November 2011

Somewhere between sitting down to write up the summary for October 2011 and when it was time to write up November 2011's summary, I must have blinked because it felt like all of a sudden November was over!

Li'l Sis

The word I'd use to describe week 1 of November: difficult.  Difficult to watch my little girl work her way through being so miserable sick. After fighting a fever and croup all night and all morning, Li'l Sis finally fell asleep in her Daddy's recliner while watching her favorite movie "Tangled."  She snuggled under her favorite blanket, had her two favorite "girls" keep her company, and had her favorite drink close at hand.

~Resting while sick and missing school.~

Keepin' It Real

Also difficult: saying goodbye to my sister J who passed away on November 3rd; difficult to think about J's young family left to carry on without her; difficult not to question "why" our family has had so many loved ones taken by cancer in the last three years.

Even though we did end up with some good ones to choose from, it was difficult to get my family to cooperate while having our family pictures taken.  Why is having a nice family picture taken considered an act of torture by my family?  I was hoping to get our Christmas cards out before the end of the year, but well, that didn't happen and we ended up sending out "Happy New Year!" cards.  If you continue to read this entry and the one for December, you'll begin to understand why.

~Our favorites that we ultimately used for our card.~

~Others we liked and considered using on our card.~

~All family photos done by KAH.~

To wrap up week one, J-rod took me on a date to see a Blue Man Group performance.  It was the first time we'd ever seen BMG and after the week I'd had, all the laughing we did was definitely needed!

Mom's Thoughts

Week 2 in a word: grateful.  Grateful we have dental insurance to help cover the cost of the many years worth of orthodontic work our kids will have to endure.  We found out the second week of November that, as soon as possible M needs to begin the process for braces.

~Best buds: Copper and M~

This was also the week we were very grateful to have our medical insurance to help pay for the x-ray taken of C-sta to ensure the penny she swallowed was not lodged somewhere in her abdomen and would naturally exit her body.  Additionally we were grateful the penny did not in fact cause any issues and did make it out with no further problems.  We taught C-sta to say, "I am not a piggy bank!" : )

~Daddy and his li'l princess.~

~Ready for another fun day of preschool.~

Road Trip

By the end of week 2 we were grateful we could travel to L.A. (this time without incident) to be with family for the weekend.  It was yet again a long drive for such a short stay, but the kids traveled well and it was nice to be able to attend my sister J's funeral, burial, and luncheon afterwards as a family.  It was so good to see many family members and to feel the love and support of the ward and friends that have rallied around my brother-in-law and my nephew's.  I'm grateful to know there is a way for us all to be reunited again one day.

~Cousins: My nephew N with Li'l J.~

~Cousins: My niece C with C-sta.~

For the third week of November 2011, I would use the word: disbelief.  Disbelief at the realization that we only had one month to finish up the requirements for M to receive his Webelos and Arrow of Light awards for Cub Scouts.  Technically he had until his 11th birthday, January 2012, but if he wanted his awards presented in front of his pack then we only had until the Pack Meeting scheduled for December 20th.  Fabulous.  From when we found out about the tight schedule until he received his awards, it was full-speed ahead for our M.  M worked really hard, completed quite a bit through the rest of November, and was well on-track to have it all completed by 12/20 and have lots awarded to him that night.

~November '11 Pack Meeting: Flag Retirement Ceremony~

Poor Li'l J was in disbelief at finding out that he couldn't play in his last baseball game of the season that third week of November because he had strep throat!  Even though I know our boys enjoyed themselves and that it is good to participate in Fall sports, I was very glad baseball and soccer season was over!

Traditions

The fourth week I was filled with: denial.  Denial that Thanksgiving was THAT week!  With no one coming for a visit for the holiday, J-rod scheduled to work the entire week, and the boys home from school for the entire week, Thanksgiving kind of snuck up on me and I was not well prepared for it.  Sure I had bought a turkey the weekend before and had most of the shopping done for the meal, but I was not really in the mood.

