Law enforcement night

Tonight was Law Enforcement night at Chick-fil-A. We met some of the girls from the meetup group there. There were all kinds of vehicles in the parking lot...different kinds of police cars/trucks and border patrol too. The kids could go inside each of them and check them out.

There were tables set up with activities. Home Depot had a table where kids planted a seed. Kailani planted a sunflower seed. Kailani also got her finger prints done. Zachary was too young for that...the kids had to be 2.

Santa Cow was there posing for pictures with the kids. I am surprised at how willing Zachary was to go right up to him. The kids look so grown up in this picture.

Surfing with Santa

Today we headed to Seaport village to "surf with Santa." He arrived by pirate ship and then took pictures with the kids. We waited in line for about 45 minutes. While we were in line, we were visited by some pirates, who gave the kids a gold coin.

I thought one or both kids would not cooperate with the picture, but a little ice cream bribe did the trick:) I got a few good pictures, but I'm saving them for the Christmas card!

Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving, although it would have been better if Jason was here. We had to figure out how to carve the turkey:)
Zachary is getting over being sick. He's had a fever for the past few days. Nothing else is going on, so it must just be a virus.
Since Zachary was sick on Wednesday, I had to cancel the appointment I had with the realtor. He actually ended up stopping by the house so I could sign the papers. He was able to submit our offer for the house on Wednesday night. Now it's just a waiting game...

Looking at houses

This morning we decided to go to My Kids Cloubhouse last minute. One of the girls from the playgroup posted on Facebook that she was going and we decided to join her. The kids played nicely for about 2 hours. Kailani had fun dressing up as a pirate.
This afternoon I met the realtor and went on a tour of 4 houses; all in different neighborhoods. The realtor suggested going to take a look to be able to narrow down some things before Jason comes home. Three out of the four houses aren't going to work for us, but the last house is just beautiful. Out of the ones we've looked at online, it was our (at least my) favorite. I knew if it looked anything like it did in the pictures when I saw it, that would be the one. It's 5 bedrooms (1 downstairs), 3 bathrooms, on a cul de sac, and has a really nice yard. Hopefully we can make an offer and see where it goes. I've heard you have to learn to let go because many houses will come and go, so I am trying not to get too attached:)

Maria Shriver's million meals

Today, Maria Shriver was in town giving away food for military families. We decided to go check it out. We were number 386 out of 600, so we had to wait a while. We got a 25-pound box of canned goods and pasta, along with two bags of fresh fruit and veggies. Maria Shriver was handing out the bags of food and she was more than happy to pose for a picture with the kids (Zachy was sleeping).

Christmas tree lighting

We had to cancel our plans to go to the zoo for a holiday show this afternoon due to the rain. Luckily the rain stopped so we could still head to Balboa Park for the 5th Annual Christmas tree lighting. Becky and I both won tickets through the Family Magazine. They had a small show with the Grinch and sang some carols. We couldn't see too well, but the kids still had fun.

Bowl for hope

Tonight we went bowling for a fundraising event...Bowl for Hope. Money raised at the event supports my friend's son Gavin, who has Tay-Sachs disease. The event was amazing. They played the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5JWQCBOMx4.

Kailani said she was only going to bowl once, but she bowled a whole game. She had a great time and finished with a 50. I finished with a 99. I haven't bowled probably since high school. It was definitely tough though with Zachary. He kept trying to run down the lanes to get the "ball." Good thing Becky and George came along. They actually ended up winning two prizes in the raffle.

We've got some big plans for tomorrow...hopefully the rain holds off.

We're on break

We're finally on break! It is so nice to not have anything to do for the next week. To celebrate the start of our break, Kailani and I went to get our nails done. I really enjoy spending time alone with her on Fridays. She had her art class. She finished a turkey she's been painting since week 1. She also made a cute snowman craft. There is no art class next week because of the holiday, and the last class is the week after. Kailani hasn't decided if she wants to sign up for the art class again starting in January.
Kailani was complaining of an itchy back all afternoon. When I finally took a look, she had huge red blotches all over. The doctor's office was closed, so we had to go to the ER. Luckily is was fairly quick. It turned out to be hives. Since I noticed them, they keep coming out all over, including on her face. The doctor prescribed Benadryl, but Kailani refused to take it. I am going to try to get those strips that she can put on her tongue to see how those work. We're not sure where the hives came from. We didn't do anything different. Maybe something from the nail salon...although I think she was itchy before that.
Since we were at the ER, Kailani missed ballet tonight. She'll have one more class after Thanksgiving and then the performance on the 17th.
We were able to still make it to our December planning meeting/dominoes get together with the girls since Kailani's "rash" wasn't contagious. I ended up leaving shortly after we started playing dominoes because the kids would not settle down. I hope they sleep in tomorrow, given that they were up until about 10pm.
We have a busy weekend planned and it's supposed to rain. Hopefully it holds of on Sunday at least. Tomorrow is going to be a relaxing day, but we'll end it with an evening of bowling...a fundraiser for my friend's son, Gavin.

