Shopaholic

Since this post is about shopping, I have to start with this. I started my Christmas shopping today. I believe that is the earliest ever. I'm quite proud of myself. Now the trick is to hide the presents somewhere, and not forget where so that I can get them wrapped on Christmas eve.

Okay, now the real reason for the post. Keely got a bit of money for her birthday. We let the kids spend some of the birthday money and then put the rest in the bank or college savings account. Quinn got the same amount as her last month and he chose to spend a good chunk on (more) toys from his favorite store, The Red Balloon. Keely wouldn't want to spend it on toys, she'd rather shop for her favorite fetish...clothes! So yesterday I took her to Kohl's so she could spend some money. Boy, can this girl shop?!?! There's no talking to her about her clothes, her opinion is so strong. If you try to talk her into something you like that she doesn't, she will not wear it. So I've stopped fighting (mostly) and let her get what she likes, with the exception that it has to be seasonal. i.e. She wanted jelly shoes yesterday and I wouldn't let her...I know, we could buy for next summer but she will not let them alone until then. In about 30 minutes, probably less, she had 2 shirts, a shawl, and a pair of shoes in the cart. Actually this was great progress since we actually had come for shirts. The shoes were a bonus because they were on sale and she had them last year, so I knew she would wear them to school. She was thrilled to put on her new clothes when she got home, and was literally beaming the whole rest of the day. Today when she got home the first thing she did was change into them again, and told me how much she loved her new clothes. Seems she's like most girls, a new outfit can make for a good mood :) And because she is such a ham, I had to get her to pose for me this evening...
Notice the toe points. She is such a little actress! And so cute, I must say. She asked me to call her "My Pretty" all day yesterday. She can't wait until this weekend when Nana comes to visit and they will pick out her Christmas dress. The trick there will be to keep it off of her until Christmas :)

Antelope Island

On Friday, the kids had a random day off of school so I took PTO to spend the day with them. James' alarm (me getting out of the shower) didn't go off so he slept in and ended up staying home too. We took the opportunity to drive out to Antelope Island, the largest island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. We've never been before since it's such a long drive (lol, not really but James hates to drive anywhere). This island contains the largest herd of bison and once a year, they round up the herd to vaccinate them and make sure all are healthy. Well, they were doing the round up this weekend. We saw at least 15 of them free roaming and then the rest of the herd in the corrals. We also saw lots of birds but didn't see any of the populous mule deer.


First we stopped at the potties outside the main entrance. Here we posed near a bison statue. Only after we took the pictures did we see the sign on the back, "Do Not Touch". Oh well...















Then we drove over the causeway and to the Visitor's Center. Before we even got there, we saw a few bison grazing outside.






They are huge creatures, it really is amazing to see them so close. They seem so docile but they weigh 2 tons and can run pretty fast so it makes you wonder if they've ever gotten mad and charged people or their cars.

We explored the Visitor's Center and the kids posed with another bison statue :)














Lastly we went up to Buffalo Point, a nice lookout over the lake. We took a self family portrait by placing the camera on a rock and using the timer. Ah, modern technology. It's actually a pretty good picture :) When we got home, James was outside with the kids while they jumped in the leaf pile and he snapped this gorgeous sunset. Such a beautiful fall day! We'll enjoy it while it lasts....

A Whole Hand!

Keely turned 5 today. She had a great day starting with her 2 hours in Pre-K with me volunteering. It was so fun for me to see her in school and she was happy to be the V.I.P. and center of attention. The two hours consisted of Keely being the leader (doing day of the week, date, weather, etc.), reading buddies coming in, me leading the class in Junior Achievement lesson, Keely explaining her V.I.P. poster, some outside time and then snack. Oh and lots of singing, including Happy Birthday to Keely. Reading buddies is just so cute. Each Pre-K student is paired up with an 8th grade student and once per week, the 8th graders come down with a book in hand and read to their buddy. Keely's buddy was sick today but she was more than content to share another little girl's buddy. It was precious watching the 8th graders have patience and read to the little ones.

Then it was off to work for me and EDP for her. After school and work, she opened her present from Nana & Papa. They got her a keyboard with microphone, that she admired in a toy store in Las Vegas. She had hours of fun with it, singing dancing and making announcements (i.e. "There will be no school tomorrow and would so-and-so please come to the office?"). She is so dramatic, I really need to get her into some acting or singing classes.

We then went out to dinner at Rib City (her choice) where she chose Corn Dogs, French Fries and Root Beer for dinner. What more could a kid ask for?!?!

After dinner, it was more presents from Quinn and us. She got a new leotard from Quinn. From us, she got a Hannah Montana guitar, new play vanity and makeup case, and High School Musical dolls.
She was super happy with all her presents and brought all of them to her room to arrange them just right.
After that, she had her birthday cake and talked to Grandma & Grandpa and then Nana & Papa.

