12 X 12 - September 2011

I woke up at 6:15 a.m.!, to make it to my first ever Boot Camp class at 7 a.m.

OMW (Oh My Word)! The pain! I was BY FAR the worst in the class, and was pretty positive I was going to pass out. I had to stop after 30 minutes. And it was the first day of my period (I apologize to any male readers). I am sure I could have gone 32 minutes if not for that fact. I went back today, and completed the class, but am walking like the extreme elderly.

When I arrived home Megan and Jackson were all ready for school. Eric reported that they got ready completely on their own, and he didn't have to prod them to do anything. Mind you, when I am home in the morning I have to remind Jackson to get his shoes on and brush his teeth 10 times. Hmpffff......

I was far too exhausted from Boot Camp to drive the kids to school. Luckily Eric took over:

As I was laying on the floor, trying not to die, Sade came over and wanted to play airplane. I rallied, but the flight was a short one, due to my exhausted state:

Sade and I before dropping her off at pre-school:

After dropping her off, I came home and had my brunch (I always eat for the day between breakfast and lunch). I had salmon (as I do daily), but I also had kryptonite. Also known as Bavarian Creme Pizza from Cici's pizza. You may remember I don't love Cici's, but I recently discovered the Bavarian delight, and am now obsessed. You can order it to go, and the entire pizza is only $3.99!

After picking up Sadie, I developed a terrible headache. I took some Ibuprofen, and retreated to bed, where I read this book by Sandra Dallas. I am a BIG Sandra Dallas fan:

Luckily I recovered 30 minutes later, and then cleaned the house. FYI: My house is almost always clean around 2:30 p.m. (since the kids are still in school, and Sadie is napping), so if  you need to ever stop by, please stop by then. While cleaning I put away these recent Lego creations done by Megan:

Everyday after school, Megan unloads her backpack and puts all of her books and binders on this shelf. She has such a ridiculous amount of stuff to carry around all day, that I had to go out and buy her a rolling backpack:

After Eric got home we went to Chili's for dinner. If you do not yet receive coupons for Chili's you should go and register for them right now on their web-site. Last night was kids eat free, and you are allowed to use the coupon with the 2 for $20 menu, so it ends up being a great deal.

Sade and Eric walking into Chili's:

It was time for baths and bed when we got home. Jackson, and his big blue eyes after his shower:

Apparently the day would not be complete without another truck repair. Some part (at this point I feel like we have replaced the entire truck) broke, so Eric fixed it.

Did I mention he also fixed his radiator last month? And his air-conditioning? He is very handy.

Pre-School Times Two

So Sade has been featured quite prominently on the blog lately. But I can't help it. My littlest peanut has had a big month!

Today she started pre-school. AGAIN!

She is not only in Kiddie College, but is also attending a home-based Joy School type of pre-school with 7 of her friends. Which means she is in school Monday-Thursday. No wonder I am going through a crisis! Not a mid-life crisis (I'm way, way, way, way too young) but a crisis nonetheless.

They have recess, story time, learning time, craft time, signing time, and snack time. She had all sorts of fun, but said her favorite part was playing outside. Today they learned about the letter "A", and made these cool aquariums.

They also had edible aquariums for snack time.

The first letter I have to teach is "D". Feel free to let me know all of your brilliant ideas. It is not going to be easy to compete with the aforementioned adorable edible aquariums.

Cold Creek

Do you ever have days that are perfect? I had one of Monday. Lots of things made it perfect, including the time we spent Monday afternoon and early evening hiking at Cold Creek. It is beautiful there. If you plan on going, the turnoff is about halfway between Mt. Charleston and Indian Springs.

 

On our way up to the trail, we were lucky enough to see lots of wild horses just off the main road.

 

We hiked the Bonanza Trail, which is 8 miles round-trip. If you look up the trail on-line, you will notice it says it is a STRENUOUS hike. And it was!

Uphill the entire way.

I was a bit worried about Sadie, Sade, but she is full of surprises, and hiked more than she has ever hiked before. Often running way ahead of us:

But sadly, on one of her sprints ahead she tripped over a tree branch and skinned her hands and knees:

But she recovered fairly quickly, and soon was back to her happy picture posing self:

She asked me to take the next couple of pictures of her:

With a pinecone.

