Halloween Parties Galore

Who knew Halloween was Tuesday? From the looks of our weekend schedule, you would have thought the spooky day was Saturday or Sunday. Lauren went trick-or-treating at the mall Saturday afternoon and the whole family attended Halloween party events Saturday night and Sunday night.

Saturday was Robin Hill Pool's annual party at St. Thomas More. Here are the pictures from that event.

So much for dressing up as a family.

Emily (center) with two of her friends.

Veronica was the center of attention.

Olivia loves her Tinkerbell costume.

Lauren won "best costume" for being Dorothy.

Mom resurrected her pumpkin costume from a couple years ago.

Happy Sixth Birthday Julia!

Julia was all smiles when she saw this Husker wind suit, one of her favorite birthday presents.

Unlike her sisters (who usually get two and three birthday parties for their birthday, Julia doesn't enjoy the same treatment. Blame it on Halloween.

This year, Julia got to have a sleepover guest Friday night, which was a special treat.

Julia Loses A(nother) Tooth

At this rate, Julia will be asking for more than just her two front teeth for Christmas.

A visit to the dentist this week confirmed what we suspected. That Julia has a lot of loose teeth. We're convinced she likes to tug and pull on them to make them loose just so the Tooth Fairy visits us regularly.

The loss of one of her front teeth this time was extra special since it came the night before her birthday. That meant both the Tooth Fairy and the Birthday Fairy visited our house.

Reaching for the Stars

The girls received their first report cards Tuesday from their new school. We didn't know what to expect and ended up pleasantly surprised.

Lauren received all E's (excellent) on her report card, while Julia and Olivia also had a majority of great marks. Emily made a tremendous comeback after a slow start to score A's and B's on her fourth grade report. Mom also got to take part in her first parent-teacher conferences and the first day seemed to go well.

Now if Emily can just get a few more of her classmates recruited to play basketball this winter...

Paging Dr. Weide

No, it's not her Halloween costume. But Veronica did look good playing the part of Dr. Weide (not Welby) at the Lincoln Children's Museum.

Back on the Bike

This is one of the few pictures of Dad riding his bike. He was participating in Trek's Breast Cancer Foundation ride in Omaha a week ago. Thursday, he'll be representing Team Kaos at the dedication of Omaha's new pedestrian bridge that will span the Missouri River.

Look What's Inside The Garage

The girls took the initiative and cleaned out one side of the garage. Now our van stays nice and warm overnight.

Ready for Halloween?

It's getting close to Halloween, so that means costume choices are in the mix at the Y-D house.

It was tradition - back when there were only two or three girls in the family - to dress up in matching costumes. One year, Danielle, Emily and Lauren appeared on KMTV as Hershey Kisses. Another year, they were pumpkins (even Dad got in on that one). Dad's final year on KMTV, the girls dressed as clowns. Three years ago, we were nuns and a priest, followed by a "royal family" Halloween in 2004.

But last year, that tradition came to an end, as the girls all had different designs on what they wanted to be. (Click here to see the picture of last year's motley crew.) The same apparently holds true again for this October 31st.

Emily has decided she wants to dress as a 70s hippie. Why? We don't know. And haven't asked. But we do appreciate the nod to Mom and Dad's early childhood (and re-runs of "The Brady Bunch.")

Lauren is already breaking in her ruby red slippers for her stint as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz."

We're still waiting for Julia and Olivia to weigh in with their costume choices. We've heard that one of them might resurrect a Hershey's Kiss costume.

Any suggestions?

Remember The Time...

The night Veronica got stuck in the girls bathroom and Mom had to call 911 is sure to be remembered for a long time.

And just to make sure, we're documenting it right here. There are no pictures (the camera is broken) but the events from Monday are sure to be burned into the memories of everyone who was involved.

The ordeal began on a night when Mom was determined to get everyone to bed early after a late night the night before. Emily had just played a rare weeknight volleyball match (which her team lost - again) so the family was already running behind on its usual 7:30 p.m. bedtime.

While Mom and Emily were working on a boatload of homework, Veronica sauntered into the bathroom, closed the door and opened the middle drawer of the cabinets next to the door.

No one was aware of what had happened until they heard Veronica screaming. Just three days shy of being 13 months old, she's old enough to realize when she's in trouble. And she was in big trouble.

The door could be opened less than a centimeter because the drawer was blocking it. Mom told Emily to grab a soft spatula from the kitchen to try and grip the drawer to close it. When that didn't work, Emily called Aunt Bridget, who was accompanied by Uncle Jon.

While Uncle Jon worked to use a knife to try and move the drawer shut, Mom called Dad and Papa OB. Dad said there were two options: call the firefighters who live down the street or call 911.

