The things they say ...

K has been soooo funny lately.  I'm not sure where she's getting this stuff.  This morning we got into the spa to relax and she looked at me and said, "Let's get this party started!!"  I cracked up ... she probably got this comment from Phineas and Ferb.  It's so funny. 

We always tell Brian and M that "Girls Rule and Boys Drool!!"  Well, she said that the other day and then she said, "Boys are stinky ... girls smell like rainbows."  It was just adorable.

She thinks it's so funny to get in her carseat and close the door (and sometimes lock it - not so funny to me).  I repeatedly ask her not to close the door until I fastener her in but because she's a stinker, she does it anyway.  Today, I opened the door and gave her and look and she screamed, "PUNK" and then laughed hysterically.  What's going on with this girl?

Today while in the car, M said, "If I can't hear anymore ... would you talk to me in Hand Spanish?"  He had watched something earlier on Sign Language.  Gave me a good giggle.

We had a wonderful Parent-Teacher Conference with M's teacher the other day.  She had so many positive things to say about M.  Warning - I'm going to brag on my child now.  I know that can be annoying so don't read if you're not interested.  The first thing that she said was that he was such a good boy.  She has he always does as he's asked to do.  NEVER a problem in class.  "He's a great balance."  She said when it's playtime he has a lot of friends and talks and runs around but when it's time for school-work - she never has to tell him twice to do anything.  She also said that it sometimes takes him a little longer to do his work or perform a task but it's OK because it's done correctly when he completes it.  The only negative she had was in regards to his handwriting (we know where he got that from - Brian).  She said she doesn't worry about that too much in Kindergarten but they will in 1st grade. 

She did a baseline assessment during the first week of school.  He knew all of his Uppercase Letters and 23 of his Lowercase Letters.  I'm surprised he didn't know them all.  The was able to count to 34 without missing a number (benchmark is 10 for the first trimester in Kinder).  He was able to do an ABAB pattern without help.  She was proud of how he has learned his sight words.  They aren't even a requirement during the first trimester.  He is so eager to learn his words that he attaches the ring (with the words on it) to his belt-loop.  He says, "now I can look at them whenever I want."  His teacher got such a kick out of that - he had them on during the conference.

Many nice things were said about K also.  She couldn't believe how well behaved and bright she is.  She said my kids were calm.  Calm????  They are crazy at home.  It was a great Mommy-Moment.  So maybe, I (we) are doing something right.

Family time and Misc

Brian and I were off together on Saturday and Sunday and we were all in good moods.  We had pictures in Old Sacramento on Saturday afternoon.  When we got home, I had Brian take a few pictures of the kids and I because my Mom wanted to see what we wore.  I'm not sure if any of the family pictures turned out because K was rather difficult.  She didn't have a meltdown or fit or anything but the photographer had a hard time getting her to hold still and look at the camera.  Typical 3 year old, I'm sure but frustrating none the less.  To top it off, it was 100 degrees outside and our photos were taken at 3:15 pm.  I had sweat perspiration rolling down my back.  I'm hoping for 1 good family photo - then I'd be happy.  Here are a few of the pictures Brian took of I and the kids (I don't have very many).

After pictures, we had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack which is the perfect kid-friendly place because it's so loud in there and there is so much to look at.  Eating out has definitely gotten easier.  By the time we got home, it was time to put the kids to bed ... we read books and sang songs together before bed.

Brian and I enjoyed coffee and the Sunday paper outside on Sunday morning.  The kids played together we were able to talk.  M had a T-Ball game in the afternoon but K and I stayed home because it was too hot to chase her around.  Later in the day, M and I went to the Halloween Superstore.  He loves all things related to Halloween - the gorier and bloodier the better.  Then we decorated our house.  The kids were excellent today and got along so well.  Why can't every day be this easy?

Here are a few of my favorite things right now.

1.  The Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Spreadable Cheese Wedges.  These are especially yummy on crackers but also delicious on carrots or celery and they aren't too bad for you.

2.  Delicious.    I recently learned about this website from a blog I frequent called Simple Mom.  This is a social bookmarking site.  My bookmarked sites are just a mess - I am working on organizing them though Delicious.  I am able to see what other people have bookmarked and how many people have bookmarked certain sites.  For instance, she has a kids tag (or folder) and I was able to find useful sites for activities/printables to  do with my kids by looking at hers.  You can look at her account to see how she's tagged and bundled things.  Check it out.