Her birthday cakes are also usually an adventure in themselves. Quinn likes easy things, like racecars, pirate ships, soccer balls and trains. Those I can handle. Keely wants princesses and those involve artistry like faces. One year it was Ariel, then it was Cinderella. Those are hard, and the faces come out horrible. Last year she told me it was ugly, and she was right. So this year I decided to forego the face and make a "Barbie Doll" cake except with an Ariel doll. This cake was super easy to make and came out just darling. Even Keely gave her stamp of approval. Here is the finished product...

School Report *EDITED*

Today was the end of the first quarter and the kids got their first report cards of the year. We also had parent teacher conferences tonight. First we saw Quinn's teacher. She went over his report card with us, and told us he is doing very well academically. He got all C's and S's in his subjects. It's strange to see a C and have that be the highest grade (stands for Commendable). He also got a certificate for perfect attendance and a free kids' meal at Mimi's with it (Mom and Dad, maybe we'll have to go there for breakfast when you're here next weekend...). He is a very social child, and has trouble respecting others while they are doing work (meaning he distracts his friends while they are trying to finish their work) and making good choices. He also needs to take his time on his work, and not rush through just to be the first one done. He must have some of my competitive side in him :) Overall, he is doing well in school and enjoys it.

Then we saw Keely's teacher. She is just the sweetest and really enjoys having Keely in class. Keely got some S's (the highest grade in Pre-K - Satisfactory) and N's (Needs Improvement) but mostly on things that the teacher only expects to have mastered by the end of the year. She is ready for pre-reading and is getting better at coloring, drawing and writing her name. She needs to work on listening and following rules, and not being bossy with her classmates (no surprise there!). In the teacher's notes on Keely, the funniest thing she wrote was "CEO Material". Keely is very strong minded and not shy, and she enjoys the class. She is doing well and happy to be in real school like her brother. One more thing also -- she is one of only 2 in the class that got an S in cutting with scissors! It's because we don't limit her use of scissors, and she cuts very well. It's just an interesting commentary on parents these days being afraid that their children will cut themselves with scissors.

V.I.P.

When you celebrate your 5th birthday in Pre-Kindergarten, it is known as your V.I.P. day. That's Very Important Person for those wondering. It's actually your V.I.P. week and you get to make a poster about yourself that hangs in the class all week. Keely will turn 5 on Thursday and we made her poster this weekend, after rummaging through all of our printed pictures and printing a couple of fresh ones from the color printer. James did most of it, because he's the more creative of the two of us. I did the writing though, since I have the better handwriting. Keely was the cheerleader and she colored in some of the letters in her name. Of course it is prepared on pink poster board (and a bright neon blinding pink at that) because that is her very favorite color. Here she is showing it off for us...

She will be bringing it to school tomorrow, and I will be volunteering in her classroom on Thursday morning for her special day. We'll bring snack for the class and she will get to show off her poster to everyone. I will also do the 3rd Junior Achievement lesson for the class that morning. They are so cute and attentive for my lessons, and I really enjoy seeing Keely in her class environment. I really can't believe my baby will be 5 this week!

Weekend Miscellany

This weekend was blustery cold, too cold for mid-October. It felt easily like mid-winter with temps in the 40s. Obviously there was no camping possible. All there was to do was shop. The kids needed fall clothes so we hit the mall, a place we rarely go. Keely would shop all day and spend all of our money if we let her. She got two new outfits and Quinn got a couple of new pairs of pants. We also made chocolate chip cookies, and Tortilla Chicken Soup for dinner. Then we topped it off with a family game of Monopoly, where James was the champion of all money and property.

This morning, we woke up to this.
The kids were eager to go play so we got them into their winter gear and they had fun in the backyard.
It all melted by this afternoon, but I sure hope this isn't the sign of things to come this winter. We had a rough one last year with snow on the ground steady from November to March (okay, I may be exaggerating but really just slightly!). So I'm hoping we're not in for another one of those...

Seven!

Two weeks ago, Quinn celebrated his 7th birthday. I've taken so long to write about it for two reasons -- first, I wasn't here for the actual day and I guess I still feel guilty. Second, I was hoping to include the story of his birth complete with pictures of him. But those pictures are hard to get to on the hard drive in our basement so I decided to do at least a birthday post now, and do the birth story later. We started the celebration of Quinn's birthday in Las Vegas and he got several gifts from Nana & Papa before we left. Here's a picture of him on his new skateboard.When we got home from Vegas, I made him a birthday cake before I left for Denver on the morning of his birthday. He requested a pirate ship. I've made it before, for his 5th birthday and it's a fairly simple cake to make. However, I forgot I needed to make 2 cake mixes so when I started to cut the one cake into the shape of the ship and put it together, Quinn and James both agreed that it looked nothing like a pirate ship. We're flexible though -- so I said what does it look like? A race car was the unanimous vote. So a race car we made. I think it came out pretty nice, given that it was improvised.
Quinn liked it, and that's really all that matters. On his birthday, James gave him his present from us, a new 20" Specialized bike. He loves it and has been riding it all around the neighborhood and even on some trails with James.

