Science Expo

There was a science expo at Petco Park today. Lots of companies and schools set up booths with activities dealing with science. We spent about 4 hours there and still didn't have enough time to see everything. The kids had a wonderful time. Here are some of the pictures from the day.

Delta Mu Delta

Jason was invited to join the International Honor Society Delta Mu Delta because of his good grades. We went to the ceremony last night and watched him get inducted. It was hard for the kids to sit, but they were proud of their daddy. When all of the inductees walked into the room, Zachary yelled, "yeah daddy!" Jason is planning to participate in the May graduation ceremony.

Kailani's Conference

We had a parent-teacher conference for Kailani this afternoon. She is doing so well. She's meeting the standards or is above the standards in just about all areas. She does really good on her tests and is speaking a lot of Spanish. It was interesting to see some of her work. In her journal she wrote that her favorite book was the Bible. I think that is hilarious because we don't own a Bible. Kailani will soon be on spring break and into her last quarter of school as a kindergartner!

Frogs

We've raised butterflies, ladybugs, and attempted to raise praying mantis', but we haven't done frogs yet. I thought I'd surprise the kids by ordering an aquarium for Easter. What I thought I had ordered was a small aquarium that came with a coupon to send away for live tadpoles, which I was going to do after they got the aquarium for Easter. What ended up arriving in the mail today was an aquarium with two live frogs. Luckily I had opened the box and hadn't just thrown it in the garage until Easter!
Since the package came with live frogs, I couldn't very well save them until Easter...so the kids got two new pets today. They are African Dwarf Frogs, and there are two of them; one for Kailani and one for Zachary. Hopefully they do well.
On another note, we signed Kailani up for another season of cheer tonight. She'll start on July 23, the day before her birthday. She's excited about cheering again.

Lost Tooth #2

Kailani lost her second tooth today. Her tooth has been loose for a while and we've just been waiting for it to fall out. The new tooth has already started to grow in.
Unfortunately I missed it because I had to work:( Our school is going through the accreditation process (we went through this 6 years ago). The team that will be looking at our school came in to town tonight and we had a welcome reception. This week is going to be busy!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Zachary's favorite book right now is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He reads the book just about every night and he can tell the story himself. One of the parents at my school brought in a few caterpillars for the kids at school to observe and I brought one home. The caterpillar will turn into a swallow tail butterfly. Zachary was so excited. He observes his caterpillar with his new magnifying glass. It just so happened that Kailani brought home her very own Spanish version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (La Oruga Muy Hambrienta). She read it to us tonight.

ACE Awards

A few days ago we received a letter from Kailani's teacher that she would be receiving an award at school. It's nearing the end of the third quarter of school and she was chosen for an award this time. Jason and I were able to get off work for a few hours to go watch the awards ceremony. She was surprised to see us. Her award was for outstanding effort (the E in ACE). In addition to a certificate, she earned a ribbon, a pencil, and a decal for the car. She posed for a picture with her teacher (right), her principal (left), and vice principal (far left), but it didn't come out too well. Her picture will be posted in the office until the end of the next quarter, when the picture will be sent home. At least then I will have a good picture.

Water Safety

Today one of the local community centers put on a water safety festival. They did free swim lessons for kids and had tables set up with water safety tips and information. I was going to go in the water with Zachary, but he chickened out and wouldn't go in at all. Kailani loved it. She asks to go to our community pool often. I really want to get her in to some sort of swim lessons...now that I don't have to be in the water with her. We've actually decided that she's going to do a week of swim camp with the YMCA during her first week of spring break; our breaks only overlap for one week.

Full of Activities

We've had a very busy week full of activities! I'll try to recap as much as I can...
On Sunday, Kailani went to a birthday party for a little girl in her class. The party was at her house and the girls got to make bracelets and paint flower pots. It was nice because we were able to walk to the little girl's house. In the evening, Becky and the girls, and my mom and dad came over for dinner. It was the first time my dad was able to see our house. We have officially owned our house for a year now.
During the week Kailani had tumbling twice and hula. She getting really good at both. Registration is now open for Otay Ranch Broncos cheer for the next season. She keeps changing her mind about whether or not she wants to sign up. As of this week, she wants to sign up.
On Thursday night, Kailani had a Daisy meeting. She got the middle of her flower for her apron as well as one of the petals (light blue) that we had worked on a few weeks ago. There are several petals to earn and each one has an activity that has to be done before the girls can earn it. At Thursday's meeting, the girls worked on the yellow petal.
On Friday night we headed to Becky's house to have dinner. We didn't get to spend too much time with my dad while he was here:( We dropped him off at the airport on our way home. My mom will stay for a while longer to help Becky with the girls until George comes home.

Saturday Fun

Today we started the day off with a trip to Home Depot for the kid's workshop. The kids made the Home Depot race car. Now they have the Lowe's car and the Home Depot car.

When Becky was ready, we picked her and Payton up from the hospital and hung out at her house for the afternoon. She's doing really well; up and walking around. Kailani was excited to be able to feed Payton. I finally got a picture of me and Payton! The kids played outside in the pool and on the slip and slide. It was a really warm day.

Dr. Seuss and Kevin Henkes

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. On Monday, Zachary's daycare announced that they would be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday by having pajama day. Kailani was upset because she wanted to wear her pjs to school too. Coincidentally, when she went to school on Tuesday, she came home with a flyer that she would also be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday with pajama day. She was ecstatic. Both kids wore their pajamas today and they each made a Dr. Seuss hat. I didn't get a chance to take a picture:(
This afternoon we went to Explorer Elementary School for an book signing by children's book author, Kevin Henkes. Last night we read his book "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" to prepare. We each chose a book to have him sign before heading into the school. I expected just a book signing, but Kevin Henkes read two books, talked about his writing process, answered questions, and then signed books. It was a really neat experience. The kids had a hard time staying still for so long, but they're happy with their autographed books. They have quite a collection of signed books at this point.

Welcome Payton Mae!

Today I was able to witness the birth of my niece, Payton Mae. Becky's husband is currently deployed, so I went along to the hospital for her scheduled c-section. I was in the O.R. with her and it was different not being the one on the table:) I was able to follow the baby after she was born and take lots of pictures for Becky. The only one who didn't get in a picture with Payton was me!

Payton Mae Holderman 3-1-12 10:31am 6 lbs 12 oz 19 inches