I haven't been blogging like I used to. I wonder why? ;)

To catch up on some fun things Dillen has been doing in school, Sean has supplied me with some great photos. She has been doing so well in school and loving every minute of it. She still states that she would like to be in Kindergarten for "the rest of her life." She has really made some fast friends and has found a wonderful comfort in learning and building new friendships. Her teacher is amazing and I have no doubt has made this transition much easier.

The first set of pictures below are from Dillen's Daisy (Girl Scouts) Investiture Ceremony where she became an official Daisy. She has been enjoying many meetings and several field trips (Helen Woodward Animal Center, Lifeguard Station, San Dieguito Park). She has received many patches and is on her way to creating a daisy on her vest by adding special pedals for each fulfilled responsibility.

The second set of pictures is from her classroom's Thanksgiving Celebration. It was adorable. The children sang approximately 10 songs and then feasted on some yummy treats brought in by the parents.

The third set of pictures is from Dillen's turn filling up the display case in the Kiva (auditorium) at school. It is a special case that children get to fill up and display their specially chosen items for a week for all to see. Dillen chose to share her love for both karate and dance - showing a nice balance of who she is. On Friday, Dillen was brought up by Principal Platt in front of the entire school to be interviewed about her items. She did fantastic with her interview though she was VERY nervous right before she got up. She was articulate, excited and clear about what she wanted to say and didn't falter. I have video from that and will try to upload soon.

Enjoy!

Posted by Rebecca at 7:33 PM | Permalink

Our small salt water tank went downhill fast about 2 weeks ago and we lost everything - all corals and fish. It was no small financial loss so at least we got this out of it:

Posted by Rebecca at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Roxy turned three on Friday the 7th. We went out to dinner that night to her favorite restaurant (CPK) for her favorite dish - Mac n Cheese... they really do have the best Mac n Cheese out there.

But we had her blow out party yesterday: A Fancy Nancy party complete with boas, skirts, crowns to decorate, cupcakes to decorate and a fun Pass the Posh Puppy game.

As the girls arrived, they enjoyed some free play to get their wiggles out. Then I read "Fancy Nancy" to them. Once they were 'in the know' of the character and book, the girls were sent in four different directions: Make up station (artistic flair provided by our very own neighbor Sarah); nail station (done by me); hair accessories (by Grandma Barbara) and a crafty crown station where several moms stepped in to help. Once all of the girls were dolled up, each was asked to choose a skirt and boa to complete the look. We ran the girls outside for a picture. Next came decorating cupcakes (each girl had a plate with one cupcake and seven small paper cups filled with toppings). Roxy got to blow out candles from a cake but also got her own cupcake to decorate. After the cupcake frenzy, the girls ran wild in the back yard and around the house until I brought them back in to read "Posh Puppy" - another book in the Fancy Nancy series. The game we played was Pass the Posh Puppy. I had a terrible time coming up with a game for Roxy's party and just two nights before the party decided to put a spin on an old game. I had all of the girls sit in a circle and played music while passing a Posh Puppy stuffed animal. Here's the twist: when the music stopped, whoever was holding the puppy got to keep that stuffed animal and leave the circle. I had enough puppies for all of the guests (sans Dillen - more on that later). When it got down to the final two girls (Meredith and Waverly), the music stopped while Meredith was holding the puppy. Waverly, who had asked a few times during the game if she could keep a puppy, too, was left empty handed. She looked up at me a little confused and worried and I said, in a very excited voice, "Waverly!! Are you the winner?!?" And she looked even more confused and said, "No." We all got a kick out of that and I said, "YES! You are!! And because you are the winner..." I pulled a big stuffed puppy from the box, "YOU get the biggest puppy of all!!" She was so happy. And Roxy (who was in the circle earlier) was as happy as Waverly because she won the pink stuffed puppy I knew she had wanted. (I'll admit I cheated with Roxy and looked to be sure she was holding that one when I stopped the music.) The party lasted for about two hours and was a hoot. As a parting gift, the girls received fancy bags filled with satin gloves, feather fans, a Fancy Nancy sticker, a feather-crown pen and body glitter.

I was completely exhausted by the end of the party but it was worth all the energy and time in planning and preparations.

