Just Hanging Around

Yesterday evening we were headed out. Spencer is usually the first one to dash into the garage, if someone will open the door for him. Savannah was kind enough to let him out and then she went out and climbed into the car. I was right behind them and opened the garage door as I came out. Spencer is quite fascinated by the garage door and how it magically opens, so I don't usually worry about him taking off and running out into the street. So I opened the front door of the car and threw my diaper bag into the passenger seat. I turned around in time to see Spencer hanging from the garage door just as it was about to reach the top! It scared me half to death and I dashed over there. Luckily, I got there just as he lost his grip and came falling down. I didn't totally catch him, but I snagged his arms just as his feet were hitting the ground. So I minimized the impact and kept him from falling over. It scared him enough to make him cry a little bit, but otherwise I think that he might have enjoyed it. I was also kind of impressed that he hung on for as long as he did. I'm curious if he learned his lesson or if he'd try it again if the opportunity presents itself. Ah, the joy of raising a little boy!

October Break

So the girls loved Disneyland so much that we decided to go back for October Break (along with about half of Arizona). It was certainly a little more crowded than we had hoped for, but we still had a fun time. Of course we took just a bunch of pictures, but what else do you do when you spend 4 days at the happiest place on earth? So I tried to narrow it down to just some of our favorite and least favorite moments.

Savannah's favorites: Seeing all of the characters. There were so many out, we probably did pictures with less than half of them. Princess Aurora is one of Savannah's absolute favorites.Since it was Halloween time, then they had a bunch of villains out too. She also got a picture with the Old Hag from Snow White. Melanie's favorites: Her absolute favorite ride was It's a Small World. We went on it 5 times! She really just loved it! We went to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party on Friday night. Melanie loved that she got to sit in the stroller and people gave her handfuls of candy. Her absolute favorite part was getting to see Cinderella that night. We looked for her all week and finally found her at 11 pm on Friday night. Melanie was so happy that she couldn't even take her eyes off of Cinderella. Melanie also does an excellent job of picking out exactly what she wants at Disneyland. She picked out a Minnie Mouse Polly-Pocket kind of doll. She absolutely loves it and was so happy that I let her play with it that night while we were waiting to watch the fireworks, that we ended up not staying around for.My favorite parts: I love Snow White. I was totally happy to actually get a picture with her this time. My only complaint, I think that we saw her 3 or 4 times, because they just released her movie. And of course I loved when Spencer finally fell asleep on our first day there. Yeah, he didn't take a nap and was awful for the last 4-5 hours or so.And you have to be totally impressed that we managed to get Spencer to sleep on the 2nd day while we waited in line. Unfortunately, this was a short lived victory. He woke up the second I tried to put him in the stroller.Jon's favorites: Getting into the main park an hour early for one Magic Morning. You can't really tell, but they were the only ones on this ride! It was nice to be able to go on about 5 rides in 25 minutes! Everyone's favorites: Hanging out with old law school friends and their girls that we don't get to see nearly enough. We were so happy that they would let us stay with them and then come and go with us to the park a few of the days! We all loved the parades. Got to love that Pixar Parade. Where else are you going to see flames coming out of a baby's head and think that it's totally cool?Jon also commented that he thought that the army guys were pretty cool. Then the Celebration Parade at the Main Park put Mickey and Minnie right in front of us. Definitely a nice way to see them up close and personal. And the parade was so interactive that Savannah loved it. Melanie was kind of scared to death, but she was that way a lot on this trip. I ended up holding her during the parade because the characters were a little to close for her comfort.
Our least favorite parts: Standing in line! It's always such a pain and Spencer always ups the level of difficulty.Oh yeah, did I mention that we went on It's a Small World 5 times? Some of us were a little sick of it by the last time or even 3 times before that. We also hated taking sleeping children back into California Adventure for the Trick-or-Treat party. Yes, we were the ones taking sleeping kids back into the park. Yeah it was fun, but Melanie slept almost the whole time and refused to go on any of the rides. Thankfully, Spencer stayed with our friends and was asleep the entire time we were gone!And Melanie claims that she was excited to see Aurora again, but it was just too funny, because look at her little face. She's thinking: "Aurora, get out of the way. Cinderella is standing right over there!"

It was such a tiring and fun trip. We were glad that the kids pretty much done with the colds that they had the week before, so we could enjoy everything. I think that this is the only picture of all of us together. We had a good time, but I think that it will be a while before we venture back again.

