Ghoul School Dayz

Today is Halloween at school!! The kids needed treats to take, so I tried to make some candy corn rice krispie treats last night, but I am challenged in figuring out how to position and cut to make it look the way it's supposed to. This is what it's SUPPOSED to look like:

I followed the directions exactly, but I CANNOT figure out how to cut them to make them look like that!!! I'm shapely challenged (in more ways than one ... ha ha ha ha!!) This is what MINE looked like:

Whatever! I tried everything. I spent more than an hour cutting them differently. Whatever! The colors are right for Halloween. The kids were fine with them. Done. Whatever!

Now on to the things I created that are perfect. Meet Candy Corn A-go-go and Optimus Prime.






They have a Halloween dance today. THis is Blaine's first dance ever and Kylee's first event as Student Council President. It will be a big day for both. More later. Stay tuned for the rest of the story!

Genius Clubber

It's been a fun week for both kids in our house!

Remember Kylee's REALLY cool (and genius) teacher? Well, he pulled off his genius again this week. His wife, who is also a teacher, had parent-teacher conferences Monday night, so he was going to have their two kids (both under 3) by himself, AND his beloved Redskins were playing! So...Mr. Genius Garcia invited his whole class AND their families to Wing Daddies to watch his kids the game. These kids love this guy so much that they pushed tables together and sat with him.
(Sorry this isn't a great picture. It's a cell phone picture. I took my camera...with no memory stick in it!)

His kids were entertained, he was fed, AND he got to watch the game and laugh and high five with "friends." How genius is that? AND the kids LOVED it! He's already promised to do it again at THEIR begging!
Kylee was so sweet, too. Joey and Blaine did not go because Blaine had a game, and they needed to be there early. It was just the girls. When they first put the table together for the kids, she kept coming back and forth. She'd come get a bite at our table, talk to me for a minute, and go back and sit with her friends and Mr. Genius Garcia. Finally I said, Kylee, you are NOT going to hurt my feelings if you go sit at that table. My sweet, considerate first born said, But, Mommy, I don't want to leave you alone!!! I said, Kylee, I am okay alone, really. She hesitated, but she took her food and went. (It was literally a table over. She didn't realize I was enjoying listening to her talk and visit with her friends, especially since she obviously thought I couldn't hear her.) But every five minutes or so, she would come to my table to "check" on me.

When I went to pick up the kids at AWANA last night, Blaine's class was still busy, so I picked up Kylee first. She looked kind of sad. When I walked up to her, she said, Mommy, Blaine won Clubber of the Quarter...AGAIN!! (He won it last year, too, as a Cubbie) I said, Wow, that's great! No response. When I asked her what was bothering her, she said she'd tell me later. I, to give her time to think about what she was going to tell me later and not get herself in trouble, said, "Kylee, you really should be happy for your brother, not bitter because YOU didn't win. That's not what AWANA is about, it's not what God would have you do, and it's certainly not what your Dad and I are teaching you." She didn't say much.

When we went to get Blaine, his class was still busy, so Kylee asked me to come in the bathroom with her. I really think she WAS upset that Blaine got a trophy and she didn't, but she knew better than to express it. So she told me that the reason she was upset is because the girl who won Clubber of the Quarter in her class didn't even act like she cared about it. I told her that it didn't matter how the other girl acted, that the teachers obviously thought she deserved it, and that didn't mean she (Kylee) was not a GREAT clubber! She said she knew, and we set off to get Blaine.

Blaine, of course, comes out waving his trophy, so proud. Kylee acted excited and proud of him (bless her heart!), and I was proud of them both. I realized that Blaine won Clubber of the Quarter on CRAZY HAIR DAY!!! So now his picture is posted on the bulletin in the foyer of the church with his trophy... and crazy hair!!

Blaine called Mom Mom to tell her about his trophy. He told her he won because he be'd and listened and did just like in school, be'd still and did what he was told, and learned his berses (verses). Such a charming kid, he is. And he has a GREAT memory, too.

So blessed and proud of my kiddos!

