too old for coloring eggs...

As promised, I will catch this blog up... now where was I? Ah, Easter time shortly after a child turned into a tween! A tween who decides he is TOO old to color eggs. A tween who decides he is mildly interested when his little sister and Sophie start out with 24 beautiful white eggs. A tween who needs to show the girls exactly how it is done...

Yes, this is the tween who says he isn't interested in coloring eggs this year because he is too old. And this is a mommy who had to capture photos because it just truly may be the last year he wants to color eggs. Thankfully, that little sister was very into coloring eggs!

I love the intense concentration in their faces! 

Or the way they try to get the most magnificent color or lack of color in Jaiden's case!

And I always love how the eggs look at the end!

The squiggle lines was a new technique we tried. Right after I finished boiling the eggs, I pulled out the crayons and we started drawing on the hot eggs. The crayon melts and makes a waxy barrier for the dye. It was fun but a little tricky since the eggs are still quite hot. We dropped a couple ... oops!

a few more of the crayon resist eggs mixed in with some camouflage eggs. Jaiden always thinks he is so clever with those camouflage eggs until the Easter bunny hides them in plain sight and Jaiden can't find them! Although he does seem to like the challenge of that!

So one more year passed and while I was told that someone was too old for it, I was given one more year to enjoy egg coloring with my cute kids... and you can bet I have a TON more photos!

the cowgirl boots blues

There are some mornings that will stay in my mind forever and this morning was definitely one of them. 

She... the cute little blonde with a one big tooth grin and sparkly blue eyes ... came downstairs almost ready for school with 5 minutes to go before we absolutely must head out the door. 

She ... was dressed in a hot pink knit ruffle dress, light pink bike shorts underneath, a white cardigan that has stripes and sequins around the neckline, brown argyle socks and a cowgirl hat (well technically cowboy since it is my papa's hat).

She ... asked for her cowgirl boots, of which I am quite certain she outgrew and the last time she wore them complained they were waaay too tight.

She... was determined they were still in the house and searched everywhere determined they would show up.

She...  started to cry, desperate for those boots.

She... cried the entire way to school, sobbing and saying the boots were what made the outfit and how could I possible get rid of them?

She... was still in tears when I left her with her teacher, who pouted when Mrs. Murphy asked if everything was okay. I quietly told her she had outgrown her cowgirl boots and her entire outfit was ruined.

She... was consoled by her teacher admitting that yes the shoes are what makes the outfit and with that I kissed her goodbye.

When I walked away, I wished I had thought to take a photo of that outfit because the drama around those boots making the outfit was very hard for me to not laugh about. Yes, that girl is cute but the outfit was a bit... say... outrageous?!? So when she got home I propped her up in her dreary cowgirl boot blues and said "mommy, needs a photo or two"

and this was her outfit...

and her cowgirl got the blues with no boots face...

and then her brother appeared...

trying to give his own impression of city boy blues...

or let's see how obnoxious I can be look?

and the cowgirl's smile started to return...

he tried the photo bomb on many of the photos but instead went with the really goofy brother who just doesn't know when to stop and that's when I caught this ...

yes, I will remember this day forever just by this one sweet photo of this pretty little cowgirl!

recorder ninja ...

In 3rd grade, students get introduced to and practice the recorder in music class but in 4th grade, students are challenged to Recorder Karate! For each song they master, they earn a colored belt (or string) to add to their recorder case as they progress through the levels. It looks like this:

white belt - Hot Cross Buns

yellow belt - Gently Sleep

orange belt - Merrily We Roll Along

green belt - It's Raining

purple belt - Old MacDonald Had A Farm

blue belt - When The Saints Go Marching In

red belt - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

brown belt - Amazing Grace

black belt - Ode To Joy

Mrs. O even challenged them that the first 4th grader to make it to black belt would receive a $25 Target gift card... and that pretty much sealed the deal for Jaiden.

All of sudden I was having to take him to school early, stay after school on days they couldn't go in early just so he could play a belt for Mrs. O.

We became regulars this week to seeing Mrs. O and I couldn't resist after the 3rd day in a row taking a photo on the sly while he played for her.

It also became a very tense week in which I had as much anxiety and nerves as Jaiden did. He was in the lead by a long shot but there were rumors flying throughout the 4th grade classes. One involved another student, Matt M., that could catch up and pass him, and then Jaiden started managed to score two belts in one day. The anxiety was high and tension was thick. He was so focused, he'd zip through his homework and spend the entire evening practicing. 

So every night he practiced and practiced...

... and I still have many of the songs stuck in my head!

But alas, he did it!

Look at all those beautiful belts!

He was awarded the $25 gift card and to his delight cashed in on a new Pokemon card set. Now if only he could put that kind of determination behind writing and spelling...

around here...

