Avery's Gingerbread House

 This is Avery's Gingerbread house that she made at school last week. What a delicious masterpiece it was! Very decorative and it smelled great. I caught Avery and Callum trying to eat it, so we had to hide it up somewhere nice and high where they couldn't get to it. Unfortunately, today was the day we had to say goodbye to this yummy display, as it was starting to fall apart. :)

Callum's Christmas Performance

Callum's preschool put on a Christmas performance for all the parents yesterday. Each of the classes went up and sang two songs. Here is a clip of one of the songs. Callum is in the middle with the striped shirt. :)

Fresh Beat Band Concert

 

 

Avery and I recently got the opportunity to go to the Fresh Beat Band concert. Her best friend Skylar and her mom invited us to go since they had extra tickets. This was one of Avery's first concerts and she had a blast. She's watched The Fresh Beat Band on TV ever since she was a baby, and it's always been one of her favorite shows, so she was so excited to go see them in person. Of course I had to get lots of pictures and video so I could show my little guy too, since he is also a big Fresh Beat Band fan.

School Turkey Day Celebration

                                        My little guy loves his pumpkin pie!

Callum's class had invited the parents to join them in a pre Thanksgiving celebration with songs, storytime, and some yummy food. Here is my little guy enjoying his turkey meal with his friends. Happy Turkey Day! :)

Trick or Treating

Avery and Callum had a blast last night trick or treating through the neighborhood. We met up with some of Avery's friends so we had a nice little group to walk the neighborhood with. Callum was definately a little hesitant to go up to some of the houses, but after awhile, he had got the hang of it and was running up to the doors. They were so excited to get back home and dump all their candy out and see what the got. They did awesome! Unfortunately we have tons of it sitting around the house and I have no idea how to get rid of it. I've already eaten several pieces of it just this morning. Darn those Kit Kats. Uggghhhh....im in trouble! Here are the little trick or treaters in action.

                                    Jake and the Neverland Pirate

                                               Starsong Pony

 

                                            Angelina and Avery

Angelina, Skylar, Angelina, Avery, and Callum

Kindergarten Dress up day

Avery had a great day at school yesterday! All of her friends came to school dressed up in costume and  were so excited for Halloween. Avery and her friend Skylar dressed up as ponies, from My Little Pony. It was a day of parties and CANDY galore!

                                           Skylar, Avery, and Emmilee

                               Skylar, Avery, Emmilee, and Addison

                              Avery and her best friend Skylar

Pumpkin Patch

Callum's class had a pumpkin patch at school yesterday and he got to dress up and pick out his own pumpkin. The school had a bunch of fun Halloween activities planned for the kids. They got to put their hands inside the pumpkins and fish out the seeds, feel the different textures of the pumpkins and squash, and try some yummy pumpkin pudding....the pudding was sooo good (of course i had to try some too.) Here are some pics of my little pirate enjoying the Halloween festivities!

                                    Here's my little Jake Pirate

                                   Callum's class with his teacher Ms. Freda

 

Mr. Potato Head is not a boy daddy

Callum and Daddy were talking before bedtime. They were talking about his teacher Ms. Freda and how she has a Mr. Potato Head that Callum loves to play with at school.

Daddy: "Do you like playing with Mr. Potato Head?"

Callum: "Mr. Potato Head is not a boy daddy."

Daddy: "Is Mr. Potato Head a toy?"

Callum: "Yes."

Daddy: "Do you like playing with him?"

Callum: "Yes."

Daddy: "Well, that's kind of what I meant."

So the kids are constantly saying the funniest things, as toddlers are always doing. I've decided to start logging all of their funny sayings, just because some of them are just too darn cute not to share.

Callum and I were finishing lunch the other day:

Me: "Callum, aren't you going to thank Mommy for lunch?"

Callum: "Well, I have to go buy it at the store first."