Original Excuse

Savannah absolutely loves gum. We found this out on a road trip up to Utah when she was barely 2. She kept that piece of gum in her mouth forever! In fact, we had to make her spit it out because she was falling asleep in the car and we didn't want to pay the consequences later. However, we've had a few episodes where the gum has been improperly used, ending up on clothes and my favorite was when she managed to get it in her armpit. So gum has been mostly banned from the house, because Savannah used to beg for it all the time. However, I do usually keep a pack of gum in the car, especially for long trips.

Melanie has become acquainted with gum and wants to have some every time Savannah gets some. However, Melanie doesn't really understand the concept of gum, that you're supposed to continue to chew it. The gum usually lasts for a few minutes and then disappears. Savannah has taken this as a personal challenge to teach Melanie how to properly chew gum. This has led Melanie to give me a continual update on her gum. It usually goes: "Mom! Mom! My gum is still in my mouth! See!" and she continues to tell me this every 30 seconds for about 5 minutes or so. Well today, Savannah got into the gum in the car when I picked her up after school. Melanie also got a piece, which lasted about 5 minutes, and then she told me, "Mom! My stomach grabbed my gum!" That blasted stomach! Always taking things without asking! I just thought that it was too funny. Melanie says the funniest things.

Preschool

I can't believe it, but Melanie started Preschool last week! She was totally excited and was in love with her new pink tote bag that her teacher gave her. She has had lots of fun already. And her teacher continues to tell me that Melanie has just been wonderful. Her teacher even told me that she feels bad taking our money because Melanie is just that good, and she thinks that some of the other students should have to pay double. That cracked me up, but I wasn't surprised at all to find out that my little angel was being so good. Melanie really is quite the sweetheart and I haven't met anyone that she hasn't been able to melt their heart when she really wants to. I keep telling Jon that Melanie is just like me when I was little! I know that that is quite the compliment to myself!

I love you little Meli!

School Stuff

We had a very nice weekend and so it made Savannah really not want to go back to school. What do you say to your 5 year old when she's crying and saying that she doesn't want to go to school because it's boring? But she was up nice and early this morning and was ready to go, so I guess that it can't be that awful.

I did want to record some things that have already come up that I hadn't quite expected. The evening before Savannah started school, Jon told her that her teacher may not always be right and if there was ever anything that Savannah didn't know if it was right or not, then she should ask us. I was kind of like: Why are you saying this to our little kindergartner? But about the 3rd day of school, Savannah comes home and says, "Mom we read this book today and the mom said to her kids, "Get in bed" and they just went and got in bed. They didn't read scriptures or pray or anything. I think we should do that." I was totally taken back and we then had a nice little talk about how that was not going to happen. Jon later informed her that our family would always be reading scriptures and praying before bed.

Also, Savannah kissed a boy at her table about the 3rd week of school. I was again totally surprised. My guess is that her teacher didn't know about it, because nothing was ever said to Savannah that she really shouldn't be doing that. I asked her why she kissed him and she said it was because she was silly. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I did inform her that the rule of keeping her hands and feet to herself applied to her entire body, including her lips. I also told her that she probably embarrassed the poor boy, which she didn't know what embarrassed meant. But after a quick definition, she agreed that he had been embarrassed by what she had done.

And lastly, it has been a real pain trying to figure out how to pick Savannah up from school. We don't live close enough for her to walk without getting totally tired, plus it's a zillion degrees outside. And the drive-through is completely insane. I waited in the car for over 30 minutes to just pick her up from school. So we've come up with the park and pick-up method. I park and drag Melanie and Spencer out of the car, then we walk over to the parent pick-up area. I'm just really glad that the kindergartners get out 5 minutes before everyone else; it's like we get a little head start on the traffic. And another lifesaver has been that we started carpooling with a little girl that is in both her primary and school class. We are taking turns driving for the week, which the week that we have off is absolutely wonderful! But the first time that I was supposed to pick the girls up, I was a little late (I was getting Melanie and Spencer out of the car when the bell rang). But when I got up to the school, Savannah and her friend came running up to me. Savannah said, "I didn't see you, but I wanted to come and look for you, so I just told the lady that I did see you and she let us go." I told Savannah that she wasn't supposed to lie and that it was important that they wait in the school until they knew that I was there, so they could be safe.

