Catching Up- Connor's Birthday: Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

Connor has been dreaming of having his birthday party at Chuckee Cheese's all year. Well, his dreams came true and it was a birthday he won't forget (well at least I hope so)! We were really pleased with the Birthday package. Connor felt like Birthday Royalty and we all had a blast. Connor was definitely the special boy of the night; at all the games he hit the jackpot, winning a ton of tickets. Some bigger kids said, "That boy's lucky!"

The birthday cake was delicious and just how he wanted it.

Blowing out the candles...

Cousins Toby and Marcus shared in the fun with us, along with their parents. It was a great night.

Senneca and Connor told Chuckee, "We're your biggest fans, we watch all your commercials!"

Opening presents. Connor got a science kit, a speed racer racing track, Up, Bakugans, a sled, Scooby Doo movies, a lego set, and a cowboy set.

Here's a cute short clip of Connor with Chuckee Cheese.

Reggie's Graduate Student Commencement and Hooding

Friday was the big day! Reggie's graduation for his Masters was really nice, the hooding ceremony and commencement was exciting and not too long. It was expecially nice for all of us to have Reggie's mom here to share in it with us. He's actually done! It all seems real now.

Jocelyn was very impressed with Reggie's tassles.

Surprise

Reggie has his Master's commencement Friday and hooding ceremony. He got a big surprise today. I called him at work at the end of his day and told him I wasn't feeling good and the kids were sick (partly true) and could he come home soon. When he came home Senneca called him to her room and jumped out at him yelling "Surprise." He was expecting Connor to jump out at him next. What he wasn't expecting was his Mom jumping out at him. I wish I had recorded it! I'll just say he was so surprised and excited. I'm glad his Mom gets to share in this memory with him. It means so much to Reggie to have her here for it.

Third Child Syndrome and a Happy Thanksgiving

Poor Jocelyn. I didn't take a single picture of our Thanksgiving or her celebrating her first one. That's ok, she slept through the dinner anyways, which I was thankful for. She got to eat some sweet potato babyfood later and spit it up over her white and pink outfit. She really likes Christmas music and was going wild dancing with our cousin Kim.

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend despite no pictures to document it. Wednesday we went to Salt Lake for our second Church History Explorers field trip. Senneca and Connor have been learning about the Salt Lake Temple, its construction, and what alot of the symbols built into the temple stand for. Reggie made them a scavenger hunt sheet with pictures. It was really fun seeing how excited they were to find the Big Dipper built into the temple stone, the cloud stones, moonstones, ect. Their excitement was contagious.

To celebrate another successful field trip we met our great friends Blake and Courtney and Brooke at Rumbi Grill for lunch. Again no pictures. We love our friends and had such a fun time. Courtney, me, and the little girls ditched the boys and wandered around a book store and I had someone to share my bad mother moment involving Jocelyn and her carseat with. The kids sat on a very nice-looking Santa's lap and told him their Christmas wishes (a dress, and a guitar) but those pictures would have cost so...

Thursday we went to Reggie's Uncle Russ and Aunt Connie's along with their children and extended family for a great Thanksgiving feast and company. It was everything Thanksgiving should be; we love them so much! Senneca and Connor love being their and playing with all their cousins.

Friday I did some Black Friday shopping but not too early, I still got almost everything on the list. Senneca had a gymnastic performance at Novemberfest. Jocelyn was really into the music. Senneca did so good, she is not shy at all.

Saturday was BYU football (no discussion of sore winners here), New Moon!!! (Those candybars I mentioned in an earlier post were almost as good as the movie) and game night with our friends Julee, John, and kids.

Sunday: much needed rest. Is it any wonder Senneca went home sick from Church? I think we were all a little tired after this holiday.

Guys and Dolls

Last night I sent these two off on a daddy-daughter date to the local high school musical. I think Senneca looks exceptionally adorable, despite the silly pose. She has been wanting to spend some special time with Reggie and loved their time together.

Then I got to watch these two little cuties while Reggie's cousin and his wife went to the same musical. What do you call your cousins children? 2nd cousins? 1st cousins once removed?

I knew I was among boys when all three had their own Spiderman, battling it out in the kitchen. I was sitting in the living room feeding Jocelyn , lost in my own thoughts, when I saw Spidey cruising by in a pink Barbie car. Only little boys!

Connor had a Really rough morning, so rough I took my own time-out. I couldn't get him off to pre-school fast enough. When I picked him up, gone was whiney Connor, greeting me was an Indian brave calling out his war-cry. When I asked how preschool was Connor said, "It was awe... It was the best day of my life!" How quickly the moods change.

Getting Senneca ready for the play she said, "We should make custodians, you know, Indian shoes." Um, moccasins? Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Fors...

1. My little Indian braves who let us sleep in till 8:30 or so on Saturdays while they watch cartoons and do crafts. When I wake up I don't know if the extra sleep is worth-it or not, seeing the huge mess they made along with their projects.

This week they turned themselves into Indians, including Jocelyn. The story they made up goes like this. They kidnapped me to be their squaw, I married the Indian chief (Reggie) and then had the little Indian baby. Jocelyn thought it was fun.

2. The age Connor is at, that even if he has never done something before, he is the best in the world at it. He was playing Reggie's guitar and ran in to see us, saying, "I was rockin the house, I'm better then a rock star!" And he believed it. He asked if I wanted his autograph. I said "of course!" I almost wanted to cry. Senneca was the same way last year. She has never played soccer but would kick the ball around in the backyard and shout out, "I'm the best soccer player ever!" She is already growing out of this phase, becoming more aware of others and comparing herself to her classmates. I know its what happens as we grow up, but it still makes me sad. She doesn't have that same naive confidence she had a year ago.

3. Watching my children sleep. I looked at Senneca last night and again almost wanted to cry. (I want to but don't cry very often). I realized that someday I am going to wish I had just sat and watched my kids sleep instead of wanting to get them to bed so I can have some time to myself. I'm glad for those moments when I more fully appreciate my children.

4. Jocelyn's little piggies. I decided I'm going to start putting rice cereal on her toes and feed her that way. She eats her toes much better then she eats from a spoon.

Book Bucks and Movie Tickets

*Update*
One positive thing that has come from my Twilight obsession-Senneca watched the Stephenie Meyer segment on Oprah with me Friday. She was very impressed and decided she was going to write a book about her dream, "illustrate it, and publish it." And she did. Thanks for inspiring my little girl to be creative. Senneca was crying about the ending of her story because it was so sad. In her story the "bad boys" sat on the king and queen and killed them. Too cute.

I have been tossing around ideas on how to help Connor not watch so much tv. He loves PBS and movies from the library. TV is like his pacifier which is so bad I know. At times it has been easier to give in to his fits and whining. A parenting magazine at the doctor's office helped us finalize our plans on how to stop this trend.

Every morning Connor gets 4 'Movie Tickets' for the day. Each ticket equals 30 minutes of television and he has to pay me before watching anything. When the tickets are gone, the tv is off the rest of the day. If he has any Movie Tickets left over at the end of the day they are then turned into 1 Book Buck. Book Bucks get accumulated to use for school book orders.

The first week of this, Connor saved 6 Book Bucks. One day he only watched 30 minutes of tv which is huge! The last couple days he has been spending all his tickets before lunch. The beauty of this system is that Connor feels empowered because he is choosing how to use them.

Senneca gets 2 Movie Tickets on school days and 4 on the weekends.