lunch dishes

I love surprises especially when the kids are playing, I take them to school and I find sweet little reminders of their play left behind. Remember the stamped art Jaiden made (here)?

Here was Alyssa's treat for me after I dropped her off at school and came home to clean up our lunch dishes.

Alyssa did a good job of preparing a healthy lunch ... slice of bologna, lettuce, mustard, banana, slice of cheese, two sweet treats and even a spoon! How thoughtful of her to make sure baby had a lunch before she went to school.

the answer ...

... is yes, according to Bumbum, Beavers do up chuck when they chuck too much wood!

or the other answer to the question about Jaiden's choice for Halloween is

... an alien.

This seems like an appropriate alien look for him but no, I can't stop there. I have chosen this rather complicated pattern and will be sewing on metallic green material, which I have never done so I am sure there will be many posts following this one with tears of frustration and multiple phone calls to Yaya or Tutu asking for help!

This is the pattern we chose. I am not sure about those bubble heads yet. I mean where exactly do you find 12" diameter acrylic globe with necklace edge?

how much wood could a wood chuck chuck?

... or how much wood could a beaver chuck? Do beavers chuck?

Tonight, we took a short drive to an active beaver lodge that our neighbors told us about. Interestingly, beavers do most of their work at night so we were told to not show up until about 7 pm so the lighting wasn't the greatest but Jaiden and I got to try out my new tripod and took a few photos.

and the answer to the question... A LOT of wood! This is the beaver lodge and there were several dams too.

Isn't she or he cute? I don't have the big lens that could verify he or she but still given the light was quite dim, I was able to get a decent shot!

Jaiden took this photo and it was REALLY dark at this point. The shutter speed was at 5 seconds and so it gave a beautiful blur to the water while still able to capture the backside of this busy beaver! Not bad for a 6 year old! He loves taking photos ... I only wish he and I had thought for him to have a chance when the lighting was better. Elk bugling isn't far off so I promised him we could go up and set the tripod up to his height again and he could take a few shots. Reminding me of elk, we saw several driving up to the dam and a few deer too. It was a great Saturday night adventure!

privacy, please!

A new development in our house has officially occurred. For months, no - 6 1/2 years to be exact, we, the parents of Jaiden, have tried to seek out privacy but as most parents we know, this is a mute point with babies, toddlers and young children so in the end, we decide maybe when they move out privacy will be reinstated but I am guessing by that time, we will be too old to care... any thoughts on this from the older parents?

Anyway, yesterday morning I helped Jaiden pick out some clothes for school and proceeded to the bathroom to get his toothbrush ready when I heard him say "Mom, I NEED privacy!"

This morning as I came up the stairs (mind you I was minding my own business), I see his bedroom door swing close and hear "I NEED my privacy!"

Does this really begin in 1st grade? Could there be a day when I can use the bathroom in privacy? Woooo hoooo! Well, I guess that would mean Alyssa also has to buy in to that idea and that may take a little longer... oh well!

In the meantime, Alyssa misses Jaiden dearly during the day. She asks when will he be home, can I play with him when he gets home, will he play with me when he gets home, but today, it was "Mommy, can I have sleepover with Jaiden soon?"

I said, "tonight?"

"Yes, do you think he will want to sleep in my room?"

So when we got home from some errands, she disappeared and came back a little later to let me know she had cleaned her room and was ready for a sleep over. I went up and saw this:

How totally sweet - she had laid out their sleeping bags in her room with their pillows and a few of his favorite stuffed animals! Now let me also point out it was only 1:20 pm and school gets out at 3:35 pm and bedtime isn't until 8 pm! Yes, she really misses him!

mornings with alyssa

After we drop Jaiden off at school, the mornings are free for us to play and do silly things like play my little ponies or house with kitties, bunnies, moose, mice (what happened to just plain dolls?)... well, yesterday morning was no exception except ...

this cutie pie (the one who dresses in all pink, frilly outrageous dress-up clothes and loves all things pretty) confirmed yet again that this Halloween she wants to be a bat!

To clarify I asked "A pink bat?"

"No a BLACK bat"

"With pink wings?"

"NO, BLACK wings. A BAT, mommy!"

Just to make sure I took her to the fabric store and we looked through Halloween costume pattern books but let me explain something first. If you ever go look at a costume pattern book the first 25 pages or more is all the costumes with fairies, mermaids, princesses, ballerinas, more fairies, cute ladybugs and all sorts of pretties. So as we flipped through the pages, she anxiously waited for the bat costume and this is what she chose...

Yes, it's the one I circled in red... it sort of looks like a super hero costume with bat wings... yes, this is the Bat costume she chose but just to be clear one more time, she said

"It must be ALL BLACK!"

I will let you ponder about what Jaiden chose but I will give you hint, I once posted how he asked to change his name... and he also plays a version of tag related to what he wants to be... Good luck guessing!

Not just the kids...

... are going to school and learning new things but Mommy is too!

I am taking another digi class and learning some more very cool Photoshop tools and super cool techniques. Here's my latest creation. I started with this template (from Jessica Sprague's Up & Running class, which you can find here) ...

and created this...

