Who's Those Kids' Mother?

There's a mom that belongs to one of J's baseball teammates that any time her son does something spectacular on the field, will get up off her bottom, stand up in the bleachers, put her hands up in the air, and ask, "Who's that boy's mother?" I love it. Makes me laugh every time. She is one proud momma!

It's been a while since I've posted, but it's not for lack of having anything to say. On the contrary...we've been swamped. These last couple of months have been kept us on our toes. It seems like every night there is something. It's hectic, but it's been fun.

In mid-March J made his acting debut in Mr. Halvorson's class play, Doonots on the Amazon. I hope to write more about it in a later post. for now, here are some of the deets:

J was cast as the Prime Minister of England...as shown here with the Prime Minister of India:

And as an anteater..as shown here with his homemade costume:

They've been working on this production since January. It was a fun show and J did a great job learning his lines. 

Right around the same time, J made another debut...this time on the baseball field. No tee this time! It started out kind of shaky, but he's worked hard and has come a long way.

They made the playoffs, beat an undefeated team on the first day, another team last night; but unfortunately, they lost today. By one. Just two games away from playing in the championship. It was a good season for the Wildcats.

M continues to do ballet. She could be the cutest ballerina ever:

Her recital is coming up in a couple of weeks, but her dress is here now. And at the end of the day, that's all that really matters anyway, right?

She's also picked up a new hobby: Soccer.

It turns out little Ms. M has some futbol skills. We don't keep score or anything, or for that matter tabs, but if we did, the stats would show that the Ninjas are 4-1, and that M has contributed five goals thus far ☺. And, not to brag, but I have heard the words M and good used in the same sentence several times. 

I wonder who that girl's mother could be?

To add to an already-chaotic Saturday, J had a musicianship exam one morning. And this is what a perfect score on the whole darn thing looks like:

THE. WHOLE. DARN. THING. 

Out of 115 students that took it, only 15 had the honor.

While we're on the subject of music, his teacher mentioned in passing to him the other day when she was being hard on him that he is one of the best elementary-aged kids she has.

Does anybody know who that boy's mother is?

Yes, that happened. 

Somewhere in between all the madness, M figured out how to ride a bike. 

This was over a month ago. Just the other day she rode about two miles. She's amazing!

It's been a busy few months around here, but M played her last soccer game of the season this morning, and in the next two weeks we'll go to two recitals...one for each of them. After that things slow down for summer.

But before signing off, I must ask:

WHO'S THOSE KIDS' MOTHER?

The 31 Days of Christmas

Forget twelve. At our house we up that number by 150% (and a smidgen).

This year we went up the road to the Noble Fir farm where you walk around, pick a tree, and they cut it for you. Sometimes we go to the parking lot of Grocery Outlet to get it. And that's just as well.

By the first weekend in December, it was decorated and lit.

But the holidays don't officially start until the eve of December 6th. That's when the kids stuff their Christmas lists into their stockings and await the arrival of St. Nick.

And guess who was back for an encore?

Euseb!

He's so darn cute!

And he kept the fun going...sometimes he'd forget to move and end up in the same place the next morning, but he delivered....ornaments, socks, goodies for hot chocolate.

We scored and got to see a dress-rehearsal viewing of the Nutcracker. It was amazing as usual.

Santa came by on the fire truck,

And M didn't run away crying.

She saved that for the infamous photo session and dragged J along with her.

Because it wouldn't be the holidays without tears for the camera.

Winter came a few days early ~ the day before Winter break was to begin.

OSD called a two-hour late start for one

And no school for another.

We had an at-home-day the next with another round of snow play, hot chocolate, games, and what may very well be their last bath together.

(In case anyone is wondering, they both have bathing suits on :)

A trip to Jumping Jacks a few days later followed by dinner at J's best friend's house rounded out the week.

By Monday night, this is what the wind had blown in!

"Twas the night before Christmas

And a White Christmas morning.

The next four days were filled with games,

music,

adventures,

new places,

  and gross places.

There were smiles

and silliness 

and plenty of family time

And as soon as the good-byes were bid, another set of cousins stepped in to fill the void

                             

The slumber party was at their house, but not before playing the wii-U, Legos, and M getting her toenails painted.

As if that wasn't exciting enough, this is where we headed next

This was M's Christmas gift from us, but there was a little something for everyone in this here store: Excitement (M), amazement (me), disgust (daddy), boredom (J).

It came down to Josefina and Ivy Ling (because those were the only two choices I gave her), but in the end, the earrings AND long hair won out,

and Josefina is M's new best friend.

The next day was NYE. We headed to some friends' to celebrate what was supposed to be NYC new years; instead, we ended up staying until a little before midnight thinking we'd be home to ring in 2013, but Daddy was hungry, so

♫ we stopped at Taco Bell for some Mexican eats ♪

And just like that, J had stayed up to see the new year roll in and had late-night grubs for the first time ever! Awesome.

