Quotable Quotes

"Grandma are you really old? (said by Emily to my mom during dinner)

"That's not my favorite" -the replacement phrase for "This is yucky dinner"

Conversation held immediately after dinner as she was scampering off to play upstairs at a friends house

"Emily did you wash your hands?"
"Yes Mommy"
"Did you wash them today?"
"Yes"
"Did you wash them after dinner?"
a pause, then...
"No Mommy, I'll do it right now" ...foot steps running to the bathroom

Quotable Quotes

"Grandma are you really old? (said by Emily to my mom during dinner)

"That's not my favorite" -the replacement phrase for "This is yucky dinner"

Conversation held immediately after dinner as she was scampering off to play upstairs at a friends house

"Emily did you wash your hands?"
"Yes Mommy"
"Did you wash them today?"
"Yes"
"Did you wash them after dinner?"
a pause, then...
"No Mommy, I'll do it right now" ...foot steps running to the bathroom

Happy Holiday from the Pilz Family!

Many of you will be getting our newsletter in the next few days or so, or an emailed version, but I also wanted to post it on the blog today as a sneak peak, or maybe so I won't feel bad if it gets to you after Christmas. In which case, it was a happy new year newsletter :))And if you have been reading the blog regularily, you porbably knew most everything in here anyway!

It’s that time of year again. This has been another year of major changes again. Karl spent the first quarter of the year in Diego Garcia but came home in April. A week after he came home, we were packing up the house and preparing to move to Virginia. It was extremely hard to say goodbye to our home for the past 5 years, but we are so blessed with how well things have gone in Virginia. After an initial house hunting period we found a new project. The previous owners were animals lovers and also had a passion for bright color. After about 20 gallons of paint and some major changes to the kitchen we are mostly moved in. There are still some projects that need completing, but we really wanted to switch our pattern of fixing the problems right before we move!

This summer was spent getting to know our new ward & neighbors. The girls and I spent a lot of time enjoying the community pool and going to the YMCA. We were thrilled when neighbors moved in next door with children their ages. We love having a quiet street to learn to ride bikes and play in our wonderful backyard.

Their elementary school is only ¼ of a mile away and both girls have wonderful teachers. They love school, and I enjoy the free time each morning. Emily is doing very well in kindergarten-which here in Suffolk is more like a traditional first grade than any kindergarten program I have ever seen. She even got the kindergarten version of honor roll for the first quarter and the student of the month in October. Sydney is doing well in her integrated preschool. She loves her teacher and I have had fun helping out at school.

I am working in Primary in our new ward again and enjoying it. I have also been working on some of my favorite hobbies and developing new ones. I started going to the YMCA this summer and hope I have found a new karate school to train with. It is a different style than I am used to, but I might even get to help teach.

Coming back from the summer weather of DG was a shock for Karl. He loved biking to work, snorkeling on lunch breaks, hanging out with his friends, and eating raw tuna caught around the island. He really misses the island but is happy to be home with us. His new job involves a fair amount of travel, but he has been able to see family & friends on some trips as well as go temple hopping. He is working right now as an operational test director for Naval Acquisitions. Karl got his CISCO certification at a training school in the Pocono Mountains in October. We really aren’t sure of plans for the next few years yet, but the certification should open up more options for Karl.

One of our favorite adventures this year was going to visit family in Vegas and Utah. It was wonderful seeing everyone we have not seen in years and enjoying the west coast. We wish we could see more of you, especially for the holidays. We send our love to all of you and wish you a very Christmas and hope for a wonderful new year for you all.

With love,
The Pilz Family

Happy Holiday from the Pilz Family!

Many of you will be getting our newsletter in the next few days or so, or an emailed version, but I also wanted to post it on the blog today as a sneak peak, or maybe so I won't feel bad if it gets to you after Christmas. In which case, it was a happy new year newsletter :))And if you have been reading the blog regularily, you porbably knew most everything in here anyway!