Thanksgiving Day the kids and I slept in, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, went out to lunch together, and then went to see "Arthur's Christmas"--a fun movie to watch with the kids, it kind of helped to put me in a better holiday mood.

~Fun with chalk and bikes during the Thanksgiving Break.~

Saturday after Thanksgiving J-rod had the day off and was home, so we celebrated then.  We a couple of single gals over from our ward over to share in our dinner.  Their parents and married siblings also live in our ward, but they were all out of town for the holiday and due to health issues, one of these girls was not given clearance by her doctor to travel so they stayed behind.  I wasn't aware that they spent Thanksgiving Day all on their own until one of them posted something on facebook about having had a yummy dinner at Mimi's restaurant that night. I felt so bad that I didn't know before hand!  Had I known we would have planned to do something with them on Thursday.  Anyway, we enjoyed a yummy dinner with them and then everyone enjoyed playing our Harry Potter Scene-it DVD game.  Both girls are BIG Harry Potter fans so it made the game lots of fun for all (and a bit challenging for us).

A few other fun highlights from November: I went on a girls night out to the midnight showing of "Breaking Dawn Part 1".  I went with the same friend I went to see the last midnight showing, the friend whose co-worker rents out a theater and throws a BIG party complete with food, games, prizes, and a DJ.  We had so much fun!  The following week I went to see it again with some of the gals from our Card Swap group, also lots of fun.

We wrapped up the month of November by taking our kids and some of the youth to a BYU men's basketball game.  The team came to AZ to play the team from NAU, but rather than playing in Flagstaff where NAU is located (about a 3 1/2 hour drive for us) they played in Prescott which is just under two hours away.  We had a great time and were glad we could fit that into our crazy schedule.

~Loyal, Strong, and True; Wearing the White and Blue!~

October 2011

Let's review the craziness that was October 2011, shall we?  October was filled with the usual: soccer and baseball practices and games for M and Li'l J; a few pretty involved projects for various classes for M; piano lessons, allergy shots, and Cub Scouts as well.

~Campfire inspired Cub Scout Pack Meeting~

Keepin' Real

The first Saturday in October, I discovered too late in the morning that I hadn't written down something important in my calendar and Li'l J missed out on being in his baseball team picture but was still able to have his individual pictures taken (M's were at a different time so he didn't miss out on either of his).  I may have mentioned this last Fall but, having our boys involved in Fall sports (as opposed to playing sports during any other season) really stresses me out and this was just one of those moments that really overwhelmed me.  Thank goodness J-rod was not working that day and was able to help get the boys where they needed to be!  He did have to work the next day in preparation for the month long outage at work (shut-down and maintenance on one of the reactors), so the kids and I stayed home, stayed in our jammies, enjoyed watching General Conference and some of the great shows that followed it on BYUTV, and just basically regrouped for the coming week.

~So true~

The first week of October I scheduled in some fun time for me: I hosted the monthly gathering for the Card Swap group I have been a part of for the last three years.  I also began attending a monthly craft night with a group of ladies in the area, I came home with two neat vinyl "subway art" canvases: one for Halloween and one for Thanksgiving.  I am definitely looking forward to future fun nights with both groups.

The Kids

The second weekend of October, it was Li'l J's turn to bring home his calls "mascot": Mr. Moo, a plush cow.  Mr. Moo came to us in his overnight bag that was complete with two books to read ("Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type"--a favorite of ours!--and "Two Cool Cows") and a journal.  In the journal Li'l J had to add a page to where he told all about Mr. Moo's weekend stay with us, as well as a page of pictures.  Mr. Moo sat on the piano with Li'l J during his piano lesson, went with us to In N' Out for lunch (though he didn't eat with us since he isn't a cannibal!), held Li'l J's hand during his allergy shots, cheered Li'l J on during his baseball game the next morning, kept watch on our house while we went to church, and listened intently as we read the two stories for bedtime.  Li'l J was SO happy to have had Mr. Moo home for that weekend and was really excited to write the journal entry, print out the pictures we took, and then share it with his class the next day!

