Twilight Midnight Mania

When these girls told me to read the series of Twilight books, I was a little hesitant. A book about vampires and werewolves-not my thing. But two months and four long books later, November 21st couldn't come quick enough. It was the release date for the 1st movie and we got our tickets weeks ago for the midnight showing. Wendy, Me, Chessa and Teri

We arrrived at 8:00pm thinking we would get a good spot in line, but who can keep up with hundreds or thousands of screaming teenage girls who had been camped out for hours before us? The line had already wrapped around the theater as we all waited to get into 1 of 11 sold out auditoriums. We ordered CPK (California Pizza Kitchen!) while we waited in line and admired the many creative t-shirts for Team Edward, Team Jacob or for the movie itself. After about 1 hour outside we headed in like a herd of cattle.

Sorry ladies, no good seats in this theater!

Ok, we have good seats, but now what to do with the nearly 3 hours until showtime? Some fun girly conversation, a few hands of gin and blackjack, potty breaks and some candy treats helped pass the time and soon enough the lights dimmed and the cheering began. It was intense from the beginning and worth the wait. I was shocked to see that the pictures I had created in my head from the book were completely different than what the author had envisioned in her head. All in all, a great depiction of Twilight and we will eagerly await movie #2!

Great Job Girls!

Both girls were honored at Flag Salute this morning. It is so nice that the school recognizes the kids for all of their different achievements- Trailblazer of the Month, passing grade level words, birthdays, Young Authors, etc. Today was a special celebration for all of the 1st trimester awards.
Allison was called up for having perfect attendance in the 1st trimester. She went to school everyday and was never sent home sick or picked up early. Way to go Allison! Poor Taylor will never get that award since Orthodontist appts are always in the middle of a school day. Bummer!

Taylor finished the 1st trimester with top honors. She was recognized for making Honor Roll and then called out again for getting all "5"s on her report card. Gone are the days of letter grades, but a "5" means 92% or higher and she got a "5" in every area.

She is such a hard worker with a lot of self motivation and dedication to her schoolwork. Way to go Taylor. We couldn't be prouder!

Long, Long Ago Day

1st grade was all about Pilgrims today. The boys had these great hats and the girls looked so pretty in their bonnets. They went from classroom to classroom learning about different areas of pilgrim life.

In Mrs. Skinner's room, they sewed pockets out of paper sacks, polished pennies with lemon and salt and colored beautiful quilts. Then they were off to Mrs. William's class to write with charcoal and made feather necklaces with Mrs. Hall. Mrs. Hoadley had another sewing project with fabric before a snack recess.

Mrs. Griffis showed them how to make clay pots and Mrs. Huth helped them make butter for their corn muffins. With the help of a lot of parent volunteers, it was a very festive and fun learning day. The kids are all ready for Thanksgiving!

Take One Birthday Girl:

Add special friends and a healthy appetite. Mix together for a cooking party to celebrate Taylor turning 9! Last night, we had 12 girls here for a cooking party to celebrate Taylor's big day. They began by decorating chef hats with foam letters and gel pens.

Look at the cute chefs! They are ready to get cookin.

Chef Felicia demonstates how to roll out the pizza dough.

Chef Jaden looks like a pro as she puts the toppings on her pizza.

While the pizzas baked in the oven, the girls made their salad skewers. I don't even think they realized they were eating healthy!

After eating their creations, it was time for games. We began with Taylor sporting this beautiful apron covered in kitchen essentials. The girls had one minute to make a mental note of all she was wearing. Then she left the room and the girls had three minutes to write all 15 items down.

They also completed a cooking word scramble and laughed hysterically at Blindfold the Chef. I filled one bowl with popcorn, blindfolded the chef, handed them a spoon and gave them one minute to transfer the popcorn from one bowl to the next. Who knew we would have such a mess? But the giggles were worth it. Emily demonstrates how its done, although not very neatly!

Time for presents! What great gift ideas! Taylor loved her cookbooks, clothes, Food Network magazine subscription, games, jewelry and gift cards. She is so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

The last activity of the night was making ice cream sundaes. The girls piled on the oreos,

M & M's, whipped cream, syrup and cherries. They will be on a sugar high for days. Happy 9th Birthday Taylor! We love you!

We sent the girls home with one of our favorite cookies and the recipe to try at home. A thank you to all of her "sweet" friends.

Happy Birthday Lisa!

I enjoyed a fun girly weekend helping Lisa celebrate her birthday. It is always so fun getting together with Lisa, Alexis, Shannon and Kim. We started our night in Studio City at this fun Mexican restaurant called Casa Vega. Boy, was it happening! We even had to wait outside before being called to the bar. After some chips and a margarita, we were seated and enjoyed a delicious dinner and catching up on everyone's life.

