Random Photos

I haven't downloaded the pictures from my little camera for some time and when I did, I found a few cute pictures to post.

Brian took this while skiing with Mason a few months ago.  His helmet looks so big, it looks like he would topple over - I guess he has a big melon.  Aw, I miss Mason's two front teeth.

I set a little tent up for the kids in the house and Lucy loved hanging out on the top of it.  I let the kids 'camp out' overnight in the loft area.  I don't know how they slept all night it that tiny thing but they did great and actually slept in a little the next morning.  They had a blast.

Self portrait.  Cut part of my head off but I still think it's a decent photo.

She loves her robe and slippers just like me.

We joined a gym with an indoor pool and the kids have been loving it.  Such a easy way to wear them out!  ;)

OK everyone, brace yourself for some BIG news .... Kyla can now fasten herself into her seat in the car!!!  I'll never have to fasten the kids in again!  HALLELUJAH.  Seems like a little thing but such a time saver.

Another big deal.  Kyla let me paint her fingers and toenails today.  She's never let me before.  Each time I would ask her, she'd say, "maybe when I'm older."  Well, she had a play date with her bestie from school today and noticed that she had her fingernails painted so when she got home she asked me to paint hers.  Maybe she's becoming a girlie girl after all. 

How I feel today ...

Also got a good chuckle out of this one.

OK, last one.  LOL.

Sweet Tooth

For those of you that know my mom, you know that she has quite a sweet tooth (like myself).  I don't know how she stays so thim.  Well, while she was up here visiting, we made brownies.  After we put the kids to bed, she got herself a big ol' glass of milk and a brownie.  Oh my goodness, did she ever.  We got such a giggle out of her HUGE brownie that I had to get my camera.  Sorry mom.  ;)  Here's the proof.

You crack me up.  Sometimes she'll sit down and have an entire row of Oreo's or Chips Ahoy!

WOW.  Now that's a brownie.

Cinderella at the B Street Theatre

Last weekend, my mom came up and we took the kids to see Cinderella at the B Street Theatre.  We were all pleasantly surprised, the theatre is cozy and quaint.  We were in the back row ... which was only about 5 rows back.  There were 6 or 7 actors.  They put a funny spin on the Cinderella story.  The stepsisters fought with each other a lot, we all got a good laugh about that.  The kids laughed out loud several times and when the play was over, we were all left wanting more.  Both kids said they loved it. 

After the performance, the actors come out and sign autographs and take photos.  Mason loved this part, he couldn't wait to get their autographs - like we were at Disneyland or something.

Before the show.

Aren't they cute?  I didn't notice that they were both wearing plaid until we got there.  I love this one.

Love her.

Being silly before the show started.

My mom and Mason were sitting in the third row and we were in the back until the people next to us offered to take their seats.  Cute picture of them together.

The stage.

Group photo.

Kyla and the Prince.  Isn't he cute?

Kyla hugging on Cinderella.  I wish they'd left their costumes on.

Mason was eating this up.  She kind of looks like his teacher.

One of the stepsisters.

Mason's 2nd Trimester Overview

If you easily get nauseated, you may want to stop reading because I'm going to brag a lot about how proud I am of my Mason.  I had a conference with his teacher the other day and she just couldn't have had more good things to say about him.  She said he was a model student and that she'd love to just take him home with her.  Here is a copy of some of his scores.

The one that I am most proud of is his Lexile Reading Level.  He scored 449 - proficient is 150 or higher!  She said that he is basically at a 3rd grade reading level.  He scored advanced in his Reading RIT and Math RIT - she's putting him in the challenge reading group now.  As far as fluency, he read 85 words per minute with 99% accuracy.  His Math Unit test average is 98%.  He knows his 1st and 2nd grade sight words and is now working on enrichment words.

He doesn't do well while being timed.  She said he slows down when he's timed and rushes when he's not timed.  He only solved 11 addition problems in 3 minutes and 8 subtraction problems in 3 minutes which technically puts him in the "At risk" category but she says not to worry because he's doing very well on his unit tests.  She wants us to hit the flashcards.

Here are the 2nd Trimester Comments from his teacher.

