Long weekend

In the past, long weekends often felt too long. By the time Monday rolled around, both Aurora and I were ready to head back to work and school. For some reason, this long Thanksgiving weekend was so nice it got us all excited for the 2-week Christmas break. Aside from doctors appointments and holidays, we found so many fun things to do, including a kid's workshop at Home Depot. Did you know they do this FREE every month?! We'll definitely be doing it again - especially as Clark gets old enough to join in. Grandpa came along and Clark found a friend at the kid's workbench.

Yesterday mom & dad watched Clark so we could take Aurora to see the movie Frozen in 3D. We had frozen yogurt afterwards and have been listening to the soundtrack ever since.

Today we went to one of our favorite parks and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Then we had brunch with some old friends who recently moved to Austin. They have two little girls now and we will most definitely be going to the park and having brunch together more often!

Best weekend ever? Maybe so. Now we're gearing up for a very long, very busy week at work and school. I sure would love more time off, but it's coming soon enough...

All the holidays

On Wednesday Aurora and I had a special Thanksgiving lunch with Clark's class at the Children's Center. The babies made potato stamp placemats and handprint cards. Clark is thankful for me (of course) and I am certainly thankful for him.

We spent Thursday at a friend's house - the same house we've been going to for the past several years - we just brought more people with us this time! My parents came along and everybody had a good time. We brought the mac & cheese and fruit salad, and the food (and company) were excellent. 

Aurora had tons of little girls to play with, and Clark spent the day doing his favorite things: napping, petting a dog, playing with a remote control, and uhm... getting carried around by little girls.

This morning I put away the Thanksgiving decor and made our little Halloween pumpkins into delicious pumpkin bread before shifting gears to celebrate Chanukah (a few days late). We lit our Menorah, listened to Chanukah music, and opened presents from Grandma Nancy.

I feel this pressure to switch gears again and decorate for Christmas this weekend, but it's all happening too fast - the holidays are just too close together this year! I'm not ready to shop or send cards or put up a tree or any of that. I'm just going to wait and decorate for Christmas next weekend. I love the holidays and want to enjoy them all, but I can only have one table setting in place at a time!

Time for your check-up

This probably isn't what you were expecting on Thanksgiving. Don't worry, turkey day festivities are coming soon! School was closed today so I decided to schedule Clark's 15-month well baby visit. He weighted in at just over 21 lbs, so he hasn't gained much weight since he started walking. He's 31" tall and while he's got some pretty impressive sniffles and sneezes going on, he's still never had an ear infection. He did get 4 shots today, which is always a good time.

I scheduled an appointment for Aurora at the same time to follow up from a UTI she had last week. The antibiotics worked! Clark had pink eye around the same time, and both of my parents have had a stomach bug so... that's been fun. What really WAS fun was taking Aurora to the nail salon this morning! I got a pedicure while she had her fingernails painted with pink sparkles and flowers.

There's a lot to be thankful for, and I have to say I'm pretty darn thankful for two (mostly) healthy kids. Even when they're snotty messes, waking up in the middle of the night fussing, they are pretty much the best little kiddos a mama could ask for.

Say Mama

The next big thing

Now that soccer's over, Aurora and her little friends have embarked on an awesome new activity: GIRL SCOUTS! That's right, Aurora is officially a Daisy. Their first meeting was a month ago, and we just went on a whim. Another mom told us we should come check it out, and before I knew what was happening Aurora was reciting the Girl Scout promise. Seriously, the troop leader sat all the girls around in a circle and asked what they'd like to do as a Girl Scout. The first girl said arts and crafts, the next said she hopes to see a cave, and when it was Aurora's turn she said she wanted to help others. What!? I was so proud, how could I say no? Besides, her best friend Presley was there. 

How cute are these girls? I hear they won't sell cookies or go camping this year, but today they all had their vests and started earning badges. Next month we're going on a guided hike, and who knows what the rest of the year will bring? Hopefully she'll get the chance to help others...

That's my boy

I feel like most of my posts (and most of our activities) have centered around Aurora recently, but that doesn't mean that Clark isn't doing amazing things! One of these days I'll take some video to show you that he's starting to talk, he's got some serious dance moves, the toothiest smile, and he's becoming fairly opinionated. He's also just moved up into the Bunny class where they nap on cots instead of cribs, eat at a little table instead of in high chairs, and do art projects!

This weekend he went to a birthday party without his sister. It was for our neighbor who just turned two, and he had a fun time! Who doesn't like games, gifts and cupcakes? Clark knows what's up.

That's my sweet, handsome, silly, snuggly boy. He can sign AND say "all done" when he wants down from the dinner table... but often he just screams and arches his back instead. He runs to get his own shoes and socks when it's time to go. He will always eat all of his bananas and might ask for more strawberries, but he'll probably throw his peas and sippy cup on the ground and say "uh oh" in the sweetest, most innocent voice. He also enjoys sitting with his "oompah" and loved exploring his Grandpa and Grandma's empty condo over the weekend.

WHAT!? Yes, my folks just closed on a little condo and they'll slowly be fixing it up in the coming weeks before they move in. Of course they stayed in Austin... who could leave this sweet boy!?

Soccer Stars

Today was the last day of the soccer season! Our GU6 Soccer Stars had a lot of fun, even if we lost every game. Okay, so you don't keep score at this age, but if we HAD kept score I'm pretty sure we would've lost every game. Aurora loved wearing her uniform and enjoyed doing drills, but wasn't really into the 3 on 3 play. She would've rather stared at the sky, picked flowers, or chatted with her friends. Today she got a ball kicked pretty hard into her gut, so it's probably for the best that this was the last game of the year. Regardless, our little soccer star sure is photogenic!