In case you can't read it, the journaling says:

Big toothy grin

Glittery pink t-shirt

Pink backpack with hearts

Sparkly new shoes

Pink bike

A can-do attitude

One very excited little girl

This little peach has had a rough start but she certainly is proving her can-do attitude. After the first day, I was certain I would be up for a battle to go to school but Tuesday morning, she was dressed and ready to go when I got home from yoga. Interestingly, Mr. Excited himself was still lounging in his pj's! Her second day proved to a be a bit better and sure enough this morning, she was ready to go back! I am so proud of her even when she is brought to tears, she pushes forward with a positive, can-do attitude... definitely my little girl. She is a SWEETIE and I am enjoying watching her grow each day.

As for the other monkey, he's still doing great and enjoying being a BIG boy going to school for LONG days, eating lunch with friends, playing ALIEN tag at recess, and who knows what else since he likes to tell me (still) that they just sit in class and stare at each other all day! Maybe, just maybe at the parent first grade orientation tomorrow night, I may hear a different story...

a BIG 1st day ...

Alyssa's first question this morning "will I go for a LONG day or short day?" Translation: Long days are what Jaiden does and they do seem long compared to what we have been used to. Short days are what this little peach gets to do... thank goodness!

So today was Alyssa's first day of school...

It is so hard to get a non-cheesy, goofy grin from either kid but thankfully she didn't put in her dracula teeth or these crazy fake looking missing teeth or for that matter, decide to wear her latest acquisition - a fake mustache!

She rode her bike to school like a big girl!

She went straight in, opened her cubby and put her backpack inside.

And then she sat down at a table waiting for class to begin.

How was her big day? Well, I think we definitely have an adjustment period to get through before we can answer that question. She seemed fine until we got home and then she cried and cried. She was so sad ... I think she really missed her old school and all of her fears she had been questioning me about for the past few days happened in one single afternoon. But by bedtime, she was willing to lay out her school clothes for another day!

preschooler going out the door...

Alyssa doesn't technically start school until Monday but she's ready! Today was her class open house to meet the teachers, see her class and meet some classmates.

You can tell she is ready... her outfit chosen and assembled by herself included her black sparkly chiffon skirt, sparkly pink heart t-shirt, my pink crocheted shawl from when I was a kid, pink polka dot socks and pink sparkly shoes... yep, she's going to dazzle everyone at school!

She was given her first assignment. She had to paint glue on her name and then sprinkle glitter... perfect compliment to her "dazzle them" tactic! She did lots of other things like check out the wooden doll house and dolls, the kitchen play area, organizing the blocks section and playing with the lego table. She played for 1 hour 10 minutes... I am guessing this is good sign she won't have any problems come Monday!

As for Jaiden, he is still loving 1st grade! I got some cute assignments he made this week back in today's folder but I am feeling too lazy to go upstairs... I am afraid the only upstairs I will be doing is to get some zzz's! It's been a busy two days around here.

1st grader is in the house...

Today was the BIG day... Jaiden's 1st day of 1st grade!

He was excited, nervous, and a jumble of nerves but most of all, he was delighted!

A quick collage of a few of my favorites. Top left is with his friends from last year; top right is the full length view of our annual by the tree photo; bottom left ... I just love this type of photo and bottom right is his head just before he enters the classroom, he puts his name under HOT or COLD for his lunch. He chose to bring his own lunch today!

And after school, I sneaked in and had him sit as his desk. He was so excited to have his own desk with his school supplies neatly tucked inside.

When asked "how was your first day?", he said it was "better than kindergarten because it wasn't all work, I got two recesses and PE and lunch!" He then asked if tomorrow was a school day and I have to say I was hesitant to answer not sure what the answer would be but I said "yes". He exclaimed "Yippppeee!" Phew, definitely a good day for the big boy!

getting ready for school...

Wow, it's hard to believe that there are only 2 days left of summer for Jaiden and then 1st grade begins. I know I am feeling very anxious about the start of school. I have so enjoyed our carefree summer days and am nervous what 1st grade will bring.

In the meantime, I have been busy getting ready...

... sorting, deciding what to keep and tossing some of last year's schoolwork to make way for this year's schoolwork...

... Clearing the bulletin boards for new school artwork...

... buying Jaiden's school supplies...

... getting some cute cloth baggies for school lunches (got these from WasteNotSaks, you can click here if interested)...

... finding yummy flavored milk on sale at King Soopers (they only serve plain milk for school lunches and since milk isn't a huge fan in our house, I thought flavored may have a better chance)...

... and finally, getting the backpack's ready to go.

It's all so bittersweet... but to keep our minds off of the big upcoming day, we will be playing at the pool with friends tomorrow and heading to a huge water park on Tuesday. The only reminder of school will be back to school night tomorrow when he gets to meet his teacher.

Alyssa doesn't start until next Monday so at least I can savor a few more days of summer with her!

another classic Alyssa style

This is Alyssa ready for the pool this morning...

with her stylin' running pink giraffe headband, googily eyes and her purse filled with a princess mirror, a comb, two my little ponies and a whoopee cushion.

And here I thought we would just go for a swim... silly mommy!

food is being served

A busy day at the cafe despite the missing oven...