We typically let the kids choose their favorite restaurant on their birthday, but Quinn chose to wait until I got home. So on Friday night, we went out and he chose Red Robin. His favorite restaurant is usually Village Inn, but he likes burgers too and that's the primary choice at RR. So if you're keeping track, we've now celebrated Quinn's birthday for almost a week (starting with dinner at Rainforest Cafe in LV). To complete the full week, we took the kids along with Quinn's friend Edward bowling. Quinn and Edward have been friends since Quinn's first day at the Montessori School when they were 4 years old, and even though they go to different schools they live close and we get them together about once a month or so. So we went bowling and Edward even brought a gift for Quinn, some new Tinker Toys. That capped his birthday, and we declared Quinn's birthday week officially over.

Quinn also got a few checks in the mail, and we will be taking most of that money to Wells Fargo to open a bank account on Friday. He also used a portion of the money to buy a couple of new Playmobil toys, a boat and dinosaur play set. And with the influx of new toys, we bagged up a good amount of old toys to give to charity.

I cannot believe Quinn is 7 years old now, it feels like he was just born. The years go so fast!

Ultimatum

On Sunday, James asks for a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, his favorite. I didn't have enough butter in the house so I couldn't make them. So here's what happened last night.

Dinner Table Conversation:

Keely: "I want to get the Halloween decorations out!"

Me: "I would love to, but Daddy has to get them down from the shelf in the garage." (said shelf is hung from ceiling and I am never sure which container Halloween decorations are in)

James: "I would love to, but only if I get some homemade oatmeal raisin cookies tonight."

Me: "But I don't have enough butter."

James (smirking): "Well, you have to move the car anyway so I can get the container down so you can just move it to Smith's to get the butter."

Quinn (with ulterior motives): "Can I come to Smith's?"

Me: "Yes, that's fine."

Quinn runs upstairs to his money stash and grabs 4 quarters to get things for he and Keely from the gumball machines at the front of the store.

Said oatmeal cookies were made and eaten by James.

Said Halloween decorations were taken out and put around the house by James while cookies were being made.

All is well at the Donovan household :)

Accident Prone

Keely has always been an accident prone child. No hospital trips as of today (knock on wood) but she has had many an injury in her short little life. When she was about 18 months old, she got her first black eye when she was running with a spoon in her hand and tripped causing it to hit her on the side of her eye. A nice shiner ensued. She's had a couple other black eyes, mostly because she likes to run wherever she is going and often, things get in her way. On her last day at the Montessori school, she was jumping up and down with a pencil in her hand and allegedly the pencil went up her nose, also causing a nice little mark below her eye. So that brings me to yesterday. She had a first time play date with a little girl from school. When I went to pick her up, her friend's father apologized because Keely had a "little scratch" on her eye. She was running (surprise surprise) back to her friend's room after eating lunch and she ran into the corner of the kitchen countertop. The following pictures show the result. Once again, a black eye...


She's a tough cookie though, not once crying or complaining about it. She also skinned her knee later at the track, once again running and without shoes on (she hates shoes). She even cleaned it out with soap and water all by herself!

Rainy Day

Today was a rare rainy day for us. It was really kind of nice. We started off with a trip to the gym as we typically do on Saturday mornings, but this was our first in 3 weeks and it was nice to get back to the routine. Then I took Quinn to a birthday party for one of his school friends. Hate is a strong word but it aptly describes my feelings for the place it was held at, and I hope I don't have to go there for at another 2 years at least. Then it was a trip to Sam's for needed household goods and we took Quinn to Best Buy so he could spend a birthday gift card (thanks, Aunt Annie!). He chose a Nintendo DS game, Indiana Jones and the movie Iron Man. I haven't seen that yet so I'm excited to watch it as a family. We stopped at KFC for a bucket of chicken for dinner, and then came my favorite part of the day and the perfect end to a rainy day. We (I mean James) started a nice warm fire, our first of the season and we played Monopoly in front of it. We actually managed a few rounds with all 4 of us, and then Keely quit. But since it's really for 8+, I'm impressed that she lasted that long. We all quit after an hour or so, and made S'mores for the kids in the fire. Yummy! It's days like this that make me glad that fall and winter are on the way. Ask me in 5 months, and I will be ready for winter to end but now I'm glad for the change of pace. We're hoping to get a camping trip in next weekend, which will be out first and last of the year. Better late than never, right? I also owe the blog, and my faithful readers an update on Quinn's birthday. Soon, I promise...