Alexis was so cute to bring us all these fun "bling" rings and Lisa even got a Birthday button. Thanks Alexis, I felt so fancy! Once back at the cottage, we ate the cupcakes Shannon made and chit-chatted into the wee hours of the morning. Thank you to Facebook for some fun laughs! After only a few hours of sleep, we stopped for a morning coffee at Aroma's and then headed to the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

I can't think of a better way for Lisa to spend her birthday. She sure seemed in her element! Sad to say she had only purchased a jar of buttons by the time I left. Hopefully, she had some better luck in the afternoon. What a fun weekend- I think we should make this a birthday tradition!

Poor Turkey!

On Wednesday, Allison brought home a turkey outlined on brown construction paper. She was given one week to decorate it any way she liked. She spent quite a bit of time gluing cheerios and grains of white rice on its body and using glitter for its beak, feet and its gobble. We covered the feathered area in bright colorful feathers and set it on the dining room table to dry. Allison was happy to have the project ready to turn in next week.
But Max, our dog, had another idea in mind. She gave true meaning to the phrase, "The dog ate my homework." When we got home from our girl scout event, this is what we found in the dining room.....







That dog has never eaten anything in the 10 years we have had her! Allison was hysterical, but I assured her we can make a new one. I called Matt and Teri and they promised to fax us a new copy of the turkey outline. Thanks guys! Needless to say, Max will be spending the evening outside as we wait for her colorful surprise!

Election Day

I never thought this day would arrive. I don't think I can stand another day of proposition ads, signs in neighbors' lawns, bumper stickers or news coverage. I will head to the middle school today to place my vote. The kids even got in on the action with a mock election at school. They checked the box next to the picture of their favorite candidate, either Barack Obama or John McCain and got an "I voted" sticker.

We will watch the news this evening and watch as the results come in. Taylor has enjoyed learning about the voting process and wants to watch as the map turns blue and red. What a momumental day in our history!

Happy Halloween!

Taylor was a little baby and Allison was a sparkle diva this year. Oh so cute!

Scott and Elizabeth flew down just in time for a little chili and cornbread and some trick-r-treating. Allison thought Scott should wear this fun black wig while we walked around. Scott, you are a good sport! Thanks for coming down this weekend.

We joined all of the kids for some trick-r-treating. What cute costumes. The kids have so much fun together and it is nice to have this tradition. Korynn lost a tooth eating her lollipop, just as Felicia did last year eating a Sugar Daddy. Dominic struggled at the houses with flashing lights, either saying "I Scared" or "It too Booky(translated as spooky)". Allison looked out for me, making sure to get plenty of Almond Joys and Taylor, Emily and Felicia screamed so loud when Matt jumped out from behind someone's garage. There was also a guy dressed in all black and camoflauge with hooks on his hands standing in the middle of the street and jumping out at kids from behind cars. Funny to see their reactions!

Time for the candy sorting. Poor Taylor-so much will be off limits this year because of those braces. Lucky for us, she got lots of caramel!

Allison got the normal stuff this year, except for the bag of Doritos and a Happy Meal toy. I guess you must work for McDonald's in order to pass one out to each kid! We will be eating candy till New Years!

Pumpkin Carving

The girls didn't have school on Halloween, but it sure was a busy day. Taylor had spent the night at Vanessa's and Abby spent the night at our house. Kate picked up Abby and Allison in the morning and took them to the Halloween party at their clubhouse. After some playtime, crafts and ice cream, Allison headed back home. We picked up our pumpkins off the porch and went over to Korynn and Vanessa's for a little pumpkin carving.Our girls picked out mini pumpkins at Peltzer Farms, but they were big enough to work with. Plenty of goop and seeds to make a mess! Tah Dah! Nice work ladies! These will look great all lit up tonight!

Wild Rumpus

Today was the Wild Rumpus for 1st Grade, celebrating the book Where the Wild Things Are. Allison had to create her own Wild Thing and bring it into class. She won the award for Most Colorful Wild Thing! This morning was full of fun activities as the kids went from station to station. Lorien's mom worked the scary, stinky monster hand station. Kids put on a purple latex glove and then she poured baking soda and vinegar inside the glove. The kids were amazed as they watched their hand get bigger and bigger. What a fun science project!

Allison was busy doing pin art and showing off her Wild Thing tattoo. When she is finished poking holes through the picture, she can bring it home and hang it in her window so the light shines through.

I worked at the popcorn spooky hand station. The kids filled the finger tips with candy corn and then stuffed the hand with popcorn. They each used a spider ring to put on one of the fingers. So fun!

