Spirit Week!

Max got to experience his first spirit week at school! The first day was pajama day that he opted out of because he had a field trip to the zoo that day. He also opted out of nerd day. But he did participate in crazy hair day, favorite sports team day and crazy outfit day (didn't get a picture of it but he wore his clothes backwards).

For crazy hair day we colored his hair with blue chalk. We wet it first a bit where we wanted the chalk to go and then just rubbed it on. It worked really well and by the end of the day it was mostly faded out.

For sports day was there ever any question as to what he'd wear? Jersey, hat, t-shirt and pants. I had a hard time convincing him that he couldn't wear his football helmet to school. Funny kid!

Another Beach Day!

One of the greatest things about San Diego is the occasional random beach-like day in the winter. There are always a handful of them. We took advantage of one day after school and headed down to La Jolla Shores for a few hours of sun and fun! The water of course was still freezing cold but it didn't stop the kids from running around in the waves.

31 Years Young-ish

(How much does he look like Lia in this picture??)

I'm pretty happy I married someone who is older than me so that I can always tease him about being an old man without him being able to retaliate. Tyler truly is no spring chicken anymore. He had to work on his birthday but the kids and I tried to make it a fun day for him. We decorated and cooked him his favorite meal. We made brownies and got him a few gifts, too. One of which was the giant orange ball that Lia insisted Tyler had to have. She promised me he'd love it.

Max drew him a birthday card and we blew up balloons and had ourselves a mini party when Tyler got home from work (which was almost thwarted by some lame sick person at the hospital; seriously, the nerve of someone getting SICK on my husbands BIRTHDAY).

Tyler was later spoiled by his mom, too, when he visited their house. He's a lucky guy!

Mini Artists

To my delight both Max and Lia re really into art and drawing. Max tells me that when he is allowed to pick free-time at school that he usually picks art. And Lia will take any opportunity to draw a picture. And maybe it's just my mommy goggles but I think they are seriously good at it! Here's a VERY small sampling of some of their work!

A penguin - by Lia

A bird (first the outline and then she colored it in) - by Lia

Abraham Lincoln - by Max

And a cute one of Lia with her Dr. Seuss hat on that she made at pre-school.

Luck o'the Irish

I'm fairly certain I have no Irish blood running through my veins, and I'm pretty sure my kids don't either. Yet those pesky Leprechauns still came to our house to do some mischief! I guess the only thing that made it better was that they dropped lots of gold out of their pockets.

For breakfast they left a rainbow of fruit and marshmallows. And of course some more gold! They also turned the milk green and Lia was the only one brave enough to drink it. She cried when it was all gone.

Tyler made some smoothies and we had leftovers so he made popsicles for later. The kids loved them!

And it wouldn't be St. Patrick's day without corned beef and cabbage for dinner -- that Max actually ate. Which probably means the Leprechauns actually did leave us some luck.

Published Again!

It's true that in my work as a photographer I don't strive to become a famous fashion photographer with my pictures plastered in fancy fashion magazines, but it sure is exciting when it does happen!! Thanks to the awesome True Birds girls my photos were featured in a full page spread in Celebrity Hairstyles Magazine!! Let me tell you, my pictures look GOOD in a magazine, haha!

Anyway, very fun to see them in there. I've had a few photos on various websites lately, too. I love my work with True Birds. It's a lot of fun! And it's fun to see their success, too.

Chores

It had to happen because I was going slightly insane trying to get the kids to do things around the house to help out. So, the chore chart was born! They have simple things to do -- make their beds in the morning, put their pajamas away, brush their teeth, clear their plates, read 15 minutes a day, do homework, clean up toys. All totally doable throughout the day. They also can choose two larger chores from a group of 6 to complete by the end of the week. Those include vacuuming a bedroom or the living room, putting the dishes away, organizing the shoe closet, dusting the bookshelves.

The kids are actually loving it! When they finish a chore they move their magnet down and then at the end of the day if all of their magnets are moved they get to pick a sticker. It's amazing how much kids love stickers. At the end of the week if they did ALL of their chores every day they get a small allowance that they can save in their jars for a big toy or something small from the dollar store when they decide.

The kids are doing great with it and are really loving the structure of it, having a routine and being able to check things off. I'm loving that at the end of the day all their toys are picked up.

Tea Picnic

While trying to get some organizing done in my bedroom one afternoon I came out to the living room after wondering why the kids were being so quiet and found them sitting together having a "tea picnic." It was adorable. They even brought their babies and animals along. And for one half of an hour they were both perfectly content playing together.

 

Diet Coke + Mentos

No, that was not my breakfast, although tempting. Tyler had done this "experiment" before with the kids and they loved it! So when "Santa" saw a special device to make the experience even more awesome (s)he decided to put it in Max's stocking. Well, the time finally came to try it out and as expected there was no disappointment this time around either.