Spirit Week

The elementary kids just finished off a week long salute to Spirit in order to get them ready for the annual 5K Festival and Fun tomorrow afternoon!  Monday was kicked off with crazy hair day -- of which I apparently didn't think to get any pictures -- so you'll just have to go ahead and picture Alex with a spiked up mohawk and Jane with a bubble pony tail on top of her head to look like a unicorn.  (And I recognize that that probably doesn't even make any sense, so I'm sorry there's no visual aid.  Hahaha.)

Day two was bring in bottled water or sports drinks for the 5K on Saturday and I totally forgot to go to the store and stock up, so we weren't really winning at Spirit this week until WEDNESDAY when it was spirit wear day and all three elementary kids got REALLY into the action.  There was "face painting" with markers, lots of school colors, and a ton of excitement in the air.  It was one of the only days this week where everyone was up early for school and ready to go in record time.

Thursday was donate mac and cheese day for a local food pantry and today was crazy sock day plus wear-your-grade-level-shirts and "Final Friday" (of the month) as well.  So basically today was kind of a mini field day.  I think.  Whatever may have happened, the kids were excited, that's for sure.  Hahaha. :) 

Once everyone was home from school this afternoon, we headed right back over TO the school for packet pick-up and to let the kids sign the finish line banner that will be hanging at the race.  Everyone was super excited to get their new shirts and we only had to chase after Isaac a few different times, so all in all it was a super successful outing!  Hahaha.

Tomorrow should be a lot of fun and the weather is supposed to be absolutely PERFECT.  Sophie is really hoping for another grade level win (so she can be the fastest girl in her grade, 3 years running -- get it?  Running??? Hahhahaha) and Ethan is hoping to win the entire thing.  Jane and Alex are also attempting the 5K tomorrow and the results of that effort will be interesting to say the least.  Jane has never made it the full 3.1 miles and Alex has never tried it at all.  So, we'll see how the two of them hold up.  ;)

In closing, and in a perfect segue from Spirit Week, I'm also super excited for General Conference this weekend and the chance to hear inspired and uplifting messages from our church leaders.  It's always my favorite weekend of the year!  Over the past couple of weeks, I've been re-listening/re-reading the addresses from April's conference and there were so many that really spoke to my soul.  The following are worth a read/listen if you aren't familiar with them yet:

Our Father's Glorious Plan, by Elder Weatherford T. Clayton
The Power of the Book of Mormon, by President Thomas S. Monson
A Sin-Resistant Generation, by Joy D. Jones
Whatsoever He Saith Unto You, Do It, by Elder L. Whitney Clayton
Songs Sung and Unsung, by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

And that is that!  This weekend is going to be a good one!  :)

Birthday Bashing

It's been over a week ago now, but on Friday the 15th, Scott celebrated turning the big 4-0 with another friend from church.  We met up at a nearby park, and really pulled out all the stops with decorations, delicious food, and -- of course -- some cake and ice cream.  :)

The kids really enjoyed helping to set everything up, and we really couldn't have gotten it all put together without my friend, Linsey (the wife of the other "over-the-hill" celebrant).   She's the one who reserved the pavilion and got the supplies to make the joint birthday bash a smashing success!

Having a park as the venue was the smartest move EVER, because it ensured that neither one of us would have to clean and prep a house to get ready for the party OR have to clean and de-trash a house after the party.  Hahaha.  PLUS, as an added benefit, there was a lot more things for all the kids to run around and do at the park than at either of our houses.  Winning!  Duh.  ;)

The fun just kept on rolling the next day, as it was once again time for the annual Dividend Day festivities at the amusement park, and we spent the whole day running from one thing to the next.  Or at least it felt like I did.  Hahaha.  Ethan's home meet for cross country was that morning, and as such he was required to be there from start to finish to help with set up and take down, so I volunteered to be with him at the race while Scott took all the other kids to the amusement park by himself.  Happy belated birthday, Scott!  Right???  Hahaha.

Once the meet was over, I brought Ethan to the park and took Sophie on down home, so that in theory Isaac could squeeze in a nap, and I could take Jane and Sophie shopping for birthday presents for the different birthday parties they had been invited to that afternoon.  Ethan and Grace stayed on with Scott and didn't end up getting home until around 9 o'clock that night.

 (That outfit on Jane, though.)

Whew! It was quite the weekend.  Between all those festivities and late nights and physical exhaustion, we had some pretty gnarly meltdowns from certain children who shall remain nameless, but thankfully, we've all recovered nicely and life has continued on its merry way.  It was certainly fun to be able to celebrate Scott's birthday with friends, and I'm glad that Dividend Day only comes around once a year.  Hahahahaha.  Thank you and goodnight!

Week One Was a Success!