~C-sta with Lucky and M, always with a book.~

~We sure had fun with Mr. Moo~

The second week of the month I took C-sta in to have some portraits done at JC Penney and the boys brought home their school pictures.  It's good to have updated photos of all three kids on the walls!  At the end of that week I also finally got all three kids in to see their pediatrician for their annual well-checks...a bit over due for the boys, but better late than never.  M had been having back pain for a long while which we've always attributed to growing pains, but his pediatrician wanted to rule out the possibility of scoliosis (as he detected a slight curve in M's back) so at the end of October we took M in for x-rays.  It breaks my heart how M's body presents him with so many challenges and has never quite done what it should, but I am grateful that overall M is healthy and happy.

Family News

It was also during the second week of October that we got some sad news.  My half-sister J, who had been in remission for about a year from breast cancer, began having unbearable headaches so she went in to see her doctor.  As it turned out, she had a brain tumor that he doctors felt could be surgically removed and then she would be treated with chemo and radiation.  Her surgery was scheduled and the weekend before her surgery she began having seizures, difficulties maintaining her balance, and began needing help to do things for herself.  That same weekend she also ended up in the ER for a night because she couldn't keep anything down and was quite dehydrated.  While in the ER an MRI was done to check the condition of her tumor.  Her condition was deemed stable but another tumor was discovered on her back.  My brother-in-law and my three nephews were like warriors by her side helping her through all of this.

~J and N~

The morning of her surgery, the seizures continued so things were delayed for a couple hours until she was deemed stable again.  During J's surgery when her doctors when to remove the tumor, they discovered that it was not solid as they had thought but a tumor filled with hundreds of little tumors and that a portion of it had attached itself to her soft tissues making it impossible to remove the tumor completely.  When J was in recovery it became apparent that she has lost her hearing.  Her eyesight was unaffected and by the next morning she had regained movement of all her limbs.  At first he doctors were hopeful they could still help her with chemo and radiation, but once she stopped responding well during rehab she was sent home earlier than anticipated and she spent the remainder of October at home quickly deteriorating.

All my siblings were able to visit with her and her family, but since it all happened so quickly, we were unable to do so.  Going through this has been more difficult for all of us than when we went through it with our Dad.  Partially because our Dad had the blessing of living such a long and full life and partially because we had three years to get used to the idea of not having him around and to prepare for the day when his time came to leave us.  With J being so young (44) and with such a young family, this has been very difficult for me personally because it out right scares me!  The cancer-prone genes on my Dad's side of the family seem run strong.  We lost one of my Dad's younger brother's at the end of August to same type of cancer that my Dad battled.  My uncle M was diagnosed three months before he passed away, while my Dad lived for three years following his original diagnosis.  That brings the total of the C family members affected by cancer from 2007 to 2011 to five (a cousin, two sisters, my dad, and my uncle) plus my Dad's mom who passed away years ago, also from cancer.  *Sigh*  

Okay, time for the rest of our news from October.  

Family Fun/Traditions

One week before Halloween we made our traditional trip to pick pumpkins at the local pumpkin.  M, Li'l J, and C-sta all went in their costumes.  We had fun taking lots of pictures, picking our pumpkins, and watching Li'l J enjoy himself on the little train ride.  After we picked our pumpkins we kept with tradition and took the kids to dinner at Carraba's--yum, yum!!  Everyone in the restaurant LOVED that they were dining near "Mario" and "Rapunzel".  M made a quick change out of his costume as soon as we left the pumpkin patch because well of course he's now too grown up for that kind of stuff...sniff, sniff.  At least M was willing to humor me by going to the pumpkin patch in costume this year, who knows if he'll want to do it again next year.