It’s that time of year again. This has been another year of major changes again. Karl spent the first quarter of the year in Diego Garcia but came home in April. A week after he came home, we were packing up the house and preparing to move to Virginia. It was extremely hard to say goodbye to our home for the past 5 years, but we are so blessed with how well things have gone in Virginia. After an initial house hunting period we found a new project. The previous owners were animals lovers and also had a passion for bright color. After about 20 gallons of paint and some major changes to the kitchen we are mostly moved in. There are still some projects that need completing, but we really wanted to switch our pattern of fixing the problems right before we move!

This summer was spent getting to know our new ward & neighbors. The girls and I spent a lot of time enjoying the community pool and going to the YMCA. We were thrilled when neighbors moved in next door with children their ages. We love having a quiet street to learn to ride bikes and play in our wonderful backyard.

Their elementary school is only ¼ of a mile away and both girls have wonderful teachers. They love school, and I enjoy the free time each morning. Emily is doing very well in kindergarten-which here in Suffolk is more like a traditional first grade than any kindergarten program I have ever seen. She even got the kindergarten version of honor roll for the first quarter and the student of the month in October. Sydney is doing well in her integrated preschool. She loves her teacher and I have had fun helping out at school.

I am working in Primary in our new ward again and enjoying it. I have also been working on some of my favorite hobbies and developing new ones. I started going to the YMCA this summer and hope I have found a new karate school to train with. It is a different style than I am used to, but I might even get to help teach.

Coming back from the summer weather of DG was a shock for Karl. He loved biking to work, snorkeling on lunch breaks, hanging out with his friends, and eating raw tuna caught around the island. He really misses the island but is happy to be home with us. His new job involves a fair amount of travel, but he has been able to see family & friends on some trips as well as go temple hopping. He is working right now as an operational test director for Naval Acquisitions. Karl got his CISCO certification at a training school in the Pocono Mountains in October. We really aren’t sure of plans for the next few years yet, but the certification should open up more options for Karl.

One of our favorite adventures this year was going to visit family in Vegas and Utah. It was wonderful seeing everyone we have not seen in years and enjoying the west coast. We wish we could see more of you, especially for the holidays. We send our love to all of you and wish you a very Christmas and hope for a wonderful new year for you all.

With love,
The Pilz Family

recent adventures

Well, as is the case for everyone the last two weeks before Christmas are always the busiest of the year. I have crafts & projects to finish and all sorts of other fun things going on. I wish I could send everyone a present this year, but money is in short supply this year, especially since Emily seems to think she is getting a pet tiger!! (Can you imagine explaining that to my UPS man? Yes, that growling inside the box is real. Don't worry she won't hurt you, unless she is hungry.) So please know that we love you all and wish you the very best for Christmas this year and we are thinking of you!

Emily will be a bit disappointed this year. We didn't get her a pet fox either! Our cats are doing a good enough job bringing the wild inside, and I am getting very good at catching mice. Sadly the mice don't often appreciate my efforts on their behalf. The cats don't like it either, but I think that because I warned them not to bring their toys in the house, we are even.

Sydney is doing her best to act like a lion, including growling and rolling around on the floor at preschool. Very charming. So glad that is is far enough into the year that she can't get booted out! We went on another field trip on Friday with the other special ed classes. It was lots of fun at the Dollar Store. Sydney really liked picking presents out for her sister and Dad, but didn't want to pick anything out for me. When she did finally agree to get something, she headed down the cleaning supply aisle to look for something. So I steered her in a better direction in the end. I also got a few other odds and ends as we had an hour to kill in the store. I think the other patrons were annoyed at there were 20 children and their chaperones/teachers in there that day. It would have helped matters if they had more than just the two cashiers though.

