Sunday, November 9, 2014

Nov. 2-8: Lazy Days, Student of the Quarter, School Pics

SUNDAY:

 This is how we spent our Sunday. A phone, a laptop, a tablet, and a phone. Don't let Shaun's absence fool you, he was on his as well!! Sometimes we just need a lazy day!

 Gage has been begging for doughnuts, but since the ones at the store don't meet our new food criteria, I promised him we could make some. 

 These definitely aren't healthy, but at least I know what they are made out of! And the kids gobbled them up! They especially liked to dip them in homemade strawberry jam!

 I looked at the calendar to see what I needed to do the next day, and I saw this!!! It's amazing how quickly our weeks fill up so I was really excited to see a blank day! 

MONDAY:

I took advantage of the blank day and got things done around the house (which was desperately needed!!)

 The girls played dress up all afternoon! This is Miley's favorite thing to do and I'm glad Maisey doesn't think she is too old for that yet!

 I made a real dinner from scratch! Coconut chicken curry = DELISH!

We also had a family home evening lesson in which Gage kept referring to Satan as the "bad Jesus". I'm not sure where he got that from and we tried to correct him, but he was adamant that there was a good Jesus and a bad Jesus. EEK!

The kids also practiced their parts for the primary program which led to lots of silliness and giggles! I sure hope they can pull it together for the program or we are going to be that family with the kids that can't behave on stage.

TUESDAY:

 Maisey came home from school with a dollar bill! She said her friend paid her to not tell on her. I asked Maisey what her friend did and she said that she said the "s" word. I asked what the "s" word was and thankfully it was just stupid! Quick way to make a buck!

One day last week, the principal pulled me aside and told me both kids earned student of the quarter! I was very surprised and excited and surprised and honored and surprised. Did I mention surprised? Not so much that Maisey earned it, but that Gage did too! I was soooo proud of both of them.

 We went to a local restaurant for a special dinner to honor all of the students of the quarter. The principal had little gift bags for each of the kids!

 Maisey with her goodies!

 After we all ate, the teachers invite the kids up, one at a time, to talk about their accomplishments. Gage's teacher, Ms. Dunlap, is so awesome and patient. She had some really nice things to say about Gage.

 She even sent him home with a copy of it.

 Maisey also got lots of praise and recognition for her hard work! Her teacher, Ms. Underwood, challenges her class and expects a lot from them. Maisey happily accepts the challenge.

 Maisey also got to some home with what her teacher said about her!

 Gage waxed his own face by peeling off the bumper sticker from its backing and applying it to his face. OUCH! He had a hard time paying attention once the speeches made it past Kindergarten. (also notice his unbuttoned shirt!)

 The top two students from each class earn the award each quarter. This is the other second grader, Isabella. 

 After the initial shock of Gage earning student of the quarter wore off, I was shocked again when I found out his best buddy also earned the award. Before school started my friend and I talked to the teacher and told her that they can be a handful together and to put them on opposite sides of the room. Apparently they are super awesome in the classroom and very well behaved. If only that would carry over to home. . . .

 The kids and their certificates!

WEDNESDAY:

 Miley and I both weren't feeling great and she asked me to cuddle her, so we sat on the couch most of the morning with a blanket cuddling. No complaints from me!

 After a while, Miley got unruly and thought it was fun to hide between the microwave and stove. That girl is always into stuff!

 That night was Gage's soccer team party at Dairy Queen. Maisey loved when all of her friends showed up.

 Coach Grimmett (Dad!!) talked about how Gage was super awesome at defense and goalie. Way to go Gage!

 Maisey came home from school and told me that the principal came in and talked to her class today. Apparently some boys have been pooping in the urinals at school. She has been going around talking to each of the classes about appropriate behavior and as a consequence for all of the students' choices they each needed to do three nice things for someone at the school. Maisey decided to write a note for her teacher.

THURSDAY

 I never do TBT, but this was too cute to not post. The same bench, almost two years apart! 

 I woke Miley up from her nap to go pick Maisey up from school and she said, "I go more nigh-night" and pulled her blankie up over her. Apparently she wasn't done with that nap!

 The kids came home with their school pictures!

 They both turned out pretty cute if you ask me!

 I stayed up late getting things ready for my art project the next day: mosaic turkeys.

FRIDAY:

 Gage making his turkey!

I always take a pic of Gage during art, but by the time I make it to second grade I forget to take one of Maisey. Hopefully next month I will remember!

 After school these kids were keeping themselves entertained while I counted snack cart money.

 And, Maisey changed my wallpaper! They sure are handsome right? I think I'll switch back to the family picture I had!

 Maisey's friend invited her to her violin recital! She did a beautiful job!

SATURDAY:

In the morning, we had Gage's last soccer game of the season! I didn't take a single picture, but his team won 1-0.  Gage had a few pretty awesome saves as goalie!