3.  Rollip.  This website will turn your pictures into a Polaroid with vintage editing.  Very cool.  Here's an example. 

Crazy K

I taken a few snapshots of K over the past few days being herself .... silly and crazy. She never ceases to amaze me.

She plays outside often ... my mistake of letting her play with the sidewalk chalk - unsupervised.

Putting new meaning to the phrase, "Say Cheese!!"

Wearing my boots the other day. I can't get her to keep clothes on.

Funderland

Brian was working last week and we just had to get out of the house, so we went to Funderland. We've been once but it was last year and K couldn't go on a few things. They had a great time and I was only out $20. I'm too exhausted to write more ... so I'm leaving you with a few pictures.

Video of the kids

M read his sight words this morning and I thought it would be fun to post a video. This is mostly for family (may be a little boring for everyone else ... it's 4 minutes long). If you can hang in there, the end is funny. Clicky - Clicky HERE.

K wanted to be included also, so she sang "You are my sunshine." She loves that song. If interested, clicky - clicky HERE. She can do better ... she was being silly.

Baseball and Lego's - Boys stuff is fun

Happy Birthday Brian!!! Another year wiser, right? I love you and hope you have a great one.

M had his first T-Ball game on Sunday. They have a Fall Ball League here in North Natomas. They only play for 2 months and there are only 2 teams but it doesn't matter. They are a great group of kids and it's all about having fun, right? They are the Kansas Jaykawks. Brian is coaching wasn't able to make the game ... luckily one of the other Dads stepped up. M got 2 great hits and the weather was beautiful. It was a great day.

The team huddle before the game. M's number 4.

Is he adorable or what?

Slugger. He hits left handed but doesn't do anything else left handed.



He forgot to run at first. There he goes.

Coming home. A cool shot through the fence.


We went to Barnes and Noble to get his Scooby-Doo books I (rewards for learning sight words) and he BEGGED me for this Lego set. The books were going to be $8 and the Lego Set was $24 so I was getting a raw deal. He negotiated with me and offered to put the Scooby books back and give me the dollar bills from his piggy bank. Yes, I'm a pushover. He is obsessed with Lego's lately. I've never built anything with Lego's before ... usually Brian does it with him but because Brian was at work, I gave it a try. It was a lot of fun and now I'm hooked.


We made several things.

K kept me up all night because she's scared of the rain!! It's going to be a looooong winter! She's not just scared but terrified of the noise it makes on her windows. When she got to my room, she was physically shaking - all 4 times!!

This morning, K ran to the window and started yelling, "water piles, water piles!!" She then ran outside (barefoot) and jumped in the puddles. She is crazy. Every night she washes her hair and body with cold water ... right out of the tap ... she insists on it. How can she do that?

I went to The Club this morning for the Interval-Cardio Class. I can honestly say I've never worked out so hard that I actually vomited ............. UNTIL TODAY! Yes, about about 45 minutes of class I felt so sick to my stomach that I had to run to the bathroom and VOMIT! Am I out of shape or was the class hard? Definitely a little of both. I'm going to try to hang in there. Hopefully next week will be easier. It will be, right? Ya think?

While K was in childcare she told the teacher that we were going to get Brian a birthday cake today. Teacher Evie asked her what kind of cake we were going to get. K looked at her like she was crazy and said, "A Dad Cake!!"

More when I get time ... I'm going to Moms Night Out with the Moms from K's Preschool. It's Brian's birthday but he told me to go ahead and go. We just had yummy German Chocolate Pie from Marie Callendar's ... it's his favorite. There went my workout, right?

New bicycles

K learned how to pedal a bicycle last week and M's been wanting to ride his bicycle to school so we decided to get them each a new one. M got a 12" one on his 4th Birthday which he loved but it has gotten too small for him. He was resistant to the idea of getting a new bike and thought his other one was perfectly fine but we wanted him to have a bigger one to ride to Kindergarten. (We didn't want him to get teased or something) K had been getting frustrated and was trying and trying for months to figure out how to pedal and finally got it. Now she can't get enough.

Out-takes of K with her new bike. THIS is why I don't have very many pictures of her. TAKE 1.

This is her "smile". Not quite what I was looking for. Take 2.

Take 3. I told her to just smile normal.


"Watch out Mom, here I come." She loves the basket for her Piggy and the bicycle on the front for her Barbie. She's all girl ... for sure.


The best of the bunch.


M got an 18" bicycle. It looks a little too big for but he is able to ride it well. We planned on getting him a 16" but it didn't look much bigger than the 12" and we felt like he would grow out of it in 6 months. The 20" was too big. He loves the hand brakes.

