The buzz on us

It is honestly kind of crazy how fast the school year flew by, at least for me.

Cal was in 1st grade this year with another blessedly wonderful teacher, Ms. Berman, who was lovely and kind and exactly what he needed. He started the year out being a decent reader and just freaking FLEW ahead in that arena. I have been so, so excited to see him reading for fun - seriously just lights up my whole soul. Might my child be like me?!?! Either way, super glad and it has been fun to see the kinds of books he gravitates toward - he's loving the I Survived series and is fascinated by things like the Nazi invasion and tsunamis and such. Also loves reading Minecraft and Plants v. Zombies shiz.

His school offers extracurriculars and we let him pick each year, so this year, it was cooking class and karate. Cooking, they basically made sugary treats devoid of nutrition but he had a great time so we let it slide. Karate he did so well and enjoyed it so much that he won Student of the Week and got a month free at the dojo. It clicked so well that we jumped in and he is having a wonderful time and doing amazing. He got his yellow belt in March and has really found his little niche. My smart little billy goat.

Laurel played soccer in the fall, which truthfully was more of a scrimmage with other teeny kids. At 3 years old, none of them were really playing any soccer, but they taught them rules and concepts and she sure was dang cute in her uniform!

At Christmastime, we went to the Polar Express in AZ for the first time. It was MAGICAL! I think I was probably more enthralled than most of the kids there, and certainly more than Curtis. But it was so fun! I just love Christmas - all the decorations, the feeling in the air, the music, the colors, the weather, the activities - just everything about it is warm and frothy and fuzzy and fun.

We just stayed one nite - super little rando town, Williams - and they do it all up. I do love a small town. And I am going on the record as saying the Polar Express hot cocoa was the best I've ever had. I think elves and unicorns made it.

And then some extra holiday pics of the kids with Bass Pro Santa, picking out our Christmas tree - finally got a flocked one! Dream come true! - Cal being goofy, and Sister's gingerbread house. Lots of lovely little memories engraved in our lives.

Summer!

You'd think we love summer so we can go swimming and to the park and vacations and all kinds of fun things - and you would be wrong.

I like summer becuz I don't have to set an alarm most days. 5 days a week of waking up butt early to run Leroy to school and 2 days Linda too wears on a lady in a 10 month period. While I am very glad for my kids to be having the opportunity to go to amazing schools, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm not a morning person and for me, waking up blows.

So yay! Alarms not as necessary this summer!

I still have work to get done and we still have shiz going on, but I don't have to roll out at 7:45. Yeehaw!

Perspective from a tiny person

Today Sis and I were at Target and I was trying on a dress while she sat on the little seat in there with me eating her Lunchable, patiently waiting for me to finish.

The dress was - not quite right - like, would have been cute if only. If only my legs weren't so big, and ugh, if my arms were more toned, or if I got a pair of Spanx, and geez, my butt really is GIANT, and all these things are going through my head as I turn and spin to check out different angles.

Then I turned and saw my precious little daughter staring at me smiling very openly.

"Mommy, are you a princess?" she said gleefully.

A whole new wave of perspective washed over me immediately. This little girl didn't see what I saw, didn't think all those rotten little gnomey thoughts. She just saw her mommy in a pretty dress.

"Yes, Sis, yes I am. Sometimes, anyway." (Let's be legit here.)

Bless this tiny girl's heart; she is giving me a whole new way to look at myself. My sweet little children teach me something every day, whether it be something amazing like this or the fact that a little drink doesn't hurt. They really do make me a better person.

All the things

We had a fantastic holiday season - pretty much we make sure our kids have a magical Christmas season, going to see lights and getting hot cocoa and riding the Santa Train and little fun things like that, in addition to seeing Santa . I have been a total Slacking Jackie with blogging which is fine becuz only I read this but want to definitely get better so I can keep track of my little family's life.

