Goodbye Science Cube - Hello Aquarium

Yesterday, we spent several hours at the Science Discovery Cube in Santa Ana. We have enjoyed our membership this past year. Some of our favorite exhibits were Clifford and the Human body. The kids also enjoyed learning about Tigers (especially the rock wall that lit up). To make it special, we let all the kids participate in the Dinoquest (a really cool scavenger hunt). Each child receives a wand (transmitter) that keeps track of each fossil you find. They have organized "missions" for individuals to complete. Then you get rewarded with a cool token at the completion of each assignment. IMO, this is most fun for kids ages 7 and above.

This year we will be making our way to the Aquarium in Long Beach. A membership was given to our entire family by my brother and his family. Thank you. Can't wait to touch the sting rays and feed the lorikeets!

Dogs, dogs, dogs

We are taking care of our neighbor's puppy, Emmy, for a week. Zeus is getting a lot of exercise. Emmy loves to pounce and run and CHEW! Poor little thing is such a puppy. We are all working hard to train her, but it is so tempting for her to steal things and go chew them. Lee and Libby took her on a bike ride, she is in great shape!

Merry Christmas!

Brooke building with Grandpa Reynolds. The toy is a motorized drill with easy screws for her to take apart and rebuild again and again.

Perry building with his new erector set.

Libby opening a present from Grandma Suzette and Ed. The present included "toe socks" that her toes are snugly sleeping in tonight. Libby says she loves to be warm.

Sage opening presents, she already wore one of the blouses and necklaces tonight!

Perry plugged in to his new MP3 and look at his stack of gifts!

Grandpa Reynolds checking out a CD Sage gave to him.

Staci showing off her new Christmas tree Sage gave to her. Can I just put this out next year?

All the kids were caught building.






Great idea we clued in on from the Astle family. They let the kids open presents given to each other as a family night. This shortened the Christmas morning and helped them appreciate things a little more. We did it! We think we will keep this tradition. The kids were so sweet in their thoughtfulness for others.

Opening stockings and pure chaos.

This year Lee and I had a "silent night" on Christmas Eve. All of the kids were with their other biological parents. That allowed us to have a nice dinner and game night with my parents. We started Christmas day at 11 (are you jealous?) with a nice brunch and then a nice dinner at my moms at 4. Thankfully Brooke took a nice nap, so all went well. Everyone is happy with their gifts they received and gave. Mostly, we are so grateful for the spirit of Christmas and the things the season reminds us of.

Brooke's final 5th birthday celebration

Dinner for Brooke

Princess phone and coloring book from Grandma and Eddie. The phone has all kinds of activities. Brooke has decided that it will stay on her Vanity table. Does that mean she has seen me put make-up on while talking on the phone (maybe too many times)?

Bathing suit with itty bitty skirt from mommy and Lee (they already sent me to Disneyland with friends). Who can pass up the suits found during the off season?

Barbie car and girl from Uncle Scott and Auntie Gail. The girl has a dog that needs to be taken care of. Yes, it actually eats and then poops. The Barbie, Tanner, has a magnetic pooper scooper that picks up the poop. What a fun gift!

Sage helped her read all the cards.

Making a wish!

The finished cake and cupcakes. Rebecca, that apron really gets a lot of use.

Brooke knows how to really get into her baking. This is the clean up effort. Since you know she likes doing the dishes, she really did wash them all with plenty of soap.

Can you see all the screws and pieces she had to put together?

Vanity table

Picture taken on Thursday, the 18th. She brought snack to school: peanut butter sandwiches, made from Ritz crackers, peanut butter and chocolate Pops cereal and a bag of Cheetos. Yes, they all had orange fingers in the end. Funny thing happened...Brooke was mad at me because I passed out the Cheetos along with the other foods - she thought that should be dessert and only served after everyone was done eating the other food. The ideas she comes up with make me crack up :)

Brooke is one lucky little girl. She has so many people that love and care about her. We started the rainy day off with a shopping trip with my Dad to Toys R' Us. She knew exactly what she wanted, she doesn't care for shopping. He bought it and she couldn't wait to get home to put it together. This girl patiently screwed in all the screws and took a break for lunch and continued to put it all together. It is called a Sleeping Beauty Vanity table. Funny thing about it: the table includes a doll head that is interactive. When Brooke picks up the comb, it makes some comment. It is quite the item she has been looking at for some time.

Tonight we had a family party at my parent's home across the street :) My mom cooked all of Brooke's favorite foods. Brooke made the cupcakes and cake, she decorated them herself as well. She is becoming very independent!

Gingerbread House

The Finished Product!

Help me out here. This is my first gingerbread house. I let the kids decorate a side and part of the roof. Check out their pictures to see what they did with their real estate. I've heard that you eat the house...when? After Christmas? It was the perfect night to do this activity, it was actually cold. We had the fire place on and the girls were all bundled up with blankets.

