What a great Dad!

One of Taylor's very favorite things is to blow up the air mattress, get out all of her blankets, pick out movies, buy special candy and "sleepover treats", and set up and plan out sleepovers with her daddy. They stay up late, jump on the beds, paint their toes, rock out to music, color, and of course eat till they are sick. It's sooo cute. And she is so funny! She will tell me her VERY specific plans for the entire evening down to which candy they will eat and in what order they will watch movies and how many blankets she will use - you name it! (I wonder where she gets it from...) And Cade does whatever she wants- pretend like he's Ursela trying to steal Ariel's voice (in costume, of course)-change the dress on Polly Pocket a million times with his big clumsy hands- look through the latest Oriental Trading Company magazine and muster true enthusiasm for each item- watch the same sleepover favorite cartoon- and of course, happily clean up the spilled soda and Nerds before I come in the next morning. What a great Dad!!! Cade- you're the BEST!

I hate being a grown-up!!! I want to be a kid again!!

ABC + 123

No tears! (And of course, I am reffering to me!) What a crazy wonderful day! I woke up so nervous that you'd think that it was MY first day of school... couldn't eat, sweaty palms, sick stomach, and all jittery. Taylor on the other hand- well, you can see the pictures! She sat right down at her desk, turned to the boy next to her and said, "Well, I'm ready to learn! Are you ready to learn?" I got worried because half of her class was crying and holding on to mommy's hand, but she kept waving me off saying, "See ya later dude! Stop taking pictures of me!" (In my defense, I didn't whip out the camera in her classroom until I saw lots of other flashes, and even a video camera!) Sad moments: Well, there were the 50 times that I almost cried. And there was the empty silence that filled the house while the boys napped. Funny moments: I put "emergency I forgot my lunch" money in her backpack and she spent it all on chocolate pudding. Also, she was wearing knee high socks, and when we went to pick her up she had "rolled" them down to her ankles- 80's style! Happy moments: Well, there was that empty silence that filled the house while the boys napped...

All in all it was a great day. I only did a drive-by of the school once (still don't know exactly why...) and I didn't kill any of the stupid people who PARKED their cars in the DRIVE THRU lane during after school pick up. SUCCESS!!!

Family Fun

So, what do you do when you want to spend a fun family day together, you're broke, and it's 107 degrees outside? Oh yeah- and everyone is sick of going to the pool. You drink 5 gallons of Gatorade, suck it up, and go to the zoo! And what do you know... it was fun! Nice hats, right?! I have made fun of Cade for almost 10 years now about that yellow hat, and I have secretly tried to throw it away countless times because I had NEVER seen him wear it! So I was making fun of him (I'm so nice) and we were all calling him the "man with the yellow hat" and asking him were George was, and how curious he really was, and- you get it. And I swear that when we went over to the monkeys there was this little one that started to go CRAZY! Jumping all over the place, swinging on the ropes, banging on the window, throwing food, you name it! And so I vowed never to make fun of that stupid yellow hat again.

Manners

So, a few nights ago as we were eating dinner, I looked around the table and had one of those proud momma moments. We have finally conquered the 3 most important rules for the dinner table!! #1 -Don't play with your food. #2 -Chew with your mouth closed. #3 -Always use your silverware. So proud!

Where a kid can be a kid!

So, Chuck-E-Cheese is like the greatest place on earth, right? When are (my) kids EVER playing nicely together? There was no biting, screaming, pushing, pulling hair- you name it! In fact, I was watching Lincoln try to climb up the slide when I glanced over my shoulder to see Taylor spinning the wheels on the bicicle for Cooper! You know the one- if you "ride" the bike, you go up higher and higher, and the lights go crazy.... Well, of course Coop's little legs are too short, so Taylor put him in (buckled him- thank goodness!) and her bangs were all matted to her sweaty little forehead because she was pumping those wheels like crazy! So, I applaud Chuck-E-Cheese! May your beautiful germ infested one token only games live on forever!!