I'm honored to be Mason's teacher!  His everyday desire to please & application of strategies taught is impossible to overlook!  His growth in reading is remarkable.  Self-correcting and appropriate expression show his comprehension.  Decoding multi-syllable words, drawing conclusions, and recalling details are higher-level skills we'll continue to work on.  Math concepts are learned with confidence and Mason is doing better job explaining reasoning strategies.  His scores indicate a reading to think about math in a more abstract way.  So, we'll give the challenge mat group a try.  Timed math fact or any other time limitations don't always showcase his actual abilities, however I'd like to see him produce more during "fantastic facts"  Writing can be a laborious task, but Mason has many strengths in this area including vivid descriptions, interesting word choices, and strong voice.  Let's work on run-on sentences, list conventions, and consistently neat handwriting - he can do it!  Look forward to fostering his positive progression even further in our final trimester. 

Cooperation Performance

Mason had a character trait performance on cooperation the other day.  They sang songs and did skits.  It was very cute and he was so excited when he saw me walk in.  Here are a few photographs.

A cute group picture with his teacher.  We love her.

Valentine's Day gifts from Mason

Mason wrote letters to Brian and I for Valentine's Day (I know I'm behind).  He couldn't wait for us to see them when he got home from school.  He's so sweet.

 

Just in case you can't read it.

My dad is the best dad in the world! My dad is as handy as Mechanic Joe. He is as cuddly as a cute bunny rabbit. My father is as nice as a clown. My dad is as strong as a gorilla. My dad is scared as a fly sometimes. My dad is the best! By Mason

I love my mom more than anything!  My mom is as beautiful as an ice cream sunday!  She is as cute as my grandmother.  She is as nice as a red rose!  I love my mom very much.

 

He came home with this letter about himself last week.

I am unique as a snowflake. My teacher is very nice because she teaches me a lot. I am good at soccer because I got on the All Stars and got a medal. My pets Rosco and Lucy are good pets.  I love them.  I am as unique as a snowflake because I'm very loveibl (lovable). 

All I want for Christmas is ....

My Two Front Teeth!!  Over the past 2 weeks, Mason lost both of his front teeth.  I can't get over how funny he looks and sounds.  He tries to lose his teeth at school so he can go into the office and get his tooth necklace.  He told me before school that he thought he was going to lose his tooth that day.  The tooth fairy was nice enough to leave him $5 for each tooth.

I had to include a cute picture of Kyla that I took the other day.  I've been having a difficult time getting good shots of her, this was the best out of the bunch.  Kyla has been attached to my hip lately.  Even more so than she used to be, if that's even possible.  She cries when I leave and asks me repeatedly when I'm going to be home and Brian says she asks for me a gazillion times when I'm gone.  I can't take a bath without her, cook a meal or even do chores around the house without her wanting to help so she can be with me.  "Let's be together, Mommy."  We shopped til' we dropped today at the outlets and on our way home she said, "Can we cuddle with each other when we get home?"  I love the bond we share and I feel guilty saying that sometimes I'd like a little air.  I'm sure I'll be wishing to have my buddy back when she gets older and prefers her friends over me.  She is beyond jealous when I given Mason attention and she's going to have to get over it.  Mason was sick last night so I was giving him love and taking care of him.  She began crying and said, "Why aren't you nursing me?"  If we're in bed and I cuddle with Mason she'll make a big fuss until I turn her direction.  I need to work on this.

I was at Mason's Parent-Teacher conference yesterday and Brian stayed home with the kids.  Brian asked him what he thought his teacher was saying to me and he said, "That I'm the perfect student!"  I'd love to have the self-esteem that my children have.  I guess that means we're doing our job.  The conference went so well, I'm surprised my head fit through the doorway of the classroom when I left.  I'm going to scan in his scores and talk more about that later.  Let's just say I'm a VERY proud Mommy.

Mason - tutoring

Often times, when Mason sits down to do his homework, Kyla wants to do her workbooks.  Lately, Mason has been helping her.  He really is a good boy ... sweet and lovable. 

My mom is in town for the weekend and we took the kids out to lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then to see Cinderella at the B Street Theatre.  It was awesome, the kids loved every minute ... the theater is small and quaint and seats about 60 people.  There were a lot of laugh out loud moments.

Funny story, while we were out at lunch, someone walked by that was wearing (an awful) leopard print jogging suit.  Kyla with her obnoxiously loud voice said, "Look, that girl is wearing a CHEETAH outfit!"  Too funny.  A few minutes later, she made the announcement to everyone that she needed to go poo!!  We had a little discussion about that. 

I'm getting a tooth extracted tomorrow (boo-hoo).  We've tried everything to save the tooth but weren't able to ... so 6 months from now I'll be $5000 poorer and have a brand new tooth.  Seriously, don't ever lose a tooth.  Anyways, enough with the pity party.  Mason lost his front tooth at school last week and they gave him a tooth necklace that he put his tooth in to bring it home.  This afternoon, Mason ran into the room and gave me his tooth necklace to wear to my dentist appointment tomorrow.  Thanks babe.

