Daegan Does His Homework

Daegan does his homework independantly. He is so serious and so cute.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Daegan had some sort of profound or just funny things to say tonight, so I thought I would jot them down so that I wouldn't forget his 5 year old cuteness.  First, when I was reading from our latest novel, "The People of Sparks", and I asked the kids if they understood what ignorant meant, it took Daegan about half a second to pipe in explain to Emma and Noah that ignorant is when you don't know something.  I am beginning to wonder if he has been called ignorant before or if he just really understood the word based on what I was reading.  

Later, when I was tucking him in for the night and laying in his bed with him I asked him what he thought he wanted to be when he is all grown up. So, very matter of fact he says, "I'm not sure, but Noah read my palm and said I'm going to be a video game maker."  I had to keep from laughing because he was so serious and now I want to know where Noah learned about the art of palm reading!

A few minutes after the palm reading comment, I think he is almost asleep and I am planning my exit from his bed when he suddenly says, "Hey Mom, I have a great idea.  Next time we go fishing, we should get some of the food that they have at the fish hatchery and throw it in the water.  I bet a lot of fish would swim up real quick and then we could catch one."

What goes on in the little brain of this 5 year old, I will never know.  I just think he's the smartest kindergartner on the planet. :)

Snip, Snip, Sew, Sew

I just love how excited my kids get when I come home with fabric for them to get busy with.  Today I bought 12 yards for $12 and I have a feeling that we will have lots of little ghost puppets for Halloween this year.

Just Too Tired

Daegan has a hard time waking once he falls asleep. He also drinks a lot of water at night. He is one sweaty kid and so it is hard to keep him hydrated. The other night we tried to get him to go to the bathroom after he had fallen asleep while reading a book. He was awake when he sat down and then I went back to check on him after he didn't come out. It turns out he was asleep and snoring! I ended up taking a video that is very funny. I gently woke him and he was a little mad.

Born to Scout

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Noah ready for his first night at Twilight Camp for Cub Scouts. It is like he has been waiting his whole life to be a scout. We went to the scout store to pick up his stuff and his eyes were so big, wanting to look at everything. Daegan just wanted out. In fact, he wanted to stay outside and wait while we finished shopping. I think that Noah just might be on the fast track to get his Eagle Scout award and then he will spend the next few years helping Daegan get it done.

Lazy Summer Mornings

I went for a long run this morning and when I came home the kids were watching TV and Suri was hanging out on Noah's lap.  This is what summer break is all about. I am so glad there is no rushing around and they that get to just enjoy being kids!

I let them stay up late swimming last night and Emma went to bed with wet hair. When she woke up this morning and walked into the kitchen it looked like she had spent an hour in the salon.  She is such a lucky girl to have this be the result of soaking in chlorine and then going to bed.

Busy Body ~ Literally!

A FALL UPDATE

I packed up the last of summer today, or at least all the summer yard things in our tikki room that I don't want to see get wet in the big storm that is coming in. I can't believe that it is the middle of October and and I am just now embracing the change of seasons. Every year when the kids go back to school I have good intentions of cleaning out closets and catching up around the house. This year I thought I might even finish some of partial blog posts from the summer, but I have filled my plate and these things have had to wait.

In August I climbed Half Dome with some friends and came home from that trip with a training schedule waiting for me from my sister Anne. We had talked about running a marathon together and so now I am committed. (Even if it turns out we don't run in the same race.)

Last month I jumped into a program to complete my 200 hour RYT (registered yoga teacher) certification. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time and the right opportunity showed up and I went for it. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I plan to be done mid December and am looking forward to sharing it with others. Training for a marathon while doing yoga teacher training is great and I really am feeling the benefits of regular yoga practice in addition to my long runs. I am having a lot of fun in all this craziness and even feeling balanced too. Must be the yoga because it reminds me to enjoy the journey.

Emma's been working on a blog of her own over the last 5 months or so. She has a new post about one of our recent adventures. It's very cute and likely to be updated more often than this one has been!

Todd had surgery a few weeks ago for a deviated septum. He is doing well now, but it was a lot tougher recovery than we expected. If successful, we hope he will be able to breathe through his nose soon! He's had this problem for years, likely caused by some crazy teenage stunt that left him with a broken nose. I am proud of him for finally going through with it and hope that the pain will have been worth it.

ONE MORE THING...

The kids love to make the gingerbread houses during the holidays, so when I saw this kit for a chocolate haunted house, I could not resist. They had so much fun doing this, I wondered why I had never see one before. Halloween candy is so cool!

Happy Fall!

Summer Reading

I really like to read with my kids. In fact there are often times when I am not reading my own book, but am wrapped up in a book I am reading with them. Finding books that we all enjoy is not an easy task, but when we started reading books by Kate DiCamillo, we were hooked! These books are not fairy tales. They are engaging, original and several of them are sometimes very deep or even dark . She paints a picture with her descriptions of the characters that make them so real, and her writing style is almost poetic. Each one of her stories offers something different and I appreciate the way it enriches their imagination and vocabulary. As much as I enjoy them, nothing compares to the joy my kid's get from hearing them. I love our late night reading and discussions and the way the stories make them think on a much deeper level. It's like our own little book group and sometimes Daegan pipes in, even though he often falls asleep mid-chapter.

This summer we read all of these.

