My Birthday

Tannis wrote me a song for my birthday today:

It feels like a perfect night to read a book with mommy and get lots of AR points
Ya Ya Ya Ya
Oh, you're happy, smart, cute in your own way
Oh, you're magical and wonderful
Ya Ya!
But tonight's the night when you forget to watch all your shows anyway
We all love u even though you're getting so old
Ya Ya!
Mommy, everything will be all right
as long as u start texting with your thumbs.

Love U,
Tannis

My favorite part of my birthday

Card from Brad (I've been sick for the last week)

Card from Tannis

Funny Man

Brad told me about "a funny thing" he did in class today...
His teacher, Mrs. Reynolds, was discussing the difference between "fact" and "opinion."

Mrs. Reynolds:  "For example, here are three facts.
                         Fact: I am having a lot of people over for Thanksgiving.
                         Fact:  My house will be very clean when they get there.
                         Fact:  I will have a lot of different food for them to eat."

Brad:  "Actually, those last two about your house being clean and having a lot of food would be opinions..."

Mrs. Reynolds:  "Oh-kay Brad! Haha... you're funny!"

Brad and his friend Aiden

                                                      

Happy Halloween

The kids woke up before their 7am alarms today because they were excited about Halloween.  When I walked past Tannis's room, I saw that she had a box of toys scattered on the bed -- I asked her what she was playing with so early in the morning, and she replied, "I was looking for a Halloween costume for Elmo!  She's going to be a Fireman this year!" reminding me of how little she still is. 

When I asked Brad why he was up so early, he replied, "Because it's Halloween! Duh!" Both kids were incredulous that school would still be in session on Halloween. ("But it's a holiday!")

Finally, the time came to go Trick-or-Treating.  Brad was a Killer Hockey Player (and went door-to-door on his roller blades, which he's quite good on now) and Tannis was a Rock Star Zombie (she did her own hair and make-up).  Bear was a Racehorse, although he didn't like his costume and kept biting at it, so we had to take it off. 

And of course, Elmo went trick-or-treating too.

More Essays

Pupzilla by Brad

I woke up on a Saturday morning and heard a bang.  So I went to my front door and saw a 50 foot dog knocking over the trash cans!  The dog looked at me.  I ran inside wondering if I was going to live or not.  I finally decided that I should go see if it is nice. So I got a bone and threw it.  But when it ran to get it, he killed me. I went so high I could see my friend's house and he lives in Santa Cruz.  Then I started to fall.  I fell faster and faster and faster.  Luckily I landed on a cushion, at least what I thought was a cushion.  But it was his back.  I saw puppies galore in there.  Every single one was stuck in there because the same reason I was in there.  I was looking for a way out.  It was like a maze.  Finally I saw a light and then I got out.  Then we made a dog house.  I lived and everything was fine.

The end

My Bedroom by Tannis

My bedroom is the place I like to play, read, and think.  As you enter the door, you will see my soft and cushy bed with a window above it.  On your right, you will see my big and long shelf and my Justin Bieber posters.  On the left, you will see my big and white dresser.  In front of my dresser, you will see my very pretty mirror.  My room is a very pretty light purple color.  Over my bed, you will see my Justin Bieber bedspread.  I think my room is an awesome place to hang out!

Kids are getting excited about Halloween!

School Assignments

Brad's 4th grade assignment was to "write about something you wonder about."  He wrote:

I think days are peculiar.  I mean how did they decide how many hours in a day?  I have been wondering since I was five.  My sister has been wondering the same thing about the days in a year.  She said it is such a random number.

For Tannis's 3rd grade assignment, the teacher asked each student to bring a stuffed animal to class since they were reading The Velveteen Rabbit.  (Tannis brought a stuffed wolf.)  Their assignment was to write a story about their stuffed animal.  Tannis wrote: 
  

One day I fell off the shelf and I got hurt!  I came to life!  First I realized I was a real wolf! I went to my owner's room and jumped on the big purple bed.  Then I went to see if the other animals were alive.  But they were not.  I chewed up all of my owner's Barbies.  Next I went to the living room to roll on the carpet.  I found the dog and I hopped on him!  Finally my owner called my name and looked for me.  My body froze.  I was stuffed again.  It was good being alive.