Wordless Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day

Spooktacular Weekend!

**********Clickable Update***********************
Click on the dance you want to be taken to the video.

Kylee's Hip Hop Dance!

Kylee's Jazz Dance!

McKenzie's Performance!

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I have been trying for two days to get the video of Kylee dancing at Spooktacular to load on this silly thing. No luck. Forget it. I give up. If I keep waiting, it'll be time to post something else before I get this one posted. When I get home tonight, I will load it on YouTube and post the link here....at some point I will, anyway.

We had a great weekend! Kyle and Myra came to town. Saturday morning, we all kind of headed our separate ways. Kylee had to get ready for her dance performance, Blaine had t-ball practice, and Myra needed to go to the outlet mall. While Kylee and I got ready, Kellie went with Blaine to practice and got to play. She was so excited. Then we all met up at P.F. Changs for lunch. Myra's mom came because her nephew, Joseph, is now living here going to college. Blaine ADORES him. He is a baseball player, too, and Blaine thinks he looks like Derek Jeter (Blaine's new obsession), so he was in AWE!

(You THOUGHT I was exaggerating, didn't you?)
And, of course, Kylee's obsession for her whole life...

After lunch, we headed to Spooktacular for Kylee to dance. While we were in the parking garage, bless her heart, she grabbed my hand and said, "Mom, I'm getting butterflies in my stomach."

While we were waiting for her to dance, there were lots of activities to do. The kids decorated a pumpkin
and Kellie climbed the rock wall, of course. Then we waited for Kylee
She had two dances, and she did such a great job! She is really getting to be a great dancer, and with that make up on.....ugh! haha! ***This is where I will insert a video if I ever get it uploaded, but for now, here are some pictures**

Kylee, her dancing BFF Jackie, and her teachers, Miss Eva and Miss Iliana

Some of her dancing friends


After Spooktacular, we headed back to Dad Dad and Mom Moms for food and games. McKenzie put on a singing and dancing show of her own.

We played the "Question Game" again. Kylee and Kellie's answers were so much fun to listen to.

The kids spent the night over there Saturday night, and Sunday morning we headed over to just hang out and let the kids play before Kyle and Myra headed back to Pecos. We also had plans to head to the pumpkin patch with Papa and Nana.

It was sssoo much more than a pumpkin patch. There was SSOO much to do. We didn't do the corn maze this year because Blaine was already coughing, and I wasn't going in that tall corn (look behind us in the picture above) where there is no fresh air and aggravate his asthma even further. Plus, we were there for almost four hours just with everything else, and they say the maze takes 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how lost you get. So...we played on the slide did the horse races raced on the pedal tractors rode the cow train laughed at the corn cops (ok...that was just me, but it cracked me UP!)
roped
AND found pumpkins in the patch

NOW you know how I got out of there WITHOUT doing the corn maze and not having upset kids.
I can't wait to take everybody next year!!

Don't forget to check back for Kylee's dancing videos!!!

I may be killed...

....but Kylee said the FUNNIEST thing last night. If you are reading this and you know my daughter, PLEASE don't discuss this with her. The ONLY reason I'm posting it is because this is my "baby book", if you will.

We were getting our pajamas on and getting ready for bed, and out of the blue, she just said, "Mommy, sometimes when my butthole itches, I just fart to scratch it."
I got nothing. NOTHING! I couldn't say anything. But I laughed until I cried...not in front of her, of course.

And Blaine, just a few short moments after Kylee's little 'ism, was telling me a story about all the verses at AWANA he can recite. When I told him he was so smart, he responded, "Yeah, 'cause when I wanna know someping, I just grab it and slam it in my brain so I have it."

I'm telling you, two of the funniest kids ON EARTH!

Wordless Wednesday - Faves

Who is the Mom??

