Camry's Author's Tea Book.

This is Camry.  She is six and in the first grade.  And she is an amazing author!!!  I was so happy that she was put into Mr. Siegel's first grade class because he is the only teacher that does a project called Author's Tea.  When Pacen was in first grade, all of the teacher's did it but now things have been shaken up a bit and only Mr. Siegel does it.  I love the Author's Tea project.  They have to create a story all on their own and publish it and then they read it a bunch of times to different classes and then they each have an Author's Tea date and they read it to the whole grade level and parents up on the stage in a microphone.  It's awesome.  

Camry actually wrote one and a half stories.  She started one about monsters and then changed her mind after Halloween was over.  Surprise surprise.  Then she wrote "Lost in the Forest" and it turned out super cute.  

If you want to read it, click HERE. 

And another funny book to read is Student 21's titled "The Farting Daddy."  

Camry is just an awesome girl all around.  Sometimes I feel bad because she is so low maintenance that I might not spend as much time with her because she isn't as demanding of it as my other kids.  She is super independent and helpful.  I can count on her to help with Gentry and Claira, help clean up messes, and get herself ready for the day (most of the time).  She has a great, fun, happy personality that I just can't live without.  She has been working on becoming a better reader and finishes a new book every couple of days.  She really got into the Ivy and Bean books and loves all things about animals that talk and fairies and make believe.  I love my Camry girl.  

Preschool Outing: The City

Friday we had the most super fun preschool day.  Our unit is on transportation so we loaded up the kids  and took them to the city to experience many forms of transportation.  So fun!  The whole time I just kept thinking about how awesome it is that we live here and we can just do down and do cool and awesome things whenever we want.  

We rode the BART into the city, 

And we searched for other forms of transportation along the way. 

Then we hopped on a cable car...

Okay so "hoppped" isn't exactly how it happened.  They stood in line while I waited in another line to buy some tickets.  But we can pretend it's like the movies (or Full House) where you get to just hop on a cable car whenever it drives by.  

Gentry was entertaining herself while I waited.....

...And waited....

Yep, she was using my boot as a pillow.  

 But then we were on and it was awesome!  Riding on Cable Cars I think is just the funnest thing ever! I have memories doing it with my mom and sisters as a kid and it just makes me happy.  

Gentry loved it. 

Claira looked like pro after a few minutes.  

She's awake....

...then asleep just a few minutes later. 

 Edna and Camy...

Cari and Taylor...

We rode the car all the way down to Ghiradelli square and let the kids run wild for a bit....

This picture makes me laugh because I was chasing her down...all in fun...so she'd come and take a picture with me and then she fell in the wet grass and was totally unhappy.  That's my girl! 

....and then of course had to grab a Nob Hill Chill and some ice cream for the kiddos.  Claira specifially asked for a sprite and "banilla" ice cream with sprinkles and no whipped cream.  You're at Ghiradelli square but whatever! 

Flowers Claira picked for me. 

Then we hopped back on the cable car and got off on Lombard Street so see the super windiest road.  We didn't have a lot of time so we just walked down and up it.  

 At the very bottom, Claira scraped her leg and you can tell how happy she was about that.  We were asking her about what was her favorite thing about the day and all she could say was that on the windy stairs she fell and got a big scrape.  Injuries trump all fun. :)

 And then we made our way back to the BART and headed home with just enough time to spare to pick up the other kids at school.  I took this picture just for my germaphobe sister, Emily.  But seriously, what is more sick than lying your head down on a BART cushion.  Sick.  Luckily it was just for a moment.  

Isn't that the coolest preschool field trip ever?!?!?  

Christmas Calendar Days 2 & 3

Last night was Christmas card making at our house.  I got out all the paper and paint and glitter and ribbon and the kids went to town.  I made a few with Gentry, Pacen tapped out at like two, and then Camry and Claira stayed and practically had a contest to see who could make the most.  I love doing stuff like that with the kids but it doesn't happen very often because this is what it looked like afterward.

 

Even little old laid back me was having a little anxiety over all the mess.  

Who needs all of that glitter and buttons?!?!  Why Claira, of course!  The fun outweighed the mess.

 It's very serious work. 