~Getting ready for Halloween~

The Boys

The three week of October was Spirit Week at school for M and Li'l J.  On Hero Day, M went as Clark Kent/Superman (so did his Social Studies teacher) and Li'l J went as Batman; both boys accessorized their costumes with capes I made them from an idea I saw on Pinterest (I LOVE that site!).  On Nerd Day M dressed up and Li'l J decided he didn't want to dress up this time around.  On Jersey Day both boys were happy to wear their BYU Jimmer shirts.

~Spirit Week Fall 2011~

~C-sta is excited for Halloween!~

Mom's Thoughts

Also the third week of October, we had to get our four years young dishwasher repaired.  The previous week it quit working and despite J-rod's best effort to get it going again, it was done.  Fortunately it was repairable for a reasonable fee and though all the J-rod had tried to get it working turned out to be correct, the repairman said the problem was ultimately in the wiring behind a panel J-rod couldn't access.  It was nice to get it going again and be able to use it for more than just a giant drying rack!

Along with Spirit Week and dishwasher repairs, during the third week I attended for the second time a "blanket bee" started last month by a really neat gal in our ward.  When we gather for the "blanket bee" we teach each other different blanket making techniques, help one another finish projects started and abandoned long ago, as well as encourage each other to try new things.  I'm so glad to be a part of this group as I'm finally making progress on a quillow I started for Li'l J shortly after C-sta was born, um three years ago!  Once I finish off Li'l J's quillow I have a rag blanket for me that I started wa-ay back in NY and haven't touched since then.

~A monkey quillow for "our little monkey", Li'l J~

Date Night

The third weekend J-rod and I attended our ward temple night as our date night.  It was so nice to go together again, it had been a while since we were able to do that.  We didn't know if it was the State Fair, the Taylor Swift concert, or ward Halloween activities going on around town, or just what but we were very surprised that the temple was so unusually empty for a Friday night!  A special treat for us was getting meet up with our friend K for a few minutes.  We passed along C-sta's toddler bed for K's daughter R to use and in exchange K surprised us with a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for our long drive home--nom, nom, nom!

The morning after our date to the temple, bright and early our Stake participated in the National Make-a-Difference Day.  J-rod and many members of our ward worked hard all morning long to help clean up our town.  C-sta and I took Li'l J to baseball while M stayed home to recover from having spent 5 HOURS the day before at the allergist.

Fall
Yes, you read that correctly, 5 LO-ONG hours with an hour in the middle for lunch and to break up the day.  We went in the morning for M to have what we expected to be a simple skin test done to see if he finally qualifies to have a flu shot (after having been told all his life that flu shots are out of the question for him).  The skin test went well and the good news was that he does now qualify for a flu shot.  The bad news was that the asthma he had been seen and treated for two weeks earlier began to worsen so once the skin test was done, the doctor wanted to address the asthma and tried a number of different in-office tactics to get M some relief.  We were glad we didn't end up in the ER that day!  As much as I like our allergist and the staff at the office, hanging out there for that long with 3 kids was not how we had planned to spend the day!  Monday after school we went back for a follow-up to be sure the course that finally provided some relief had continued to work throughout the weekend.  All of this to help M stay healthy so he could enjoy the last weekend in October in...Catalina Island with the entire 5th grade!

Thursday night/Friday at 1:30 am, all the 5th grade students and teachers going to Catalina had to report to the school and check in baggage and any meds.  Any meds?  After what we had just been through with M?  The mother in line ahead of me lamented, "I feel like such a dork because everyone else ahead of me in line is turning meds in a little sandwich sized zip baggie and here I am turning in my son's meds in a gallon sized baggie."  I tapped her on the shoulder and held up the Hefty JUMBO sized zip bag that contained ALL of M's necessary allergy and asthma meds, the nebulizer, and a letter form the allergist detailing the unfortunate regimen he had to follow while on the trip.  I asked her, "how do you think I feel?"  She apologized for her earlier lament when she realized how bad poor M has it!