Alyssa putting things away under the sink

and yummy pizza ready for dinner.

The kids even printed recipes for their kitchen so the menu has expanded to included fruit salad and fried rice. I don't think they actually knew what they were printing but it looked like fun to them!

cafe is opening

The cafe is opening this Sunday (pending our oven is working!). We'd love you to join us for the grand opening of beautifully presented assorted plastic and wooden food served by two very cute blondies.

In the meantime, here is a sneak peek at the partial kitchen...

the fridge and sink... so we can have clean dishes!

Close up of the sink. I think it turned out really cute. You can still see a bit of the ghetto look but I don't think the kids will notice or mind once the cafe is open.

self-declared insanity

By Saturday afternoon, I had declared insanity after realizing a quick decision we made... but by Sunday, I was declaring partial insanity since the other part of insanity was being shared by Dennis.

It all began with a little bit of rearranging the downstairs play area and creating a little cafe set up for the kids...

... which led to a Saturday morning search on Craigslist for a wooden play kitchen ...

... which then led to this

A 3 piece handmade major fixer upper of a cute little kitchen. I meant to take pre photos but forgot so I tried to catch it in the act to the pre-stripping and then sanding, then painting stage. This is the oven without the oven door on.

This is the side of the oven. All the pieces looked just like this.

But by Sunday afternoon, they looked like this.

I have been spending the past 2 days painting as well as other random things but I think we are almost ready to bring the refrigerator and sink/cupboard in the house. The oven needs a bit more touching up. The kids are thrilled and excited for it to be part of their cafe.

Jaiden has already decided they need a coffee pot and toaster for the breakfast crowd. Alyssa wants cakes and cupcakes for afternoon tea parties. They have big plans for this kitchen, and so, insanity may just pay off!

taking inventory

This morning as I was getting the kids their drinks for breakfast, I heard Jaiden say:

"... 3 colorful rainbows

1 blue moon

3 shooting stars

4 pots of gold

3 and a half horseshoes

3 pink hearts, and

2 leprechaun hats."

I peeked around the corner and saw this:

... he was taking inventory of his lucky charms which I thought

a) it must be time for school to start, and

b) ironically I found this the night before ...

... an assignment they did in his Kindergarten class in March for St. Patrick's Day.

So while I am sad there is only 1 week left of carefree summer days, he clearly is ready to begin sorting, counting and graphing and taking on the challenge of 1st grade!

Oh and I now know why he REALLY wanted lucky charms last week at the grocery store!

the caves...

Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, specifically... but I don't have much to share about the insides of the caves as it was amazingly difficult to shoot. I did get a few shots that I liked but I think if you saw them, it wouldn't make sense... it's really one of those things that you have to see but the fun part of touring the caves was taking the kids and then later working on this...

... the Junior Ranger program. Jaiden did this at Yellowstone last year and so when we found out Jewel Cave had the program, he had to earn another one.

Once he completes his work, a ranger reviews it and then swears him in as a Junior Ranger. Look how serious he takes it!

Then the next day we toured Wind Cave, certain they would have a Junior Ranger program and low and behold, there was a program for 6 and under so Alyssa got to join in for her first time!

The park ranger reviewing their booklets.

Being sworn in... look at that intensity!

So very happy she got to get her badge. At some places, you get a patch so I think she thought she might get one for her school backpack... not this time but maybe next year... I wonder which National Parks we will visit next summer?

So that was pretty much the extent of our trip to the Black Hills... we came home a day early because of the camping situation but all in all, it was a great trip! The kids are already asking when do we go on another road trip?

beware of the bears

On our second day (after cleaning up our camp site), we ventured over to this nature conservancy called Bear Country USA. I was thinking it would be one of those things where we pay a lot of money and are completely disappointed but thankfully, I was VERY wrong. It turned out to be an amazing experience and the kids loved it.

I loved it, of course, because this meant I got to try out my photography skills on wildlife which is completely different from photographing kids on the move. I actually got to spend time metering, focusing, composing and changing exposure levels to see what worked best!

I loved this photo of the young reindeer looking through the grass.

And this one of the beer lounging in the sun was just hilarious to the kids and us.

An albino bison? Never seen one until now but I loved the way the lighting turned out.

And then we found these animals in Babyland requesting their photo be taken too!

And this was only part of our adventure on the second day... we also visited Jewel Cave which I will share with you tomorrow along with snippets of Day 3.

1880 Train ride and more...

If you ever get the chance, South Dakota is beautiful and it has so much to offer. We saw and experienced some amazing activities and beauty. Here is a short peek at what we did on Day 1...

 We rode the 1880 Train ... an old-fashion steam engine and really neat passengers cars...

... while I imagined what it would be like riding back in 1880, the kids tried to pretend they were on a REALLY fast roller coaster.

We saw Mt. Rushmore... just before the storm hit.

... and then were faced with bison who clearly have the right of way!

I forgot to take a photo of the tent clean as I was quickly trying to waterproof it this morning and then take it down as another storm rolled in but Dad kindly provided me with a few more photos of our tent that we returned to! I think this shows the damage a little bit better!

Phew... what a first day it was!