Oh So Proud!!

Proud mom alert!!!.......

Jessie was invited to join the California Junior Scholastic Federation. CJSF is a state wide organization to "honor and foster outstanding California middle school students based on scholarship, service and citizenship." :)

Andrew received the Student Of The Month award for Nov/Dec!! The special note on the back of his award reads "Andrew, you truly are an amazing student. Your love of learning is infectious. Thank you for being such a fantastic first grader. It is a pleasure having you in my class." :)

Andrew with his teacher, Mrs. Gradstein (she looks a little creepy with the red eye!)

Andrew with Mr. Mueller, the principal



This is his trying-hard-not-to-smile smirk

Can you see my proud, beaming smile?! :) :) :) :) :)

Fun Time part 1 and 2

Yesterday Fun Time Part 1:



Rylee, Devynn and I went shopping. On the way home, as I turned off the freeway in the rain, the truck decided to start hydroplaning and then fishtailing!

Rylee, from the back seat: "Mom, what are you doing?"

She thought I was intentionally driving like an idiot!

Thankfully, I was the only car that was exiting then and there wasn't any other traffic so I didn't hit anyone. And I somehow managed to stop us from sliding into the traffic that was stopped at the light on the other side of the road. But it was rather scary for a minute there! Yikes!!



Yesterday Fun Time Part 2:



Last night we decided we were going to go out to dinner and then pick up a Christmas tree on the way home. The kids were all excited!! So we went out for some chinese food...Yummy!...and then loaded our whole gang up in the truck to drive to the tree lot. Everything was all good...until Ryan tried to start the truck. The battery had decided to die! And of course our jumper cables weren't in the truck. And the only person we could get ahold of had loaned his out and they were never returned. Plus, it was raining. So we called AAA. One hour, and a billion games of "I spy" with the kids later, the tow truck came and jumped us. But he said that as soon as we turned the truck off, the battery would lose the charge because we needed a new one.

So we drove across the street to the tree lot. I stayed in with the engine running while Ryan took the kids to find a tree. A minute later they came back empty handed. Apparently the sign that says "We've Gone Full Discount" was a lie.

So we decided to drive down to the parts store and get a new battery. Thankfully they had the one we needed in stock. YAY!! Once Ryan had switched them out, we drove down to Lowe's to find our perfect tree.

Except their Christmas tree lot was closed.

So we drove across town to Home Depot. They were open! They had trees! The kids found one they loved! We bought it! We are now the proud owners of one fine noble fir Christmas tree. :)

Look Who's Talking! :)

Devynn has started talking sooo much lately. She has always been a babbler, but now she is putting together sentences! Her newest thing is to say "Do it, Mom!" when she wants me to pick her up. Just walks up, puts her arms up, and says "Do it, Mom". She used to say "Carry", which I liked because it reminded me of when Jess was her age and would say "Carry me." But not anymore. Apparently Rylee is rubbing off on her and she's becoming very demanding! :)

Devynn's other newest word is "booder", which translates to "booger" when she picks her nose. Lovely, I know. It's cute to watch her say it, though because she sticks her little lips out! :) Adorable!



Adorableness is overflowing in my world! :)

Totally Random

So I haven't posted anything for awhile...sorry! We had a great Thanksgiving! Turkey turned out fabulously (and yes, I helped with it so I get partial credit for it!), and the yams were to die for (and they were ALL me so I get full credit there...well, I guess I have to give my Mom some credit since it's her recipe!) :) Mmm Good!

*************************************************************************************

Every night as I tuck my monkeys into bed, I tell them "Love you. Sweet dreams. See you in the morning." It's something that I started saying when Jess was a little bitty thing, and it has continued on down the line. So now Devynn knows it and says it to me. Cutest thing ever!! She even says it at nap time! " Wuv you. Feet dreams. Morning." Melts my heart every time!

*************************************************************************************

Rylee Speak:

"mow dryer" = lawn mower

Adorable! And to think that there are actually people in this world that don't want to have kids!! Boy are they missing out!! :)

Adventureland!!