Around here... I had planned to do one of those posts that tell you what we have been up to around here and it didn't happen. April flew by and it was busy but fun. 

Jaiden started an after school BBRC (bolder boulder running club) on every Wednesday. Mr. G encouraged us parents to get out and help them train... and so I did...

One thing I learned running with him is he is FAST! Me... not so much! But what he had in speed, I had in endurance. So while he ran far ahead of me and then eventually had to stop and walk, I could keep running and then some. Lucky for both us, I was only his training partner, not his running partner for the Bolder Boulder, which is a 10K local race. Dennis was to be his running partner for the big day. In the meantime, I took him out 3 extra days a week and this was pretty much my entire view while I tried my best to keep up!

squid at the dinner table

We have a birthday tradition that I will absolutely not falter on even when the request is either not my favorite, super expensive or just plain outrageous and that is your birthday meal. As the birthday boy (or girl), you get to decide what we eat or where we go and it can be for breakfast, lunch or dinner but not necessarily all three! 

Jaiden chose sushi - go figure right? Alyssa was not so keen on the idea and recently got into her head she no longer liked sushi but we assured her we'd find something she like there. We started with calamari because we know she likes that. And while she ate those squiggly legs and in mid bite,  the conversation started ...

A: "I feel sorry for squid."

D: "why?" 

A: "Because they just have a head."

M (stifling some laughter): "Why do you think that is a bad thing?"

A (totally serious and still taking bites): "Well they can't move around. They just float until a shark finds them and eats them." (for more drama, she bites on a piece!)

M (full on laughter and can't speak)

J (looking at her like she is crazy)

D: "And just how do you know this?"

A (shrug of her shoulders): "I just have a hunch."

I don't think we could collect ourselves for a good 5 minutes. She was so serious and matter of fact as if this was a normal thing to think about and have a conversation on. When the bento box arrived, she pointed at the sashimi tuna (just raw strips of tuna). She said "oh, I love that! Can I have some?" And when Dennis told her "that's sushi", she said "oh, I guess I love sushi"... so now we can go back to eating sushi as a family again?!

As for Jaiden, he was thrilled with his birthday dinner and instead of cake, he had 2 red bean mochi ice cream balls.

the cookie says...

10!

Yes, the cookie is the know all of deciding your age for your birthday and I can hardly believe it has been 10 years?! Bittersweet... truly.

truth be told ... we enjoyed a few cookies before he was technically 10 ... the reason for that devious gleam in his eye!

 Oh this looks more like the truth... zero years old!

And one silly photo before he eats that up too. Next year it will be 2 ones... I wonder what silly image he will think of then - have the 1's sticking out of his ears, up his nose... no I am sure he will be too cool for the camera but I certainly hope not. I love these photos and when he actually doesn't scowl at the camera he has the most beautiful twinkle in his eyes but shhh... don't tell him I said that!

For now, I will enjoy this big ten year old... so hard to believe and so amazing to look back and see how he has grown and changed. This year will lead to more big changes as he finishes 4th grade and enters 5th... sniff, sniff

Happy big-o tenth cutie pie!

spicy wings, pizza and a movie

A little more catching up. So thrilled I finished March so here is to a busy April. Unfortunately for Jaiden, but secretly fortunately for me, Jaiden's birthday has fallen on spring break for the past two years and it did again this year. I like it because it gives me time to plan a birthday gathering and not feel so rushed with school, activities, work, volunteering and all the other busyness that comes with school schedules.

I asked what he would like for his birthday gathering and surprisingly, he said "spicy wings, pizza and a movie... dad's pizza".

When I asked the parent's for their kids favorite toppings, it ranged from plain cheese to pepperoni to grilled chicken and garlic to fresh mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and basil. The set up was pretty impressive.

I had to try and take a few photos of his friends and him before they settled into their movie. They are just sitting down to spicy wings and teriyaki wings. The spicy far out won the teriyaki but the 5 boys put down about 5 lbs of wings?!

Alyssa had to do a photo bomb while I was trying to do this inconspicuously - that didn't work out so well for me anymore!

I swear these boys were noisier and more chattier than a bunch of girls!

Daddy making pizza...

Alyssa making her own.

A very happy and excited almost 10 year old!

In case you were wondering they watched Coraline, the stats looked like this:

2 of the boys had seen it already, but the other 3 had not. 

4 of the boys need to put it on pause to get a grip, while 1 thought it wasn't that scary

3 of the boys huddles on the smallest couch together, 2 kept moving around the room the entire time

1 boy came upstairs to play with Alyssa for the last 5 minutes but then decided to go back down

5 boys were totally hyped over the movie

It was a good night.