Kelsey

Each week, one of the kids in Kailani's class gets to bring home a backpack with Kelsey inside. Kelsey is the KinderCare mascot; a stuffed bear or maybe a lion. When I picked Kailani up from school yesterday she was so excited because it was finally her turn to bring Kelsey home! She is supposed to take Kelsey with her to special places during the week and then return her to school on Monday. We'll have to return her on Friday since we won't be at school next week.

Tonight Kelsey went to Chick-fil-A with us and we took a picture to send to school when she returns. There is a bulletin board at school where pictures of the kids with Kelsey are hanging. Kailani also wrote in the journal that was included in the backpack. She drew a picture and wrote that we took Kelsey to Chick-fil-A tonight. I wonder what other adventures Kelsey will go on this week?!

Meeting Kat Von D

Today was a long day! After work we headed up to Borders to meet Kat Von D. She was there signing copies of her new book. I decided to get a book signed for Jason as a surprise, but I couldn't keep it a secret:) There were over 500 people there so it was pretty crazy, but Becky had gone to Borders earlier in the day to pick up a wrist band for us. We were in the third group of 50 called to line up. She was so nice and talked to everyone. She asked the kids' names and said to say "hi" to daddy since he wasn't able to be there.

Meeting Janell Cannon

This morning we had a birthday party to go to at Chick-fil-A. It was different being there on a day other than Tuesday. All of the kids got a kids meal and an ice cream. The cow came out and said hi to everyone. We've been to a lot of birthday parties lately...I'm already starting to think about what we can do for Zachary and Kailani next year.

After the party we headed over to the zoo. Janell Cannon, author of "Stellaluna," was there signing copies of her books. We had to wait a while, but finally got her autograph. We even got her to autograph a book for Makenzi and Jaylynn and another for a little girl from our playgroup. It looked like a lot of people had her sign 4-5 books. By the time it was our turn, the kids were not really into being there anymore. Kailani wouldn't pose for a picture while the author was signing her book. The kids did pose for a picture outside the zoo:)

While we were waiting in line for the autograph, a guy came by with a container of ladybugs. He was going to release them and asked if any of the kids wanted to hold one first. Kailani and Zachary were both able to hold a ladybug. Kailani really enjoyed that. She walked around looking for more ladybugs for a while. I think you can raise ladybugs like you can butterflies...I'll have to look into it for Christmas.

Enjoying our time off

We have enjoyed our two days off so far. I am so glad we decided to add the Friday as a day off when we created the school calendar for this year. Only one week back and then a week off for Thanksgiving!
Yesterday we met the meetup group at My Kids Clubhouse. The kids had a great time playing together. Afterwards, we went to Souplantation for lunch; Kailani's choice. She wanted to go there since someone else (Becky and the kids) was with us. We can't go to Souplantation often because it's a buffet and the kids can't be left at the table alone while I go up for food. She's looking forward to being able to go more often once Jason comes home.
Makenzi and Jaylynn came over to play for a while after lunch and then headed home so Makenzi could get to cheerleading.
This morning we did a little shopping for all of the birthdays tomorrow. Unfortunately, one of the birthday parties tomorrow has been cancelled. The son of one of my good friends has Tay Sachs disease and had to have emergency surgery yesterday. He'll be in the hospital for a few days...including over his birthday:( My friend is having a bowling fundraiser next weekend to raise money for the Tay Sachs foundation. They are raising money for experimental treatment that will be available in 2012...they need 3 million dollars and it's not guaranteed that her son will be picked (only 6 kids will be chosen). I hope he's well enough for the fundraiser. We plan to go since this one is kid-friendly. They plan to reschedule the birthday party once he has fully recovered. Check out the Hope for Gavin website...http://hopeforgavin.com/
Kailani had art this afternoon and she made a unique Christmas tree. She had to tie lots of fabric in knots. Needless to say she got a little frustrated. There was some yelling and some tears, but now she knows how to tie a knot! She's halfway to tying her shoes now:) After art, we headed to dinner with Becky and Jaylynn. They kept Zachary while Kailani and I were in her art class. They fed the ducks for the entire hour.
The girls had ballet tonight. They're getting closer and closer to the Nutcracker performance. I'm excited to see what they've been learning. Parents are no longer allowed in the room to watch because it is distracting to the kids. We're trying to decide what Kailani might want to sign up for during the winter class session at the rec center. She does not want to sign up for ballet anymore. I guess she didn't like it as much as she thought she was going to.