I forgot to mention Santa. Emily has been very excited to give Santa her list. Saturday we went to a work Christmas party just for kiddos. It was lots of fun. The girls made ornaments and popsicle stick picture frames and had the chance to sit on his lap (he rode in on a fire engine since there is no snow down here yet, in fact just the other day we all got to toss of our jackets & dig out the flip flops for a rare dose of summer) and get a present and your picture taken. My girls have never wanted to sit on his lap. He looks a little funny in person I guess. They don't mind him as an abstract theory, but not so much a fan on the personal level, but Sydney watched several kids get a gift and decided to give it a whirl. She sat on his lap and gave her best sweet innocent little girl smile and got her gift. She was thrilled. Emily wrote up her list (a fox in a box and a pet tiger) and waited her turn. Well, we let child after child go in front of us since her feet had magically turned into cement blocks once it was her turn. She curled into my side and insisted I give him the list. So I dutifully handed over the list, explaining that she was shy and the elves told Emily she had to get a picture taken so her wish list could be granted. But she finally agreed to pose for the picture by walking all the way around him on the other side of my body and we posed all three of us. She was as far away as she could get. Another Emily Hallmark moment. But since that is the very first time in her life that she and Santa have been in the same picture at all, I will take what I can get!

Well, I am off to get a few more things done before I need to pick up Sydney from school. Have a great day everyone!

recent adventures

Well, as is the case for everyone the last two weeks before Christmas are always the busiest of the year. I have crafts & projects to finish and all sorts of other fun things going on. I wish I could send everyone a present this year, but money is in short supply this year, especially since Emily seems to think she is getting a pet tiger!! (Can you imagine explaining that to my UPS man? Yes, that growling inside the box is real. Don't worry she won't hurt you, unless she is hungry.) So please know that we love you all and wish you the very best for Christmas this year and we are thinking of you!

Emily will be a bit disappointed this year. We didn't get her a pet fox either! Our cats are doing a good enough job bringing the wild inside, and I am getting very good at catching mice. Sadly the mice don't often appreciate my efforts on their behalf. The cats don't like it either, but I think that because I warned them not to bring their toys in the house, we are even.

Sydney is doing her best to act like a lion, including growling and rolling around on the floor at preschool. Very charming. So glad that is is far enough into the year that she can't get booted out! We went on another field trip on Friday with the other special ed classes. It was lots of fun at the Dollar Store. Sydney really liked picking presents out for her sister and Dad, but didn't want to pick anything out for me. When she did finally agree to get something, she headed down the cleaning supply aisle to look for something. So I steered her in a better direction in the end. I also got a few other odds and ends as we had an hour to kill in the store. I think the other patrons were annoyed at there were 20 children and their chaperones/teachers in there that day. It would have helped matters if they had more than just the two cashiers though.

I forgot to mention Santa. Emily has been very excited to give Santa her list. Saturday we went to a work Christmas party just for kiddos. It was lots of fun. The girls made ornaments and popsicle stick picture frames and had the chance to sit on his lap (he rode in on a fire engine since there is no snow down here yet, in fact just the other day we all got to toss of our jackets & dig out the flip flops for a rare dose of summer) and get a present and your picture taken. My girls have never wanted to sit on his lap. He looks a little funny in person I guess. They don't mind him as an abstract theory, but not so much a fan on the personal level, but Sydney watched several kids get a gift and decided to give it a whirl. She sat on his lap and gave her best sweet innocent little girl smile and got her gift. She was thrilled. Emily wrote up her list (a fox in a box and a pet tiger) and waited her turn. Well, we let child after child go in front of us since her feet had magically turned into cement blocks once it was her turn. She curled into my side and insisted I give him the list. So I dutifully handed over the list, explaining that she was shy and the elves told Emily she had to get a picture taken so her wish list could be granted. But she finally agreed to pose for the picture by walking all the way around him on the other side of my body and we posed all three of us. She was as far away as she could get. Another Emily Hallmark moment. But since that is the very first time in her life that she and Santa have been in the same picture at all, I will take what I can get!

Well, I am off to get a few more things done before I need to pick up Sydney from school. Have a great day everyone!

Double Yeah

We cleaned up a little in the girls room last night and Emily put the tooth under her pillow so the Tooth Fairy came for a visit! Emily was thrilled.

