Chocolate

Today we decided to go back to The Natural History Museum. Last week we had to leave because Zachary was sick. The kids wanted to see the chocolate exhibit before it leaves the museum.

Fridaze

Well, this whole week was spent at home with a sick little boy:( Zachary had a fever up until yesterday afternoon. I ended up taking off from work for the whole week. Although I look forward to days off, it's not the same when you're stuck in the house. On a positive note, it means we only had to pay half price for daycare since he didn't go at all this week. Luckily Zachary is feeling better today and the fever is gone. I hope we can get out and let out some energy this weekend.
The kids had a dentist appointment this afternoon. Zachary did a great job. He even got x-rays taken of his teeth. Surprisingly, Kailani did not do such a great job. She did not want to have her teeth brushed. We ended up having to go into a private room with a door, so her crying and screaming didn't scare the other kids in the office. I had to hold her down while she got her teeth cleaned:( She has never acted this way before and she's been going to the dentist since she turned one. She said it was all because she doesn't like the toothpaste. Who knows?! At least there were no cavities for either of them.
Kailani had her weekly gymnastics class at the YMCA and then she went to a pizza/game night at our church called Fridaze. Kids in 1st and 2nd grades were invited to come have pizza and play team-building games at the church. I stayed and watched some of the games and the kids looked like they were having a blast. Kailani already said she wants to go back when they do it again. I wish I had gotten some pictures.
After a little over a year off, I've decided to go back to teaching online with the University of Phoenix. My goal is to be a full-time faculty member at a university some day, and in order to do that, I need to gain experience teaching at the college level. The difficult part about teaching online is that the instructors have to be working full-time in the field (which is great for the students). It means a lot of extra work hours for me each week, but with Jason going on deployment soon, it will keep me busy. I really enjoyed teaching online and I'm sure I will love it again. I taught classroom management before, but I will be teaching children's literature this time, specifically to students who are going through the teacher credentialing program in CA. I look forward to getting started again.

Sick Day

Zachary is still running a fever, so we're taking a sick day today. Last night Jason got the kids a new Lego organizer. Right now Legos are taking over the house! The kids woke up and saw it built and were so excited. Zachary spent some time this morning organizing his Legos.

The NAT

Today was family day at the Natural History Museum (the NAT) and the activities for kids were all about chocolate. I was only to the NAT once with a school field trip and I only stayed to see the human body exhibit that was there during that time. I had not walked around the rest of the museum. We were looking forward to doing something that we haven't done before. We walked around a little and saw some animals (some live and some stuffed). When we started doing the kids activities, I noticed that Zachary felt warm. I didn't have a thermometer or Tylenol on me, so we decided to go home. Both kids wanted to stay, so we let them do a few of the activities. The longer we stayed, the more nervous I got because I knew Zachary had a fever. I was finally able to get the kids out of there. On the way out, we put today's tickets towards a membership so we can go back another day to see the chocolate exhibit. They have family days once per month too.
Here is the only picture I took in the short time we were there.

I am glad we left the museum when we did because when we got home I took Zachary's temperature and it was 101.5! It looks like we may be extending our long weekend by another day tomorrow.

Lego Friends

Kailani and Zachary have been really into building Legos lately. It's not a surprise, since Jason is very into Legos too. We often go to the Lego store in the mall. Today, they opened the store an hour early for a Lego Friends meeting. The girls got to participate in a special Lego build. They were supposed to build something related to a hobby. Kailani built a diving board and swimming pool. At the end, they each got a Lego set and a t-shirt.

Kailani had another booth sale today, but didn't do too well. The girls sold 25 boxes of cookies total, and the first sale was to a woman who bought a whole case of thin mints (12 boxes). Kailani has 3 more booth sales coming up. She is slowing making it closer to her goal of 200 boxes.
Tonight, Jason took Kailani to the Armed Services YMCA Father Daughter Dance. This is the third year they have gone to the dance. Although Jason doesn't look forward to wearing his dress blues, they always have a good time. Here is a comparison of the last three years..

2013

 

2012

2011

Becky watched Zachary for a while so I could head over to a friend's house to meet her new baby. It was nice to spend some time with people from work outside of the work situation.

Happy Valentine's Day

Becky and I decided to take the kids out to dinner at Fuji since both guys were gone today. The kids love Fuji because they cook your dinner in front of you. Zachary always eats all of his food!

Lunch Date

I was off today because of the Presidents' Day holidays. Kailani had school and Zachary wanted to go to school to do some fun Chinese New Year activities. I ran a few errands and picked Zachary up super early. We went to Wings N Things for a lunch date:)

First Booth Sale

This afternoon Kailani had her first booth sale for Girl Scout cookies. I didn't think she'd be able to do one since Jason is not home, but Becky agreed to watch Zachary for me. In the two hours we stood in front of Vons, the girls sold 112 boxes of cookies and collected $26 towards Operation Thin Mint. Everything they sold is split evenly between the two girls. Kailani has a little more to sell to reach her goal of 200 boxes. She will do two more booth sales next weekend. There are more available, but with my work schedule and the kids' activities, we can't fit them in.

Becky and George took Zachary to see his ship, the USS Carl Vinson. Zachary has seen the ship before from a distance, but has never been on it. Of course Kailani was upset that she didn't get to go on. Daddy said he'll take them on his ship one day.

Sitting at Uncle George's desk:)

Wheel of Love

Today I took the kids to Lowe's for the Build and Grow project. It is a difficult task taking both kids on my own because they both need a lot of help building the project and neither are patient enough to wait until it's their turn. Each time I swear I'm not going back with them alone, but we always end up there. Today they made a "wheel of love" for Valentine's Day.

Making Valentines

Tonight the kids made their Valentines for school. They had a lot of fun!

Gymnastics

Today was Kailani's first day of gymnastics at the YMCA!

Noche de Amistad

Tonight was the dual language program's performance at Kailani's school. Once per year, the Spanish classes perform to show off what they are learning. It's amazing how much Spanish the kids know and how they outperform English-only kids.

Fun-filled Day

Today was a fun-filled Saturday. It's good to be healthy again so I can get out and do things with the kids. This morning I took Zachary to karate. He hadn't been for a while because I am not able to take him to the 3:00 class. He did well enough that he can go to the evening classes now. I'll try to take him on Monday and Wednesday. He is looking forward to earning his white belt.

This afternoon we went to an author event at The Yellow Book Road. There were 11 authors there ready to sign books. You could make purchases of books to be signed and donated to Sandy Hook. You could also purchase books for yourself to have signed. Zachary was looking forward to meeting David Shannon, the author of "No, David!" The kids had a fun time meeting all of the authors and having their books signed.

Tonight Becky and I participated in the Electric Run with a few friends. The race was at the Del Mar Fairgrounds at night. It was quite an experience!