Spirit Week

A couple weeks ago was spirit week, and because I'm a good mom, I helped the kids dress up.

Monday, Hippie Day
Sarah came home from school and informed me that she wasn't actually a hippie. She was a flower child. And the peace sign is called "the rooster claw." Okay, whatever. I'm a child of the 80's.


The crazy hair day was fun to do. She looked cute. Albeit, crazy.


Noah is a minimalist. A peace sign and hair spikes were enough for him. I offered a vest, headband, Koolaid hair dye...but no.

The other days were less exciting - pajama day, sports day, and...something else less exciting.

Anecdotes for the day

Today was Sarah's last day of first grade. She had fun at the park field trip yesterday, but was much more subdued today. She cried in the car when I picked her up. We'll miss Mrs. T.









Noah is a cutie. The Wii is teaching him to read. Specifically, Animal Crossing. There is a lot of text-based interaction with characters. He still makes me read a lot to him, but he's recognizing more words every day.





Karen makes a good grumpy face on command. Her story for the day: she left her binky on the table at the library while she was making sure she had one of each flyer available. More than one of the really important flyers. Anyway, on the way home, she realized she'd left the binky behind and demanded that Mommy 'go get it at the library so the bad guys don't get my binky!' Fortunately for Mommy, we had a duplicate binky at home.

I'm not dead yet!

Yes, the blog lives. It's just sadly neglected. What's a good excuse...? Er...we'll blame it on 'having a two-year-old.'

Speaking of two-year-olds... This was a fun project of Karen's. That's vegetable oil, with a healthy dose of olive oil, all over my kitchen floor. She was 'making a birthday cake for Mommy.' And then she realized that it was, in fact, a mess instead of a cake and she got some sponges and rags to clean it up. Points for effort Karen. But that was absolutely disgusting to clean up. The second picture shows how she's lived this long. She's so darn cute. (Especially wearing lots of chapstick all over her face.)

While Noah and Daddy were on the Father Son campout, and Karen was occupied with Blues Clues, Sarah got a sewing lesson. I helped make sure the fabric was straight a couple of times, and I did the square reenforcements on the straps for her, but other than that, she did it herself.

(Hint: It's a tote bag. Not a dress.)

Halloween (and this post) Go on ForEVER!

Sarah started out as a pumpkin, but we altered that to a witch for dance class. She was so cute, we kept it.

That's one saucy pirate. Arrr!


Karen the Candy Fiend, complete with wings. She caught on enough to say "Treat?" at doors. And finally, "No! No pictures!"

I swear, Halloween has turned into a week-long marathon. We've been busy with activities all week.

• The Trunk-or-Treat and Fall Festival carnival at Church was last Wednesday.
  
• We used Family Home Evening on Monday to carve Noah's pumpkin and make a plan for Karen's. Sarah and I used the clearance candy-making kit we picked up after Halloween last year.
  
• Then on Tuesday, Sarah's dance class had a little Halloween party where the girls showed us some dance moves - kangaroo jumps, skeleton walking, ghost gliding, something or other leaps...basic dance things with Halloween-y names. And then they exchanged treats (Sarah brought Halloween suckers made from the kit).
  
• Thursday, I took Noah and Karen to the library for storytime and trick or treating around the library.
  
• That night, Noah's karate class practiced for 10 minutes then spent the rest of class doing 'fun drills' - a ring toss, bean bag toss, bowling, sack races... I was in charge of the bean bags, which got interesting when Karen insisted on being held while I did squats with 30 pounds trying to pick up bean bags for the kids.
• As if that weren't enough in one day, I took the kids to the safe house run by the firefighters at the town hall center. It was CRAZY. They said they were expecting 4000-5000 kids over the two days. All I have to say is that if they were expecting that many, why on earth did they cram it into the tiny center?? We pushed our way through the crowds so the kids could play some carnival games, get some candy, and earn some prizes. They handed out paper money for winning games that the kids could exchange for prizes at very reasonable rates, I must say (great options for 1 or 2 'dollars'). Although, we really didn't need to come home with four more stuffed animals. I wish they'd gone for the glow sticks instead. And the highlight for the kids? Getting to ride in a real bus that shuttled us from the high school parking lot to the town center. Highlight for Mom: getting to round out the lower body work out with some upper by carrying a tired Karen the whole time. Love it. Love the pain.
• Friday finally rolled around. It's Rich's off Friday, so he took Noah to his art class and took Karen with him. I got to catch up on laundry and dishes. I also made a big pot of Russian tea to combat these nasty colds and sore throats that have been plaguing us all week.
• Sarah went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. Apparently the patch called the teacher yesterday that they were OUT of PUMPKINS! Nice. You can't tell a 1st grader that. They worked quickly and made a deal with Walmart. They trucked a bunch of pumpkins from the store out to the patch, and some volunteers went early to set them out in the field. None of the kids any the wiser.
• I went over to the school to help set up for the Halloween party when the kids got back from the field trip. They kept sugar to a minimum, having popcorn, fruit, veggies and dip, and juice. Just a cupcake and a few pieces of candy to take home.
• Halloween night...finally. Rich and I browbeat the kids into actually eating dinner. Then we dressed up, Sarah a witch, Noah a pirate, and Karen a ladybug. There is no photographic evidence, but I was 'The Night." All black. And then I took a white jacket so I wouldn't get run over. Trick or Treating was fun. We only went once around one side of the block...the kids were worn out. Then they had great fun sitting in the driveway handing out candy. Karen tried to put half eaten pieces of her own in kids' bags, but I think we caught everything except a piece of popcorn.
  