So this morning I had a fun little adventure. After dropping Andrew off at school, Rylee, Devynn and I headed over to Stater Bros. We quickly found our items-a loaf of bread and a sugar-free pumpkin pie for Andrew's Thanksgiving Feast at school tomorrow. We put them up on the conveyor in line and waited for our turn. Rylee started asking if she could pay for our stuff, so I opened my wallet to give her the money. That's when I realized that my money was actually at home in the pocket of the jeans that I wore yesterday!! Yikes!! And since we are an all-cash family now (We have chosen to stop using all plastic, even debit cards) I quickly realized that I was in a bit of a predicament. I was so embarrassed when I had to tell the cashier that I didn't have money to pay for our stuff and would have to come back. SO mortified!!! At least I realized my money was M.I.A. BEFORE he started ringing us up!

So I loaded the girls back in the car and drove home to get my money. (Fortunately we live pretty close to the store.) Then we turned right around and headed back. It felt like deja vu walking into Stater Bros. for the second time! Of course the same cashier rang us up. At least he knew I wasn't lying about leaving my money at home!!

Moral of the story: Don't put your money in your pocket!!
(Want to hear the worst part...I put the change in my pocket, where it is still sitting!)

******************************************************************

Yesterday I had Andrew's parent-teacher conference. I know I'm a bit biased, but I have the World's Smartest Boy EVER!!! His teacher used the terms "all-star", "stellar", and "model student" more than a few times. He is off the charts in everything...way above grade level! He gets his good looks and his supercharged brain from me! :) It makes me feel proud, though to know that I'm doing something right because Jessie has always been the exact same way...always above grade level, excellent student in all areas, model citizen. (She was even student council vice-president in 4th grade...the only 4th grader ever elected to that position at her school. She then went on to be president in 5th grade!) Yes, I know I'm bragging...and I know that genetics play a big role in their intelligence levels. But I also know how important it is for kids to be read to, sung to, talked to, all from a very young age. I know the importance of letting your children color, dance, sing, laugh, make messes, play, be creative, use their imaginations. I also know the importance of setting rules and teaching kids about responsibilities from the time they're little. And I know how important it is to just spend time with your kids. These are all things that I try to do with my children. This is why I choose to stay home with them. Yes, I'm tooting my own horn a bit, but I think that it's pretty obvious that I made the right choice!!

Fun adventures and smart children are abundant in my world!!

Cutest things in the World!!

Hearing Devynn say:

"Awesome"- sounds more like "aweshum"

"Roxy and Lola" (her friends across the street)- sounds more like "Rossy" and "Wowa"

"Show me"- when she wants to show me something, she says "show me" and then takes my hand and leads me to whatever it is that she wants

"Yes"- this one was a hard-fought battle...she would only answer "no" regardless of what she really meant- so happy that she's finally saying YES!! (And so glad to hear her say "yes" instead of "yeah" like the rest of us...she's so proper!)

"blanket"-sounds more like "binekie"

"Sweet dreams"- sounds pretty much like "sweet dreams"

And my FAVORITE:

"Love you"- sounds like "wuv you"...I couldn't care less what it sounds like...to me, it's one of the best sounds I will ever hear!


Devynn adds more and more sweetness to my world everyday! What more could a girl ask for?! :)

Happy Halloween!

So the kids had a lot of fun on Halloween this year. Jessie decided not to dress up ...guess she thinks 7th graders are too old for that. She still had fun, though. Andrew and Rylee are trick-or-treating pros now! Devynn isn't quite there yet. She was rather poky...guess she can blame her little legs for that. Plus she scared rather easily. She looked adorable in her little 50's girl costume, though...even though she wouldn't really let us take her picture! And she had fun carrying around her "punkin" and getting candy from about 10 houses. Fun fun fun!! :)


Halloween is always spook-tacular in my world! (hahaha)