And my sweet Dillen was taken on a special trip to the store today to pick out her very own stuffed puppy dog for graciously stepping out of the Posh Puppy circle - turned out we had a couple of unexpected guests. ;)

Happy Birthday Roxy!! :)

Posted by Rebecca at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night was a very exciting time in our home. We watched as history was being made. A new President, who happens to be African American, was elected and has promised to bring the much needed change to our country. He has a long road ahead of him... righting the wrongs of the last Presidential administration. I hope he can do it.

Anyway, back to last night. As it was looking better and better for Obama/Biden, I started doing a happy cheer and dance in the living room. Here's the conversation that happened next:

Dillen: Mom, why are you so happy?
Me: Because it looks like Obama is going to win!!!
Dillen: What is he winning?
Me: Hopefully, he will be the next President of the United States.
Dillen: Oh yeah! We talked about this in class today at school. Who's the other guy? (Let me just interject here that I HAVE been educating Dillen about the election but obviously it hadn't sunken in.)
Me: John McCain.
Dillen: And you don't want him to win?
Me: Nope!
Dillen: Why not?
Me: Because he doesn't make good choices.

After a slight pause...

Dillen: Does he litter?

I love her. I think that would have made a great bumper sticker: Obama Surfs and McCain Litters.

Needless to say, the conversation didn't end there. After about a 5 minute talk, Dillen, Roxy and I were all cheering O-Ba-Ma all around the living room as his numbers just kept climbing and climbing... right to the TOP!

Here's to a brighter future.

Posted by Rebecca at 12:47 PM | Permalink

Dillen is a Green Belt!

Dillen tested for her Green Belt in karate on October 20th and, besides looking at herself in the mirror too much, she did an awesome job and received her belt that night. It was special for her because her Grandma Jane was in attendance. :)

The BIG YELLOW BUS!
Dillen went on her first field trip and she loved it. It was on October 23rd and she and her fellow Kindergarten classmates headed to the local pumpkin patch to learn all about pumpkins and then to ride a bunch of rides. I didn't jump on the bus but my mom, Roxy, Piper and I all met them at the Patch to join in on the fun. It was a very hot day but the kids had a great time.

First Parent/Teacher Conference
It was what every parent wants to hear. My proud mama feathers were fully ruffled and I was so incredibly happy to hear how well Dillen is doing in class. Her reading skills are where she is expected to be, she does very well in math, and (as expected) she is exceptionally responsible and shows great caring and concern for her classmates. Her teacher also mentioned that she was chosen to have a personal comment left on her report card by the Principal:

"Dillen has an excellent beginning in Kindergarten! She is kind, caring to all, optimistic and has a wonderful can-do attitude. She works very hard every day and is articulate, bright and a super citizen. Keep up the great work!" - Mrs. Platt

And her teacher wrote:

Dillen is off to a great start in Kindergarten! She is a mature, capable child. She works enthusiastically each and every day at school. She has a well-developed vocabulary and enjoys contributing to our class discussions. Her optimistic, outgoing personality is enjoyed by her peers. Your support at home is greatly appreciated. - Mrs. Emert

Halloween
What fun! We went to some friends of ours for a potluck party where there were approximately 100 kids in attendance. It was a hoot. The company was fantastic, the view of the ocean from their deck was to die for and the food was awesome. After about 2 hours of party playing fun, we all went trick or treating. It was so easy and fun. We crossed their street and strolled down a no-outlet street with lots of lit up homes - and the residents were prepared for the large number of children knocking on their doors. The kids all knew each other and ran from door to door and the parents followed along with beers and wine glasses in hand. It was probably my most enjoyable Halloween ever. Piper slept the entire time in her stroller and Dillen and Roxy had a blast knocking on doors with their friends and receiving tons of candy and treats. Roxy really "got it" this year and kept saying, "this is fun!" :)

Roxy is almost THREE!!
It's hard to believe that our little peanut is going to be three years old this week. Crazy. We are throwing her a Fancy Nancy birthday party on Saturday with a small group of girls. It should be a ton of fun - she is SOOOOOO looking forward to her party.

Posted by Rebecca at 9:05 PM | Permalink

It's hard to believe it's already been four weeks since Piper joined our world. What an amazing baby... She sleeps most of her days away and wakes around 11PM, falling back to sleep around 5AM. I am not sure how I am functioning during the day with such little to no sleep... but once the sun rises I am ready to go. Here she is as Glinda for Halloween:

Posted by Rebecca at 8:19 PM | Permalink