummed that we won't get to go to tomorrow's birthday party. It's actually going to be at Chuck E. Cheese and what kid doesn't like Chuck E. Cheese??

I did get what I think is a pretty cool present for the birthday boy, so hopefully that will make up for our absence.

What I Did

2008-09-11T23:11:00.003-06:00

I have almost lost my voice. Literally. I sound like a cross between Demi Moore and the devil. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to give my vocal chords a rest as I have been on the phone pretty much all day for work and then some. I hope tomorrow, my voice will be back.

Just for fun, here is what I did today...

Woke up at 6:45AM
Got breakfast ready for kids
Helped dress Kendall for School
Drove Bill to his conference
Drove Kendall to school and was 20 minutes late
Worked (finally ate something during lunch while I worked)
Picked Kendall up from school
Worked some more
Cooked own dinner in 7 minutes and ate it in 6
Went to curriculum review meeting at school by 5PM
Worked some more from 7:15PM to 10:45PM
Drafted timesheet and paystub for nanny as it is payday tomorrow
Made Kendall's lunch for tomorrow
Enter school events into calendar
Checked weather to ensure Kendall's outfit is weather appropriate
Blogged
Need to respond to emails
Will get ready for bed and sleep around 11:30ish

What didn't I get to do today that I would have liked to have done:
Purchase a new camera
Follow up on a bill dispute with the local hospital
Purchase a birthday gift for a party we are going to Saturday (Hi Jessica - Hopefully you are not reading this)
Follow up with health insurance on an issue they are resolving
Document nanny share calendar schedule
Study for my PMI exam

Oh... my list goes on and on.

FIFTY FIVE DAYS

2008-09-10T22:14:00.003-06:00

PEOPLE:
If you have not yet registered to vote, please please please click here to fill out the online form, print it and mail it in! There is 55 days left before the presidential election! That does not mean you still have 55 days to register. Rules vary by state... You may really only have 25 days left. Don't wait!!!

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie Iron Jawed Angels with Hilary Swank but it was based on a true story of young women in the early 1900s who fought and sacrificed their freedom and well-being in order to win over women's right to vote. After being jailed and tortured, word finally leaked to the press around what was going on and they were able to finally make their way to Congress and won women's right to vote.

So, don't let this opportunity slip by! If you will be 18 years old by the time the election rolls around (November 4th), then you are eligible! If you changed your address, you will most likely need to re-register. You cannot vote unless you are registered! Here is a site that has voting FAQs that may help answer some questions you have.

Random picture of Kendall with my broken camera: