Our Little Patriot

Addie has been practicing her heart out for her 1st poem recitation of the school year. Today was her turn to recite The Pledge of Allegiance in front of her class, and she totally rocked it! Our shy little peanut strolled right up to the front of the class with a big smile on her face and said it with confidence! It is hard to hear on the video because we were standing in the back, and I did miss the first few words since she didn't hesitate once she was up there, but you get the idea. :) So proud of her!

Some Gagey Shenanigans

The other night when I went to check on Gage, I found him like this:

 

Then last night, he was kicked back like this (he has honestly slept in this too-cool-for-school fashion since he was a young baby):

He has been very interested in the camera and taking pictures lately. "Cheese, Mommy!" Here are some pics taken from his viewpoint, with lots of fingertip of course:

 

 

 

And last but definitely not least...he has used the potty successfully! 3 times so far and counting. We have a long way to go but are still very excited at this big boy development!

 

Gage and his first pee-pee in the potty!



 

30 30 30!

That's right. As of August 17th, one of our household turned 30. (Ahem, not me.) We went to Las Vegas at the beginning of the month to celebrate that and also our 8th anniversary which was on July 31st. We did some fun Vegas-y things, took in a show, ate at a buffet, drank too much, stayed up way too late, etc. We stayed at The Mirage and spent our last day lounging by the pool in a private cabana. We had a good time pretending we were high rollers and do that sort of thing all the time. Some things we don't want to forget:

• Having a "complimentary" photo taken at dinner..."Yes, that will be 2 for $30"... Um, what?
• $2 "bourbon" shots at the Gold Coast bowling alley... Did I mention they came out of a beverage dispenser and not a bottle? And that the bartender had no idea what it was called?
• Deciding to walk to the afore mentioned Gold Coast bowling alley at 11pm because it was only 1.6 miles away.
• The boys hitting up the pawn shop where Pawn Stars is filmed.
• Peep Show!
• Cabana 8
• My brother thinking he was on a 1st name basis with our cabana host "Ashley! Ashley!"
• 32 oz. cocktails at said cabana
• Mr. Las Vegas at the pool aka a sad, lonely, perhaps foreign young man wearing swim trunks that said "Las Vegas" on them while posing next to the pool and staring into the sun, occasionally splashing water on himself after strutting around, and then 2 of our group trying to find him later to give him a high-five. Ah, good times.

We were pretty bad about taking pictures, and only managed a few off of our phones.

In front of the Bellagio fountains

Cameron and his girl, Holly

Cabana by the pool

On his actual birthday we just spent a nice day at home with the kids. Cameron and Addie made some cupcakes together (yes, I realize it sounds bad that he made his own bday cupcakes...) and I made one of his faves for dinner, ribs, potatoes, and corn on the cob!

Happy Birthday babe! We love you!

What is happening right now

I am trying to write a post about Cameron's 30th birthday, and a few steps away in Addie's room, they are playing dress-up with little Polly Pockets and La La Loopsys. I keep hearing little snippets from in there like, "I just got these new shoes, don't they look fabulous, Daddy?" and the response, "Oh yes, totally fabulous!" :) :)

Summer Reading Club Review - Cinder

One last quick review for the summer reading club over at Quirky Bookworm.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a young adult sci-fi/fantasy Cinderella story set in a futuristic earth that is ravaged by plague. A large world war and an ever looming threat from the Lunars (aka a moon race) have caused the major forces on earth to unite. Enter Cinder, a cyborg mechanic who has an unlikely romance with the prince, discovers she may hold the keys that can destroy the plague, and unlocks a hopeful secret from her past. Of course, it wouldn't be a Cinderella story if there wasn't a nasty stepmother in there causing problems for Cinder along the way.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I didn't know much about it so the whole cyborg/android thing threw me a bit. Once I got past that, I did like it, but it was rather predictable. I did find that I really enjoyed the characters, and I am curious where the story is going so I will most likely pick up the next in the series. If you're looking for a light read and like sci-fi/fantasy, it may be right for you. :)

I apologize if it makes no sense, it's like 4:30 in the morning...  ;)

Where is my baby girl?

Yeah, she's in Kindergarten. When did that happen? Addie had an awesome summer taking and passing 2 levels of swim, tumbling around in beginning gymnastics, and just being a wonderful young lady. But even with our countdown chain it felt like the start of school snuck up on us. She has been excited for school to start all summer but she definitely developed some jitters the night before her 1st day and was awake in the middle of the night from about 11-2 because she just "couldn't get comfortable". Poor kid.

But luckily I woke her up without too much difficulty in the morning.

She got to have "dinosaur egg" oatmeal for breakfast, which is really just oatmeal with some little candies in it. Oh well, at least she ate. And hooray for us, we got out the door on time. Her school starts every morning with a flag ceremony and the pledge of allegiance. In the pic below she is in line with her class all decked out in her uniform.

She was doing really great until it was time to go inside and then she started to tear up and cling to my hand which I am chalking up to her being so tired because she was totally ready to do the Kinder thing and preschool prepared her for the separation. I was not expecting her to cry and was so unprepared that of course I started crying (which I would have done anyway, I was just hoping to see her off before it happened). They let the parents take them into their class on the 1st day which was helpful. Now we just get to walk them to the courtyard and then we have to leave. *sniff*

If you want your heart to break a little bit just look at the next picture with her sad little face. Cameron made me take that one. Someday I will probably want it but right now it makes me so sad! Bless her heart, she was a trooper and went to sit in her desk (which we had found the night before at Meet the Teacher) when I asked her to and thankfully stayed there until we finally just had to wave bye and leave lest the sadness go on and on.

I didn't want to end the post with that sad pic so I am ending it with a happier one of her at her desk. :)

I was a little worried during the morning since I didn't know how she was doing, but when I picked her up she was all smiles and the first thing she said was, "It was fun, Mama!" Happiness, pride, and relief flooded me at that moment. This milestone is just so bittersweet. We couldn't be more thankful that she loves learning, her school, and her teacher. Looking forward to a good year!

Drop Dead Healthy - A "mini-review"

This is my second post as part of the summer reading club for Quirky Bookworm, so you can disregard if you're not interested. But if you are interested this book was hilarious and informative! Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs is a memoir chronicling the author's attempt to become the healthiest man alive. He takes you on a journey through two years of his life, month by month, and the changes he makes in his quest to be healthy. I have not laughed out loud this many times while reading a book in a long while. I fell in love with the way Jacobs was informational and funny at the same time. While not intended as any kind of health guide or how-to, I did learn a few health facts as well as gain some knowledge about a couple of crazy fads out there along the way. I am usually intimidated by non-fiction because I don't know what to read, but this was definitely a great step into NF for me! I definitely recommend. :)