Dad is great!

So ever since I told Shawn about "The Best Day Ever" story with Justin and the banana cake, he has been talking about making the kids banana cake.

Yesterday was the day. I came home to that wonderful smell and freshly baked banana cakes.

We didn't have any frosting or anything to top them off with so they were just plain cakes but they still looked oh so good.

When the kids came home I asked them if they wanted chocolate, vanilla, or cream cheese frosting since I had all of the ingredients for all of them. They picked chocolate so they helped me make some chocolate frosting for the cake.

It was a big hit! All the kids agreed that not only did it beat the cake they had at school but it was the best cake ever! It is their new favorite.

It looked so good and smelled so good...it was really hard not to taste it but I'm doing so good I didn't want to mess anything up.

Well, this morning I got a text from Shawn saying, "Dad is great! He gives us banana cake!" I busted up laughing! Good ol' Bill Cosby never gets old.

Clearance

You gotta love clearance items! Especially when the there is a 50% off all clearance prices sale! WOOHOO!

This weekend I was at Walmart when I was walking through the toy aisle. I usually look through the clearance section for toys that my kids may like. I try not to buy just because it's on sale but only if it is something they actually want. I have made that mistake too many times.

Well I couldn't believe it when they had Lego sets, not only on clearance but 50% off those clearance prices! I stocked up!

Those huge sets that normally cost $85 bucks I got for $35! The medium sets I got for $15! I am so excited! And we are talking Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Bionicle Legos! All of Justin's favorites! It's a shame I couldn't find any Batman Legos...that would have been heaven for him!

I was also able to find a few things for the girls! I can't tell you how excited I am!

I have started my Christmas shopping! Woohoo!

Something Special

I meant to post this last week but I forgot.  Sorry.

The older kids have a chore list that they have to do each day in order to earn a prize.  The prize ranges from toys to a night out and the time frame on how many chores differs depending on the prize.

The chore list includes the usuals like making their bed, cleaning their rooms, brushing teeth and of course their daily chore which is either cleaning the dining room or living room.  But they also have extra chores that they have to do weekly.  One of those weekly chores is to do something special for someone.  This can be just about anything for anyone.  I like this chore imparticular because it makes the children stop and think about what it is they can do for someone else. 

Last week, Katelynn had decided to make me a crown out of paper.  She did a brilliant job and even added slots to fit my head, kinda like the Burger King crowns.

I was wearing my crown when Ciara walked into the room.  The sight of the crown on top of my head stopped her in her tracks.  And she gasped.  "Mommy!  You look boobyful!"

It was so sweet!

Thank you Katie for my boobyful crown!

The Best Day Ever

Yesterday when I picked up the kids from school, Justin hopped in the car with a big grin!  He couldn't wait to tell me about his day. 

"Mom!  I had the BEST DAY in my WHOLE LIFE!"  He shouts at me excitedly!

"That's great, Buddy!  Why was it so great?" I questioned.

"I had banana cake!"

Who know banana cake could make such an impression?

Michael Jackson Tribute

I couldn't help but get chills watching this. This is the Tribute played at last night's VMA's. I love how Janet did the song WITH Michael. Just a sidenote - Jenn and I performed this song Karaoke style at Mom's for Nana about a year ago. I wonder where that footage is.

Anyways...I thought I'd share this with my MJ fans - Nana, that's you!

I love you!

MTV Shows

Playing on the Playground and Parent Teacher Conference

One of our favorite things is playing on the playground! It is the highlight of the day if we can stay a few minutes after school to play.

Yesterday was parent teacher conference for Katelynn and her appointment was at 4:20. When school gets out at 3:45, it doesn't leave a lot of time to do much. By the time we get home it's 4:00 and I would just have to turn right back around to go meet with her teacher. So we stayed at the school and played.

Justin was soooo happy! He rarely gets to play on the "big kid" playground. They have a special playground for the Kindergartners that the big kids can't play on. On top of being able to play on the "big kid" playground, he had something he wanted to show me!

He finally learned how to do the monkey bars! For years now, he's been scared to do them. He always wants to but he just hangs there or Shawn or I have to hold his little legs as he goes across. But this week he learned how to do it! He is so proud! And he's pretty good at them too. Doesn't seem scared at all any more! Way to go buddy!

Katie was excited to show me how she walks across the monkey bar bridge without falling.

And Ciara was just excited to be out and playing with the big kids! It was hard to drag her away when it was time to go inside.

Parent teacher conference went well. Katelynn is still doing wonderful in school. She is far ahead in most things and is continuing to grow. She slid a bit on her Spanish from last year, but she is still where she needs to be. I blame that one on summer. I think she'll be doing above average again in another month or so of being back in school.

The only concern the teacher had was that Katie gets headaches and stomach aches a lot in school.

