The adventures of Otis and Dimples

This is Dimples the Toad. He has recently taken up residence in our backyard. He can be found on our patio each night eating all the bugs that are attracted to our porch light. Hannah and Amelia have taken quite a liking to him. It would seem he leads an idyllic life here, and for the most part he does. There is only one problem....
This is Otis. He is the arch nemesis of Dimples the Toad. Every night Dimples must run the gauntlet that is our patio in order to catch his fill of bugs and avoid the awful abuse inflicted on him by Otis. So far Otis is winning. But Dimples has us in his corner. The girls are determined that Otis is not going to drive Dimples away, and they are doing everything they can to make sure Dimples has a nice safe place to call home and to hide from Otis whenever Otis has to go outside. Stay tuned to see just how dedicated we have become to this cause. Seems we have a bit too much time on our hands!

Well, school is going well for Hannah and Amelia. Neither of them has had any homework yet, which has made Hannah very happy. I feel like it is really taking the teachers a long time to get into the swing of things, but do have to admit it makes things a little easier for me for now. Amelia seems to be enjoying school and they both love the fact that they get to ride the bus. I don't understand this since it means they have to be ready earlier in the morning and get home later in the afternoon than if I drove them, but as long as they don't mind I guess I shouldn't either! Amelia does leave her backpack on the bus every afternoon. Hopefully she will eventually decide to take a little responsibility and keep up with her stuff. She is just so excited to get off the bus and walk home with all the big kids. She thinks she is something else now. And the outfits she picks to wear each day....oh my gosh. I should take a picture every morning. She is so much her own person, not caring at all what anyone else thinks about her. Wish we were all like that.
Hannah and 2 of her friends have started a football team. They are having practice each afternoon on the field next door. Seems there is some kind of league in the neighborhood that I am unaware of, as she announced last night that they have a game next Monday against the Vikings. Can't wait for that. I know you all will be scanning the sports section of your Tuesday papers for the outcome. They gave Amelia a "cheerleader" outfit today to wear for the game. It is a long black witches outfit with a red scarf, and black high heeled boots. Can't wait to see this game. Sounds like it will be one to remember. I will keep you posted.

Well, we made it through our first day of school for the 2008-2009 school year. Amelia is now officially a Kindergarten student. She was a little nervous and a lot excited on her first day. She did great! Her biggest concern when we dropped her off in the morning was that she was going to have to leave her lunch box on the shelf in the hallway outside her classroom. She really wanted to keep it close by, just in case someone decided to help themselves to her lunch while she wasn't looking, I guess. But once I reassured her that it would be there when she needed it, she went right into the classroom, met her teacher, and got to work coloring the first picture of her academic career! Hannah has done all this before, so it was not really a big deal for her. She was more concerned about Amelia, as any big sister should be. She can be really protective of her sometimes. Guess she wants to make sure Amelia is going to be around for her to abuse and beat up on. Anyway, they both had a really good first day, then due to the potential for bad weather (Tropical Storm Fay), school was closed today. So tomorrow is their second day. I am interested to see how long it takes for the excitement to wear off for Amelia. Hannah is already saying how much she hates school and wishes summer lasted 5 years and school only one day. Ah, if only......

First day of School

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school for the 2008-2009 school year and my "baby" starts kindergarten!!! I cannot believe it. It seems like just yesterday Steve, Hannah and I were welcoming little Amelia into our familiy, and now we are sending her out into the great big world. I hope she is ready for it. Heck, for that matter, I hope the world is ready for her!! For those of you that know her, you know what I mean. Both of my girls are growing up way too fast for me. I look at them sometimes and can almost see the women they will be someday. That is both very exciting and scary. It seems like I spend every day trying to make sure they are prepared to handle all of the challenges life will throw their way, and then trying to think of every way possible to protect them from these same challenges. But they are both strong, smart girls. I know they will be ok. Just hope I am!!

I am going to take lots of pictures in the morning and hopefully will get some of them posted to the blog in the very near future. Amelia is so excited about starting school. Hopefully the enthusiasm will last well into the school year. It is all old hat to Hannah and she is already complaining about having to get up in the morning. She is her mother's daughter.

The Lefave's Zoo

This is my first attempt at "blogging". I have tried keeping a journal once, and that lasted only about 4 days. Hopefully I can be a bit more dedicated to this attempt. I don't have that much free time to spend on it, so I hope this is going to be easy to do. I have viewed a couple of other blogs and feel a little ashamed for not having nearly as many pictures of my children as everyone else! Guess I need to get busy with that. Lord knows they are always doing something worthy of preserving in pictures. I expect to have plenty of time to devote to this new hobby, as I should be a multi-millionaire as soon as they draw the Lotto numbers tonight. If that is the case, I will be "retiring" from my job ASAP. I can always volunteer if and when I get bored (and miss my animal friends too much!). Ok, now I am going to get started building my blog. Wish me luck!!