Halloween Eve!

Wow! October was extremely full of activities. We had Monday and Wednesday night dance classes for Sydney, soccer on Saturdays for Camden, scouts on Tuesday, piano also on Tuesdays for Sydney, allergy shots weekly for Sydney and Camden, three business trips for Anson, fun visit from Grandma Shaw, Parent Club Meeting, Monday and Tuesdays working in the classroom, three Halloween shows (which was my absolutely favorite activity of the month) and the school Carnival! It was a packed month and this is what you look like at the end of the month! I seriously thought I was going to lose my mind. I felt way over my head, but knew it was temporary and it would be over soon.

I had a great time being the science witch again this year. I was lucky and was able to do a show for my little friend Anna. I also did two shows for Sydney's school. We made a crystal ball, magic smoke bubbles, Goblin goo and an exploding pumpkin. Thanks to my husband, the wizard, giving me a few of my magic ingredients. Ingredients such as tears of unicorn, dried skin from a dragon, melted spider webs, spit from toads and my magic witch potion. The kids absolutely loved the shows and I loved them watching hang onto every spooky ingredient name and results. Loved it!

Here is Sydney with one of her teacher's, Mrs. Quintana, Emma and Julia at the school Halloween parade.

The girls with Mrs. Adams, another teacher of Sydney's.

Me and my girl striking a pose for Halloween Eve!

Halloween Night!

Look at our little "Sweet Cupcake" and our "Spooky Ghost"! BOOO!

Here are the finish projects thanks to Grandma Kay! She did an awesome job and the kids were extremely excited to dress up on the Spooky Halloween night.

Sydney had a great time being a cup cake and enjoyed all of the fun comments she received about her yummy costume. I agree, she looked delicious!

The moment that we put the ghost costume on Camden, his smiles disappeared for the night. He told me, "Mom, ghosts don't smile!" He played the role extremely well.

We went trick or treating in a fun neighborhood close to our home. The streets are covered with kids, most homes are decorated and expecting a busy Halloween night. We started our evening at 5:00 p.m and didn't stop until 9:30! My kids just wanted to go and go and go and go. We have enough candy until next Halloween!

There is a particular house in this neighborhood that always goes way out on the spooky factor. This year they were letting all Halloween guest go through part of their home. Well as we were waiting in line, there is fog, spooky lights, sounds and sights. It got the best of Camden because once the door was opened the ghost just took off screaming. I had the hardest time catching up with him. We didn't get to go with Sydney and Anson since they already went in, but I did convince him to join the next group through.

Once inside the house, the lights went low and a voice came over the room. Camden was terrified. I explained to him that the voice was not real. He said, "It's not a real man in the room? It's a voice in the radio?" I replied, "yes" and he relax as much as he could. Once the man with the scary story was over, we moved to the next room. There were several Halloween life size moving statues in the room. He again became terrified and buried his face into my shoulder. I told him they are not real. His body became a little relaxed and he said, "Mommy, they aren't real, right? They are from Costco, right Mommy?" "Yes, Camden they are not real and you can buy them from Costco", I replied.

I was very proud of Camden's little mind. He worked out his fears with logic thanks to Costco and the use of a radio.

So there you have it! Our Halloween 2009 adventures and fashion. 'Till next year....

Halloween Sneak Preview!

I feel so lucky to have an extremely talented mom who can do anything artistic! She has an amazing mind that can vision something and then is able produce it whether the canvas is paper, clay or fabric.

Since I was very little, my mom always created amazing costumes for both my brother and me. She has continued this tradition for my kids. I can't express how much I appreciate her creativity and talents she has put into my kids costumes over the years. We were extra lucky this year to have grandma come make our costumes since both her and my dad have been living in Pengyang, Malaysia.

Here is a sneak preview of Sydney very cute costume. Since Grandma has been living abroad and time was an issue, we purchased the "costume" Sydney wanted to be and just embellished.