A trip to the dentist

Today the kids had a dentist appointment. In the parking lot, we listed to Star 94.1 so we could hear Kailani doing Kid Smarts. She sounded adorable! She thought it was weird to hear herself.
Both kids did great at the dentist...no cavities. The hygienist said Zachary was the best behaved baby she's ever had. He was so good. The first time he saw the dentist, she just checked to make sure his teeth were all coming in correctly. Today, he actually had his teeth cleaned; fluoride and all. Kailani had a few xrays done and got extra points on her rewards card. She picked out two little ballerinas as a prize. This was the first time she had used any points. I am so glad we got the kids started early on going to the dentist.

AJ's kids crane

Tonight after school/work we headed to the Ikea parking lot for AJ's Kids Crane. Every year the radio host goes up in a crane until a certain number of toys are donated; this year it's 102,000. We went to the crane last year and Kailani was excited to go again. The first 100 people to bring 2 toys tonight were supposed to get SeaWorld tickets. I think we got there around 5:10, and the SeaWorld tickets were already gone (the giveaway started at 5). We did get Legoland tickets, although we don't need them. We each donated 2 games for the kids at Rady Children's hospital. Kailani got a chance to walk around the toy tent and look at the 40,000+ toys that have already been collected. They were all separated by type...stuffed animals, games, toys, etc.

Kailani and Zachary looked up at AJ in the crane. I think Zachary was in awe. He kept staring up at him. He actually waved when AJ yelled down to him.

Just as we were walking away, one of the other radio hosts asked if Kailani wanted to be a part of one of the radio bits they do on a regular basis. It's called kidsmarts. They ask the kids a few questions and people who call in guess if the kids got the questions right or wrong. It was so cute! She asked Kailani all about herself and then she asked her 3 questions. Kailani was very shy at first and I wasn't sure she was actually going to go through with it. She had to talk into a little voice recorder. The bit is going to play at 7:30 tomorrow morning. If anyone wants to listed live, you can go to http://www.star941sandiego.com/main.html. If you don't get to listen live, they'll post the audio along with her picture and you can listen later:) Here's a link to where they post the audio after the show http://www.ajmornings.com/pages/kidssmarts.html?_show.

For participating, Kailani will get a gift card to Gepetto's, which is a toy store out here. I'll have to go to the radio station and pick it up at some point.

We're looking forward to hearing Kailani on the radio as we drive to the dentist tomorrow morning!

Fun-filled weekend of parties

We had a really nice weekend. Although we were really busy, I actually had time to get things done too. Friday afternoon Kailani had her weekly art class. She made a gingerbread man with a baker's hat and rolling pin. It was made out of a paver...like two other projects she's done (dog and butterfly). Now we have to figure out what to do with all of them:)

Kailani also had ballet on Friday night. While we were waiting for class to start, we hung out by the lake to watch the ducks. A few of them latched on to Zachary and followed him around. We tried giving them some animal cookies and goldfish we had with us. They at them all up; even out of his hands. Then they wouldn't leave us alone!

I went to a few days of training this week as part of clearing my administrative credential. I met another vice principal who I talked to throughout the training. It turns out that her daughter is in Kailani's ballet class, which we didn't realize until we saw each other there Friday night. Small world...

Saturday we really just got things done around the house, but we did have a birthday party in the middle of the day. The party was for one of the little girls in the playgroup. The theme of the party was Candyland. There was candy everywhere! There was a table set up with every kind of candy you can imagine. The kids each got a basket to fill with all the candy they wanted to take home. I think Kailani is still on that sugar high...she's wide awake now, even with the time change.

This morning we headed to Pigtails and Crewcuts. I had bought Kailani a "glamour girl package" a while ago when there was an online deal going on. She got her hair done in an up do, her nails painted (green), and her make up done. They even put a little crown clip in her hair. When I bought this for her, I wasn't sure when we would use it. I decided to host a royal tea party for the meetup group so Kailani could get all done up and then dress up in her Belle outfit.

We had 12 kids all together for the tea party. I set up tables with center pieces and all. The kids had finger sandwiches and cookies. They each made a wand and we played pin the crown on the princess. Kailani (and Zachary) had such a great time.