 I made these little cute cards with Gentry.  She lost interest after a few minutes.  It was probably a good thing. :)  And yes, she's been in this minnie mouse outfit for like 4 days straight but it is getting washed today.  Hooray!

A few of Claira's masterpieces.  

 Camry creations. 

 I had to take a picture of this one of Pacen's.  I don't want to make fun of him but he really just isn't artistic and really doesn't care to be.  He was all upset when I told him that he had used a little too much paint for those eyes and that they probably wouldn't dry for like five days.  After like three cards he went downstairs and played football with Gentry.  That boy.  

Day two was our Wassail party so I put in an easy one of just listening to our favorite Christmas music. The Wassail party was super fun.  OUr house is small and it was packed!  I think people had fun and Than made some yummy drinks and we socialized with friends, neighbors, and people from church and it was great.  But I was super tired afterward and I had to do preschool yesterday which really wore me out.  So then what do I do....Christmas cards with the kids!  Not smart because i'm really tired right now and I think I'll lie down with the kids and take a nap right after we eat lunch.  

I think it's funny because even though the activities aren't that cool, they have asked every morning first thing if they can go look in the box.  And every morning I've been like, "What box?"  You know...the Christmas box!  Oh yeah.  I guess it's been a hit so far.  We'll see if we can keep it up.  

LIttle Baller.

Pacen has been doing basketball and he LOVES it!  My only wish was that he could play in more games because he really is getting better and better but most of the games are on Sunday so we just do what we can.  He has a great attitude about it and really just goes with the flow.  These are pictures from his first game.  They were all so lost it was sort of funny to watch.  He wouldn't take a shot and then I bribed him with candy for every shot he took and he took two I think but didn't make any.  

 But on Saturday he scored four points!!!! One of them was a little jump shot and the other two were free throws.  It was so exciting!  And he knew a lot better where to play on defense and just did awesome.  

I'm proud of my little baller.  He was pretty proud of himself too.  I put this picture on instagram and a few people commented on how he is a little Jimmer and that just made his day.  

Day One: Make Santa Pancakes.

I have loved this "extra week" as Than and I keep calling it.  It was so nice having Thanksgiving so early because it gave us even more time to get ready for Christmas.  And we are feeling more time because we are not--going to Maui the first week of December, or going to Disneyland just a few days before Christmas or having just had a baby.  Good ideas but it makes December CRAZY!   As part of my being a little more on the ball this Christmas season, I organized our Activity Advent Calendar and today was the first day:  Making Santa Pancakes!  I stole the idea off of a blog and it was a hit.  A big too much sugar for the morning but it's all good.  We worked it off with typical busy Hancock Saturday.  

Everyone always has to help with pancakes.  And that means that they pull up the chair from the table and take over all the space and fight about who gets to pour in the salt.  :)  Gentry actually did a great job stirring which I was surprised about.   

 Camry's cute finished product.  I would probably just use real strawberries next time but the strawberry syrup was all that we had.  

 Claira basically wanted whipped cream for breakfast and that's what she got. :)

 Pacen working on his masterpiece.  He told me that after he finished this one, he took a plain one and smothered it was caramel & M&M's and ate it like a taco and then had another one covered in whipped cream.  That about makes me want to barf.  So much sugar! 

  

Gentry really only liked the m&m's.  A girl after my own heart.  But then she was starving at Pacen's game and I didn't have any snacks for her.  Bad mom move. 

Be proud of this boy today!  He scored his first basket in a real game today!  A totaly of four points by the end of the game.  He's a total stud and I love watching him get better and better at basketball.  His team lost terribly but he scored 4 out of the 14 total that they made.  Not bad! 

The rest of the day was spent eating lunch at Chili's, going pants shopping for Than and food shopping for tomorrow and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.  Claira said to me, "Is this a clean day?"  And I said, "Yeah, Saturday is always a cleaning day."  She said, "Is today Saturday?!  I don't like Saturdays!"  She'll learn one day that they are really the best day of the week.  

So Happy First Day of December!  Only 24 more days until we get to open some presents!  Speaking of presents, Than found one of his big gifts in the garage today.  :(  I covered it but didn't warn him and he picked that cover right off.  Oh well.  He said he loved it anyway but I hate ruining surprises.