***UPDATE*** I decided to call Edible Arrangments, and have little arrangement sent. Kylee calls me after school and says, "Mom, I told you to call the flower shop, not to go all crazy and send an Edible Arrangement!"*******************

So my 10-year-old-going-on-34-year-old-daughter just called me and said, "Mom, I need you to call Debbie's Bloomers (the local flower shop) and have flowers sent to Mrs. Murphy (Blaine's teacher) for her birthday." It was so matter of fact, and so NOT a question. Then she said, "And make them from Blaine, okay?" I said, "Do you want me to make them from both of you?" She said, "Oh, yeah, both of us. Thanks, Mommy!" Click.

So....I'm off, gotta call the flower shop!

Get comfortable...it's gonna be a long one!

I've been MIA. Sometimes I can't even find myself! Mom and Dan have been galavanting all over the east coast, and I feel lost without them. Is that odd? It is, isn't it? My kids got where they needed to be when they needed to be there, but...well, I felt lost. I felt lonely and helpless. Mom picks them up from school every day, and they hang out with Dad Dad and Mom Mom until I pick them up. It's usually just an hour or so, but I felt rushed somehow without the comfort of knowing where they were and that they WANT to be there. In fact, when they got home yesterday, the kids hugged and loved on them, but then just kinda hung at their house. Kylee even went to the back room to watch TV. It was just BEING at Mom Mom and Dad Dad's and know Mom Mom and Dad Dad were there, too. They didn't even have to be interacting with them. They just KNEW they were there. Maybe that's how I feel, too. Maybe that explains my feelings of being rushed.

Anyway....last weekend, we had a birthday party for our friend, Cecy. Her husband, Chris, and son, Matthew (aka..Matty) came, along with the Hayes family. I cooked dinner, we ate, and had birthday cake. Then the adults played Random Questions and Taboo and laughed and laughed. The kids were heaven only knows where upstairs doing their own thing. We eventually went outside and made smores on the firepit. It was a great evening of food and friends.

Since the kids were out of school the last two weeks, Blaine has been going to Terry's. He has missed her (and his friends) so much! Kylee either hung out with Mom Mom before they left or came with me to work after they left.

This past weekend after the t-ball game on Saturday, we headed to the park for a cook-out with the team. During the game, Joey evidentally forgot he was talking to five-year olds. When they weren't playing so well, he said to them, "You want to just quit and go to the cook-out now?" Much to his chagrin, our excited five-year olds all screamed, "Yeah!!!!" haha! Poor thing. He has such a hard time remembering THEY ARE FIVE!! Anyway, the boys did finish the game and we headed to the park. It was a really great time!! I took individual and team pictures. (Here are a few of my favorites.)

(Don't you just love the way Blaine has his little hand on his Daddy's shoulder?!)


We went to the park about 11:30. It was Texas/OU weekend, so several of the dads wanted to hear the game. I told them if they would pitch in the pay the ticket, I would pull my TrailBlazer up (yes, on city park property). They agreed, so I did. My husband said, "You know your wife is from Pecos when she jumps the curb and pulls her vehicle up on city park property." haha! Since the game was on a.m. my radio was making some weird beeping noise, so Joey decides to pull his truck up since it has XM radio. About 5, all but our family and one other had left, so I decided to go home. Of course, the kids wanted to stay with their Daddy.
When they got home, the kids came running in and told me the cops got Daddy. Then Blaine said, "He didn't get a ticket. He only got a warning." Evidentally, just as they were getting ready to leave, after having the vehicles up there all day, the cops showed up. haha! You know your wife is from Pecos and you're only from Clint when you get caught and she doesn't. hehe

Sunday after church we decided to take the kids to the pumpkin patch in Fabens. Well, it USED to be a pumpkin patch. It is no longer there, so we just hung out at Nana and Papa's for the day. We are going to try to head to the OTHER side of El Paso this Sunday because we KNOW that pumkin patch is still there.

Just for good measure, here is a picture of Kylee she took of herself while playing with the night vision on my camera. There will be many more pictures (and probably of video) of her this weekend when she performs at Spooktacular at the Abraham Chavez Theater with her dance company.

Long enough for ya?

Wordless Wednesday - By Kylee and Blaine

Kylee took this

and Blaine tooke this