This was my favorite. The kids made yucky trail mix using ant eggs, bug eyes, dried worms, cocoons and bug feet. Actually, the cocoa puffs, raisans, chow mein noodles, marshmallows and sunflower seeds were quite yummy. This afternoon they will watch the movie and put on their Wild Thing costumes. Sounds like fun to me!

Picture Day

It is picture day today and the girls are all dolled up! I actually convinced Taylor to wear her hair down and Allison got a haircut so it flips in the back. We will see how the pics turnout. I hope Allison gets her picture taken before lunch. She tends to spill ketchup from her popcorn chicken...

October Birthday Bash-Cuban Style

Lisa outdid herself again with this year's 4th Annual October Birthday Bash. Daniel and I share the same bday, along with several other friends and family members. So each year she picks a different theme to celebrate all of the birthdays. This year was a Cuban theme-from the colorful decor and the delicious food-everything was amazing. We ate empanadas, meat pies and potato balls for appetizers, along with yummy mojitos. Dinner was pork, beef and chicken with rice and black beans and some very tasty plantains. Very traditional and delicious.

The kids got a kick out of Pin the Tail on the Donkey(although I think there was a lot of cheating going on). Taylor was pretty dizzy after being spun around 8 times.

The cake was amazing. It was a traditional Cuban cake from Porto's Bakery in Burbank. It was a yellow cake filled with custard and guava and the top was marshmallow creme. So beautiful and yummy!

I think the kids are coming off of their sugar high after the pinata. Lisa enjoys all of the kiddos that keep growing so fast. Each birthday bash is a reminder of that.

The highlight of the evening was the salsa dancer who taught us the Meringue and the Cha Cha. Matt has always wanted to take lessons so we were ready. It was a lot of fun. We did better than we thought.

Finlay was quite the gentleman to Allison. I even heard he leaned in for a little smooch. They took their dancing very seriously and did quite well!

Taylor decided Dad was the best partner. What a cute way to end the evening. The dance instructor had so much energy and was great with all ages. Thank you Lisa and Daniel! We had a blast! Until next year....

Learning To Sew

Girl Scouts was at our house today and the girls learned how to sew. Hannah's mom and grandma helped each girl learn how to use the sewing machine, sew on a button and iron on decals. The girls made adorable black over-the-shoulder purses. Taylor ironed on a rhinestone cherry decal and attached 2 red buttons. Hannah's mom took them home to attach the velcro fastener and then they will be complete. She had so much fun learning a new skill. Now maybe she can sew her own patches on to her Girl Scout sash!

Go Wild!

Our school is celebrating National Red Ribbon Week and learning to "Say No to Drugs". Everyday has a different dress-up activity to correspond with the theme. Today is "Wild About a Drug Free Life" and it made for an interesting morning.

For Allison, it was a dream come true! She didn't have to brush her hair, pick a matching outfit or wear the same socks and shoes. She wishes everyday was like this and she followed the theme head to toe. Braids and ponytails all over her hair, a printed blue shirt, plaid pastel skirt, one soccer sock and two different shoes and confident all the way to school.

For Taylor, the morning was stressful! "I have nothing to wear. Everything I have matches." That was the theme of the morning. Although I offered suggestions, she ended up in a matching outfit. She just couldn't do it. She did wear pigtails-1 with a pony and 1 in a bun and 2 different shoes, but she got out of the car looking as if all 700 students were staring at her.

I just found the dynamic so interesting. They couldn't be more different. Although Taylor is looking forward to tomorrow for "I elect to be Drug Free". They are supposed to wear red, white and blue and she just got red and blue bands on her braces!

Reflections Gallery Night

Last night was our Reflections Gallery Night at school. I was the coordinater this year so it has been a long process to get to this event. The theme this year was "WOW" and the kids could express this through Visual Arts, Literature, Photography, Music, Dance or Video. We held a workshop in Sept. for the kids to brainstorm and start a project. Entries were then due Oct. 3 and I went to judges throughout our community to judge our 140 entries. Last night we honored each participant with a certificate and the top 3 placements with a trophy. The top winners per category will now go on to represent our school at the district level. I guess we have some talented kids, cuz they were both winners(yes, it was fair and square). Allison won 3rd place in photography for this turtle photo she took at Sea World this summer.


Taylor won 1st place for the photos she took at the Wild Animal Park in August and she won 3rd place for her Literature entry describing the Roar and Snore experience at the park. Her giraffe photos will go on to the district level.

There was such amazing talent this year and it was fun to view at the Gallery Night. Some of my friends helped me get all of these displays up so the families could come in to view.
We played classical music as they browsed through the displays and had a table with juice and cookies.
I overcame my fear of public speaking and got up in front of all of the families to describe the program and honor all of our participants. I stressed about it, but I'm glad I did it and can put it behind me! Next year's theme is Beauty Is.... and I look forward to being involved again.