But really, whose kid is this anyways? Lying and kissing...doesn't sound like what I did in school. I guess that I have a lot to learn. And I'm sure that we'll have plenty more fun experiences. And just so you don't all feel bad for Savannah, she does really like school and she has a good time too. I do still wish she wasn't gone for so long, but we're trying to get used to it.

What do you do in the Summertime?

Ever get just a little too hot? For some reason, Spencer really likes to sit in the freezer or the fridge, whichever happens to get opened. Must help him stay cool or something.

Workin' Hard

Savannah is majorly growing out of her little toddler bed and we have planned on getting her a twin bed for a while, but somehow we keep putting it off. But a few weeks ago, we inherited 2 twin frames from my parents. These poor beds are quite old and have taken a good amount of abuse, but Jon and I have high hopes for them. We are trying to continue our record of not having to purchase any bed/crib that we possess. Jon started sanding that weekend, but we've put off doing any more work on them these last few weeks. So Jon dedicated all of today to working on getting Savannah a new bed. That's what Labor Day is for, right? The poor guy sanded almost all day and is finally close to being done with just 1 of the beds. It still needs to be primed and painted, but at least we're much closer to a finished product now. Sorry Melanie, but it may be a while before we get around to sanding the 2nd bed. But the kids also took advantage of Jon being outside. The girls swam in the pool and totally loved it. Spencer tried to join in on the fun, but he had more fun just wandering around, trying to help Jon, and climbing on everything. As you can see, he also sat in the mud. I keep forgetting to buy swim diapers, so his poor little suit was totally sagging. But he had a fabulous time! Even when he's dirty, he's still so cute!

School Ramblings

For those of you that have talked to me in the last week, you know that I've been a little stressed about Savannah going to all-day Kindergarten. I really would prefer for her to be in half-day, but our elementary school doesn't offer it. I do have the option in having her ride the bus to a nearby school so she can do half-day. I just don't know that I want her to not be just down the street from home. Anyways, Savannah has really enjoyed her week, but she comes home so tired. I wish that I could let her take a little nap, but she gets home so late in the day that she would stay up all night if she took a nap.

The girls had their yearly check-ups on Friday and I talked with our pediatrician a little about all-day vs. half-day, and it really made me start to wonder if I should have put her in the half-day class. After debating over the options all weekend, I think that we're just going to stick with the all-day and tough it out. I know that she loves getting to play on the playground, even though she informed me that she doesn't know how to make the swings go, and she enjoys getting to take her lunch to school. I guess that I'm just not quite ready to have her all grown up yet; I want to keep her at home as much as possible.

And for those of you that were wondering, I didn't cry when I took Savannah to school the first day. I was so happy and excited for her and just so proud of her too. But I did cry when I picked her up on her first day and I asked her how her day was and she said, "I thought Kindergarten was going to be fun, but it wasn't! It was boring!" It just made me sad to think that she had been gone all day and she didn't think that she had any fun. I know that she has had a good time though, because she keeps going on and on about the different things that she's done. She's really enjoyed PE and Music and she's even made a little friend. So I'm hoping that this second week is a little more fun for her and that I become a little happier about being back to school.

First Day of School

It's official, my little girl is all grown up and going to school. Savannah started Kindergarten on Monday and it was really strange to have her gone all day. But she was very excited to go and I think that she had a good time. She came home tired and hot, but after a snack she couldn't stop talking about all the things that she did. Melanie and I have missed her and it's really strange to have her going to school everyday, but I guess that we're starting a new chapter in life that's not going to end any time soon.

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby!

Yes, another birthday! Savannah turned 5 today! It seems like she was born just yesterday. We didn't really do too much today. I sent the girls off to their little preschool class. They were excited to take in lollipops and doughnuts to celebrate their birthdays. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner; Savannah's favorite place to eat out. And yes, she's wearing a sweater. Who gets cold when it's over 110 outside? Savannah, of course. I did make her take the sweater off before we left the restaurant. And why do we have a sweater in the car in the middle of summer? Because it gets so cold in our Primary room. I guess it never made it back into the house.And we finished up with some ice cream from Baskin Robbins. Savannah originally thought she wanted Rocky Road (a girl after my own heart) but in the end she went with Oreo Ice Cream. We gave her a few gifts, mostly new clothes, which she needs since she's growing like a little weed. Happy Birthday my Sweet Baby Girl! I can't believe how the time has flown! I love you dearly!