Wednesday, October 16, 2013

12 X 12 - October 2013

I totally and completely forgot it was the 12th until early afternoon on Saturday! So I have no pictures of our thrilling Saturday morning activities which involved eating breakfast, working on my singing time lesson, and cleaning the house.
Upon remembering I snapped this picture of Meg and Sade hanging out. Or more accurately Sadie trying to pry Megan's attention away from her phone. They were having a discussion about Sade blowing into Tuckers face.

Megan said, "Don't do that Sadie. He doesn't like it."

To which Sadie responded, "How do you know Megan? You don't speak dog."



Then I went to check on Jackson and discovered him playing with Lego's, which is something he doesn't do a whole lot of.



We were in the process of getting ready (or more accurately I was finishing getting ready) for a trip to the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary. When it was finally time to leave, I found all of my kids scrounging for snacks to take with us. They had just eaten lunch, but seemed to think they were going to be STARVING all afternoon.



We were all ready to go, and out the door when I realized Jackson had disappeared. This is nothing new, as he is ALWAYS the last one out the door. I have to sit at the door, and call and call for him before he finally makes an appearance. I'm pretty sure he is usually finishing up some type of electronic game.



I had to write the directions down to the sanctuary on a sticky note because I find that when I go to that part of town (northwest) my phone does not always bring me to the correct place.



While we were on our way Eric called and said he was on his way home from work and would meet us there. Yippee! So when we arrived we had some time to kill in the car while we waited for him. This picture is a pretty accurate portrayal of what takes place if we ever have free time in the car.



Daddy arrives!



We had never been to the Gilcrease Sanctuary before, and didn't have real high hopes for it, BUT it was awesome! Even the kids said it was WAY MORE FUN than they thought it would be.



(Of course our trip there will be getting it's own LONG post).

On the way home we picked up Little Caesars for the kids, which they ate in the living room while watching T.V.



Then Eric and I went out to dinner. Having a 13 year old at home to babysit is pure bliss! We went to Market Grille CafĂ© for some Greek food. I have mentioned before that I never get dessert when I eat out, except for when we go there. I just love their Pumpkin Baklava Cheesecake.



Upon arriving home I worked some more on my singing time lesson for the next day. As this calling is so totally foreign to me, I have to spend hours upon hours each week preparing for it. Just deciding on what songs to sing, and then learning the words and tunes of the songs is a full time job (for me). Usually when I am working on my lesson, I have approximately 10 different tabs open on the computer.



But the calling is a BLAST! Seriously. I kind of love it.

After finally emerging from our computer/laundry room a couple of hours later we watched a little television. First some football and then after the kids went to bed Eric and I watched the new show Blacklist. I don't generally like to take on new T.V. shows, because I hate when they get canceled just as you are getting into them, but with Eric's encouragement we are taking a chance on this one.



Perfect October day! It's the best month to live in Vegas. Yes?

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

My 36th Birthday!

I have got to get caught up on this blogging thing!
I turned 36! For some reason I feel a special kinship to the number 36, and have been looking forward to being 36 for many years, so I am thrilled.

We will start with a series of pictures of ME (at 36!):

Me:



Me with same eyes as my Grandma Hess. Which I only realized after looking at this picture. Her eyelids were always hooded over just like mine are. Apparently now that I am 36, and thereby getting older, things like hooded eyelids become more pronounced.



Me looking cool. Right?



I started my birthday off quite perfectly with breakfast with my friends.



Man I am a lucky girl to have such good friends.

Then I went home and completed all my regular mom duties. But after school for the kids and work for Eric, I got to open my presents!



Have I mentioned that I am a fan of getting gifts on my birthday and Christmas? They don't have to be expensive, in fact I prefer that they are not, but I do like getting them.



Then it was time to go to dinner. The only problem was that I was still STUFFED from breakfast. But everyone else was hungry so I chose Chipotle. I chose it mainly because I wanted to be able to sit outside to eat.



Then it was home for German Chocolate Cake. My fav!



It was a great birthday! I heard from all of my favorite loved ones, friends and family alike, got to spend the day with so many of my favorite people, and I turned 36! It was kind of perfect.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Clark County Heritage Museum

This past Saturday I took the kids back to the Clark County Heritage Museum. The last time we visited was 2 years and 4 months ago! Sade had no memory of the visit, but the other two did and complained about how "creepy" it was and said they didn't want to go back. Personally I think it is super cool, and since I am the mom, and hence the decision maker, we went anyway.
Eric was out of town for the day, but our Baird friends joined us. They have never been, and this was Amy's reaction upon seeing the admittedly "creepy" mannequins they have posed in the houses:



I think these 2 are the creepiest:


This guy just looks beaten down by life:
 

We pushed past his sadness and had a great time. Even the kids! As evidenced by the amount of giggling and running from exhibit to exhibit that they did.

More pics:



Playing some sort of Native American game:



Success:




After a bit of prodding I was able to get Sade to model this rabbit stole:



After the Bairds left, I took the kids out to take a few more pictures. When we came over 2 years ago, I had Jackson and Sadie pose in front of this car and directed them to act cool. These were the results:



I gave them the same direction on this trip and they gave me this:




Can you guess from these next pics which child of mine LOVES to be the center of attention?



The weather, the lighting, the time of day, everything was gorgeous so we took some more pictures.



They didn't even know I was doing bunny ears!



Almost (since Eric wasn't there) perfect day.