I am mildly intrigued this morning because I got Emily to wear a air of jeans, but before anyone jumps for joy that she is over her issues, she was feeling extremely flexible this morning and agreed to wear a pair of tights first. I should never have bought the jeans, but in my defense-she asked for them. It is the 3rd pair of pants this last few months that she picked that has been refused for lack of careful inspection-seams down the front of one pair of pants, scratchy knit underside in another-never thought to look at that, and now what I thought was a shock, jeans. I kept the tags on and made her try them on again before clipping them. She promised to wear them. I washed them, then they never got worn. I forced the issue a bit today and suggested them and she agreed, but balked when they touched her skin.

I am beginning to think there is more to this then doctors have said since she has obviously not grown out of it! Lining her toys up in rows, well that has improved, but other things take its place!

Double Yeah

We cleaned up a little in the girls room last night and Emily put the tooth under her pillow so the Tooth Fairy came for a visit! Emily was thrilled.

I am mildly intrigued this morning because I got Emily to wear a air of jeans, but before anyone jumps for joy that she is over her issues, she was feeling extremely flexible this morning and agreed to wear a pair of tights first. I should never have bought the jeans, but in my defense-she asked for them. It is the 3rd pair of pants this last few months that she picked that has been refused for lack of careful inspection-seams down the front of one pair of pants, scratchy knit underside in another-never thought to look at that, and now what I thought was a shock, jeans. I kept the tags on and made her try them on again before clipping them. She promised to wear them. I washed them, then they never got worn. I forced the issue a bit today and suggested them and she agreed, but balked when they touched her skin.

I am beginning to think there is more to this then doctors have said since she has obviously not grown out of it! Lining her toys up in rows, well that has improved, but other things take its place!

Lost Tooth

The Tooth Fairy has not been able to visit the house as the tooth unfortunately was lost by my darling daughter yesterday at some point. I suggested a safe location for the tooth, and she choose another one. Sadly it is lost. Maybe the tooth fairy can leave a little note suggesting her sorrow about not being able to collect the tooth. Any ideas??

Lost Tooth

The Tooth Fairy has not been able to visit the house as the tooth unfortunately was lost by my darling daughter yesterday at some point. I suggested a safe location for the tooth, and she choose another one. Sadly it is lost. Maybe the tooth fairy can leave a little note suggesting her sorrow about not being able to collect the tooth. Any ideas??

The Tooth Fairy is coming!

Emily finally lost her first baby tooth. It has been lose for about 3 weeks. She was eating her breakfast this morning and it fell out. She was a little unnerved at first. But when we got excited and started taking pictures-soon to come I promise-she immediately cheered up and got over the fact that there was blood in her mouth! We told her to put it under her pillow tonight and the tooth fairy would come visit her. Then she wanted to know who that was and what she looked like. Well, shucks. How did my child grow up and not know who she is???? I will have to get creative and do some research on the internet. There is always my tooth fairy costume if all else fails :)

Well, the girls are crying so I should go-let me rephrase- Emily is crying about something Sydney has done to her yet again. What ever happened to the big sister as the torturer? How did she not get that memo? It goes against the rules of nature.

The Tooth Fairy is coming!

Emily finally lost her first baby tooth. It has been lose for about 3 weeks. She was eating her breakfast this morning and it fell out. She was a little unnerved at first. But when we got excited and started taking pictures-soon to come I promise-she immediately cheered up and got over the fact that there was blood in her mouth! We told her to put it under her pillow tonight and the tooth fairy would come visit her. Then she wanted to know who that was and what she looked like. Well, shucks. How did my child grow up and not know who she is???? I will have to get creative and do some research on the internet. There is always my tooth fairy costume if all else fails :)

Well, the girls are crying so I should go-let me rephrase- Emily is crying about something Sydney has done to her yet again. What ever happened to the big sister as the torturer? How did she not get that memo? It goes against the rules of nature.