Spider Tea Party

Haley's Kindergarten class had a Spider Tea Party today, to celebrate the stories they finished writing in class. All the parents were invited to come and celebrate. Haley was excited for me to go, as was I. I have been volunteering once a week in her class, and we both like that. She always seems excited to see me and tells everyone I'm her mom. She's not embarrassed by me yet, I'll have to work on that!!!!

Haley and her friend Courtney both read me their books and told me their stories. It was fun listening to them talk and tell a story. Haley's story was about a princes who was walking to her castle and along the way talked to cats and other animals, the princess had a green poke-a-dot dress and a crown on. After we finished the English story with Mrs. Lewis we went to Senora Quionez for Haley's 2nd story in Spanish. That was my favorite, I am amazed at how quickly these children, who have never spoken Spanish in their short 5 years of life, are picking it up, reading and speaking in complete sentences. Haley's book had 2 complete sentences written in Spanish, and she was able to read it to me. She is even getting a cute little accent!!

After the stories had all been told the kids made their own spider cookies and then ate them. Very cute, I can't wait for the next one!

Trunk or Treat

Notice in this picture who is R.I.P., it is Joe The Plumber!

It was Walker's (Haley's School) Trunk or Treat last night and we had so much fun. I was very impressed with the whole event, it was more like a carnival then a trunk or treat. Their were 17 teacher sponsored game booths. They had a DJ playing "cool" music with different dance contests going on throughout the night. I volunteered for some of the night at the ticket both. I was worried about my math skills, but was glad to find cheat sheets available when I got their!

The game that was my personal favorite was...drum roll please, the Cake Walk!!! I remember doing that when I was in elementary school. I did the Cake Walk with Haley and Mikayla about 5 times and did not win once!! I guess I still have the same luck I had back then! The last walk we did had 4 winners and I still did not win.

We had allot of treats and drank hot cocoa! Haley was scared to death to walk through the dark walk way to get to the trunk or treat section. She thought it was going to be a Haunted House, but it wasn't. I had to carry her through it. Very funny.

This last picture is Haley with one of her friends from school, Casey.

"It's the great pumpkin..."

Remember the Charlie Brown Holiday shows, the one for Halloween is "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", I might be off a little but it was something like that. Every time I go to the "pumpkin patch" (not a real patch but a really nice set-up in the parking lot of the Sunset Hotel) I think of that show. I love the Charlie Brown shows, it's tradition for the Holidays! So here we are for Halloween 2008 at the "pumpkin patch"! I tried to do the traditional pumpkin patch pictures, but with all the excitement around us it was hard getting all three children to sit still and smile for a picture, I got frustrated and totally forgot to get a family one, oh well next year!

This year their was a petting zoo and pony rides, which was a treat. The girls loved going on the pony rides, the petting zoo not such a big hit. They did not like being that close to the animals, I don't see zoology in their future!

They went on the swing, this crazy bucket one, the big bounce slide and the train. Their favorite was the big bounce slide.

We decided to wait until next year for Brayden to experience his first "ride" so he spent most of his time with the pumpkins!

The final ride of the night was a train ride around the whole "pumpkin patch", Brett and I decided to let the girls go by themselves. Haley was thrilled about this and helped Mikayla get into the train and put her arm around her in a protective way. As the train was getting ready to leave Brett and I were making a big deal about them leaving on their own and saying we were going to miss them, Haley played along blowing us kisses and waving goodbye. Brett and I waved goodbye as the train rode away. It was a whole 3 minute ride and when they got back Haley still had her arm around Mikayla, but she was sitting even closer to her. I helped them both out, Mikayla was just holding me she did not want me to put her down, Haley said "she really missed you mom." It warmed my heart.

7 Random Things About ME!

Ok, so I was tagged. I have never done a tag before, so lets see what I can come up with. I have not blogged much about myself and since part of the reason I am doing this blog is for my children, a journal of sorts, I guess it would be nice to have something about me every now and then. So here it is, seven random things about myself, huh...

...think, think, think!

1. I am more of an introvert, I enjoy being by myself. I am not the "life" of any party, I am the one talking quietly on the side to 2 or 3 other people (if I even go to the party). Although I enjoy being with my children and family I love, love, love time to myself (really, who doesn't).
2. I love reading, however I get so wrapped up in whatever book I am reading that I neglect everything else. So I am not able to read as much as I like or nothing in my "real" world would get taken care of! I just finished the entire Twilight series in about 3 weeks, including the online book!
3. I didn't really have anything bad happen to me while driving in CA. I have had nothing but trouble here in Nevada, I got my first speeding ticket, I have ran into poles, ripped my side paneling off, and got hit by someone else backing out of a parking spot! Nothing but problems here in Nevada with my car!
4. In High School I lettered in Theater and Soccer. I danced with Freddie Finn Dance Studio and played AYSO Soccer for years and years. I wanted to be a famous ballerina in New York (time for a new dream)!
5. I have a really hard time remembering names. I recognize faces but I always have trouble putting a name with a face. Actually, my memory in general is not that great!!
6. I seem to always get myself into funny, embarrassing situations. I seem to put my foot in my mouth allot too, I'll say something and then think why did I say that. Brett jokingly calls me "Lucy" because he says I remind him of Lucy on "I love Lucy".
7. I am pretty competitive. I am a firm believer in doing your best at whatever it is you are doing. If you choose to do something you need to be committed, and give it all you have. I get this from my dad. Something else I get from my dad is my opinionated nature and stubbornness (I'm working on not being so stubborn)!

So here is my list. I did my first tag!! Now I have to tag 7 people of my own, since I do not have 7 blogging friends I am just going to tag everyone (except Amelia, she tagged me) Tammy, Heather, Michele, Bridgette and Nina. Now guys I am going to be checking, if I can do it so can you!

All About Brayden - 18 Months

Brayden had his eighteen month well check today and he did great. He was quite the show off. He recited his ABC's and counted to 10, now he does not say every single letter exactly correct but he does a good enough job so that everyone knows what he is saying. It is so funny to hear, because he looks so babyish, and then to hear the alphabet come out of his mouth blows people away! At the store yesterday I walked out without two of my bags because the checkout clerk was so distracted with Brayden that she did not put them in my cart! His personality is so funny he loves, loves, loves to talk, sing and dance. One of these days I am going to tape him and post it, it is so cute. The doctor said two word phrases is a 2 year old development, and Brayden is already saying 3 and 4 word phrases, so he is ahead of the game, go Brayden (mommy bragging rights)!! Actually, what I told the doctor was, finally he is doing something ahead, it took him forever to do anything! He was not walking or talking at one year and did not start walking until he was 15 months and then he took a break from it for a few weeks further, until finally he walked most of the time. At least my worries have been put to rest, for now anyway!
Brayden's stats

Height - 33 inches 50%-75% ...he has big feet, hopefully that means eventually he will be tall!
Weight - 25.4 lbs 25%-50% ...that would explain him walking out of his pants all the time!
Head circumference - 48 1/2 cm 50%-75% ...he does have a big head!



Fun things to know about Brayden

• He likes the toilet, he has a fascination with it. He plays in it, flushes it and puts things in it to flush. I actually sat him on it once without a diaper to see what he thought and he loved it. He had no idea what he was suppose to do, he just kept shouting bathroom, bathroom!
• He does not like being in his car seat.
• He loves to run around with other kids and play on the play sets at the park. He loves going down the tallest slides.
• He absolutely hates to have his face washed off!!
• He likes taking baths but does not like rinsing his hair (getting all the shampoo out).
• He is getting much more independent and loves to feed himself. I on the other hand do not like the mess he makes (that's a battle we have allot).
• He loves CARS, his favorite thing to play with is any kind of car. On the same note he loves wheels and will spin them and inspect them. He loves getting on bikes and scooters and pretending to ride them.
• He does not like loud noises, he did not like the sounds of the dirt bikes or quads when we went camping.
• He likes dogs but only from a distance, he does not want to be close to them at all and he does not like to pet them one bit!
• He loves his sleep and goes to bed really well, he takes one 2-2 1/2 hour nap during the day and goes to bed every night between 6:30 and 7:00. He likes his bear blanket and passi when he sleeps. Now that he is 18 months I am only letting him have the passi when he sleeps, except Sundays (church, keeping him quiet)!

Here are some funny phrases he is saying

• "we will we will rock you" this is the newest and it sooooo funny, where in the world did he pick this up from!?! Had to be Haley!
• "boo, I see you" He covers his eyes too!
• "mommy, poo poo" he is starting to recognize when he pees and poops, he lets everyone know.
• "pop pop coming" "Aunt Tammy car" "Daddy home" "love you Kayla" he says this to Mikayla and Haley for some reason he is having a hard time saying Haley
• "I love you"
• "Thank you" "nice to meet you" and then he puts his hand out to shake!
• he sings the Barney "I love you" song.
• he sings the ABC song.
• he counts to 10, 1-5 is very clear and 8-10 is very clear 6 and 7 are mumbled!
• funniest of all is, he makes a "tooting" sound with his mouth and then says "I tooted" Love the things big sisters teach!

Last thing, when we were at the doctors I had both girls with me. And, well, with it being flu season our doctor recommended that all three kids get the flu shot. You should have seen Haley's eyes she was like what!?! When I told Mikayla what was going to happen she said "are you joking mommy?" Needless to say they were both surprised, Mikayla was easily bribed with 2 lolly pops but Haley was not and literally had to be held down by me and the nurse giving the shot. That girl freaked out. After it was all done and she finally regained her sanity she said, "mommy I decided I don't want to get my ears pierced!" I just laughed, but I know she is serious. When she turns 8 and is able to choose whether or not to get her ears pierced, I will not be surprised if she says no, she has a very low tolerance for pain!

A True Fall Day

Today was a true fall day here in Nevada, it was sunny and cold! At one point the temperature in my car read 56 degrees but I think it warmed up to the low 60's. For us that is cold! The girls have been impatiently bugging me about getting our Fall/Halloween decorations up, so that is what we did today. We stayed inside and decorated and baked. The girls did most of the decorating (I made some changes) and I baked two cheese cakes. I have not done any baking in a while so it was nice having the aroma all throughout our home, it really added to the Fall look we were going for! I love this time of year. I love the crisp feel of the cold and the warm look of the sun, to me the combination is beautiful.











Here are my cheesecakes, don't they look mouthwatering!

Dinner at the Park

Here is Haley Peterson, Haley and Mikayla posing for the camera, love ya girls!

We went to Mission Hills park tonight to have a picnic with friends for dinner. It was a great idea and even though it got a little too cold we had a great time. We all had short sleeves on and did not even think about bringing jackets, hello, it is Fall now, not 90 degrees out anymore!! Haley had a very exciting evening, she accomplished a goal of hers, the monkey bars, she made it across to the other side for the first time. She has been working on accomplishing this for a long time now and we are so proud of her for sticking with it and not giving up. She was just thrilled with herself, yea Haley!! Brayden did not like sitting up on the play set for pictures, but once I took him down he was ok and ready to pose! He loves to play on the play set but does not like being close to the edge like I had him. Allison was looking at him like what is your problem!

Bike Rodeo

Today was Haley's first bike rodeo! For all of you who don't know what that is, it is a special day at school where all kids are encouraged to bring their bikes. Their was an obstacle course set up that they rode their bikes through. They learned the rules of the road (for bikes anyways) and they got to meet McGruff (the crime stopping dog), oh they also got to talk to a few police officers and check out the police cars!
I was a little worried that Haley would be one of the only ones with training wheels on her bike, but actually their was allot so it was not even an issue. She did get allot of compliments on her "cool" bike!
She loved the day and now can not wait for next year to do it again! She said she made it through the entire course without falling or needing any help. I was glad to hear that because I think I have been a little neglectful when it comes to working with her on riding a bike. Brett and I have decided that we are going to start working with her more. Our goal is next year, when she is in first grade, she will not need her training wheels for bike rodeo day!!

A Weekend of Wind!

We went camping this last weekend with Heather and her family and boy was it windy! Haley did not have school on Friday so we packed everyone up and headed for Barstow CA, were their is allot of dirt and wind!! I was really looking forward to setting up a nice cozy campsite for us, I went to the camping store and bought all sorts of cute camping stuff. When we got there I tried to set everything up but the wind blew everything out of place. I couldn't even hang up my outdoor lights I bought, at first I was pretty disappointed but as the weekend progressed we did end up enjoying ourselves. Brett brought his dirt bike and got to enjoy one of his favorite things to do, "riding". This trip was extra special for Brett because both of the girls seem to enjoy themselves on Madison's little quad and Brett was just thrilled that the girls (mostly Haley) was now old enough to have fun on a quad. Mikayla rode on it twice but still is a little too young to really understand how to operate it. Haley could not get enough of it, she loved riding on that little thing and never wanted to get off!

Mikayla liked the idea of being on it, but I think for the most part she enjoyed her self in our little Jeep that we brought!

Haley has a new favorite activity, riding quads, she loved it and now wants one of her own.

It was sooo windy that we needed breaks from it every now and then so here are all the kids watching a movie, taking a time out from the wind!

Brayden spent all of his time in the little Jeep. He is fascinated by cars he loves to be in cars look at the wheels and honk the horn. He carries cars with him all the time it really is rather cute.

We all had a fun time riding quads and playing in dirt! Heather and I got to go out on the quads too. I thought it was allot of fun and can't wait to do it again. Sunday morning both the daddy's (Brett and Dennis) were sore from all the strenuous exercise they got, ha ha! I think that means they're getting old!!