~M and his buds, I and J on the bus, ready for adventure!~

By 2:15 am the three busses full of excited students and trepidatious teachers finally pulled away from the school and made their way towards California.  Later that morning they arrived at the port of Long Beach, boarded the boat and headed off for a weekend full of adventure, amazing and positive ways to challenge themselves, and lots of fun on a beautiful island.  While on the island, they stayed at Toyon Bay in dorms at the Catalina Island Marine Institute where they snorkeled in 60 degree water, dissected squids, climbed rock walls, received lots of instruction in oceanography and marine biology labs, and were kept very well fed by an amazing staff of chefs that worked well with us beforehand in regards to M's food allergies.  The school did a good job of keeping up parents informed by posting pictures and regular updates on their Facebook page throughout the weekend.  What an amazing experience for them all.  I'm so grateful J-rod and I looked past our fears and allowed M to go on this trip!  M returned late Sunday night and we were so happy to see him again and hear all about his wonderful adventures.

~Pictures courtesy of M's school FB page~

More Traditions

While M was gone, J enjoyed play dates with friends and also attended a birthday party.  As a family, we carved pumpkins while watching the demise of BYU at the hands of TCU, made new Fall pillow cases for the kids, dressed up and attended our ward Halloween Trunk-or-Treat activity where we had lots of fun.  Li'l J went as Mario his favorite character from his favorite video game, Mario Kart Wii.  C-sta went as her favorite Disney princess, Rapunzel, complete with a Pascal at her side (a chameleon puppet we've had for years).  J-rod was a dressed-down clown (curly-rainbow wig and a BIG colorful bow tie) and I went as a blue bath scrubbie/loofah.  I carried a shower caddie filled with bottles of shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap, a wash cloth, and a shower cap.  Much to my surprise, I won "Most Creative Costume!"  Woo-hoo! 

~Pumpkin Carving~

~Boo!, from us to you!~

~Trunk-or-treat games~

Since Halloween 2011 happened to be on a Monday, the boys got to wear their costumes to school (C-sta wore her costume to her preschool party the week before).  As soon as the boys got home from school, Li'l J changed into his third costume of the season (a Jedi Padawan) and was ready to start Trick-or-Treating immediately.  Yes, that boy was lucky enough to have three costumes available to him...all which he received as gifts from his many adoring fans.  

~C-sta and her school friend B: Rapunzel and Aurora.~

Anyway...even though Li'l J was ready to head out the door, we had to wait for some friends to arrive and then wait some more for J-rod to get home from work.  Usually trick-or-treating in our neighborhood begins around 5:30, but this time we didn't get our first knock until almost 7pm and after that it took another half-hour before the steady stream we are used to finally began.  The kids had lots of fun passing out candy while waiting for their turn to trick-or-treat, though Li'l J was chomping at the bit the entire time!  Between the birthday party Li'l J went to the previous Saturday, the ward trunk-or-treat activity, and Halloween, by the end of October we had WAY too much candy in our house!  Good thing our thoughtful Bishop keeps two bowls full of candy (chocolate and non-chocolate) stocked on his desk for the youth and Primary children that come looking for candy each Sunday as soon as church is over!  Hee, hee, hee.

~Excited to go trick-or-treat~

~Happy Halloween!~

Li'l Sis

While getting C-sta ready for bed Halloween night, I noticed C-sta felt warm.  Taking temperature revealed she had a very high fever.  Then in the middle of the night C-sta climbed into our bed and I noticed she had a croupy cough.  She stayed home from school the few days to rest and get feeling better.  Poor little one!  What a way to end October and begin November, huh?

August 2011

Keepin' It Real
Much of August was spent the way I'm sure many other families spent August: preparing to send our kids back-to-school.  Once again I was NOT ready for school to start and pretty much kept denying it was that time of year again, and continued to do so until we dropped the kids off to school the first day!  Our summer just went by so quickly this year that I would've liked to have had them home a little bit longer.  I know this is a bit crazy since I usually count down the days until school begins again but, not this year.

