Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sweet Eva!
I got to have a play date with Eva and Alisa at the park while Connor was at preschool the other day. The sun was shining for the first time in awhile, and we couldn't resist getting some fresh air. Eva hadn't really been outside on uneven ground yet to test out her walking skills, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her navigate her way through sticks and pinecones, lumpy grass, etc. She was really enjoying getting to explore everything!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Ninjas!
Jared and Connor were running around the house pretending to be Ninjas. SO CUTE! They were getting along, giggling like crazy, running amok, and generally being way too obnoxious for inside the house, but I loved it!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
What's a Twinkie?
The kids and I were at the grocery store Sunday, and I noticed a little display of boxes of Twinkies near-ish the check-out line we were in. I didn't give them much thought beyond seeing them, until Emily asked, "What's a Twinkie?" I was a little bit (okay, fine, A LOT) stunned, that somehow my child had made it to nearly 9 years old without ever having tasted a Twinkie, and had no idea what one even was!!
I'm not sure if it's a sign of good parenting or bad parenting that my kids didn't know what a Twinkie was, but I bought a box (darn those "impulse buy" displays!) and documented my children eating a one for the first time.
They liked them, btw!
I'm not sure if it's a sign of good parenting or bad parenting that my kids didn't know what a Twinkie was, but I bought a box (darn those "impulse buy" displays!) and documented my children eating a one for the first time.
They liked them, btw!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Jared
Dan went on a pheasant hunting trip with some clients over the weekend (they took him and another co-worker out as a "thank you" for how much business the company Dan works for gives them). The kids knew that after they went to bed Thursday night, they wouldn't be seeing Daddy again until Sunday evening. Prior to Dan arriving home from work Thursday night, Jared wrote this note:
He wanted to make sure Dan gave them hugs and kisses (while they slept) before he left for work EARLY Friday morning, and he wanted to make sure his Daddy left out three spoons with a scoop of peanut butter on each one (gag, but the kids get a kick out of it!).
Jared is now finally adding some extra detail to his drawings, and has begun adding ears and the swirly texture of ears to his people drawings... LOL! I love it! Also pictured above is one of our dogs with a tennis ball wanting to play fetch. I shared this picture because A) I thought it was adorable, and B) because it's some of the NICEST hand-writing I've seen Jared do yet (when half his school work comes home marked with "neatness counts!", seeing this nicer handwriting is big news!).
On Saturday, we had a get-together for the March birthdays with my mom's side of the family, in celebration of my grandma (#78) and my niece (#1). Jared and my Auntie did some drawing together, and Jared ended up drawing Dan on his hunting trip:
Again, notice the ears?? LOL! In the far left corner is the "portable grill with one of the guys cooking up the pheasants." Below the portable grill is a trailer/camper (Dan actually slept in a hotel across the street from a train track, which had trains running and whistling on every hour! ack!). Below the trailer/camper is one of the pheasants Dan shot. To the right of the pheasant, if you look closely, you can see all the round rocks that make up the fire pit, with a fire in the center, and more pheasants cooking over the fire.... The small orange box next to the fire is the boom box (notice the music notes rising up into the air above it?). The brown person is Dan, holding a gun (in the hand on OUR left), standing next to a stream with a fishing pole at his feet. The tent is obvious... And the strange looking cat/octopus looking creature is a catfish, apparently. There are trees, clouds, and a sun in the far background. I don't remember what the thing to the right of the tent is...
I have to brag about this picture, because normally Jared will TELL a great story, but RARELY (RARELY!!!!) will he take the time to DRAW a great story. This time, he put thought, effort, and incredible amounts of detail (especially compared to normal!) into this picture. I wish it'd been done on plain white paper, but beggars can't be choosers! I hope he focuses his efforts in this way more often.
He wanted to make sure Dan gave them hugs and kisses (while they slept) before he left for work EARLY Friday morning, and he wanted to make sure his Daddy left out three spoons with a scoop of peanut butter on each one (gag, but the kids get a kick out of it!).
