Eight

Emily said that this was the best birthday ever!

She wanted to do presents right when she got home from school. I told her she had to wait for her Dad to get home. Little did she know he was coming home early just to spend some time with her. She was super excited.

She opened a card from Grammie and Grampie.

And one from my Mom, Granny.

Then she opened her presents. She got the Target version of an American Girl doll which she had picked out online.

She got another doll that she had picked out at Costco. But what she really wanted was a kitchen set for her dolls. She loves making youtube videos about doll stuff and watching other videos. She really wanted this kitchen set. Unfortunately, Target was being majorily difficult. I placed the order 3 weeks ago. They were back ordered. Then, they cancelled my order all together Monday only to turn around and list it again as being available online. I was beyond ticked. Luckily Davd went to Phoenix for work yesterday and we found it in stock at a store there. Quite a fiasco for one gift, but she's worth it. She was super surprised as I told her I didn't think we'd get it.

And super happy.

I must say the little kitchen set is super cute. I put away her laundry today and found myself stopping for a few minutes to play with it.

She had her favorite dinner followed by her favorite pumpkin roll. The kids would not behave and smile, so we got this:

And this:

And this:

We finally threatened bodily harm, but this is as good as we got.

I think my girl had a wonderful day. I think 8 is one of the best ages. Still a little girl, yet so full of life and ready to try new things. Starting with having 3 friends over tonight for a slumber party. Should be a great time!

Time For A Nap

I'll have a nice long birthday post for Emily tomorrow complete with pictures. Today is busy. I helped out in the kids classes, which is another post for another day. I ran to the store because Emily wanted an "8" candle instead of 8 candles. And she likes potato rolls with her roast, so I needed to get those. I came home and got some work done.

I thought it would be wonderful to go lay down and nap for a few minutes. Somebody beat me to it. He couldn't make it through Toy Story 2. He has it rough!

And yes, he's naked!

PreBirthday

Tomorrow is Emily's 8th birthday! Wow.

You know we'll be celebrating tomorrow and a slumber party on Friday. But tonight was all about preparation.

I made cupcakes for her class.

I made pea soup for her lunch. It's one of her favorites.

I made a pumpkin roll for her cake tomorrow night. It's her favorite. She enjoyed picking off the leftover nuts and powder sugar off the towel.


I've been in the kitchen for 4 hours. Thank God David took the kids to the pool. I'm thankful too that my Mom did round 1 and 2 of dishes and David did round 3.

Tomorrow I'm making her favorite dinner, roast, carrots and mashed potatoes.

Emily just came up and thanked me for making all of her favorite stuff. She said, "I'm always going to live with you now!" I don't know if that was the exact reaction I was going for...

Around Our House

I talked to my Dad tonight. He said he wondered how we were doing since I haven't updated my blog since Wednesday. Okay, even my Dad is noticing that I haven't updated my blog. He's retired and living on a lake in Idaho, he doesn't even know what day it is. So for him to know it was Wednesday since my last blog post means he's really paying attention, and I've really been slacking.

I hung up the phone with my Dad after saying "love you Daddy", and Ben asks, "whose your dad?" Um, Papa. What??? He was totally shocked. Guess he's still figuring all that out. Ben is a funny kid.

What have the kids been up to?
He was named Star Student in his class for this week. The second kid for his class and the first boy. He's a good kid. So, he got to bring home the class mascot Coyote Christy for the weekend. He had to write all about her in a journal. He had to write all about himself on a poster board. Bring his favorite book to school with pictures of himself, his family and his dog. Basically, I worked my butt off all weekend getting this all together. He had fun with Coyote Christy though.

They played on the computer.

He brushed her teeth.

They dressed up like superheroes.

They ate cinnamon rolls.

I think Coyote Christy had a pretty great time at our house.

Emily has had 2 or 3 sleepovers at her friend Alanah's house. Friday night she had her first slumber party. It was her good friend Savannah's birthday party. She had like 10 girls over. Wow, those parents are brave. They did crafts and other fun stuff.

Then, they went to bed. Well, it's no surprise Emily was in the rebel group who wandered around the house and didn't go to sleep until 1 A.M. The girls started waking at 5. She came home completely exhausted. Yeah, welcome to the world of slumber parties. Which we are having one for her 8th birthday on Friday. But, only with 4 girls. We aren't THAT crazy.

Noah is naked. All the time. I just did several loads of laundry. All he had was 5 pairs of pajamas and some socks. No shirts, no shorts, no underwear. I mean I take him out, but if he wears something for 2 hours, I put it back in his drawer. His naked phase is really helping me cut back on laundry. He's an environmentalist.