It was chilly and windy yesterday but we decided to take the new bikes out for a ride.


He was trying to run me over while I was taking pictures and got a good laugh out of that. Just look at the mischievous face.


Being silly, riding K's bike. Of course a huge fight started after this photo.

I'm on a blogging roll

I don't know what's gotten into me ... I've been blogging a lot in September. Oh, wait. I haven't worked in a week ... K is sleeping ... no dogs are barking at night ... I'm sleeping. I feel so much better.

Brian is on his way home .... yahoo. He'll be here in about an hour. Safe and sound.

While driving M to T-Ball practice today, out of the blue, he said, "Mom you're not that old. Gee thanks." He came out of left field with that one.

I'm sick of wasting bananas. M won't eat them so I decided to make banana muffins. He doesn't like banana bread but when I told him I made "cupcakes" he was all over it. K loves to help me bake. She quite a good helper. She loves to stir and crack the eggs. I found a great recipe. It's a little bit lighter version. I cut down a little on the sugar, added 3 oz of applesauce, threw in a few chocolate chips so M would eat them and substituted half of the flour with whole wheat flour. I also sprinkled nuts on top so they would be prettier. They were delicious. Just call me Susie Homemaker (yeah right). Don't ask me what my kids had for dinner!!

K and I helped out at M's school today. I assisted the kids with their art projects and helped clean up. You know I love that kind of thing (artsy stuff). K was excellent. She sat quietly with the kids and participated in some of the activities. She did what the other kids did ... good or bad. They tasted apples (red, yellow and green) and then had to color a paper apple the color of their favorite one. Both kids liked red the best. They had to go up and stick their apples on the wall and then his teacher counted them all up and talked about fewer and more. I see why M likes school. It was fun and I can't wait to help again. K kept calling me Teacher Mama and Mrs. Mama. Made me laugh.

Miscellaneous

Yesterday after M's bath, he was getting his underpants on and said something about his "privates". I told him the real name for his privates is "penis." He looked at me with crazy eyes and a funny look on his face and said, "Peanuts????" Then we both cracked up. He began to walk around while singing, "Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts!!!"

Yesterday morning, K came around the corner and said, "Do somebody need a hug?" So cute.

A few minutes ago she was playing in her playroom :) and I asked her how she was doing. She annoyingly looked at me and said, "I'm trying to play!"

He's working on his yellow words and was going to challenge today. He is having the hardest time with "this" so he must have said it 50 times while walking into school today. Each time he challenges a color he gets to go to the bookstore and pick out a new Scooby-Doo book. Today, K and I are going to the Downtown Farmers Market and then volunteering in his class. He is excited about that.

K is 33 lbs and 41 inches tall.

Brian has been on the Station Fire in Los Angeles. I'm hoping he'll be home late tonight. My mom was going to come up and watch the kids but because we only needed her for tonight, I decided to take the day off of work. It's too much for her to drive up for only 1 day. If he doesn't come home, I'll have to figure something out for tomorrow's shift. My job is so accomodating about things like that ... I'm lucky.

Child Labor

M's been in a mood lately. Yesterday he said, "Do ya have any chores I can do, Mom?" Music to my ears. I asked him to help me pick up toys and he said, "No, I really want to scrub something." He said our sliding glass door looked dirty so he would clean it. Of course, he enlisted K to help. They were so cute together ... he sprayed and she wiped and then she sprayed and he wiped. They also cleaned my table outside and were so proud of themselves.

Last week M helped me clean the spa cover too. Pictures to follow.

Just jabber

M did something so sweet the other day. They get to go to the library at school once a week and are allowed to check out one book at a time. Well, he checked out a book for K!! We have 2 Gossie & Friends books that she loves and he saw one we didn't have ... so he got it for her. Friday afternoon, he came running out of his classroom, book in hand and gave it to K. He can be so thoughtful. I love him.

He is also doing very well in school. Homework has gotten easier. He almost seems like he enjoys it a little. They are working on sight words and his teacher prints out a rainbow for each child, puts it on the wall and when they demonstrate that they know their red words, they get to color the red on the rainbow (and so on up to purple). Here is the website. Well, we just started working on these about 1 week ago and he has already has challenged his red and orange words. He knows all but 2 of his yellow words too. We run through them once or twice a day. I printed and cut them out and put them on a ring so we can easily flip through them. He has one at school also.

Red Words - see, I, a, is, the, here, we, an
Orange Words - he, and, she, in, do, no, it, you
Yellow Words - can, not, has, are, what, to (he's having trouble remembering "have" and "this").