Jared is now finally adding some extra detail to his drawings, and has begun adding ears and the swirly texture of ears to his people drawings... LOL! I love it! Also pictured above is one of our dogs with a tennis ball wanting to play fetch. I shared this picture because A) I thought it was adorable, and B) because it's some of the NICEST hand-writing I've seen Jared do yet (when half his school work comes home marked with "neatness counts!", seeing this nicer handwriting is big news!).
On Saturday, we had a get-together for the March birthdays with my mom's side of the family, in celebration of my grandma (#78) and my niece (#1). Jared and my Auntie did some drawing together, and Jared ended up drawing Dan on his hunting trip:
Again, notice the ears?? LOL! In the far left corner is the "portable grill with one of the guys cooking up the pheasants." Below the portable grill is a trailer/camper (Dan actually slept in a hotel across the street from a train track, which had trains running and whistling on every hour! ack!). Below the trailer/camper is one of the pheasants Dan shot. To the right of the pheasant, if you look closely, you can see all the round rocks that make up the fire pit, with a fire in the center, and more pheasants cooking over the fire.... The small orange box next to the fire is the boom box (notice the music notes rising up into the air above it?). The brown person is Dan, holding a gun (in the hand on OUR left), standing next to a stream with a fishing pole at his feet. The tent is obvious... And the strange looking cat/octopus looking creature is a catfish, apparently. There are trees, clouds, and a sun in the far background. I don't remember what the thing to the right of the tent is...
I have to brag about this picture, because normally Jared will TELL a great story, but RARELY (RARELY!!!!) will he take the time to DRAW a great story. This time, he put thought, effort, and incredible amounts of detail (especially compared to normal!) into this picture. I wish it'd been done on plain white paper, but beggars can't be choosers! I hope he focuses his efforts in this way more often.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Preschool Auction
Connor's preschool auction was Saturday night, and it was a great event! We had over 120 people in attendance (there are only 73 kids in the school, which means most of the families came!), and there were over 175 baskets/items up for bid. This is our 6th and final year at the preschool and my husband decided that we should leave on a bang and went around bidding on all sorts of stuff.
We ended up winning the following:
*A birthday party at McD's for 8-10 kids (I thought he was nuts getting this, but it was only $26 valued at $60 and he figures we'll use it for Jared's t-ball team or something)
*50% off the sitting fee for a professional photographer I've been wanting to use for over a year now (her daughter attends school with Jared and I saw some of her work last year and fell in love!)
*An outing at a farm at the base of the Olympic mountains where we can either bring our family and one other family and have an organic lunch provided, plus pony rides for kids, berry picking, swinging on the tree swing, touring the farm, feeding chickens, etc, OR we can have a birthday party that includes an hour of pony riding. We got it for $50, valued at $200. We figure we'll use it with another family and figure out what else there is to do in the area and just make a day out of it
*We got what was listed as an hour massage and Myovision scan at my chiropractor, but which turns out to be a Myovision scan and adjustment, but it's all in support of the preschool, so whatever!
*I bought Connor into a Surfin' themed evening hosted by the two preschool teachers, which he is REALLY looking forward to
*And we got Connor's class project, which is a wooden toy chest painted blue, with Finding Nemo wall paper trim around the base, and each kids' handprint was embellished to look like a fish, and the letters of their name are in the bubbles coming out of the fish mouths. I truthfully didn't want it (no space, and Connor's name was spelled wrong), but it is pretty cute and Connor was thrilled to have it, AND it supports the preschool, so there you have it!
We also spent $15 getting the handprint plate Connor made (each kid made one and proceeds of the sale go back to the preschool... they know how to get ya! Who is really going to leave their child's handprint plate behind????)
I had some of the yummiest Lemon Drop Martini's EVER. And I ate the most expensive donut I've ever had (we contributed $25 to the Dessert Dash pot at our table--the table that contributes the most gets first choice at desserts; the table that contributes the least gets last choice and our table was 2nd to last--$25 for two donuts, which was our share after the plate was divdided among the rest of the table... But it's all good times!)