So for August we packed the first part of the month with all the necessary doctor appointments, back-to-school shopping, band camp for M, lots of fun with friends; and re-introduced "early to bed, early to rise" so we could start reading scriptures and have family prayer with J-rod before he leaves for work and the rest of us get ready for the school day.

Pool Fun/Friends

~Our friends L and A give the diving board a 1st time try.~

~Li'l J hams it up!~

~'King of the Mountain':

always a favorite when friends come to swim!~

~That's one beautiful little C-sta!~

Summer Fun/Friends
We also got to enjoy a couple of fun days with some friends in our ward who invited us to go with them to two fun, and very kid friendly, locations in the downtown area that we'd never been to before: the science center and the children's museum.  Both locations were filled with lots of hands-on activities and exhibits that were appealing to all of our senses.  We all had a great time exploring, discovering, learning, and look forward to going back again sometime.

Science Center Day 1~

~"My, what BIG eyes you have!"~

~There was so much to do, we didn't even get to see it all!~

Children's Museum~

One of the first sights you are created with is the display pictured below.  I loved the creativity in this display as well as the way it caught and reflected the light.  The display hangs on the wall and is about 2 stories tall.

~Re-purposed cd's~

In the atrium across from the hanging cd display is, The Climber.  This three-story play structure rises 37 ft. and reaches to the 3rd floor ceiling.  It is made of standard building materials, found objects, and items that have been taken out of context like the huge claw foot 'Flying Bathtub' with wings (pictured below).  To ensure the safety of all who explore The Climber, all of its walkways throughout it are completely enclosed.

~M and C-sta on "The Climber".~

One of the hands-on displays C-sta really enjoyed playing with was, 'The Mindsplash Airways Exhibit' which is also known as "Whoosh!".  Notice in the picture in the right, the green and yellow fabric "koosh" type ball as it flies past C-sta's head.  C-sta really enjoyed sending the colorful scarves and balls through this system of pipes and air tubes with air running through them.  The air current that runs through the twists and turns of they air tunnel system, forces the scarves and fabric balls to fly out through the openings with a high burst of energy and then the kids love to watch them as they float back down to the ground.

~Whoosh!~

C-sta and B are SUCH good friends and they had lots of fun together at the museum, especially running through and hiding in the giant Noodle Forest that is made from swimming pool noodles that hang and dangle from the ceiling.

~"Now you see us, now you don't!"~

Upstairs there is a room FILLED with lots of different tubes on the wall and ball mazes.  The whole room is dedicated to hands-on fun that teaches about gravity and engineering as kids watch different types and sizes of balls roll through mazes made out of tubes, funnels, move able pvc pipes on magnet boards, wood tracks connected to pots and pans, etc.  There is also a tree house where a track begins and kids can put balls on a track that runs around the walls of the entire room.  When kids put their balls on the track and the balls make their way throughout the room, they create music along the track as the balls push bells, keys, and chimes while rolling along the tubes, go through funnels, and make their way to the collection tub at the bottom of the track.

~Li'l J trying out some of the many hands-on exhibits.~

Also upstairs there is a series of rooms that encourage more hands-on play and imagination in: a fully equipped Play Kitchen, Play Restaurant/Dining Room complete with a Play Brick Oven, and a well-stocked Play Grocery Store.  In these areas kids can dress-up as a chef and cook with any number of pots and pans, bus tables as a waiter/waitress, serve pizzas they created themselves using fabric scraps as toppings, set the table with an assortment of dinnerware, shop for dinner, push mini-shopping carts around the store, scoop and weigh legumes, check-out and scan their purchases at the register.