(He later thanked me, so I think he was just pulling my leg)

Today was crazy hair day at school. Amazingly, I had remembered to bring my camera. Although the kids didn't seem to have too crazy of hair, I managed to get a few photos of Avery and one with Emily and her best friend Skylar. Skylar's hair was so colorful, but had her mom take out most of the colors right before I was able to get a good picture.

Wordless Wednesday

My little preschooler

Callum is now officially in preschool and attends twice a week. Although he doesn't know it yet, he's going to have a great school year. He's had a little bit of the mommy blues in the mornings, but does great once I leave, of course. He's learning all the wonderful stuff preschoolers learn, numbers, letters, painting, sharing, and socializing. It is great for him to gain some independence and start making new friends. He is going to a christian preschool so it is very structured and he attends chapel once a week. It's a really great learning experience all around and I am very happy to have him start his school experience in such a great and positive environment. :)

Here is my little guy's first day of school, holding up his Toy Story lunchbox. :)

My Big girl is in Kindergarten

Avery recently started school and she is now officially a "kindergartener!" This will be an exciting year for her, as she is learning so many new things and striving to achieve 5 star behavior each day. I cannot believe how much she has learned in just the past 2 weeks, these teachers are pretty amazing. She loves her teacher (Mrs. Rangel) and looks forward to going to school everyday. I've never seen her so excited to go to school, it's great! She's made lots of new friends and can't wait to see them every morning.

This is going to be a great year also because she is now learning to read. She's now reading short stories and has been practicing every day. I love reading with her and get so excited to see her getting better. This is the part that really makes parenting feel so rewarding. The teachers are so motivating at school and get the parents involved which makes it such an awesome learning experience all around. Go little Titans! ;)

Avery's all ready for her 1st day of kindergarten all decked out with her back pack and lunch box.

Happy 5th Birthday Avery

Now that things have settled down a bit around here, I am able to catch up on the blog. We just moved to a new home in Corona and are finally where we want to be. Everything is just about unpacked, so we are able to unwind and relax a little bit. Things have been a bit hectic around here, or crazy to say the least.

Avery just celebrated her 5th birthday last week and she'll be starting kindergarten next week. Wow, where did my little girl go? We just got her enrolled in school this morning and got to check out her new school campus. We'll get to meet her teacher, Mrs. Rangle, next week before school starts. She is very excited for school to start! I remember when we were touring preschools for her and now she is transitioning into kindergarten, where does the time go? She is growing up too quickly. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes I wish there was a pause button I could push to slow it down. I love watching how much she has grown through the years and how she has changed from one year to the next, and I love being her mommy.

Happy Birthday to my big girl! I love you so so so sooooo much!!!

  

Fun in the Sprinklers

Sprinkler time!!!! Avery and Callum are staying cool today and having fun running through the sprinklers. They will be enjoying the next couple of weeks in the yard before the move to our new home.  :)

Callum got his first official haircut today. He did great....oooh so handsome! :)

Summertime

Fudgcicles in summer....one of my all time favorite past memories of childhood!

Vacation in Colorado

We recently vacationed to Colorado for Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Patrick's wedding. We stayed in the town of Breckenridge in a huge lodge with friends and family for two days...pretty darn awesome. The view was absolutely breathtaking, complete serenity and nothing but fields of nature. It was so great to be with family and friends and the wedding turned out absolutely beautiful. They couldn't have picked a more beautiful location.

After the wedding, we drove into Denver, where we spent the next few days. We ventured over to the Denver zoo, the Children's museum (great great place for the kids), and the Butterfly Pavilion, where Avery held her first taranchula, Rosie. We ate at lots of great restaurants and ate lots and lots of ice cream. One of my favorite places was a little ice cream shop right downtown Denver. It's called small man ice cream and they have the best ice cream in town. Their banana honey ice cream is insane.

I have to say that we felt our trip went by too quickly and we were a bit sad to have to go, but we had an awesome time and got some great pictures. I'm starting to get ideas for our next vacation. Oh, and Congrats to Patrick and Jeanette also, thanks for making our vacation so special. 

                                                                 Ice Cream!!!

Beautiful Breckenridge