The Most Awesomely, Funny, Fun, Sweet, Giving, Rockin', Valentiney, Valentine's Day EVER!

Cali and I were headed to cheer, the end of our very busy day and I asked her, "Was it a good Valentine's Day?"
She replied with, "It was the Most Awesomely, Fun, Valentine's Day ever!  I repeated, "It was the Most Awesomely, Fun, Valentine's Day ever?"
"No!", she said, it was the Most Awesomely Fun, Giving, Valentine's Day ever!" I repeated again,  "It was the Most Awesomely Fun, Giving, Valentine's Day ever?"
"No!", she said, It was...and so the game began. We finally ended with the title you see above.
I'd say, at the end of the day, it was a good one, but it was different, and sometimes that takes a little adjusting to.

Scott is finally home, or in the state at least. I wish I could see him, but even if I can't, I'm grateful he is here and I'll see him soon.

I got up at 5:15 am this morning with Cori, who left today at 5:45 am for a three-day basketball trip up near Anchorage,AK. Scott flew into Anchorage last night and stayed up there to watch her games. She barely had a chance to peek at her Valentine's Day prizes and run out the door this morning.  I miss having her here today.

Cassi was next. She woke up at 6:00 and almost immediately asked if I would take her to Wal-Mart this morning. Umm, what? Yup, you see, while I was baking 8 quiches last night, (for the entire basketball team) and Cori was making oodles of Valentines for her boy, Cassi was at a movie. She didn't make one Valentine, so this morning she decided she wanted to get something for her best friend. A reusable cup with a straw that she wanted to take  to the coffee shop and fill with a red-bull special. We managed to get it done.

Then came my sweet baby Cali. Everyone was gone when she got up, but we still ogled over her V-Day goodies. And she was the one to have a gift for her Momma, that sweet girl.
A small book, Valintines Rymes and a crisp one dollar bill, from her wallet, to buy something for myself. :)

Roses are red.

Vilets are blue.

Valintines are sweet

and so are you.

Rose's are red.

Vilets are blue

Wever you are

I will be close to you. 

I spontaneously decided I would make her cinnamon rolls for breakfast. those rymes got me! I got them in the oven, then...

I got a phone call, I had to fill in for the school breakfast program. I had 20 minutes to get there. 

Pbttt! She wasn't real thrilled for about 3 minutes but I convinced her we would take the cinnamon rolls in the car for her and Annie, I made her some juice in her Valentine's Day cup, some for Annie in her new sippy cup, and off we went with icing on our chins!

Once school started, Cali left on her annual Valentine's Day Field trip, a performance at the Senior Housing Center. She was wonderful. She smiled a lot and wasn't fearful. Annie and I thought they sang so well, that we danced and danced! All those Grandma's and Grandpa's love that you know!

From there, we headed to the annual class ice skating adventure. None of my girls have ever really gotten the knack of ice skating although we've never given it much effort. The annual class skating trips stop in 3rd grade. Still, with little-to-no exposure, Cali did well and eventually moved away from the wall, even if it was for just a few moments. Annie really liked trying to skate. It wasn't easy keeping her upright. Fortunately for me, she didn't mind being on the ice either. In fact she liked trying to make snow angels on it, which didn't really work, but was fun to watch.

After that, I will admit my failure as a mother, I didn't go to her classroom party. I had to let Annie get a little nap, and frankly I was tired too. 

After Annie rested, and I switched a load of laundry and made a few darling little Valentines for Cali to take to cheer, Annie and I headed to watch Cassi play volleyball. It wasn't a good team day but Cassi did well. It seems she is destined to be a middle hitter! Dang, she had mad skills today! I gave her some suckers to pass out to her teammates but she wanted nothing to do with that. She was very angry about losing and really evaluated where the problems occurred today. I had to drop her off at the house after the game to give her a few minutes alone while Cali and I raced to cheer.

While I was driving Cali across town then coming back to get Cassi, she calmed down, thankfully! Then she made herself a cute little cut-up t-shirt to wear to cheer herself. Since its Valentine's Day, there was a no-practice-gear invitation and the girls were allowed to dress in red and pink. One of her prizes she received this morning was a pair of heart socks. Perfect timing, or her mom has inside information from the Coach and knew she'd have a chance to wear them to practice today! Wink, Wink!

While Cassi was at cheer, Cali got into her jammies, ate cereal for dinner, and pretty much had a sugar nose-dive. She crashed!

While all of this was going on, Cori was playing a screamin' hard game of basketball, actually 2, then Scott took her to dinner with her boyfriend and his mom. Awka, awkward! 

Me, I'm going to pass out, along side my girls, and dream about the Most Awesomely, Funny, Fun, Sweet, Giving, Rockin', Valentiney, Valentine's Day EVER!

**I just wanted to mention, I don't normally detail every movement we make in a day however I've noticed lately that I am missing the personal element from a lot of my old-time favorite blogs. It seems everyone is only posting details to a project they made or a product they are endorsing. I don't do any of those things really but I haven't been posting a lot either. I'd hoped this year I'd do a better job of it. I'm still working on it but I want to make sure I keep it personal. Hope you understand and won't find it too boring. :)

She Did It, She Did It, Yay, Ella Hicimos!!

It's been a long time coming but she did it!

I didn't get any video of what it took to get her to this point. I actually threw her under the water! (or tried- she flailed pretty wildly and mostly landed on her feet) She was crying and fussing and I am pretty certain there were people who were considering turning Scott and I into the authorities. I finally told her I wouldn't force her anymore and she had to decide if she wanted to do it or not and through her tears she said, "Whatever, go ahead and do it!"  So, I dunked her! And dunked her again. And a few more times after that!

And from that, we made our way to the water slide. She desperately wanted to go down that slide alone. She did it! It wasn't pretty, but she did it. (She was a little scared because she turned a little sideways at some point on the way down.) She even went back and did it again! Woot! Woot!

I think we are getting really close to those swimming lessons I've been threatening her with for years.
I've been giving a lot of thought to whether or not she'd make a great swimmer lately. It's an odd thing to think about considering none of my children have ever been really comfortable in the water but after hearing my friend Misty talk about the success one of her older girls in swimming (and never having thought of it before- she is 12) I wondered if it might be right up Cali's alley. If she'd learn to swim of course.

All this brought us to taking a jaunt to the swimming pool over Christmas break. We don't get to the pool as often as we'd like. It's kind of a hassle getting there but once we are there we always have a great time.

Cali didn't take a friend, which was good given the whole torture thing. She really did scream that a time or two. "Why are you torturing me?!?!?!?" and "This is TORTURE!!"

Cori took her boyfriend which went surprisingly well. I think he had fun with the family.

Cassi took her best friend (or one of them) Caleigh. They are a hoot together!
(I have a picture of the two of them too but it keeps loading upside down. As soon as I get it figured out I'll add it.)

It was a good start to the new year. I'm' hoping to get out there again soon. I'll keep you up to date on the lesson thing. I have to make sure she won't accuse anyone of torture first!  :)

Ode to the 8 Year Old Birthday Girl

It's really that day. The day Cali turns 8 years old. I can hardly stand it and if I dwell on it, I'll cry.
This however brought a smile to my heart!
We all love Cali Bay...She is the blessing we didn't expect and couldn't live without!

A poem from her big sister...

Well lets just start with saying happy birthday Cal! 
I wanted to say how much I love you, and how much I love you being my pal :)

You're such a sweet girl, with a very kind heart. 
Your smile is like a key to a car, it makes everyone start!

Your laugh is irreplaceable, so high and cute! 
Just make sure you keep that up, cause what's not too cute is when you toot!

My oh my, where has time gone?!
You've become a amazing person, just keep growing along :)

I know you'll do great things, I know you'll have fun. 
You'll create something brighter than that big sun!

You'll make people happy, you'll share what you know. 
You'll do what you love. And never stop, just go, go, go!

I can't believe your already 8!
Man, oh man. I hope your birthdays great! 

Don't grow up too fast, I'll miss you too much!
You'll start wearing bras, dating boys, and such!

I hope you have a fabulous day!
Mwah! I love you more than words can say!

It's On! Cali's Clothes Challenge

Recently, Cali and I decided to go through her clothes. We pulled out everything that didn't fit and gave them to Annie. Cali was so fortunate to have darling little clothes passed down from her sisters and given to her by her Great Aunts and her Grandparents. There are so many things in her closet, there are even things with tags just hanging there.

We didn't buy a lot of clothes for the start of school this year but after sorting her closet I am so glad we didn't. I decided to try and make things fun for her so I offered her a challenge.  First, we hypothesized, how long do you think you can go without wearing the same outfit twice? I thought a  month sounded about right but she thought two months. We did decide jeans could be used twice and shoes are not included. Otherwise, nothing more than one time.

We decided we would try to photograph each outfit in order to help us remember. A couple of days we forgot to do that. (I had to write it down separately.)

We will update as we go but here is what we have so far.
We are on day 10. What is your guess, how many days will we make it?

Signs of Summer

Clockwise from top left: Burnt marshmallows, campfire smoke, sticky s'mores, hanging with my girls, 

midnight sun, sun-kissed cheeks and freckles, bare feet.

We've had a slow start to our summer this season.

It's been a little cool, or maybe a whole lot of cool, and not real sunny yet.

But tonight, I started seeing some signs.

"And here I am 

Just waiting for this storm to pass me by

And that's the sound of sunshine coming down

And that's the sound of sunshine coming down..."

My Girls

I haven't posted here in so long, I just thought you might be interested in what they look like these days. :)

Holy H (ot) ell?

That is exactly what I was thinking each time I stumbled across my children acting like heathens in our hotel this past weekend.

Certainly I am not the only mother in the world who believes they have wonderfully behaved children only to find out they are evil little monkeys!

Behaving like clowns for all the world to see. All I could think was, how did I end up with my very own little circus?

Then I realized they had a ring leader!

*Cori has a friend that traveled with us this weekend adding to the brouhaha. 

Still my Baby

While taking baby Annie for a walk today, her Daddy came to pick her up. He was running late so he grabbed her at the top of our road and took off. Of course that meant the stroller was empty.  So Cali jumped in!
I was already carrying Boogs in my jacket to keep him out of the stroller. He felt sitting on the baby's lap was the perfect place to ride. It was just like old times pushing my baby girl and for a minute I missed those days.  :~)

Grandma was Painting the Heaven's Again

This morning, as Cali and I left the driveway, we noticed the skies were painted with vibrant pinks and oranges. I said to Cali, "Grandma is painting again, should we go to the beach and have a look?" Of course, if we did, it would make her a little late for school but you know what, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

We didn't stay for long but we captured a few photos for our memory's canvas. Some moments one just shouldn't pass up!

All She Wants for Christmas is her Two Front Teeth

No really, I don't think she cares if they come in any time soon. She is happy to have lost them. Two in the last three days.

She lost the first one at school on Thursday, the 9th. I honestly can't believe it hung in there as long as it did. She was looking rather snaggly for quite some time. I really disliked it, however it stressed her for anyone to bother it so we let her be. I took her picture at the school lunch table and the second tooth is so tilted you can hardly tell she is missing one.

I hear it fell out completely on its own will. She picked it up, took it to the nurse and they gave her a great little treasure chest to pack it up in. (Honestly, I think she'd been praying it would fall out at school just to get that little chest!)

She wrote this great note to the tooth fairy. She let me take a picture of it before she put it under her pillow.
In case you can't read it, it says, Can you leave my tooth. Love Cali  There are also a lot of words. She is learning to read and spell so she writes words on EVERYTHING! I especially love the picture of the tooth!

The Tooth Fairy left a silver dollar to save and a one dollar bill to spend for her first tooth. She decided she was saving both! She carried her tooth and the silver dollar around school the entire next day and when she got home she said, "I proved you wrong Mom, I didn't lose either one!"

This morning she came to us crying that the second tooth was now a bit stuck in the sideways position. I gave her a wet towel and told her to work on it. A few minutes later she came to the kitchen to tell me it wasn't working and while she was talking the tooth hit the floor. It was slimy and she had a hard time picking it up. :)

She is putting it in the chest with the other and trying to figure out if she will get another silver dollar under her pillow tonight. :)  What do you think she'll get? I have a few guesses. :)

Here she is in her toothless glory. It took so long to lose them that the permanent ones are already poking through.

