Another Blogger in the family

My husband has Riley, blogging. He has chosen to review movies. His first one is up, if you want to check it out. Go here. He chose his theme, and did his own writing. Our hope is that this blog will help boost his writing skills. I guess we'll be seeing more movies so we can keep him current, and writing.


I have been obsessed with Jon & Kate Plus 8 all summer long. If you are not familiar with the show, they are a couple who have a set of twins, and a set of sextuplets-that's 8 kids people!!. The show is on TLC. Check out the Gosselin website. I watched all summer long, it's fascinating. Today, I made their version of "Monkey Munch." I have to say, it is quite yummy!

Child Labor

It's been super hot here, and crazy. I am officially back to work, but no kids until next Wed. I have spent 3 days on inservice-today's was a HUGE waste of time, but that's another story. Since it's been so hot, and I am exhausted, I haven't been cooking. Kevin went to get him and I, Panera. The boys are not wild about that, so I gave Riley the task of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for him and Quinn. He's so responsible these days!

He asked Quinn how much jelly he wanted, and then cut it in half for him. Quinn only eats half of a sandwich, WHEN he eats. He's super picky. He had a well check today, and we need to see an endocrinologist, because he's so tiny (40 inches, 33 1/2 lbs. and he's 6 years old). Good looking sandwich eh?

Here's Riley's sandwich. Yum.

This one is of Quinn, busy drawing-which he loves to do!

On a happy note, class lists were posted for the boys classes today. We are really thrilled with Riley's class. I met his teacher today-she's very nice. Quinn is excited about his class, but his best bud, Zack, ended up in another class. He is bummed, but at least he'll get to see Zack at scouts, and at recess. I was very anxious about the classes, but all is good. They start next Wednesday-me too. I have a final (sort of-it's never certain until you see the whites of their eyes) class list myself. The names are very cute. I know only a few of the kids, but I'm excited.

Pulling Teeth

Riley has been going to the orthodontist since 2nd grade. The ortho has taken x-rays and looked at his teeth, talked about his bite etc. This last time, he gave us the task of making an appointment for Riley to have 4 baby teeth pulled. We did that yesterday. Riley has never had anything done to his teeth, except the twice a year cleanings. He's not a tooth wiggler. He firmly believes in letting the teeth fall out of his head, naturally.

Don't let his current, toothless (relieved) smiling face fool you. Let's just say Riley did not generate good publicity for the dentist yesterday.

Back to School

Well, I had to go back to school today. The first of 3 inservice days. No kids until next week though. I got a sneak peak at my class. Looks good. I'm pretty excited about some of the awesome parents I will inherit with their children! I'm hoping no changes will be made to my list.
My playgroup friends have been sending pictures of their kids as they go back to school, and I've been feeling pressure, so I sent the following picture to them today, via email. It's Me! I figured it was my first day at school!

See, I've got a new book bag too! I'm ready to go! See how happy I look?

Do you know what this is??? It's the 3rd xmas present I have purchased. I really can't tell you what this is, but I can tell you...wii will really really love it around here, yep, wii will!!

Yearbook Yourself

I have had some fun playing here tonight. Check it out!

Friday Errands

We had to leave the house yesterday-errands to run. We had been inside for two days-I just love it when I don't have to leave the house! So we ran errands. One of them was getting the filthy car washed. I love the car wash we go to. It's been in the city forever. I remember going to it when I was a little girl. They had all of these exotic birds, just perched on branches inside the building. Most of the birds are gone now-they do have some, in cages. They do have a very long pond/pool which is filled with koi and turtles though. It's always entertaining for the boys. There's also an area where little kids can squirt the cars with water as they go through the wash.

Here's one of the turtles, swimming happily-he looks happy right?

Here are the boys, squirting at passing cars.

This one is of Owen-sleepy boy.

When we got home, I made a matryoshka doll. I need to work on a better head shape though.

Here's her cute face.