Jack-O-Lantern

Mason lost his tooth at school the other day.  He was so excited to show Brian when he picked him up from school that he lost the tooth.  They couldn't find it anywhere.  By the time he got home and saw me, he was sobbing!  I gave him a lot of love, calmed him down and then told him that the Tooth Fairy was magic and even though he wouldn't be able to put his tooth under his pillow, she'd still come.  We decided he should write her a note, just to let her know that he lost the tooth.

His toothless grin.

"Dear Toth Farey I lost my toth."

Girl time

Brian and Mason went skiing (he's doing great by the way - and is going down some intermediate hills) so Kyla and I tried to find some things for us to do (on the cheap).  It was beautiful outside so we fed the ducks at McKinley Park, walked around Target (but didn't buy anything) and enjoyed coffee/chocolate milk at Barnes and Noble.  We spend a lot of time at the bookstore these days ... we all enjoy it. 

Here are a few pictures from our day at McKinley Park.

Silly Kids

This is the longest I've gone without blogging since I started in 2008.  I don't have any real reason, I just haven't felt like it.  Maybe a little burnout ... but I'm back now.  I really need to start taking more pictures. 

I hosted a playdate a few weeks ago.  Kyla invited Josh (her boyfriend) over and Mason had Drew, our neighbor over.  The kids had a great time.  I need to do that more often. 

Indiana Jones/Fashionista's.  Satchels and jewelry.  Just couldn't resist snapping a picture of this.  Kyla is finally becoming girly!!!  Big news, people.  I've been waiting for this.  She loves pretend jewelry but doesn't want anything resembling real jewelry and likes girly outfits now.  She asked me to round brush and blow dry her hair before going out to breakfast the other day.  She tells me she will get her ears pierced when she's "older" and no way will she let me paint her nails!  Surprisingly, our gym is having a Spa Day and she can't wait to go to that.

Aww, aren't they cute.

Best buds.

Let's see ... what's been going on around here.

Mason - He missed his first day of school ever yesterday.  Wednesday night I went away with 2 of my friends on a girls trip.  A well deserved trip, I might add.  Brian said Mason woke up screaming in pain about 5:45 am on Thursday morning.  He said his leg hurt, he couldn't bend his leg or bear any weight on it.  It took about 4 hours before he was even able to bend it.  Brian said he rather enjoyed being waited on hand and foot by he and Kyla.  He went back to school today but had quite a limp for most of the day and stayed in to help Mrs. Ashby during recess.  He loved the extra time with her!  He's doing much better this evening. 

He's starting baseball tomorrow and seems excited about it.  One of his friends is on his team and he has the same coach he had last year.  I have a feeling that next year he'll choose to play basketball instead.  I loves it and has been playing it during recess most of the time.  He has skills.

He's losing his front top tooth.  It's been loose for about 4 days and it's driving him crazy - I wiggled it today and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.  He looks goofy - the tooth sticks out and for some reason looks whiter.  Like a Chicklet.  I'll take a picture tomorrow.  He's all boy that kid.  He's currently obsessed with making armpit farts while in the shower.  It cracks him up. 

Kyla - She's doing great in preschool and absolutely loves it.  She's not ready to work on sight words or reading yet, she gets very frustrated and won't try so I've left it alone for now.  She loves doing work sheets and writing her letters so I can't complain.  Each day while Mason is doing his homework, she wants to worksheets (her homework). 

Funny story.  The other day I told Mason it was time for his homework and she came running out the playroom and said, "I want to do my homework too!"  Mason looked at me, rolled his eyes and said, "Of course, she does.  Sisters ... who needs them."  I must have laughed for 5 minutes.

Kyla didn't want to play T-Ball this year, she said she would try it next year which is fine.  I'm going to sign her up for dance or something as soon as I find out when Mason's practices will be.  She loves music and dance and asked me to take her to a Taylor Swift concert sometime.

She is little miss independent and does so many things for herself these days.  She will only ask for help if she absolutely can't do something or if she's "too tired".  She's helpful and loves to help me with chores.  She cleans the litter box, sprays the laundry with stain remover, dusts, does the windows, gathers laundry and on and on.  She's my little buddy for sure.

She LOVES shopping and especially the mall.  She asks to go often - this evening she asked if we could go to Target in the morning and get a Starbuck's and walk around.  We started at a new gym a few weeks ago and while walking around in there she asked me if they had a Starbuck's upstairs.  Everyone around us got a good laugh out of that.