Friday, December 18, 2009
Nick's 5th birthday
The celebrations for Nick's 5th birthday included a MyGym party (lots of little boys running around, but someone else entertaining them? Sounds like a great party to me!), a day at Disneyland, birthday snack at preschool, and lots of time for playing with new toys!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It's a busy time of year!
We've got a tree in our living room!
I'm really happy with our tree this year. It's a beautiful shape and looks terrific. Last year's was kind of a dud, but this one is great!
Just before Thanksgiving, Julianna had an assignment at school called "The Creatures Give Thanks." She was assigned the alligator. She had to do a little research to find out about alligators, then write a song about them and make a puppet. Each child brought their puppet to school and sang their song. I got to go in and watch them all. One of the benefits of being Room Parent!
On December 2, the girls had their school Christmas program. Each class sang a few songs. The 4th grade traditionally learns how to play the recorder, which they demonstrate at the Christmas program. All of the 4th graders started out playing the song, and then most stopped and sang while about 6 students played a harmony part on their recorders. Katie was one of the students chosen to keep playing! Katie is also in the school choir, so she sang with them as well. Nick sat with Mommy and Daddy - for the last time! Next year he'll be in Kindergarten and we won't have anyone sitting with us! I can't believe it!
Katie's orchestra was asked to play at a Christmas party. Here she is dressed in her musician clothes for her gig! She played Violin I on some songs and Violin II on others.
Last Friday was Nick's school Christmas program. I can't believe it's our family's last year at Calvary Preschool! The program started at 11:30 and the girls' school was having noon dismissal due to parent conferences. I decided to take the girls out at 11:00 so that they could come watch Nick's program. He has seen so many of theirs, so it was nice to have them in the audience watching him! His class sang "The Friendly Beasts," and Nick sang out loud and strong!
I'm really happy with our tree this year. It's a beautiful shape and looks terrific. Last year's was kind of a dud, but this one is great!
Just before Thanksgiving, Julianna had an assignment at school called "The Creatures Give Thanks." She was assigned the alligator. She had to do a little research to find out about alligators, then write a song about them and make a puppet. Each child brought their puppet to school and sang their song. I got to go in and watch them all. One of the benefits of being Room Parent!
On December 2, the girls had their school Christmas program. Each class sang a few songs. The 4th grade traditionally learns how to play the recorder, which they demonstrate at the Christmas program. All of the 4th graders started out playing the song, and then most stopped and sang while about 6 students played a harmony part on their recorders. Katie was one of the students chosen to keep playing! Katie is also in the school choir, so she sang with them as well. Nick sat with Mommy and Daddy - for the last time! Next year he'll be in Kindergarten and we won't have anyone sitting with us! I can't believe it!
Katie's orchestra was asked to play at a Christmas party. Here she is dressed in her musician clothes for her gig! She played Violin I on some songs and Violin II on others.
Last Friday was Nick's school Christmas program. I can't believe it's our family's last year at Calvary Preschool! The program started at 11:30 and the girls' school was having noon dismissal due to parent conferences. I decided to take the girls out at 11:00 so that they could come watch Nick's program. He has seen so many of theirs, so it was nice to have them in the audience watching him! His class sang "The Friendly Beasts," and Nick sang out loud and strong!
Friday, November 20, 2009
so much to tell
As usual, things have really been hopping around here.
Sigh... summer, why did you have to end?
Yes, I am a broken record.
Summer, summer, summer, we get it! You like summer! Get over it!
Katie's class went on a field trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano. They took Amtrak from Union Station. They really enjoyed their day. I think I was the only mom who had taken that exact same field trip herself in fourth grade! (except we took Amtrak from the Santa Ana station, which is much closer to San Juan Capistrano, of course) I was pretty tickled about it.
Julianna's class also got to take a field trip to see a short production of "Charlotte's Web," which she liked very much.
Nick's class went on a field trip to the local fire station. This was the only field trip that I was able to chaperon. I have been to that fire station for many, many field trips!
The kids and I went down to Disneyland one Friday because my wonderful friends Anna & Justin were there that day with their four-year-old daughter, Maya. They live in Houston, and I hadn't seen them in almost five years. They are expecting a boy in January! It was such fun to see them. My kids fell in love with Maya! They have asked if we can go visit her in Houston; and when we left them at Disneyland, we were not even to the parking shuttle when they said "we miss them already!"