Here he is in my boots.

And he's helping me vacuum the floor.

When he finally does get clothes on, Emily puts my turbie towel on his head. Poor kid.

He's sleeping in his big boy bed again tonight. I got 5 bucks on him not making it through the night without coming out.

It's another busy week. Emily's birthday is Thursday. I have to make cupcakes for her class on Wednesday. Make her favorite meal (pot roast and carrots with mashed potatoes and gravy) for her birthday Thursday, along with her favorite dessert which is pumpkin roll. Along with a cake for her party with her friends Friday night.  I'm going to be Betty freakin' Crocker. Anything for my girl though. She'll only turn 8 once.

Runaway

Emily is Star Student of the Week at school. She was the first one for the school year. Which means she's one of the most well behaved, smartest kids in the class. At school, she does exactly what's she told the first time and always tries her hardest.

Then, she comes home.

I don't know what happens but a switch flips. She's loud, doesn't listen, and I have to tell her about 10 times to do something. The other day I was cleaning and came across all her hair stuff lying around the house. I put it in my hair and keep going until I can get back to my bathroom and put it up where it belongs. I've told her 100 times to put her hair stuff up where it belongs. Yet, this was me the other day.

I guess every parent has these gripes. I just expect more out of an almost 8 year old. We don't ask our kids to do a lot of chores or anything around the house, so on the few occasions, I ask for help, you darn well better help me.

The other night David was out of town for work. I was a single parent. It's awful. I feel for anybody who has to do that every night. I couldn't make it alone. My kids would eat me alive.

Emily and I were mixing as well as oil and water. Her homework took over 2 hours when it could have taken 30 minutes. She was messing around, being loud, doing anything but what I was telling her. When bath time came, I told them to pick up first. Ben was picking up. Noah was even picking up. So were my Mom and I. Emily was laying on the sofa making a video of herself on my iPhone. I should post it just to mortify her, but I won't.

I lost it. I yelled at her and put her in solitary in her room. I got the boys bathed and was walking down the hallway when I found her pillow pet thrown out by her door.

I asked her what it was and she said she packed a bag because she didn't think I'd want her here anymore. Oh, my Emily is going to win an Oscar one day. But, I think it's a rite of passage for every kid. David and I each told stories about when we packed our bag as kids. In any case, Emily and I kissed and made up, and she's being very helpful around the house. I know it won't last, but I'm enjoying it.

In case you were wondering, Emily packed a bathing suit and something to draw with in her pillow pet. I guess she was planning on being an artistic hobo in San Diego.

Party Time

Birthday party options here in Prescott are limited. The YMCA gymnastics facility is an obvious choice. The kids always have a great time. It was our friend's Alanah's birthday this past weekend and she chose the Y. Emily had a joint party with her and a few other friends there 4 years ago. You can read it here. Oh my gosh, she was so tiny. Emily no longer wants a joint party. She wants the focus to be all on her.

But Saturday was all about Alanah. It was a great party and she invited all our friends from the hood.

Emily was having fun.

Ben was showing off his best Spidey moves.






Yeah, he seriously thinks he's Spiderman. He was spinning webs if you don't speak Spiderman.

My girl looking pretty.

I was curious what Noah would do. He's never been in any type of organized class and even though this is a bit more relaxed, the coaches there try to keep the kids orderly. He ran down the trampoline a few times.

On one of his attempts, he tripped over his own feet.

We all let out a collective, "oh Noah are you okay"?  He got right up, gave us his best pout and walked off the trampline. Totally dejected.

Could you not just eat him up? Oh my gosh. I ran right over and scooped him up. I love him.

Ben just hanging out.


Emily and the birthday girl, Alanah, doing pull ups.

Noah got over his embarassment and had fun with Dad.

It was time for the rope swing, and I knew Ben was nervous.

But, he handled it like a champ.

Emily isn't afraid of anything.

Ben doing the monkey bars.

Noah was walking around like he owned the place.


See, she has no fear.

David tried to put Noah on the parallel bars. He has fear.

He looks so freaked out.

And happy to still be alive and have his feet on the ground.

There is no air conditioning in this gym. Just a swamp cooler. In Arizona. In August. Let me just tell you, it's not a dry heat in August. The kids were a hot mess. But, it was time for cake and presents.

Then back to playing on the rings.


When Emily and Ben took gymnastics here, Emily used to only go up about 10 feet on the rope. Now, she climbed the whole thing.

And she was doing flips on the trampoline.

This was as crazy as Noah got.

It was such a fun party. We had a great time!