 My mom took the older two kids home with her for the afternoon. It's not very often that the kids get to play over there, so they went all out. They made sugar cookies, which don't look super appealing with out all of the food dye in them! They also watched a movie and played games! 

While they were gone, Shaun, Miley, and I headed to the outlet mall for a while before Shaun had to run to the Priesthood Leadership session of our Stake Conference. 

Miley and I ran a few more errands and then we met my mom and the big kids back at my house. Our sitter came over and my mom and I headed to meet Shaun for dinner and to go to the Adult Session. 

Afterward, we stopped at Target. I love running errands with him, but with three kids it hardly ever happens! I like to get a glimpse of what he is interested in, and apparently last night it was Ninja Turtle footie jammies. Good thing Christmas is next month! :)

Sunday, November 2, 2014

10/26-11/1 - Food Changes and Halloween

MONDAY:

Miley's little toes can grip anything. She is such a climber. Here she is scaling the kitchen cupboards.

After school we headed to the doctor to get his lab work done. I didn't tell him why we were going, so when he sat down and the lab lady told his what she was going to do he went into a state of panic. But, he was such a trooper and didn't even cry. His eyes started to well up at the beginning but we just kept distracting him with questions and he did great. The lab lady even let him hold his own blood afterward! He was so brave!!!

I put Miley on the toilet when we got home and she actually peed! We put her on the toilet a couple of times a week, but this was the first time she ever actually went! We only have a few packs of diapers left, so I'm toying with the idea of potty training her soon. Heaven help me!

Maisey came home from school with these library books. Be still my soul! 
(Then I introduced her to the MK & A movies on YouTube.)

TUESDAY:

My shopping buddy had free reign at the store to rearrange shelves since I spent over an hour reading labels. It is crazy how many products have food dye and high fructose corn syrup (hfcs). Luckily, Gage has hardly any variation in his diet, so I just had to find options to replace his staples. 

Did you know Tillamook Medium Cheddar cheese has color in it? So now we buy the white cheddar kind. That's what I was talking about. He likes cheese, so we now just buy a different kind. Same thing with ketchup, yogurt, bread, and treats. Plus I am making a lot more from scratch now, which is really time consuming but better for all of us!

That morning I started dinner in the crock pot to take to a family in our ward on my way to the temple that evening. At 4 pm I went to start dishing it up and realized my chicken was still raw. Yeah, I forgot to plug the dang crock pot in. :( So I threw some freezer burnt orange chicken in the oven and some rice on the stove. 

My mom and I made it to the temple for Stake Temple night. I was supposed to say the opening prayer but I was running a bit behind and made it up to the chapel session after the opening song started. My mom was already up there, so she filled in for me. I have the best mom!!!

Once I got home, Shaun and I were able to have a realistic conversation about an opportunity that presented itself a few weeks ago. I was asked by the owner of the gym in our town if I would become a group fitness instructor. At first it sounded like a great idea, and I was super excited about it. But the more I thought about it, I just kept getting the impression that it wasn't the right time. I need to focus on my kids right now, especially Gage. So Shaun and I discussed it and he had been getting the same impressions as me. 

WEDNESDAY:

I went to my normal gym class and afterward talked to the fitness instructor manager about my decision. She totally understood and I felt such a huge weight lifted. I know I made the right decision for now. Hopefully sometime down the road I can make it happen!

I hadn't had a stay-at-home veg night for a loooong time. I sat curled up on the couch with my bowl of ice cream and watched game 7 of the World Series. Unfortunately, my team (KC Royals) didn't win. But I still enjoyed my evening.

THURSDAY:

I had some crazy boys help me make cupcakes for the Halloween Carnival the next day. Yep, the cracked egg didn't make it to the bowl!

Miley using those toes of hers for what she does best!

FRIDAY:

Maisey's class earned a pajama party for passing so many rocket math levels. She thought it was pretty clever to wear her "I heart Saturday" jammies to school!

I hosted the jog-a-thon pizza party for all of the students who raised over $100. It went really well and the kids felt very special. 

As soon as school was out we headed up to Daddy's office for some trick-or-treating.
These pirates sure are cute!

Our next stop was the Carnival at the church. Gage loved this game and kept moving the car to the middle slot so he could collect as many parachute guys as he could.

Maisey was Ms. Independent and just went around with friends the whole time. 

And Miley was a major scaredy cat and hung with Daddy the whole time.

Our final Halloween adventure was the trunk-or-treat. Miley sat in the car the whole time because she was so afraid of everything. 

When we got home, we let the kids each eat one piece of candy with out food dye in it, then we put the rest away. We are going to take them swimming as a trade for all of their candy.

The kids were in bed by 8:15. Such a nice, low key Halloween.

SATURDAY:

This was Gage's second to last soccer game. It's amazing to see his improvement from week to week. He was actually focused all game and did awesome as goalie. 

Shaun played golf with some co-workers all afternoon and I worked on stuff at home, like ordering our Christmas cards. You know, since it's Nov. 1st! Don't want to be too late. :)