Seeing Uncle Travis

Here we are ready to cheer. Meet Butch the Washington State University mascot. We had just gotten to the stadium only to find out that the visitors will call was on the OTHER side of the stadium!! Well, we at least saw Butch and got some exercise:)
Here is Uncle Travis on the sidelines. I am very proud of my brother. It has been a wonderful thing for him to work in the PAC 10 (soon to be PAC 12). We have been able to see him for a game for the last 3 years. It is great to be able to have some one on one time with him, since that rarely happens during the summer. It has been great to be able to take the kids to a real football game. The experience is always good.

Stalking Butch for an autograph. Lucky for us, Butch is a nice cougar!!
We were lucky enough to have some people behind us that took our picture. I think the last time we had a family picture was 2 summers ago. Joelle was very well behaved. She inadvertently keep poking the man in front of her. Lucky for us he was very nice and understanding.
Fishy face:)
Die hard fans.

The kids and Uncle Travis. We got to see him after the game for a few minutes by the buses. They had a metal gate that blocked off the area. Joelle was playing on it and did not want to leave. I told her that if she wanted to, she could go home with Uncle Travis. She said okay. After we took the picture and began to leave, she started to cry saying "I wanna go home with Uncle Travis" She was seriously upset that I was taking her away. It was pretty cute. All in all a very busy, busy day. Joelle did really well at the stadium with using the potty. I put her in underwear and prayed that she would not have an accident, and she didn't. I think I can officially say she uses the bathroom!!

We Did the Mash..We Did the Monster Mash

Our school had a MoNSteR MaSh Dance this week. It was a fundraiser for the library. Since we have had such huge budget cuts, the librarys have no money to purchase new books!! Here we are ready to go. Joelle could not wait to go to the party.

Here is Joelle with her friend from school Grayson. I work with Grayson's dad. Joelle was stalking him. Wherever we went, she always wanted to be by Grayson. It was pretty cute. Right now Grayson is in the 3's classroom, and I am hoping that since Joelle is now potty trained, that she will be able to move into his classroom in January.

Here is Megan and some of her friends! They had a great time:) They got to help out selling sodas and water. The dance even has photographs like a Prom would. The kids really like getting pictures of themselves and all their friends.
It was a lot of fun and very crowded. It was so much fun to see all my students, present and past, in their costumes. In Arizona, the kids are not able to wear their costumes to school and we are not allowed to have a "Halloween" party so it was great fun to be able to have that.

Imagination at Work

Today I had the pleasure of hanging out with Joelle. I was watching episodes of Criminal Minds and she was playing. It was so fun to watch her play with her Fisher Price barn and Princess Castle. I worried that since she was going to be an only child 50% of the time that she wouldn't know how to "play" and keep herself occupied. UNFOUNDED! She talked to herself and described what she was doing. Later in the day she ran around the room and was playing with David and Megan, even though they weren't there! Considering my last post, maybe she is learning something from The Backyardigans. The best part is when she looks at me and says "You play with me Mom?" Quiet Sunday afternoons, does it get any better?

Pablo

Today I took Joelle shopping for her Halloween costume. She was so excited to find an outfit for trick or treating. I have been thinking for weeks about what I want her to be...a princess, a cheerleader, Tiana from Princess and the Frog. We got to Party City and there were so many to choose from. I stared at this huge wall with nothing but pictures of costumes on it. Then I found them, a really cute generic princess outfit and a cheerleading outfit. I asked Joelle which she wanted to be. She said a cheerleader. There was a Barbie cheerleader outfit handing on the isle and it was on sale!! How lucky was I, I couldn't believe it! I reached out for the outfit and Joelle said "Backyardigans, I wanna be Backyardigans!" Her eyes lit up like sparklers she was so excited as she looked at the costume. Did she want to be Uniqua or the Hippo girl? No, she wants to be Pablo the penguin! There was no talking her out of it. I even made her try it on and wear the hood for awhile because I thought maybe she wouldn't like the hood. Nope, she loves her outfit. And I must admit, she is darn cute in it:

Happy Birthday Megan!

Megan was all smiles with her Justin Bieber book, calendar, and CD. If she is lucky, I might let her listen to the CD in the car, once. How fitting that she was wearing her Bieber T-shirt:)


Here we are at Gameworks for fun, fun, fun!!



Megan and I are playing Dance, Dance Revolution. She beat me :( But in my defense, Joelle was walking on my side of the dance floor and I stepped on her feet once, so I was a little timid and was not able to go all out.

Joelle and Daddy racing. Joelle really likes all the games. Her favorites are the ones that give you tickets. She does not like it when the seats move in the car games. That did scare her a bit.

I remember when Megan was only 3 years old. After I was done with school on Wednesdays, I would pick her up from daycare- Eloise's- and then we would pick David up from Burk Elementary School. We would go to Steve's apartment in Tempe to wait for him to get off work. We would have diner together and watch some TV before the kids had to go to bed. David and Megan would be talking and giggling before they went to sleep. Megan has always been competitive and aggressive. She knows what she wants, and she will get it. These traits have made her a great student and a great athlete. She is wonderful with her little sister. Joelle is very lucky to have such a loving and caring big sister. Her dad and I are very lucky to have such a wonderful daughter. Happy Birthday Megan. We love you.