The kids and I went back to Disneyland (California Adventure, actually) on Wednesday the 11th, because both schools had Veterans' Day off. I had heard it would be a busy day, but we decided to give California Adventure a try - it's less crowded than Disneyland. Goodness, the parking was difficult. It took forever to wait in line to park, and we had to park in some far-away lot and then find our way (on foot) to the Entrance Plaza. I was pretty frustrated, but the fun of Disney cheered me up quickly! We only did about four rides/attractions, because I wanted to get home before rush hour... that's the great thing about Annual Passes!
We took the kids to see the Michael Jackson movie, "This is It." Eric and I thought it was very interesting to watch that rehearsal footage. The kids liked it as well, but thought it was a bit long for them. Katie was afraid during the "Thriller" part, but Nick and Julianna thought it was the coolest part of the whole movie!
Katie and Eric went horseback riding with their Trailblazers group (formerly Indian Princesses). Katie also had to find time to meet with her group for the Explorer Project. I think this was the first group project she has had to do that required time outside of class. It was challenging, to say the least. Between orchestra, violin lessons, choir, Girl Scouts, volleyball practice and games, and tap class, she is keeping herself busy.
Julianna is also taking violin now. She wanted to join the after school Beginning Violins class with some of her first grade friends and is having a lot of fun with it.
All three kids decided to play in the Winter basketball league. Nick is particularly excited, as expected! He's also going to play tee ball in the Spring.
We watched "The Incredibles" for the first time last weekend. The kids LOVED it! They sure are growing up!
Sigh... summer, why did you have to end?
Yes, I am a broken record.
Summer, summer, summer, we get it! You like summer! Get over it!
Katie's class went on a field trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano. They took Amtrak from Union Station. They really enjoyed their day. I think I was the only mom who had taken that exact same field trip herself in fourth grade! (except we took Amtrak from the Santa Ana station, which is much closer to San Juan Capistrano, of course) I was pretty tickled about it.
Julianna's class also got to take a field trip to see a short production of "Charlotte's Web," which she liked very much.
Nick's class went on a field trip to the local fire station. This was the only field trip that I was able to chaperon. I have been to that fire station for many, many field trips!
The kids and I went down to Disneyland one Friday because my wonderful friends Anna & Justin were there that day with their four-year-old daughter, Maya. They live in Houston, and I hadn't seen them in almost five years. They are expecting a boy in January! It was such fun to see them. My kids fell in love with Maya! They have asked if we can go visit her in Houston; and when we left them at Disneyland, we were not even to the parking shuttle when they said "we miss them already!"
At this point, Maya was too tired to continue :-)
The kids and I went back to Disneyland (California Adventure, actually) on Wednesday the 11th, because both schools had Veterans' Day off. I had heard it would be a busy day, but we decided to give California Adventure a try - it's less crowded than Disneyland. Goodness, the parking was difficult. It took forever to wait in line to park, and we had to park in some far-away lot and then find our way (on foot) to the Entrance Plaza. I was pretty frustrated, but the fun of Disney cheered me up quickly! We only did about four rides/attractions, because I wanted to get home before rush hour... that's the great thing about Annual Passes!
We took the kids to see the Michael Jackson movie, "This is It." Eric and I thought it was very interesting to watch that rehearsal footage. The kids liked it as well, but thought it was a bit long for them. Katie was afraid during the "Thriller" part, but Nick and Julianna thought it was the coolest part of the whole movie!
Katie and Eric went horseback riding with their Trailblazers group (formerly Indian Princesses). Katie also had to find time to meet with her group for the Explorer Project. I think this was the first group project she has had to do that required time outside of class. It was challenging, to say the least. Between orchestra, violin lessons, choir, Girl Scouts, volleyball practice and games, and tap class, she is keeping herself busy.
Julianna is also taking violin now. She wanted to join the after school Beginning Violins class with some of her first grade friends and is having a lot of fun with it.
All three kids decided to play in the Winter basketball league. Nick is particularly excited, as expected! He's also going to play tee ball in the Spring.
We watched "The Incredibles" for the first time last weekend. The kids LOVED it! They sure are growing up!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Halloween!
Halloween almost always begins with a trip to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, I usually can't find a day to drive out to the pumpkin farm. Instead we tend to go to the pumpkin patch down on the corner, and each child seeks out the pumpkin with the size, shape, and stem he or she likes best.
The next Halloween events were at the kids' schools. The girls got all dressed up to participate in the parade!
"Gabriella" from High School Musical and "The Ghost of Betsy Ross" headed off to a fun day at school!
What fun costumes, huh? Miss Rogers didn't recognize Julianna in that wig, and lots of people loved the Betsy Ross idea.