I have yet to hear the grand total of what was raised that night, but everyone seemed to have a good time, and people were pleased with what they'd won!
We ended up winning the following:
*A birthday party at McD's for 8-10 kids (I thought he was nuts getting this, but it was only $26 valued at $60 and he figures we'll use it for Jared's t-ball team or something)
*50% off the sitting fee for a professional photographer I've been wanting to use for over a year now (her daughter attends school with Jared and I saw some of her work last year and fell in love!)
*An outing at a farm at the base of the Olympic mountains where we can either bring our family and one other family and have an organic lunch provided, plus pony rides for kids, berry picking, swinging on the tree swing, touring the farm, feeding chickens, etc, OR we can have a birthday party that includes an hour of pony riding. We got it for $50, valued at $200. We figure we'll use it with another family and figure out what else there is to do in the area and just make a day out of it
*We got what was listed as an hour massage and Myovision scan at my chiropractor, but which turns out to be a Myovision scan and adjustment, but it's all in support of the preschool, so whatever!
*I bought Connor into a Surfin' themed evening hosted by the two preschool teachers, which he is REALLY looking forward to
*And we got Connor's class project, which is a wooden toy chest painted blue, with Finding Nemo wall paper trim around the base, and each kids' handprint was embellished to look like a fish, and the letters of their name are in the bubbles coming out of the fish mouths. I truthfully didn't want it (no space, and Connor's name was spelled wrong), but it is pretty cute and Connor was thrilled to have it, AND it supports the preschool, so there you have it!
We also spent $15 getting the handprint plate Connor made (each kid made one and proceeds of the sale go back to the preschool... they know how to get ya! Who is really going to leave their child's handprint plate behind????)
I had some of the yummiest Lemon Drop Martini's EVER. And I ate the most expensive donut I've ever had (we contributed $25 to the Dessert Dash pot at our table--the table that contributes the most gets first choice at desserts; the table that contributes the least gets last choice and our table was 2nd to last--$25 for two donuts, which was our share after the plate was divdided among the rest of the table... But it's all good times!)
I have yet to hear the grand total of what was raised that night, but everyone seemed to have a good time, and people were pleased with what they'd won!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Eva's birthday card
Emily asked why I never showed off the card I made for Eva's birthday, so here it is!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
$1600!!
I got a frantic phone call from a friend a week ago, saying that the auction committee she donated to wanted to use the donation in their live auction, and they requested she make a nice poster to hype it all up. She doesn't consider herself crafty, had zero supplies, and begged my help.
I got the information from her, pulled out my Cricut machine and went to work. I cut all the shapes and letters in the afternoon, and then she came over later that night and we visited together while we glued everything down.
The auction committee RAVED about the poster we created. People attending the auction RAVED about the poster. The package being auctioned off was valued at $800 and sold for $1600!!!!
With a little more notice, we could have gotten a lot more elaborate, but I'm pretty pleased with the result regardless! Had to brag on our efforts. *grin*
I got the information from her, pulled out my Cricut machine and went to work. I cut all the shapes and letters in the afternoon, and then she came over later that night and we visited together while we glued everything down.
The auction committee RAVED about the poster we created. People attending the auction RAVED about the poster. The package being auctioned off was valued at $800 and sold for $1600!!!!
With a little more notice, we could have gotten a lot more elaborate, but I'm pretty pleased with the result regardless! Had to brag on our efforts. *grin*
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Quote of the Week
Two good ones from Connor over the past few weeks!
1) "How come BOYS can't lay babies, too?"
2) (After a discussion about what size he was when he was born, and showing him pictures of himself as a newborn):
Connor: How did I get inside you if I was that big?
Me: You started out TEENY TINY when you were inside me Connor, and then once you got that big, you were ready to be born.
Connor: Well if I was so teeny tiny, how did you find me in the grass when we went outside?
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1) "How come BOYS can't lay babies, too?"
2) (After a discussion about what size he was when he was born, and showing him pictures of himself as a newborn):
Connor: How did I get inside you if I was that big?