School started the next day and things got back to a somewhat-normal status around here, but the Kings never fail to stop by in the wee hours of January 6th.

They must have followed the smell the the star cookies we made,

And dropped of a little something in return.

And so a month after it all started, this is what I got:

What remains of the Christmas tree is on the floor along with massive amounts of lights and a random ornament here and there.  Hopefully by tomorrow any evidence of the holidays will be stored up high.

I look forward to what the next 334 days have in store for us; that's when we'll be pulling all this stuff down and starting all over again.

The Gotham City Posse

Halloween was pretty low-key this year. Our neighborhood didn't do anything in the way of getting together like we did the last couple of years, which I'm hoping is because Halloween was on a Wednesday.

Really???? I think we should start a petition that designates the last Saturday of October, Halloween.

I mean, if we can celebrate presidents' birthdays on random days, Halloween should be a breeze.

I'll keep you posted on how that works out for me.

Anyway, about a month ago while at Wal-Mart, M spotted a Bat Girl costume and had to have it.

It was adorable, so I splurged the 20 bucks and got it.

 J had mentioned he wanted to be a ninja, and I was resigned to the fact that theme costumes for the kids would no longer be. However, once he realized she was going to be a superhero, he changed his mind and decided he'd go as Batman.
I was thrilled because he already has the costume that was a hand-me-down from Baby Joe. 

But, he changed his mind.
Daddy would be Batman and he would be Robin.

In keeping with the theme, I would go as Catwoman.

Never mind that we didn't go anywhere. We all dressed up.

They walked the neighborhood and I passed out candy.

And here we are:

THE GOTHAM CITY POSSE

Aren't we cool?

Robin thinks so!

And one more of the superheroes together.

Carving Out Some Family Fun

Weekdays are pretty much business around here. We have a routine that we tend to adhere to from Monday through Thursday. The kids' fun is limited to watching a show and maybe playing Legos or Beyblade. Sometimes we get a short board game in before it's time to take showers, brush teeth, and read books.

Tonight was different. I realized yesterday that we hadn't carved the pumpkins M and I picked up last week. If we were going to get it done before Halloween, today was the day to do it.

We started out with having breakfast for dinner. This could be the first time in my almost-ten years of marriage that has happened. D and I are going to Mexico in 11 days and have 

been eating no carbs for about a week.

Omelets were on the menu.

And D makes a mean one!

Then it was time to get our carving on!

It was M's first foray into the pulling-guts business, and she was elbow deep in it. She even donned an apron. 

J picked one named "Pirate Jack" and M's was called "Traditional Happy" which she quickly changed to Princess Jackie. 

We wrapped up the night with homemade caramel apples and caramel/cheese popcorn ~ not homemade, but delicious. 

Both D and I caved and had some.

We suck.

Our night didn't.

Tea-rrific!

The Birthday Girl was up early and asked to listen to

Call Me Maybe on YouTube.

Then it was off to school where a celebration ensued: Oreo Cookies with strawberry filling.

Because no birthday would be complete without a trip to the mall, that's where we went. 

We tried on Ugg Boots 

and hats. 

We had lunch and headed home.

The night before, Daddy asked here where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner. 

Because we were heading to Tacoma anyway, he suggested Buffalo Wild Wings, among other things.

Because she's her daddy's girl, she chose BWW without hesitation.

Because no birthday would be complete without a second trip to the mall,

and because she's her mommy's girl, we went to Nordstrom.

We bought her birthday present ~ some boots.

(She's weird that way...always has been....Toys or Fashion??? Fashion, of course!)

Because I love to take a family picture at every birthday,

and because there was nobody to take it, we took our own:

It's awful quality. And I'm convinced we are all more attractive than the picture shows.

Once at home, there really was somebody more attractive waiting for her:

She's been eyeing this cake every time we go to Safeway.

She was a happy girl.

And a tired one too.

As we speak she is snug in her bed; another birthday under her belt.

Partying can be exhausting, especially when you started five days ago.

Her party was last Saturday. 

All of my attempts at having it at the pumpkin patch were dismissed during the summer when I was ready to book the place.

She wanted a home party.We consulted with Daddy who swore off another after her princess one last year. 

I suggested a small tea party with a few friends. He complied. She was thrilled.

And the preparations began.

We decided early on it would be a Girls-Only event.

It was so much fun....both the planning and the day itself.

We had finger sandwiches and veggies; a story, a game, a photo booth, a candy bar,

and, of course, tea!

The moms had a nice afternoon relaxing and chatting.

It was quiet. Way more quiet than I'm used to at a party.

And then the boys came home. 

I can't believe our little girl is four!