First quarter report card!

Natalie received her first quarter report card this past week, and I had our first parent-teacher conference of the school year. She is doing really, really well! Her teacher says she loves having Natalie in class, she's respectful, organized and a good friend to her classmates. She is one of her teacher's three go-to kids for other classmates who struggle a bit socially - that makes me really proud. She's very sensitive and kind, and I'm so glad she's a friend to everyone. Academically, she's also doing very well. Grading scale is 1-4, with 4 being the highest. Her teacher said that she gives out very few 4s this early in the year, as that indicates mastery. Natalie's report card was all 3s and quite a few 4s! This Tuesday is her Student of the Month assembly, which Oliver and I are looking forward to attending!

Little Monkey

While in Chicago, Oliver taught himself to climb in and out of the crib at Grandma's house. It was hilarious, and I foolishly thought that since his crib at home is lower to the ground (it just seems deeper because of how low it is), that it wouldn't be an issue at home. Yeah, not so much. Not 24 hours after we got home, he was climbing in and out of our crib, so off came the front, and now he's in a big boy toddler daybed. I took him out to pick out new bedding - he chose Toy Story/Buzz Lightyear, and loves it. I'm not going into a lot of detail, most of the people who would be reading this know the hell we went through when Natalie switched to a bed, but so far, he's doing really, really well!

I just wasn't ready for this - not only the fear of having him less contained, but it's just one more baby thing left behind. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Chicago!

Two weeks ago, we went to Chicago to visit Jon's side of the family. Natalie was on Fall Break, so we had the whole week! Had a great time - the kids had so much fun with their cousins, Will, Maggie and Owen - Oliver is still asking to go to Owen's house. And of course, they loved all of the time they got to spend with Grandma!

The flight out was a little rough - Oliver had a hell of a time, and made his displeasure known. Mama Bear (me, duh) tangled with a couple of fellow passengers, but we arrived safe and sound, and I managed to avoid getting arrested. :-P Natalie was her usual excellent traveler self - she just travels so well. Settles herself down on the plane and sits back and enjoys the ride.

Aunt Lois and Uncle Don drove in from Michigan - which was such a nice surprise! And they came bearing pumpkins, gourds, and some awesome candy. Got the whole group together - I think there was 16 of us (?), and we went to Aurelio's - a great local pizza place in Jon's hometown, where Grandma still lives and works.

Checked out a pumpkin patch too, which was a lot of fun. They had a Moo Choo ride, corn maze, kid's area with animals, you name it, they had it. Great place in Indiana. Go figure though... We left AZ in 90+ degree weather, and that weekend in IL/IN, it was 90 degrees! Mercifully, it cooled down in the early part of the week - we really enjoyed the crisp fall weather. The leaves were even turning, and it was so gorgeous.

Got to take the kids to the Shedd Aquarium, and also the Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Went to the parks around Grandma's house a bunch of times. Visited Grandma at work, at got a full tour of the school, and met a lot of Grandma's colleagues. We also had a chance to see Aunt Elizabeth's and Uncle Matt's new house (gorgeous!) and neighborhood - where Aunt Annie and I nearly got into a brawl at a bakery. Don't ask!

We also took the kids to see Great-Great Auntie Annie, and took her out to dinner. Oliver was fascinated with her wedding picture.

Oliver cracked us up one day... I had gone out to get doughnuts, and I guess Little Man fancied a snack one afternoon, and thought he'd be sneaky. All of a sudden, he came out of the kitchen with a shit-eating grin on his face, rubbing his belly with one hand, holding a doughnut with the other - saying "Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm" over and over. He busted himself!

Natalie was great with her cousins - she and Will really hit it off, and she was so good with Owen and Maggie. Sometime that first weekend, she looked at me and said "It's really great being here with the cousins, isn't it Mommy?".

It was such a great time, and we're looking forward to seeing Grandma out here in December - just a couple more months!

Working on pics. Backlog - sorry!

Soccer girl!