We Believe!

Kelly mentioned to me a week or so ago that I haven't been blogging much lately and she's right. So I resolved to catch up just a bit.

While we were in Anchorage for Black Friday Shopping Cali spotted Santa in the mall. Now we know this isn't the real Santa but still she wanted to check him out a little closer! But not too close!

I finally talked her into getting near him as long as I went with her but she didn't want to take a picture with him by herself!!!  So in an attempt to sway her, the big two took a picture with him. It still didn't work. 

She decided she would take one with the girls but not alone!

Then we decided to do the family thing, thinking that might make things better. (By the way, I'd been up since 2:30 am and only had about 4 hours sleep.  This picture was taken about 2:00pm and I was dragging. I know I look like pure H*!L! but I was doing it for my baby!) It didn't do much. 

I did however get to give Santa some bunny ears without him knowing. :)  

And then Scott did it to me, without me knowing. Dang, payback is a pain isn't it?

Finally I got Cali to sit on the chair by him, with me. 

It was a bit awkward so I told her I was going to stand  but when I realized she hadn't noticed I'd moved away, I made some serious sign language at Amber, who had the camera and she tried to snap a picture. It was my tough luck that Cali figured it out before she got a good one. It might have made the lashing I got from Cali worth it! 

Oh well, there's always next year! :)

By the way, don't you just love the rain boots? Yeah, I didn't check her bag to see what she'd packed before we left and Scott let her dress herself rather than using the things I'd brought for her! :)

And speaking of Greatness

I told you I was having a moment. :)

Cali is doing awesome with her little mini team. She is a leader to be sure. She is confident and man is she ever cute out there. It's hard to tell you where she is all the time but she is a base and at the end she will be sitting in the front on your left.

Since we are talking about Talented

Remember I mentioned I didn't really want to be boastful. Well, sometimes it just happens.

Cassi and Cali had a cheer competition this past weekend. And they were awesome! :)

Here is Cassi's individual.

You will see in her tumbling, she didn't do everything she'd wanted to but she did pull it off in her team competition so it's all good. Her next individual will be in February and I am certain she will nail it!

Now watch and see just how great she is! :)

Happy Happy Birthday to my Sweet Baby

Today you are 6!

You were such a delightful surprise; you have a become the sweetest blessing.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl. I love you more than life!

A Party for Calani Bay

For the least two years we haven't really had what we call a friend-birthday party for Cali. Her birthday just so happens to fall at an extremely busy time of year, well they all do  these days. But also she just didn't know a lot of kids her age. So instead we had family-birthdays only. Most of the older kids she knows are like family so they just came to dinner with us and we called it good.

This year we were determined that she would have a proper over-the-top, obnoxiously hectic birthday party. And she did! :)


She decided she wanted a theme, which we used loosely at best. It was Candyland!

The party was held at the cheerleading gym she attends.  It's pretty much an hour or so of non-stop bouncing, jumping, flipping, throwing, etc.
Then the next our is in the party room having snacks, cake, opening presents, handing out goody bags and then your done.

With in the confines of our normal insanity**, she had a fabulous time and fun was had by all.

Several of the kids from her kindergarten showed up. Thank goodness they all didn't. I actually invited everyone not wanting to leave anyone out.  Several other friends were there as well too.

One of the favorite spots to play in the gym is the foam pit. The kids love to jump in it and we now know its fun to throw people in it too!

At least a half-hour was spent throwing kids in, and occasionally a Mom or Uncle. Some adults were happier about it than others. Just saying!

 The balls we picked up for the goody bags were a huge hit! There was a ball fort and a dodge ball battle going on for a  bit.

As you all know Daddy makes the cakes. And in the words of my amazed 6 year old. Hers was the best Candyland cake in the world!

She received many presents which she found quite fun. Especially when she realized the birthday fairy would still be visiting in 2 sleeps. :)

I have forgotten a bit what a birthday party is like with oodles of little people. The big girls have different types of celebrations these days. Little people are tiring. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd do it again. And I'm guessing I will- next year!

Until then, Cali has many happy, crazy, fun and over the top memories to carry her through!

And so do I!