Too Tired!

Yesterday Joelle and I had a great day at Makutu's, unfortunately, she did not get a nap. When we left Makutu's, we went to pick up David and Megan from their mom's house. We hadn't seen them in a week. Joelle was so excited to see them, so I let her stay up longer than I should have. When it was time for bed, as I tried to get her to give kisses, she ran to the kitchen and opened the pantry door. While she looked in the pantry, she crouched a little and peed on the floor!! A lot! I yelled at her to stop so she could go on the potty, but she just couldn't. As she looked down at the puddle, she slipped and feel right on top of it! As she got up, there was pee all over her clothes and body. PLUS she had hit her lip on the tile floor and split it open. So, not only did she have pee all over herself, she had a mouth full of blood as well. I carried her up to the bathroom and put her in the tub. Her lip was pretty big. After she was all cleaned up and ready for bed, we sat in the rocker and snuggled. We out ice on her lip and she was so tired, she actually left it on! It was kind of nice since she fell asleep in my arms and I can't even remember the last time that happened. It was such a precious moment. I feel a warmth and contentness as she curls next to me for comfort. Those moments are what being a mother are all about. I was worried that her lip would swell, so I elevated her mattress. It worked, you can barely tell that her lip is swollen at all:)

Makutu's Island

Today we met the Chaidez's at an indoor playland. Joelle loved it! Imagine the BEST McDonalds indoor playland and then put it on steriods and you have Makutu's Island. Joelle had such fun. She literally ran for 2 hours straight. She even had a good time at the small arcade (we never played the games, but she didn't know that:) She danced and twirled to music. She prances around with her hands on her hips and sashays- I kid you not!! It was so much fun to watch her be so independent. She is growing so fast and changing every day. She is not my little girl anymore, she is my big girl (and she will be sure to tell you that!)

Pumpkin Patch

Here we are at MacDonald's Ranch in North Scottsdale. It was a 45 minute drive, but it was so worth it. I tried to get Joelle to stand by the sign so she could be in the picture, but she wasn't camera ready yet :)
I finally did get her to pose by this old tractor!

Having a little fun. This one was good practice for her pony ride!!
The petting zoo at the ranch was a hit. Joelle LOVED this pig, but she was no way, no how going any closer to it than this!
They had a small cow and some goats. The petting zoo was pretty cool, but you didn't get to feed the animals and that is one of the best parts!!
Joelle was not able to actually pick this rabbit up herself, she loved holding it, that is until it wiggled a little bit and she totally dropped it! It startled her. After that, she wouldn't hold them anymore, she would make me hold them and then she would pet them.

Joelle led the way through the hay maze. She made a few mistakes, but ultimately we made it out!!
Joelle is going to go on a pony ride!! She is so excited. I was just hoping that she would not chicken out at the last moment. These ponies are real ponies, not miniature horses or Shetland ponies.
She let the handler put her right up on the horses back. She grabbed the handle on the saddle and was ready to go. I couldn't believe how brave she was. As you can see, this is a big pony. The handler leads her around the fenced in area and I walk next to her just in case she falls.
As you can see, this is serious business. She was very focused and paid attention to everything during her ride. She even took one hand off the saddle and pointed things out. She seems to be a natural. Maybe I will need to look into more time with horses.
After the ride, Joelle thanks her horse!!
Meet Smith and Wesson! These gorgeous horses will be pulling the wagon for our hay ride.
We are ready for our hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Joelle was not to crazy about the hay on the wagon. She wouldn't actually sit on it. She had to sit on my lap :) She loved the ride out to the patch. The ranch was full of gorgeous, old, saguaro cacti. She was also very curious about all the "poop" that was on the ground. Every time she saw some, she would shout out, "Look Momma, poop!"
Once we were at the patch, Joelle took her time finding the pumpkin that was just right. I tried to show her several that I thought were nice looking, and she kept saying No. Finally, one of the ranch workers that was replenishing the pumpkins found a really nice one and gave it to her.
Here she is with her pumpkin. She can't wait to color it :) We are going to get a nice big one from Steve's work and actually carve it later this week. She should get a kick out of that. All in all, we had a wonderful day. This ranch was great and Joelle really enjoyed the time we spent there. Hopefully they have activities for other holidays.

Play Time

Joelle wanted to go swimming today. We both got our suits on and went out to the pool. I did not even get more than my big toe in the water, it was COLD! Joelle went in for a few moments, but then got out and said, "The water cold mommy." We were all ready for water so we put out the water table and she got to play with that. She loves that Dora life jacket, she wouldn't take it off until it was time to go inside!

Joelle had a great time today writing with chalk. I am not sure what ended up with more chalk, the sidewalk or her body:) She is such a big girl now. Of course that means that there is a little more big girl attitude. She wants to do everything on her own and in her own time.