With a tree that she said was just her size:

And one on top of a tree stump:

She also spent a lot of time hiding behind trees and jumping out to "scare" each one of us. She succeeded every time. Or at least we pretended she did:

We hiked. And we hiked. And we hiked. For 2 hours. Uphill. We were determined to make it to the top. But alas, the sun was setting, so we had to skedaddle down the mountain. I was pretty impressed with Megan and Jackson. This is the longest hike we have been on, and they did great. Quite better than me. My endurance still needs improvement.

Random pics:

Eating Indian Paintbrush:

While on the mountain there was a bit of excitement. While hiking up we had been asked to look out for a 69 year old man who hiked up that morning, but hadn't made it back yet. We never did see him, but on our way down the mountain we heard and saw a helicopter circling overhead:

As we hiked down farther, we could also hear what sounded like a search party getting ready to hike up. But by the time we arrived, there was no one there. We saw a police officer as we were leaving and he told us they had finally found the man, who had decided to hike all the way to Pahrump, but neglected to tell anyone! As I said, it was a bit exciting. However, Eric pointed out that if the outcome would have been different, I probably wouldn't have found it exciting, but rather tragic.

Sade Starts Pre-School

Sader Sade started pre-school yesterday!

It has been quite the adjustment. For Me! I haven't quite come to terms with it yet.

When I told her she was growing up, she said to me, "I'm only 3. I'm not growed yet." Then she rolled her eyes at me. Seriously.

We got there early, and waited patiently for her teacher, Miss Jackie to open the door. I love Miss Jackie! Megan and Jackson also both had her for pre-school when they were 3.

Sade found her name tag, and sat down at the table.

She had lots of free time to play, and thoroughly enjoyed playing with all of the kitchen toys.

Cowgirl Sade:

She wore her little self out, and promptly fell asleep on the way home.

She isn't nervous at all about going, and I know she will love it. Although it causes me separation anxiety, I'm sure I will grow to love it too. Eventually.

Five For Friday-Sadie Said Edition

This will be a post about Sadie saying things that we (as her loved ones) think are hilarious. That being said, I do realize others may not find them incredibly funny. Nevertheless, for the sake of documentation I give you a Five For Friday dedicated to my little chicken nugget.

1. Jackson made her angry (as he often does). Sadie screamed at him,"Jackson, you are now off my list!" (FYI: she now has a friend list in her head that she checks people on and off of).

2. The other day her friend Aubrey brought Sadie numerous pairs of her old shoes. She joyfully told us, "Aubrey is So on my list."

3. In the car Sadie told Jackson, "Jackson, you scream like a girl. No offense mom."

4. She is partial to the word really, said in an annoyed, are you kidding me tone.  As in, "Apple Jacks for breakfast? Really?!?"

5. When putting her to bed she has a mental checklist she says out loud as we are tucking her in. "Nightlight? Check. Water? Check. Pillow? Check. Blanket? Check."

She's perfect.

Romantic Dinner For 2

A while back, this paper appeared on our fridge:

It was inviting Eric and I to Sadie's room the following Sunday for a Romantic Dinner For 2.

The appointed day finally arrived. We were led by our hostess (Sade) to our table in her room:

The menu:

It states: "Enjoy. Some things are better than others. Choose carefully." I had an opportunity to peruse the menu a few hours before, and noticed that hot dogs, bologna sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese were the entree choices. I knew I could not choke down any of those items, so I suggested they add spaghetti. They agreed.

Jackson took our orders:

He had a system that involved just using initials of the things we were ordering. Brilliant!

Sadie brought us drinks and appetizers:

We both ordered raspberry lemonade. Eric ordered mixed chips for his appetizer. It included barbecue potato chips, cheetos, and pretzels:

I ordered fruit, and received about 20 strawberries. I ate 2 and sent the rest back for the kitchen staff to enjoy.

Speaking of kitchen staff, Megan was the chef:

For our main course, Eric and I both ordered the spaghetti:

The meal was superb, but the kitchen was beyond a disaster after they were finished. I was too busy cleaning it up to remember to take a picture.