Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year staying local, something we haven't done for many years. We started the day with Jason running his first race, the Upland Turkey Trot 5K. The girls and I got hot chocolate from Starbucks and watched him finish the race.

Then we went and saw "Fantastic Mr. Fox" which Jason slept through, but the girls and I found it very good. It isn't your pixar/disney/dreamworks movie for sure - but I love Roald Dahl and his odd sense of story telling. Luckily my girls didn't realize all the subliminal swearing occurring with the word cuss substituted over and over for another 4 letter word.

And then we were off to my cousin Heather and Alan's house with my aunts, uncle, cousin, second cousins, and Grandma and Poppa for a nice afternoon of softball and turkey and prime rib.

We are very thankful for family letting us invite ourselves over!
The only problem with not being around my sisters for Thanksgiving is I don't get any of their pictures to steal. I am terrible about preserving memories, and this are my only 2 pictures from the whole day :(

Thief in the Night

Addie lost her first 2 bottom teeth in Kindergarten, and has since experienced a very long year and a half dry spell. But when it rains, it pours, and she has been losing teeth like it is her job. (I think it is her master plan for getting money to buy Christmas presents.) She lost both her top teeth 2 days apart at night. The first one she woke up and it was gone, luckily we found it in her bed. The second she woke up, sat up, checked her tooth and it came out in her hand with no blood. I told her she could be our family Christmas card photo with the caption "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" but Elli would have none of that!

Since this picture she lost another on the bottom and its match is barely hanging on. Welcome Addie to the "awkward phase". (That's when you grow in ginormous front teeth that are jagged on the bottom and uneven. It's a phase that everyone goes through, but don't be surprised if you don't see too many pictures of Addie for the next 6 months, this is her last adorable one.)

Not So Scary Halloween

We like to be pretty for Halloween. No scary bloody make-up around here, but we still love any chance we get to wear mom's make-up.

Introducing:

Minnie Mouse Pumpkin

This costume won for best costume at out church's trunk-or-treat.

Here's Elle Woods.

Harvard Law Student and proud owner of Bruiser.

Last but not least,

Fancy Nancy

And the Winner Is...

Every year at the girls' school there is a stand out costume that impresses me so. This year I didn't get a very good picture, but there were 2 giraffes that were awesome and a matching zoo keeper mom there to help with the heavy giraffe necks. Way to go stranger, don't think I'm creepy because I'm photographing you and blogging about you without knowing you. I'm harmless.

Boo-ya!

Picturesque

I know what you're thinking:

-I didn't think the Kings were "those" people. ("those" people are the people who come to Disneyland costumed up.)

Well, we are NOT those people. If Jason had his way they wouldn't ever wear minnie ears or be pin traders, but as we frequent it so, I let them choose one or the other. Everything in moderation is my mantra, except visits to the happiest place of earth, of course.

So why, pray tell, did why go against our better judgement?

Every rule has it's exceptions and my justification is 3-fold.

1: Millie didn't want to be Minnie Mouse Pumpkin for Halloween, she wanted to be what Addie is going to be. But I reeeaaalllly wanted her to wear her cousin Fifi's adorable costume and this was the last year it would fit.

2: So; I promised if she would dress up as said Minnie Mouse Pumpkin, she could wear it to Disneyland and visit Minnie herself.

3: Minnie herself is in costume, and we follow "WWMD". (What Would Minnie Do?) She hasn't steered us wrong yet.

Elli had a Halloween party a week early, so to not lose the novelty of her costume come Halloween Eve (which, to be honest, Millie has lost) she dressed in Addie's dance costume from last year and we tied a bone in her hair to be a cave girl. I told her she was Pebbles, but that meant as much to her as when my dad sang "I wonder, wonder, who ooo ooo ooo oooh, Who wrote the book of love?". (I didn't know or care - but he kept asking for 18 long years.)