Now we are eagerly awaiting the release of her next one.

(Thanks Mom for sending a few and getting us started!)

Ready, Set, Go!

(You can click on this collage to enlarge it.)

Emma, Noah and Daegan successfully completed this year's Iron Hills Youth Triathlon. Daegan entered for his first time and was one of the youngest participants in the race. He was a bit nervous about the whole thing and ended up in a heat with the 5 year olds. He was so proud of himself and was so cute to watch. Noah had prepared all summer by attending a triathlon camp with Dad and I was blown away as he passed up some much bigger kids in his heat and was the first one out of the pool! Emma was just hilarious becuase she always talks about how she doesn't like P.E. and that sports are not her thing and then she shows up to this and does the job. I guess all the time in the pool in the summer has her in some sort of shape, and she must like the no pressure competition.

It was a great time, but pretty exhausting for all of us. Three heats, six transistions = 1 tired Mom. Dad was busy organizing/hosting the event and he was there at the finish line every time.

V A C A T I O N !

We made a last minute trip to So. Cal to visit Todd's cousin and her family, Disneyland and the beach! This trip happened so last minute as we had originally planned to head to Tahoe for an annual trip with our friends. The weather was supposed to be really bad and then suddenly the invite came and with Todd's limited time off we could not resist heading to the warmer weather. We are so lucky our friends understood. (They went anyway and froze!)

On our way into L.A. we made a quick stop at the American Girl Place so that Emma could check it out and have one of her doll's ears pierced. She had a fab time checking out all the dolls and the all the stuff, while the boys spent 2 hours riding the escalators. They had no interest in anything in that store at all. It was pretty funny to see their relief when we were ready to go. While we were there Emma also bought a new doll with money she had been saving. This brings her doll count to four and holding for now. It takes a long time for a 10 year old to save that kind of money and she seems happy with the diverse collection of girls that she has.

Disneyland was a grand adventure as we had not been since Emma was little. It was the first time for Noah and Daegan and it was fun seeing it through their eyes. Our first of 3 days at the park was a Saturday and we expected it to be busy, but it was actually not bad at all. (One bonus to our terrible school year schedule.) All of the summer fireworks were scheduled to start the following week, but we were lucky enough to see a test show of Nightastic, which was very cool and one of the highlights of the day for the kids. For Noah, Disneyland was all about the roller coasters, so he and Todd made a few trips off on their own throughout the 2 days Todd was with us. Emma rode a few roller coasters, but was easy to please and happy to do whatever. Daegan has some motion issues, so he was always a little scared when getting on a new ride. He did great though and somehow survived a ride on the Tower of Terror which he got onto sort of by mistake.

Disneyland/California Adventure Favorites:

Emma: "I like everything, I can't really pick one."

(I think she liked Buzz and the Dole Pineapple Whip at the Tikki Room. )

Noah: "Space Mountain and Screamin' Calfornia."

Daegan: "I like the Buzz Lightyear ride the best."

(We rode Buzz at least 7 times)

Todd's cousin AnnaBeth and her family live in Seal Beach, about 20 minutes to Disneyland. It was a perfect location, and they were great hosts! While there while we were there we managed two trips to 2 different beaches. Seal Beach is great and just a minute from their house. Emma found some pretty shells there and we caught some glimpses of Dolphins swimming off shore. Todd flew home to get back to work and so I spent a day with the kids at Newport beach. It was a perfect day and very quiet. (All the locals still in school.) The weather was mild and AnnaBeth was apologetic for the June Gloom, but we loved it. It was perfect theme park weather in the 70's and still very nice at the beach.

I drove the kids back myself which was a crazy adventure itself. I realized it is so much better to leave early in the morning than to drive late at night, but this gave us one last day at Disney and a quick trip back in the A.G. Store to pick up a doll brush.

All 5 days of the trip were great and I've decided that spontaneous trips sometimes turn out to be the best!

Last Day of School

Emma and Noah had a great year, great teachers and learned a lot. First and fourth grades are supposed to be tough transition years and I am feel so lucky that it was essentially pain free for us. Even though summer break is exciting, it is also hard to leave good teachers. Noah had an especially hard time the last week of school and even a few tears were shed as he thought about what write in the card for his teacher. I was so proud of him for making such a special card and sharing how he felt with her. I am also glad I took a picture of it! The afternoon was filled with parties, treats and fun. These two are so ready for summer and are looking forward to hours in the pool, picking berries and some time at a beach. I look forward to the lazy days, the lack of a schedule and especially the lighter laundry that is almost sock free.

Emma's Count Down to Summer

It seems that the end of the school year involves a lot of activities. Now that she is in 4th grade, Emma was able to participate in the school track meet and was lucky to have Todd coach the team. This is his 3rd year of coaching for this yearly event and it was fun to finally make it a family affair.

I am not sure which event this was and she can't recall it either. She does not love running, but did a great job at the meet. I think she really likes the social part of participating in these things and the feeling of accomplishment when it's over.

Every year we also look forward to the Spanish Performance from Emma's class and the other Spanish Magnet classes at the school. Usually the performance includes each class singing a song in Spanish and then performing a Spanish dance. It is fun to see them dance with boys and perform in another language.

This picture of Emma and her friend Lauren was taken that day. I can't believe these 2 girls have been in the same class together since they were 3 and in preschool! They are such great friends and get along so great.