The boys also let me spend 2 hours in my classroom, getting things ready. They like playing in my classroom-they use the whiteboard, play on the playground, bounce on my fold out futon. Great fun. Oh, and we only had to visit the bathroom once! I actually got a lot done!

Mamma Mia Excitement!

I am so so SO excited. There's a Sing-a-long version of Mamma Mia in the works. Check out this link. I'm going to try and get a boatload of people together to go with me to see it. I really just can't get enough of this cute little movie! It's so much fun, and now I get to SING-A-LONG!! I bought the soundtrack already and the boys practically know all of the songs cuz it's basically the only thing I'm listening to right now! Check out the Mamma Mia site also.

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

I know I'm early, as it is still Thursday. My plan is to sleep as long as I can sleep tomorrow (it's my last "real" day of summer). I wanted to make sure I got my picture in on time, so here's my Friday Foto Finish Fiesta. If you haven't joined the fun, you should. Visit Candid Carrie and learn all about it.

This picture was taken this summer on our road trip. We stopped for the day in Chicago. What a great, great city! I am a big fan of Bob Newhart, so we found his statue (from the Bob Newhart Show) and took some pictures. Quinn really looks prepared for spilling his guts to Bob. I'm working hard on keeping him OUT of therapy!! Riley just looks happy-guess I'm doing something right...so far, oh but do ignore the fact that his shirt says "lost" on it.
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More Monterey

I lied. Here are the other 5 pictures, cuz I just can't wait any longer. It's only been 12 minutes, but I somehow knew you couldn't wait to see them either. Hey, at least I'm not posting all 49!

Here's my mother in law, she's called Donna. Oh and you know those cute boys, Quinn and Riley.

This is the tide pool area. Kids can get in the water, in full scuba gear, and explore the tide pool. There were lots of starfish.

This is me and the boys. I'm not pregnant. The shirt is very bloomy. That giant guy in pink burst into our pictures! Did you notice that I match my bag perfectly?

This is a picture of the street as you walk away from the aquarium. This area is called Cannery Row, and it is full of history. Google it.

Look at the sky! It was an incredible day! To the right of this pier, we could see birds and seals.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

My mother in law and I took the boys to Monterey today. We were up and out of the house EARLY-I'm calling it a dry run for getting back to school. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a little chilly when we got there, but the fog burned off and it warmed up-for maybe an hour. If you have not been to this aquarium, it is well worth the trip! It really is awesome. I am posting 5 pictures today, and I'll post 5 more tomorrow.

The aquarium has this great otter exhibit. These little creatures are so darn cute! Quinn wants to put a river in the backyard and then fill it with otters. It really could improve our backyard. Hmmm. I'm thinking.

My favorite display is the Jellies. They have an amazing collection of all sorts of jellyfish. It's dark and they are backlit-so pretty to look at.

Can you see how graceful they look?

Watch out Nemo! Those are some serious jellies!

This guy is not a jellyfish. He's a sea dragon (a leafy sea dragon, not to be confused with the weedy sea dragon.) Cool huh?

After the aquarium, we had a yummy lunch. I had clam chowder (of course), but don't worry I didn't eat any clams from the aquarium-come to think of it, I didn't see any clams there-Gasp...OH NO!!

I finished my evening out with a trip to the movies-I saw Mamma Mia (yes, I have seen it 3 times!! LOVE it!!)

Mae

I bought a pattern for a really cute doll from Bit of Whimsy. I finished her today.

Meet Mae.

Isn't she cute? Make sure you check out Bit of Whimsy's site. she has a store in Etsy as well as on her website.

Felt Candy House

I got this Softies kit some time ago. Since I have watched almost every hour of the Olympics, I needed something I could work on in front of the TV.

I used this candy house pattern by Bella Dia

Here's the front of my house.

Here's the back of my house.