This year the girls wanted to carve pumpkins. I am still gung ho for my sparkly pumpkins, but I guess 3 years is a row is overkill for them. I told them they were going to have to get their hands dirty, (last time Jason and I, heavy on the I, had to do all the work because we have a priss problem in our house) but they were adamant that they were up to the challenge.

The girls wanted to re-create the giant Mickey pumpkin from Main St. It worked out pretty well.

The big moment.

Not really the shot I was hoping for, she got stage fright.

We even had a stranger ask to take her picture. Easiest $5 I ever made.

P.S. Anyone know a good 12-step for Disney addiction?

School Pictures

Be honest, have we been in

Southern California too long?

Our visit to the "birthplace of Los Angeles", Olvera Street, aka "A small part of Mexico in the heart of Los Angeles" with Grammi. Eating famous churros from Mr. Churro, buying authentic $2 fans that were made in China, and enjoying a fabulous lunch. Ole!

What's Wrong With this Picture?

So here is Amelia, looking oh-so-cute on her first day of preschool:

Here is Amelia in the car on the way home from her first day of preschool, I know it's subtle, but what is wrong with this picture?!? (hint: it is NOT that the church name is not the same as our church, I'm cool with that.)

Yes! She peed her pants the first day of preschool. I felt sick when I walked in and noticed her change of outfit. I felt like over-explaining that Millie has been potty trained since she was 2, that I forgot to take her before school because our routine was to wait for her to tell me (which I realized as I got back home from dropping her off but still hoped it would all work out), that elastic wasted jeans don't really flatter her figure, but instead I just apologized and got the heck out of dodge.

We might be Rednecks...

Our Summer included some less than aristocratic activities that could be the punch lines to many a Jeff Foxworthy joke.

Take for example our FREE tour of the Jelly Belly factory, that we had to wait in line 45 minutes for, but walked out with a yummy bag of jelly bellies, also FREE! (& No, we didn't buy the picture, they were nice enough to share in online, for FREE!)

Or my kids first experience in our home with Cup O Noodles. Since I was fortunate enough to schlep them with me to the grocery store since school is out, they both saw this bowl of sodium and told me how they had eaten it at friend's houses. Since they don't exactly break the bank, at about a quarter each, I obliged and felt like a model of the trailer park mom.
And how do you spend a Target gift card you get for your birthday from your Grandma? Swimsuit - no, arts & crafts - no, books, who am I kidding. They want fake nails, and I have to let go sometimes and let them express themselves. (Seriously, it is wrong, not adorable)
I guess they are expressing their desire to join beauty pageants, you gotta love "Toddlers & Tiaras"! Bring on the fake eyelashes.
And what is the maximum kids per bed ratio before you have to stop having kids? (I guess at that rate, we could have 7 more kids.) ((FYI, they do each have their own bed.))

Look at Me, I'm Andra D!

Happy Birthday Sista!

Hope you have a great year even though you are now in your "late" 30's", but don't worry, I won't tell anyone;)

But seriously, I want you to know I have always looked up to you, until I was in about 8th grade and then I started looking down on you. (those darn Diamond genes)

(BTW, this is your official birthday card, stamps are so expensive these days.)

As a *bonus* present (in addition to your fanny pack), I thought I would share a few Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy for your day.

The memories of my family outings are still a source of strength to me. I remember we'd all pile into the car - I forget what kind it was - and drive and drive. I'm not sure where we'd go, but I think there were some trees there. The smell of something was strong in the air as we played whatever sport we played. I remember a bigger, older guy we called "Dad." We'd eat some stuff, or not, and then I think we went home. I guess some things never leave you.

(That one is because I am memory challenged also. Don't judge me, it's a disease.)

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

(I think you should try this as a social experiment on all your girls and note how each responds.)

Love you Nell!

