The last month of being seven

Lora has her first "crush."

It's New Year's Eve and she met the son of the son of a friend of ours, who is the same age as she. They become fast friends, spend the evening running around the house together. By midnight, she is smitten. They share a midnight HUG and toast each other with Sprite. On the way home, he is all she wants to talk about.

Lora: That Andrew is pretty nice. I think he's going to be by second husband.


New Year's Day...
We fix all the traditional dishes -- black-eyed peas for luck, coleslaw for fortune and mom's roast.

Lora doesn't eat much.

Dad: There are children starving all over the world!
Lora: Yeah, well I'm not one of 'em.

Chew on this!

The whole family has gathered because of an illness in the family. Uncle Val is teaching Lora to play the electric guitar. And she is thrilled to death. The possibilities for this child seem endless -- almost.

"You know," she says. "Some people, well not me because I don't have any teeth right now, but some people can even play the guitar with their teeth!"

Someday, baby.

That's Encouraging

Today I, Lora's mom, had to do one of those new-fangled Internet live chats. I think it went rather well. I was worried because I've been getting some rather unflattering comments from yahoos on the Internet forums. .... But Marty was in school all day and missed it. So when he got home I made him go check it out. Lora was nearby and saw it when Marty pulled it up.

Suddenly, I got a call at work:

Lora: Mom! You know that site, NOLA.com? If you go there and click on Live Chat, it has your picture on it!

Me: Really? (I had not seen the photo they chose, so I went to look. I did not like it) Ew. That's not a good picture of me.

Lora: Yes it is! You look beautiful. I think people are going to say, "Lori Lyons looks beautiful." Not, "Lori Lyons should quit her job because she doesn't know what she's doing."

Reading is Fundamental!

After trying all summer to get Lora interested in reading a book, we have finally succeeded!  She stayed up late last night reading her new Hannah Montana book. And this morning, she was very excited to bring it with her to her sitter's for the day.

"This book is awesome," she exclaimed. "It's like a TV in your brain!"

Here she comes

It's one of those nights. Bumped from the computer by her dad, who is watching one extra inning baseball game after another, she is relegated back to the pink room.

She comes out with a new purse Uncle Bill bought her. In what can only be Disney magic, Hannah Montana is on one side, Miley Cyrus is on the other. She has packed it with stuff:
*her Hannah Montana CD case
*a barf bag, "in case you get nervous"
*a microphone, "because you never know when you might have to give an interview"
*pens and a notebook, "just in case you want to sign an autograph."

She is a Diva in the making, y'all.

Time is relative

My mom, the Nana, is trying to teach Lora Leigh a life lesson:

Nana: When I was a little girl, my daddy told me that you should never steal.

Lora Leigh:: Wow. That must have been a long time ago.

In Lora's World ...

Lora Leigh and her brother, Daniel, are playing Wii. Baseball.  Lora Leigh starts faking Daniel out by hitting the pause button right before he swings, making him miss.

She thinks this is extremely funny.

Being the Mom, I tell her to stop.

"Lora. That's not funny," I say

She is giggling away.

"I think it's funny," she replies. "It's hilarious in my world."