Author Day

Today was Author Day at Collin's preschool.
The kids got to make little books and then sit at a table for "book signings and autographs". They even had business cards.
It was really cute.
Note: I have blacked out his preschool name on his card and book since these pix are on the net.

First I got to volunteer in Collin's class. I was in charge of art.


They got a little messy. :)


Getting ready to meet and greet the authors... They will sit here.


Each author was announced in with applause.


They handed us "their cards"


and read their books to us.


This book was very exciting. I like his writing style.


Business cards


Collin's class... budding authors

Ouch!

Poor Collin took quite a spill on his bike today. Good thing Tim was home because I was definitely a little queasy when he first came in.
Poor buddy was screaming!
He is OK now... just a little scraped up.
Right when we decided that Lucy was the most annoying member of this household, she earned all of our respect and we treasure her a little more. :)
Many weeks ago JuneBug got her little head slammed in the fridge and was horribly traumatized. Lucy stayed by her side on the couch for over an hour licking her and cuddling her until she was sure she was OK.
Well tonight she hopped up on the couch by Collin while he was crying and while we put ice on his face. She kept licking his hand and arm and wouldn't leave his side.
We tried shooing her away and realized after some time that she was not leaving her boy. She layed by him in his bed too... she is such a mommy. It is really special.

Creepy sounds from Kayla's room

Although we truly cannot wait to have an actual piano, one of the fun things about having a keyboard is all the sound effects. The kids love to try out all the different sound options and they have turned one of Kayla's piano songs into something pretty creepy. You'll have to have your sound loud for this as the flips camera didn't pick the sound up as well as usual. :)

Cute mispronunciations

I wish I had more of the kid's cute speech quirks and mispronunciations from their toddler days on tape. Collin's little lisp is almost gone and we are tying to capture it as much as possible. Our very favorite mispronunciation is his version of "remote control". I made sure I got it on tape. ;)

Cupcake Class

Collin is enrolled in the cupcake Decorating Class again.
He just loves that class so much and adores his teachers.
SO much fun!

Scarecrows

Legoland

I would say two things about Legoland:
1. The kids claim that they love it way better than Disneyland. WOW.
I loved seeing Collin happy and thrilled for an entire day! He was definitely surrounded by the things he loves best... color, imagination, Bionicles, legos and many more little boy things.
2. I didn't realize Legoland would be such eye candy. There is some serious art there with all those Lego sculptures. Double WOW.

Ed

Kayla filmed her part in the short film, "Ed" yesterday.
I was so thrilled to be able to watch and I learned so much, as did she.
I wasn't able to see her film her first commercial (Tim took her)
so this was a real treat.
The actors playing "Ed" were brilliant, dark and spooky. There was a young Ed (seen here with Kayla and her on screen sister) a teenage Ed and an adult Ed.
Kayla and her "sister" were terrific and did a great job with their lines.
She enjoyed the whole process so much and is ready for more!
The film will be screened in an actual movie theater in Tempe so we can't wait.
It should be pretty cool!
We learned an important lesson about filming a movie... 50% of your job is patience.
Filming is notoriously hours behind and waiting is a big part of the day.
But when you get to watch the other actors working and you get to learn the crew's equipment lingo it is worth every minute!
A couple of big auditions are coming up... please send love and luck.
As long as Kayla is enjoying herself we're going to keep on rollin' with this.
Collin says he's next! :)

Siblings


Kayla getting some direction from the director


sound guy


outdoor filming

National Elephant Day

Yesterday was National Elephant Day and of course we had to celebrate!
After all, Kayla has adored elephants since she was a toddler and calls her
Grandma "Grandma Elephant".
So we started the day at the zoo, where we were able to tour the elephant barns, feed the elephants and watch some of the care and cleaning.
What an amazing experience for Kayla and for Collin.
Then we headed over to the Scottsdale mall to check out some artwork painted by
"Ruby", a famous elephant who once lived at the Phoenix zoo.
We finished the morning with a yummy lunch at PB Locos.
The kids love it there!
Collin had (wrech... gag...) chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter with oreo cookie toppings on wheat bread... toasted. :)
Kayla and I had plain old PBJ's and Grandma and Papa split the animal crackers meal.
What a special and wonderful day!




This is my favorite picture. I loved seeing the keeper lean his forehead against the elephant's... sooo moving.




The tip of the elephant's trunk... waiting for goodies.