 

Kids after recent Saturday soccer games.

The Story Behind the Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, I took the kids to a portrait studio to get photos of them.  Since Brad almost never lets me take a picture of him and Tannis together, I promised I'd get them both a treat (ice cream) after the photo shoot if they cooperated and smiled.

 
When the photographer told Tannis to put her arms around Brad, for a "brother-sister picture," Brad froze and looked horrified.  I reminded him of our deal and he complied, although I think he was secretly trying to hurt Tannis by gripping her arms extra hard in the photo.

Then came the clencher...
Photographer:  "Okay, now give your sister a kiss on the cheek and I'll take a photo."
Brad laughs and looks at her like, "you must be kidding!"  Tannis looks delighted.
Photographer:  "Go ahead, give her a kiss."
Brad's smile fades as he realizes she's serious.
Brad (shaking head slowly):  "No."
Photographer:  "Well, I'm just going to wait here then until you do it."
Me: "C'mon, Brad.  The sooner you do it, the sooner we can finish and go get a treat."
Brad looks disgusted, tucks his lips inside his mouth, and pecks her on the cheek with his lips hidden.
Photographer:  "No, that doesn't count.  You have to kiss her with your lips."
Brad grimaces and realizing there's no choice, gives her a quick kiss.  Immediately after, sticks tongue out, gags, and violently wipes lips off on his arm.  Tannis sits down smiling.  Brad walks past her and pinches her hard on the leg.
Tannis:  "OW!  What was that for?!"
Brad ignores her and sits down next to me.
Brad:  "Mom, you owe me A LOT MORE than a treat for that.  I mean, you owe me money for that!"

Oh, but it was so worth it...

P.S. When we were looking at the photos after, Brad demanded that this one be deleted... but when he walked away, Tannis and I secretly ordered it.

Winners

Last weekend, during AYSO picture day, there was a gift basket raffle where you could buy $1 raffle tickets and place them in various drawings for gift baskets.  We bought $25 worth of tickets and each put some in the baskets we wanted.  The kids were so excited that we won 2 baskets!  Colin won a car wash basket and Brad won a "family movie" basket that came complete with several movies, popcorn, and lots of candy.  He and Tannis were SO happy! They watched Ghostbusters 1 and 2 that night, and of course, snacked on way too much candy...

My Funny Boy

Brad has a very funny and sarcastic sense of humor.  The other day, he read a story for school called The Astronaut and the Onion.  He warned me ahead of time that it "was stupid."  The story took place in a grocery store and was about a girl who threw an onion in the air which was caught by a fellow shopper who turned out to be an astronaut.  They had a conversation in the grocery store as a result.  On Brad's reading homework, the multiple choice question was, "Where did the story take place?"  (Movie theater, car wash, grocery store, or library.)  Brad's response..."I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say grocery store..."

In addition to being funny, he has a HUGE sweet tooth... just like his mom!

Fashonista

 Tannis has always been into fashion and truly has her own style.  Yesterday, I was in her room sorting out her clothes and remarked on how many leggings, boots, and sweaters she had.  She replied, "Yes, winter is my cutest season..."

4 Years Later...

Wow, has it really been 4 years since I've posted to this?  Somehow time just slipped by, and I was reminded of the blog today when Tannis told me she had found it online while Googling her name... yes, that's how old she's getting!  When I went back and read the entries, I realized what great memories they were...and how I had forgotten about most of them!  So I'm going to try to start posting again.

Brad is now 10 and Tannis is 8!

He loves Minecraft and she may be the only girl that loves both Justin Bieber AND Elmo!

They both LOVE our new dog. Here they are on the day we got him!

Both kids are playing soccer, and yesterday, Tannis scored her first goal ever!  Two weekends before, Brad scored his first goal ever too!  They both love to swim and Brad does an amazing full flip off the diving board.  Today, Colin was in the pool with them and he said they thought it was hysterically funny to say bad words under water.  They know they're not allowed to say them, but underwater, you can't really hear them.  They're obsessed with hearing bad words... in songs on the radio, in movies, even possibly on audiobooks.  I usually have an audiobook in my car and they'll want to listen to it, in hopes of hearing a "bad word."

Here's one of the highlights of their year so far....

Swimming with dolphins in Mexico!