What's a post without a picture?

I love the smell of clean kids. Here he is after his bath. In case you're wondering what's on his right hand, it's his "cast." I'm not sure if I posted the story about when Brian and M rode their bikes to the park and M's callous on his hand came off while on the monkey bars. Well, he was sobbing and refused to ride his bike home so Brian got creative. He took his sock off (his own) and tore holes for M's fingers. He put the "cast" on M's hand so he was able to ride home and he wore it for a few days. Well, he got another blister yesterday and insisted I make him one like Daddy did.

Just look at that face.



This is her lately. She's been quite a stinker.


K with a forced smile.

K's been sleeping much better thanks to my Mom and sister. They have her a stuffed doggie that they named, "Magic". My Mom gave it to K when we went camping last weekend and told her Magic would protect her and keep her safe. If she gets scared, all she had to do was hold Magic and she would feel better. Well, for the first night, she cried a little and I had to give her a pep-talk about how she didn't need me, she had Magic (a few times). Each night has gotten better and for the last few nights she has only gotten up to go to the bathroom and isn't fussing when she gets back to bed. It was rough for a while ... she was getting up 4 - 5 times a night and having a tantrum if we wouldn't let her get in bed with us or sleep on the floor in her room. I mean huge fit!! Life is good when you get sleep. M got "Lucky". He loves his also.

Good times-good friends

Dyan had these pictures on her camera and sent them to me so I wanted to be sure to put them on my blog. These were taken right before they moved away. We miss them terribly and can't wait to see them in October in the San Luis Obispo area.

Relaxing in the hot tub during happy hour at The Club.

Oakland A's baseball tailgate party. I love this one.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. Brian is working so I'm home with the kids. They're being good so all is well.

Mini-Golf Time

We played Mini-Golf yesterday after we picked M up from school. In the 10 years Brian and I have been together, we've never done it and thought the kids would enjoy it. K played ONE hole and said she was all done but M had a good time and did pretty well. K followed us from hole to hole (mostly whining). Brian beat me (but only by 4). K took the picture of Brian and I together.

Fun at Lawson's Landing

Last Friday we picked M up from Kinder and headed to Lawson's Landing (Dillon Beach) to go camping. The kids were so excited because my Mom was able to come with us. We got there Friday evening about 5 pm. Brian had already prepared Shepperd's Pie in the dutch oven so we got camp set up, started a fire and put the dutch oven in the fire to cook. It turned out yummy so now we're on the lookout for more recipes like that. The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday (high in the 80's). Sunny and clear skies. Sunday morning we woke up to wind, cold, fog ... a very dreary day but it was okay because we were leaving that day anyways.

On Saturday morning, the boys went fishing so the girls (and Roscoe) headed for the beach to play. It wasn't warm enough to get in but was just fine for hunting seashells, building sandcastles and frolicking. We had a great time. Later in the morning we met up with the boys, chilled out at camp and went back to the beach later on. It was hamburgers and potato salad for dinner ... followed by S'mores of course. The kids expect S'mores EVERY night we're camping. After we put the kids to bed, Brian beat us at Uno.

Sunday morning we didn't do a whole lot. We hung out around the fire because it was cold and went to the General Store for some hot cocoa (K's favorite). Then we had to pack up camp. It was so cold!! I'm talking 3 layers.

Sorry this post is picture heavy.

Enjoying hot cocoa on Day 3 (don't look at me ... camp hair isn't pretty). Or clean for that matter.


M in his fishing attire. I guess he's making a fashion statement with one pantleg up and one pantleg down.

My mom and K had a blast on the beach. I can't believe how much energy she has. She played and played with the kids on the beach.

The boys being silly. It started out with Brian trying to make M smile for a photo.

Brrrr ... it's cold.

M climbed up on Brian's shoulders to get him back. He was cracking up.


M running from the water.


Brian jumped in the picture at the last minute.

K let my mom bury her in the sand. She kept saying, "It's nice and warm."


Then they buried me in the sand. This area was right by our campsite which is one of the things I love about Lawson's. There is sand to play with but grassy areas to put the trailer in (so you don't track so much sand in and out of the trailer).


K sure took a liking to my mom on this trip and they played together tons. I love this picture of them sharing a special moment.

They got so wet!


M loves to sit on Dad's lap and drive to the General Store. Lawson's is nice because it feels like old times. I guess we'll have to be more careful because we saw a Sheriff this time.