• And by this time, I'm thinking I should have been blogging all week, because this post is turning into a book. Sorry. At least I put the pictures first, right?
  

And now the candy. Lots of candy. Here's my latest trick. I just learned about this book from another blog. I was going to give the kids a day or two with the candy to enjoy it then set it out for 'the Halloween Fairy,' but they were so excited they ate some tonight and put it out. Sarah was sooo excited, she put hers on the front porch without consulting me, and it promptly got dumped in some teenagers' sacks. Grr. She was really sad when she found out I'd meant by her bedroom door. She knew the fairy didn't get it because nothing was left behind. We put some other candy by her door, and 'the fairy will understand.' I'm leaving money instead of toys because #1, I wasn't on top of things enough to get something when I went shopping early in the week, and #2, I think it will be fun to take them to the store to pick something out themselves. We'll see how it goes.

Kid Quotes

Sarah: "If bad guys were sounds and the police were a satellite, they could just bounce the bad guys back."

*blank stare* Uh...yes...

Me: "Karen, you're a beautiful girl!"
Karen: "Your hair pretty."

This girl knows how to work it.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

So, here's my big girl. 6 years old.

The cake was all her idea. It's supposed to be a castle with a ballroom on the roof.



Happy Birthday Sarah!

Just before Fall Break, they had Spirit week at school. Magic Monday was fun with fairy wings, Twin Tuesday was typical jeans and T-shirt like her friend Abby, Wacky Wednesday had clothes on backward and a side ponytail, and Pajama Thursday was pretty darn easy. So, we weren't the most elaborate participants, but we did it.

This is from Hippie Friday. Who has child-sized hippie stuff? We made do, and she looks like she could totally be a flower child...

Here's her quarter-end school project, a desert shadow box. She did everything herself (except cut the box opening). My favorite part is the pipe cleaner ocotillo.

Kid Updates

Sarah:

Do you know the boys in my class? {No, I only know a few of the girls. Which boy is cutest?} I like Michael. {Is he nice?} Yeah. Well, but he doesn't really play with me. But he is young and looks handsome.

Good thing she's got her priorities straight.

Make sure I have a shirt for Spirit Day. Otherwise, I'm the only one who doesn't and it's embarrassing!

Goodness. Already? Although she does have a point. The past two weeks when I've dropped her off on Friday, there has been a sea of school shirts. Seriously, I think I could count on one hand the kids who didn't have one. Poor Sarah. She will go to school tomorrow properly attired and hopefully unembarrassed.

Noah:

Spent the first two or three days of school asking every 15 minutes when Sarah was coming home. Then the light bulb went on. If Sarah's not home, he gets to pick all the movies to watch and gets all the turns on the computer. He's still ready for her to come home by 2:30, but he's enjoying being the oldest at home for a little while.

I love watching his brain work too. He asks some interesting questions...which I can't remember right now, of course. He's figuring things out all the time.

Karen:

Girly girl. I don't know where she's gotten this obsession, but she is into toiletries every chance she gets. I thought I'd succeeded in convincing her that deodorant is not chapstick, and then I caught her putting it in her hair today. It's progress, I guess. She does love her "chappie" though.

My little singer can sing a good portion of the song "The Call" from the Prince Caspian soundtrack. (I think we may have listened to it a few times or something.) She just grins when she does it too. Her verbal skills are a runaway train these days. Tonight she was stringing words together to make complete thoughts if not quite sentences.

Seepy? {It's not quite time for bed. Did you want to go for a walk?} Walk. Walk...back, seepy.