Natalie started soccer two weeks ago - same group with whom she takes karate. Just once a week, on Saturdays, so no weeknight practices to interfere with school, which is good! She's doing really well so far! The first week the coach just had the kids in the field, kicking the ball around and getting comfortable. She was right in there, going after the ball - really cool to see. Especially since I hated all sports. I kind of dig having a daughter who is a budding athlete! My favorite story from that session is, the coach put the kids in their positions. Got Natalie to her spot and told her to stand there. Whistle blew, and all the kids started running and playing, but Natalie stayed put. LOL! I wish she followed directions that well at home! :-P

I missed this week - upper respiratory infection that won't quit. Jon said this week was regular practice, skills building, and Natalie continues to do well. Apparently several parents asked him if she's played before, because she is very natural out there!

She wants to play football too. Oof. Not sure if I'm ready for that, seems so much heavier on contact. I didn't think girls were allowed to play football anyway, but found out that the Pop Warner program out here (and I'm not sure if that is the correct spelling, I haven't looked it up) does, and in fact, on one of the teams, the quarterback is a girl! But for now, I think Daisy/Girl Scouts, soccer and karate are enough activities!

It's a good thing he's cute

Oliver is sleeping with Jon and me this trip. We found out he sleeps very well with us when we were in Baltimore in June, so we decided not to haul along the crib my mom has this time around.

5:30 this morning, Little Man was prying my eyes open. When that didn't work, he resorted to saying "Eat eat Mommy" and proceeded to gnaw on my head.

So I did what any good mom would do. I sent him into the girls' room to torment them. They were already up, but being nice and quiet. I guess they heard him coming, and quickly locked their door. So he started growling outside the door, and when he didn't get a reaction, proceeded to beat on it. Totally wouldn't be funny at home, but I was cracking up this morning!

Tropical Horse

We're in our favorite spot in the mountains for Labor Day weekend - Overgaard, AZ. Having a blast, and Natalie's best friend Trinity joined us this trip! This morning, we took the kids to a town about 30 miles from here, called Taylor, to check out their Sweet Corn Festival. There was a nice kids' area with pony rides and a number of different inflatable bouncers. Natalie kept telling me she wanted to go on the "tropical horse". I reminded her that she and Trinity would be having a pony ride tomorrow at the barn on the property where we stay. She said "No Mommy, THAT", and pointed to the OBSTACLE COURSE.

Happy 40th, Jon!

Jon turned 40 yesterday (tee hee! :-P)! Managed to remember to post on FB, but kept forgetting to post it here. Yesterday was a mad dash to finish pulling his party together - did a 70s/disco themed party. Had lots of fun! Jon found a vintage disco shirt and I found a vintage disco dress on Ebay. I happened to have a hair appointment scheduled for yesterday morning, as as it also happened, the client after me canceled, so Matthew had time to play! I had the best 70's middle-parted, feathered and backcombed 'do - so much fun! Oliver had a powder blue disco suit costume, and Natalie had a tee-shirt with a disco ball and "Party" on it - she didn't want to dress up. Which was just as well, I couldn't find anything vintage in her size, and the girls' costumes that are available are trampy.

Party details if you're so inclined -

Had about 50 songs on a playlist - love it - was listening to it again today. Oliver's favorite is Macho Man (Village People) - he can listen to it over and over and over. That was all last-minute. A couple of nights ago, I downloaded an album of 100 top songs of the 70s - it was a great mix of music - then I played it and realized the whole album was a cover version. UGH. What a waste of $20!

Food -
Swedish meatballs
cheese fondue
veggie/fruit platters
bacon-wrapped water chestnuts
deviled eggs
Lay's onion dip
chips
salsa/guac/tortilla chips
And for our vegan friends: tabouli, roasted red pepper hummus, vegan pita chips and flatbread, 3 bean salad
Beer/wine/Pepsi Throwback/Tequila Sunrises

Had a rotating disco ball thing.

The cake was fabulous! Used our usual baker - delicious beyond belief and SO cool! I'll get pictures up sometime this week.

Favors were little bags with disco ball keychains, pet rocks (Natalie, her best friend and I made them one afternoon last week), and those soft peppermints - the wrappers were bright yellow with the smiley face. Found someone on Etsy who turned around really cool favor tags that I could print at home - in less than 24 hours!

The kids had so much fun! Natalie told me she wants a 70s party for her birthday this year. :-) And she was so cute yesterday morning - she came charging into the bathroom while I was showering - "Is today the day that Daddy is 40"? - cackling like a little loon.

So, all in all, it turned out well! Especially considering this all came together in two weeks!