I wasn't able to find anything close to what Camden wanted to be in the stores so Grandma started from scratch. Again, it is pretty amazing that she is able to produce a costume within a few hours and without a pattern.
Thank you Grandma for coming a couple 1000 miles away and over 20 hours of traveling time to make our Halloween costumes extra special. We can't forget Papa for giving up his wife for a few weeks... We love you!

Ewwwww!

Yucky gross water! Who would swim in that? Nobody! Our pool went green a few weeks back and for some reason or another after spending MUCHO money on many different chemicals, we had to drain the darn thing. All 40,000 gallons! Literally pour money down the drain....makes me crazy.

Just like the last time we drained our pool, it is a pretty impressive site that a picture can not do justice. It is a ginormous hole in the ground. The kids, of course, are just as impressed and love to play inside the big concrete pit in the ground.

After grabbing a few shots for memory lane, the concrete pit became the back drop for our family photo shoot. Both Camden and Sydney wanted to take a turn behind the camera.

If anything has come good out of this was our family photo fun. Now it is time to fill the money pit back up with water and try to keep those chemicals balanced. When asked, "Do you like having a pool?" My answer is, "Yes, it's fun to have with the kids, but I wouldn't recommend putting one in....it costs a lot of money to maintain."

It's Been One Of Those Days....

A Crazy Day! It is spirit week again at Sydney's school and today was Crazy Day! Sydney requested lots of pony tails and curly-cue sparkles in her hair like last year.

Unlike last year, she was a lot more comfortable being a bit more "crazy" with her clothes. What a cute polka-dot cutie!

Tatata...deedee...taaaa!

For the past 4-5 months Sydney walks around the house saying "Ta Ta Ta deeeee Ta Ta Ta deeee taaaaa Ta." I asked her what she was doing she told me, "I'm practicing keeping time in music. It's how you read notes to play on the piano."

One of her electives at school was music several months back and she learned how to play a few songs and keep time playing on a xylophone.

We took this opportunity to challenge her enthusiasm and interest playing the xylophone and signed Sydney up for piano. She was soooo very excited!

Her lessons are once a week for thirty minutes and she absolutely loves going and practicing daily. It has been really fun to watch her be so excited over playing the piano. I hope she continues having the same enthusiasm and has fun learning. It seems like she is growing up faster each day. It has been fun to watch her love and interest with the arts i.e., dance and music. We love you Sydney!

Mommy, can I take your picture?

Camden asked today if he could take my picture with my big camera. So we headed to the back yard and had a little photo shoot.

Here are a few samples from his work. He tried so hard to make my head in the middle of the picture. After each shot Camden would look at the display and say, "Almost a good picture, I'll take another picture."

Trying again.....

Doing better..... He was so sweet when he looked at this picture. He told me, "Mommy, you look pretty!" What a sweetie!

Here's his finally shot after taking 20 others. Not bad Camden. After our photo shoot, we decided we needed a picture of both of us. Thanks to our neighbor for snapping the shot (1st picture of this post.)

Mommmmmmy!!!!!

Below is a conversation I had with Camden. Please note his tone was a little frustrated, stern, stressed out and concerned, but not mad.

"Mommy!"

"Yes, Camden."

"When did you leave me and Sydney alone?"

"What do you mean?"

"When did you leave me and Sydney home alone for along time and went in the snow?"

"Camden, what are you talking about?"

"Mommmmmy! Come see!!!" as he stomps ahead of me.

"Look Mommy! You and daddy left us home alone in this picture and went were the snow was. You can't leave us home alone. It's too scary!"

I laughed and said, "Camden, neither you or Sydney were born when daddy and I went to the snow. It was a very long time ago."

Camden seem EXTREMELY relieved that we didn't leave him and said, "Good. I don't want to be home alone." And off he walked.

What makes me laugh is that this picture has been at his eye level for the past 2 years on a book shelf in our office. I guess today he finally noticed it or decided to panic since he didn't remember being there with us.