Chasing Papa

One of the beautiful things about living near the grandparents are the unique and special relationships the kids have with each of their grandparents.
They have special names for all 4 of them and special things they do with each.
The kids call my Dad "Chasing Papa".
This name came about because my Dad often chases our car out of the driveway much to the kids squealing delight. He hides from them, jumps out at them and chases them around often.
Collin loves playing with Chasing Papa and definitely feels loved and valued by him.
Kayla loves writing with Papa and sharing interest in history and archaeology.
What is great about all 4 of the kids grandparents is that they are all young at heart. Always willing to get on a ride, play a game or take a walk with the kids.
Recently the kids got to attend an Arts Festival in downtown Mesa. (Pictures to come)
Kayla enjoyed dancing with Papa to the wild music being played and playing some writing and drawing games at the restaurant.
Also recently, Nana and Papa went with us to check out Collin's all time favorite place to be, "The Brunswick Zone Bowling Alley and Arcade" where his favorite game/ride "Haunted Mine" is. Papa was a good sport and hopped on with Collin :)
Thanks Papa for all you do and all you mean to us and the kids!

Legoland

Legoland was a blast today. It was truly one of those perfect days.
We are really fortunate too because last night we had our doubts.
After a couple of days of questionable behavior from sweet Collin, he came down with a full blown runny nose and nasty earache on our drive here. At about 8:30 PM we stopped at a Walgreens in some small CA town. I was sure he had an ear infection but Tim thought it was probably just pressure.
After a dose of children's sudafed(pharmacist's recommendation) Collin was 100% which I can't believe.
I think I might be a walking advertisement for the stuff now.
He slept through the night, waking only once for a redose at 4:00 AM.
In the morning he was bright eyed and chipper and very excited, as was Kayla.

We arrived at Legoland right before they opened and we're so thankful we chose a weekday to go.
We almost had that park to ourselves. There were lots of Mom's groups with toddlers, but barely any school age kids at all. There was no wait for any ride at any time. Many of the rides let us go over and over again since no one was waiting.
It was awesome!
The weather was a perfect 78 degrees. I've never seen Collin as excited as he was at Legoland. Both kids said that they liked it way better than Disneyland!
I don't know if I would agree with those sentiments, but I understand what they mean.
Legoland is just a little less chaotic and there is less pressure to hit everything, get character autographs or see everything.
It was actually fairly relaxing.
I must say I was also really impressed! I knew everything was Lego themed, but I felt like I was looking at art half the time with some of those Lego sculptures!!

Then we headed to dinner at a restaurant on the beach and walked around for a while after.
It's amazing to see the kinds of emotions the ocean evokes... even in children.
They were so in awe and so thrilled to be there.
Tomorrow we'll be at the beach all day building sand castles and collecting shells.
There is talk of swimming in the ocean, but it will be too cold for me. :)
Pictures to come.

I love my family

Cursive Handwriting

Yay for Kayla!
The physical process of putting pencil to paper was always a little bit challenging for Kayla, being that she was always so tiny for her age and took a little longer with her fine motor skills.
So I must say I am plesantly surprised at her newfound love of cursive handwriting.
It's as if she should have been writing this way all along.
After writing her name in cursive just for fun, she asked to learn all of it so
we got her a book on it last night. She is doing great!
I am so excited that she will be in a combined class of 3rd graders and 4th graders
next year. The kids have many opportunities to work at their own level in all the subjects, whether that might be a little behind, ahead or right on track.
The concept rocks!

I can officially say, "I have crabs"

We never seem to have enough mouths to feed in the Dean household.
I walk through the house with animals flying past me, around me and under my feet.
Although there are times I just want peace and QUIET, I've wanted a lively active household since I was a little girl.
But JuneBug was IT for me... family COMPLETE.
Until yesterday when Tim and Kayla walked in the door with two CRABS and a habitat for them. Let me mention that the crabs come with delicious blood worms, which must be fed to them every day.
I'm sure they'll reproduce like our fish did.

Educational Goals

We loved Obama's speech last night and decided to have the kids set some goals for themselves for the year. I'm typing them down so we can refer to them.
Kayla:
1.Alphabetize 20 words up to the 4th letter of each word.
2.Learn to read new words that I've never seen before.
3.To learn two more song books for piano and the song, Colors of the Wind.
4.To learn 3rd grade math.

Collin:
1.To read the last book of his Hooked on Phonics series, "Tick Tock gets a Pal"
2.Write a sentence by myself.
3.Write hard words like "plane, alphabet and computer." (OK that is pretty cute)

No Haircut

Well we didn't have to make the decision to cut sweet Kayla's hair after all.
She got the part in a small film that she auditioned for, so she stays as is. :)
It is a big no no to make any changes (hair ear piercing, etc) after an audition.
Congratulations to Kayla for working so hard to get this part!