Self Worth

Jason and I were fortunate enough to speak in church today, so we needed to farm out the kids and cross our fingers that they would act better for others than they do for us. To motivate them, I annied up my special stash of Dove milk chocolate squares. I told them they could earn up to 3 squares depending on how good they were. So after church they asked how many chocolates they earned to which I reflected the question back to them: How many do they think they deserve? This is where nature vs. nurture comes into play. It turns out Elli and Addie are not one and the same. Addie immediately responded with "3". I asked what she did during sacrament and she said she colored the whole time. I kept the conversation going by asking if coloring the whole time warrants 3 chocolates. An affirmative "Yes" ended our conversation. During my conversation with Addie, Elli is replaying her behavior during the meeting in her head and calculating her chocolates, but to no avail, she can't make the call. She asks me to decide for her. I asked what she did during sacrament and she tells me she played quiet hand games and tic tac toe, but that she was very quiet. Okay, so you know what we expect from you, again how many do you think you deserve? She was stumped, she couldn't tell me how many she was worth. I gave her three also, mainly because she at least has a conscience and took more than a mini-second coming up with her answer.

And yes, our talks went well... enough; thanks for asking.

The Worst/Best Parent Ever??

So here's my side of the story. We decided to go up to Big Bear on Saturday to ride the Alpine Slide. Looking online we remembered they had a waterslide and we told the girls they could ride. Amelia took this plan that wasn't really meant for her and went laser focused with it. She couldn't talk about anything else, she stripped down to her "skin sweater" (thanks Hannah Montana for that one) to put her suit on immediately even though the instructions were to pack a suit, and she wanted to skip lunch so she could get on the waterslide quicker. So we get up there and upon a bit of research find out a) only single riders, no matter age & b) Jason couldn't go down first and wait at the bottom to catch her. But the lifeguard did offer a solution. 1) She could wear a life vest and 2) he (the lifeguard) would wait at the bottom and catch her.

So what would you do?

I explained all this to Millie and also told her how fast and scary it was, but she was not deterred. So I figure it comes down to one simple word:

TRAUMA

Either way, it's coming. Trauma from the waterslide that she is begging to go on but is clearly above her pay grade; or trauma from not being allowed to go down the slide that she has been talking about all day and will continue to talk about all day.

There Will Be Tears!

So even though Jason stated for the record that he did not agree with my decision (& I bet Andra wouldn't either), I let Amelia go down the slide. She did hesitate a few moments at the top but when she saw a boy her age go down she went for it. I was waiting at the bottom and, to be completely honest, she came down screaming. She came out of the water crying. People were watching. People were judging. But she calmed down quickly and complained only about the water getting in her eyes. So we made a plan, when she is 3 she will go down again with goggles. No nightmares, no trauma-induced bed wetting, and no plans to never go down a waterslide again, although only time will tell if this is indeed true.

It doesn't look that bad. right? (Shout out to 4 year Hailey who was so brave, she went on it over and over!)

Elli had to ride the lift by herself, my big girl!

At least we weren't the parents (dad) that went too fast and went over the side of the alpine slide and ended up with a face full of road rash on his little boy.

Our speed racers (& cute Cara in the back)

I like that Boom Boom Pow

Here is my official blog tribute to Elli & Addie's Dance Recital. They did great and it was TOTALLY worth the 6 plus hours of watching hundreds of nameless girls and token boys dance to see them on stage for 3 minutes each. Elli took lyrical jazz this year and her dance was not at all "cute-sie" but way grown up. We had to work on her "small smile" since her "toothy smile" contradicts the lyrics: (read breathy & slow with lots of dramatic pause)

"This is what it is to be loved and to know That the promise was when everything fell We'd be held."

She did fabulous, of course.

Addie took jazz and performed her dance to "Knock on Wood" with her cute friend Rachel. She chose not to wear her glasses on stage, so we were so relieved she didn't fall off! AND now we have a perfect Halloween Flinstones costume - any takers?

Freeloading

We love our friends Jaime & Justin, and we love the pearls of wisdom Justin has shared throughout the years. He has a gift way with words. We like to incorporate them in our daily lives. Some that have stuck over the years are:

“I can’t take you anywhere.” (Preferably said to another grown adult)

“Dad tax” (can be used on anything from Halloween candy to treats from parties or church)

& his most recent and profound:

“These kids are a bunch of freeloaders!” (How true is that, especially the older they get!)