He LOVES Scoccer!

Camden is finally old enough....that is to play soccer! And he LOVES it! Loves absolutely everything about it. He loves that we bought him shorts, shirt and shoes just for soccer. "Mom, these are my soccer clothes, right mom?" is what I hear all the time.

Most days of the week Camden asks, "Mommy, is today tomorrow?" I always reply, "Yes, today is tomorrow." Camden, "Oh, then today is tomorrow and tomorrow will be tomorrow and then tomorrow will be tomorrow and then I have soccer!" Believe it or not, when I really sit and listen to him he has the correct amounts of "tomorrows" until soccer on Saturdays.

When he is out there on the field, he is totally a different person. He has a lot of confidence, he is super engaged with what is being taught and when he looks over at us it is with a serious face that reads"check me out". He is a little man out there!

I always crack up when he walks over for a water break. He struts his stuff with his hands on his waist and doesn't really like us to say much. Very serious boy...drinks his water and off he goes.

I was telling my dad the other day on the phone how much fun Anson and I are having watching Sydney and Camden find skills and talents they enjoy. It makes you want to fast forward time to peek and see what they will be up too. We are really enjoying watching our kids experience the "firsts" of things.

Based on the face Camden is giving while throwing in the soccer ball, I think he is all into the game and loving it! Go Camden!

My Sweet Sydney....

Beautiful, sorcerer, medallion, chamber, different, straight, photograph, cavern, omnivore, carnivore, tomorrow, precipice.........these are just a few of Sydney's spelling/vocabulary words she has had recently.

Every Friday, Sydney takes a spelling test at school. On those mornings, Anson goes over her words as they are driving to school. This past week, Anson told Sydney that there are competitions called Spelling Bees where they find the best spellers in the area. She got really excited when Anson told her that the winner of all winners gets to meet the President of the United States. Sydney was very intrigued by this and said, "They get to meet Barack Obama!?!?"

So tonight we rented the movie Akeela and the Bee which is about an eleven year old girl who tries to win the National Spelling Bee. Sydney smiled throughout the whole movie. We were all surprised when they mentioned one of her spelling words from this past Friday spelling test at school. The word was precipice! Anson and I, are startled and looked at each other as Sydney is beaming and had to spell it for us again. (By the way, when Sydney received her list last week and I saw "precipice" on the list, I seriously thought to myself, "What the crumb?" I also never pronounce the word correctly and Sydney had to correct me over and over and over and over again. I seriously felt dumb!) She also let me know that precipice means a overhanging of rocks. I thought to myself, "Good to know! And how does my 6 year old know this?"

Anyway, it is fun to watch Sydney be so interested in school and learning. Keep it up girl!

I do need to bring up Camden. During the movie Camden kept asking us to give him words. He liked spelling dog, dad, pot, pan, has, had, Bob, cat, etc. Most importantly, he liked being able to spell like his big sister. Way to go Camden!

Go Ask Sydney!

I was on campus a few weeks back and luckly had my camera with me. I poke my head in to see how my sweet girl was doing and she had a line of kids waiting for her to tie their shoes after P.E.
I guess Sydney is one of the only kids that know how to tie shoes. She told me that she ties "lots of shoes" every day. I asked her if she likes doing it and with a big smile she told me, "Mom, I get to be a big helper for the classroom."

As long as she is happy I guess she will her classroom job is tying shoes for her friends! She should charge 5 cents for her time.....

A Message From Sydney and Camden...

Dear Grandma, Papa and Oma in

Pengyang, Malaysia and American Fork, Utah!

We Love You!

Camden, Be Extra Nice So Daddy Isn't Out For The Count!