Cal just finished kindergarten yesterday which is still basically freaking crazy to believe for me. It seems like the year just whooshed by. I admit getting his little butt to school by 8:10 every morning was pretty much a miracle of Jesus and it honestly didn't always happen but besides that, on my end it was a pretty great year.

He is reading like a champ now, knows all kinds of things he didn't before and it just overall was such a great opportunity for him to grow and learn a ton. We were so grateful for his amazing teacher Miss Spears, bless her sweet heart, for all her patience with our talky faced little dude. He did pretty dang well behavior wise - got green for behavior most of the time and was one of the few kids given the advanced homework packet, so that was a good sign.

My sweet husband took a 10 day cruise to the Caribbean with a co-worker in May, which was a great opp for him and he certainly deserved it with how hard he works. He enjoyed his time and experiences but said that 10 days is definitely too long to be away from his family. I knew it would be. What can I say, the guy is a treasure. Honest to goodness, loves me and the kids like a whole ton. Just exactly like I knew my dream mate would.

Laurel started taking dance classes back in March and is having fun with them, most of the time. She was in the hour long combo class initially and did great except for the tap portion, where she would stand and stare blankly at her instructor, silently judging her technique or something. So she was demoted for "extra practice" but in a nutshell, she wasn't up to par I suppose and she is doing better in the 30 minute class where there is more variety. She will move up eventch and maybe she will decide dance isn't her thing, which is fine too. We just want our kids to be exposed to extracurriculars and see which ones fill their souls with joy.

Now Cal is doing karate again, which he did in the fall and is enjoying that. I make sure to not have them in too many things, cuz I am not the mom who enjoys running kids all over the world but them each in 1 thing is fine with me. Laurel will start soccer in the fall and we are hoping to find a good wrestling brigade or whatever you call them for Cal.

OH! Cuz Cal was playing chess after school for a few months - how random is that? We asked him which of the after school fun little programs he wanted to do and he chose chess. Kid loves it and does pretty dang good. Makes me laugh out loud.

I went on a girls weekend with all of my sisters, my mom and her sister and my cousin back in May. We rented an amazing cabin up at Lake Arrowhead which was ridiculous and fun and wonderful and the only downside was we only did 3 days instead of more. Next time!

Papa's bday & Pirate Donut Day

My sweet hubby's birthday just passed! He is older by a year and just that much more handsome. He is seriously the greatest guy I've ever met in my life - a great, doting dad who loves his kids to the moon and back, a fantastic husband who tolerates a lot of nonsensical chatter and is fun and funny and wonderful all the day long. A hard worker, great companion and sensational friend. We love this guy!


Cal had school that day so Bday Guy, Sis and I headed to Coffee Bean for a fun birthday coffee.

He had no idea my wonderful friend Brooke was going to show up with his bday present from me. Brooke and I had come up with a nerdy San Francisco Giants cloak concept, which is perfect for his love of sports and mysticality. She did the entire thing and it came out amazing.

My video is hard to upload but here is the finished product. So freaking cool! So lucky to have talented frenz.

Later we went out to dinner at Serendipity 3 at Caesars Palace with his mom and sis. We got the legendary frozen hot chocolate which the kids loved.

We did cake and ice cream for Bday Guy at his mom and sister's house. The kids were all about that too. They love birthdays and getting to celebrate.

September 19th was Dress Like a Pirate Day at Krispy Kreme - you dress up and get a free dozen donuts. Not that we need a dozen donuts, but I knew the kids would love it so that's what we did.

Sister wanted to dress up like a princess so I let her don her new Cinderella costume. We ended up waiting in line for about half an hour - lots of folks wanting their free donuts! My kids got a little restless so were entertaining themselves. They were kinda all over the place.

I like doing little things like this with my kids and hopefully they remember stuff like this when I am annoyed at them for waking me up so early. :)

Best job ever

Sending a picture to Daddy at work. We took a few. I love these kids.

This one was taken a few weeks ago at a coffee shop. While there are a million things I could pick apart about how I look in the picture, I love it anyway. My little momma's girl.