Is it really October next month? The kids are still swimming, although they say it's getting colder in the water. Let's see how long this lasts.....
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Mr. Simmons
We have a literacy teacher at school named Mr. Simmons. He works with each of the classes and once a week he goes into the classrooms and reads a story to the children. As we were leaving school today he was at one of the cross walks, making sure everyone crossed safely. As we walked past him Claire said "Bye Mr. Simmons. Thank you for reading that story to us today." He responded with "Oh, you're welcome Claire." A couple things stood out to me as we walked to the car. First, I thought that was so nice of Claire to thank him for reading to her class. Secondly, I couldn't believe that he knew Claire's name! She is one of about 700 children that go to the school and he's probably only met her a handful of times. Yet another reason I love Twin Lakes!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Carter's Heritage Doll Project
The second grade social studies includes a unit on ancestors; where they came from, and why they moved to the United States. Carter had to choose a country where one of his ancestors came from and dress a paper doll in the costume of the chosen country. When he got home on Friday he said he already knew which country he was going to choose: Canada! Ha, I knew Cory would like that!
He ended up choosing Scotland, we have family from Scotland on both sides. My Dad was born in England, but his family was originally from Scotland, so when he answered the questions on his form he was going off of my Dad's information.
My family is from: Scotland
Now we live in: California
My family came here in: 1951 on a boat
My family came here because: religious freedoms
His Scottish doll turned out so cute! Yesterday we went to Jo ann's to pick out some fabric to make the kilt. I put Cory in charge of helping Carter with the project this morning. He did a good job cutting out the material and then Carter did the drawing of the face and shoes. I was looking around for a pin to put on the kilt and my Mom had a baby pin of mine that she had ordered for all of us kids when we were babies. It had a little duck on it, so Cory just covered it with foil. For the sporran (the pouch on the front of the kilt) Cory printed a picture of one & then cut it out.
I guess we'll be doing this again in a few years when Claire is in second grade!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Plantation Shutters
When we moved into our house there were no window treatments on the front windows. It's a bay window, with a large window in the middle & 2 smaller ones on each side. There is also a skinny window by the front door. I knew that I didn't want to put curtains up so we decided on plantation shutters. I finally ordered them & they arrived a few weeks ago. Cory just hasn't had the time to install them...until today. First, he had to paint the window sills. They were stained brown so he sanded them down, applied primer & then painted them white. They turned out great.
My Dad came by after work today & within a few hours they had the shutters installed & I love them!
Now in the evening, when people go by our house they can't see everything we're up to!!
A funny story about the delivery of the shutters.... I ordered them online from Blindsgalore. A few weeks after I ordered them I received a call from a delivery company letting me know that they had the shutters & we needed to schedule a time for them to make the delivery. The delivery day came & a big semi truck parked out front and brought a HUGE box into our garage on a pallet. I was getting worried....what did I order? It was only supposed to be 4 sets of shutters. Once we opened the box we found the shutters down at the bottom. Not sure why the box was so huge; I guess they were just trying to protect them. Anyway, the kids had tons of fun playing in their "house" for the next few weeks. Cory made a door, window & skylights. They brought pillows in and a camping lantern and had so much fun!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Happy 2nd Birthday Kate Jordyn
Happy Birthday Miss Kate!! So hard to believe you are already 2!
I worked in Claire's classroom this morning, so Kate spent her time at Grandma's house.
Since we already celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago during FHE we decided to go to Big Spoon after dinner. Kate opened one more gift & she got a new baby doll. This doll has a diaper that can come off & it was so funny to see Kate take the diaper off & grab one of her wipes to change the diaper! Then she was pretending to put Desitin on the baby.
Kate, you make us laugh everyday....and sometimes cry!! You love to be outside, going on walks. You love playing with the big kids....Carter & Claire (and Faith after school). You have beautiful hair & we still get comments on it where ever we go. You are also stubborn and know what you want, but that's ok, we love you so much. Happy Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Endless Summer
Summer is officially over in a few days, but it feels like it's going to be an endless summer. The kids are still swimming & enjoying the water but I'm looking forward to some cooler days & nights.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Our Disneyland Adventure
Cory & I just returned from an amazing 3 day trip to Disneyland and California Adventure with our friends Nick & Kecia. We had so much fun running from ride to ride without any kids needing to stop for potty breaks! The trip would have been absolutely perfect if it hadn't been for the hot weather in Anaheim. Thursday & Friday were 99 degrees and Saturday was 103 degrees! It was so hot and uncomfortable, but luckily we were still able to have a lot of fun!!
We left on Wednesday around 6pm and arrived in Anaheim at our hotel at 12:30am. The park opened on Thursday at 10am, so we arrived at 9am to wait in line for fast passes for Cars Land. The Radiator Springs ride was so much fun.
The last time Cory & I had been to Disneyland was 10 years ago, & this was our first time to go to California Adventure.
Rides that I loved at California Adventure:
- Tower of Terror (Kecia & I went on this 11 times! Cory & I went once & that was enough for them).
- California Screamin'
- Soaring over California
- Grizzly River Run
- Radiator Springs
- We saw a 3-D trailer for the new Tim Burton movie "Frankenweenie" which was really cool. During the movie it rained on us & we also felt the wind, such a neat experience.
Rides that I loved at Disneyland:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Haunted Mansion (Friday was the first day that it was opened for Halloween. It was fun to see it changed to "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
- Space Mountain (they also changed this for Halloween & I wasn't a fan of it.)
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
We went on Splash Mountain twice & were completely soaked from head to toe. My socks & shoes were so wet that I got blisters, which made walking for the next 2 days not so fun.
We ate in the parks & since we didn't have kids with us it wasn't too expensive.
Favorite places to eat in California Adventure:
- On the pier we ate at Pacific Wharf Cafe where Cory & I shared a Boudin bread bowl filled with Santa Rosa corn chowder and also shared a roast beef sandwich.
- Paradise Garden Grill: Mediterranean chicken skewer with rice pilaf, cucumber salad & pita bread.
They also opened a Ghiradelli shop which I will have to stop in next time we are there!
Favorite places to eat at Disneyland:
- Big Thunder Ranch BBQ (in Frontierland) I loved this place. It's perfect for a family. All you can eat chicken, ribs, sausage, baked beans, corn on the cob, coleslaw & cornbread.
- Blue Bayou (This is the restaurant in the Pirate of the Caribbean ride. It's the most expensive place in Disneyland, but we decided to eat there since we didn't have kids and we were celebrating our anniversary!) It was good, but probably won't go there again.
Thursday night the park closed at 8pm & since it was Nick's birthday we went to his favorite restaurant in Anaheim Hills, called Slaters 50/50. He first saw it on the Food Network so they went when they were down there in July. They are famous for their 50/50 burger (50% ground beef & 50% ground bacon). I had the Burger Carbonara which was ground beef, panchetta, sun dried tomatoes, creamy alfredo, on a bed of micro-basil, served on a ciabatta roll.....it was so good!!
We had such a fun time & we appreciate my Mom taking care of our kids while we were gone. It's the first time we have left them & they did great! (I hope they're telling me the truth!!) Now we want to take the kids...maybe January or February!??!!
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