Talent Show at School

Libby was a hit! She sang "Up on the Housetop". Both Sage and Libby went to many 2 hour practices after school along with a dress rehearsal. Unfortunately, Sage couldn't be at the actual performances, but both she and Libby had a great experience preparing for a show.

Brooke's birthday celebrations begin

Who takes pictures looking into the sun? The 3 musketeers: Brooke, Jed, and Kelly. Can you believe the ornaments are larger than their heads?

Laura is brave to go on the tea cups, not once, but then again at night before the fireworks!

Notice the new benches for "Small World", now with hand grips.

Brooke wanted to see the real Mickey Mouse!

Brooke and Mommy

Kelly and Mommy

Jed and Mommy

Brooke wanted to celebrate her birthday with friends at Disneyland for her party this year. Some have passes and the others my cousin signed in for "free". She loved the entire day including the fireworks. They just take your breath away. One scary moment of the day was when during Jedi training, Darth Maul looked right at Brooke and pointed. That brought her quickly into my lap. Since she was wearing the "birthday badge", many people that work at Disneyland wished Brooke a "Happy Birthday". That is nice and all until we went on the Jungle boat ride. The funny boat driver kept including her in the jokes, including the part where the natives are chanting. She interpreted that to be singing, "Happy Birthday to Brooke" - I thought that was really a great example of going out of your way to make it special. Inside Toon Town there is a play area called "Goofy's playhouse". The kids had a lot of fun there until you realize we've got more rides to go on. I'm bummed because I can't share with you any great pictures of the castle lit up at night. During Christmas, everything is so dreamy at Disneyland...it even snows after the fireworks! They leave nothing out! Brooke never slowed down, she had so much fun.

Libby's birthday: presents and shopping

Planning out a dress for her baby doll.

Angels blanket, "nuudles" that stick together when moistened, and "kitty in your pocket" - cats that clip on your ear lobes

Fur wrap, tiger webkinz, Barbie skateboard, material, coloring poster

Water baby and tub. She fills the doll with warm water for a "real" baby feel. Notice the new MLP jumper. Thanks to the Loveridge granparents for shoes and tights to match this dress and others.

Turning 7 has lasted several weeks for Libby. I wrote about the Loveridge family party. She also had a princess party with her mom and family: castle cake and throne included. Libby went out to eat and to the movies with her maternal grandparents. Finally, she went on a shopping spree with myself and Lee. One thing this girl can do is spend money, thankfully she is also generous. She spent some of her money on Gavin, Jillian, and Brooke. Some family members gave her money, which she spent on material for some sewing projects and a skateboard that transforms into a scooter. She also received a Hannah Montana backstage and the Troy "Barbie" doll from HSM and more Polly pockets. This girl is set! Thanks to all of you.

Note of interest: We stopped at a second hand store to shop. Libby found a toy similar to one we had broken on Thanksgiving: "sky dancer". I wondered why I hadn't seen them in stores lately? They have been recalled it turns out! So I see that people are trying to make more money off of them on e-bay and amazon. You pull the string, the wings open up like a helicopter. I can only imagine the potential hazards, can't you? We loved our 1st bubble making sky dancer for several years, now Libby bought this rolling one. It should be labeled "Use at your own risk"

Twilight Movie

This is the bad guy? He plays the tracker vampire that is after Bella, the main character. His face is shown here as eye candy for some of my followers :) His name is Cam Gigandet.

You may have read my book review of this some time back, but now the movie came out and yes, I saw it. From the ticket sales, it sounds like many others went to see it this weekend as well. I liked it, but enjoyed the book on a more personal level. It was a mom's night out for me, thanks to all my ladies that shared the moment with me. We actually saw it for free because the theatre gave us each a free ticket to come back (the movie stopped, it was hot, and a few sound issues). It sounds like there will be a sequel movie coming out next year!

Birthday time in November

Michael lighting the 9 candles on his cake.

Libby watching Uncle Jon lighting her 7 candles.

Here's my big brother (I think this is his debut on my blog!)

Today we had a family birthday dinner to celebrate the birthdays of Libby and her cousin Michaelson. Everyone made their own pizza and cooked it in the adobe oven that Aunt Jessica built (sorry if that is not what it is called). All the Long Beach/Lakewood cousins were there, as well as my brother, his wife and daughter (visiting from Utah). They each had their own cake: Libby a yellow with stawberry frosting, Michael an Oreo cake that we made up as we went along (thanks Sage). They were both excited about their gifts, thank you generous family.

Diablo: Chinese Yo-yo

Perry bought a diablo after watching a presentation during his PE class. It must have been a great infomercial. The students even got to touch the product! Well, I must say he is pretty good at it already.

Picture time is here again

See if you can guess which pictures are from 2007 and which are from 2008?

Check us out. Three of us have lost teeth this year, Brooke is waiting not so patiently. She tells me she thinks she has a loose tooth. Some of us have longer hair, some have shorter. You may even notice a few more freckles. One thing is certain, we have all grown!