C-sta gave some of the ball tracks and mazes a try; prepped and baked a yummy pizza; painted a red rock; but one of her favorite interactive displays was the tall Saguaro Cactus found near the Noodle Forest.  The cactus had a belt on it with velcro spots.  Next to the cactus was a box containing small stuffed animals representative of critters one can find in the desert: owls, spiders, scorpions, snakes, lizards, etc.  The kids take the stuffed animals and place them on the velcro spots, then crank a handle on the side of the cactus making the belt run on the cactus run up and over the cactus.  When the belt gets to the top of the cactus, there is a fan at the top that spins around.  The fan blades hit the small stuffed animals and they go flying across the room causing lots of laughter from the kids!

~C-sta having fun trying new things.~

Pictured below:

The boys playing giant chimes.

N and Li'l J in the noodle forest.

B, C-sta, and Li'l J in the flower garden.

Li'l J and N as ice cream cone vendors.

~Fun with friends N and B.~

There was amazing creativity displayed throughout the museum, from the interactive displays to the decorations on the walls and decorations hanging from the ceilings.  One of the wall displays in the kitchen play area caught my attention because it was a frog and I LOVE frogs! When I looked more closely at the frog on the wall, I noticed what it was made of and loved it even more!

~Spoon Frog~

In the Play Grocery Store there was an interactive display that tested your sense of smell.  It was a tower of drawers the kids could open (using drawer pulls shaped as noses) and smell what was inside each drawer (herbs, spices, etc.), then guess what it was they just smelled.

~Coffee beans?~

One of the upstairs hallways of the museum called "Pedal Power" has been converted into a Tricycle Car Wash where kiddos can safely practice riding down roadways and parking the trikes in parking stalls.  There are many types of trikes the kids can choose to ride through the wash: traditional tricycles, some with "buggies" attached to the back, big wheel trikes, and scooters.  Once a their preferred mode of transport has been chosen, the kids pedal their trike through soft-foam bristled brushes, hanging strips, and blowing fans.

~Jake pedals his way the Tricycle Car Wash.~

~M takes C-sta and Li'l J for a ride in a trike with a "buggie".~

Even though I didn't get too many pictures of M while we were at the museum, he was a good sport to come along with us to explore the Children's Museum with his brother and sister.  As M discovered throughout our explorations of the museum, it was a little on the young-ish side for him and by the end he decided that the Science Center was more his speed.

~Tired, but happy kiddos at the end of a fun afternoon.~

~A heart I drew on a light table covered with sand:

I LOVED this museum!~

Science Center Day 2~

This time around we checked out the Planetarium and more hands-on/interactive displays and exhibits.

~Our friend N was chosen to help with a few experiments.~

~N's little brother C was enchanted by the baby face on the picture board.~

~C-sta dunks it!~

~Li'l J tries his hand at tug-a-war against a giant lever.~

~M, Li'l J, and C-sta race on the pulley chairs.~

~M tries out the bed of +1,000 nails: ouch?~

The Kids

Two weeks before the boys went back-to-school, C-sta started preschool.  C-sta goes to school for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings with a gal from our stake that teaches preschool out of her home.  Since C-sta didn't really know the kids in her school because they all attend different wards than ours she was very quiet and serious on her first day and most of her second day, nothing at all like her usual happy and talkative self.  By her third and fourth day of attendance, C-sta's teacher reported to me that C-sta was finally smiling, participating a bit more, and even ventured to finally say a few things.  Even though it took her little bit to feel comfortable at school, whenever she is at home C-sta was very happy to tell us all about what she's been doing at school and how much she likes her friends there.

~C-sta loves preschool!~

M and Li'l J's first day of school happened to fall on C-sta's 3rd birthday--what a busy day that was!  As a fifth grader M is now considered a "middle schooler" (*sigh*) and as a first grader, Li'l J now goes to school at the "main campus" with all the big kids--he LOVES being considered a "big kid"!

~Li'l J and M, excited for the new school year.~

~Happy kiddos~

After taking the boys to school on their first day, J-rod and I took C-sta out to breakfast burritos (okay, that was more for us but C-sta enjoyed it too!).  At J-rod's suggestion and encouragement, after breakfast I took C-sta to get our nails done.  C-sta was SO good (and cute too!) about sitting still while her nails were being done, it was fun to have her along with me this time.  As fun as it was and as well as she behaved, I don't think we'll do that again until she is much older though as it didn't take long for her to bite off all the nail polish!

