Halloween

What a day! I remember when I was a good parent, maybe a new parent, and I documented each holiday with fervor. Today, I didn't even take my good camera out trick or treating. Yikes.

Kate had a party at her new school and wore a cheerleader costume. She looked supercute. Mom and Dad were here still, so they got to see some of her classmates and her new school.

I didn't make either Halloween party today, but we sent homemade cookies for Kate's, so I should get some points for that.

We went out trick or treating with some friends, and the kids got tons of candy. I thought about weighing it for posterity, but really, why document such a waste! More than half will be thrown away anyhow.

They came home and were almost more enthusiastic about giving out candy than getting it, if that's possible. Sam even saw a few kids he knew from school, so that was good too.

I'll attach a couple of the pictures I do have. Bad mom.

Skyping with Grandma

Look at our haul!

Kate's birthday

What? Kate had a birthday?

She did!

First she had a Chuck E. Cheese party with her new Las Vegas friends. We invited 9 kids, plus mine, and ALL of them showed up! I don't think I've ever had that happen before. Now, some of those were siblings, but clearly Kate is much loved by our new friends. Sam had a couple of buddies there too, so everyone had a great time. She chose a Barbie theme.

Then, Mamaw and Papaw showed up for their first visit, just in time for Kate's birthday. We picked them up LATE Thursday night, and honestly Kate was grouchy for the next 2 days (including her birthday). Oh well. Lesson learned. We got a cookie cake for home celebration and singing on the night of her birthday, but her real wish was to go to Margaritaville, which we affectionately refer to either as the Pirate Restaurant or the Volcano Restaurant. We just knew Papaw would LOVE the pirate restaurant! (Actually, the best thing about this visit to Margaritaville was finding out about the locals discount card for future visits! Go locals!) She loves the restaurant

Thank you to all who remembered Kate's birthday from afar. We had so many gifts sent from friends and family back home, and it was a great treat for Kate to see what came through the mail.

Who cares about the writing??? Here are the pics!

The Birthday Girl with Leilani

Dancing with Chuck E Cheese was a big source of excitement.
This is Bailey (from new preschool), Kate, and Jaeden (old preschool)

Montana and her mom Anna take games seriously!

Kate and Jaeden. I'm not sure what they're doing.

Opening presents!

Barbie birthday cake! (The boys especially loved the Barbie theme!)

Present opening could not wait for clothes, or for Dad to get home. (We held back a few gifts for him to witness, but it was hard to wait!)

A lamp from Uncle Lysle and Aunt Carolyn (no, they didn't ship it from Independence!) It's for her new room!

Grandma and Granddad sent the Barbie hair salon, complete with a working (questionable term) sink and markers for hair coloring. It took some real work, but we managed to get it up and running. It was a big favorite of Kate's. FYI, Moms love this type of gift. Really. Fun.

This is the October 28 birthday cake.  

Dance lessons, aka my deal with the devil

I had signed Kate up for a little dance class through parks and rec. I'd heard great things about their programs, and they do offer a lot for kids. Unfortunately, a half hour before we were to leave for the class, they called and cancelled! She was the only one in the class. Kate was upset, and I decided to just march on down to the dance studio down the street and see what I could find out. Long story short, we're signed up for a combo ballet/tap class. On Tuesdays. So we ran to walmart, bought a leotard, bought shoes at the studio, and made the 4:15 lesson. She loved it. Of course she did. She said it was "the best dance class she'd ever been to!" I asked if even better than gymnastics? Yep, even better. She has decided that she needs a dance bag for her shoes. I mentioned that she could use one of her old backpacks. Incredulous, she looked at me and said: "MOM! Those are BABY bags. And they don't even have dancers on them! It needs to have dancers."

Cosmic bouncing

Kate was invited to another birthday party (she's the party girl) at an indoor inflatable place. It was really pretty cool-- the most professionally organized of all the random party places we've been to here, and trust me, we've seen a lot. I tried a video in the dark of her sliding... here it is.

Party girl

Kate had yet another birthday invite this week. When I told her about it, she was bragging to her brother about all of her parties. "I'm the QUEEN of Vegas parties!"

Yep, that pretty much sums up my concerns about Vegas parenting...

My son, the author

Today Sam's class had an Author's Tea. It was an opportunity for parents to come see what they'd been doing in their daily writing time. 6 kids were chosen to read their story to the class and Samuel (his school name!) was one of them. He spoke loudly and clearly and used great humor and inflection when reading. Stuart and I were so proud!

His story was about our long drive from Missouri to Las Vegas. It was very funny and rather food-centric. My boy likes continental breakfast!

Stuart arranged to be there, which Sam was super excited about. I was okay too.

It is great to see him doing so well in class. We are blessed.

Showing dad his classroom

Sam at his desk

Speaking in front of the class

Sam's Book

This SHOULD be the video I took of Sam reading the story he wrote in front of his class and their parents at Writer's Tea.

All worth it

This morning, PBS kids had some commercial on it with a girl (circa 1995) saying that her picture of her dad was special because she only sees him on the weekend. Sam says, "that's how we used to be!"

Later, I was in the car with Kate and she said, "we're like one of those other families where the Dad comes home, like, all the time!"

I told Stuart both of these and he said, "I guess that makes this all worth it."

Birthday girl (not yet)

We had people over for the first time last night. Just a friend from football and 2 of her kids. Stu said it was more of a glorified play date, but it was fun to show off the house and really made it feel ours for some reason.

Anyway, around dinner time, Kate's new friend from up the street, Leilani, brought over an invitation for her birthday party and we passed off Kate's at the same time. I didn't open it until our friends left, which was when I discovered that the party was today at 11 am. Before you panic, the mom made a note that said "sorry for the late notice." Yeah, you're not kidding.

So, being the prepared and eager mom I am, we wrapped the one girl gift in the closet, went to early church, and made to the party with time to spare. I didn't feel great about the gift, but Stu said it would be fine and it was. Best yet, Kate had a great time with her new friend and several other kindergartners from Sam's school. See my crazy woman hanging out with her friend!

The 21st Century!

Yesterday, I was the proud recipient of a new iPhone 4s. For those of you who remember my many complaints about my sad, dysfunctional android phone, you will appreciate the justification as given by my husband: "I was just tired of hearing you complain about the old one." (That was the idea!)

So, I'm breaking it in. We went to a birthday party and I was one of the iPhone crowd. I fit in! Well, sort of. I'm also the only one who was sporting a sunburn from yesterday's one hour football game.

Best find of the night: a blogger app! Now I can blog when things happen, instead of having to wait to get to a computer. So exciting!

It feels good to be in the early- adopter camp again. At least with this version.