Yes, when we get back from the walk it will be time for bed.

Sarah's First Day of School

So, we got the call that a space opened up at Great Expectations Academy, and we are so excited that Sarah got to start first grade today! Her teacher is Mrs. Trella. She says her first day was fine. "It's not at all like preschool. It's harder. And it took a long time." Here's the rest of her report:

"My first day of school was good. It was good. My teacher was nice. My teacher was fun. I was good in school, and I liked it. I was second in being good. Recess was the most fun of all. I love you, Sarah."

I tried to prompt a few more details, but she must have been going through computer withdrawal because she's glued to the monitor and not paying much attention to me. She told me on the ride home that she had two recesses plus lunch. She talked a lot about her lunch and what she did and didn't eat. She said they eat outside, and there are sprayers around the tables (to keep it from getting too hot). They played Bingo with classmates' names, and Sarah got a Christmas tree eraser. They wrote lower case letters, and Sarah wrote her name with lower case letters. They had 'math minute,' but she forgets what that was. They also read Chicka Chicka 1 2 3.

Going, Going...

Gone.

I wasn't quite expecting this yet, but Sarah woke up the morning of the 2nd asking if her teeth were loose. Lo and behold, the bottom two were. One came out that evening, and the second followed soon thereafter.

She scored an extra 50 cents over the standard dollar from the tooth fairy for the first one, since the tooth fairy was late. She left a note that she had a pickup in Alaska... Oops. Second tooth was right on time with another dollar. She's currently hoarding the cash.

Sarah's Dance Recital

Sarah with dance friends Kiya and Jasmine.
And hamming it up outside before going backstage.

If you're up for a slightly longish video, here's the dress rehearsal (she's fourth in the line behind the teacher). Karen helped with sound effects a little toward the end:

It actually might have been better than the performace for Sarah, because during the performance, Sarah kept turning around to admire the fog coming from the machine at the back curtain.

FHE lesson of the day

Sarah reading: "Jacob and his family lived in the land of Canada."
Canaan.
"No, it says Canada."
But there's no 'd.'
"No, look: Ca-na... Oh. Cannon."
Canaan.
"Whatever."

Making Jam

Mmmm. Cheap strawberries mean time to fill up the freezer!



The kids were good helpers.

Easter

Sarah in her Easter dress with a lily she made in class.


Gotta dye Easter eggs. Just gotta.


Easter baskets:


Noah's favorite was the cars, of course. Sarah liked the magnetic spinning bunny.

And Karen is a candy fiend. She's still finding Easter candy around the house.

Bwahahaha

My evil plan is working. I've been collecting lots of the books I enjoyed when I was little and some other books that have been recommended by others. I just wanted to have them around the house.

I've tried to interest Sarah in a few books (we're talking longer chapter books now), but she'll either read a chapter or two and lose interest or have me reading to her (which is fine too). She finally caught the bug though. Hehehe. She read two chapter books in a row, one last night and one this morning. It was so cute to see her wandering around the house completely absorbed in a book.

And the winner is...The Magic Treehouse books. We'd read the first two to/with her, but she read #3 and #4 all on her own.

I win!

Sarah at Sea World

No fear. After mastering the roller coaster, Sarah had no qualms about getting close to the wildlife at Sea World. She loved the tide pools and was inches away from climbing in the tank with the bat and manta rays.

Sarah at Disneyland

You know Disneyland is the little girl's fairy tale come true. And it's all about the princesses.

That long line waiting? Totally worth it. Sarah read Belle a story, chatted with Jasmine, and discussed hair with Cinderella. She was just eating up all the individual attention. Totally worth it.

She did mention that Ariel wasn't a real mermaid but someone dressed up.

It didn't stop her from telling Ariel that her favorite part of the movie was "When you got married." We all just love Happily Ever After. Don't you think?

And what goes better with Princesses than roller coasters? Sarah surprised us all by braving some faster rides--the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones. She said she wasn't scared about any of it, except the Abominable Snowman jumping out on the Matterhorn.

Miscellaneous Pictures

Cute Sisters



Noah was all dressed up and proud for his first Sunday as a Sunbeam. (Yes, it's taken me this long to get the picture up.) The other kids stayed home sick that first week. Primary was nothing new for Sarah, and Karen's not in nursery yet anyway. (2 more months...just 2 more months!)



My fingerless mittens. It was my first try knitting around, and my first cable-knitting. Actually, I guess this picture is my second try, since it's the second mitten. The first mitten was baggier, since I always knit tighter as I go. Same with crocheting.