We talked about having a banquet of some sort, but schedules haven't lined up so the coach decided to give out the pictures and trophies right after the game. Yes, our silly girls got trophies just for participating! They've had so much fun that I'm sure we'll still have one last get together - plus, we've already signed up for our next activity with many of the same girls. You'll have to wait until next week to learn more...

Our Little Zoo

I often feel like I'm living in a zoo filled with strange animal noises, constant feedings, and all sorts of messes to cleanup. Tonight our zookeeper and her little lion met up with an M&M and several princesses and mermaids for some trick-or-treating fun and a great neighborhood block party.

Truth be told, it was 81 degrees and humid when I got home from work, and Clark was too hot and hungry to enjoy his lion costume until things cooled off and he'd eaten just about everything in sight! Aurora ended up trick-or-treating with 2 Rapunzels and 2 Ariels, which was so exciting that she just about had a total meltdown when we got home. It was hot, hectic, and exhausting, and I hope your Halloween was every bit as fun!

Pumpkins

Halloween might just be my favorite holiday. I love the fall, pumpkins, chocolate, and who doesn't get a kick out of seeing cute kids in costume? I like wearing sweaters, boots and scarves while sipping coffee, hot tea or cocoa in the mornings, and my commute is so much happier when I get to drive past beautiful fall leaves on crisp autumn days. Okay, so right now Austin's sort of muggy and rainy, but Halloween marks the beginning of the holiday season. It reminds us that year is coming to a close and the big holidays are waiting just around the corner. Did I mention pumpkins?

We took a trip to the local pumpkin patch this weekend, then carved a cute girly pumpkin named Edwina. Who wouldn't want to kiss those sweet pumpkin lips?

We also got to practice trick-or-treating at the Hill Country Galleria this weekend with our friend Melody. The girls had so much fun as "a doctor and a ballerina going shopping for candy." We got SO much candy, and the girls went on the bungee jump ride together!

I can't wait to see my kids in their costumes tomorrow... seriously, what's not to love about Halloween?!

Sock Hop

Our preparations for the sock hop began last weekend, when the soccer moms got together for a poodle skirt sewing party. The girls had fun playing while we spent hours designing, cutting, and sewing skirts from scratch. Aurora picked the colors and gave input along the way, and we were both very pleased with the results!

The sock hop was a blast. Grandma & Grandpa went and had a great time listening to 50's music and seeing all the kids dance and jive in their adorable outfits. They took lots of pictures, but our neighbor is a photographer and sent these beautiful photos my way. The girls looked so cute!

This is an annual Valley View tradition, and I purposefully made her skirt adjustable and a bit too long just in case there's a chance it'll last through elementary school. The kids had so much fun dressing up, and more costumes are coming as Halloween is just around the corner!

Excellent

Five years of daycare and preschool prepared Aurora perfectly for Kindergarten, but for some reason it didn't quite prepare me for being a kinder mom. These last few weeks have been really fun and quite busy. Last week the kids had a field trip requiring special t-shirts, and they had a teddy bear picnic (seriously, they all brought teddy bears to school and had a picnic with bread and honey!):

Today I sent Aurora to school with $5 so she could pick out her own book at the book fair (we ended up with a Lalaloopsy Princess book), and we have 3 half days this week to accommodate parent-teacher conferences. Yes, today I got to meet with Mrs. Parolini for my first ever parent-teacher conference and we got Aurora's first REPORT CARD! I am very pleased to report that she got mostly E's (Excellent), lots of S's (Satisfactory), and no D's or N's (Developing/Needs Improvement). 

What ever happened to A's, B's, C's, D's and F's!? All the feedback was great - Aurora loves school and happily tackles every assignment with creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Her highest marks were in reading, math, and PE. I couldn't be more proud or any happier with the quality of education she's getting at Valley View Elementary. Luckily, our after school program has been picking her up early so nobody has to stay home due to early dismissal. 

As if all this wasn't enough, Friday is the much anticipated annual Sock Hop! We've been having an excellent time preparing for it, but you'll have to wait for my next post to find out more.

This Week

This has been quite a week, and I must say we've been very lucky to have my parents living here. Monday was sort of a holiday - work and daycare were open but school was closed, so my folks stayed home with Aurora. Mom made a long list of all the activities they did together, including: "Slap Jack, Dominoes, School - Grandpa student, Aurora teacher, Grandma Principal." A day off from school definitely calls for playing school! They had lunch at Chick-fil-A and went to the library, where they ran into several friends. It sounds like they all had a great time.

Today Clark had a fever and had to stay home from daycare, so once again my parents saved the day. There was no list of activities, but it's safe to say that snuggling was involved. Mom and dad have also been picking up food for dinner each night, and we're still taking walks together most evenings.

It is getting darker and colder, both in the evening and in the morning, which makes it harder to wake up early. We've stopped walking to the bus stop together and now I drive Aurora down the block and head directly to work afterwards. Today we missed the bus for the first time so I drove her to school. 

Clark just started sitting at the little table to eat breakfast with Aurora. He's such a sweet boy, and some mornings feel so rushed that leaving him is really hard. Now that we have extra help, everything is definitely easier - especially during a hectic week like this one. Thanks Mom and Dad!