Mid-August

A few events took place this week that will undoubtedly bore the general public, but nonetheless have the Tolman household in a mind of progress.
Samantha received her first haircut from a professional haircutting person. This individual took quite a bit longer to complete the task than would generally be considered acceptable, but Sam is very pleased with the results.

We turned off the TV and seem to have established a bedtime routine including, but not limited to, three books, two songs, butter churning, and a flog. They've actually been asleep prior to 9:00, if you can tie that in square knot!

These have started turning red. I just hope George Clooney doesn't show up to thwart them.

Homework

My first online assignment in "Nursing Research" was to introduce myself. I claimed to have cuter kids than anyone else and included a link to our blog, so I figured I should put up some current proof.

This is our eldest, Samantha. Sam enjoys princesses, rainbows, swimming, and World War I reenactments. As the only one of her siblings that speaks in complete sentences, she's become the designated messenger to the neighbors in the event of badger or racoon attack.

This is Lucy, our ornry second child. She enjoys Dora the Explorer, staying up late, and occasionally drawing blood with her teeth. Lucy hopes to one day have her name in the horticulture section of the Guiness Book of World Records.

Nora is our docile third and final. She is bald like her father, sweet-tempered like her mother, and has the powerful grip of her truck-driving granduncle Clair. We believe she has good, but realistically conservative plans for her eventual mobility.

Cries in the Night

Becky and I got about 7 hours of sleep last night, if you add the hours that each of us slept. Nora was constipated due to the new formula we were trying, Lucy puked up a wad of Velveeta cheese and peas around 10:30, and Samantha fell asleep around 7 PM, so she naturally woke up at 4:30.

Mommy and our second around 3:30 AM.

Our youngest about 3 seconds later.

This is a bunk bed, which was purchased off craigslist.

This is a water buffalo.

Juju Beans

Well, a few things have happened lately. Jon got accepted to grad school. He'll be starting the FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner) program at Research College of Nursing. An interesting fact: Research College of Nursing used to be called the "Bugendorf College of Nursing" or something like that, but then they changed it during World War II because, well, it sounded German.

Anyway. It'll be part time and the first several classes are all online, so there won't have to be any significant change to his work schedule.

In other Tolman related news:

This is laundry. 10 points if you saw the baby before reading this sentence.

Also, bras do not go all the way up the vacuum when accidentally sucked. But they do stop the rotor, sending plumes of foul burnt rubber into the air and braking the belt.

Lucy is working on her stand-up routine. It mostly involves clapping for herself, but I like the portion where she does an impression of Michelle Obama. Spot on.