My Weekend

Well the weekend would have been better if the weather would have been a little nicer... We seen snow today! Wow what a shocker! I don't ever remember getting snow on my birthday, ever!!

Any who... On Saturday after swimming and tumbling lessons, the kids and I ventured to Rockford to find winter coats and football socks (Halloween costume). We succeeded and also managed to meet my brother, Mike, and niece, Michaela, at Red Robin for lunch. We arrived home a little after 3pm. Todd informed us that he was done working in the garage and would be in to take a shower shortly... to my surprise he let us know at 5:15 we were leaving to go get something to eat... even though I told him that I was not the least bit hungry. He had a big surprise for me for my birthday. We dropped the kids off at one of my good friends' house, Mrs. Farmer Foley, to play (thank you, thank you!). Todd then proceeded to drive to Freeport without telling me where we were going... I was hoping it wasn't really fancy as I was wearing jeans, tennis shoes and my Le-Win Panther wind jacket. We ended up at the Fieldstone restaurant... I will leave my comments to myself about this place as we have tried it before and not been impressed... Todd thought maybe it had changed... it didn't. However, we did have a good time having some time to the 2 of us... It is always hard to find things to talk about after you been talking the whole way to Freeport and when you don't have kids to yell at. We picked up the kids after a couple hours and they had a wonderful time!!! They ate pizza and made me a very special and large birthday card!!! (Mrs. Farmer Foley - Remember the standing invitation for a future date as your birthday is right around the corner!!!)

Today we went to see the HSM 3 the much awaited movie. It was good and the kids loved it... I think I prefer the original movie, but they love them all! I think we discovered that Cole should play the drums as he was practicing every time they started to sing. Zoe stood up a few times and started to dance. Well we are home now for some much needed r&r after this weekend... and ready to start the week again! And prepare for Halloween...

HSM 3

Well the excitement is here for Cole and Zoe... They have been waiting months to see High School Musical 3. I had told them that I would take them the weekend it came out... I didn't realize that it was my birthday weekend. I made a promise and I am going to keep it... My Saturday filled up quickly, so quess what that means? I get to take them on my birthday! Once I thought about this idea, I realized that I wouldn't want to spend the day any differently... I get to spend time with my children and my mom (because she will be joining us for the excitement)... and then come home to spend time as a family with Todd. Anyway this day only means that I am, once again, another year older... I am glad that Cole & Zoe get to see the much awaited HSM 3 and that I am able to make that happen.

Playhouse Disney

A little over a week ago the kids, Kili and I ventured to Rockford to see Playhouse Disney at the Metro Centre. We were 6 rows from the stage, so the kids could really see everything!It was a good show and the kids loved it...

Cole was was up and dancing out in the aisle the whole time... While Zoe took some relaxing moments on Kili's lap. We got to see Tigger, Pooh, Darcey, the Little Einsteins, Handy Manny (and his toolbox), Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck and the postmaster. He had a great time... along with some wonderful souvenirs. I think Mickey was Cole's favorite and Goofy was Zoe's.

One More Gone

We lost Goldie (one of our goldfish from the Fall Festival) last night. I went to feed the fish this morning as I always do and there was only 1 fish swimming around. I looked all over the bowl and didn't see the other one floating... all I could think was that the one fish remaining ate the other one until... I looked behind the bowl and there was Goldie laying on the counter. I think she jumped out of the bowl... I didn't know that fish would do that. But now thinking back... some days when I am sitting next to the bowl during naptime I hear water splashing and when I look at the bowl the one fish is always swimming away from the top of the bowl. She was still there last night before I went to bed so I know that she jumped out in the middle of the night... I didn't expect the fish to last this long... I never thought they would jump out... Zoe was okay with it, but Cole took it a little harder which surprised me. He was okay once I explained that we can go to the store to buy another fish... I think he is just having a hard time since we lost Magic, our beloved dog of 11 1/2 years, earlier this year.

School Pictures

I always worry when school pictures come home... Cole has been known to turn up his shirt collar, spit in his hand to spike his hair and give those fake smiles. I was worried twice as much this year with Zoe also being in school. It is always hard to know how they are going to react to the photographer and what they are going to do... as we all know how unpredictable children can be especially when they are in someone else's hands. I also had an unusual morning getting Zoe ready for pics because I have never had to worry about how to style the hair and the time it takes to do that. When I was told last Monday that they had their pictures in their backpacks... I was apprehensive to have them pull them out of their bags with the daycare kids here as I didn't know what my reaction would be... but since I could not wait to see them, I told them to take them out... I was amazed!!! I loved both of their pics!! I was and am so proud of them for the being the children that I know they are... loving, caring and ones that listen to their mother (since I coached them for 2 days on how to smile and pose for their pictures). It is also a realization that my children are growing up and becoming their own self (somewhat responsible at times).

Feels like deja vu...

Okay so I thought maybe after we went through the "fire" worries with Cole 2 yrs ago that we would be done with it... Boy was I wrong!! Todd & I talk all the time with the kids about what to do if there is a fire and they understand everything. Zoe was scared at school the other day when they had a practice fire drill, but that did not prepare us for what we experienced last night with her. When it was time to go to bed... Zoe started crying and saying that she didn't want to go to bed because what if there was a fire?? She didn't want to sleep next to Cole... she wanted to be in bed with mom & dad... and she wanted us to go to bed right then and there. Of course we gave in as we believe this is only a one night thing... I laid in bed with her for about 30 minutes and it was probably the longest 30 minutes of my life. Every couple of minutes her eyes would pop open and she would ask what that noise was... I responded that it was the tv in the living room... She tossed and turned all night and said that she dreamt about a fire. She is worried to go into dark rooms or even rooms by herself after all of this talk... So tonight we will be doing a practice fire drill at home and hopefully that will ease all of the worries.

Cole's 1st Field Trip

Cole had his 1st field trip for 1st grade today. They visited Lake-Le-Aqua-Na for a scavenger hunt. Cole's choice for a chaperone today was Grandpa because according to Cole "he doesn't work and doesn't have anything to do." They had a wonderful time exploring the park. They found all but 3 things on the list... 1 thing was a Cardinal. They even found a garder snake, but Cole wouldn't get very close to it... Grandpa tried to take a picture, but it is hard to see the snake since Cole kept his distance. Cole really enjoyed spending time with Grandpa and really loved the idea that he didn't have to ride the bus home because he was going to ride home with Grandpa.