Me: You started out TEENY TINY when you were inside me Connor, and then once you got that big, you were ready to be born.
Connor: Well if I was so teeny tiny, how did you find me in the grass when we went outside?
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
1st year scrapbook
Recently, I made a 1st year scrapbook for my SIL's sister and her baby boy to be (Link). We got invited to her OTHER sister's daughter's (Bella) 1st birthday, and when I asked for some gift ideas, it was requested that I make a 1st year scrap book for Bella. SO, I got to work on a book, even though she's already a year old!
Page for mommy to show off her pregnant belly
Place to put a messy-face picture of baby eating her birthday cake
Page for mommy to show off her pregnant belly
Place to put a messy-face picture of baby eating her birthday cake
Monday, March 14, 2011
Eva's 1st Birthday Party
My niece, Eva, turned one year old on Saturday, and we had her birthday party the same day.
The party was almost a total disaster, because the people in charge of renting out the building apparently forgot Marc and Alisa had rented it, so hadn't shown up with the key to let us all inside in order to decorate (or HAVE the party...). Thankfully, I have connections with people who have access to the building, who were willing to help get us inside so we could have the party afterall. I have NO CLUE what we would have done otherwise!!!!
Once inside, we rushed to set up chairs and tables and get some decorations up. We were finishing up just as the first guests were arriving. PHEW!
Marc showed up with Eva at party time so she could have a nice nap at home prior. She was wearing her cute birthday outfit and crown! LOVE this little girl!
They used the Pack n' Play and some balls to create a ball pit for the babies. VERY cute idea!
There was a digital frame set up in the corner showing pictures of Eva during her first year
GOOFY glasses!
Alisa's mom outfitting the kids in garbage bags to keep them clean during a party game
First person to get all 10 Gummy Bears out from under the Ready Whip and into their mouths, without using hands, wins
Jared won, and I was AMAZED at how fast he did it! LOL
There was another game where a present was wrapped in multiple layers and they passed it around the circle while music played. Whoever was holding it when the music stopped would get to unwrap a layer of paper. Each layer had directions written on it such as "stand on one foot" or "wave to your parents", etc. The kids really seemed to have a good time with it!
There was also a game where the kids had to use plastic sand shovels and little foam balls, and try to toss the balls with the shovels into the plastic sand buckets. It was pretty funny to see the kids REACHING out as far as they could to be better able to throw get the ball into the bucket. And seeing the tinier kids walking right up and setting the balls in. LOL! Too cute!
Then, it was time for some cake! Eva was a little hesitant at first and Marc had to dig her fingers in and guide them to her mouth. Once she had the taste of it, she got a little more into things.
The rest of us ate pretty cupcakes
Happy Birthday Miss Eva. It's hard to believe a year has gone by already! I wish you a fabulous year ahead, full of fun surprises, new adventures, and much love. XOXO!!!!!
The party was almost a total disaster, because the people in charge of renting out the building apparently forgot Marc and Alisa had rented it, so hadn't shown up with the key to let us all inside in order to decorate (or HAVE the party...). Thankfully, I have connections with people who have access to the building, who were willing to help get us inside so we could have the party afterall. I have NO CLUE what we would have done otherwise!!!!
Once inside, we rushed to set up chairs and tables and get some decorations up. We were finishing up just as the first guests were arriving. PHEW!
Marc showed up with Eva at party time so she could have a nice nap at home prior. She was wearing her cute birthday outfit and crown! LOVE this little girl!
They used the Pack n' Play and some balls to create a ball pit for the babies. VERY cute idea!
There was a digital frame set up in the corner showing pictures of Eva during her first year
GOOFY glasses!
Alisa's mom outfitting the kids in garbage bags to keep them clean during a party game
First person to get all 10 Gummy Bears out from under the Ready Whip and into their mouths, without using hands, wins
Jared won, and I was AMAZED at how fast he did it! LOL
There was another game where a present was wrapped in multiple layers and they passed it around the circle while music played. Whoever was holding it when the music stopped would get to unwrap a layer of paper. Each layer had directions written on it such as "stand on one foot" or "wave to your parents", etc. The kids really seemed to have a good time with it!
There was also a game where the kids had to use plastic sand shovels and little foam balls, and try to toss the balls with the shovels into the plastic sand buckets. It was pretty funny to see the kids REACHING out as far as they could to be better able to throw get the ball into the bucket. And seeing the tinier kids walking right up and setting the balls in. LOL! Too cute!
Then, it was time for some cake! Eva was a little hesitant at first and Marc had to dig her fingers in and guide them to her mouth. Once she had the taste of it, she got a little more into things.
The rest of us ate pretty cupcakes
Happy Birthday Miss Eva. It's hard to believe a year has gone by already! I wish you a fabulous year ahead, full of fun surprises, new adventures, and much love. XOXO!!!!!
Friday, March 11, 2011
I'm the winner of the losers!
Last night, my friend Jami and I got to be subs for my mom's Bunko group. I ended up winning 12 games and losing 12 games, which tied with one other gal for "most games lost". We did a roll off to see who would win the prize for "most games lost" and I won! yay me! It won me $5! (I paid in $10, but getting something back is better than nothing!)
Not enough people actually got a Bunko to win all the prizes that were displayed, so afterwards, I was given one of the extra prizes for being the "newbie". So I got two cute little fingertip towels (white with colorful butterflies in spring colors) on top of winning the $5. yay me again!
Here's my Bunko card:
Not enough people actually got a Bunko to win all the prizes that were displayed, so afterwards, I was given one of the extra prizes for being the "newbie". So I got two cute little fingertip towels (white with colorful butterflies in spring colors) on top of winning the $5. yay me again!
Here's my Bunko card:
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tooth Care
Emily's class had a "How To" writing assignment last month, where they had to brainstorm an idea, list out the steps, then create detailed paragraphs, remembering to use Capitals, punctuation, good penmanship, etc. Emily said she had to start over three times because she kept using sloppy hand-writing! I've been nagging her about her hand-writing all year, so it was nice to hear her teacher was forcing the issue, at least for this assignment.
I have Em's permission to share this:
I love stuff like this. It's totally adorable! Cracks me up in the first paragraph how she doesn't tell you to use toothpaste when brushing, but she makes sure to point out at the end of the paragraph to spit it out. ha! And the middle paragraph with the bit about how to hold the floss "five inches in the middle and three inches from the side." SO CUTE! And the last paragraph where she uses "Last..." three times, and points out that the dentist is usually a man. hahaha! Kid writing just flat out makes me SMILE. I love it!
I have Em's permission to share this:
I love stuff like this. It's totally adorable! Cracks me up in the first paragraph how she doesn't tell you to use toothpaste when brushing, but she makes sure to point out at the end of the paragraph to spit it out. ha! And the middle paragraph with the bit about how to hold the floss "five inches in the middle and three inches from the side." SO CUTE! And the last paragraph where she uses "Last..." three times, and points out that the dentist is usually a man. hahaha! Kid writing just flat out makes me SMILE. I love it!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
King Arthur's Quest
Jared auditioned last Monday for a part in the play King Arthur's Quest, which a traveling theater company had come to his school to help put together. He stayed after school for two hours Monday for auditions are part assignments, and was told at the end of the two hours that he would be cast as a "mini." There wasn't much explanation as to what a "mini" was, but Jared was EXTREMELY excited to have earned a part in the play!
The rehearsal schedule that came home told us he would take Tuesday off from rehearsal, but would be need to rehearse W-F from 3:30pm-5:30pm. When I picked him up Wednesday, he told me he'd been cast as a mini blue knight. We quizzed Jared about the rehearsals and learned he had a line to say ("The knights of the round table!"), and that he was having TONS AND TONS of fun, but otherwise, we didn't know much. However, the program was clearly very organized and well-run, with LOTS of parent volunteers, so I knew Jared was in good hands.
Saturday was the day of the big performance (and yes, you read that correctly! Kids auditioned Monday, reheared for FIVE DAYS--less on the part of the "minis" like Jared--and were ready to perform TWICE on Saturday). Jared had to be at dress rehearsal at 11am Saturday, and was there through dress rehearsal, lunch, show #1, snack, show #2, photo opps, costume turn-in, and check-out. 8.5 hours solid Saturday, and he was BUMMED that it was all over!!!
The kids did AMAZING. I was extremely impressed that they could put together a play in only five days. The older kids rehearsed from 3:30pm-8pm each night, but their efforts really showed through, and all the kids were enjoying themselves.
As the play got underway, the whole "mini" thing became clear... The bigger kids played King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, The Knights of the Round Table (and their squires), Taliesen, and The Raven. At one point, the big kids headed out on a journey and exited towards the front of the stage. A few seconds later, you see the "mini" versions walking across the stage towards the back and it's pointed out that they're walking "really far away". Thus establishes that the minis are the "far away" versions of the "biggies" (as Jared claims they were called during rehearsals). A bit later, the "biggies" are needed to go on a quest to deal with a giant. Big kids exit to our left, then in file the "minis" from the right (the little kids on stage made the giant seem GIANT... get it?). Another scene had the biggies exit, and then the minis enter to deal with a dragon, making the dragon appear much larger (which, by the way, then led to a hilarious dance scene between the dragon and the minis!! I had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so hard!!).
Jared had an AMAZING time during the whole process and has asked several times if he'll get a chance to do something like this again. He loved it! He really enjoyed the audience and got into the whole performance. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him! I took a bunch of pictures, but without being able to use a flash, most of my pictures came out totally blurry and worthless...
Here's what I did end up capturing!
(singing the finale song)
posing for group pics afterwards
The rehearsal schedule that came home told us he would take Tuesday off from rehearsal, but would be need to rehearse W-F from 3:30pm-5:30pm. When I picked him up Wednesday, he told me he'd been cast as a mini blue knight. We quizzed Jared about the rehearsals and learned he had a line to say ("The knights of the round table!"), and that he was having TONS AND TONS of fun, but otherwise, we didn't know much. However, the program was clearly very organized and well-run, with LOTS of parent volunteers, so I knew Jared was in good hands.
Saturday was the day of the big performance (and yes, you read that correctly! Kids auditioned Monday, reheared for FIVE DAYS--less on the part of the "minis" like Jared--and were ready to perform TWICE on Saturday). Jared had to be at dress rehearsal at 11am Saturday, and was there through dress rehearsal, lunch, show #1, snack, show #2, photo opps, costume turn-in, and check-out. 8.5 hours solid Saturday, and he was BUMMED that it was all over!!!
The kids did AMAZING. I was extremely impressed that they could put together a play in only five days. The older kids rehearsed from 3:30pm-8pm each night, but their efforts really showed through, and all the kids were enjoying themselves.
As the play got underway, the whole "mini" thing became clear... The bigger kids played King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, The Knights of the Round Table (and their squires), Taliesen, and The Raven. At one point, the big kids headed out on a journey and exited towards the front of the stage. A few seconds later, you see the "mini" versions walking across the stage towards the back and it's pointed out that they're walking "really far away". Thus establishes that the minis are the "far away" versions of the "biggies" (as Jared claims they were called during rehearsals). A bit later, the "biggies" are needed to go on a quest to deal with a giant. Big kids exit to our left, then in file the "minis" from the right (the little kids on stage made the giant seem GIANT... get it?). Another scene had the biggies exit, and then the minis enter to deal with a dragon, making the dragon appear much larger (which, by the way, then led to a hilarious dance scene between the dragon and the minis!! I had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so hard!!).
Jared had an AMAZING time during the whole process and has asked several times if he'll get a chance to do something like this again. He loved it! He really enjoyed the audience and got into the whole performance. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him! I took a bunch of pictures, but without being able to use a flash, most of my pictures came out totally blurry and worthless...
Here's what I did end up capturing!
(singing the finale song)
posing for group pics afterwards
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