 

First Day of "Preschool" (aka Parents' Day Out)

I don't know if you've seen that video going around of the mom hiding from the "fancy bus stop moms" that's been floating around on Facebook, but as I picked up Isaac from his second day of preschool this afternoon, I was totally feeling her flow!  Hahaha.  Seriously, though.  I felt like a complete slubby frump while waiting for Isaac outside his classroom, as mom after mom with super cute outfits and fully made up faces and styled hair came to get their own kids.  And half of them were toting other babes in arm as well!  What the what??  Perhaps one of these days I'll be able to pull myself together enough to look more than just presentable at pick-up.  Until then, though, at least Isaac is killing it on the preschool front!  Hahahaha.

Tuesday was Isaac's first day, and since I've figured out the trick to extricating myself from his presence with minimal fussing and tears, we totally rocked that drop-off, and according to the note in his cubby after school, he had a great day!  Yay!  I lucked out that first day in spotting "Llama Llama, I Love You" on the bookshelf (which we also have at home and Isaac loves) and was able to distract Isaac long enough for me to slip out the door unseen.  I'm pretty sure this approach would send Alex into panic attack mode, but for Shoo Shoo it works like a charm.  Thank goodness!

 First day selfie in the classroom.  He face planted off a bench the day before and got a nice little rug burn on his chinny chin chin.  :(

 Distraction technique initiated.

 "Isaac had a great first day, he enjoyed playing and exploring the classroom."

Distraction worked once again when dropping him off this morning, and when I picked him up after lunch, he was all smiles once more! And with another positive daily report to boot!  Hahaha.  I'm hoping that as he continues to warm up to his new teachers and classroom I won't have to be quite so stealthy a ninja in leaving him at the door, but I guess only time will tell.  :)  Nevertheless, week one has been a success and I'll take it! 

"Isaac had another awesome day, played all day and followed directions, he loved being outside."

R.I.P Thumper

Guys, we have some sad news.  At some point yesterday afternoon, between 4 and 5 o'clock, Thumper died.  We have no idea what exactly happened, but when I got home from picking Ethan up after cross country practice yesterday, I was met with Grace coming out to the garage to tell me the news.  At first, I thought she was messing around -- because literally, she had just gone up to check on him after school to refill his food and water and he was alive and well (or so we thought).  Once she started telling me that he was stiff when she tried to pick him up, however, I knew it was for real.  It was really quite disturbing and sad for all of us.  Poor little Thumper.  He was so soft and fluffy.  I just hope that his last month of life wasn't miserable.  Rest in Peace little bunny.

Party Time

Jane's 8th Birthday Party was the event of our weekend!  Saturday afternoon Jane hosted a group of friends for a Pinterest themed party in honor of her YouTube channel.  Hahaha.  ;)  It took lots of coercing and much effort, but I eventually convinced Ethan that he had to help out by filming a music video for Jane and her friends and then an episode of Jane Puts Pinterest to the Test with all her friends helping her make slime.

Saturday morning started out super rocky -- the Tweedles were up early and their tweedling (i.e. laughing and giggling and working themselves up into the ultimate silly, uncooperative, and obnoxious moods) woke Ethan up early on the only day of the week that he would have been able to sleep in.  He was not happy.  And that's an understatement.

By the time the party started that afternoon, though, he rose to the occasion and not only did the filming and editing for the videos but agreed to put up decorations for the party as well.  I don't know what it is about streamers, but he can never pass up a chance to put them up.  Hahaha.

Despite lack of preparation and help on Sophie and Grace's part for the choreography portion of the music video, everything fell into place once the guests arrived, and I was able to throw some moves together on the spot for their cover of "Shake It Off" from the movie Sing.  We banged it out in about 15 minutes in the backyard, and it all came together nicely.

Once we finished up with filming the music video, it was time to move on to the slime making!  Jane and all her friends tried out a new recipe she found on Pinterest, using glue, baking soda, food coloring, and contact solution.  It was a hit!  The girls seemed to have a blast mixing it up, and I know Jane loved having "guests" on her channel.  Hahaha.

Having only blocked out an hour and a half for the party, I was a little worried at first that we would run out of time to get everything done before parents started to arrive.  All the worries were for nothing, however, as we clicked off the Jane Puts Pinterest to the Test episode in record time {and one take}, and then moved on to presents, cake, and ice cream.  Obviously, the perfect theme for the cake this year was "Pinterest," and as such, I created one of the easiest birthday cakes I've made in recent years by fashioning a Pinterest app icon, using chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting, and some store-bought red fondant.  I was pretty pleased with the outcome.  :)

Ethan finished editing the "Shake it Off" video just as everyone was finishing up their cake and ice cream, and the girls were all thrilled to see their pop star debuts before they went home.  Hahaha.  Friend parties are always so much more work than family ones, but it makes everything totally worth it when I see my kids so happy.  And that's a wrap for Jane's 8th Birthday!