I have two responses to that. The first is that the school is an oven! Absolutely no air conditioning! It was dreadful to be in there for the short amount of time I was. If I had to be trapped in that head all day, I'm pretty certain I would get headaches too! I am going to contact the principal and see what actions, if any, we can take as parents to get some air conditioning in the school. I understand that there is expense involved but it seems ridiculous in a learning environment to be so absolutely miserably hot!

The second, Katie is my sensitive girl. I don't think she has ever gotten used to not seeing her daddy during the week. She enjoyed the summer so much because she got to see him and play with him every day. It was wonderful for her. Now that she is back in school, she only sees him in the mornings. I know this bothers her. And sometimes I think that she uses "being sick" as an excuse to possibly go home and see him. She likes her cuddle time and she knows that sick=cuddles.

What a great weekend!

We had so much fun this weekend! We went camping with Shawn's family!

This is only our second camping trip this year and I am really glad that we decided to go. A few cousins showed up that we haven't seen in a few years! It was really nice!

The kids had a lot of fun as we extending their boundaries of play and allowed them to go on their own little hikes! It was really funny to watch these little bodies struggle to hike up the mountain! Poor Ciara had a hard time understanding that he little body was still too little. But she would scream at them from below and they would turn and wave! Really cute.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures to share. I didn't bring my camera and I left my phone in the trailer.

Piano Lessons

I am so excited! Shawn and I have been discussing putting Katelynn in music lessons for about a year now. We decided to wait because we didn't want to overwhelm her with her learning Spanish AND an instrument.

Well, Katie is doing terrific in her class and has expressed interest in learning to play music! So we called around and get some information.

We got a call back today from a woman who offers private lessons in piano at the Riverton Music Center by our house and would like to teach Katelynn!

The lessons are affordable and fit our schedules perfectly so we have decided to go ahead and do it!

I am so excited for her! I always wanted to learn how to play music and the piano is so classic!

Now we just have to figure out what we are going to do so she can practice at home! Do we need to buy an actual piano or will a keyboard do? ::crossing my fingers for the keyboard!::

"I'm Poopin"

So I've talked about this several times and I've complained and whined yet have done nothing about and am still expecting results! Insane, I know!

Ciara is soooo ready for potty training! She doesn't like to poop with an audiance. She likes to find a quiet corner or room that no one is in and squats down to poop. Luckily, she keeps her diaper on. If you "catch" her and ask her what she's doing..her response is "I'm poopin". Duh! If you tell her she needs to go on the potty she thinks that translates to "you can't get me!" and starts running from you.

Please forgive the poor quality pic...but you get the "picture". LOL

Boy Friends

There are many advantages to Katelynn's dual immersion class, but one of the downfalls is that Katelynn has the same students in her class every year. This year they added to the class because of several drop outs last year but the root class remained the same. And there are very few girls in the class - even with the new editions there are 6 girls to 21 boys.

Early last year Katelynn became friends with 2 other girls, Gianna and Alisha. They became a little click. Well as the saying goes, two's company - three's a crowd. Gianna and Alisha had decided one day that Katelynn was no longer going to be their friend and starting running away from her, teasing her, and just completely ignoring her. Katie struggled with this most of last year. She just couldn't understand it and it really bothered her. But of course, whenever one of the girls, Gianna or Alisha, were sick the other would quickly run to Katelynn to play with. And Katelynn got so excited and thought they were all going to be friends again. But it only lasted until the other girl returned to school.

I encouraged her to play with the other girls but they had already started to form their friendships and although they allowed her to play with them, it just wasn't the same. She still felt left out. She started playing by herself a lot. Until the boys started playing with her.

Suddenly, Katelynn found herself in a huge group of boys and she fit right in. They accepted her full heartedly and she enjoyed playing with them.

This year we really hoped she'd be able to make some strong connections with some of the new girls.

And from day one, Gianna and Alisha were back up to their usual games and started "picking" on Katelynn. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother her as much this year.

She has become pretty good friends with one of the girls from her class from last year, Alondra. But Katie still prefers the boys!

Shawn used to walk Katelynn to her class every morning. Now that Justin is in school, he has to leave her on her own and walk Justin to class. Shawn is definately struggling with this. He wants to split himself in two and be with both of them.

But yesterday, she quickly found one of her boy friends and walked away from her Daddy. Imagine the conflict that caused Shawn!

Smiles

Nothing can brighten up a day like a big smile from your babies!

When I came home yesterday after my long day at work (Monday's just about kill me!), the kids were riding their scooters on our new concrete drive-way! Their faces we

re so bright and happy!

Of course Katelynn has to be making a goofy face! Justin's all smiles! And CiCi is...well, CiCi. One of these days she'll smile with her eyes open! LOL