On Friday, we went to a potluck party at Camden's preschool. I told Anson, I was hoping to see and meet the 5 friends Camden talks about daily from his class. I also wanted to at least meet and talk to the parents of one of his favorite friends, we will call him J.
The event was a little chaotic and with all preschool classes attending, we weren't having any luck meeting any of Camden's friends. As we were getting ready to leave, J came running and off Camden went. I introduced myself to J's parents and exchanged a few stories that Camden has told me about his new friend. It came up in conversation that J's family had just moved to Tracy about a week ago. I followed up with, "So what do you do for a living?" The dad's reply, "I'm a WWE wrestler." Formally WWF wrestling who had Hulk Hogan and Mocho Man. Anson and I had both noticed his LARGE muscles and the veins pumping in his arms, but did not expect to meet a WWE wrestler!

We even mentioned to him, that that was a first for us and he said it usually is for people. When we came home from the potluck, we had to look up this guy. His stage name is Ezekiel Jackson. He is on TV two or three times a week. We called Camden into the kitchen to show him the picture above and to tell him this is J's dad. The first thing he said was, "Daddy, you are losing. J's daddy is winning!" Camden assumed the guy getting his face squished was Anson. I can see why Camden would think so with the same skin and hair coloring and scruffy facial hair.

While laughing to Camden's response to the last picture, we scrolled down and showed him this one. He enthusiastically said, "Daddy you LOST! Sydney, come see! Daddy lost....LOOK!" We were laughing hysterically.

So basically, Anson and I are going to encourage Camden to stay on J's good side. Because if for any reason J ever decides he needs to use the phrase, "My daddy can beat up your daddy!", there is a good chance he might be able to. So Camden, be extra nice to J!

First Day of Preschool For Camden!

Camden's first day of preschool finally came a week ago Monday! His sister started school about 5 weeks ago and his other little friends started about 3 weeks ago so he has had to be very patient waiting to start his new school.

Camden's first preschool experience was at the Little Learner's Preschool last year and learned so much. This year to place him in the Montessori School since the type of learning style is very similar to the school he will be attending as a kindergartner. They place the kids in several small groups with similar levels of knowledge. This way, the child is always challenged and if they master a concept, they can move up. This is the way Sydney's classes are done.

If you ask Camden, "How is preschool going?" He quickly corrects you, "I don't go to preschool. I go to Big Boy Preschool so I can go to kindergarten like Sydney."

Here is one of Camden's teachers, Mrs. (I can say her name yet, let alone spell it.) She is so sweet and Camden instantly fell in love with her. She has a very kind, positive, happy presence about her. I also like her very much.

Camden was a little nervous the first day, but gave me a big wave and a wink when I waved good bye.

Here's a picture of his classmates doing carpet time. They say good morning to each child, discuss the weather and calendar.

Snack area and sinks. Behind the sinks are three little toilets. Camden thinks it is really funny that there are tiny toilets.

Language art center. The classroom is perfectly organized and EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING has a place and is spotless clean.

More language arts

Camden seems to really like his new school and playing in the math center. I asked him if he made any friends and he said, "No. The names are too hard to say." Followed by, "All my new friends have dark chocolate, medium chocolate and light chocolate skin." 99% of his classmates are of another ethnicty than Camden. He must have noticed to have brought it up on his own.

When I picked Camden up after his first day of school, I was seven minutes late, he said, "Mommy, you forgot me! I am the last one here." I tried to convince him that I didn't forget him, but got stuck in traffic and he said, "No, you forgot me."

As I was dropping him off on his second day of big boy preschool, he said frustrated, "Mommy, I don't need to go here anymore. I went yesterday to big boy preschool and now I go to kindergarten like Sydney!!!" Again, I had to try to convince and explain that he has to go to a lot of big boy preschool and THEN kindergarten.

Second day of picking Camden up, he was one of two last children waiting to be picked up. He made sure to point out that I almost forgot him again.

On the third day, I decided to try to pick him up before Sydney. They both get out at the same time and are on different sides of town. Well, Wednesday he was the first one picked up. Here is what he said to me. "Mommy, the first day you forgot me. The second day you almost forgot me and today you remembered me first!" He was sooo happy. I didn't realize that he was keeping track of my arrival each day. I'm sure we will have to spend some money for therapy in the future for the damage I have done to him even though I never forgot to pick him up.