Katie had wanted to wear the stars & stripes dress for Halloween, and her first idea was to be "Lady Liberty" or perhaps a "Liberty Fairy." Then when all of her friends decided they wanted to march in the "Scary" category in the parade, she told me she wanted to somehow make the "Liberty" dress into a scary costume. I suggested she could be "The Ghost of Betsy Ross," and we could do ghost makeup and make a tattered ghost-like shawl. I made her the white cap and put together the flag-sewing prop as well. I love it!
At Nick's school they have Orange & Black Day, with no costumes or candy but lots of orange and black pumpkin fun. They all get together and sing a few songs for the parents, which Eric got to see this year.
After spending most of the morning at Orange & Black Day (including reading the kids a story), I left before the song performance and went over to Holy Family for the parade.
Nick and Daddy got there sometime during the parade.
After the parade, Holy Family kids are dismissed. Daddy went back to work, and the kids and I went to Souplantation for lunch. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon making jack-o-lanterns.
Mommy did most (not all) of the cutting on Julianna and Nick's pumpkins. They each chose intricate patterns from our pattern books!
On October 31, we went to a Halloween party in the afternoon. Katie decided that she didn't want to wear her "Ghost of Betsy Ross" costume again. She had several reasons for this (none of which made much sense to me). Some of the things she told me were that she "freaked herself out," that "the makeup was itchy," and that she "didn't like not being herself."
It was suggested to her that perhaps she could just be regular Betsy Ross, but she decided to wear her prince costume from the Third Grade Literature Tea project.
I had decided a few weeks ago that this year, for the first time in a long time, I would wear a costume. I went as Snow White.
After Katie put on her prince costume, I realized that she and I were a good pair! It's kind of fun the way that all turned out!
Here are Gabriella, the Cowardly Lion (with his Courage medal), and the prince!
At the party, I took this shot of the kids, with Catherine & Emma, at the cupcake decorating/craft table.
While I was trick-or-treating in the Condits' neighborhood with the kids and the Condits, Eric was back at our house handing out candy!
The next Halloween events were at the kids' schools. The girls got all dressed up to participate in the parade!
"Gabriella" from High School Musical and "The Ghost of Betsy Ross" headed off to a fun day at school!
What fun costumes, huh? Miss Rogers didn't recognize Julianna in that wig, and lots of people loved the Betsy Ross idea.
Katie had wanted to wear the stars & stripes dress for Halloween, and her first idea was to be "Lady Liberty" or perhaps a "Liberty Fairy." Then when all of her friends decided they wanted to march in the "Scary" category in the parade, she told me she wanted to somehow make the "Liberty" dress into a scary costume. I suggested she could be "The Ghost of Betsy Ross," and we could do ghost makeup and make a tattered ghost-like shawl. I made her the white cap and put together the flag-sewing prop as well. I love it!
At Nick's school they have Orange & Black Day, with no costumes or candy but lots of orange and black pumpkin fun. They all get together and sing a few songs for the parents, which Eric got to see this year.
After spending most of the morning at Orange & Black Day (including reading the kids a story), I left before the song performance and went over to Holy Family for the parade.
Catherine was "Vampira."
Julianna marched in the "Fantasy" category.
Nick and Daddy got there sometime during the parade.
After the parade, Holy Family kids are dismissed. Daddy went back to work, and the kids and I went to Souplantation for lunch. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon making jack-o-lanterns.
Katie only needed a little help with the scooping and the drawing of the face of her pumpkin. She cut the pieces out and did all of the finishing touches - just wait until you see this jack-o-lantern a few pictures down from here!
Mommy did most (not all) of the cutting on Julianna and Nick's pumpkins. They each chose intricate patterns from our pattern books!
Julianna made this little jack-o-lantern completely by herself!
Julianna's jack-o-lanterns
Nick's jack-o-lantern, the headless horseman
Katie's jack-o-lantern
On October 31, we went to a Halloween party in the afternoon. Katie decided that she didn't want to wear her "Ghost of Betsy Ross" costume again. She had several reasons for this (none of which made much sense to me). Some of the things she told me were that she "freaked herself out," that "the makeup was itchy," and that she "didn't like not being herself."
It was suggested to her that perhaps she could just be regular Betsy Ross, but she decided to wear her prince costume from the Third Grade Literature Tea project.
I had decided a few weeks ago that this year, for the first time in a long time, I would wear a costume. I went as Snow White.
After Katie put on her prince costume, I realized that she and I were a good pair! It's kind of fun the way that all turned out!
Here are Gabriella, the Cowardly Lion (with his Courage medal), and the prince!
At the party, I took this shot of the kids, with Catherine & Emma, at the cupcake decorating/craft table.
While I was trick-or-treating in the Condits' neighborhood with the kids and the Condits, Eric was back at our house handing out candy!
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