Mom called the firefighters, only to find they were watching the Monday Night Football game at a local establishment. So 911 was the remaining option.

"Ma'am, they'll have to bust the door down," the 911 operator told Mom. Fortunately, at about that same moment, Uncle Jon got the drawer to close and the door to open.

Veronica, who was in tears, was relieved to be freed. And for their efforts, Mom and the girls were rewarded with changing a poopy diaper.

Visiting Meagan

Our cousin, Meagan, is attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We decided to stop by and treat her to lunch when we were in Lincoln Thursday. The surprise visit didn't give her time to clean her dorm room, so the girls got a first-hand look at college life.

Thanks A Lot

The cute little ghosts that surround the tree in our front yard fell victim to vandals sometime Thursday.

At least that's what we suspect. When we returned from an all-day trip to Lincoln, the six ghosts were on the ground, their sticks snapped. It was windy Thursday, but likely not enough to break all six support sticks.

We prayed for the people who might have ruined a perfectly good day for the girls.

Any Caption Ideas?

We're looking for a good caption for this picture.

Visit to Gifford Farm

Who the heck is the little girl in the background?
Dad took three of the girls to Gifford Farm today for an Open House of sorts. It was a chance for Emily, Lauren and Julia to see the animals their Dad usually shelters them from (because of his traumatic childhood).

Grandma Bep (pictured at right) joined us after we watched a presentation in a makeshift planetarium (which collapsed when someone pulled the plug on the inflatable dome). She took us around to see the pigs, ducks, chickens and some sawhorses Uncle Joe made yesterday.

The girls especially liked the smoke screen the van created from dust kicked up on the dirt road.

Nice Whale Spout

Veronica spent part of Sunday afternoon with Aunt Jean.

Video Killed The Radio Star

Emily does her best impression of:
A. Trevor Horn from "Buggles" (below, left)
B. Elton John (below, right)
C. None of the above

Messy Marvin Revisited

Do you remember "Messy Marvin" from those Hershey's chocolate syrup commercials in the 1980s? (More on that later.)

Veronica is normally a pretty clean eater. Heck, she even uses a spoon sometimes. But dessert can be a tricky proposition, as you can see from the picture above.

Anyway, back to Messy Marvin. The commercials starred Peter Billingsley, who would always end up somehow accidentally destroying whatever room he was in. Here's another commercial, if you didn't click on the link above.

Julia Loses A Tooth - Again

That red spot on the photo at right is where Julia lost a tooth.
Julia is unlike any other Y-D girl when it comes to her teeth. If one becomes loose, she'll pull on it and twist it until it bleeds and falls out.

Such was the case on Sunday, when Julia lost yet another tooth. That meant a visit would be coming from "Lu Lu" the tooth fairy.

Julia wrote Lu Lu a note (pictured below) to update her on the situation:

Dear Tooth Fairy:

I lost my tooth. I was wiggling my tooth. All of a sudden it fell out. I want a book that is easy (to read). I want you to wake me up so I can see you. Draw yourself on the back.

Love,

Julia

Julia awoke the next morning to find that Lu Lu had left a note:

Dear Julia,

What a lovely tooth! You took very good care of it! Thank you! Did you know that your tooth fairy already knows when all of your baby teeth are scheduled to fall out? We do! Unless they get knocked out by accident. That is how we know what days we have to work.

I brought you three books (pictured below) because I wasn't sure what you meant by "easy." So, one is to read with someone else. I think your sister Lauren has a book like it. The second one is like a workbook to help you become a better reader. And the last one is called a dictionary. So, when you need to know how to spell a word you can look in there.

Julia, you know that I can't let you see me. I took an oath when I became a tooth fairy to never be seen. I'm sorry. I'll do my best at a self portrait until your next tooth. Happy reading and keep brushing!

Lu Lu

P.S. Tell your family I said, "hi."

The three books Julia received were "Little Raccoon Catches A Cold," "The Usborne Very First Dictionary" and the "Reading Readiness (with Reward Stickers)" workbook.

Of course, she also received a one dollar bill. The first time the tooth fairy visits (and Olivia is still waiting for this), she always leaves a gold one dollar coin.

Time to Decorate

Lauren collected leaves for the "ghost" bags.
The girls looked forward to the first day of October so they could get the Halloween decorations up around the house.

Olivia helped Emily get the ghost bags ready to stuff and attach to the bushes (pictured at right) while Lauren and Julia attached Halloween decorations to the windows. The highlight of the decorating, though, are the ghosts which surround the tree in the front yard. The girls took turns taking the sheets and masquerading as ghosts themselves.

Olivia and Julia pose by the ghosts surrounding the tree.