Overall, we are very happy with his new big boy preschool.

I Love My Christmas Gift!

Sydney wasn't feeling well this weekend, so we took advantage of the down time and cleaned out her closet. I'd have to say I love to think about how I'm going to reorganized, visualize the finished project and actually seeing the finished project. I don't really like tearing everything out, wondering if it should be a keep or throw away and making new piles in other parts of the house. But like I said, I love the end result!

So pretty! I'm so happy!

I finally had the time to use my Christmas gift from my dad. My label maker. Everyone should have one! How can you survive without one? It makes an obsessive compulsive person very happy. Ahhhh....so pretty!

If I could, I would "label maker" my kids if the sticker would stay! As you can see, I had to label my label maker (which I spelled wrong, oops!). Thanks dad!

Sydney's Summer Break Wish #2 - The Beach

Here wish #2 of Sydney's summer fun....

Sydney and Camden could not wait to arrive at the beach. As we were in the car, the kids had cute little conversations about running towards and then away from the waves and building a sand castle.

We decided we would take the family to Monteray, California for two days. We were going to "sleep over" in a hotel Sydney would say.

This picture of Sydney's cute smile was worth the whole trip. This is what she wanted to do. Run away from the waves!

Camden had goofy screams and squeels as the waves would touch his feet.

"Daddy, will you help us build a sand castle?" Sydney asked.

By the way, when it is 105 degrees in Tracy, that does not mean it is 80 degrees in Monteray. It was FREEZING! The days seemed to only warm up to 60 degrees with a heavy breeze. I was frozen and so were the kids. Of course, I didn't pack any pants or jackets, so thank goodness for Target. We all got new jackets! While I was there I ran into two other families from our area who also didn't look at the weather and in need of jackets.

Here we all are showing off our new Target jackets at dinner. We found a great place right off the water. Aftwards, we stopped into a chocolate treat store for a little dessert.

Some of my fondest memories of trips were staying in hotels. I remember my little brother, maybe Camden age asking "Who's house is this?" The kids loved having their own bed and TV watch Ace of Cakes.

The following day, we went to a highly suggested park accross from the bay called the Dennis the Menis Park.

The kids and dad had a great time climbing and exploring every inch of the above train engine.

The Monteray Bay Aquarium was extremely busy and a little pricey for us this time around so we gave the kids option to suggest the next activity. They both with a lot of excitement wanted to ride the funny bikes!

We had a really good time riding the suree. The kids laughed and giggled as we peddled. The bike path followed the coast to Lover's Point. Along the way we stopped to find a herd of sea lions sun bathing.

No wonder why they wanted to rent the suree. They had the best view. Didn't have to pedal. Ate lunch while looking at the ocen and waving to people on the path as we rode by. We will definately rent a suree again. Everyone should try it once especalliy with little ones.

Have you ever realized that some of the best fun your kids have doesn't have anything to do with the trip. Most likely they could experience the best moments where you live. My kids LOVED jumping over and over and over and over and OVER these cones with giggles!

Feeding the parking meter was another favorite! Again, just as exciting as the cones. They also thought it was really funny that a dog peed right in front of our parking meter. Sillty kids!

Who doesn't love shopping for 5, yes just five, pieces of candy out of candy barrels?

Street performers are always entertaining. Camden and Sydney really liked them all, but the favorite one for Sydney was the pink Hello Kitty painting and Camden's least favorite was the scarey skeleton bone one. Yuck!

You always know you were successful when the kids zonk out on the way home and don't wake up as you are putting them in bed.

It's Time For Our Summer Visitor To Leave!