But Addie has finally pulled her weight. She read enough AR book to go her schools AR pizza and ice-cream party where her name was picked for a $25 Coco’s gift card. She reluctantly happily treated our family to a yummy breakfast this past weekend.

Way to go Addie, now how about a fun paper route?

Balls!

Everywhere I look I am seeing balls.  I guess that's what I get for being a blog lurker.  So I decided to try these yummy looking treats for myself.  Jason thought the name "cake balls" didn't fit.  His suggestion was "cake truffles", but considering you use "almond bark" instead of actual chocolate as a coating, I thought that name was like polishing a turd. (A phrase I learned from Jason that surprisingly fits many situations: like mopping  linoleum, or washing the minivan, you get the point.)  So then he came up with "white trash truffles", but that doesn't fit either.  There has to be a better name, something in the middle.

So here is my first attempt, I made German Chocolate Cake Balls.  I am excited about all the different combinations out there, if only someone could come up with a great name.

Think Smarter, Not Harder

That is what my principal used to tell our staff back when I taught in Utah.  She was a wise woman.  I forgot her advice and told Elli she could have a sleepover for her 9th birthday.  It started at 6 with making dinner (since it was on a Sunday night I couldn't just buy pizza).  The girls were soooo noisy we sent them outside.  After feeding them they played double bubble, again, and then onto crafts.  Next, cookie cake (thank you Aunt Cami), and then S'mores with Jason.  Following treat #2 jammies were on and we were on to game #2.  Then we started the movie and painted toesies.  Time for treat #3, popcorn and licorice.  I still can't figure out why they were totally wired at midnight with every intention of staying up ALL night.  So I got un-cool and curled up on the couch and waited until they all fell asleep.  Total fun-sucker, I know, but I was exhausted after hosting a 6 hour party.  

 

I hope you had fun Elli, because Dad said for every friend you invited, it will be that many years until your next sleepover.  So we do this again when you turn 13.  (He is even more of a fun-sucker!)  1-4-3:)

Addie Turns 7

Better a day late, I tell myself to curb the guilt.  We had a jam-packed, fun-filled Memorial Day weekend celebrating the girls birthdays with parties and actual Birth Day activities.

First was Addie's Baking Party.  We started by rolling and cutting out sugar cookies.  This task couldn't have been successful without help from my sister Cami and mother-in-law Joyce.  Working with flour and rolling pins and Amelia takes lots of adult supervision.  While the cookies and pizza were baking we played the Double Bubble Game, like chubby bunny but with leftover bubble gum from Easter. (waste not, want not)  Addie and Brooke tied with 11 pieces in their mouth.

After lunch we played the baby food game, even though Addie wanted to veto this game from the party.  It turns out the King household is not a democracy but a dictatorship, hence the appropo surname, so the game stayed.  It also turns out Amelia actually liked the baby food and wanted more.

We also played "hot rolling pin" and decorated our cookies, then ate ice-cream sandwich cake accented with dulce de leche per Addie's request. (I drizzled caramel from a plastic bottle, just like they do in Italy.)

 

But the piece de resistance were the adorable party favor aprons Grandma Joyce made, Merci!

Happy Birthday Addie, we love you all the way to the moon and back!

Fresh From My Garden

Yummo - organic arugula, I know not only because it is grown in my back yard, but because I hand cleaned each leaf rubbing off and rinsing the aphids.  So flavorful for lettuce, of course the girls didn't appreciate it.  They are not gourmet like me:(

If only that darned fence in MY backyard didn't separate me from MY arugula, I could have it any time I wanted :(  (BTW, thanks Michelle :))

Can't take credit for the tomatoes and carrots, those are courtesy of my friend Joe, our town Trader.

Sometimes the Truth Hurts

And sometimes it's hilarious: