Sometimes she surprises me

Leah had a presentation on Friday in school. She had to fill a bag with 3-4 items that described herself. She chose her pretend eye glasses, her CTR charm (she got in Primary), a picture of her and Ashlyn, and her gymnastics outfit. This is what she said about each.

Gymnastics outfit- This is my gymnastics outfit. I like to wear it around the house and do cartwheels all over.

CTR Charm- This is my CTR charm. It stands for "choose the right".

Picture- This is a picture of me and my sister. I love her and we like to play together.

Pretend glasses- These are my fake glasses. I like to wear them and pretend I am like my sister.

MELT MY HEART! She bought those glasses with her own money. I thought she wanted them for dress up. How sweet is it that she got them because she wants to be like Ashlyn. And how wonderful that Ashlyn is such a good example to her. I'm a lucky mom!

Preschool

Brandon is growing up! Today he started back at Preschool, but this year he'll be going THREE mornings a week. I think he asked me at least 100 times this summer when it was time to go back to "Grandma K's".

Is this not like the quintessential California boy? Buzzed head, mismatched t-shirt, swim shorts and flip flops. Yup, he dressed himself! (Well maybe long messy hair would be more appropriate for CA, but close enough).

Oh and he brought Leah's snake she got in Florida for his "share item" today. Turns out two other kids brought snakes to "share" too. 

Brandon and his very best bud Elijah. Every time (and I mean EVERY time) we go somewhere fun the first thing out of Brandon's mouth is, "Is Elijah coming?" And if he's not (well let's face it, most of the time he is). BUT if he's not, than Brandon doesn't usually want to go. I'm so sad these two are in different grades. I hope they always stay best buds anyway. 

He got a haircut for the big day back.

And even did it willingly. 

And look who I get to spend my mornings with now. Just me and my little bud. He sure is a cutie!

The Day of Celebration

Ok, all I can say is that Ashlyn is ONE lucky little girl that her Grandparents were in town the day of her birthday, because after her hotel night, we would not have done anything huge for the actual day of. But since they were, she got spoiled....again! First off was a trip to Submarina for lunch. Her favorite as you know. Grammy worked on a craft with her later in the afternoon and then we took off to Chuck E. Cheese where the kids had more tokens and pizza then I have ever gotten them there. They collected their "loot", then we came back home for cake and ice cream and presents. I'd say she was one happy girl! Even one of her best buds stopped by to drop off a gift for her. I thought that was SO sweet considering she didn't have a party or anything really. 

Lots of tickets to spend.

I'm so grateful Paul has a job where he can take the day off for the kids birthdays. He tries really hard and is usually able to.

Chuck E. Cheese is SO easy with three adults. I barely did anything. (Carter was at home napping with Grammy).

NINE years old! WOW!

Not such a lovely picture. But what can ya do? Gotta get a shot of the candles.

And of course, of the birthday girl blowing them out. It took three tries, but I think her wish will still come true.

The Birthday Loot!

Cake and Ice Cream. Yum!

My mom made a memory book for Ashlyn with pictures she has collected over the years. Ashlyn loves it and has kept it on her bed with her every night since she got it. (That's where she keeps things that are really special to her. It's like the only spot in the house that is ALL hers.)

Yay! A fijit friend. Just what Ashlyn wanted. Her name is Willa and she's an interactive robot. She's pretty cool and will even tell you jokes and dance with you. 

A few shirts from the siblings.

Ashlynn Reed (one of her besties) dropped this gift off. A wooden jewelry box that Ashlyn gets to paint. She started on it right away. She also got her a fashion designer book! What a nice friend huh!

Grammy has been on Pinterest and found this adorable idea. It was a continuous roll of money stuffed into a kleenex box with a note attached that said "spend it or save it, just don't 'blow' it all in one place". TOO cute huh! Ashlyn thought it was hilarious! 

I love the look on Leah's face. Like "OH MY GOSH!!! There's money in that box."

Well, I know where I'm going if I need a loan.

Alright! I know what you are thinking...HOW MANY POSTS ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE FOR ONE BIRTHDAY? Sheesh! Ok, I'm all done now. 

Another FIRST Day

Well, they are off once again. 4th and 1st grade. Brandon will be in preschool 3 days a week and Carter will be my little buddy at home. I'm excited for them to be starting a new school year, but I will miss having them at home with me. Summer went by quick. 

Pure sweetness!

She's totally ready!

Leah got Mrs. Hawkins this year and is in the same class with her best friend Gracie and Kayla. Life's good for this little cutie.

Kayla and Leah waiting to be taken to class.

Ashlyn got in a 4/5 split grade class and is with none of her friends and supposably has the teacher that yells the most.  I'm not too happy right now. I'm hoping it will all work out. But right now the idea of her being with mostly 5th graders all day is not all that appealing to me. I'll definitely be in her class volunteering as often as I can.

They say it's your birthday!

Happy Birthday to you! 

To my sweet adorable Ashlyn that is!

NINE whole years old. How did this happen?

Let's see what some of her favorite things are right now.

What's your favorite book? Lemony Snicket Series

What's your favorite color? Purple 

What's your favorite toy? Squinkies

What's your favorite TV show? Good luck Charlie

What's your favorite restaurant? Submarina

Who's your favorite singer? Selena Gomez

Who's your best friend(s)? Grace and Ashlynn

What's your favorite subject in school? Science

What's your favorite Primary Song? How Firm a Foundation

What's your favorite IPad Game? Mega Run

What's your favorite board game? The game of Life

What's your favorite food? PBJ's

What did you do to celebrate your birthday? I went to a hotel with my mom. We went to Magic Mountain, out to eat, swimming and on my actual birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A fashion designer 

What's your favorite movie? "Mirror, Mirror"

Who's your favorite super hero (Daddy came up with question)? I don't really like any super heros

What's your favorite breakfast cereal? Cracklin' Oat Bran

What are looking forward to most this school year? Meeting my teacher

What size shoe do you wear? 2

How much do you weigh? 49 pounds

Lunch at Submarina

Craft time with Grammy

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have this little girl!? Man, she just makes me smile everyday. She's cute and sweet and wonderful. She loves her family. She's happy and shy and dedicated. She loves anything science related and loves to learn. She reads a lot and is almost done with the 13 book series of "Lemony Snicket". She loves ballet and is really getting good at playing the piano (even though getting her to practice is a bit difficult). She's excited for school to start on Thursday although I'm quite certain I could keep her home everyday with me and be happy to have her! 

WE JUST LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH ASHLYN. THANKS FOR COMING TO OUR FAMILY. 

VACATION!!

Paul and I went on a trip! JUST ME AND HIM! It was long over due. We haven't done anything like this since the summer before I got pregnant with Brandon (five years ago). And we didn't get to do anything phenomenal for our 10 year anniversary (besides buy a MiniVan). SO...not that I'm complaining really. I don't have it so bad, but I must say I was VERY excited for this trip. I searched the internet over looking for somewhere to go that was half way affordable for us and that would give us an ocean view (that was VERY important to me). I wasn't having much luck. But then I remembered the place we went to for a couple of nights WAY back when we only had Ashlyn. I remembered having such a nice time, so I looked it up and when I saw the prices for an oceanview room, I was SOLD! I booked our room and started to count down the days till we left. 

Paul's parents were SO SO nice to fly out here to watch the kids for us. They got in on Monday evening. We gave them the run down and schedule and let the kids (mostly Carter) get re-aquainted. To my delight, Carter warmed right up to them, so I wasn't too nervous to leave for the three night trip.

We left Tuesday at noon and stopped for lunch on the way. It's only about an hour or so away, so we got to our hotel before check in time. Lucky for us, they had our room ready, so we got to check in. First off on the agenda was to check out the view from our patio. It was perfect, so we unpacked and got settled. We sat down for a few minutes, and after realizing we could do ANYTHING we wanted, we took a walk around the resort and then of course headed out to the movies. Had dinner (and dessert) and then headed back to relax on the patio (where I spent quite a bit of time relaxing). The rest of the trip consisted of relaxing, relaxing and a bit more relaxing. We hung out at the beach, we hung out on our patio, we hung out at the pool and in the hot tub. We hung out on a boat tour and hung out eating, eating and eating some more. It was fabulous. I loved every minute of it and hope to make it a yearly tradition (pending the availability of the kids grandparents). 

Here's some pictures!

Us, as we were pulling out of the gate to our house! We are OFF!

The resort had water falls and pools of water with a nice walking path. 

At the movies. It was a matinee on a Tuesday so we were the only ones in the theater. Or so I thought. I wasn't being very quiet during the intense parts. Oops. Toward the end, Paul was like, "you know there is another person in here". EEkkkk...sorry dude! I did not know you were there. We saw "Total ReCall". A remake of the old movie. It was good, but pretty crazy at some points. I literally had to close my eyes (and ears) a few times. 

Wouldn't you know it....there was a Cafe Rio just 7 miles from our hotel. I was in Heaven. We made sure to go a couple of times. Yummy yum yum!

Hanging out on our patio at night, listening to the waves. It was pretty chilly at night so we got bundled up with blankets and hot chocolate (I know right....hot chocolate in August), and sat there forever. 

This was the view from our patio. It was seriously so peaceful!

And this cute guy brought me breakfast every morning. Omelets, fruit, pancakes, bacon, juice and milk. It was totally indulgent.

We rented beach cruisers and went on an hour and a half bike ride the first morning there. Rode up and down in front of the hotel, down to the harbor, and through neighborhoods on the beach where the average home was 2.8 million dollars. 

It was my goal to exercise everyday, but our bike ride was pretty much the only hard work I did the whole trip. Ahh...oh well! 

At the pool.

And then at the beach!

There was a nice clear sand dune right in front of our room. We sat up on it a lot. Our room was the bottom one on the right there. 

Spent one morning on the beach, but it was pretty chilly still so we didn't stay TOO long. I intended to read a book, but instead just relaxed (okay and did some texting too).

We went out to the Ventura Harbor one afternoon. Got some lunch and yummy ice cream and took a boat tour of the harbor. The best part was the driver with all his funny jokes. 

Homes and yachts like these were all over the harbor. I can't even imagine what they cost.

I got a pedicure one night and then went up and sat on "our" sand dune. It messed them up a bit, but oh well. It was worth it. 

Sun set from our patio.

And me with a smile on my face. Pretty much summed up my feelings. 

I missed my kids, but I knew they were in good hands and seriously every time we called they were off on some fun adventure or another. It was so nice to not have to worry about them. So a great big huge, humungous thank you to Gary and Kathy for watching them for us. Our trip wouldn't have been possible without you!

Oh and might I add, the weather was about 30 degrees cooler there then at home. Yeah...I'd say I was pretty darn spoiled. It was perfect!