We had the opportunity to take care of Sydney's classroom pet, Lola, for part of the summer. I have to tell you, I was not really that excited about it. She looked icky to touch or let alone hold her. Yuck! Sydney wanted take care of Lola so badly that I thought I'd give it a try. I have kept an eye on her during the school year and thought she was a pretty good pet for a classroom and was relieved I never had the need to touch her.

Well, let me tell you how this two foot bearded dragon has a little special place in my heart. Mrs. Walker told me several times over the school year that she is the sweetest thing. How can an icky, big scary lizard thingy be sweet? Hard to imagine but she is. I completely enjoyed having her in our home.

She is the perfect pet! She doesn't smell, eats crickets once a week, is quiet, loves kids, will sit on your lap while watch TV and she only goes potty once every one or two weeks! I found myself wanting to pick her up several times a day. She is a great companion!

Dear Miss Lola,

Thank you for spending your summer vacation with us.

You are the sweetest bearded dragon we have ever met.

We loved playing with you and watching you run across the floor.

Do you remember when you hid in Camden's underwear in the clean laundry pile?

Silly Lola!

We hope you enjoy the first day of school and seeing all of your returning students and meeting all of your new.

We will miss you and bring you some crickets in a week or two!

Love - Lora, Sydney and Camden

A Fun Surprise!

We were hoping that Sydney and Emma's story would make it in our small town paper, but became doubtful as the weeks flew by and we didn't see anything. But then....This morning there it was...."Helping Our Town: Turning lemons into cancer aid".

Mom, I Want To Skateboard Just Like Connor!

Camden loves riding his scooter around and seeing what kinds of tricks he can figure out. One of the boys he idolizes down the street can do cool tricks on scooters and skateboards. We finally bought him the gear to protect his head, knees, elbows and wrists and a little skate board to try out.

Anson started him off walking by him and catching him until he got the feel for how to balance. It didn't take too long before Camden was pushing himself down the street and then jumping off the board and doing little tricks.

The funniest thing was watching him try to do tricks where he would just stomp on the end of the board and watch it flip around. It would flip around and bounce on the ground and he would say, "Whoa...did you see that trick?" with a big smile on his face.

He has fallen a hand full of times while practicing, but the first fall was shocking for him. He jumped and the board slipped from underneath his feet and landed on his knees, chest and wrists pretty hard. You could tell that he was waiting for the pain because he looked like he wanted to cry. I said, "Camden! It didn't hurt did it? It's because you are wearing your pad." He acknowledged with a smile along with a face of relief, jumped up and started skating again.

First Day of First Grade!

On Monday, Sydney started her first day of first grade! Of course, she was very excited. To get ready for the BIG first day, we went shopping for all of the school supplies, new lunch bag and picked out her "First Day of School" outfit.

Here is our 2009-2010 first day of school picture!

Here is last years first day of school picture 2008-2009.

The really do change right before eyes.

We met up with Sydney's BFF, Emma, for the walk to school.

Cute girls and so excited to be "Returning Students" for the kindergartners since the school puts the kindergartners with the 1st graders. The second and third graders and together and so on. I asked Sydney the night before school if she was excited and she said, "Mommy, I'm a little nervous. I have to be a really good example for the new kids. I have a lot of responsibility and have to make good choices. I don't want to make my teachers mad if I don't do good." Wow, she is my little worrier! Just like her mom. I told Sydney she is a great example and will be awesome to the new students coming.

Look at the smile and excitement on Sydney's face. They had all the students line up outside before taking them in through the gate. Sydney is looking up at Mrs. Walker, one of her favorite teachers.

I ended up staying the first day along with Tina putting away classroom supplies. It took a good 2 hours. Sixty kids bringing in 4 rolls of paper towels, 2 boxes of crayons, 1 box of glue sticks, hand sanitizer, 1 box of Kleenex, etc... adds up and was everywhere. Since I love to organize, I was in heaven and enjoyed helping out.

Well here are the two girls after the first day of school. They look happy and not too tired this year. It's official Sydney is growing up!