Here's a little Halloween preview--I already ordered their costumes on Amazon. It's actually the first year I've order or paid for costumes instead of making them myself. And it's the first year the kids have REALLY wanted to be SOMETHING for Halloween. I hope they last until the 31st! Blake's a pirate (duh) and Julianna is Rodney the Robot from the movie "Robots." She likes to wear the mask, surprisingly.

Blake's creative mind

Blake at the beach on Labor day eating his first twinkie.

The weeks go by so fast now! I've been meaning to do a post about Blake's quirkiness--he comes up with the strangest things!

1. I don't have a picture of this, but when we are at the grocery store, he likes to stand holding on to the side of the cart with one leg on the bottom rack and the other kicking the ground like he's on a "skateboard." He discovered this all on his own--he just stood on the side of the cart one day and started doing this and exclaimed, "Mommy, it's my skateboard!"


2. Another skateboard story--because Julianna currently has a fascination with board games (mostly staring at the bright colors), there are always some lying around. One day Blake stood on the Candyland board and it slid on the carpet. Again, he exclaimed, "Mommy, it's a skateboard!" He now has to make sure he knows where his "skateboard" is. Maybe I should get him a REAL skateboard, huh?


3. While working in the front yard one Saturday, Blake discovered some old goggles in the garage. He immediately wanted to wear them and we told him they were goggles. He cannot say this, no matter how many times we correct him. He says it, "goddles." Joel told him he could go "swimming" if he wore them in the bath, so that's what he does now--he puts his face in the water just enough to see under.


4. He LOVES playing the Wiggles guitar, and is still obsessed with the Wiggles. He now can play it with pretty good form and even makes a great face when he plays it, sometimes even behind his head. He says playing guitar is his "cool trick." (Yo Gabba Gabba fans--you know what "cool tricks" are.) Yes, the picture above is of all three--skateboard, goggles, and guitar!

5. He REALLY likes pirates right now. Any time he sees a skull, sword, he yells, "Pirates! It's pirates!" I found a pirate set at the dollar tree with a hat, eyepatch, and sword, and Joel completed the pirate look with a bowling ball that mysteriously appeared in our backyard that he calls Blake's cannonball. He loves to dress up like a pirate and said this is what he wants to be for Halloween.

I can't believe he's going to be 3 years old in about 6 weeks. I had a dream he was in kindergarten and riding the bus to school. I'm sure this will come fast. We love our Blaker!

Yeah for Julianna!

Julianna at the beach on Labor Day.

Just want to share the GREAT news about Julianna--she had her annual IEP meeting with the school district today and they could not say enough good things about her! They said she is meeting all her goals, she's VERY smart and focused and does all her work, she's cooperative and willing to learn. We set some new goals for potty training so I hope with everyone helping, we will see her reach this! In 2 weeks they are going to "mainstream" her, which means they will let her attend regular kindergarten every day, starting with just 45 minutes a day and it will increase. They are sure she will be in general ed by next year! Such positive news! I am so happy for her. And they think the vision therapy is really helping her, so I'm glad I discovered it. I'm just very happy for her today and wanted to share it with you!

Another funny thing I forgot (sorry to those that have commented already!) Julianna told her teacher that she was going to the temple (we had a primary temple trip this past Saturday). Her teacher asked me what church we went to, and I told her LDS. She said, oh, I'm Hindu, and I go to temples, too, so I was surprised to hear that Julianna was going to the temple! So Julianna's even being a good little missionary! Just had to share.

First week of Preschool--Done!

Blake is now in preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays--a co-op preschool that me and some other moms are doing. I taught the first week, and it went really well! Even though Blake is the youngest of the group, he did a great job staying on task and trying to learn. He is such a smart boy. I thought I'd include some recent pics of him: the beach on labor day in his "swimming hole," his love of watermelon, and him at the end of the first day of preschool, sitting in his cubby, actually.

I am a newly converted once-a-month mom!

My sink after all the meals were done (I kind of cleaned as I went to save time).

The top of my freezer--all the freezer bags of stew and chili

The bottom of my freezer--all the casseroles and bigger dishes.

My entire freezer--full of dinners for the MONTH!

Just wanted to update you on my big cooking day last Thursday--it was SO GREAT! I was able to make 10 really great meals in less than 6 hours and they all fit in my freezer! (Babysitting was a HUGE HELP!) We have been eating a different meal each night since then and they have all been SO GOOD! The best part is that I don't have to stress about dinner every day! All I have to do is remember to thaw and preheat the oven! Some meals you don't even have to thaw at all--just double the cooking time. So I am very pleased with once a month mom cooking and will definitely do it next month. It's such a wonderful idea. The grocery shopping was EASY because the website tells you everything to buy (by watching sales, it only cost around $100 for all the ingredients! not kidding), the recipes tell you how to cook for the bigger portions, and there are step-by-step instructions on how to cook all of them in the easiest order possible. It could not be easier!

Have I converted anyone else? See the onceamonthmom link on my sidebar!

My kids are skilled!

Today was my BIG cooking day. I'm almost done! I will post about my success soon. It was really fun--thanks to Jenny for watching Blake for me! I couldn't have done it without you! I'm taking a little break while Blake's sleeping and before Julianna gets home from school to share something they did this morning.

I bought a table and chairs set for the co-op preschool that starts next week. AHH! Anyway, we set it up a few days ago to try it out. Then when they weren't looking, I hid it under Julianna's bed. So this morning, as I was chopping away at vegetables for the meals, Blake comes up to me and says, "Don't be mad, Mommy. We use the table." So I'm thinking, they found the table and chairs and tried to set it up. Let's see how well they did. So I went upstairs to find this:


They set the entire table up by themselves! And all four chairs! And everything was locked into place. I really could not believe my eyes! I told them they were amazing and smart and they were really proud. Well, time to get Julianna and back to freezer meals!

A cute surprise

I am a BIG cat person. I love cats, and hope to have one or two someday, maybe when the kids are older. This morning we decided to take a walk and go to the park. As we started to get closer to our house as we were walking home, I saw a baby kitten sitting on the ledge under our front window. It was SO cute! I started to slowly walk toward it, and thought I was seeing double, because near it was ANOTHER kitten of the same pattern and color. Two kittens waiting for us when we got home. But those kittens ran away quick--one toward the left side of my house, one toward the right. I tried to find both of them, but only found one, and tried to tempt it with a bowl of tuna and water. It ran away again, so I put the bowl of tuna and water by our front doorstep. I hope they come back! I feel so bad for stray cats, especially kittens who are just roaming around. I just want to make sure they are safe and found, if someone lost them. That's my story for today.

And here's some recent pics:

Julianna with her new "Fender" doll from the Robots movie. I found it at a secondhand store for $3 (not even opened). But she REALLY wants the Rodney (blue robot) doll. Too bad it's REALLY hard to find. I've only found a few ebay auctions with it, and they sell for $30 or more! Not kidding. So keep a look out for a Rodney doll!

Julianna practicing her smile for picture day yesterday. Let's hope she did at least as well as this picture!

Of course Blake had to practice his smile. He always has to turn his head this way.