~Pretty nails~

Once C-sta's nails were dry J-rod picked her up and took her home while I headed to the dentist for some torture.  At the beginning of the month I got to visit the endodontist to have yet another root canal redone and on C-sta's birthday I got to go back to have the dentist set a new crown on that darn tooth.  We sure hope this is the last of any major dental work I ever have to have done--blegh!

The Boys/Traditions
The first day of the 2010-2011 school year, I greeted M & Li'l J with a scavenger hunt when they came home.  The scavenger hunt was a hit and they begged me to do it again this year so, I did.  Once again they loved finding each clue that reminded of what they are expected to do each day when they get home from school: put their shoes by the front door; empty out their backpacks, water bottles, and lunch boxes and where to put them once that has been done; and get their uniforms ready for the next morning. Their favorite part of course was ultimately finding a prize at the end of the hunt: a pack of Pokemon cards for each of them.

~1st Day-After-School scavenger hunt: the tradition continues.~

When the thrill of the scavenger hunt was over, Li'l J told us about the "Jitter Juice" he and his 1st grade class read about, wrote about, made with their teacher, and then got to have as a treat that afternoon.

Here is the little poem the class practiced reading:

Jitter Juice

Have you heard of Jitter Juice?

It's magic and it's yummy!

It makes the butterflies fly away,

right out of my tummy!

The bubbles in this silly juice

will help you not to worry.

So grab a cup and drink it up!

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

After reading the poem and talking about it, the kids talked about and wrote down the recipe, then colored the labels for their cups.

My Jitter Juice Recipe Ingredients

Raspberry Sherbet

Lemon Koolaide

Lemon-Lime Soda

~Li'l J and his 'Jitter-Juice' cup.~

Birthdays/Li'l Sis
Once the boys were done sharing about their first day of school with us, it was time for C-sta to open her birthday presents and get ready for dinner with friends.

~Such a happy and sweet 3 year old!~

For C-sta's birthday dinner we met up with the H family at our favorite place to celebrate all the birthdays in both families: Red Robin.  C-sta was a little overwhelmed when the restaurant staff came and sang to her, but she had fun celebrating with some of her favorite people.  When we returned home from dinner, we finished off C-sta's special day with a teeny-tiny layered cake I had bought for her earlier in the day.  What's a birthday celebration without blowing out candles on a cake, right?  C-sta loved her little cake!  She called it her "Pun-zel" cake because of the girl with long hair on it (shh, let's not tell her that's a Barbie okay?).

~Look who had her cake, and ate it too.~

C-sta celebrated her 3rd birthday with her first "friend" party this year.  In keeping with our rule of inviting only the number of friends as the age our child is celebrating, C-sta enjoyed a fun-filled "Punzel" (Rapunzel/Tangled) theme party with two friends from her preschool and one from our ward.  They almost all showed up wearing "Disney Princess" shirts and so was C-sta--total coincidence!  When the girls arrived they found our front door decorated with a lo-ong yellow braid hanging on it.  Once inside the girls gathered in our front room where they created some "artwork": Tangled coloring sheets they colored with crayons set in the middle of the table in nothing other than a frying pan, just like the one Rapunzel totes around in the movie!  Afterward they decorated crowns and posed for pictures.

~C-sta's first friend party~

~More Rapunzel inspired activities~

After pictures the boys joined the party and helped the girls play "Pin the Frying Pan on Flynn Rider" onto a giant "Wanted" poster of Flynn Rider.  They also played "Don't Eat Rapunzel", all while listening to the Tangled soundtrack.  Of course there was a Rapunzel cake, ice cream, and presents too.  Oh those little girls were SO cute, well-behaved, and they all had lots of fun together!

~Happy 3rd Birthday to you beautiful baby girl!