I followed the pattern pretty much, but made some changes that suited me. I didn't blanket stitch the house together. I just used a whip stitch. Quinn loves it. My next project is the penguin (for Quinn).

Pillow Talk

I started on this Gum Drop pillow (Amy Butler pattern) a couple of weeks ago. I then got sidetracked and didn't finish it. I decided today was the day-I feel I'm on a quest to do as much crafting/scrapbooking as possible as I have a mere 2 weeks left of my commitment free summer. It really didn't take me long, but I struggled a little with the bottom and lining up the corners. I think it turned out pretty cute, as long as you don't flip it over! I used Ikea fabric.

Here's the pattern I used.

Sewing progress.

The finished product! It's really big-it took 6 20 oz. bags of stuffing to fill it!

Quinn likes it too! Mom and Donna aren't you proud of me?

Bowling

One of my best friends, Angela, was in town this weekend, from Seattle. We got together with my other BFF, Kristi, and her kids and we all went bowling. 3 adults, 6 kids. We went to this place called "Strike," which is a modern bowling alley-very cool. Loud 80's music, video screens, food, glow in the dark pins, etc. Tons of fun!

All 6 kids: Quinn, Sophia, Carter, Riley, Sebastian, and Cole.

Riley, bowling. He has some mad bowling skills!

Here's Angela and her smallest son Carter, and Kristi in the background.

Here's the score board for Angela, Kristi and I. We sucked. We needed bumpers. Carter got a score of 123-he had bumpers!

Bowling is fun! See what I mean? Riley has mad bowling skills-look at how he can balance that ball!

I love to do the laundry!

I'm so excited! We went out yesterday to look at new washers and dryers (ours were getting pretty old). We ended up at Sears-big sale, free delivery. We purchased a set by Kenmore (the HE 2t washer, and HE 2 dryer). They hold a lot of laundry, and now I am happy to do the laundry! They were delivered today, at the tip top of my 2 hour window, and it took all of 15 minutes for them to install and haul away the old ones! You have got to love the ease of working with Sears! It was my lucky day. My laundry room now smells like a new car! I'm going to get started on the laundry tomorrow, after I read the manual-you know, to make sure I'm doing it right.

Oooooooooooh!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

How pathetic am I?

Back from Camp

Riley came home today from Scout camp. He had a really good time. Of course, he wore the SAME socks all week (ew), but at least he changed his underwear! Sounds like they did lots of cool things though, and he made some new friends.

Oh, and now I am officially "mom." Sniff. I knew he was transitioning out of calling me "mommy," but it still stung nonetheless. Sniff sniff. Come to think of it, he hasn't really called me anything lately-I think he felt bad or something. When he needed me, he would just come and find me and start everything with "um." He just called me from the other room, and it was definitely, "mom." I didn't react, cuz it's time. Isn't that weird though? How you just go from "mommy" to "mom?" I can remember making the change with my own mother. It's fine. It's time. I'm OK. Hopefully it won't rub off on Quinn though.

Friday Fiesta Foto Finish

Here's my entry in Candid Carrie's Friday Fiesta Foto Finish. If you haven't checked out her blog, you should!

My 6 year old was playing with his Playmobile yesterday, when our kitten, Owen, went in and made himself quite comfy under the castle. He would not move for anything! He is the protector of the castle!

Scrapbook Thursday

I finished a mini album today. I used cardboard, paper, stickers, rub-ons, clear acrylic type paper, lots of ribbon and other embellishments. I am pleased with how it turned out!

I started with the "Sweet Life" scrapbook materials, which I purchased at Jo-Ann's. They are so yummy!

Front of book. I may add more of a title with rub-on letters.

One of the inside pages-inside of front cover and first acrylic page.

A favorite couple of pages.

Last page and inside of back cover. It's hard to see from the pictures, but all of the inside pages were created using the clear, acrylic scrapbook paper. I then used other papers and stickers to "hide" the glues or white side of the pictures.

Now I need to get going on my regular albums!!